Anyone done the Sandstone Way yet? The thought of the C2C bores me, but this looks good for part of a week off work.

Thinking of the rigid MTB with panniers, and tenting along the way if suitable? Are there any/lots of technical sections I’d regret having the panniers on for though? Maybe it would be more fun with a small pack so I can enjoy the technical sections, and stop in B&B’s?

Cheers,
Martin

bump up for the weekend crowd

A few people have done it on here that i know of. From what i can tell nothing technical, just natural tracks. Ive not done it myself yet tho.

does “natural tracks” mean animal/walking tracks, or just unsurfaced/landrover style?

some sustrans type bits early on, some road, some landrover track, some arrows across fields, some of the tracks and fields might be rough or muddy. nothing crazy steep or techincal. Hardtail? yes, panniers? – i’d go for bikepacking-style luggage if you can but take panniers and you wont die. oh, and pack midge repellent.

Thanks guys.

Eddie, sounds like I’ll be fine with what I have already. Can’t afford any bike-packing kit and already have two panniers that fit all my kit so will stick with them. If it’s THAT bad with midges I may wait until Octobers holiday though 😯

It appears that Rothbury is a “doable” halfway/overnight halt. There are a few bunkhouse/B+B options available in the village to save you carrying excess luggage.
Hexham and Berwick upon tweed are both on train routes so shouldnt be too difficult to get back to your starting point.

We did some of the Southern bit last October.

We did some of the Southern bit last October.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-new-sandstone-way-in-northumberland

Loopy linky?

Try this?

Thanks guys. Paul, looks just the ticket. Going to save it for September, give me a bit more time to get sorted, and the midges to **** off! 8)

Cheers.

how do chaps and chapess’ been riding this trail over the weekend(july 2015). a hardtail will be okay for the majority, there are some sections that are muddy tracks, tiny bit of technical and across fields so skinny tyres (anything below 2.0inch may not be the best) but having said that you should be able to divert around the majority of that if you wish (if it looks like a field just look for the road around it instead!). It’s mostly minor roads and hard surfaces through northumberland park or across farmers land (lots of sheep and cow poo to avoid yey) Your map reading skills need to be sharp and a gps would be helpful or an 1:25 os map as some of the markers have been removed in places or there are “no visible” tracks at all. We encountered 2 sections deliberately blocked by someone (landowner?) that ment a trip across some barbed fences. The bugs were not a problem until the last day through the forest..absolute nightmare they were. There is a section between west woodburn and bellingham that looked like the last “up and down” of the day(staying in Bellingham) that was a complete waste of time and energy, the “down” section simply doesn’t exist meaning you have to make your own way through a massive field of cow trodden moor land next to a long gone hump/fence (WARNING TYRE SHREDDING SPIKES) getting off for many boggy/ rocky streams then through a field of hay with no track to be seen? just take the quite road instead…