I’m struggling to find anything online about this route. Does anybody have any experience of it or can point me in the direction of some online information please?
I’m planning some excursions for next year and this is on the agenda if I can find out some more about it.
I’ve seen something on the Sustrans site but it says the ride is 5 days(!). I’m not sure what that’s all about.

Do you mean the Wessex Ridgeway?
There’s loads online about it.

http://www.mbruk.co.uk/mbruk_WessexWay_details.htm

or

http://www.dorsetforyou.com/wessexridgeway

I’ve ridden the latter. good fun, easy to follow because of the wyvern tail posts. not the most technical of riding. think SDW

thomthumb – how many days did the Wessex Ridgeway take you? It’s an awkward starting point and assume there’s no rail station close by? Certainly a route I would love to do. Thanks. 🙂

If you mean the Tim woodcock route,then i did it sometime in the late nineties. Goes from Weston super mare to Eastborne. We did it in 6 days i think but could’ve done it quicker. Mostly on bridleways and byways and nothing technical, but nice riding nonetheless. We used b&b’s to keep the amount of carrying to a minimum.

started here

2012-04-20_16-01-09_327 by <JamesD>, on Flickr

and rode back to winchester.

the other options are axminster/ salisbury.

it was half days riding friday/ whole day saturday and home for lkunch sunday .

2012-04-21_09-46-06_694 by <JamesD>, on Flickr

is this the one from Weston Super Mare to Eastbourne? There was a book which suggested doing it on about a week. We did it in 4 days travelling light and staying in B&B’s. Book was quite good as it had all the maps in it and saved you buying lots of OS maps (This was a MBUK freebie many moons ago and before the days of small bike friendly GPS) Which reminds me, Pedalhead of this parish has the little laminated map cards I made up when I did this about 10 years ago.

Can’t say it would be much fun now the rains have started though, the plains will be a mud fest and the downs will be slippy as bits!

OK thanks. Did you camp or B & B? Obviously one that needs to be done in the dry!

I’ve ridden said Wessex Way (Weston -> Eastbourne). Six days although you could do it in much less.

Really enjoyed it 🙂

Camped, with bluebells. 🙂

Dry is not a word i would use to describe the friday – torrential fits better. 😉

2012-04-21_07-36-55_519 by <JamesD>, on Flickr

Nice spot. 8) Riding on wet chalk must have been pretty grim!

Was there any reason you rode west to east? The more I look at logistics, the more faff it becomes using trains! Thanks again.

When we did it we got the train out to Weston in the evening after work (we all worked in London at that point) did a B&B overnigh then started early teh next day – after getting hammered in a curry house, silly idea that was!!!
Train back to London from Eastbourne. Seemed to work quite well but you probably need to book cycle spaces these days.

I think we did it that way round to get the plains out of the way and leave the hilly funner bits to the end.

We were on the Ridgeway near Shaftesbury last w/e, a mudfest where the effing 4x4s had made puddles up to knee level and beyond. It needs dry weather

I attempted to do the Wessex Way in three days just three weekends ago. I underestimated how overgrown some of the bridleways would be, and how wet they are from our ‘summer’. The Tim Woodcock book is a useful reference to the ride, but I dispute that the maps are any good – they’re awful. There is a route card to follow though which is pretty detailed.

If you do give it a go, make sure it’s after some dry weather, and don’t leave it too late in the year as the undergrowth gets pretty overgrown.

From the Mendips towards Warminster, some of the trails are pretty miserable or involve ploughed fields, so don’t expect it to be all like Salisbury Plain or the South Downs Way. Also, the section around Pewsey is also a bit hit and miss for bridleways – one was just a fully grown corn field which I had to find another way around.

I finally bailed on Saturday when I realised there was a major storm coming in and that I still have 120 miles to do on the Sunday.

There is a GPX route here:Wessex Way GPX