My boss at work wants to ride from home to his mate's in Whitley bay over 2 days in the next couple of weeks and he wants some advice on a route. I'm guessing he'll want to avoid massive climbs etc but will also not want to be in heavy traffic as far as poss.I assume he'll be stopping in a B&B or hotel part way through.
I was initially thinking:
Head up to A59 and stay on that to Harrogate then A61 Ripon, Thirsk and possibly just get on A19 and head north. I don't really know what traffic would be like though (it'd be a weekend I think).
My other thought was - after Thirsk go Northallerton, Darlo A689 then Durham A690, Houghton le spring, Jarrow and then Whitley Bay.
I'm sure there are better routes out there so please chip in.
Ta.
I cant recommend a route but if he has a death wish let him ride the A19. Its basically a dual carriageway that is driven like a motorway. It would be grim.
Yeah, I wondered that. It looks like there may be a Sustrans route that runs in parallel with some of it. Further investigation needed.
Agreed - A19 and A690 are dual carriageway, I'd avoid both.
Click on Googlemaps - I'm not sure how to share a route but there's a cycle function when your getting directions. The Northern one, Dales, Richmond, Darlington, Durham looked better to me.
A59 os fine as i have ridden that as part of a coast to coast - pretty flat but it is very hilly at Blubberstay/Bolton Abbey - 4-5 mile ish up hill drag and then a little lumpy just after that. I can confirm that it is a relatively quiet road but it is not a scenic back road. Its pretty wide in most places as well. Lots of artic trucks out of Harrogate iirc so may want to consider what route there as due to the A1
Did it on a week day
For a long route though I assume it is as flat as one can get crossing the country and its fine
I know that everyone is different but for me the joy of going on a tour is spending ages poring over maps and finding the smallest (quietest) roads and generating a route of my own.
If time for planning is limited then the 'by cycle' route planner on google maps (as already suggested) is not bad.
Does he have a Garmin 800/810? He could simply set that to autoroute between locations and use the routing settings to keep him off main roads.
If it was me riding it...From Northallerton take the A172 towards Teesside, then you can pick up the Sustrans route from next to the Tees Barrage (it's the 3 rivers cycle route), head north as far as the Tyne Tunnel, go through that (the pedestrian one, not the car one), turn right and continue until you get to the sea.
I've ridden this a couple of times, it works out about 85 miles but the vast majority of the Sustrans section is traffic free or on quiet roads
That sounds more like it. Cheers.
Be careful - the pedestrian Tyne tunnel has been closed for a while now for refurbishment. Not opening again any time soon, the company doing the works went bust.
Ha, yes, forgot about that, a detour to South Shields to get the ferry across to North Shields would be a decent alternative, much quicker than riding back into Newcastle to use the Millennium bridge.
NB
Bolton to York is easily doable, I'd suggest staying in Thirsk or Northallerton overnight to shorten day 2.
I have no idea about the route from there to here (Peterlee, just off the A19), but whenever we ride to my mam's in Blyth we go up through Seaham and get on the coast as soon as possible. It's a nice ride up and there are loads of places to stop once you're past Roker (B&Bs and cafes and stuff). Get the ferry over from South Shields to North Shields and head out to Tynemouth, through Cullercoats and onto Whitley Bay. Tell him to leave his coat at home if he's going out for a beer in Whitley though, and they've knocked the Avenue down 🙁
A59 is okay if he's happy with lots of fast, close traffic.
It's a great way to make progress, but it's no fun.
I can't think of a quicker way though.
I'd go Bowland, skirt the western edge of the Dales and head over towards Haltwhistle, then take the cycleroute to the coast.
Take me a week though.
🙂
Ha! Don't think a week is an option!
I know the A59 well, it's just round the corner from me and have ridden/driven on it a lot. It's a good compromise between getting the miles in and putting up with the traffic. I think he'll be fine with that bit of the route.
A59 Bolton Abbey to Harrogate is a great driving road, sports car and cheeky speeds.
Not sure I'd cycle along it
For the Bolton to York section I'd do (pretty much) the reverse of this route.
https://connect.garmin.com/activity/334504732
Then go North up the Vale of York to Thirsk/Northallerton (pretty much flat).
No no no all wrong. Go up the west coast past Lancaster, Penrith over to Hexham tyne valley to Whitley bay. It's about 160miles. Some lovely roads in the middle. The bit at the Whitley bay end can be cycle path or road. Bit at the beginning is a6 until garstang.
Cheers but I still think A59 is best and then head N after Harrogate rather than going across to York. Thirsk or Northallerton look to be good places to stop after day 1. He's done 100 miles in the day before so should be ok with the distance required.
I'd go with something like eddie11's suggestion personally. I hate riding on the a59, it's an unpleasant surface with fast, close traffic. lots of lorry drivers on the descent into blubberhouses just seem to leave off the brakes and keep it pointing in vaguely the right direction.
edit: and the a19 should definitely, definitely be off the route!
A59 will be grim as ****. A19 is unthinkable.
Eddie's suggestion is far, far better.
Ok. A6 way looks do-able and probably preferable. M
y reply was to wombat, btw.
nbt - were you suggesting the 'balanced route' on your link? It appears to go along Mastiles Lane, which could be fruity on a road bike. 😀
Use google maps... it has the option to do via bike....
[url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Whitley+Bay/Bolton/ @54.2306427,-2.2918212,8z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x487e6c207152e101:0x118a2ccfbe535cf4!2m2!1d-1.4512989!2d55.046389!1m5!1m1!1s0x487b0629dc3b1c93:0xcaa40cfafe557822!2m2!1d-2.4282192!2d53.5768647!3e1?hl=en]This may work ?[/url]
Use google maps... it has the option to do via bike....
Caution, may contain hills. Also my memory of the waggonway north of bishop auckland is that I was glad I wasn't doing it on a road bike but I could be misremembering.
No no no all wrong. Go up the west coast past Lancaster, Penrith over to Hexham tyne valley to Whitley bay. It's about 160miles. Some lovely roads in the middle. The bit at the Whitley bay end can be cycle path or road. Bit at the beginning is a6 until garstang.
This is by far the best suggestion, the ride from Penrith to Whitley bay is a cracker. go Penrith - Alston - Hexham - Corbridge - Stocksfield - Wylam Newcastle.
Right, that looks a good option. How about the bit before that, from Garstang to Penrith? Stay on A6? Shap is a bit lumpy, iirc.
I'd also advise against the A59. As said, it's a horrible surface, fast moving cars that are close. I remember cycling to Skipton along it when I was young and stupid and having the noise ringing in my ears for hours afterwards.
There are easy alternative minor roads which run parallel, taking you through Whalley, near Clitheroe to it all the way to Gisburn. Not sure beyond that, but you could perhaps head to Grassington and over that way to Ripon?
You've an A road obsession! I'd not ride the A6. It's ok up to Carnforth. There is a cycle route which is signposted which takes you to Kendal.
traildog - I'm really not - I'm just trying to figure the route out! Is that National cycle route 6? Goes from Preston to Lancaster on canal towpath and then Carnforth to Kendal on back roads.
ok, lets start from horwich: through limbrick and west of chorley, pick up route 91, use that or any combination of small roads to get round preston or just go through the middle and up the a6 to garstand if you are a big boy. Pick up route 6 at about Garstang then aim for B6254 kirkby Lonsdale, A683 Sedbergh, pick up route 68 to orton then b6260 then generally aim for langwathby, over A686 (stopping at hartside for grub), B6305 into hexham then route 72 to newcastle (bit rough between wylam and newburn). after that he's on his own.
Still not seeing how to get from Kendal to Penrith without going on A6 or a big, hilly detour into Lake District.
you dont need to go anywhere near kendal, get the os up on bing maps and you'll see where route 68 goes. Theres nothing much above 300 except the the A686 and thats really easily graded as it's an old stagecoach road
Kirby Lonsdale, Sedburgh, Brough?
That's the nicest route.
Take a bit longer, obviously.
Still better than Keighley.
there's a youth hostel at Kirby Stephen, would be a good (cheap) place to stop and get his head down without people being fussed by a bloke wandering about in cycling kit
[quote=MrSparkle dijo]Still not seeing how to get from Kendal to Penrith without going on A6 or a big, hilly detour into Lake District.
the W2W route goes from Kendal to Tebay, then cuts across past the Tan Hill Inn
that's a killer, but you coud either use that as a bassis to find quieter roads north from tebay, or something heading north from Orton
A bit of timelag and cross over in posting led to some confusion there but anyway... Thanks all, I think there's hope of thrashing something out of all that good advice.
Cheers.