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Are we allowed to talk about road bikes?
Looking for new places to ride, quiet lanes, well surfaced, hills, views, etc.
Thinking around 75-100 mile rides and/or 1000-2000m climbing. Horseshoe pass? Yorkshire? If you have gpx files too that would be great. 🙂
Where do you live? Down in my part of rural Sussex Thats about my standard ride. Off the main roads I see as many horses as cars!!
Most of Scotland away from Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Mid Wales, around Rhayader or Llandovery/Llyn Brianne area.
Northumbria is nice. Look at the virgin money cyclone.
Allendale is also great Winking sheep sportive.
Obviously you can ride where you want and when you want but those are two nice routes with some of the best bits.
We don't have much flat so for 100miles you'd be doing well to find less than 2000m climbing.
I must be getting old, or unfit. Well, I suppose I must never have been that fit. For me, a great place to ride has to include lots of options for short non-epic rides. Edge of the Dales works well for us, much better than anywhere else I've lived.
Lonely Planet reckons the Isle of Wight is the best place [url= https://www.lonelyplanet.com/travel-tips-and-articles/75502 ]IN THE WORLD! [/url] for cycling.
I wouldn't go that far, but it's pretty decent for a long weekend if you haven't already been. The [url= http://www.cycleisland.co.uk/index.php/randonnee-details/route-overview ]100km randonee route[/url] is well signposted, full of little ups and downs and sublime downland/coastal scenery.
100km? What do you do in the afternoon?
Thanks all, some great suggestions.
Ahem.......miles!
scotroutes - Member100km? What do you do in the afternoon?
Encase condescending visiting cyclists in wicker and set them alight.
^ 😀
Peak District, obviously. Then you can bring the mountain bike along for the afternoon after you've done your 100 [u]miles[/u]
Did a few miles around North Devon and Exmoor recently. Nice down there. Depends what you're looking for really. Lots of this...
Looking for new places to ride, quiet lanes, well surfaced, hills, views, etc.
Rather partial to North Wales, roads are lovely and smooth. Always seem quieter too. Plenty of ups and downs. Got a lovely 85-90 loop out of Betws and back.
Why isn't there a road equivalent of "the woods behind Nationwide in Swindon"?
Even more suggestions, cheers.
Thinking about this
75 miles and 1500m of climbing. Spend the afternoon eating chips, etc.
The road past the windfarms is pretty good. Heading East it is a false flat noramlly with a tailwind which means 30mph can be obtained for miles. Beautiful views at the top that get better as you drop down to the lake. They redid he road with great tarmac replacing the gravel so it is super smooth and it has yet to appear on proper maps or satnavs so you'll never see a car on it!
Only problem at this time of year is the lambs when they frolic in the road.
Dont look at the Virgin money cyclone, its held on pothole filled roads,its not held on closed roads so there are members of the public going about their business and a pack of thoughtless cyclist does nothing for a rural persons temper...especially when they only visit once a year and put nothing into the local economy.
On a positive note, I can however recommend ANYTHING at the south end of EUROTUNNEL you will not be treated as a second class citizen,infact you will be welcomed with open arms, you wont be getting in anyones way and there are thousands of similar minded people. Oh its the national pastime by all accounts as well.:)
Tour de france from Leeds to Harrogate. Just start and finish in Harrogate and clip off the first part. Amazing route plenty of hills and views.
Rural Leicestershire has flowing, quiet roads with good rolling but not brutal contours. The trunk roads take all the traffic. Very pleasant. Devon is great if you like short brutal climbs and stunning countryside. Every ride is a 2% climb!
Check out the www.ffestiniog360.com/route for a 100km loop around Snowdon using some of the areas best roads. Its on Sunday the 29th 15quid for a good cause. You can download files from the site also.
Devon is great if you like short brutal climbs and stunning countryside
We've got some long brutal climbs as well...
Forest of Bowland.
What epicyclo said.
Some bits of England are nice but Scotland is almost always quieter.
Yorkshire Dales are nice if you pick a good route, great views too. North York Moors next door are a good call if you want properly brutal climbs where you breathe a sigh of relief at a mere 20% gradient. Lake district is a little busy on the roads for my liking, even on the back lanes, but I dare say wouldn't bother many.
North Pennines offers lots of good climbing (winking sheep as mentioned, hell of hexham, etc) and some brutal exposure to the weather on the wrong day.
Northumberland offers a vast playground of rolling hills, more gentle than most of the above. (And there are more interesting routes than the cyclone) Same with the Scottish borders, which harbours some of the longest and quietest roads imaginable. Though road surfaces vary wildly.
Excellent suggestions all. I'm going to be busy! 😀
A lot of Staffordshire and Shropshire is nice. Especially if you like looking at hedges.
Why isn't there a road equivalent of "the woods behind Nationwide in Swindon"?
There's a car park to the side of it.
2nd the Scottish borders. Around Kelso there's miles of quiet roads. Car drivers are generally polite too.
You can easily combine Northumberland and the Borders into a ride.
Scottish Borders +1
Miles and miles of great roads, tarmac generally OK (though as with everywhere, some bits to avoid). I really don't know why this area hasn't become the Majorca of the UK 🙂 (weather excepted!).
Hills - check.
Flat/Gentle Stuff - check (easy to mix and match hills + flatter sections).
Views - check.
Quiet roads - check.
Local Bike Culture - check.
Cafe's - check.
And also a shiny new train link into Edinburgh and the rest of the world...
There is no 'best', there is only good, and lots of it. I could also add (to be different) Shropshire towards Clun and Newtown, or Wiltshire/Hampshire. Yes, you read that right.
I've always liked Oxford as a base for road riding, Chilterns down south, White Horse South West, Cotswolds West and North, all lovely areas on quiet roads proper Chocolate box England.
If you want the complete opposite of Oxfordshire then the North East of Scotland and into the Cairngorms will give you some brutal climbs, like Cairn O'Mount and the Lecht.
Loads of varied answers whereas a few weeks ago. Someone asked where the best mtb was and the conclusion appeared to be Surrey - strangely no one has suggested that Surrey is good for road biking!
My area of West Norfolk is stunning for road riding (despite the fact that if you ask anyone they will say it is dead flat as they think everywhere in Norfolk is Fen Land) it has rolling, very quiet roads, where if you pick a good route you can ride 50-100 miles away from any traffic, scenic villages, lots of historic sites and beautiful beaches at Wells, Holkham, Cromer etc for fish and chips.
Plus we have more breweries than any other county now and English Whiskey.
tongue to bonar bridge - via alltnaharra and used to get lunch at crask if you let them know.
still my favorite road in the uk.
Yes, the Borders are great but there are some very quiet roads further north. The Tour of the Highlands (3 days) and the 3 Pistes combined Sportives are on this weekend. Epic and fabulous riding among and through some real mountains; these routes showcase a lot of what is fab about the eastern half of the Highlands for proper road rides but there is so much more..
Elsewhere, most folk will have heard of the Bealach na Ba on the fringes of Torridon, a stunning circular route with seafood and chips at the Applecross Inn. However, a little further north beyond Ullapool and Lochinver is the Stoer peninsula & Inchnadamph circuit. That's the best road ride I've ever done. Plus on the way around at Lochinver the Pie Shop is simply amazing. Take your trail bike and a road bike together this far north and you'll never want to go south again.
highlandman - Member
...Take your trail bike and a road bike together this far north and you'll never want to go south again.
South? Where's that? 🙂
Gotta be somewhere in Scotland.
There's some great roads in the Lakes. Way way way to much traffic though, even on the dead small roads over the passes. Much better over winter when it's quiet
West coast of cumbria/lakes
I've done all the northern test pieces, and there is great cycling there (although I'd echo comments re: traffic above). However, I've been really impressed by the road riding in the SW (Somerset, over to Exmoor and down into Dorset and Devon). There's a dense network of minor roads that you rarely encounter traffic on, and it's beautiful right now. I just pick stuff off the map, sometimes linking up marked Sustrans traffic-free routes as a framework. Different ride almost every time. You can make it as hard as you want, taking in some surprisingly steep (if short) hill climbs. Weather is significantly better than in the north, and the pubs are great...
Kent is nice - surprisingly quiet off the main roads too
6700feet climbing in 70 miles
http://www.gsavanti.co.uk/kentish-killer/routes/
strangely no one has suggested that Surrey is good for road biking!
I imgine as there are too many road cyclists there doing loops and shuttles of the climbs
I spent a year writing a book about road cycling in the UK and the answer to the question is all of it. But if pushed, the area around Lochinver wins hands down.