Could you please recommend some road or easy off road routes for our visit to Northumberland?
Suitable for our tandem. Its not set up for mtbing atm. However the tyres are suitable for trails such as fire road, or old railway lines, that have been turned into cycle routes,
Thanks.
Nothing to add except thanks for the thread - up that way with my wife in the last week of August. Will be keen for some light biking - last chance before shoulder surgery!
Andy A took me on a spin out from Alnwick along old railway line, to the coast - plus ice cream. No idea what route that was though!! was 12+ years ago 🙂
Coast and castles route is a stunning run along the coast. You'd need to create a loop back as its carries on to Berwick and Scotland. Some of its road and some of it is farm roads
http://www.coast-and-castles.co.uk/
I did some great rides up there following National Cycle Route 1. Well sign posted and quite good, with some tracks as well as roads. Suitable for a racey road bike on 25mm tyres.
Not sure how far you want to go, but the ride over to Holy Island across the causeway is quite special.
Would be about 80 miles from Alnwick I guess, was a 45 miler from Seahouses or you could start at Beal for a short jaunt. The Barn at Beal does good food too.
This may not be a particularly helpful answer, but there's so many beautiful quiet lanes round there, just get an OS map (or digital equivalent) and plot a route.
Ted Liddle (Google him for contact info) did a guidebook a few years ago with a number of on and off road routes around Alnwick. Suspect it's out of print now though.
Ted is pretty much the guru for Northumberland mountain biking and if you get in touch with him I'm sure he can recommend something tandem-friendly.
We bumped into Ted when riding the Reivers Route a couple of years back, he was a very nice chap.
Andy A took me on a spin out from Alnwick along old railway line, to the coast - plus ice cream. No idea what route that was though!! was 12+ years ago
Dead easy one that, I'll try and post some links later.
I don't really ride much that days NBT and Bunnyhop or I'd guide you.
To be honest any of the back to roads will be fine but, keep of the A697 as much as possible though it's not a great road for safety.
Round Titlington from Bolton is OK, did a few loops when I was last back (if a bloke shouts at you it's my dad)
powburn or alnwick? they are quite far apart (at least in cycling terms) if powburn theres the carriage drive around rothbury - offroad double trck with easy gradients and views. And the roads north west of rothbury up into the national park are quiet. as others have said avoid the a697 and the a1. if on the coast the A1068 north of amble is ok, and you can't go wrong with any of the small roads around there up to bamburgh.
The signed mountainbike route the sandstone way skirts through north bit of the area too.
Thanks chaps.
Drac - same here. That's why we're taking easy routes to get me back into riding.
When are you up?
Alnmouth route, I've plotted to start at Alnwick leisure centre as there's ample free parking there and in Sainsburys next to it.
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I'll try to do another later but off out with the kids.
As a quick update for anyone who still cares, we were at the caravan site in Powburn so on one day we rode out to Alnmouth via Shilbottle, the return route was via Abberwick to make the hills slightly easier, and another day we rode out to Rothbury and back via Cartington. Some lovely riding in beautiful countryside. Routes were generated by choosing a destination and using cyclestreets.net to suggest the quietest route
Grand! Good time, then? pics?
Just packing the bikes to head to Lorbottle tomorrow.
Looking for the same sort of thing - tracks and back roads, smooth singletrack. Taking the monster cross thing, knacked shoulder.
Going armed all the above, but if anyone's go any good loops from/though Lorbottle, that would be ace! Got strava premium, so if you are someone, or know someone I can stalk, I can grab some gpxs.
Cheers!
Great trip thanks but no pics to speak of. I just used cyclestreets.net to plan routes, our route from Powburn to Rothbury and back actually went through Lorbottle, it seemed nice. We stuck to quiet lanes, the only time we went on a dirt track was a wrong turn on the way back from Alnmouth, at Wooden