A buddy and I did London-Brighton off road on Saturday (roughly following the BHF charity route). It was a great day, despite the rain, and at 75 miles with a bit of climbing thrown in, it was by far the most physically challenging day's ride I've ever done.
Anyway, what next? We'd like to do something else later this year, with the following criteria:
- total distance up to 100 miles & ideally do-able in a day
- mostly off-road, but happy to do a few road miles to link things together
- I live in Hertfordshire, he lives in Lincolnshire. The perfect location would be no more than 2-3 hours travel for either of us (otherwise we're looking at an overnight, which makes the logistics much harder). But appreciate a tour of Northampton isn't exactly going to be thrilling, so we might have to look further afield
Hit me...
Herts based? Try the Ridgeway one way end-to-end following this route - http://ridgewaydouble.net/
Not too taxing for a longer day ride (87 miles w/o too much climbing) and a nice ride with enough variation to be interesting. Trains to/from one end to the other afterward. Herts to Swindon isn't too bad on the train, via London Paddington.
How much adventure do you want?
be prepared to travel and open some very wide doors:
Tour de Cairngorms. There are several ways to piece it together that create various lengths and proportions of technical/moderate/easy terrain. Has been done in a day a good few times. Will generate a real feeling of 'out there' and 'journey'. There are some bothies along the way, so bikepacking it will add a whole new dimension.
West Highland Way. At 95 miles and a high percentage of singletrack, quite a challenge. maybe more fun split over two or three days.
Great Glen Way. 65-70 miles, mostly straightforward. Trains at both ends.
Speyside Way; similar, but with more whisky.
I live in Hertfordshire, he lives in Lincolnshire. The perfect location would be no more than 2-3 hours travel for either of us
Tour de Cairngorms
😆
Highlandman must be one of these redliners I've heard about 2-3 hours from Lincolnshire!
Pedars Way from Thetford to Hunstanton ?
Train back from Kings Lynn to Thet.
bit far away but the sandstone way in northumberland looks like a good adventure
120m berwick on tweed to hexham mainly on bridleways with some quiet lanes. I quite fancy it over a few days at some point in the not too distant future.
http://www.sandstoneway.co.uk/
Cheers all, some food for thought there
What about the Trans Penine Trail, half of it either west coast to Doncaster about 110 miles or east coast in to Doncaster?
We have done half this Month April
Half in May with the intention of doing the whole whack on the longest day,
I looked at Pedars Way when we holiday in that location. Unfortunately my other half (non - cyclist) wasn't keen me beggaring off for a day...I'm still keen on doing it at some point.
I'm a few miles from the Ivinghoe end of the Ridgeway and have been thinking about doing something similar too, although probably just around the Chilterns part of the Ridgeway (thanks for the link jameso)
I found this interesting/helpful too for local stop offs & resources in the area: http://cyclechilterns.co.uk/
The [url= http://www.peakhorsepower.co.uk/south-peak-loop/4591186779 ]South Peak loop[/url] was officially opened last week. It's 70 miles and whilst I've heard someone has polished it off in 8 hours, I think for most mortals it will take much longer, especially if you take a wrong turning *ahem* 😳
There's a lot of quiet tarmac lanes and old railway so don't expect 70 miles of full-on technical riding, but it does cover some very beautiful and hilly south Peak District countryside. You'll be tired trying to do it in a day but it's "adventure-lite" i.e. pretty safe and never too far from civilisation. I'm aiming to ride the other half of it this weekend so will report back with my review.
It was created by a horse riding group but obviously bikes can ride it all too.
Hey Legoman, was it you I met on the ride up Truleigh hill, on the SDW. You and a pal doing the LDN>BTN route? Hope you enjoyed that descent into Shoreham?
I like the sound of the Cairngorms loop
What is recommended for a 3 day option? And would this be sensible in early November!!!??!
And would this be sensible in early November!!!??!
Whilst I confess to not (yet) having ridden in the Cairngorms, I can't imagine the short and potentially wintry November days being the best time to go 😕
ollybus - Member
Hey Legoman, was it you I met on the ride up Truleigh hill, on the SDW. You and a pal doing the LDN>BTN route? Hope you enjoyed that descent into Shoreham?
Hi ollybus, yep that was us! I was on the blue Cube looking significantly more knackered than my buddy!
The descent to Shoreham was the highlight of the ride, although it was slightly hampered by some thick claggy mud - both my wheels locked solid at one point and I had to scoop out handfuls of the stuff to get turning again. All part of the fun!!
Cheers!
Cool. It is super muddy all along there at the moment. Glad to meet you. Love this forum!
Riding that this Sat (L2BO), and onward. Was hoping for dust like over Eastbourne way!
Downslink conditions anyone?
Downslink between West Grinstead and Bramber was pretty muddy and wet last week with long stretches of thick mud and large puddles. Still fully rideable but be prepared! Mind you its been a dry week
The Ridgeway is pleasant if very untechnical. It can get very windy (note [u]Ridge[/u]way) and bare chalk on a couple of hills is lethal when wet/damp. Farm traffic and horses can make the Southern part of it very muddy. The Ridgeway double route is great - takes in the Icknield way which is a bit more interesting.
Sunny summers day - great.
November - I'm local - I don't ride the bit South/West of Goring.
Another long distance track is Swan's way great apart from the Milton Keynes bit.
Someone ought to make up a Chilterns Loop.
Cool. It is super muddy all along there at the moment. Glad to meet you. Love this forum!
Same here - Whenever I meet someone on the trails I always wonder if they're on here!
Thanks Ollybus.
How does 100 miles round the surrey hills mtb trails sound?
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10145663/Surrey%20Hills%20-%20the%20standard%20epic.gpx
Just tryin' to get folk to think a bit further outside the box!
When you don't get a lot of time for adventures, why plan a mini one when you can have so much more?
So, Cairngorms from Lincolnshire? No problem.
Turn your 'man up' dial to Scotsman....
I've done the Ridgeway all the way to Lyme Regis and it was great. Took a couple of days, but you can split and just do a days ride.. I waited for a dry break in the weather for a couple of weeks, which was worth waiting for.
I'd offer up the NCN72 Hadrians Wall route Coast to Coast, starts just south of Whitehaven then bumbles along the Northern Pennines and follows the Wall to Whitley Bay.
I'm doing it in a few weeks, taking 3 days but might make that 4, and BnB'ing it across.
That Peaks route ^^ looks ace, I'll nick that thanks, I know the Peaks well and haven't been back for 10 years so it'll be a great revisit.
Failing all this, why not just dip your nose into the Sustrans website. Whilst the NCN's tend to be on road, there are a lot of offroad sections that will make you sweat a bit. I use Sustrans routes a lot when planning.
Charliemort,
November? Hmm, pushing your luck with weather and particularly the shortage of daylight. Not impossible, just adds a lot of extra challenges. Like wet ground, chances of snow, high rivers.
Planning a 3 day version depends on your accommodation needs; if you're taking bivvy/bothy gear, you can have a much wider range of options.
Otherwise you're working with the main villages for each night; Aviemore or Kingussie; followed by Tomintoul, then Braemar and/or Blair Atholl. Starting point is up to you, doesn't really matter unless you are tied to trains.
I am based in Brighton, so was going to suggest something in the local area! 😳 Considering your locations, have you considered something in northern Leicestershire/ south Derbyshire? The scenery is absolutely stunning!
Let me know if you need any more advice, happy to advise!