We're house sitting in Bournemouth at the moment and thought it might be nice to get out on the bikes tomorrow (despite the predicted rain) then stop for a pub lunch either half way or at the end.
We'll have a 4 year old and 1 year old in rear mounted seats so it'll need to be pretty tame, also my wife will be on her traditional style city bike and is pretty new to cycling so somewhere that is quiet and easy would fit the bill (and realistically not that long)
Does anyone have a suggestions for route and or pub? Many moons ago we started in Brokenhurst, is that a good place to begin? I can't really remember what was round there
When passing through the NF (in the car) we usually stop at the Trusty Servant in Minstead.
If you want easy family friendly riding and kiddy things to do, try Moors Valley CP near Ringwood, or out in the Forest an easy ride is the old railway line from Burbush Car Park (Burley, plenty of touristy tat shops and pubs), to Brockenhurst (ditto pubs and shops). Holmsley tea rooms is along this track too. This is a section of road though just after the tea rooms but those in the know know how to unofficially by pass this and get back on the railway line track further up, but a certain person on this forum wouldn't approve of going off the official NF tracks. Take a waterproof...
a certain person on this forum wouldn’t approve of going off the official NF tracks
who's that ? Didn't know we had a commoner on here
I'm with redstripe.
Moors Valley all the way just be prepared for a mugging from the car park machines. With little ones in tow it's worth the premium for the convenience. Pretty sure I've ridden "Through the Trees" with a child seat on the back many years ago but probably with a passenger slightly older than 1.
When we do Bournemouth (we do it in feb)we do the prom from Hengistbury to Poole (have to use road at Sandbanks)and then can get chain ferry over to Studland (beware that cycling on the prom is banned during the high season so you need to check that and the prom is also full of thoughtless dog owners and can be so busy as to be not enjoyable but might be ok in wet) the other bimble is the railway line from Brockenhurst as mentioned above
There is a short bumble from brockenhurst toward Lyndhurst with pub stop at The Oak Inn in Bank. We normally park at Beachern Wood Carpark. You follow the campsite road to Over corner carpark at which point you go onto gravel tracks till half a mile from the pub. These are part of the way marked cycle paths as well if you care about that sort of thing.
oooh, do nixie's - the pub at Bank is nice
(unless it's a nice day when you should go to Fritham, obvz (though slightly hillier gravel tracks than most bits of the NF)
*Reads OP properly*
**invents time-machine**
Thanks everyone, we did Nixie's suggestion in the end. All very good except I got lost at one of the gravel cross roads and ended up taking the long way round including a stint on the A35, that didn't go down well and I think was a bit much for the family. It's a pretty quick road, a bit uphill and was no the ideal end to that section of the ride. Still that was on me, I should have looked into the route better,I kind of presumed it would be more straight forward. This just show how much I rely on my Garmin when out riding normally (didn't have it with me for a family bimble).
Anyway, the pub as nice and I spent a bit of time looking into a better, more direct route back and that was great, the kids especially liked seeing the usual NF animals, including a Highland cow.
Thanks again all, my lesson from yesterday is to look at the route before you set off, especially if you have small children and new cyclists with you!
Fritham today, then - Damn, that's a sunny morning out there !
It is looking like a lovely day although I think it'll be a bikeless one
@swdan, sounds like this junction https://goo.gl/maps/2KB2cosqLFP2 and you ended up on the other cycle path that goes west to Rhinefield drive. The A35 is a horrible road to ride on, hopefully it wasn't too traumatic!
That's the one, carried straight on and did a big loop which actually wansnt too bad until we got the road. I did a couple of days work in our "Southampton" office at the beginning of the week to save some leave and drove in on the A35 so knew what it would be like. I'm generally ok with it, I grew up in the country so used to country lanes on a bike bit my wife is only just getting into it and had the 1 year old on the back. She was pretty stressed out which is understandable, I just wish I'd planned the route better. Still it all worked out well in the end and hasn't put her off which is the main thing.
Might head to Hengistbury head tomorrow, weve been there several times before so know the way and we're in Southbourne so that side of town anyway.