Peddars Way

Following as I've been thinking about doing this as an excuse to try and ride more/lose weight.

(my understanding is it would be nicer on a hardtail)

I bikepacked it last summer with my 10 year old son, both of us on hardtails. I had fast rolling 2.6“ WTB Ranger's which were perfect.

You could use a gravel bike but if it hasn't rained for a while there are places with deep sand.

I rode the section around Hunstanton last weekend and can confirm plenty of it is bone dry sand so quite difficult to plough through. That was on my gravel bike. Wider tyres FTW I'd imagine.

We did it last weekend plus a few extra bits. My gravel bike has 2.2 ikons on. But smaller tyres would cope fine. There's not many really sandy bits, the bit near the beginning (Thetford) past the pig field is the worst bit. In the wet the ruts would probably be pretty soggy. There's a lot of ruts.

I'd probably go mtb for comfort as it's very flat and pedally. Not many hills to roll down for a quick rest!

There's a shop and chippy in castle acre about half way. You also go past a couple of churches for water bottle fill ups (can't confirm if there were taps though as carried enough). Cafe by the lighthouse in old Hunstanton.
You go right past mcdons in Swaffham too.

If you need to park near to the start, Tesco in Thetford is on YourParkingSpace app. £6 for 3 days. 5k along a not too busy road to the route.

Thanks for the replies. I may have to re-think my route a bit. There's quite a lot of road at the beginning and end, so I was hoping for the answer "gravel will be fine". The total distance would be ~120 miles (50 road, 50 Peddars way, 20 road).

Ta anyway.

LR

I did it in July 2020 with three others.
One of my mates did it on a proper gravel bike, one did it on a Boardman road bike with large volume tyres (can't remember the exact bike, to be honest) and the other guy did it on a 29er with skinny CX tyres.

I did it on my On One Inbred with rigid fork. I was probably on the least suitable bike.

We started from Thetford station & it ended up being a total round trip of 170km. Gravel bike will be fine - there might be a few bits where you wish for slightly wider tyres, but they won't be long stretches. If i did it again, I'd definitely want something faster rolling than the MTB on mtb tyres...

I rode it 2 years ago from Cambridge https://www.komoot.com/tour/205236993?ref=aso
Both of us were on gravel bikes running 42c

Gravel bike will be fine, there are a couple of sandy sections, and a small hill, then descent just after Castleacre where as you come down descent in ruts, it then kicks you out into a 10m sandy section, but rest of route you'll be absolutely fine if careful.

I live near Castleacre and ride the rougher sections of it all the time on 35c tyres.

When I rode it last summer, the softest sandy bits were un-ridable on 2.1 inch mountain bike tyres, so might as well ride on your gravel bike.

Good news - it sounds like the gravel bike might be OK, especially given the road before and after.
Bad news - I need to get ready for it. I'm having a pretty poor year bike wise (worst for probably the last 6 or so) so I really do need to pull my finger out.

Thanks for all the advice. @ogg I might pinch most of your route. I'm going from North Essex to the Burnhams (Overy Staithe specifically).

Bit of a thread resurrection. I am (was?) planning to do this tomorrow, but its been raining fairly heavily since about 03:00 this morning, and my Strava feed is full of runners getting bogged down in mud.

Is there anyone on here from Thetford upwards who would care to comment on the conditions?

FWIW I'll be on a hardtail (had a 'mare with the gravel bike).

LR

I don't live particularly near Thetford (~50 miles west from there), but have ridden in that part of the world quite a lot.
The ground is sandy & drains pretty well. I imagine that in covered areas there might be standing puddles, but the soil doesn't end up cludgey & slow. It might be a bit grindy & gritty though.

Looks like it's gonna be dry all afternoon & overnight into tomorrow so imagine that a lot of the wet will have drained by then.

I'd crack on with it. There's quite a few road/hardpack sections.

Biggest problem will probably be water on the plants weighing them down & causing them to overhang the path - nettle stings.... When we did the Peddars way a couple of years back it was quite overgrown in a few places - still rideable, just narrow.

The section near Sandringham may be a bit boggy but there's unlikely to be much overgrown as it's been hot, damn hot and dry for the last 2 to 3 months. Bit wet that way today though.

Ta. I aim to crack on then. I'll report back and let you know how I got on.

LR

Hi
As above i live near half way point, it has been raining extremely heavily all day here, weirdly this being Norfolk, that'll probably mean the off road sections will be easier as they drain very well and it will have stopped the dust and sand.

But it does mean that the roads will be covered in crud washed off the banks and fields, which means a lot of small bits of flint. So hopefully your tubeless?

There is also reports of flooding on a number of roads locally.

Other than that, forecast at the moment is OK and dry for tomorrow.

Give me a shout if you get stuck for any reason, it's a fairly straight forward ride.

Will post more fully at some point, but I survived. 106.5 miles

Done, job jobbed.

LR

Nice One! Hope you enjoyed it!

Looking forward to hearing how it went and how it relates to my recollections of riding it this time last year (albeit in two blocks a few days apart rather than all in one go!).

I'd planned to use my Gravel bike with new Hutchinson Override 35mm tyres but I had endless problems with punctures in the "test" rides (just my usual commute to the office) in the week leading up. In the end I took my hardtail, and didn't regret it at any point.

Aside from a few miles at the start, the first 40 miles or so were road, on reasonably quiet lanes (I left just before 06:00). The first proper off-road was the Icknield Way through the King's Forest, and I really liked this. It would be worth further exploration at some point. However, the rain of the previous day had certainly left it mark, and parts were a bit boggy (only one place where I had to get off an push for about 10 yards).

I was heartened that the Peddars Way is more off-road than I was anticipating, though its possible that I was on some of the "wrong" bits, since some is walkers only (I borrowed part of the route from @ogg who posted further up).

I can't really comment on signage, as I was following my Garmin, but it looked to be OK. I had stops at a shop in Barrow, just off the route at about 33 miles, and a shop in Castle Acre, right on the route, at about 80 miles. I passed a couple of other things, but it doesn't have the infrastructure (e.g. Taps) of the SDW.

Overall a nice day, perhaps a bit hillier than I was expecting (and cold for the first 3 hours or so) and TBH, by the time I reached Ringstead and started the last few miles of road to my destination (Burnham Overy Staithe) I'd had enough 😉

https://www.strava.com/activities/7703997585/overview

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions.

Rob

If you had ridden to Clare, you could have got on the Clare to Bury St Edmunds walk approx 19 miles(mostly off-road). Then BSE to West Stow(King's Forest) on tarmac then onto your trail.
Cracking effort.

@ruggerbugger13 Shame about that, it only shows up as a marked trail when I zoom right in on bing.com/maps (with the OS overlay) which is how I plotted the first part of the route.

I see its a mix of footpath and road, what's the situation with riding it (is it "allowed" or even possible?

Rob

It’s mainly footpath & bridleway & the times I’ve ridden no one has complained(I just pull over to let people pass), when you get near BSE there is a tarmac section(not sure exactly how long 4/5miles max) & then approx 10 miles from BSE to Kings Forest.

https://strava.app.link/hLr32tD1Vsb