What MTB or bike packing routes would you recommend for a beginner?

I did the rebellion way with my son when he was 12, nice and scenic, pretty flat, inon technical was good, it's a a 3 or 4 day easy ride.

After not throwing a leg over a bike in probably 25 years or more, I started out doing towpath runs. It's about as gentle an off-road as you'll get (canals aren't known for their hills) and it's a more scenic way of building fitness than a turbo trainer.  It's easy to build up mileage because you just increase the distance you go out before turning round.

From there I moved to well-manicured trail centres with graded routes so I knew what I was getting into.  I could build confidence and ability in a controlled manner so that if I did later happen across something unexpectedly gnarly in the wild I stood a fighting chance of not hospitalising myself.

What's available near you, I couldn't say.  Doesn't Birmingham have more miles of canal than Venice, or have I just made that up?

For something to work towards, the Peddars Way in Norfolk is quite a good one although is an out & back.

Ride to Hunstanton, stay over, ride back. A few undulations, but not hilly and the east of England gets low levels of rainfall.

We did it a few years ago in a single day, starting from Thetford rail station. The last 20km or so were a bit of an effort, but I didn't fuel very well.

"Midlands" covers an awfully big area... 

It's possible to link some of the old railway trails in the Peak District together (High Peak trail, Tissington Trail, Monsal Trail, etc) to form bigger loops. Some of the old mine-related railways in North Notts have also been gravel-surfaced (eg Tibshelf - Pleasley - Skegby)  Or ride from Southwell up to Sherwood Pines, perhaps.  

As noted above, many canal towpaths are rideable, albeit often limited to out-and-back.  I've recently had a spin along the Erewash Canal near to Ilkeston. I'm lucky enough to live near the Mon & Brec, but that's getting a bit beyond the Midlands.

If you're more the Hereford/Worcester side of Birmingham, then the Forest Of Dean has a good selection of gravel tracks, plus some more technical riding to graduate onto. 

Sustrans have a mapping tool on their website which might give some ideas.  Routes seem to be colour-coded for traffic-free and on-road rather than by surface type, but it's a starting point.

Posted by: philo

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"Midlands" covers an awfully big area... 

 

I'm actually in Leamington but am prepared to travel as ideally would like to combine getting out on my bike more with using my camper van more this year! Now the kids are grown up I 'should' have more opportunities.

Have a look on the CTC site for bikepacking routes.  

King Alfred's Way has been done <24h, but more realistically it's 2 fit days, 3 long days or 4-5 casual days*.  How technical it is divides opinion, I've seen people go full Karren that it's irresponsible to suggest it's suitable for anything less than FS MTB's, and I've seen people doing it on CX bikes with 32c tyres.

*and a few longer, but I begin to think they must be getting bored in the other 20 hours of the day because it's only ~20hours moving time.

I did the Grand Union canal to London over two days quite a few years ago now. 

I did it from Leamington because that's where I live, but it starts in Birmingham (and that bit I missed has always niggled me) 

Much of it is really scenic and because of where the canals go, you can pretty much go as far as you want and bail to a train station and get home. 

I did it in two days, staying mid way in Milton Keynes which was about 60 odd miles each day. 

If I did it again I'd probably do it in 3 days and camp anywhere along the route. 

The canal is 'fiat ' yes, but certainly not always easy going. A lot of it is basically just a muddy track and beats you up for such a sustained ride. 

Nice trip though and a good one to start on closer to home maybe.

How about starting with a supported event like this one?

The Headwaters Trail

https://yorkshiredivide.co.uk/yd-350