Absolutely loving getting back into riding my bike…..my girlfriend is getting more and more into it too (she’s ridden to work for the past two days!)

So, I’ve got a flat bar gravel bike, she’s got a Carrera Subway ebike and we also have a new motorhome to try and put to good use! 2021 will just be UK based overnight stays for us mainly, so I’m after some inspiration for off road/quiet back lane routes to keep us entertained.

There’s parts of the UK that I’ve never been to at all for some reason! North pennines, Yorkshire Dales, Borders….I’m guessing that all have some good stuff to explore?

I don’t mind some climbing and with my gf on an ebike it’s all the same to her. She’s not a fan of technical stuff though, so rocky descents wouldn’t be too welcome. Pub stop/cafe would be nice. Near to a campsite that take a motorhome would be a bonus too. I’m okay with nav and spend a lot of time hiking/scrambling in Wales and the Lakes usually if that makes any difference?!

I live in Skipton, North Yorks, on the edge of the Dales. Plenty of what you are after around here.

Take a look at some of the sustrans routes. There are way marked off Rd rail trail type routes in most parts of the country iirc..

Sustrans

Kiel deer and the reservoir trail is good for a 26 mile gravel type blast. You can overnight in your motorhome in an FE car park for a tenner a night if you’re self contained.

We’ll do the same this yr in our motorhome avoiding the coastal hotspots and taking bikes to some normally quieter places. Look at north Dartmoor, camel trail, taff trail in s wales.. Forest of Dean family bike trail is a nice gravelly blast and can link to some campsites to make a longer ride.

Ooh that sounds good. Will look into Kielder. I never knew that about FE….site prices are absolutely crazy nowadays!

If you decide to come round our way I’m happy to suggest some routes.

That’d be awesome! Looks like a doable drive up from South Cheshire so we’ll almost certainly head up post lockdown!

Some nice stuff in Swaledale and the excellent Dales Bike Centre.

If anyone has any good Dales gravel/quite road routes, would love a link or gpx. It’s close for us. Thanks

New forest

County Durham for huge traffic free sustrans routes

Isle of Purbeck near Bournemouth

Yep, I’m in the new forest and there’s plenty of camping and gravel here. Also trips into purbeck are all doable from here. Might be busy in purbeck/ nf this summer if last yr was anything to go by.

There’s a lot of good gravel double track and ex railway lines in Dorset outside the purbeck area as well.

I quite fancy trying some of the Devon routes with the wife and kids this summer and stay away from the coast for a change.

Gravel/hybrids are great on the crappy roads we have here. They’re are lots of lovely quiet lanes between Tebay and Carlisle on the East side of the M6