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A sixty four mile loop from Sandy, starting westward on the old railway line to Bedford, crossing the Great Ouse for the first time on the lovely single track bridge at Great Barford. Then north towards St Neots with its handsome main square (crossing the Great Ouse for the second time), and north through the Offords to Godmanchester, passing Farm Hall of atom bomb fame. Into St Ives (best crossing of the Great Ouse on St Ives' fine medieval bridge), and east onto the old railway to Cambridge, paralleling the self-driving bus route and crossing the Great Ouse for the final time as it turns north away from its joyful meanders and towards its sad straight canalised channel to The Wash. Down the west side of Cambridge, good views across the Backs, thence to Barton (stopping at The Coffee Shed), through handsome Barrington (longest village green in Europe!), Orwell, through the grounds of Wimpole Hall, up Croydon Hill and around the park at Hatley St George. Gamlingay (hot chocolate and cake at LJ’s Sandwich Bar, good bike parking round the back), and round a few more country houses and well planted parks back into Sandy. Good variety of towns and country, best countryside the southern leg from Wimpole back to Sandy, nice rolling ridges, lots of woods, and very little traffic. A pleasant square of quiet roads and countryside nestled between the larger towns and main roads.
Used Six Castles Cycleway to go from Shrewsbury as far south as Ludlow, then cut cross country to overnight in Tenbury Wells, before heading back up to Shrewsbury via Cleobury Mortimer, Much Wenlock and Ironbridge.
In early October, quite a lot of mud on the roads as farmers got winter crops into the ground, and following heavy rain, there was a lot of surface water on some of the lanes as well. Generally the C-Road quality was pretty poor even by UK standards, we were glad to be on robust tourers with treaded 32mm tyres: skinny slicks would have been a nightmare on the hillier parts of the Six Castles and where farm vehicles have churned up the road surfaces.
Climbs around Churchstoke and Bishops Castle are serious but quite feasible with laden tourers, and the views from the tops are well worth the efforts. The same applies to the hills out of Ludlow, although again, some of the road surfaces in the Mortimer Forest leave quite a lot to be desired.
Bishops Castle and Ludlow both good stops with cakes and coffee readily available. Bishops Castle more characterful, Ludlow more conventional.
Once out of the Mortimer Forest, it was comparatively fast across the Teme floodplains to Tenbury Wells, where we stayed at The Bridge Hotel (good beds, burgers, beer, and a Beatles connection).
From Tenbury we headed East and then North East to Cleobury, very hilly countryside, with lots of short sharp climbs and descents. Once north of Cleobury it started to smooth out, with good fast roads to Much Wenlock, where the Barrow St Café is a good stop. Again smooth and quick to Ironbridge, and then along the Severn through Roman Wroxeter and back into Shrewsbury.
Six Castles is a good route, through some quiet and beautiful countryside peppered with interesting towns and historic sites. Plenty to see if taking it more slowly than we did. Surfaces detract a bit in places (you have to keep an eye on the road at all times), and as Richard notes, Shropshire is “not flat”: we climbed 2900m in two days, Six Castles alone is 1900m of that.
Agree with other riders that this is an excellent route - full marks to the planners and markers. Good quiet paths and roads, fabulous scenery, lots of historical interest, nicely spaced stops either overnight or for pitstops.
Out from Morecambe and Lancaster along old railway routes and the River Lune-side cyclepaths, then threading quiet lanes between the Dales and the Bowland Fells along the Craven fault, before dipping into the lovely Dales Towns of Clapham and Settle. Fairly stiff climbs out of Settle and Appletreewick (13%), but worth it for the wild moorland, long views and very few cars on the tops, as well as the long drop offs on the downhills.
From Pateley Bridge there's a bit more hilly stuff as you come round Brimham Rocks, but then a total shift of mood as you coast through the deer park at Studley Royal, and down into Ripon. East of Ripon it's flat Vale of York villages and lanes, with a bit of paralleling the East Coast mainline. Boroughbridge a good mid point. Ride into York is a little bit frustrating (narrow, poorly tarmac'd cycle paths) but then you circuit the Minster, and out through Stamford and towards Pocklington it opens up again. East of Pocklington the Millington Pastures are a cyclists' delight, quiet chalk valleys winding slowly upwards, a snappy hairpin, and then a long, glorious descent to Driffield which we relished on a later summer afternoon with wind and sun behind us. Last leg to Bridlington easy and well routed.
We did in just over two days, first day to just under 70 to Pateley (stayed at the Crown - good bike storage and beer, but breakfast only starts at 09.00 on weekends), and second day 89 to Driffield (Hotel 42 - nice staff and rooms, but food a bit blah), with a final early morning of the last 20 to Bridlington and then we cut away south west to Hull for trains. Turning off the route at Bridlington was a good reminder how well planned the route is (there are few options other than A roads to head south immediately from Bridlington, it gets better after Hornsea, but the railway line from Hornsea to Hull is quite rutted), and also what a difference a following wind makes - this is definitely a West to East run when the wind is westerly. Famous village shop in Clapham, Cafe Plenty in Boroughbridge and Swirls Gelato in Pocklington make good pitstops.
Two dayer from Bristol Temple Meads to Bournemouth in February 2024.
Day One a good cycle route out of Bristol towards the Mendips and down a ferocious hill into Wells, but the quiet road (NCN3) between Wells and Glastonbury was under nearly a foot of flood water for nearly a mile after Launcherley where it crossed the levels - as we'd got that far and the road was dead straight, we just went gingerly through it, hoping that there were no hidden dips (there weren't). Then south to the rolling hills round Cadbury Camp, down to Sherborne, and into the Helyar Arms in East Coker to dry feet and warm up. Great pub.
Day Two soft rain as we started south down the beautiful Frome Valley, with some lovely cycle track stages, round Poundbury and into Dorchester for coffees, east with the Frome again to Moreton, and then south across the heath and dry valleys to Lulworth. At the coast we were faced with cold heavy rain and a fierce headwind, so buckled down over the Lulworth Range Road to Corfe, across the nature reserves to Studland and ultimately the chain ferry to Bournemouth, where we thawed out in the Starbucks in the Station, dripping gently whilst awaiting the train to London.
A great two-day trip at about 120 miles, with lovely cycling and scenery and a succession of beautiful towns and villages, but we were chancing our arm touring it in February and didn't quite get away with it - first the flooding in Somerset, and then the sharp change in the weather which meant the coastal stretch from Lulworth to Bournemouth turned into an endurance race against hypothermia even with high end winter cycling kit.
A three day run from London to friends near the Humber, trying to weave together a route away from major roads with the aid of cycletravel.com’s algorithm. Started out from London on the old A1 as far as Brookmans Park, then NNE through pleasant rolling countryside to the east of Stevenage. NE from Ashwell towards Wimpole and through the park in front of the house (famous for its Soane plunge bath and the probably apocryphal tale of the last chateleine’s revenge picnic), before hitting the Blue Lion in Hardwick for a hearty lunch on what had turned into a grey, windy day. Round the NW of Cambridge, with a short stretch of the butter smooth cycle route which runs alongside the dedicated bus-track to St Ives, and across the first proper lowland stretch to Sutton. NW for a wearying couple of miles into the teeth of the wind to Chatteris, ready for the very comfortable and friendly Bramley House Hotel and a good curry at the Spice Lounge.
Day two better weather, north to March, round the prison, NE to Wisbech and joined the NCN1, which we followed through a succession of towns and past very large Cambridgeshire churches to Holbeach, where we stopped for excellent toasted sandwiches and cakes at Café Aurora. Across the Welland at Fosdyke and north across the flattest and lowest land in Britain to Boston, commenting on the many middle-aged men passing their time sitting in white Vauxhall Astras looking at endless views of cabbage fields (very odd). Into Boston to the foot of the Stump, then out of town on the wonderful cycle path along the Witham, passing the landmark Witham and Blues Club on the B1192 before heading round the west of Coningsby (home to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight) and Tattershall with its fabulous brick-built keep. To Woodhall Spa for beer, food and sleep at the Dower House Hotel, brilliantly comfortable and friendly, but sadly too many braying golfers coming back late for an undisturbed good night’s sleep (the alternative Petwood Hotel has the unmissable 617 Squadron Bar with some epic memorabilia including a large chunk of Russian pine tree acquired inadvertently during a Tirpitz raid, but no rooms available for our dates).
Day 3 better weather again, From Woodhall to Lincoln, following the river most of the way (there’s a short dogleg away at Bardney, apparently because of an industrial plant built right next to the river). We’d first sighted Lincoln Cathedral on day two when we were still south of Woodhall, visible all the way along the river, until it is suddenly looming overhead. Into Lincoln and we took the scenic direct route up Steep Hill (no kidding, especially after sixteen or so miles of flat river cycling) to stop in the fantastic Cathedral Close before running out of town to the NNE and speeding through prosperous farmland and handsome farmhouses towards Market Rasen, Walesby, a short sharp climb onto the Wolds, and north to our finish.
A good fun trip, but not a great cycle, the Herts and Cambs stretches are too commuterville, whilst the long straight stretches along dykes and rivers in North Cambs and South Lincs can get a bit repetitive (especially into the wind), but some nice towns and a great Cathedral city, with the countryside and the cycling getting much more interesting and attractive north of Lincoln.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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