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A loop across the Borders, Lakes and North Pennines, starting and finishing at Newcastle Station. West along the Tyne / Hadrian’s Cycleway as far as Wylam, then turning north to join The Reivers Way east of Matfen. Stopped in Matfen for lunch at village shop/café (excellent cheese scones), then west across farm lanes to Bellingham. Lovely wild country but quite a lot of farm gates on this stretch which make progress a bit slow. Tea and excellent carrot cake in the former workhouse in Bellingham, then up past Kielder. As it was late afternoon, we stayed on the fast main road rather than use the lakeside path, and stayed with the on-road route rather than the forestry track through Kielder Forest, very little traffic and good tarmac so we made good time. Up to the pass and then into Scotland, turning south towards Newcastleton. Overnighted at The Grapes in Newcastleton, excellent stop, landlord and staff very helpful, secure bike storage, good food and beer, warm clean rooms with good showers. Fellow reivers from Holland going the other way were also staying there - there's not much accommodation on this part of The Reivers, but the Grapes is good.
Second day south towards Carlisle, very up and down for the first ten miles or so to Bewcastle, before turning towards flatter roads and the Solway Firth. Into Carlisle from the north, via the attractive village of Rockcliffe, lunch at John Watt and Son's teashop (excellent toasted sandwiches and tea). Out of Carlisle south, following the river for a long stretch, before turning west at Hesket Newmarket to cross Caldbeck Common. Sharp squall from the West made the common hard going, but dramatic views up to the Back o’ Skiddaw. Round Bassenthwaite as the squall cleared, through Cockermouth and to Great Broughton, overnighted at the Broughton Craggs Hotel, good bike store and nice staff, but the grand old house is in need of a bit of a refurb.
Third day out to the coast, and along the old railway line path to Whitehaven to meet up with the C2C. Coffees and cake at The Harbourmaster, excellent café overlooking the strangely orange (washout from old iron working) water in the harbour. C2C needs no write-up, but on a day when early rain gave way to clear blue skies, Loweswater, Crummock Water and Whinlatter Forest were all looking brilliant. Old Keswickian chip shop open late and doing good business on Sunday afternoon. East out on the old railway line to Threlkeld, skipped the northern dogleg to Mungrisdale, arriving Penrith early evening, where a streetparty on the permitted route at Newton Rigg were kitted out with cowbells to serenade passing C2Cers! Overnighted at The Shepherds Inn at Langwathby, brilliantly comfortable stop, good food and beer, landlord very helpful and hospitable, turning out early to see us on our way the following morning.
Early start on fourth day to be sure of our train, good weather and a gentle tailwind taking us over the Hartside, Garrigill, Nenthead, Allenheads and Crawleyside climbs (we stayed on the road rather than take the Rookhope off-road section), with glorious high speed drop offs in between. Hard work on the uphills, but vistas are clear, roads are good, and it’s epic cycling. Fell in with a Saddle Skedaddle group on the way up from Allenheads, very jealous of their escorting van with lunch! From Crawleyside onto the Waskerley Way, not paved but very fine gravel suitable good for tourers, so after a morning of climbs, we were quickly and easily down to Consett, Gateshead, across the High Level Bridge and back to the train.
290 miles over 4 days, 5800m of climbing. Both routes, Reivers and C2C are absolute classics, C2C a bit more showy (Lakes/Pennines), Reivers rather more remote and secret. Memorable stuff.
Two days on NCN 41 from Rugby down to Bristol.
Train to Rugby, coffee stop in Warwick at Pastelaria Portuguesa, fish and chips in Stratford at Barnaby's, (eaten on the river bank with a classical guitarist busking), coffee in the Old Post Office in Beckford (they were closing, but stayed open to make us coffee nonetheless), and to The Bell at Tewkesbury for dinner, beers and a massive breakfast, comfortable beds, good showers and bike storage in their courtyard. Took the westerly braid rather than the Cheltenham route, up to the cathedral at Gloucester, then down the canals and lanes towards Avonmouth. Coffee and cakes at Ley Bistro in Frampton on Severn, sunning ourselves on the green. Long stop to allow a herd of friesians to go past, up the Avon Gorge and into Bristol. Trains back to London.
Great route, apart from a slightly grungy stretch through Avonmouth. Quite a lot of unpaved railway and canal track, so 32mm touring tyres probably the minimum - we had a couple of punctures but tyres were past their sell-by date in hindsight. Quiet lanes, lovely views over the gently rolling scenery, succession of nice towns on day one, day two more rural between Gloucester and Avonmouth. Easy going over two days at just over 70 miles per day as not hilly at all. Could be tricky going NE to SW if windy as prevailing wind will funnel up the Bristol Channel, but we were lucky with the weather.
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.
Made in the Cotswolds. Published by Éditions Système D Ltd.
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