If Europe's out where in the UK??

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
markjohnobrien
Posts: 1037
Joined: 4 Oct 2007, 8:15pm

Re: If Europe's out where in the UK??

Post by markjohnobrien »

simonhill wrote:Easy Anglia may be worth a look. It is close to NL and B (tee hee), but the cycling is not as safe or well signposted. You can find plenty of quiet roads to cycle, but you are always at risk of ending up on a B road that has fast and fairly heavy traffic.

Careful route planning can avoid, but some of the roads may then be a bit substandard. I speak as someone who has ridden some awful roads on the National Cycle routes in Suffolk. Nonetheless well worth a look for you. No major hills and some great scenery - coastal and rural, not to mention plenty of old historic towns.

As soon as we get some set weather after lockdown lifts, I'm off for a mini Travelodge tour of Norfolk and Suffolk.

A somewhat biased Essex Boy.


As a biased East Midlander, but living in the South East, I was very surprised (when doing the Dunwych Dynamo in 2016) at how beautiful parts of the routes were in the countryside I.e, in and close to Essex as it has a poor reputation.

Lots of beautiful villages along the whole Suffolk route and Sudbury in Suffolk is a million times better than Sudbury in London. The area is incredibly Anglo-Saxon as there are myriad Hams (denoting an Anglo-Saxon settlement) as opposed to Viking Burghs in other parts of the country and you cannot get a more Anglo-Saxon name than Saxmundham! And not forgetting that Sutton Hoo is nearby.

All in all, a cracking bit of the country to cycle around.
Raleigh Randonneur 708 (Magura hydraulic brakes); Blue Raleigh Randonneur 708 dynamo; Pearson Compass 631 tourer; Dawes One Down 631 dynamo winter bike;Raleigh Travelogue 708 tourer dynamo; Kona Sutra; Trek 920 disc Sram Force.
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: If Europe's out where in the UK??

Post by Jdsk »

We cycled through some of Essex to get us to London after a tour of East Anglia. Had thought of it as just a route that needed to be done but very pleasantly surprised by both the villages and the countryside.

And the Lee Valley route to Stratford was fast and convenient.

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Jonathan
willem jongman
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Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: If Europe's out where in the UK??

Post by willem jongman »

I loved cycling around Cambridge when we were living there. The ride between Cambridge and the Harwich ferry is also very nice and one I have done many times. The tricky bit with route planning is the different origins of major roads compared to much of Europe. In Europe those were often laid on top of an existing road system and therefore left the latter intact for cyclists. In the UK many major roads grew organically out of existing roads, so the smaller roads are often not well integrated anymore. You really have to plan a bit more carefully. But it is worth it. One of my tricks has been to use a car road planner and set it for shortest distance. That almost invariably takes you to on small roads. But watch out for the odd stretch of major road.
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mjr
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Location: Norfolk or Somerset, mostly
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Re: If Europe's out where in the UK??

Post by mjr »

Jdsk wrote:And the Lee Valley route to Stratford was fast and convenient.

I'd say it's good between Cheshunt and Enfield Island. South of there, it's a boulder-infested gravel towpath with frequent too-narrow congested bits and occasional "brick rung" stretches leading to Stratford not central London, so I'd cut across west to Enfield and the new north end of Cycle Superhighway 1 (and the gap just south of the N Circular can be bridged using parallel side roads to the west if you don't feel like brazening it out).
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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