100 mile in a day - route suggestions.

[Biscuit]

I want to do a 100 miles in a day, so far so good. I have just completed IOW 'randonnee' at av 10.7 mph equally good. My need is for a route - probably circular, away from the madding crowds (within reason in our over crowded isle), ideally with less climb than IOW but not flat, probably on a sat' (May 30th), start point 2-3 hrs of Swindon. I will almost certainly be camping using my ICE Qnt.

I thought about the starting from my front door but madding crowd and camping would not be met, thought about 'round Bristol' route bout 80 miles but could add the Bristol Bath path to up it - however that nullifies the madding crowd bit, thought about riding round Dorney lake 30 odd times thought about Wareham to Lymington - ferry - IOW ferry Portsmouth then to S/hampton.......thought about lots of places but nowhere seems to 'click'.

I guess I could ride the big then the small route on the IOW but then that would be the climb bit nullified....

Any suggestions V welcome, I'm sure I will settle on somewhere........... eventually

[hamster]

How about one of the Audax UK permanents around the New Forest? Nice scenery, plenty of places to eat, not too hilly.
A search on Bikely would probalby even reveal the route to you!

[Wildduck]

One of the audaxes out of Pamber Heath this weekend?

[Mick F]

When I was stationed in Portsmouth, I had a "London to the South Coast" map by AtoZ. I still have it somewhere, I love maps!

I drew a set of circles with a radius from Portsmouth of 10 miles, 25 miles and 50 miles. I know these were "as the crow flies", but it gave me a good idea of the out and back distance I could do during my days off. Brighton hit the 50 quite nicely, so I rode there and back a few times. Other times, I went out to Salisbury or the New Forrest, though never made it to the IOW.

Can you do a radius of 50 on a map and see what comes up?

[Kevbcbga]

I do a route from home which goes out at 6 miles in one direction and then runs in a circle from there. The total mileage is around 50 and I'm never more than around 6 - 7 miles from home. For a 100 miler I would go out around 10 - 12 miles and then circle from there. The big advantage is that you can use lots of small lanes that connect the aterial routes and only have to cross the major route rather than ride along them. I've found mapmyride great for checking out the hills as well.

[Biscuit]

Some good ideas - I like the radius plan, shame though that Swindon will be at the center of my radius I shall spend the weekend planning somewhere away from madding crowd but with a 'radius' in mind.

[AndyK]

Some good ideas - I like the radius plan, shame though that Swindon will be at the center of my radius I shall spend the weekend planning somewhere away from madding crowd but with a 'radius' in mind.

You are kidding, surely? One of the great things about living in Swindon is that it's slap bang in the middle of some fantastic cycling country. (The other great things are the Beehive pub and - er - well, let's move on.)

A 100 mile loop around Swindon could take in the gentle lanes around Malmesbury, the lower Cotswolds (Quenington, Lechlade, Bampton etc.), the upper Thames valley, the Vale of the White Horse, the Marlborough Downs, the Vale of Pewsey.. .a whole network of minor roads with little traffic and a variety of idyllic scenery.

Draw a circle round Swindon on your map, and you're almost ready to start. How to get out of town depends which side of town you live on, but from the west or the centre I'd probably follow the cycle routes out west to Malmesbury then head clockwise. If you're on the east side, try leaving town via Wanborough.

[Biscuit]

Well, AndyK - I see your point, however when you have driven round all the areas you mention for 12 years (ambulance service) it may be a bit of 'familiarity breeds contempt'......... Equally as far as I am concerned the areas you list are OK and fab depending on which you mention. I can go there any day though. Ta for the input tho' I will save swindon for another 'special day'

[pq]

I like one way train assisted rides because you get to ride in new places with a tailwind. Not sure about precise mileages or train routes in your part of the world, but I do know that the ride through Wiltshire and Hampshire to the south coast is great if you stick to unclassified roads and would be roughly 100 miles. The wind is more likely to be blowing from the south west, so get a train in that direction to the coast and ride home. If there's a north wind, ride to the coast and get the train home.

[peter236uk]

I enjoy riding on my own most of the time I can please myself then either have a blast or just take my time and stop and look at things as I wish' the other day I went out as had day off work only did around 35 miles and took most of the morning but stoped for coffee had a look in couple of shops and then at a old building just chilled really.
I also ejoy using the train as well to get to different places and then ride back if I canor catch the train depends on the mood.

Pete

[PBA]

Just taking the idea of a circular route a little bit further. If you are at the centre of the circle you would need to ride our for one radius distance, then do the circumference followed by the same radius home. Given that there are no roads running exactly parallel to the theoretical circle there would be an amount of "give and take" - bust mostly "take". Assuming that this extra distance adds 30% the radius of the circle would need to be 9.3 miles!

An alternative would be to do a semi-circle. For that you would need to cycle out about 15miles but you would return from the opposite direction, meaning you no longer need to be at the exact centre of the route. It looks like there are some interesting places not much further than 15 miles from Swindon. Of course I don't have your knowledge of the area, but it's often a totally different feeling being in familiar surroundings but on the bike...

[beachcomber]

I drew a circle with my house at the centre. As I live on the sea front half the ride was 'on' water. Could I do this by pedalo or wouldn't that count?

[PBA]

I drew a circle with my house at the centre. As I live on the sea front half the ride was 'on' water. Could I do this by pedalo or wouldn't that count?

You could do the semi-circle entirely by pedalo. A pedalo counts as a cycle?

[Biscuit]

All good, ta for the input.

[pete75]

I drew a circle with my house at the centre. As I live on the sea front half the ride was 'on' water. Could I do this by pedalo or wouldn't that count?

You could do the semi-circle entirely by pedalo. A pedalo counts as a cycle?

When the TdF started in London I was most dissapointed they didn't use pedalos to cross the channel