Recommended short fun touring ideas to get wife on bike...

[wizardpugh]

Thanks for everyone's ideas. It's great that there's so much help out there! I'm now going to try these ideas out on the other half... Hopefully one of them will be ok.

[Cunobelin]

Late to the party, but to combine aa couple of ideas...

We tend to travel by train to a start point and back from our destination - Eileithyia's suggestion about traveling from home.

Have a look at the CTC's East Anglia route, or the Sustrans Kent routes.

Finally - if you want good views, some excellent cycling and fairly flat - the Sustrans Coast and acstle is superb, or the Hull to Harwich

[Richard Fairhurst]

Just asked my wife (initially a reluctant cyclist, now cycles a lot every day!) which of the tours that we've done - generally on Sustrans routes - she's enjoyed the most. Her recommendations:

- Taff Trail (NCN8 Cardiff-Brecon) - easily her favourite; you'll need at least a hybrid for the forest trail through the Brecon Beacons, though
- Woodstock to Banbury (NCN5)
- Preseli Hills from Fishguard to Carmarthen (NCN47)
- Lower Thames, roughly from Henley to London (NCN4)
- Tiverton to Glastonbury (NCN3)

[brianleach]

How about train to Portsmouth Harbour then ferry to France(Caen) then cycling round Normandy. I did this last August and had great fun. Not many hills as long as you keep largely to the coast

Brian

[Mudman]

How about the 'Isle of Wight'! Easy to access, plenty to do, lovely scenary, and outside of the school holidays relatively quiet.

The Tourist Information offices have good information on cycling around the island, I'm not sure if it's still produced, but they did once supply a little booklet covering 12 cycle routes in and around the island. It cost around £2 and is well worth it.

There are a few hills, and some tough climbs, but with a little planning these are easily avoided. South west of the island's prettiest, thatched cottages, beautiful little villages and lovely country pubs!

I'm sure a few google searches will give you plenty of useful info.

Mudman

[hamster]

Train to Cambridge, then ride and stay in Ely, Wisbech and then King's Lynn, with train back home.

Easy days, cathedrals /NT houses to visit at each, and the railway as a back up if you get sick of it earlier. It's all flat and with a SW prevailing wind it's generally behind you. Put all the panniers on your bike and let your partner ride unladen.

[PW]

Ferry Plymouth - Roscoff, then toss a coin. The North coast is nice for a steady poddle, or you could head SW to Locronan if something prettier is on the agenda. There are hills inland, running W-E from Brest but they are managable if you're not in a hurry. The N coast is flat.

[MarySkater]

Just did the Kennet & Avon canal sustrans route .

I was thinking about suggesting the Thames path. Same principle: if you are following a navigable waterway, you won't be climbing any mountains.

(Hey - Caledonian Canal! Sleeper train to Inverness & ride from there...)

Mary

[jonesec]

Cycle around Lake Constance. Really easy cycling. Accommodation geared up for bikes. Really good value, friendly people, lots of tourist attractions. you can cycle around the entire lake in less than a week at 30-40 miles per day or if your wife gets fed up you can take a ferry across to shorten the route. We did this route as our first experimental cycle tour and it got us hooked. Brilliant route.