Cycling UK Forum

So it seems I'm going to get the first week of July off for cycling. I have 3 choices I've come up with
1. Pennine cycleway
2. Way of the Roses + Walney to Whitby loop starting/ending in York
3. CTC holidays week in the Scottish boarders

I'm leaning towards 1 at the moment. Anyone had experience with It? I'm thinking of something like 60 miles a day all the way down to Ashby. Would the terrain be a problem? I did 50 ish a day last year over the LLC which was fine...

Loved it. It's roughly comparable with Lon Las Cymru in terms of difficulty, but it feels wilder and more epic, particularly in the Northumberland reaches. 50 miles a day was enough for me (on a 60-mile day, I remember the last 10 miles from Buxton to Hebden Bridge being an absolute killer).

Worth taking the unsigned detour over Otterburn Ranges if you can - it's marked on the official Sustrans Pennine Cycleway maps - even though it adds an extra 10 miles and you have to phone up the MOD to check the ranges are open. Upper Coquetdale is utterly lovely.

Did it some years ago, 2010 I think, in March which strated out bad weather but improved as the week went on, doing it again in May with the local CTC group.
If you managed LLC Ok you'll be fine on the PCW. In my opinion/memory (I've done LLC twice) they're about the same level, PCW is longer of course, but I didn't think there was anything as tough as the middle section in Wales. At 50 miles a day, you can take your time and enjoy it, I think our May trip is around the same.
Short write up from a couple of local CTC members who did it last year:
http://www.derbyctc.org.uk/tours-pcw/

Sounds good then. I think I'll go north to south, as I can end at my parents. Also beneficial that Berwick-upon-Tweed is on a direct line from taunton.

So questions,
1. Can you get over the Lambley viaduct now?
2. There's a few offroad looking sections between Harbottle and Wooler, are they doable on a touring bike?

1. Don't think so.

2. When I cycled it on a common or garden Ridgeback hybrid, a good few years ago, the offroad section after Alwinton was a quagmire and worth bypassing. The others were ok. Again, I may be out of date.

1. That's a pain. Will have to change the route.

2. OK, I had already spotted the lane reroute by Alwinton but hadn't quite realised how much of the route between Ingram and Wooler were offroad. Good to know it's doable.

How much of the original signed route can be done a fairly light road bike with 700x28 tyres?

I really like the areas this route goes through and don't want to do C2C again. Way of the roses is a pain for me to get the start/end points.

chris3vic wrote:How much of the original signed route can be done a fairly light road bike with 700x28 tyres?

I really like the areas this route goes through and don't want to do C2C again. Way of the roses is a pain for me to get the start/end points.

From what I can see you have the following sections:
Tissington trail, looks fine.
Just north of Buxton would be a problem but easily bypassed.
Just north of glossop looks bad, just use the A628.
Scammonden reservoir you need to use as it gets you over the m62 probably walking though.
Canal from Foulridge looks fine for the bit marked as a cycle route, not sure about the top section.
South Tyne trail I'm not sure about.
North of Hadrians wall the Wark forest path is not suitable I think.
After that, there's 2 routes by Alwinton, and the top one is not good from what I can see, then there's a few short sections on the way up to Wooler.
There's a few cobbled sections in town that don't sound suitable for any bikes either.

honesty wrote:

chris3vic wrote:How much of the original signed route can be done a fairly light road bike with 700x28 tyres?

I really like the areas this route goes through and don't want to do C2C again. Way of the roses is a pain for me to get the start/end points.

From what I can see you have the following sections:
Tissington trail, looks fine.
Just north of Buxton would be a problem but easily bypassed.
Just north of glossop looks bad, just use the A628.
Scammonden reservoir you need to use as it gets you over the m62 probably walking though.
Canal from Foulridge looks fine for the bit marked as a cycle route, not sure about the top section.
South Tyne trail I'm not sure about.
North of Hadrians wall the Wark forest path is not suitable I think.
After that, there's 2 routes by Alwinton, and the top one is not good from what I can see, then there's a few short sections on the way up to Wooler.
There's a few cobbled sections in town that don't sound suitable for any bikes either.

Valuable info - cheers

Yep, that sounds right to me.

There's a new off-road section just south of Buxton, I believe: don't know what the surface there is like. From Hadfield the south side of the reservoir was better than the north side (which I followed). When the rail trail gives up at Woodhead Tunnel, definitely use the road rather than the off-road section which is near-MTB territory.

South Tyne Trail should be ok on a road bike but you might be more comfortable on the road. Agree that Wark Forest isn't suitable nor the path out of Alwinton. Depending on recent rainfall you might want to stick to the road until Netherton before rejoining. South of Ilderton is rough but short enough to be walkable, north of Ilderton should be ok.

Just writing this makes me want to go and ride it again!

A couple of points from that list

The A 628 near Glossop isn't to be undertaken lightly, although I don't know the specific bit involved here. Highways England are keen to build a motorway between Manchester and South Yorkshire but the A 628 has to do till they decide what they will do about the National Park. I'm not saying that the A 628 is uncycleable, just be aware of the type of road. Very heavy traffic both by number of vehicles and weight of trucks.

I'm a bit unclear about the Scammonden comment. It's a while since I've been on it but unless things have changed, no problems for cyclists other than the road is narrow and used by visitors' cars and bits are steep. That's a case where the nearby A roads don't seem bad as an alternative to skirt the dam on the Manchester end. I've ridden that way plenty of times, but not recently, and I'd not hesitate to use those main roads if I wanted to avoid the road in the Scammonden estate.

I'm just following the sustrans route and seeing where there looks to be bad bits. If there's a better option near Scammoden than the footpath I'm happy to hear it.

As for the a628, as I'm go in North to south, the section I'd use to the tunnel is all downhill, I think if I were going up it I'd be giving serous consideration to walking the Moor path. Even on Google Street view the amount of traffic looks scary.

thirdcrank wrote:....
The A 628 near Glossop isn't to be undertaken lightly, although I don't know the specific bit involved here. Highways England are keen to build a motorway between Manchester and South Yorkshire but the A 628 has to do till they decide what they will do about the National Park. .....

Whats wrong with the M62 or a spur from the M62?

SA_SA_SA wrote: ... Whats wrong with the M62 or a spur from the M62?

I presume you mean for driving between Manchester and Sheffield, rather than to bypass some Pennine Cycleway roughstuff near Glossop.

I wasn't looking for a debate on the road building programme, just noting for a visitor to the area that the A628 is an extremely busy transpennine route and not pleasant for cycling. Different riders' tastes vary and there may be some who think the road is ideal, but I was just offering an alert.

Re the M62, in spite of "improvements" like widening in places and converting the hard shoulder, it's often reduced to a crawl in places by congestion.