UK weekend route suggestion

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
JayM
Posts: 27
Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 2:16pm

UK weekend route suggestion

Post by JayM »

Hello!

I am planning a weekend of cycling and looking at routes. I would love to go point-to-point. Can anyone suggest a route that:
- starts at a UK rail station
- ends at a DIFFERENT rail station
- is somewhere between 25 and 50 miles long
- is suitable for a tourer bike
- is pleasant/interesting?

All suggestions welcome! The best I've found so far is Jack Thurston's "Escape Velocity" Birmingham to Warwick route from Lost Lanes Central.m. Reading to Oxford is also a contender but the hills are scary!
Jdsk
Posts: 24636
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by Jdsk »

Welcome.

Please can I check if this genuine.

Thanks

Jonathan
JayM wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 2:22pm Reading to Oxford is also a contender but the hills are scary!
Screenshot 2023-01-27 at 15.08.00.png
JayM
Posts: 27
Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 2:16pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by JayM »

The post is genuine. I am also genuinely put off by the climb to Stoke Row!
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by Jdsk »

Thanks.

What sort of cycling would you enjoy... quiet roads or paths without any motorised traffic?

I'm in South Oxfordshire, very near that route. The train lines from Reading to Oxford and from Oxford to Evesham would work well for access.

Have you found cycle.travel? It's a brilliant planning tool.
https://cycle.travel

Jonathan
JayM
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Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 2:16pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by JayM »

Quieter but I realise it's impossible to go more than 5 miles traffic free!
simonhill
Posts: 5226
Joined: 13 Jan 2007, 11:28am
Location: Essex

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by simonhill »

Do you need a predefined published route?

If it was me I'd find a couple of convenient stations for my home and a railway that takes bike.

Then get a couple of Ordnance Survey maps that covered the area. 1:50,000. Buy or borrow from library.

Plan a route. This will then be your route.

Alternatively if you want GPS routing, use cycletravel.

Planning a route aka going for a ride is all part of the fun and is easy to do.
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by thirdcrank »

Have you really thought this through? Finding railway stations eg 25 to 50 miles apart shouldn't be too hard and a flat route between them ought to be feasible.

Finding railway stations served by a cycle-carrying service, especially a reliable service for your journey home is a different matter. With brass knobs on if you are travelling some distance by train to your cycle route
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by Jdsk »

JayM wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 3:56pm Quieter but I realise it's impossible to go more than 5 miles traffic free!
Have a look at Sustrans route 544 and the Hanson Way:

https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-rout ... route-544/
https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-rout ... anson-way/

Jonathan
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MrsHJ
Posts: 1823
Joined: 19 Aug 2010, 1:03pm
Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by MrsHJ »

Might be too far away for you but Barnstaple (get there by train from Exeter) to either Okehampton or Plymouth on the Devon C2C is a nice ride. The Okehampton station has recently been reinstated to a regular service.

The Okehampton and Barnstaple trains are both no booking I think but GWR or Cross country out of Exeter to wherever home is will probably need reservations.
Last edited by MrsHJ on 27 Jan 2023, 5:04pm, edited 2 times in total.
JayM
Posts: 27
Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 2:16pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by JayM »

thirdcrank wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 4:36pm Have you really thought this through?

Finding railway stations served by a cycle-carrying service, especially a reliable service for your journey home is a different matter. With brass knobs on if you are travelling some distance by train to your cycle route
Thanks for all the interest. thirdcrank, do you know if any carriers are especially good or bad? It's a while since I've taken my bike on the train but I remember it being straightforward as long as you did it outside peak.
JayM
Posts: 27
Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 2:16pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by JayM »

Jdsk wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 3:30pm Thanks.



Have you found cycle.travel? It's a brilliant planning tool.
https://cycle.travel

Jonathan
Embarrassingly, I had not used cycle.travel!

Have people found that it's suggested routes usually differ from Komoot or Cyclestreets?
JayM
Posts: 27
Joined: 27 Jan 2023, 2:16pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by JayM »

Jdsk wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 4:44pm
JayM wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 3:56pm Quieter but I realise it's impossible to go more than 5 miles traffic free!
Have a look at Sustrans route 544 and the Hanson Way:

https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-rout ... route-544/
https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-rout ... anson-way/

Jonathan
Didcot seems to be the hub of quiet cycling! I guess I could combine those two routes to do Oxford to Wantage...
thirdcrank
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Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by thirdcrank »

JayM wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 5:03pm
Thanks for all the interest. thirdcrank, do you know if any carriers are especially good or bad? It's a while since I've taken my bike on the train but I remember it being straightforward as long as you did it outside peak.
Carriage of cycles by train has been a frequent topic on here and there are others with much more experience than I have. A more explicit thread title might have attracted the attention of "bikes on trains" gurus.
Jdsk
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Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by Jdsk »

JayM wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 5:03pm ...
It's a while since I've taken my bike on the train but I remember it being straightforward as long as you did it outside peak.
You do need to check in detail, and don't expect any consistency. But for the lines I mentioned above I'd expect it to be OK outside peak times.

Jonathan
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Traction_man
Posts: 326
Joined: 10 Jan 2020, 5:30pm
Location: Bangor NI

Re: UK weekend route suggestion

Post by Traction_man »

JayM wrote: 27 Jan 2023, 3:56pm Quieter but I realise it's impossible to go more than 5 miles traffic free!
for some quieter (eg off road) routes I like to use Gravel Map--

https://gravelmap.com/#6.43/51.727/-2.376

--for planning, it is crowdsourced and folks upload what they've done.

enjoy your cycle wherever you end up :-)
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