Penzance to Canterbury--any routes? not sustrans please!!

wyadvd

Hi!
In March I'm planning to meet my two teenage sons in Penzance and cycle up to Canterbury (where I live). Hopefully this will take around a week. Im fit (commute 30 miles round trip 6 days a week) The 15 year old is a very keen Baseball/ soccer player and loves cycling, the 13 year old is not particularly fit and will need some motivational "talking to" en route. Am I wrong in assuming 60-80 miles a day is a reasonable target? anyone done a similar distance under similar circumstances?

A suggested route would be nice. Im not hung up on being "traffic free" or national cycling route limitted. just a nice reasonably direct but pleasant route!

Trouble is with the sustrans is they wiggle around like a snake! must double the mileage!

MichaelW

The South Downs Way is probably worth a look. It ends in Eastbourne from where you can ride across Pevensey Marshes to Hastings, then to Rye and NE across Romney Marshes, to Canterbury.

The problem with a more Northerly direct route is that you run into Stockbroker belt which is pretty but not so nice for cycling and can get very steep around the North Downs.

dodgy

Up to 80 miles a day sounds way too much for a not particularly fit 13 year old! And also, you can be fit in your own sport, but it doesn't necessarily transfer to cycling.

But I guess you know your son well enough to make the call

pneumatic

dodgy wrote:

Up to 80 miles a day sounds way too much for a not particularly fit 13 year old! And also, you can be fit in your own sport, but it doesn't necessarily transfer to cycling.

But I guess you know your son well enough to make the call

I took my boy touring when he was 13. I took all the luggage; he just had his bike and himself to worry about. He is one of those kids who is naturally gifted at all sports, physically active all the time and pretty good, in particular, at football, tennis & running. (By the way, he did not get any of that from his Dad! :oops: )

Anyway, the point is, that we did only about 50 miles together as a round trip and camped overnight, which we enjoyed, but it was clear to me that he was deeply knackered at the end of it. Of course he bounced back, but I am not sure I could have got him back on the bike seven days in a row.

wyadvd

thankyo for those replies, all very usseful thankyou. especially the last one from pneumatic!

andymiller

Sorry but IME it simply isn't true that Sustrans routes 'wiggle around like a snake'. Yes there are times when they don't take the most direct route - but that's usually because the most direct route is a busy road, or because the NCN takes you somewhere more interesting. Where there is a reasonable and interesting direct route the NCN takes it.

The Sustrans routes also often follow traditional touring routes - so they represent a lot of accumulated wisdom.

Why not set your prejudices to one side and check out at the routes taken by the NCN - there's nothing in the Book of Rules that says you have to blindly follow them - if there are points where you think there's a more direct option then there's nothing stopping you taking it.

MichaelW wrote:

The South Downs Way is probably worth a look. It ends in Eastbourne from where you can ride across Pevensey Marshes to Hastings, then to Rye and NE across Romney Marshes, to Canterbury.

The SDW is a lovely route (if you have an off-road capable bike) but probably too much climbing for the 13 year-old. So probably the options are to follow the South Downs escarpment on its northern side or along the coast. There might be similar issues elsewhere on the route - eg head inlond for a longer but flatter route or stay closer to the coast where it is hillier.