Cycling in the South of England

pottssteve

Hi,

I've been looking to plan a ride in mainland Europe but the route has changed and may now include the UK.

Our general plan is to cycle to Eurotunnel in Calais, cross the Channel and then ride from Folkestone to Cardiff.

We obviously want to avoid London, 'cos it's the arseh0le of the world, and we want to take a reasonably straight route, crossing into Wales on the Severn Bridge. A rough route would take in Tunbridge Wells - Horsham - Andover - Bath - Bristol.

Obviously we can't use motorways or duel carriageways but we may need to ride on A roads at some points. My question is, are there any particular stretches of road that should definitely be avoided because they are particularly dangerous for cyclists?

Your local knowledge is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

Steve

inkyfingers

Rather than telling you which roads to avoid i'm going to suggest a route through kent and sussex, hope this helps

From Folkestone i'd cycle down to Hythe and onto New Romney and across the Romney Marsh (nice for the seaside and it's flat) then up to Tenterden and on via the picturesque villages of Biddenden, Cranbrook, Goudhurst, Lamberhurst and onto Tunbridge Wells, this route has lovely scenery, few nice hills, oast houses and vineyards. You could either then cut across Sussex to Horsham (via Uckfield anh Haywards Heath, avoiding Crawley) and onto Andover via Midhurst and Winchester which takes you through some lovely places or you could go north and take in the Surrey Hills (part of the Olympic route), but you are likely to spend more time on busy roads going that way and i'd personally take the first option through Sussex.

ugo.santalucia

Have a look here

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/n ... le-network

Hoopdriver

inkyfingers wrote:

Rather than telling you which roads to avoid i'm going to suggest a route through kent and sussex, hope this helps

From Folkestone i'd cycle down to Hythe and onto New Romney and across the Romney Marsh (nice for the seaside and it's flat) then up to Tenterden and on via the picturesque villages of Biddenden, Cranbrook, Goudhurst, Lamberhurst and onto Tunbridge Wells, this route has lovely scenery, few nice hills, oast houses and vineyards. You could either then cut across Sussex to Horsham (via Uckfield anh Haywards Heath, avoiding Crawley) and onto Andover via Midhurst and Winchester which takes you through some lovely places or you could go north and take in the Surrey Hills (part of the Olympic route), but you are likely to spend more time on busy roads going that way and i'd personally take the first option through Sussex.

THis would be a very nice route.

An alternative, if you want to have something else to consider, would be to follow the coast along to Hastings on the National Cycle Route 2 - which cuts across Romney Marsh, very pretty and flat as noted above, and into very beautiful and historic villages of Rye and Winchelsea and on into Hastings. From here there are cycleways along the coast to Bexhill, a very nice country lane to Pevensey and on to Polegate where you could turn turn north and follow the National Cycle Route up to Crowborough and then, essentially, join the route described above - or continue on and over Beachy Head and the South Downs and go at it that way.

Both would be nice - this is just something else to consider. I live in Hastings and ride the roads and lanes around here a lot, all the time, and like them.

pottssteve

Thanks for the replies, guys, and the tips about Romney Marsh. I don't know that area at all.

Having looked at the Sustrans map I might plan to stick to the coast from Folkestone, maybe as far as Southampton and then north via Salisbury. I used to live in Brighton and know the area quite well. However, the stretch from Worthing to Southampton looks a bit patchy - any advice on this section would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

mallinov

Are you sure you can get off the eurotunnel in Folkestone? Pretty sure it's just freight and cars that use eurotunnel - foot passengers have to use Eurostar and get off in Ashford or Ebbsfleet.

pottssteve

mallinov wrote:

Are you sure you can get off the eurotunnel in Folkestone? Pretty sure it's just freight and cars that use eurotunnel - foot passengers have to use Eurostar and get off in Ashford or Ebbsfleet.

I think you're right but our plan is to have a "support vehicle", probably a camper van, to cut down on accommodation costs. We will all pile into it in Calais and hop out again at Folkstone! Same drill for crossing the Severn bridge.

Steve

mallinov

In that case have a lovely ride and watch out for the grass farm that grows the wembley turf on the Marches!

Bobbinogs

Instead of doing the Severn bridge and surrounding area it might be worth considering going up South Glos through Stroud/Dursley and the Cotswolds then across to the Forest of Dean and on into Monmouthshire then drop down towards Newport, etc. That would be a lovely route (many audaxes go the same way). It would add a few miles but they would be great (and lumpy/undulating).

inkyfingers

Bobbinogs wrote:

Instead of doing the Severn bridge and surrounding area it might be worth considering going up South Glos through Stroud/Dursley and the Cotswolds then across to the Forest of Dean and on into Monmouthshire then drop down towards Newport, etc. That would be a lovely route (many audaxes go the same way). It would add a few miles but they would be great (and lumpy/undulating).

Thoroughly agree, that's a lovely part of the world.

NWLondoner

mallinov wrote:

Are you sure you can get off the eurotunnel in Folkestone? Pretty sure it's just freight and cars that use eurotunnel - foot passengers have to use Eurostar and get off in Ashford or Ebbsfleet.

Eurotunnel operate a cycle minibus service between folkstone and Calais

pottssteve

Thank you once again for the advice.

Bobbinigs, yes I agree that this is a lovely part of the world. If we have time it would be nice to go the route you suggest but we might be a bit tight for time at that point - depends how fas we ride from NL.

Cheers,
Steve

PostieJohn

pottssteve wrote:

However, the stretch from Worthing to Southampton looks a bit patchy - any advice on this section would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve

Off the top of my head.
Worthing - Soton, isn't to much of a problem.

The A259 does the early work for you.
You'll be able to drop onto the coast road whenever you want.

You'll have about a mile of A27 on the Chi bypass, before the A259 gets you to Havant.
A little juggling around the A2030 eventually will get you onto the OLD A27 which runs parallel with the M27.

As none of these A roads are the main A to B (A27), they are all quieter than the name suggests.
Plus as I said Worthing to L'ton probably around Soton, too, you can drop down to the Coast road for the scenery.

craker

pottssteve wrote:

We will all pile into it in Calais and hop out again at Folkstone! Same drill for crossing the Severn bridge.

Why would you not cycle over the bridge? I cycle across most days and occasionally meet LEJOGers for whom crossing the bridge has been a highlight of the ride. And some for whom riding on an exposed and windy strip of tarmac adjacent to a motorway was a real let down.

pottssteve

Postiejohn,

Thank you for the route advice. I've only ever been that way in a car so am not familiar with cycle routes. I will take a look at the roads you suggest.

Craker,

I didn't know you could ride across! In that case, we can stay on the bikes (though by that point I might appreciate the rest....)

craker

Right, there's two bridges and you can only cycle over one of them. You can cycle over the old Severn Bridge, which is the one that carries the M48 over the estuary and is the one furthest upstream. Personally I'd rather get to it from north of Bristol, which means going through the Cotswolds and may be a bit out of your way.

Alternatively coming through south of Bristol (eg through Cheddar, over the Avonmouth bridge) is popular but means you've got to negotiate either suburban Bristol or the Avonmouth industrial complex; neither route is ideal but won't take you more than a couple of hours.

Alternatively II, get on the Bath to Bristol cyclepath at the Bath end (traffic free) and come off it somewhere around north Bristol. (Kingswood perhaps).

Pross

About 20 years ago we met a group of cyclists from our French twin town and their German twin town off the ferry in Newhaven and then rode back to South Wales with them over the next 4 days. The route was Newhaven - Southampton, Southampton - Exeter, Exeter - Bristol and Bristol - Abergavenny with stays at youth hostels each night. I can't remember the exact roads (particularly on the first day which was close on 100 miles into a gale!) but it was fairly quiet other than a brief section where we found ourselves on the A27 near Portsmouth which was effectively a motorway! A lovely ride through the New Forest, A35 on down to Lyme Regis and on to Exeter. The next day went up through Somerset and over Cheddar Gorge. Bristol to Cardiff would be a nice easy day, out to the old bridge and then along the Gwent and Wentlooge Levels. Obviously starting further east from Folkestone but would be a reasonable route.

pottssteve

Thanks, Craker,

I'll make sure we get on the right bridge! I suspect we will make a decision based on how much time we have left and how knackered we are by that stage, and also the weather.

Pross,

I think Exeter will be a bit out of our way, though I do like Devon. Looking to do NL to Cardiff in 7 days or so at around 100 - 120km/day. This will probably be enough for us as we are not that young and not that fit.

Any other advice gratefully received.

Steve