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Swanage area what bike

edhornbyedhornby Posts: 1,780
edited February 2014 in Road general
Ok, I'm doing a family holiday in Swanage and am taking a bike but only have room for one (me and MrsEd and 2 kids in a hatchback) so do I take my road bike or mountain bike? I'm thinking road because most of it looks like footpath that will be crammed with walkers so not worth belligerently riding where I'm not supposed to..

any tips? any good routes?
"I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
--Jens Voight

Posts

  • Dorset_BoyDorset_Boy Posts: 5,006
    Take your road bike - the cliffs are falling into the sea, so sections of coastal path with probably be closed and full of walkers if not!

    Plenty of good rides - check out the Jurassic Beast routes for example to get you going, or head towards north Dorset and enjoy the varied routes up Bulbarrow, and the last part up through Milton Abbas from the Hambro Arms to the cross roads.
  • darkhairedlorddarkhairedlord Posts: 7,168
    Road bike.
    A good circular ride out would be up to ulwell gap, hang a left to corfe castle, up to wareham then out to wool, down to lulworth cove for a pint. Back to corfe along the firing ranges trying not to get shot before heading up kingston hill and out to the square and compass for swift half before rolling back to swanage. Variations include routes up to bulbarrow, milton abbas, puddletown piddlehinton etc as noted above.
  • stifflersmomstifflersmom Posts: 177
    Road bike for sure. The coastal path is not a bridleway. The Square and Compass at Worth Matravers is fantastic, especially at Sundown. There is a natural tidal pool at Dancing Ledge which is relaxing after a day riding in the Purbecks.I can also recommend the Dorset apple cake at the Corfe Castle Model Village tearoom.
  • iPeteiPete Posts: 6,076
    stifflersmom wrote:
    Road bike for sure. The coastal path is not a bridleway. The Square and Compass at Worth Matravers is fantastic, especially at Sundown. There is a natural tidal pool at Dancing Ledge which is relaxing after a day riding in the Purbecks.I can also recommend the Dorset apple cake at the Corfe Castle Model Village tearoom.

    A massive +1
  • edhornbyedhornby Posts: 1,780
    thanks guys, I had a feeling that the coastal path wasn't a PROW - good tips for routes thanks :) will check out the Square and Compass
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • jotkojotko Posts: 457
    stifflersmom wrote:
    The Square and Compass at Worth Matravers is fantastic, especially at Sundown.

    My favourite pub in the world.

    The climb up past the Scott arms from Corfe side is pretty brutal as well, you have earned pint or two when you get to the pub!

    Steep bit - http://www.strava.com/segments/1059144
    strava - http://app.strava.com/athletes/1217847
    trainerroad - http://www.trainerroad.com/career/joeh
  • vimfuegovimfuego Posts: 1,783
    Agree with all of the above - I always take my road bike when we holiday down there. Loads of great routes out and back from Swanage taking in Corfe and Lulworth ranges too (as above, check out the Jurassic Beast route - http://www.ukcyclingevents.co.uk/events as it takes in some good climbs).

    With that said, there is also some good trail riding even if you ignore the coastal path (which isn't bridleway) so a MTB would be good value there too (Corfe to Old Harry via Ballard Down for example - worth a pint or two at the Bankes Arms when you get there). TBH though, the road routes are too much fun to ignore.

    Happy riding
    CS7
    Surrey Hills
    What's a Zwift?
  • Rico1983Rico1983 Posts: 5
    I misread this as "Swansea area" and got quite excited and was ready to proffer some advice... :oops:
  • Monty DogMonty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Pretty good MTB in the area IME - roads can be narrow and quite busy, depending on time of year - best seek the advice of Charlie the Bikemonger in Swanage for route advice - he has hire bikes too and might let you borrow a fat bike.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • peggrinderpeggrinder Posts: 29
    When you're done with Swanage , Lulworth , Wool , etc put the bike on the car & come on up to Portland, stretch your calf muscles & do the Abbotsbury hill & back run...put sum jizzel in um, ( if they haven't shut the beach road :( )
  • apreadingapreading Posts: 4,533
    Either would be good, there are great routes for both but at peak times both on and off road can get busy and crowded. Asking on the Road forum gave you predictable results - you would probably see them skewed in the opposite direction on the MTB forum.

    One thing that I would think about is how long to you want to spend off cycling away from the family? MTB would probably be better if it is just for short blasts - road bike wold be fantastic for longer rides but then surely you want to be with the family most of the time?
  • hstileshstiles Posts: 414
    Road Bike. I had a great time down in Swanage last Summer. Jumped on the bike at Salisbury and rode the last 50 miles through Blandford Forum, Morden, Wareham into town. Then, had a lovely couple of rides out through Worth Matravers round to Corfe Castle and finally rode back from Swanage to South West London

    Also, hill reps round the back of the High Street up to Durlston Country Park are a great workout. 5 or 6 of those ridden hard out of the saddle and you'll have earned some fish and chips.

    +1 for visiting Charlie the bike monger. Leave a credit card or your road bike with him as a deposit and he'll probably lend you a fat bike for a few hours.
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