Help with route in Suffolk/Kent/London

thehairs1970

My wife and I are hoping to undertake a 3 day 300mile charity ride from Woodridge in Suffolk to the Woodbridge room at Exeter University. We live in Devon and are quite happy with organising the western end of the ride but the eastern end is a mystery to us. We are considering heading from Woodbridge to Ipswich and then down to Romford area before heading through central London to Wraysbury near Heathrow airport. This will get over a third done on the first day through the, relatively, flat areas of this part of the country. Does anyone have experience of riding in this area? What are the cross-London cycle ways like? Even better, could someone suggest a possible route to London or across it?

Martyn

MichaelW

Why London?
I would go around, to the North using a Sustrans route to save navigation pains.

andymiller

I sort of agree with MichaelW, but if you want to come into London then you probably don't want to aim for Romford. I think the best bet would be to cut across country and then come in along the Lee Valley - the NCN 1 seems to take you pretty much all the way from Woodbridge. Even if you don't follow it the whole way (you may prefer quicker/more direct options) it looks like a good basis.

If you decide to go round London then you could pick up the NCN61.

There are lots of resources for planning a route across London, including:

http://london.cyclestreets.net

and

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/modes/cycling/routes-and-maps

I'm not sure why you've included Kent in the title - unless you are planning a long detour. I'm guessing you meant to write Essex.

Don't underestimate how time-consuming it is riding through urban traffic.

mikpem

I regularly ride from Ipswich to Witham so could help out with the first little bit I guess. Actually I once cycled back from Wembley but I was really hung over and kept getting lost but I can give a bit of help on the way to Chigwell.
From Woodbridge station you head straight uphill along Ipswich Road before taking a left up sandy lane which leads you onto main road through Martlesham. Just before you get to the big roundabout you will see a pub (the Black Tiles) on your right, to your left there is a cycle path which will take you under the A12 and onto the A1214 which has a cycle path on it. Follow this road along until you turn off for Spring Road which is a bit quieter than the alternative Woodbridge road but either will get you where you want to be. Then it's a left down the A1156 past the university. At the bottom of this road (it's a one way system) you can either turn right and follow the road or go to the other side of the big buildings where you will be on the waterfront (depending on the time Isaacs is a goo place to stop here for food/drink) and can go to there right as well. at the end of that road you want to head left over the bridge and up the A137 which is Wherstead Road.
Head out via Wherstead Road past Jimmys Farm and down the A137. You can follow that all the way to Manningtree or pop off to go through Tattingstone for a bit of a quieter road for a bit. The A137 then takes you through Ardleigh and into Colchester.
There are cycle routes through Colchester but I haven't bothered to find any of those, I just jump on the ring road which leads to the A1124 and then keep going straight on until Marks Tey.
At Marks Tey you cross the A12 and pass the train station then on the left there is Old London Road (signposted for a remote controlled car track) which leads down a bumpy old road to a very well maintained cycle/footway which runs parallel with the A12 all the way to Witham. After Witham it gets a little more complicated but I do like the roads around there.
In the centre of Witham there is a set of traffic lights with only the option to turn left at the White Horse pub(?) down Maldon road. Then you turn off of there along Hatfield road to Hatfield Peverel. From there the B1137 runs straight alongside the A12 to Chelmsford. There are a number of ways through Chelmsford, if you like I can give a detailed route of the safest way through but basically in the end you want to come out the other side on the A414 towards Ongar.
From Chipping Ongar you can take the A113 all the way down through some nice countryside to Woodford but then I start getting lost.

This is all assuming you want to take the shortest route possible, there are probably nicer routes (Colchester to Chelmsford can be done down some nice small roads but it takes a good memory or lots of stops to look at a map) but I like this one. I'm doing a similar thing from Peterborough to Dundee in the summer and the help from people on here further north where I can't recce the route has been really useful.

Any ideas when you are planning on doing it? If I'm about you can get in touch and I'll ride with you from Woodbridge and through Ipswich if you like.

cuichulain

If it were me, I'd go down to Witham as mikpem suggests... from there there's some nice routes south and then west around Maldon and past Hanningfield reservoir. From there I'd head to Billericay and then south through Langdon Hills, if you fancy a climb, or around it, if you don't, and cross the river on the Tilbury-Gravesend ferry. That way you could head through Kent and miss out London entirely.

If you were keen to go through London or particularly wanted to stay in Wraysbury then, as andymiller says, the Lee valley is a really nice cycle, if maybe a little slow. From Witham you could take quiet roads just north of Chelmsford and head towards Ware... from there it's quiet, traffic-free riverside path all the way south. You can go along the Limehouse Cut at Bow Locks and get down to Limehouse basin barely having seen a car. I then recommend a stop in the Prospect of Whitby, and then you can take the cycle route CS3 pretty much to Tower Bridge. After that, I'm a bit hazier, but you can go along the embankment without too much trouble... west of London I'm not too much help, I'm afraid.