Routes around Coniston

crescent

Can anyone suggest a loop of around 40miles or so, starting from and returning to Coniston in the Lake District? I'm heading there with a couple of colleagues in September and we are looking for an afternoon's riding. We did the Broughton Wheeler's loop last year and really enjoyed it but fancy a change. Having done Wrynose Pass we would like to try and include Hardknott this time. I've had a dabble with MapMyRide but just when I think I have a good route I find that I have picked a road that is unsuitable for road bikes.
Cheers for any info.

Cannock Chase

I would start off by buying or begging a Ordnance Survey Landranger map of the area. You can study that and work out various routes. Put them into Google Maps or similar to check distances. Wrynose and Hardknott are basically on the same stretch of road so if you feel masochistic you can do them both..!! What do you mean by 'unsuitable for road bikes'? What type of road bike are we talking about? I've cycled most roads in the Lake District without out much trouble (apart from the gradients that is).

crescent

Cannock Chase wrote:

I would start off by buying or begging a Ordnance Survey Landranger map of the area. You can study that and work out various routes. Put them into Google Maps or similar to check distances. Wrynose and Hardknott are basically on the same stretch of road so if you feel masochistic you can do them both..!! What do you mean by 'unsuitable for road bikes'? What type of road bike are we talking about? I've cycled most roads in the Lake District without out much trouble (apart from the gradients that is).

Thanks for the reply. I use MapMyRide a lot, mainly because it allows you to link to Google street view while building a route. I tend to think of a road as unsuitable for my road bike if there is no street view for it i.e. the camera vehicle was unable to drive down the road so chances are it is basically a dirt track or private road or some other reason preventing access. Maybe I'm being over cautious?? My bike is fairly standard, not CX or anything like that.

Cheers

slowmart

viewtopic.php?f=40003&t=13004584


I'm not sure if this would be relevant? I used Ambleside as a base and dropped down the one side of Coniston. Either way I hope you enjoy better weather than myself. It rained for the entire route and we occasionally experienced some decent views through the clagg and rain.... It is God's county though.