Transpennine Trail (West to East)

Johnpsanderson

Not exactly an 'expedition' - but wasn't sure where else to post this... I'm thinking of riding Southport to Hornsea on the Trans Pennine Trail this summer - http://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/ - doing it over two days.

I ride plenty but have never 'toured' or followed a route like this before - any simple hints and tips for navigation?

And, if anyone has done the TPT , any tips on logistics of getting to Southport or Hornsea (or back from one to the other...?!) with the bike. Not sure on if i'll drum up some support but I might just leave the car at one end and overnight in a hotel halfway!

stifflersmom

I've done the section between Sheffield and Hornsea...navigation pretty straightforward and well signed, except for the part through the centre of Hull. Depending on where you need to travel from, you could retrace your steps back from Hornsea to Hull and then get on a train from there.
You should know what you are letting yourself in for, it is not a particularly challenging ride, and whilst there are some pleasant sections, it does go through some pretty uninspiring scenery. I think this is true for the western section too. Not to bad on a bike but certainly not a walking trail!

arturo_belano

I've done Southport to just outside Sheffield quite a few times. Not sure how to recommend it for touring - it has a few issues, the first of which are the several hundred restrictor gates set across it for long stretches in urban areas. Aggravating and really breaks up the flow of a touring ride. The signage on the W half I would say is OK, but there are so many twists and turns that it's still quite easy to get off it by mistake.

It's also a bit of a tour de censored - passes through the inner sanctum of scally-dom [in a deep railway cutting] in Liverpool, maybe in all of Europe, and then wends its way past industrial flatlands to Manchester. The top section of it across Longdendale in the Peak is nice, but I think that's it as far as natural scenery goes - you're downhill to Hull from there Quite funny that if you said to someone - fancy taking your 3 grand bike down a dark alley at the back of Norris Green? They would think you were insane. But stick a TPT sign up and it's OK.

Those somewhat negative points aside, I do quite enjoy the TPT as I find the industrial landscape interesting, and it changes a lot as you go by. It's more the gates than anything else that I don't like from a cycling perspective.

There are far, far more scenic coast to coast rides you could do further north, but they are also a lot hillier. The TPT is a good length but it's easy on the legs as far as I know.

Johnpsanderson

Thanks for the feedback guys - the idea of the ride stems from the fact that I grew up near to the mid-point of the trail and used a few miles of it a lot as a teenager to get to the nearest town, and I always wanted to go 'to the ends' just to know I had done it! It looks like I can use Sheffield as a base point and get reasonable trains to Liverpool to start and then back from Hull at the end - with one overnight stop in the middle of the ride.

But i'll take a proper look at the urban sections - if they really are that crappy maybe i'll look at alternative routes.