help with a route

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Euskadi
Posts: 173
Joined: 24 Jul 2007, 8:16am
Location: London

help with a route

Post by Euskadi »

A very close friend of mine committed suicide nearly a year ago now and a friend and I have decided to do a cycle ride to raise money for a mental health charity. His name was Zane so I have come up with an idea to basically cycle a 'Z' on the map of England. The route needs to be about 50 miles a day and last from max of 6 days because of annual leave. Nothing too hilly as my friend is not a cyclist. I was thinking of Burton-on-Trent- King's Lynn -Oxford - London (finishing in SW London where he lived and died).

I would really appreciate thoughts about this as a route or alternative 'Z's on the map of England that would be great cycling. Also on the route I have suggested, people's comments would be really appreciated as I do not know what the roads are like - commuter hell or nice cycling?
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Heltor Chasca
Posts: 3016
Joined: 30 Aug 2014, 8:18pm
Location: Near Bath & The Mendips in Somerset

help with a route

Post by Heltor Chasca »

How brilliant. You have my support and blessing.

How about for the bottom, horizontal part of the 'Z' you go from Bristol, Bath, Reading, London along the Bristol-Bath cycle route then along the Kennet & Avon all the way (or there abouts) to London?

Happy to 'pilot' you along some of the way.

I'm a 'friend of a friend' who came out the other side of a suicide attempt so I get your drift. I know why you are riding for their memory. One of my best friends and I'm still glad he still is. So is his family. Lots to say about the forces but that's another rant.

It's a good thing cycling produces endorphins [emoji4]
pwa
Posts: 17368
Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: help with a route

Post by pwa »

There must be a few bits of canal that you could cycle alongside. Anyone know anything about the Oxford Canal?
Richard Fairhurst
Posts: 2030
Joined: 2 Mar 2008, 4:57pm
Location: Charlbury, Oxfordshire

Re: help with a route

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

pwa wrote:There must be a few bits of canal that you could cycle alongside. Anyone know anything about the Oxford Canal?

Yes. Don't even think about cycling it.

I keep meaning to put up little signs on the Oxford-Banbury section saying "Tired of struggling along this bumpy, narrow, rutted path? There's a nice NCN country-lane route two miles to the west"...
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raybo
Posts: 262
Joined: 13 Nov 2007, 6:40pm

Re: help with a route

Post by raybo »

pwa wrote:There must be a few bits of canal that you could cycle alongside. Anyone know anything about the Oxford Canal?


The bit I rode in September looked like this:
Image

We got off it as soon as we could.
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nosmarbaj
Posts: 366
Joined: 17 Aug 2011, 3:02pm
Location: West Berks

Re: help with a route

Post by nosmarbaj »

Heltor Chasca wrote:How brilliant. You have my support and blessing.

How about for the bottom, horizontal part of the 'Z' you go from Bristol, Bath, Reading, London along the Bristol-Bath cycle route then along the Kennet & Avon all the way (or there abouts) to London?

[emoji4]

+1 for K&A but be aware
1) It stops at Reading, you'd need to plan an onward route to London (bits of the Thames Path are cycle-able, but not all)
2) There are a few stretches which are not very comfortable - you can't cycle (or indeed walk) through the Bruce Tunnel near Burbage; the stretch from east of Bedwyn into Hungerford can be very muddy; you should follow the signposted cycle route, not the canal, for the short stretch from just east of the M4 bridge near Theale as far as Burghfield Bridge; further east into Reading there is an irritating pair of barriers where you will have to dismount and possibly remove panniers etc. but it's no big deal on conventional bicycles. Alternative routes are easy to find.
3) Also I wouldn't really recommend the K&A until the winter mud has dried a bit - depending on the weather this is likely to be sometime in March.

I'm happy to give more detail if you're interested.
papjordan
Posts: 13
Joined: 20 Mar 2014, 8:19pm

Re: help with a route

Post by papjordan »

1. As a resident of oxford, I will echo the previous comments about avoiding the oxford canal towpath.
2. I cycled from oxford to w. London last august following a fairly direct route across the chiltern hills to the thames at marlow. I recall 1 long hill where we got off and pushed (after nettlebed) but other than that it was ok. Very quiet lanes and very scenic too. We then followed the thames through maidenhead and windsor etc to kingston.
3. I find an app called cycle streets useful for giving ideas of cycle routes between point to point. It may be of use to you, for example, kings lynn to oxford.
Well done and good luck with the ride.
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