Hope you are all surviving!
Personally, motivation has gone but am trying to keep ticking over.
Tapping tritalk, any ideas on how to find good bike routes between specific points?
I’ve got to cycle from near Reading to just past Bournemouth and given it’s going to be circa 160km I’d rather it was on better roads to ride.
I logged into strava, not my natural habitat, but all the segments seem to be quite short.
Any other resources I’m not looking at?
how about mapmyride? not used it myself yet but the name sounds like it might be of use
You can route plan on garmin connect and that will highlight the most commonly used roads in a particular area. I’ve found that to be useful when plotting routes through unknown areas.
I use Ride With GPS - there are a variety of maps available, some of which show the popularity of roads by colour coding. Garmin is also useful as it has a similar system with a global heatmap (or something like that) but can’t get in at moment to check.
Thanks everyone, appreciate the input. I’ll have a look for the heatmap thingy. I haven’t mapped a route for many years so am rather out of date.
Komoot!
It’ll do it all for you, it’s pretty bloody good (I started using it when The Service Course did their DIY Sunday rides on it, now I see GCN are using it heavily, too)
Honestly, it’s really good!
From experience I’d avoid Garmin and mapmyride as whilst they seem good they aren’t.
They both seem to send you on towpaths or tracks which is fine if you’re happy with that but can be very frustrating if you just want to avoid main roads but still be on roads.
Found this to my cost a few times, the main ones of the top of my head were sycyling down a mud path on a Calais to Lille ride, over a ploughed field when the main road was about 50 yards away in Wissant and cycling down a towpath in the Wye Valley leading me to get a puncture and realising I’d forgotten my tyre leaves about 50k from home.
Edit: I’d add ridewithgps to that too.
Agree completely. If I had a pound for every time Garmin sent me into a non existent path or mud bath footpath I’d have about £7!
But still, then you have to continue, try and replot, pull the bloody phone out etc.
Garmin mapping sucks.
You can get heat maps on strava routing now.
It’ll also identify road surface… So far experience has been pretty good.
Don’t know the Reading / Basingstoke area but if you’re going to come down the Test Valley I can make a suggestion for coming down there and across the New Forest. The Forest depends a bit where you’re heading though.
Agree with comments about Komoot.
@Poet
Quick Q. Working out details of our staycation. As in being at home, not holidaying somewhere else in uk…Doing a few point to points to meet kids and wife with their bikes. Could you give details of the main roads you’d use to get to Tatton Park from Chester- don’t fancy skirting with that bloody A road again… any advice gratefully received!! No worries if not, I’ll fuck it up gloriously either way!
Either Helsby/Preston Brook/Antrobus or Delamere/Northwich/Pickmere
Thanks! But is there any way to avoid both helsby and Northwich, both on fairly major roads…it’ll be weekday not weekend and traffics just as shit now as always so back roads preferable, just a few pointers to get past the major towns and I can do the rest myself, apart from knutsford…I kind of know that’s unavoidable…
Not really, the problem is crossing the River Weaver. There are only bridges on those two routes and nothing in between
Gah. Bloody rivers!
Living in Chester you’d think I’d be used to it f’ing up your nice route plans.
Apparently not. Thanks v much for tip.
It’s still going to be a much nicer day out than hauling my f ass up to lake brenig…lol
Here you go:
When living in Knutsford, I worked in Chester for a bit, so toyed with the idea of bike commuting and recce’d a route a few times, before deciding it was a bit far to do twice per day!
Millenium Greenway to Mickle Trafford…then it’s 4km on the A56 (which I cannot figure out how to avoid, but it’s better than the Tarvin Sands road)
The only “hill” is at 13km, so you’l be fresh (it’s about 8% and short)
It’s then plain sailing until 32km…you have to go over the locks, then it’s a rough shod gravel track from the River Weaver up to Moulton - I’ve done it on the TT bike and tubular tyres, so you should be fine if you are careful.
At 38.5km you cross the A530 - this tends to be a busy road, with HGVs coming up from the M6/Middlewich to the Morrisons distribution warehouse, etc. Just be careful and you’ll be reet!
Then, it’s total back roads all the way to Knutsford - I really like this bit and often do it still now.
I’ve taken you “round the back” in Knutsford, as the main roundabout can get very busy and I’ve witnessed two accidents there whilst walking back from the shops.
It’s then nice and easy to Tatton car park.
ENJOY!
That’s great thanks.
Then a few miles dodging deer and hopefully a picnic.
Just need the weather now.
Tomorrow - 30 degrees!
Nice, like the secret River Weaver crossing! Such a pain there are so few places to cross that river
Working. Not off for a week!
That route is great, I was planning on going over the sandstone ridge already but it’s the second half where I’m absolutely clueless.