Microadventuring, mini tours etc

Sorry, I completely forgot to say thanks - info above is really helpful! Still in the planning stages so will take this on board and let you know how I go. Looking forward to it!

Day off next Friday so planning to do this route, going anticlockwise. Its a combination of The Ridgeway national trail and reverse of a route I did from Reading to Cheddar last summer.

Currently thinking to either set off early Fri am, and do the whole route in one day, or do part by night on Thurs evening after work.

https://www.strava.com/routes/7641040

I'm heading to Lyme Regis at the end of April. Two days riding in lovely conuntryside, I'll be taking the train from Clapham to Windsor to save the ball-ache of leaving London west-bound and to get on quieter roads more quickly, riding to Cholderton YHA the first day, then from there to Lyme Regis. Two legs of about 80 miles each.
Last year's routes are here, but I'm tweaking them a bit at the moment:
http://cycle.travel/map/journey/19594 - first leg, Windsor to Stonehenge YHA (I'm reworking the approach to the YHA)
http://cycle.travel/map/journey/19986 - second leg to Lyme Regis (the exit from the YHA was all wrong, so reworking that to join a previous route I took from Salisbury)

Happy to have company if anyone fancies it. I've ridden the route three times now and it's stunning countryside, but very rolling. You'd need gears and I travel light, Audax style with minimal luggage (one change of cycle gear, a T-shirt and lightweight trousers for the evening).
I've got accommodation sorted at Lyme Regis, but there's a train from Axminster (about 8 miles from Lyme Regis) that runs straight back into London.
The plan is to head out of London at about 10am on Wednesday 26th of April, lunch in Swallowfield, then on to stay overnight at Cholderton; start out at about 10am, lunch in Tisbury, with a further stop in Sherborne, getting into Lyme Regis around 4-5pm on Thursday.
Cholderton YHA is a bit rubbish, but it's in about the right spot for an overnight stop and it's cheap.
pm me if you're interested in a mini-tour

I'm thinking of making a week's holiday of the Green Man festival (Brecon Beacons) in August, with lots of cycle touring and some hiking in the Beacons, then the festival to unwind. Rough plan is to get the train out from London for a better starting point, ending up at Brecon mid-week for a hike before setting up festival camp on Thursday. My genius crude plan of looking at the green bits on Google maps threw up something like this:

Saturday: train to Reading, Reading to Chippenham (North Wessex Downs AONB)
Sunday: Chippenham to Worcester (Cotswolds)
Monday: Worcester to Chepstow (Malvern Hills, Wye Valley)
Tuesday: Chepstow to Brecon via Hay-on-Wye
Wednesday: Hike: The Beacons Circuit
Thursday: festival... (Train back Monday from Abergavenny/Newport.)

I'd probably camp for duration of the cycling then get a couple of nights' B&B in Brecon for recuperation and a proper scrub. Cycle route looks like 70-80 miles/day over B roads without too many diversions.

Any recommendations to fill in details or suggestions for alternative routes much appreciated.

Sounds ace. North Wessex Downs are beautiful to ride through. Have a look at the ridgeway from reading to Swindon the onto chippenham. Chalk trails and may take you a bit far south but would be a great start to the tour. Here's a route I've done twice now. Some bridle paths and trails along with lanes and b roads so not the quickest but enjoyable and quiet.

https://www.strava.com/routes/7633156 — Adventure pt1 Reading to Aylesbury

Do share any route you take from Worcester to chepstow as my folks live in Malvern so I'd be keen to see what route you take in case i ever go visit with the bike.

If anyone fancies a Worcester - Chepstow route via Gloucester, I know it inside out - nice flat peaceful amble, mainly country lanes.

The Ridgeway looks a bit more off-roady than I was planning, but I like the look of Adventure pt1, thanks.
I've also got a mate from Malvern, probably won't be there when I am but I was planning on heading that way anyway.

@hanford - Which side of the river does that go down? Would it be any more preferable to Wye Valley? I know nothing of that part of the world other than a single MTB trail session in Forest of Dean many years ago.

RE your Tuesday, I highly recommend Chepstow - Monmouth - Abergavenny - Hay via Hay Bluff. I did this on a LEJOG a couple of years ago and this was on the real unexpected highlights of the entire ride! Especially the climb up Hay Bluff and then the descent the other side, the views were out of this world. You can pick the bit out of the route here: https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/791939077 - all lovely countryside around that way.

That looks spectacular, and seems to work nicely with going via Gloucester the day before, but still getting some Wye Valley action. Ta!
Hmmm, LEJOG... :)

Nae bother. Are you tied into going to Worcester? I might be tempted by kicking south from Reading and taking in the Quantocks/Mendips into Bristol and then out via Chepstow/Hay etc... but only because this is pretty much what I did and absolutely loved it! Means you'd get to ride up Cheddar Gorge and the Mendips are really lovely on top... but I guess then you'd miss the Cotswolds, which are great as well! So many excellent decisions to have to make...!

No, no particular ties, I just thought the Cotswolds looked nice. I was talking about riding up Cheddar Gorge just the other day, and I suppose it could be possible to rejig the route, or just save that for another time, e.g. my extremely vague LEJOG notion that's been knocking around in my head for a few years!

Yep, so many options! Cotswolds are wonderful - I know a lovely route from Oxford to Bristol if that's of any interest... never been up to Worcester but sure it's great too!

cheddar gorge is absolutely beautiful, would advise riding it east to west so you get the downhill

Also, definitely do LEJOG, the UK is so incredibly diverse in landscape/scenery/architecture, seeing it change/unfold before you is one of the best things I've ever done. Plus scotland is just insane.

You go slower/see more if you do the climb!

The route goes down the east side of the Severn and uses the old bridge crossing - not as scenic as the other options you have, but not too challenging if you wanted to get some miles in. Passes through lots of 'quaint villages' etc.
I've always found the planning one of the best bits - completely free and plenty exciting.

I like quaint villages. One possible option is to somehow fit in Cheddar Gorge and maybe just go up as far as Gloucester via the Cotswolds, then on to Wye Valley/Chepstow. It'll be all new territory, anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Here is the second part of that route from last year. Again, take a closer look as it was a bit trial by error but takes you over the Mendips which were beautiful and then to a campiste near cheddar: https://www.strava.com/routes/6057129 — Arctangent Day 2 via cheddar

Nice! I reckon I might be putting Cheddar Gorge on the bucket list for the future. It's a bit out of the way unless I start much further out from home, and I prefer the idea of making my way to the festival largely under my own steam. LEJOG 2018 perhaps.

Cheddar was ace. I cycled up the gorge at about 7am and so had it to myself apart from the occasional goat and white van. Was a nice gentle climb so worth doing.

If you go up Cheddar Gorge you can loop round and go down The Combe, which is super fast and fun and also terrifying when you hit the cattle grids at 40mph.
If you are in the area you should noodle up the Gorge. It really is beautiful.

Had a good mini-trip this weekend. Colchester to Lowestoft then Lowestoft to Norwich across the broads.

Originally planned to get breakfast in Ipswich so went through the centre which was a shit idea as it was really busy so I just rode through. Stopped at a great bakery in Aldeburgh for lunch then it was about 50/50 roads and gravel/logging dirt roads to Lowestoft. Some nice dirt tracks through RSPB Minsmere and across the river Blyth near Southwold. Checked in to a B&B in Lowestoft then got fish and chips and ate it on the beach while the sun set (really great clean sandy beach there, assumed it would be stones like Aldeburgh).

Originally planned to follow the bure railway trail and head up towards Cromer but I have a family meal to be back for tonight and the forecast threatened thunderstorms so cut it a bit short and cut straight across the broads instead. I never think to take pictures when I'm riding and only took this one on my lunch stop while the lighting was pretty bad:

Cheddar gorge talk is very timely for me - I'm starting to think about my first (overnight) tour and seeing as I live in Bristol the gorge seemed like a good area to take in, if I'm not driving/training it to another location first.

I'm thinking of doing 2 nights in campsites. Not sure what the mileage should be per day as I'm new to this. I'm thinking 50 miles-ish? Too low?

Dos anyone have any loops that take in Bristol and fit those criteria? Or maybe some more s. Wales based routes that I'd drive to starting point. I've camped on 3 cliffs on the gower a few times and loved it.

Exmouth Exodus route?

That's a good idea - i'd not thought of that. I could adapt the route as necessary, too.