Routes Database

Did this a few times, very friendly
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29908292

The Chartreuse massif is worth a visit - some great climbs, stunning scenery and it's usually pretty quiet too.

The ridge west of the Lac du Bourget has some great climbs, including the fearsome Mont du Chat, probably one of the hardest and most underrated climbs in that part of France.

At the north end of the lake is the Grand Colombier which is always worth a visit by bike. Plenty of options up and down, but some are tough.

I've not ridden there myself, but friends toured the area south west of Lyon, out to St Etienne and beyond a few years back and enjoyed the riding a lot.

This is the route I always did for London-Brighton overnighters:

https://www.bikemap.net/en/r/966957/#8.29/51.162/-0.135

I've done it in the daytime a couple of times and found it good.

Note that this goes through Gatwick Airport. If you don't know how to get through there, you should cross the railway line at Horley instead.

There are some bits on busy-ish roads, e.g. Reigate Hill, but most of it (well, outside London) is fairly quiet.

The 'route' you've linked to just goes down the A23. Fine if you want to do a spot of time-trialling, but not what I'd choose for a leisurely ride.

Thanks for the tips everyone. And especially Oliver for this:

The 'route' you've linked to just goes down the A23. Fine if you want to do a spot of time-trialling, but not what I'd choose for a leisurely ride.

Exactly what I didn't want.

Ah, and I should have added that it leaves the A23 at Horley, but there are more pleasant ways of getting out of London.

the fearsome Mont du Chat

Checked out the profile of that yesterday... looks horrible. For some reason last time I was down there I did the Vercors rather than the Chartreuse massif but it could have just been I wanted to ride the balcony roads coming down from Col du Mont-Noir (stunning but the descent is a bit dicey in places if there are cars coming up).

Might do a loop from Chanaz up to Grand Colombier though and around the lake.

Similar to Gio's, but has the added bonus of starting in Lewisham https://ridewithgps.com/routes/24355488

I'd imagine that's massively skewed towards the "official" route, not that I know if that's any good or not...

I use this one when I'm doing that ride, it's nice - there's one medium size road just before ditching which I've not found a way of avoiding but you may be able / willing to!

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/15663105

Edit: think I was on an older iteration of this screen by mistake as didn't see you'd already received a shedload of replies!

Ah well, all the options...

Yes, the Mont du Chat can be grim, especially if it's warm as it's so low you don't get that cooling effect you get at higher altitudes.

I like the Vercors, some great roads to ride there but it can get busy. For some reason the Chartreuse is quieter, despite being between the Aix-les-Bains/Chambery and Grenoble conurbations.

there's one medium size road just before ditching which I've not found a way of avoiding but you may be able / willing to!

Yeah, check out my route just above - lovely roads to the east of the speedy ones.

@pjhobs and I did this off-road ride South of London yesterday. The way down to the South Downs was almost exclusively off-road and there were some nice trails and forest sections on the way back.

A few areas were a bit fiddly (especially the river section about 5 miles from Guildford) but overall a pretty nice route. Ride With GPS link

Yeah looking again at the map I don't know why I felt I had to take the road I did, that seems the obvious option!

New website cataloguing routes in and outside of London. Most of them are longer distance, but I read they're adding more and also accepting submissions.

https://www.routes.cc/

This is a good resource, just having a look and the routes seem quite nice - some new ideas for me there! Cheers for the tip

Enjoy! Hope I can work up the stamina to go on some of those longer ones this summer.

Thanks for recommending us - would very much like to hear your suggestions for growing the catalogue. We started it solve the same problem as this thread. If you send us a recommended route we'll ride it, review it, and credit you if it goes up on the site.

@elswick did you ride your london bright off load loop?

Not yet. Waiting for some properly warm weather to turn it into an overnighter.

Does anybody have any MTB routes for the trails out of Peaslake?

Thanks

I try my best to stick to Kent, but I've repurposed a Surrey hills route. Anything wrong with the south western loop on this (apart from being in Surrey)? https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28048413

Planning a bit of offroad exploration around the North Downs, as I realised I don't spend enough time around there. Anyone care to way in? @MTB-Idle you seem to know every trail around there

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33485261

I'd copy km 30.4-39 from this. The climb east of Woldingham is very Strade Bianche. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32660609

Thanks! Added.
It started as a half day jaunt, turning more and more into a proper full day expedition.
I guess you have to make it worth it when you cross the river.

Yeah, that'll be a big day! You could head for Beddlestead and Layhams for a mostly downhill retreat to West Wickham if you don't fancy the Chartwell section.

Gravel bike?