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Tewkesbury
Anyone know of a nice way to get there by train from west London?
All I can come up with is:
Paddington -> Tewks or Ealing -> Reading -> Swindon -> TewksGWR trains are shit for bikes with their random 2 bike slots and it'd be Friday just after peak hour so wonder if there's a less stressful way of getting over there. Missus not keen on overnight ride over there.
hippy-
OK, I've had a look at this as I've been wanting to do some rides from Tewkesbury for ages.
TLDR; I think it is just about OK. You can book the outbound in advance so it's the return that is the challenge and there are options that I've done before that are easier than the main line, such as going via Evesham/Worcester or Gloucester.
There is a train that connects Evesham and Gloucester via Tewkesbury which says it needs reservations but I doubt it would in practice. But it is rideable from either.
Evesham / Worcester
You can get to Oxford without reservations. There is another line that goes up to Evesham / Worcester (15/20 miles from Tewkesbury) from Oxford. I thought that line might be OK too as I've rocked up and used it in the past) but it says that you do need reservations.Gloucester
I got back from there once by rocking up at Gloucester (10 miles from T) after a DNF (I had res but from Shrewsbury the following day so no use) - nominally that needs reservations but it wasn't a problem to get my bike on.
I reckon the main GWR (Paddington - Reading - Swindon - Bristol - Wales) is a right pain but the other lines / stations are more lenient / less demand for bikes.
I'll let you know if I try it.
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Catching up on this thread - I’m now based near Tewkesbury, and Marks audaxes are really well run.
You can train it to Gt Malvern direct from Paddington on Great Western. Plenty of campsites round here or Id be happy give up the spare room to a forumenger who needs it.
Easy ride to Tewkesbury from Malvern - probably 45mins at an easy pace and all downhill. The place I’ll be renting from next month will be even closer to Tewkesbury too.
I’ve got a 200k on Saturday - first one since before covid so looking forward to it now I’ve got a few 100k rides under my belt over the last month.
frank9755
dsalmon
Good to read.
The route has changed a few times. Nowadays it starts from Tewkesbury (which is a pleasant night ride out from London, but maybe not in March)
I did it a couple of years before that guy but starting from Upton Magna as well, and it was really cold. There was a lot of snow lying on the route, and much lingering in controls trying to thaw out, and lots of riding in the dark / late finish.
The guy who ran it used to put camp beds in the hall the night before and after, so you could make a weekend of it.