Mini tours from London

train down is horrendous though

Yup... fuck these trains! ha

If anyone does lookup the Dorset Cider campsite, maybe a nice train to Dorchester and a circa 22 mile ride would be better.

Dengie Peninsula

Do you have a recommended route out to Dengie Peninsula. Sounds like a grand plan

Lost lanes 23.

I wouldn’t cycle out through London anymore. But let alone on a Friday rush hour. Get the train out and spend more time in the pub or nice outdoors enjoying the nature

This is the route I used, as @Thrasher says if you were to get the train to eg Romford or Brentwood and start there there'd be no love lost...

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33315781

Hadn't realised it was in lost lanes but this thread has people nattering on about various local amenities/pubs if useful.

https://lostlanes.co.uk/23ee/

Starting from SE london as well, I prefer going via Woolwich ferry, Barking, Becontree, Romford to get out of London. You can take some suburban residential roads in Romford then quite quickly into the lanes heading north. It's not exactly scenic but I prefer it to going through london.

Yeah that's a good shout. I've even done the Gravesend>Tilbury ferry in the past. It's pretty but I must say Essex is my least favourite county for riding that's close to London.

https://youtu.be/Uh3xEfsVvO8

Did a nice little mini tour out to Suffolk at the weekend. Took the train up to Audley End from Liverpool Street, then cycled through quiet country lanes and sleepy, quaint little villages to Edwardstone. Settled in at the White Horse pub, drank exceptional beer, ate quality food and camped at the pub's campsite. Bit of rain the next morning, but the sun came out for long enough to dry the tents before we packed down. Cycled through more sleepy villages and country lanes to Colchester, where we got the train back to London. Got fucking soaked on the way back from Liverpool Street.

Observation: the drivers in Essex are considerably less considerate than those in Suffolk.

Audley End from Liverpool Street, then cycled through quiet country lanes and sleepy, quaint little villages to Edwardstone.

Looks great. Have never used Greater Anglia, what is the bike situation like?

Really easy. You just need to book a space, which is free. There's one carriage for bikes with space for four bikes.

Had a bit of aggro on the way back from a guy with a pushchair who'd taken up some space, but given there's literally nowhere else to put bikes, he eventually gave in and pissed off elsewhere.

Wanted to say thanks for the Dengie route. Rode out on Saturday after midday and made it back in time for brunch on Sunday. Took a slightly different direction for some of the elements going out via Maldon (stopping for fish and chips) and had some cherry pie at one of the local pubs on the Peninsula.

Is a reminder that i should revisit Lost Lanes. Often thought of the rides as being a bit on the short side but if you add on ride out and back you can often get more than enough for an overnighter

Ahhh good to hear - yes, Maldon's a good place for a stop. Down by the water there's a couple of decent pubs from memory.

Yeah I'd all but forgotten about LL too - I always write off the rides as they're much shorter than the kind of thing I tend to do now, but if you ride out to them / string a few together then there's a decent little mini-tour to be had.

Surbiton into Surrey

Campsite: Waggoners https://waggonerscampsite.co.uk/
Does the job, expect a field full of car campers and families but was perfectly OK. Fire pits provided at extra cost and cold showers in the forest, because eco ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Pub: I had not realised until too late but the site is 1.5 miles from the Hogs Back Brewery and it isn't open late. The campsite is likely to have 10% discount vouchers they can give you. https://hogsback.co.uk/

The Good Intent was also recommended https://www.goodintentputtenham.co.uk/

Train: This is an easy one, Waterloo to Surbiton, SW trains don't require any booking. Alternativly, skip the train and ride out via Richmond Park.

Route: ~30 miles of lanes and gravel.
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1296869695

Disclaimer, I've not fully ridden this version, it is an attempt to fix using the Ripley by-pass cycle lane. Didn't realise I'd originally plotted a cycle lane that was along a dual-carriageway. Not unsafe but also not pleasant. Have extended the route to join the river Wey sooner.

Apart from the steep climb out of Guilford, is is pretty novice friendly and made up of generally quiet lanes and shared river path.

We came back via peaslake, and it took all fcking day to ride 40 miles of bridleway, sand and sunken road so not sharing this as a loop.

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We came back via peaslake

Pork and leek slice? I've not been for a few years but they used to be exceptional.

Considering riding out to the Kent coast heading out to Broadstairs / Deal way and back. Keen to do a ride in and out using different routes figuring one of the ways would be the Deal with It route (or variation of)

I figure the Pilgrim's Way would provide alternative path but but keen to hear thoughts and feelings on what might work and better still GPX files for best path and one that reduces the double up.

Big fan of the Whitstable Winder - imagine lots of overlap with the Pilgrim's Way, but might be helpful.

https://www.routes.cc/routes/whitstable-winder/

Thanks for linking this. Is it on roads or bridleway? ie could it be done on 32 mm and rim brakes by a less experienced rider.

it's all on roads so no issue with those.

I preferred the Peckham Rye to Rye route on the same website but a good ride aswell

Brilliant site, thanks!

So did @|³|MA3K's Deal With It but went inland at Ramsgate and after sleeping in a field, rode back using the Whistable Winder from Routes.cc (thanks @owl)

Pretty stark contrast between the flat post industrial landscapes of the Medway Towns to the more rolling bucolic landscape of Pilgrims Way. Would be keen to repeat the latter route unladen as I was pretty knacked with a full load.

Around Swanscombe, there's an issue with the Deal With It route where the road that it was supposed to go down has been shut which essentially means going south a bit of the Ebsfleet station

Pleasant surprise was finding the return leg including White Lane where Bec CC were running their hill climb. I went up after their last rider in what was guaranteed to be the slowest time of the day.

Oh, what also amused me was a bunch of roadies who stopped twice by the road side and I proceeded to pass in my overloaded state. Enquired if they were alright and they replied they were trying to bag KOMs in a rather sheepish manner

Definite ice cream weather

I think the Whistable Winder is an @youramericanlover route.

I wish! Can't remember where I found it from. Glad to be associated with it though, it's a great way to get to the coast

Anyone got any good suggestions for riding out from London towards Cambridge and Oxford? Looking more for a loop rather than out and back and looking for around 100km each way. Any suggestions gratefully received

Did the out and back to Cambridge...deterioating weather meant I passed on camping out.

Rode out using this route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/4264376

Better of the two although short gravel segment and riding across a field at one stage so might not be for everyone, although presume you can get around these if you don't have the bike for this

Rode back using this route https://www.routes.cc/routes/london-to-cambridge/
Riding back through Epping Forest when it's wet and dark isn't something I necessarily want to repeat

Probably best to do closer to summer when there's more daylight hours

SW London to Knepp

Campsite: Knepp, fancy, diy pizza oven, fancy cafe a few miles away, nice showers, ideal for a mostly rainy weekend. https://knepp.co.uk/view/stay/camping/campsite/ Closed now till Spring. Probably very busy in the summer.

Route: Used the train to Horesham out and rode back. Can also use Epsom station and cut out the Epsom <> Surbiton section via Tolworth.

Mix of lanes, some of the downs link and a few other bridleways.
https://www.komoot.com/tour/1363002391

Do: Take your own pizza ingredients but what they sell on site is OK (no mozzarella!)
Don't: Camp at the edge of the field unless you have ear-plugs. No idea if it was a large stag or hog on the other side of the fence but didn't sleep much!

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