London to Birmingham - Route?

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  • So, as some of you will know I lost my driving licence after a ped ran out infront of me, causing me to faceplant concrete and get some lovely seizure action going on.

    This poses a problem. My family are in Birmingham, and I won't have a lot of free time around Christmas to go up for a long period, and the trains aren't looking good.

    So me and my brother are pondering cycling it...

    a) is it advisable to cycle that far, fixed, in a day (we usually only commute a round trip of 20mi)?

    b) Do any of you know of a decent route?

    Obviously we would like to avoid hills, and see some lovely countryside, etc. But traffic is our main concern. I don't particularly fancy dual carriage ways and LGVs for 10 hours.

    I should also note this will be our first proper long ride, so tips would be nice.

  • I believe it is possible to do the whole thing on canals.

    But be prepared for canals during winter to be covered in mud & leaves in many spots aswell as having no lighting.

    People Run it! :

    http://www.gucr.co.uk/

    also, google is your friend:

    http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/touring/cycling-from-birmingham-to-london/

  • I would say the canal route would be insane at that time of year..

    London-Chilterns-Banbury-Leamington and beyond, me and jonny were talking about it last year. If you put in google map and say car avoiding motorways it's about right as a route as far as I can make out but it won't all be country lanes, there'll be plenty of A roads. 120 miles though, and near the shortest day of the year - best of luck doing it all in happy conditions.. I'd say it wasn't the right time of the year to give it a shot but more power to you if you go for it. Of course dividing into two days with a stop over in a hotel somewhere would be nice n easy.

  • Riding bikes on A roads is sketchy even in summer. You get trucks hurtling past at 60mph just a couple inches away with gusts/nerves drawing you towards traffic! Long stretches where there is nowhere to dismount, loads of grit/sharp bits at the edge of the road making punctures and slippage likely.

  • exactly. I'm not sure it's a feasible ride in December, especially for someone who only commutes 20 or so miles. but a quieter route would take far longer - as far as I know, maybe someone can say otherwise.

  • i will look into stopping over but this of course drives up costs. It would be awesome to do it in a day, but yeah, short day. Thought about cold, didn't think about light

  • I did it, there and back, a few times.

    Its not so bad,

    remove these ideas from the thought process:

    -finding a non-hilly route
    -doing it by canal
    -entirely avoiding busy a-roads

    Its so far that you have to compromise. I'm at work at the moment, but i will post up my rough route a bit later. You will need lucosade and flapjacks.

    Did it (geared) in around 6 hours, 125miles, but with a lunch break.

  • i've been planning to do it myself at some point so I thought about it a fair bit.. I reckon you'd need to schedule ten hours to be on the safe side. I wouldn't want to hit the last stretch between Warwick and Solihull in the dark personally. Winding fast road (Warwick Road) in pretty near country road lighting, i.e not very much at all.

  • this sounds interesting, I'd love to know how you get on as my family is that way (Leamington) and I've given thought to cycling there before - although don't fancy it in December!

  • If you want to cycle it because it has the appeal, then go for it... account for the variables!
    However, if it meant being unable to spend time with family at Christmas, I'll drive down to london, catch up with some of my family, then bring you back up to Birmingham. I have no issues with that.

  • at a push we can take more time off work and go up earlier, return later, by train. It's more for the hell of doing it! Nice challenge and a bonding experience. I appreciate the offer though!

  • oh and Barber: would appreciate the route you took.

  • straight up either regents canal or the lee valley and the subsequent canals
    i would love to do that journey next summer

  • chiltern railways is how i do it! except i haven't looked at their winter schedule yet....

  • what puts me off canals is the small problem with tyres... I don't have clearance for anything more than 23.

  • I did it once using A-roads in somewhere between 6 and 7 hours. It was a hard ride, I was trying to do it at a good speed and I was really fit then too. I do not remember any hills of any significance. 129 miles from where I lived in East London. Unless you are VERY fit (I was racing then, long road races and team time trials) go on main roads or take two days over it.

  • I did this journey in one day in September '06.
    I was with about half a dozen others of varying strength and abilty. We started from Mile End and finished up near the centre of Birmingham.
    We had fine weather and an strong south east wind without which I doubt if we would have made it.
    Even with the tailwind (and remember s.e. is not a frequent direction for wind) and a 7.30 am start it was near dark by the time we arrived.

    If you're prepared to ride on A roads the route isn't too bad. The A40 after High Wycombe is often surprisingly quiet (it's very close to the M 40). after Wheatley (about 7 miles before Oxford) you can use the B road going through Islip(there's a short cycle path on the north side of the main road to get to this, and cars cannot turn right of the A40, so you get a few miles of relative peace). This takes you onto the A44, but by then you may well be too tired to care what the road is like.
    I did the trip on gears, but I don't see that it would be difficult on fixed - there's nothing very steep that I can remember. I recommend Chris's Cafe on the north side of the A40 at Studley Green shortly before Stokenchurch for a first stop. Transport cafe-so weekdays only.

    I would definitely advise an overnight stop if you're going in December - there's not enough daylight otherwise - it's dangerous enough riding on a main road, don't add to it with darkness.

    Good luck!

  • I have been asked to help find and risk assess a route from Birmingham to London (Southall) for the annual Sikh bike ride. Over 200 people do the ride. They have used A roads in the past which hasn't been the most pleasant of routes. Can anyone suggest an alternative route on B roads and quieter roads which

    1. is direct and
    2. easily navigable
    3. not too hilly (as many riders will not be ideal bikes for a long run)
    4. pleasant

    The ride is late July and I plan to ride the route beforehand

    Thanks

  • I did it, there and back, a few times.

    Its not so bad,

    remove these ideas from the thought process:

    -finding a non-hilly route
    -doing it by canal
    -entirely avoiding busy a-roads

    Its so far that you have to compromise. I'm at work at the moment, but i will post up my rough route a bit later. You will need lucosade and flapjacks.

    Did it (geared) in around 6 hours, 125miles, but with a lunch break.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  • You can take the Grand Union Canal all the way there.

  • I don't think that would work with 200+ riders. The canal will be slow I suspect and narrow.

  • Funnily enough I sent someone at work this earlier today - it's my preferred London - Leamington Spa route:

    http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1716176

    It does go over the Chilterns but can easily be rerouted to avoid this. I can blazing squad* it if you want?

    *flip reverse it

  • This is a nice route from the Amersham area to Banbury. Goes through the chilterns on nice quiet roads then through Waddeston manor which is nice a quiet and picturesque. Then the roads leaving waddeston up to Banbury are all pretty quiet B roads.

    http://app.strava.com/activities/43584623

    From Kineton (just above Banbury) I did this route to Birmingham last year. Really nice and quiet. You would just have to modify the bit where I went on the M40 roundabout after Barford as that wasnt great fun! Easy if you just go straight on at the roundabout just out of Wellesbourne and pick the route back up after going through Hampton Lucy and Norton Lindsey.

    http://app.strava.com/activities/21937415

    Then your just looking at a couple of roads through Banbury and the route to Amersham / Chesham.

    Id be willing to be a guide on the Kineton to Birmingham route whenever you recce it!

    Hopefully the links work...

  • ^ ^^ Cheers
    Really useful

  • We did it on our first day from Birmingham to Berlin but I can't find the route. Will double check for you!

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London to Birmingham - Route?

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