Cycle commute Ovington to Newcastle

I'll soon be moving to the North East (after several years in Sweden). I'm looking at renting a place in Ovington and wondering whether it's possible to commute by bike into central Newcastle.

I saw that Hadrian's Cycleway covers most of the route but is it possible to commute along it at a reasonable pace? Supposedly it's 15 miles and, asssuming I could do 15mph, that's a 1 hr commute. That would be fine. But as I've got no experience of the route (surface conditions, traffic, obstacles) it's hard to judge what's possible.

A bit of local knowledge would be great.

Thanks

Welcome! I have done this route many times on MTB (but not in the last few years). Nice route. From my memory, it is a real mix of trails/gravel paths/tarmac. Took me slightly longer than 1 hour though, but that was after lunch and a pint at the Big Lamp in Newburn!

Thanks. Sounds like the cx bike is called for.

I've seen the Big Lamp mentioned a few times. Sounds like it's worth a detour!

It would be an excellent end to a day at work lol

You can ride from Ovington to the edge of lemington (Bells close) through Wylam, Blayney row and Newburn without having to go on any roads. It is a fantastic ride, perfect for commuting. I ride this route once or twice a week and it has been one of my favourite runs for about 15 years now.

You can cross the river at Wylam or Prudhoe and ride down the side of the golf course too. The Hagg Hill bridge is interesting as is a lot of that area with loads of little off-road runs. The bridge is an arch bridge built in about 1876 and was a kind of test design for the Tyne and Sydney Harbour bridge!

The Boathouse is a nice pub too.

Where in Newcastle are you working? This will define which way you will ride.

Regards

Carl