Planning a UK Double Century
Last Friday I got an email from Fat Rob asking if I’d be interested in doing a double century next year. I love the idea of this - an unsupported 200 mile, single-day ride. The only problem is that his suggested route of Cambridge to Scarborough left me a bit cold.
So I’ve spent a little time playing with maps, thinking about where I’d like to ride as well as the practicalities of the day. I live near Newcastle, Fat Rob’s near-ish to Cambridge where Algernond also lives, Tall Robbie’s in Warwick, and Doktor Seth & Von Smallhaussen are both in That London …
Option 1: The Coast to Coast, going the long way round, via Harrogate. 199 miles:
On the plus side, it’d take in The Lade District and The Yorkshire Dales in the first half, before a fairly flat second half heading up to Tynemouth. The downside is that all that scenery comes at a price - it’s rather hilly!
Option 2: Long Coast to Coast, from Stranraer to Tynemouth. 201 miles:
Less of a detour than option one on the route, and although hilly, more undulating than mountainous. The only problem I could foresee would be getting to the start!
Option 3: Durham to St Neots. 211 miles:
Heading North to South, so it must be all downhill. We’d also pass through Darlington, York, and Lincoln, so there’d be lots to look at on the way, even though the route itself is pretty flat.
Option 4: Whitland to St Neots. 215 miles
I really like the look of this one - Wife’s sister lives at the start, and we’d take in the Brecon Beacons, Worcester, Stratford upon Avon, and Northampton before arriving at Fat Rob’s for beer & cake.
Option 5: Dunwich Dynamo PLUS Dunwich to St Neots via Cambridge
Although flat, this might be getting a bit silly, with the last 80 miles into the prevailing wind direction. We could start at Von Smallhaussen’s though, drop in at Algernond’s for tea, and finally arrive at Fat Rob’s for the aforementioned beer and cake…
There are probably a whole lot of other options though . . . any suggestions?
Always tough to plan - when I cycled from Birmingham to London which is around 150 miles it did take two full days of riding however it was along the canals. This was bad for speed but good for not needing to route plan.
Be really interested to read about this if you go ahead, it sounds very cool!
er, is your Stranraer to Tynemouth route supposed to be largely by sea? Got yourself a pedalo then?
If not, I can recommend our neck of the woods, and can suggest some lovely empty roads if you tire of cycle route 7…
oh, and as for getting to Stranraer, there’s a train from Newcastle to Dumfries, and from there a train to Stranraer or the 500 bike bus (which I think is actually quicker than the train to Stranraer courtesy of Dr. Beeching who took out the direct line). It will probably take you longer by train than by bike, of course…
Not that I’m trying to bias you or anything.
I’m bowing out of this one as gracefully as possible (by not actually starting it) - but you’re very welcome to pop by for a coffee and chocolate en route.