Cardiff to Croydon - route advice

[robjh]

...If you do decide to go via Swindon, I strongly suggest that you consider taking the Lambourn Valley from Ashbury to Newbury. This is a scenic marvel, often little short of cycling perfection. ...

Hurrah to that. Ashbury-Lambourn = magnificent ride. Lambourn itself may be a little off these guys' route, but I do miss cycling round those parts.

 

[Aperitif]

A few hardy CCers will be riding from Cardiff to Croydon in the summer. Plan is to leave Cardiff at midnight. This is the proposed route and any local knowledge on alternate routing or really cracking roads that must be sought out will be most welcome.

Thanks

Take it you're all riding to the start, Ross? I love the bit around Marlborough. When I have done it previously, Christmas Common featured in Frank's route - probably a bit to far 'North' for you - and I like the Malmesbury approach...One of your highlights looks like the bit around Marlborough. The twin peaks of death I remember well from a certain ride 'by heroes, for heroes' . A4 was ok too TallMart has a map probably - I just winged it.Lovely ride. Unless it rains. And rains. And rains. Wales either welcomes you, or gives you a doggy bag full of the stuff to carry back from the Principality.

 

[mmmmartin]

This is pretty much the return route for the Severn Across 400k, which is nowadays called London-Wales-London, Somewhere on t'interwebs there'll be a track, I can look up what I used some years ago if you like. In a nutshell, from Chepstow over the bridge on the north side to some sort of motorway services for a loo stop and grub. Then we went past some sort of Somerset Monument (dunno what it was but it was up a big hill) and to Malmesbury services. The routesheet send us through the small, unlit complicated lanes to the finish at Chalfont St Peter but I, and several others, freewheeled downhill from Malmesbury services to the A4 at Newbury. Then we followed the A4, which is flat, straight, and most importantly, lit. There is at least one 24 hour garage along it somewhere, and I think we went though the centre of Reading. We later went north to the finish, obvs, but you would go southwards to home via Croydon.
https://londonwaleslondon.com/route/ shows you the rough route, and it's Membury services, not Malmesbury. Silly me. But I was tired at the time.

 

[jay clock]

You probably know this but there is 24hr McD at Theale just after you cross the M4

 

[ianrauk]

You probably know this but there is 24hr McD at Theale just after you cross the M4

One of the planned stops is Reading at about 120 miles in. By that time of day most food establishments will be open.

 

[jefmcg]

This is pretty much the return route for the Severn Across 400k,

Same thing I was thinking. Membury services, if you are there late (after 2am maybe and before ..... 6am ... maybe) the only things open are the petrol station and Starbucks. But it's warm and dry and inside, so that's valuable.

From Newbury onwards, I'd still say there's no compelling reason not to stay on the A4.

Yup, that's what I did on the Severn Across.

View: https://www.strava.com/activities/478737831/embed/09cd1cc09cfb03c7e8a6fec8d5ab15e828e76cab

Are you going across the bridge in the dark? I found it scary enough in daylight, imagination would surely make it worse at night. I'm not scared of heights, just of falling from them......

I'm a nervous cyclist, but it didn't bother me at all. Maybe because I've never been across in daylight, so had not awareness of how high up I was.

 

[martint235]

Take it you're all riding to the start, Ross? I love the bit around Marlborough. When I have done it previously, Christmas Common featured in Frank's route - probably a bit to far 'North' for you - and I like the Malmesbury approach...One of your highlights looks like the bit around Marlborough. The twin peaks of death I remember well from a certain ride 'by heroes, for heroes' . A4 was ok too TallMart has a map probably - I just winged it.Lovely ride. Unless it rains. And rains. And rains. Wales either welcomes you, or gives you a doggy bag full of the stuff to carry back from the Principality.

Just so long as we avoid the @Aperitif variation around Marlborough way. As teef says the A4 isn't that bad. I'll have a look for my route

What date is this on?

 

[martint235]

Here's my route for the RWB ride. We did play a little fast and loose on the return largely thanks to the aforementioned 'Teef variation. I seem to remember we used a large Tesco near Reading for food (well Davywalnuts polluted it in many other ways but the other 4 of us just had food!)

 

[the_mikey]

Fernhill at 39.2miles is a doozy, not really avoidable, although any deviation takes you up longer hills not necessarily better hills.

 

[Aperitif]

Here's my route for the RWB ride. We did play a little fast and loose on the return largely thanks to the aforementioned 'Teef variation. I seem to remember we used a large Tesco near Reading for food (well Davywalnuts polluted it in many other ways but the other 4 of us just had food!)

How very dare you! We went in search of poppies, lavender and white horses. The lumpy bits paled into insignificance.

A lovely part of the world in which to ride.

 

[martint235]

How very dare you! We went in search of poppies, lavender and white horses. The lumpy bits paled into insignificance.
View attachment 337626
View attachment 337627
View attachment 337628
View attachment 337629

A lovely part of the world in which to ride.

It was a pretty fantastic ride in memorable company. It's a shame we never managed to "put the band back together"

 

[Aperitif]

It was a pretty fantastic ride in memorable company. It's a shame we have never managed to "put the band back together yet"

 

[rb58]

Ross, it could be worth your while to tap TimO to see if he still has the route (I'll bet he has) we rode back from Bath when Pippa thought such a ride would be a good idea.
My recollection is that it was steeped with pretty and not too much climbing - other than climbing out of Bath.

Paging @TimO

 

[Flying Dodo]

It was way back in 2009 when we did that! Anyway, Tim's route is here, and there's a nice ride report here.

 

[Aravis]

Another thought to throw into the mix: although the A4 is a good road for mile-crunching almost throughout, scenically it takes a nose-dive after Newbury (when heading towards London). If you leave it somewhere after Thatcham, there's a practical and reasonably straightforward route to Virginia Water, which I have ridden, through places like Aldermaston, Mortimer, Bracknell and Ascot. At this point my practical knowledge ends.

This would of course avoid Reading, which to me would be a plus!