Finding Routes

[mickwood]

Hi guys, newby on the forum here!!

I just bought a Trek 1.2 triple 09 (any thoughts on the bike?) through the bike to work scheme and have been building my way up and 'getting into' the whole biking thing.
I've been lovin the rides through the Peak District - I live not far from Chatsworth so get to ride through all that scenery. I've been building up and am about to tackle my first 40 miler tomorrow.
I'd like to do the C2C but I'd also like to find some more long distance routes. Are there any resources out there? Guide books? Websites etc etc? I'd like to do them on roads as I don't think my bike could handle anything other than that! I'm not averse to a few days, camping or B&B's etc so long as the scenery is good and the ride is an interesting adventure!

Thanks in advance

Mick

 

[marinyork]

Welcome. OS maps are your friend. Make your own routes up, that's half the fun. There are plenty of resources out there but nothing that is complete.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I met an American in France this summer who had been riding around France for 3 months on a trek road bike...he had it fitted with rear and front racks and four panniers and a tent!...slicks and all!

 

[andym]

Join the CTC? Check out the Sustrans site for possibilities?

Lots of sites with routes: mapmyride.com, bikeradar.com.

 

[vernon]

Visit the Sustrans web site. There are pleanty of long distance routes available from them. Their maps are quite good and their off road sections usually have on road alternatives.

Look for Philip's Cycle Tours books.

There's one for the peak District by Gordon Selway. It contains day rides.

If you want to plot your own then www.viamichelin.com has a cycle option which picks the quieter rods when rout planning.

 

[jay clock]

I have a Trek 1.2 as winter bike (2008 model so black not white) and it is great as an all rounder

For route planning I use TrackLogs software. It cost me about £100 a few years back for the whole of England but it is superb for plotting routes and printing them too. I have not tried their newer versions.

www.mapmyride.com is also a great tool, but for me Tracklogs has the benefit of being based on OS maps.

 

[mickwood]

Thanks Guys! I'll check out those links

 

[Dave5N]

WWW.bikely.com

 

[wafflycat]

Welcome. OS maps are your friend. Make your own routes up, that's half the fun. There are plenty of resources out there but nothing that is complete.

+1

I have the full set of Landranger maps for East Anglia. I decide my route from them, copy the relevant bits of sheet & use those to take with me. That way I keep the original maps in good condition.

 

[mickwood]

Thanks for the bikely link - just popped up my regular route into it!

 

[Randochap]

Welcome, mickwood.

You might find some resources on VeloWeb that will be of benefit. Bikely is handy and just plain old Google maps. I also like to use Google Earth to have a close look at the routes I used to ride as a kid, in Shropshire!

 

[mickwood]

Thanks guys, I've found Gmpas pedometer pretty useful so far!

 

[vernon]

www.mapmyride.com isn't bad either.

 

[a_n_t]

http://www.multimap.com/s/Bx5saCxE


multimap has OS maps.