London to Harwich, then EuroVelo 15 in Reverse - Seeking Route Advice for That First Bit

[exSlacker]

Hello Fellow Adventurers!

My name is Tim and I have a "trip of a lifetime" planned for the summer of 2024. I'm going to fly into Heathrow and ride to my friend's place in Muswell Hill (I posted a thread in Commuting for that bit). She and I will leave from there to meet the Harwich Ferry to Hook of Holland.

She hasn't cycled for quite some time. We'll have two days to make the trip to Harwich, and I'm interested in finding a quiet, safe route - even if that means tacking on some miles and rolling on some dirt or gravel. I'll have Schwalbe Marathon Plus 20" City Tyres, which are nice and wide and can handle the rougher stuff (despite having "city" in the name, they are 1.75"). I'll make sure she ends up with a similar setup. What routes would you suggest? Is there a logical half(ish)way point that would also be an interesting stop for our first day? Any and all constructive advice is welcome!

Thank you,
Tim

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Hello Fellow Adventurers!

My name is Tim and I have a "trip of a lifetime" planned for the summer of 2024. I'm going to fly into Heathrow and ride to my friend's place in Muswell Hill (I posted a thread in Commuting for that bit). She and I will leave from there to meet the Harwich Ferry to Hook of Holland.

She hasn't cycled for quite some time. We'll have two days to make the trip to Harwich, and I'm interested in finding a quiet, safe route - even if that means tacking on some miles and rolling on some dirt or gravel. I'll have Schwalbe Marathon Plus 20" City Tyres, which are nice and wide and can handle the rougher stuff (despite having "city" in the name, they are 1.75"). I'll make sure she ends up with a similar setup. What routes would you suggest? Is there a logical half(ish)way point that would also be an interesting stop for our first day? Any and all constructive advice is welcome!

Thank you,
Tim

Hello and welcome
I'm not familiar with that part of the world but CycleTravel suggests the following
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/395468

Obviously you can tweak it to suit your own needs and perhaps supplement it based on local input.
Sometimes it can make sense to catch a train to get in or out of cities too.

Good Luck!

 

[Dogtrousers]

The following is a bit vague, but it's how I'd generally approach it.

Muswell Hill to Harwich over two days will require 1) a London escape route and 2) a choice of overnight accommodation. The rest is all pretty easy. You'll be able to string together a route entirely on quiet B roads. I know Essex fairly well for cycling and it's pleasant and not hilly.

So - the London escape. I'm not a North Londoner but my first idea would be to get onto the Lea* Valley cycleway as soon as you can and follow it to Waltham Abbey or a bit North of there. Once you are there, turn right and take B roads to your chosen overnight stop.

To choose where to stop, consider how you want to split those two days. 50-50 or more on one than the other. You might want a shorter first day to leave time for last minute panics/ getting in to the swing of things. Or, if you are catching a ferry when you arrive in Harwich (rather than overnighting there) you might want a shorter second day to give you plenty of contingency time so you don't miss it if you get delayed.

*Lea or Lee I've seen both spellings

 

[HobbesOnTour]

@exSlacker
I hope you don't mind but I'll add this bit from your other thread

my trusty Bike Friday Pocket Llama, Yogi. I'll be towing the hard suitcase which converts to a trailer

We can't really expect people to jump around to get the best info to reply and toting a trailer might influence some replies.
I recall my own experience in the UK and the sheer bloody frustration of dealing with barriers on cycle paths designed to stop motorbikes and mopeds also impeding my loaded bike.

 

[berty bassett]

another one for cycle.travel
just enter type of ride , start point and finish point , tick box if you want it all paved and enter !
it will show you the most used route for the type of riding you want , you can drag the route to alter if you want and save route to your device
really is simple and so far never let me down on roads I haven't been on - good luck

 

[HobbesOnTour]

I don't want to be "that guy" but ...

it will show you the most used route for the type of riding you want

As far as I know CycleTravel doesn't use popularity to determine a route.
I believe low traffic is one of the main criteria and it also uses surface, gradient, climbing and beauty to create its routes.
This makes it an ideal planner for the more leisurely oriented person on a bike, perhaps a little less so for the roadie or those looking to go as directly as possible.

I agree 1000% with its reliability in strange places - although no digital planner is perfect.
The only concern I have (and it applies to all planners, even paper maps) is that in urban areas it can direct us through places that meet all the cycling criteria but where local cyclists may fear to venture.

Sorry to be so pedantic but it may be an important point for some people.

 

[MichaelW2]

Lea Valley cycle route is your route out of London.

 

[berty bassett]

I don't want to be "that guy" but ...

As far as I know CycleTravel doesn't use popularity to determine a route.
I believe low traffic is one of the main criteria and it also uses surface, gradient, climbing and beauty to create its routes.
This makes it an ideal planner for the more leisurely oriented person on a bike, perhaps a little less so for the roadie or those looking to go as directly as possible.

I agree 1000% with its reliability in strange places - although no digital planner is perfect.
The only concern I have (and it applies to all planners, even paper maps) is that in urban areas it can direct us through places that meet all the cycling criteria but where local cyclists may fear to venture.

Sorry to be so pedantic but it may be an important point for some people.

Fair comment - got me from Northants to Scotland with less than a mile on busy road - but did take me thru Appleby ( what I found a lovely place ) but understand at certain times of year it can be a little less desirable destination

 

[mjr]

Lea Valley cycle route is your route out of London.

Only once north of Enfield. South of there, the Lea valley route includes rough gravel, cobbles and horse steps. Not enough to bother even gravel bikes, but I suspect it could flip or break a trailer.

I use C1 or C20, and NCN 12 instead for the first bit.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Fair comment - got me from Northants to Scotland with less than a mile on busy road - but did take me thru Appleby ( what I found a lovely place ) but understand at certain times of year it can be a little less desirable destination

It got me through México

 

[MichaelW2]

Only once north of Enfield. South of there, the Lea valley route includes rough gravel, cobbles and horse steps. Not enough to bother even gravel bikes, but I suspect it could flip or break a trailer.

I use C1 or C20, and NCN 12 instead for the first bit.

My trailer with 20" wheels can cope with typical canal tow path surface but the problem is access gates and bollards. Still I get through them.

 

[mjr]

Hello and welcome
I'm not familiar with that part of the world but CycleTravel suggests the following
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/395468

Note that ferries to Holland go from Harwich international aka Parkeston Quay, not Harwich Quay (I think aka halfpenny quay). Other than that, the Harwich approach looks good to me, having tried several ways over the years. It's well worth using the B road and Parkeston Road then rejoining 51 near the Mayflower pub, instead of following route 51 all the way around. Even if you want to see downtown Harwich, I'd just use the B road off-peak. 51 included narrow dirt track and bad signs when I last tried it.

Oh and watch out for the step at the port end of route 51. There's a ramp kerb to the left but no warning signs. Essex county council seem terrible at cycling and tourism, but good at increasing repair work for local bike shops(!)

 

[Dogtrousers]

Only once north of Enfield. South of there, the Lea valley route includes rough gravel, cobbles and horse steps. Not enough to bother even gravel bikes, but I suspect it could flip or break a trailer.

I use C1 or C20, and NCN 12 instead for the first bit.

I missed bit about there being a trailer. I have ridden the length of the Lee/Lea valley path up to Waltham Cross but it was a long time ago. I would have been on an ordinary road bike with 25 or 28mm slicks. I do remember it being a nice route from a surroundings point of view and the surface being a OK-ish, with some rough bits and a few obstacles but I don't remember all the details. (Although my memories of it were such that my last jaunt up that way, which was super early in the morning I just blasted straight up the main roads, which was quite quiet. A10 then A1010)

Being shared use it's best avoided during the day on weekends because you're constantly having to negotiate pedestrians and other cyclists which is annoying to both parties and slows you (and them) down.

I've never towed a trailer so don't have much to offer really.

Here's a potentially useful link: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/find-a-...ycle-network/london-docklands-and-lea-valley/

 

[Dogtrousers]

It got me through México

I think this is the point. Digital route planners are all well and good for areas you know nothing about, but won't beat local knowledge. Even though I am (sort of) local I'm learning stuff from comments above.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Digital route planners are all well and good for areas you know nothing about, but won't beat local knowledge

Well, in fairness, very little will beat local knowledge. Although it's not infallible. I've been assured (by people on bikes, no less) that certain roads I was worried about would be fine. They would have been - on a scrambler motorbike
And when people aren't used to cycling? Distances can be .... optimistic as can hills! I recall one man telling me, no insisting, that I could cycle from Austin to Dallas, Texas in a day (it's only 400 km )

I've tested all the main planners and Cycle Travel is the one that consistently delivers routes that are good for cycling. It's not infallible but it's better (and safer) than the others.