Scenic Forest of Bowland forum ride,108 km (67 miles) from Waddington, Sat 21st August 2021.

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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
@Sea of vapours and I had planned an alternative to our annual summer Yorkshire Dales forum ride in 2020. We came up with a route touring the fringes of the Forest of Bowland AONB. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to abandon that plan. With restrictions now having been eased though, we are going to do the ride this year instead. We hope that we can get several other riders to join us.

The route is hilly, but not ultra-hilly. We are avoiding most of the bigger climbs in the middle of the FoB AONB. There are still some challenging slopes to tackle, including one of my favourites (the Trough of Bowland), but I didn't want the day out to be so tough that I (or other equally untalented climbers) struggled with it.

The ride starts and finishes in the village of Waddington, near Clitheroe. A map and profile of the route are shown below. (We will be following the route in a clockwise direction.)

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The route is 108 km in length with what I estimate to be 1,800 m of ascent (67 miles/6,000 ft).

We will stop for a break at Bridge House Farm tea rooms in Wray at the halfway point, conveniently after coming off the biggest group of climbs.

The second half of the ride will be much easier, with a very easy final run back with just a few short steep ramps to get over.

I have attached a GPX file of the route. (It is 107 km or 108 km in length, depending on whether you round it up or down! :whistle:)

NB If you are coming along and will be driving to Waddington, there will be a road closure between West Bradford and Waddington in order that a bridge can be replaced, so come in via Clitheroe instead. We will be able to get through by bike on our way back because a temporary footbridge is being erected.

There is car parking in Waddington HERE and HERE.

************ Check for updates **************

GPX viewer
 

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  • FoB 107 km.gpx
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
GPX file and car parking details added to original post.

Do you really want to miss scenery like this...? :whistle:

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(The fire will probably be out by the time we go over there! :laugh:)

Sign up for the ride below...
 

colly

Re member eR
Location
Leeds
I'll be there. Don't want to be square after all.
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Wimping out of salter fell I see.
We ARE, but to compensate, we are going to ride along Roeburndale Road from Crossgill to Lower Salter on the way to Wray. I have never done that little stretch before but have wanted to for years. It looks a bit like the first section of the climb over Salter Fell from the north. I noticed that lots of roadies do it and SoV assures me that it is fine on a skinny-tyred bike. As you can see from the Street View picture below, it is classified as a public road, just an unmade one...

From Crossgill side looking SE-ish:

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From Lower Salter side looking SW-ish:

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Looks good!
 

nickyboy

Norven Mankey
Well I'm in ...
I'm not. But I see the stretch you're doing from Clitheroe to Keasden is almost the same as we did on LEJOG a few weeks ago. Despite it pouring down on that stretch, we all agreed that it was lovely cycling country. Lumpy but not hilly and great scenery on very quiet roads

Don't forget at Wham, it's Young Guns (Go For It)
 

geocycle

Legendary Member
I saw you were doing Littledale then Roeburndale. A really interesting option and especially since the alternative is the windy B road through Wray. The descent after the Littledale climb is worthy of decent brakes. We get our eggs from the farm at the top and I always hesitate about using the bike! Roeburndale is mainly concrete slabs if I recall a ride a few years ago. I might check it out for you.
 
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ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I thought that you would all be chomping at the bit for scenic forum rides like this one after so many months of Covid-enforced restrictions...! :whistle:

Autumn (then winter :cold:) will be with us almost before you can blink. We have booked a nice sunny day for this ride, so why not join us and make the most of what summer we have left?
 
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