Suggestions for long distance ride

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mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
The old Fosse Way from Halford in the north Cotswolds to Sharnford, just south of Leicester is not a bad route. Mostly unclassified or a B road, it gets a bit of local traffic, but it's not a major route so not too busy. The rest of the Fosse Way forms the A46 north of Leicester going up to Lincoln. This is a fast dual carraigeway for the most part and not a pleasant road to ride on, though parts of it have been bypassed, leaving the quiet old road intact. I live about half a mile away from the Saxondale junction between the Fosse Way and the A52.
In case anyone's interested, Sustrans Route 48 from Leicester to Newark (with a gap that looks like it has an obvious route across) and R64 onto Lincoln looks like a pretty good alternative, although they each wander off where the A46 upgrade has been built on top of the old road. North of Saxondale, it's mostly close to the A46 (and 30% gravel) and south of there it heads off through the Cropwells, Hickling and Nether Broughton before using minor roads paralleling the railways into Leicester.

I've looked into this as part of a possible tour but not ridden it yet.
 

HelenD123

Guru
Location
York
Another vote for the classic C2C or the Reivers Route. Just don't get lost on the Reivers Route coming out of Kielder or you'll end up on a red mountain bike route. I don't think your friend would like that...
 

Big T

Guru
Location
Nottingham
In case anyone's interested, Sustrans Route 48 from Leicester to Newark (with a gap that looks like it has an obvious route across) and R64 onto Lincoln looks like a pretty good alternative, although they each wander off where the A46 upgrade has been built on top of the old road. North of Saxondale, it's mostly close to the A46 (and 30% gravel) and south of there it heads off through the Cropwells, Hickling and Nether Broughton before using minor roads paralleling the railways into Leicester.

I've looked into this as part of a possible tour but not ridden it yet.

This is my local area. I live in Bingham about 400 metres from the old Fosse. I wouldn't bother with the gravel paths that run alongside the new A46. The noise from the road and stopping to open gates would put you off.

If going north, from Cropwell Butler, follow the old A46 northwards to the Saxondale roundabout, then continue NE still on the old Fosse to Margidunum (site of an old Roman town) and on to the new roundabout at the end of Tenman Lane, then take a right to Car Colston, then left to Flintham, where you can get back onto the now-bypassed old Fosse again. You can follow this all the way into Newark town centre. There's lots of history about the Civil War in Newark. As you ride into town, you'll pass Sconce Park, where the Queen's Sconce is located ( a sconce is a small military fortification made of earth). There's also the Castle and the Civil War Musuem in the town centre, that are both worth seeing.

I would then head out through Coddington to Stapleford, Bassingham and Haddington to approach Lincoln from the south-west. I was out that way over Christmas and saw the AWACS plane take off from the nearby RAF Waddington. The roads north of Newark through Stapleford Woods are pretty quiet, as are the roads between Bingham and Newark, as the new A46 takes most of the traffic.

You could use the cyclepath that runs parallel to the A46, north of Newark, but I wouldn't, again due to noise.
 
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mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Thanks for that. Noise doesn't bother me but I dislike gates. I guess which way you'd go depends if you're following the Fosse or out for a quiet ride!

The parallel path north of Newark doesn't seem to be on maps. I can see it as far as Newark Showground on satellite photos but no further.
 
NCN 48 is indeed expressly intended to parallel the Fosse - the Sustrans area manager who devised it (now retired) called it “Fosse2”. I have the full planned route somewhere - I should probably put it as a route on cycle.travel.
 

Big T

Guru
Location
Nottingham
Thanks for that. Noise doesn't bother me but I dislike gates. I guess which way you'd go depends if you're following the Fosse or out for a quiet ride!

The parallel path north of Newark doesn't seem to be on maps. I can see it as far as Newark Showground on satellite photos but no further.

After checking Google maps, the cyclepath next to the A46 north of Newark only runs between the Swinderby Roundabout ( about 10 miles NE of Newark) and the roundabout on the edge of Lincoln. There isn't a path further south, as far as I can see, ( I knew there was a path On at least part of the road but I've never paid much attention to it, as I've never cycled on it).

But there are many pleasant lanes running parallel on both the north and the south side of the A46 between Newark and Lincoln, that you can take. These carry little traffic as the A46 carries most through traffic. Cycle travel suggests a route to the north of the A46, via Collingham (route 64) which I'm familiar with, as the now-closed cafe at Swinderby was a regular club run destination for us.

Further south, the section between Widmerpool and Newark, is the stretch that was most recently dualled. There is a parallel cycle route along much of its length. I'll do some exploring to see if I can provide more information.

Between Leicester and Widmerpool, the road has been dualled for many years, probably since the 1960's. It's a fast straight road carrying lots of traffic and there are no cycle paths at all. I wouldn't recommend riding on this stretch. Again, there are parallel quiet roads that I would recommend.
 
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Big T

Guru
Location
Nottingham
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/86887 is the planned NCN route parallel to the Fosse Way - not all of it open/signposted and I guess it's possible some of it will never be!

I've checked out the section local to me (Leicester to Newark) and it looks sensible, using lightly trafficked roads. The green sections are off-road gravel paths but look to be mostly ok on a road bike. I'm going to ride some of these sections over the next few days to check them out.
 
In case anyone's interested, Sustrans Route 48 from Leicester to Newark (with a gap that looks like it has an obvious route across) and R64 onto Lincoln looks like a pretty good alternative, although they each wander off where the A46 upgrade has been built on top of the old road. North of Saxondale, it's mostly close to the A46 (and 30% gravel) and south of there it heads off through the Cropwells, Hickling and Nether Broughton before using minor roads paralleling the railways into Leicester.

I've looked into this as part of a possible tour but not ridden it yet.

Route 48 around Leicester up to Newark is fine but I'd stay on the roads around kinoulton and Cropwell Bishop rather than use the canal path.

The old fosse way past East Stoke is superb with a tailwind!
 
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