Tour of Britain - Reigate to Guildford

[Wigsie]

Hi all, a work mate an I are contemplating driving up to watch this on Sunday... the plan is to ditching the car near (ish) to the start and cycling to the route... then once they have passed we will be cycling across to see maybe one or two more passes as it seems like the route may lend itself to this - any local knowledge on best places to achieve this?

Help greatly appreciated.

 

[siadwell]

The route heads south out of Reigate town centre before heading west then north again to join the A25, so it should be possible to nip out of Priory Park (round the back of Morrisons), join the A25 and go west past Buckland. Take the left turn at the roundabout and head towards Brockham where, with a bit of luck and a tail wind, you might just catch the peleton.

I found last night that if you download the race manual from the ToB website, there are detailed expected timings for each day's route.

 

[Longshot]

The race is going through my village, Send, at 1.30 ish I believe. If you look at the route map there's a spot in the middle where they go through twice. I expect it will be busy but may be a good spot to aim for.

 

[Wigsie]

Thanks, I checked out the timings on the site and with a bit of dodgy maths have come up with this route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5660708

If we skip the start, should be able to watch them at the sprint point in Dorking… then have 90 minutes to get to the King of the mountains check point stage at Leith hill (will be time for a pie somewhere for lunch) then after they pass will have 30 mins from Leith hill to next KOM stage at Barhatch (which cutting cross is another 6/7 miles but looks a bit more hilly) then an hour to do the 10 miles from Barhatch to the finish line in Guildford.

Then an easy 10 mile route to back to Dorking.

33 miles and not too much rushing, should be doable... just need to ensure that my GPS reading skill are better that ianrauk's!

 

[srw]

From that direction with bikes you'll probably struggle to see anything of the finish if the weather's reasonable - you're coming at it head on, the pavements aren't that wide, and because there's a hill-climb competition between passes of the High Street, it's a Sunday and it's the final stage, I'd expect it to be quite busy. Head down York Road, turn left up Chertsey Street and see where you end up.

I'd also point out that the road north out of Ewhurst is an absolute swine - it's extremely narrow, very steep, has lousy sightlines and very steep verges.

 

[Wigsie]

From that direction with bikes you'll probably struggle to see anything of the finish if the weather's reasonable - you're coming at it head on, the pavements aren't that wide, and because there's a hill-climb competition between passes of the High Street, it's a Sunday and it's the final stage, I'd expect it to be quite busy. Head down York Road, turn left up Chertsey Street and see where you end up.

I'd also point out that the road north out of Ewhurst is an absolute swine - it's extremely narrow, very steep, has lousy sightlines and very steep verges.

Great stuff, thanks... just plugged in what looked like the best route... but can be flexible, i figured Guildford would be chaotic so we were just planning on winging that last stretch and getting as close as possible but i dont want to be 25 deep and see a row of cycle helmets flying past.

 

[dellzeqq]

northern slope of Staples Lane near East Clandon could be good. Steady incline, big views in the background. The road levels off a bit, so if you go right to the top your view of the Tour's approach might be a bit restricted