Birmingham to London

[AndStilliRise]

Have to drop my car off to the menders next week and thinking about cycling back. Has anyone done it before and could you recommend a route. Not planning on doing it if it is too cold or wet though.

[dudleybloke]

Wrong time of year for such heroics but I certainly admire your spirit!

[TwistingMyMelon]

Hmm only way I would do it this time of year would be if I knew a big chunk of the route you could use either end, IE the last 40 miles or so, otherwise its a bit of a pain trying to navigate 100+ unknown miles this time of year. Guess you could use a GPS route if you have a device that supports it, but they lie/fail !!

I had a similiar issue , needed to get from London to Wiltshire 100 miles , I just chucked bike in car then rode back easy. But it was in the summer so I could ride through the evening until 10pm and I knew 75% of the route off by heart so I could just ride through without stopping. The 25% I didnt know was a pain as I had to stop loads at junctions, in the summer this is pleasant in the winter ...less so when it is 5 degrees!

So doable just depends on route knowledge for me

[AndStilliRise]

I did 70m yesterday however it is a familiar route down the side of a dual carriageway with a cycle lane. Not the most scenic but wanted to get some miles in for next week. Birmingham to Oxford is 80miles so at the very least should be able to clock that out and then catch the train for the remaining 50miles if it is too cold/dark/late.

[Black can man]

Think i'd fancy doing this

[AndStilliRise]

Black can man said:

Think i'd fancy doing this

Are you in?

[Black can man]

AndStilliRise said:

Black can man said:

Think i'd fancy doing this

Are you in?

When are you going ?

[AndStilliRise]

Black can man said:

AndStilliRise said:

Black can man said:

Think i'd fancy doing this

Are you in?

When are you going ?

Travelling up hopefully on Friday night, stay with bro's family and then in the morning trek it down on the bike. Where do you live?

[Black can man]

AndStilliRise said:

Travelling up hopefully on Friday night, stay with bro's family and then in the morning trek it down on the bike. Where do you live?

I'm in the Wimbledon area

[Black can man]

I'm sure there may be a few others on here that would fancy this too.


It's about time we had another PH Run

[yellowjack]

Hmmm?

I was musing about something along these very lines just tonight in the car.

We'd just driven back from The White Swan hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon, home to Farnborough. As we drove through Sandhurst (to avoid the ongoing catastrophe that is The Meadows roundabout) we passed a local White Swan pub. I joked to the wife that it ought to be a Strava segment - "White Swan to White Swan".

I just checked on Strava's route builder, and just from a simple start and end point it threw back a route of 90 miles and 4,600ft of climbing, via the likes of Hook Norton, Sandford St Martin, Wootton, Bletchingdon, Wheatley, Watlington, Henley-on-Thames ans Twyford. It looks like a nice run out, not sure what the roads are like but I may just take a note of it for a future car journey "avoiding motorways and major roads".

The wife wasn't very supportive of such an idea - she feels that travelling by car is far more preferable,especially at this time of year, but I thought that it wasn't such a daft idea as it first seemed when I joked about it. Now I need to find out if there are any other "White Swan" hostelries along the route, and then I've got a route name for it - "Tour de White Swan"...


...in William Shakespeare's day it was apparently a four day ride on horseback between London and his home in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Strava estimates a wee bit over 10 hours for the bike trip, which isn't bad, considering it took over two hours this evening by car on motorways almost all the way! Strava estimate seems to be based on averaging only 9mph too - if you could hold 15mph for the trip (I couldn't, I don't think) it'd bring it down to about 6 hours...

Edited by yellowjack on Monday 5th December 21:24

[Paraicj]

I'd suggest Birmingham - Henley-in-Arden - Stratford-on-Avon - Chipping Norton - Oxford - Henley-on-Thames - Maidenhead. Then figure out how to get into London!

I've done the Brum - Stratford section, it's straightforward and you can do it without major routes.

It's about 100 miles to Maidenhead that way, with ~2500ft of climbs. Or 160km and 760m for the metrically-inclined.

EDIT: Something like this? https://goo.gl/maps/69q7RXcUsG32

Edited by Paraicj on Tuesday 6th December 12:41

[Marcellus]

I've just had a play on Strava and interestingly it comes back with the "most popular" route being further to the North East than I'd expect; Leamington, Silverstone, Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard, Tring, Chesham, Uxbridge, Ealing, Wimbledon (128miles 5633ft).

The least climbing route is Leam, Oxford, Watlington, Henley, Slough, Staines, Kingston, Wimbledon. (140miles 4965ft) The only nasty is from Watlington to Pishill!

[AndStilliRise]

Black can man said:

AndStilliRise said:

Travelling up hopefully on Friday night, stay with bro's family and then in the morning trek it down on the bike. Where do you live?

I'm in the Wimbledon area

I have a bike rack, if you can get to me NW London, we can travel up together. Not sure if Bro can accommodate both of us (will ask), but would be happy to grab a hotel for the evening or something. Start early, clock out some large miles, stop for coffee/lunch and then try and get it done.

[Thurbs]

I would cycle close to a train route and then if it rains or you bonk, just hop on the train.

[AndStilliRise]

Paraicj said:

I'd suggest Birmingham - Henley-in-Arden - Stratford-on-Avon - Chipping Norton - Oxford - Henley-on-Thames - Maidenhead. Then figure out how to get into London!

I've done the Brum - Stratford section, it's straightforward and you can do it without major routes.

It's about 100 miles to Maidenhead that way, with ~2500ft of climbs. Or 160km and 760m for the metrically-inclined.

EDIT: Something like this? https://goo.gl/maps/69q7RXcUsG32

Edited by Paraicj on Tuesday 6th December 12:41

Thanks man, useful.

[AndStilliRise]

AndStilliRise said:

Paraicj said:

I'd suggest Birmingham - Henley-in-Arden - Stratford-on-Avon - Chipping Norton - Oxford - Henley-on-Thames - Maidenhead. Then figure out how to get into London!

I've done the Brum - Stratford section, it's straightforward and you can do it without major routes.

It's about 100 miles to Maidenhead that way, with ~2500ft of climbs. Or 160km and 760m for the metrically-inclined.

EDIT: Something like this? https://goo.gl/maps/69q7RXcUsG32

Edited by Paraicj on Tuesday 6th December 12:41

Thanks man, useful.

Did you say you have done Brum - Stratford? I live in NW London (Watford/Pinner) so Maidenhead may put us out to much. Stratford might actually be better as i can get a train home.

[Black can man]

AndStilliRise said:

Black can man said:

AndStilliRise said:

Travelling up hopefully on Friday night, stay with bro's family and then in the morning trek it down on the bike. Where do you live?

I'm in the Wimbledon area

I have a bike rack, if you can get to me NW London, we can travel up together. Not sure if Bro can accommodate both of us (will ask), but would be happy to grab a hotel for the evening or something. Start early, clock out some large miles, stop for coffee/lunch and then try and get it done.

i'd truly love to have a go at this but i'm guessing you mean this weekend ?


Which sadly i cannot do.


Thanks all the same.

[Paraicj]

AndStilliRise said:

AndStilliRise said:

Paraicj said:

I'd suggest Birmingham - Henley-in-Arden - Stratford-on-Avon - Chipping Norton - Oxford - Henley-on-Thames - Maidenhead. Then figure out how to get into London!

I've done the Brum - Stratford section, it's straightforward and you can do it without major routes.

It's about 100 miles to Maidenhead that way, with ~2500ft of climbs. Or 160km and 760m for the metrically-inclined.

EDIT: Something like this? https://goo.gl/maps/69q7RXcUsG32

Edited by Paraicj on Tuesday 6th December 12:41

Thanks man, useful.

Did you say you have done Brum - Stratford? I live in NW London (Watford/Pinner) so Maidenhead may put us out to much. Stratford might actually be better as i can get a train home.

Only Stratford-on-Avon, not Stratford in East London, sorry!

[AndStilliRise]

After an encouraging start....the phers are staying indoors!