South Coast trip - hints & tips etc

[Drapoon]

Hi dudes

Myself, my brother & a mate are heading from Northampton to Penzance via coach to ride from Lands end to Dover over the space of a week. Here's the plan - any places we should avoid or make an effort to visit on our travels?
We will be doing this on road bikes - I'm sure I will be fine ( not that I am a cycling legend but I do a 40 mile commute (20 miles each way) most work days. It's the other 2's lack of "in the saddle" time I worry about!


Wednesday 10th June - Lands End and back to Falmouth – 70 miles

Thursday 11th June - Falmouth to Plymouth – 65.27 miles

Friday 12th June - Plymouth to Exmouth (via Dartmoor National Park) – 73 miles

Saturday 13th June - Exmouth to Poole – 73.4 miles

Sunday 14th June - Poole to Bognor (via New Forest) – 74.6 miles

Monday 15th June - Bognor to Eastbourne – 47.86 miles

Tuesday 16th June - Eastbourne to Dover – 61.82 miles

We will need to source bike boxes in Dover to pack the bikes up for the coach trip back to milton Keynes station - anyone know of a good bike shop down there?

I'll be at mayhem the following friday /saturday/ sunday - look for me bimbling on my white Explosif or walking like John Wayne (!)

thanks for any comments

Martin

 

[lumos2000]

id be more than happy to help with your stop in poole, if you need any local info let me know

 

[cchris2lou]

that is quite a lot of miles , especially if the wind is against you .

 

[barry2017]

^^what he said^^
I think you'll be alright, but your brother and mate will struggle if they're not used to distance riding.
I think a more realistic target might be for you to be on a mountain bike and them on road bikes and limiting your trips to 40 miles a day with a rest day somewhere in the middle.
There's nothing worse than a group where someone else is faster than the others. You'll always be getting on each others nerves, because you'll be waiting for them, and they'll be struggling to keep up with you.
As for the coach back, you can get bike boxes from any good bike shop. They have to pay to chuck them out, so don't let them charge you.
It's worth checking there aren't too many people on the coach, though; the National Express luggage policy says they only take oversize luggage if there's room for it, and a bike box comes under that rule.

 

[lumos2000]

that is quite a lot of miles , especially if the wind is against you .

i may be wrong but from what i can remember the wind along the south cost tends to blow in that direction anyway

http://www.windwatcher.net/index.php?areaID=5

 

[No Longer Registered]

I used to commute to work along the coastal cycle path between Brighton toward Worthing. On a sunny, still day it was bliss, 8 miles in around 26mins. Other days would be the polar opposite and the journey would take 40 odd mins and felt like a constant fight with the wind. The first few time I went though the day thinking that I'd be rewarded with a tail wind home. This illusion was shattered when I had a 40min return journey. June and July tend to be the worst months for this inclement wind. I'd plan alternative inland route for such conditions and opt to use Trains to make up legs of the journey where you fall behind as you will be shattered the following day and compound the effect.
It is possible to follow a flat, route/cycle path all the way from Littlehampton along the coast to Brighton and then the undercliff path from Brighton Marina to just short of Newhaven which is a good 30 miles where there is no Gradient. The last leg into Eastbourne is really scenic, but not nice as there is only really the one Route you can take which is the A259, which is narrow, busy and undulating. Not a nice road to be on a bike in busy traffic. If you have wider section tyres follow the path that runs parallel that runs though Friston Forrest .

 

[Drapoon]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the input - I must admit the difference in cycling fitness does worry me a bit. My bro plays footy twice a week, swims twice & maybe does a 15 mile bike ride every other week. It's not his fitness that's in question just being used to churning out that kind of distance on a bike.

We will see I guess - they are both adamant they will be fine

We have spoken National express & they can't give us a 100% answer whether our bikes can go on - down to drivers descretion. We are going to send them down ahead of us to a cycle shop in Penzance (this seems the best bet).

Then probably box them up in Dover & hope they get on the bus - otherwise leave them somewhere for a cycle shop to post back up for us.

We chose going this way as we thought the wind might be behind us ...epic fail there it seems!


Some local knowledge in Poole would be ace - cheers lumos.

Any other local knowledge for the other stop off points would be ace


cheers fellas

Martin

 

[TSC.]

I'd be very concerned with your planned route from Plymouth to Exmouth through Dartmoor. Sure, the scenery is fantastic, but for people without much experience of distance riding Dartmoor could turn into a real hazard. Firstly, Dartmoor is very hilly, with very little shelter from prevailing winds. Secondly, (& most importantly), the weather on the moor can change in an instant, it is very important that you take suitable clothing & kit.

I wouldn't rule out going across Dartmoor, but be very wary of the challenge to inexperienced cyclists. If one of your group blows up halfway across, you could end up in real trouble.

I'm fairly local (Torquay) & will gladly PM you my mobile number just in case you get into trouble on that stretch of the route. It may sound over-cautious, but Dartmoor is the last place you want to be stuck with mechanical or any other issues. I'm due to be on a day off on Fri 12th June, so can easily hop in the car should the need arise.

 

[Drapoon]

Hi Tsc

Many thanks for your response - I will make some investigations into the route through Dartmoor.

Also thanks for your very kind offer - I'll take you up on that sos number if you don't mind ;-)

If you would like to join us for that leg of the journey pls be our guest ;-)

 

[TSC.]

Hi Drapoon,

I'll PM you my mobile number, feel free to contact me by phone or PM if you have any questions about the Dartmoor route. Sadly I think if I tried to cycle that route with you I'd probably blow up before reaching the Plymouth city limits these days.

It would be well worth notifying me of your planned route before you leave, at least then I will know where to go if any problems should arise, I may even just hop in the car & meet you somewhere along your route.