Bikepacking the Icknield way/Ridgeway/Wessex Ridgeway

[cycleofaddiction]

I've got a week of at Easter with the missus and we're hoping to do a 3/4 day trip and will be wildcamping. We had been planning on the Trans Cambrian but the missus is a bit concerned her lack of saddle time due to work commitments lately means the big Welsh hills will make it a bit of a sufferfest. So I've been looking at the Icknield Way Trail/Ridgeway/Wessex Ridgeway with the plan of doing a 150 ish km stretch somewhere on those trails. We would ideally want to park the car at the end then catch a train to get us as close to the start as possible. Has anybody done anything similar or got any experience mtbing any of these trails ? I would love to know if anyone has done the whole route from East Anglia to the Dorset Coast ? Any comments would be appreciated.

[ctznsmith]

I've ridden a short section in Dorset from Blandford to Cerne Abbas on a 'cross bike and it was fairly straightforward and easy to follow. Does go up and down more than you think it will though. Not many walkers either from memory too (mid-week but in the summer).

A larger portion of the route or the whole route is on my 'to do list'.

The problem with the Wessex ridgeway and trains is that none of the towns that have stations are very big or on the same train line!

[voodoo_simon]

The Crikey, how much boys have done it, looks lovely. Here's some inspiration
http://pages.Crikey, how much.cc/rides/icknield-wayp

[johnnystorm]

I've done the Peddars Way end from Knettishall to the Coast and back. You can tell it was a Roman road as its arrow straight for most of it. Along the way you can divert through Princess Di's old school, you go right past Swaffham McDonalds (!) and there are pub/cafe stops in Castle Acre and at the beach. There's also very little height gain.....

[cycleofaddiction]

Thanks for the reply's, I think it was probably the Crikey, how much film that brought the Icknield Way to my attention, don't think we'll be taking our road bikes though
I'm more familiar with the Dorset end as my sister lived in Blandford for a few years but as you say ctznsmith it will be more up & down than we think. I have highlighted an 80-90 mile stretch of the Ridgeway/Wessex Ridgeway between Goring and Warminster where it's possible to get a train with a couple of changes but don't yet know whether we could take bikes on it though ? I really like the sound of Peddars way coast & back Johnnystorm did you do that in a day ?

[johnnystorm]

Knettishall heath (free!) Carpark to the coast and back (100 miles) in a leisurely 11 hours including a pub stop at the coast.

[johnnystorm]

....and a stop at the aforementioned McDonalds for a large sprite.

[cycleofaddiction]

I think the missus and me will be significantly more leisurely than 11 hrs. I think we could catch a train from Thetford to Cromer and then ride to the start of the Pedders way to add some Kim's ?

[johnnystorm]

There is always the Norfolk coastal path if you're feeling like a few cheeky trails. If you started from Norwich you could do the Marriott Trail to Aylsham and then from there the Weavers way heads to the coast....

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map/rout ... riotts-way

http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show ... +(Norfolk)

I only found the weavers way as cycle street.net put it on one of the gpx it generated for me.

You could use it to get you from Aylsham to Cromer.

[cycleofaddiction]

Thanks a lot johnnystorm I think we'll catch a train from Newmarket to Norwich then head north west on the railtrail and quiet roads towards the Peddars Way then follow that onto the short section of the Icknield Way trail back to Newmarket which is about 130 miles give or take. I'm also now looking at a totally different option which would involve catching a train from Stoke On Trent to Aberystwyth then spending 4/5 days riding back from there using Mtb Epics UK North South Divide route, which although the terrain will be like Trans Cambrian which the missus was a bit frightened of, I've managed to convince her that the riding will get easier the nearer we get to home and the fact we will be riding home will be an added incentive to keep going ! That's the theory anyway ?

[voodoo_simon]

Speaking to a friend about this, he wouldn't recommend doing Icknield Way on a recumbent "it was rather difficult"

[benp1]

I'd like to do part of this

I'm in North London so its my closest long distance trail. Thinking about doing the ridgeway section from around Ivinghoe Beacon to somewhere south west of it

[johnnystorm]

COA glad to help, hope you enjoy it!

I've got the epics book too. Been thinking of doing it in reverse as it finishes near my house and skirts close to my in-laws.

[cycleofaddiction]

That's handy JS ..I really like how mtb epics have done the guides with the turn by turn instructions and grid refs leaving you to map it yourself.. I've mapped up to Woodhouseaves so far which is just over half of it, might post the gpx when I've finished as I think it could become an ITT !

[johnnystorm]

Funnily enough I thought it was pretty dreadful!

I've done the Thetford to Southwold section if you fancy saving yourself some time. I might have tweaked it a bit to take in the trail centre though....

[cycleofaddiction]

Lol..I thought that at first but once I got into it I enjoyed it but I could spend hours staring maps.. thanks for the offer JS but I'm kind of looking forward to saying I mapped the whole route now but I'm more than happy to share it with you when I'm done I thought i'd update on what we're doing as far as the Peddars/Icknield Way is concerned.. we have decided to do the North South Divide route as far as Cannock and then up the Trent & Mersey canal back home to Stoke but if it looks like the weather will be better down south over Easter then we'll revert back to our original plan of the Peddars/Icknield Way. Just keeping our options open at the moment.

[benp1]

I'm off work for a few weeks so seriously thinking about bikepacking the Ridgeway. I was going to do The Smoke Ring, but that involves a fair amount of map planning!

Don't know if I'll be doing this solo or potentially with a mate. Also not sure if I'll do the double or just one way, the latter being more likely

Was going to get the GPX from here - http://ridgewaydouble.net/

If it's a single, and I can get a mate to do it with me, we could drop a car at either end. In which case I thought south west to north east might work better with the prevailing wind

Any tips or insight anyway can share?


I've also looked at this thread - http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... f=7&t=3048

[jameso]

I thought south west to north east might work better with the prevailing wind

A good plan, the Ridgeway in windy wet weather going east is a bit grim once a few miles past Goring. And the most fun stuff is at the Chilterns end so going west you get a nice warm up and a more mountain-bikey finish.
tbh as a one-way it'd be an easy-pace ride if you intend to se the bivi gear, 2 40-odd milers where one may be less than 4hrs.

[benp1]

A good plan, the Ridgeway in windy wet weather going east is a bit grim once a few miles past Goring. And the most fun stuff is at the Chilterns end so going west you get a nice warm up and a more mountain-bikey finish.
tbh as a one-way it'd be an easy-pace ride if you intend to se the bivi gear, 2 40-odd milers where one may be less than 4hrs.

I was hoping you might be able to offer some advice!

Thanks for the timing, if it was 1 way with a mate we then have time to drop a car off at each end, and then pick it up. Not sure if anyone can make it yet, if I do it on my own it's going to take more time and more effort so not 100% sure what I'm going to do...

so going west

Do you mean going east?