# Short family cycling holiday - around 100 mile quiet route



## 400bhp (6 Mar 2012)

I'm thinking of planning a short cycling trip with the other 1/2 and my 3 year old daughter. My daughter will be in the child seat.

Ideally I would like to do something over 3 days, with around 30-40 miles a day, fairly flat and fairly quiet (trails would be better). We'd be travelling light so would want to stop in hotels/b&b's. Ideal situation would be to start / end at a train station. We would be on rigid forked hybrids.

I was initially thinking of cycling the Trans Pennine Trail, heading east from Lymm (as I live just half a mile from it), but I've never been further that Chorlton Water Park. Is the TPT suitable? I would imagine it gets quite undulating towards the Pennines.

I'd be interested in ideas.

Thanks


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## 400bhp (7 Mar 2012)

I wonder if this thread would be better in Touring & Expedition?


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## Hicky (8 Mar 2012)

Potsy is your man for this as he cycles it often.
I have to check this(within the next month,if you dont get any joy or an answer from me then pm me!) route for a run I'm leading but I'll only be able to check up to the Pyramid in Stockport and probably down to Chorlton, if Potsy doesnt turnup then I'll see what I can do.

At a guess it would be fairly rutted even in summer unless they've resurfaced alot of it since I was a kid,and you have to cross the main rd(B5095) and go though the Galleon hotel carpark....by all accounts there are numerous cyclegates....having said that I have plans on doing it with my kids so it cant be that bad(once I've checked it).


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## 400bhp (8 Mar 2012)

Thanks Hicky  I think Potsy rides west more often (towards Warrington) than not.


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## Hacienda71 (8 Mar 2012)

You could get off the TPT near Marple and jump on the Middlewood Way which is nice and flat and takes you as far as Macc on trails only. (although that is only about 11 miles.)


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## jonathanw (12 Mar 2012)

Fort William to Inverness on the Great Glen Cycle Route?

Perhaps a little too far North?


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## 400bhp (12 Mar 2012)

How quiet are the roads on that route?


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## rollinstok (13 Mar 2012)

Ravenglass to Carlisle ( part of Hadrians Cycleway ) follows NW coast on cyclepaths and minor roads, very flat ride with a couple of minor bumps


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## 400bhp (13 Mar 2012)

rollinstok said:


> Ravenglass to Carlisle ( part of Hadrians Cycleway ) follows NW coast on cyclepaths and minor roads, very flat ride with a couple of minor bumps


 
Oh yes - that looks perfect. Just plotted it on Bikeroutetoaster. 83 miles

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=363332


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## rollinstok (13 Mar 2012)

400bhp said:


> Oh yes - that looks perfect. Just plotted it on Bikeroutetoaster. 83 miles
> 
> http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=363332


 
check out a vid on youtube called " hadrians wall cycle " to whet your appetite


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## jonathanw (14 Mar 2012)

400bhp said:


> How quiet are the roads on that route?


 
mostly off road on dedicated track or canal towpath. A few sections on small single track roads

Needs hybrid or MTB tyres

http://www.greatglenway.com/route_users.htm#Mountain and Road Bike


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## jdtate101 (14 Mar 2012)

400bhp said:


> Oh yes - that looks perfect. Just plotted it on Bikeroutetoaster. 83 miles
> 
> http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=363332


 
You start right next door to hardknott pass! I wouldn't recommend that with your family, but if you get a day pass and are feeling utterly masochistic, it only possibly the hardest climb in the country!!!!


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## 400bhp (14 Mar 2012)

I would never get my other half on a bike again.


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## rollinstok (14 Mar 2012)

jdtate101 said:


> You start right next door to hardknott pass! I wouldn't recommend that with your family, but if you get a day pass and are feeling utterly masochistic, it only possibly the hardest climb in the country!!!!


 
Check Hadrians Cycleway, it stays along the coast well away from the lake district passes. There are no climbs worth mentioning until after Carlisle which makes the ride up to Carlisle great for families.


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## PaulSB (19 Mar 2012)

Longer than you asked for but the northern section of the Penine Cycleway should meet much of four criteria. Starts at Appleby in Westmoorland station and finishes in Berwick on Tweed. The only major hill I can recall is Hartside. Lovely quiet rural ride of about 140 miles

Part of the southern section Derby to Glossop area is OK but only OK. The section from the Glossop area to Appleby is best described as tough. Good riding but some bastard climbs thrown in.


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## G-Zero (19 Mar 2012)

400bhp said:


> ....I'd be interested in ideas.
> 
> Thanks


 
This might not be suitable at the moment, but one for the future perhaps.

The first time I did the C2C Whitehaven-Sunderland, I did it with my first wife and our boys, who at the time were 9 & 7 years old. We treat it as a leisurely cycling holiday and we spent 5 nights in pre-booked B&Bs. Other than me pushing youngest's bike up a couple of the steeper bits, they did it under their own steam and it still remains my favourite crossing out of the three that I've done.

We were self sufficient and I carried the bulk of our gear on my bike, including a massive rucsac.

My wife wasn't particularly fit, but the pace we set was relaxed and easily achievable, so depending on your fitness, would be easy enough, even with your little one in her seat.
The advantage of that route is that you can break off at any point and shorten it to suit your own needs.

Wife no.2 is a keen cyclist and has never done the C2C, so I'm keen to do it again, but trying to get her 2 girls interested is like pulling teeth !!


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## 400bhp (19 Mar 2012)

I have been sent a gpx file of the TPT all the way to Southport. I have been as far as Fiddler's Ferry before but assumed the route after that wasn't particurlarly nice. I was a little surprised when I looked at the route that it appears to be mostly paths. I might do a test run up there and back one weekend. Anyone use the TPT east of Fiddler's Ferry?


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