Route advice needed in South West England.

[Ajax Bay]

As @mjr implies, given the early hour and the van, a bash along those main roads would get a few miles in the bag:

start point is near Towcester and early morning, so A5 - A43 to Brackley as at that time of day the roads will be quiet and we'll have a support van that will stay behind us for that part,

 

[uphillstruggler]

Would you still avoid it if you had a follow van like the OP will?

yep, impatient early morning drivers may not be expecting a cyclist when they cut in past the van that is going slowly on a dual carriageway.

its just my personal preference but no, I still wouldn't be on that road.

I hope the OP has a great day out with no issues

 

[johnblack]

yep, impatient early morning drivers may not be expecting a cyclist when they cut in past the van that is going slowly on a dual carriageway.

its just my personal preference but no, I still wouldn't be on that road.

I hope the OP has a great day out with no issues

We're still debating that one! The route we have at the moment does avoid the A43, obviously not quite so direct but is a route we usually regularly. There is only three of us doing the ride, so if either of the other two particularly don't want to go on the A43 I'd rather take the back road than have it as an issue, in the grand scheme of things it's only going to be couple of miles and a few minutes in it so I'd rather keep everyone happy.

 

[johnblack]

Looking good. When are you doing this section? I’m pretty close by and could hook up with you for a smidge.

Friday 17th May, haven't agreed start time yet, I want to start early so we get a decent breakfast stop at about 3 - 3.5 hrs 50/60 miles when traffic is at morning peak. Then stops at 105 and 155ish.

 

[johnblack]

Looks good. I note the (relatively slow narrow minor roads 34-54km. My one suggestion is to look again at the stretch 69-96km and consider this line (NB only 10% on A roads):
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/29876638
It's going the other way, but 13 days ago on Good Friday the 4 of us were in a pace line for 450k and this was about 61km to 112km! Slight head wind but warming up nicely (1030-1230).

I'm going to take a look at that, thank you.

 

[johnblack]

I have a few diversions for you in my area of Chippenham. I will get back to you to suggest alternative routes.

Yeah the Chippenham bit does look to be a bit of a pain, local knowledge there would be good.

 

[johnblack]

..and while I'm at it, charging a Garmin 500 whilst recording, never had to do this before and seems it's not as straight forward as just usb to power bank, any fixes?

 

[Illaveago]

Yeah the Chippenham bit does look to be a bit of a pain, local knowledge there would be good.

When are you setting off ?
I didn't see the bit that you have a van following you. I have ridden the road from Dauntsey to Sutton Benger and found that it is okay. The road from Sutton Benger to langley Burrell is flat and nice and quiet and is a route I often use with my friends .
From Langley Burrell I would take the first turning on the right before you get to Chippenham, Hill Corner Road. This road would take you across to the Malmesbury Road where you could turn right up the hill towards the traffic lights where you would turn left on to Hardenhuish Lane. Hardenhuish Lane would take you to the A420 Bristol Road where you would cross on to the Hungerdown Lane. This road would take you straight to the A4 Bath Road , Pheasant roundabout . Here you would have to deviate from your plan due to a new housing estate which has blocked Easton Lane . There is a cycle path between 2 garages which is sign posted which cuts through to the Methuen Business park and connects to the blocked off Easton Lane. The van driver could separate from you at the Pheasant roundabout and continue along the A4 Bath road to the next roundabout and turn left on to the Methuen Business Park .
Easton Lane is my favourite road as it is usually quite and flat and would take you towards Corsham without any problems.
I directed you away from the centre of the town as it would be more direct and would avoid all of the traffic in the one way system .

 

[johnblack]

When are you setting off ?
I didn't see the bit that you have a van following you. I have ridden the road from Dauntsey to Sutton Benger and found that it is okay. The road from Sutton Benger to langley Burrell is flat and nice and quiet and is a route I often use with my friends .
From Langley Burrell I would take the first turning on the right before you get to Chippenham, Hill Corner Road. This road would take you across to the Malmesbury Road where you could turn right up the hill towards the traffic lights where you would turn left on to Hardenhuish Lane. Hardenhuish Lane would take you to the A420 Bristol Road where you would cross on to the Hungerdown Lane. This road would take you straight to the A4 Bath Road , Pheasant roundabout . Here you would have to deviate from your plan due to a new housing estate which has blocked Easton Lane . There is a cycle path between 2 garages which is sign posted which cuts through to the Methuen Business park and connects to the blocked off Easton Lane. The van driver could separate from you at the Pheasant roundabout and continue along the A4 Bath road to the next roundabout and turn left on to the Methuen Business Park .
Easton Lane is my favourite road as it is usually quite and flat and would take you towards Corsham without any problems.
I directed you away from the centre of the town as it would be more direct and would avoid all of the traffic in the one way system .

Thank you, I've added this in to the route.

 

[johnblack]

Morning all, I did the ride on Friday, great day, pretty tough, but went smoothly with no mechanicals. Door to door was 184 miles with a riding time of 10 hours 18 minutes. We did have three stops for food and took our time, it was a fairly cold day and leaving a nice warm pub is always a struggle so start to finish was about 13 hours 30 minutes. The rest of the group were doing a three day ride Northampton-Cheltenham-WSM-Exeter and as they were most big old ex-rugby players it was a fair old challenge for them too. So far the group has raised £41k for charity.

Thanks for all the route advice, constant tweaking took place and I think we got it about right.

On to the next one.

 

[johnblack]

Sorry, here's the ride from Strava, unfortunately split in to pre and post breakfast stints.