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US team seeking Cotswolds route ideas

Jeff Thomas2024-04-13 19:51:44

Colorado-based couple planning to visit Cotswolds 4-14 May. For first half of stay we'll be based in Oakridge Lynch, about 10 mi. W of Cirencester. For second half, we'll be in Stow-on-the-Wold. We'll be bringing our Co-Motion Speedster in two cases, to be assembled upon our arrival in Oakridge Lynch.

Sadly, no West Country Group rides are planned for this time window, so we won't be able to join sad. But we're equipped with the Central-England edition of Jack Thurston's excellent "Lost Lanes" series, and our lodgings will be within 3 mi. of access to Thurston's "At the Crossroads" route. We may not have the pre-season training necessary to complete all 48 miles in one go, but we can hook into the route at Sapperton, jump off the route at Cirencester and follow a Cycle Travel route for the 10 miles back to Oakridge Lynch.

After our stay in Oakridge Lynch, we plan to ride to Stow-in-the-Wold, where we will be lodging directly the town, while a taxi ferries our bags to our inn.

Stow-on-the-Wold sits directly on Thurston's "This Charming Land" route. Whether we attempt the full circuit, or instead do a couple of out-and-backs on different days, we're not sure yet.

But I would be delighted to learn of any 10-30 mile loop rides that have close access to either Oakridge Lynch or Stow-in-the-Wold. I will be searching the club's library of rides, but would appreciate any local knowlege to guide our selection.

We won't have a car during our stay; we're relying on taxi service to get us into the Costwolds from Oxford, and to get us to the Moreton train platform on the day of our return to the London area. For this reason, we're interested in cycling routes that are within reasonable bike reach of our lodgings.

 

Dmitrii Pasechnik2024-04-13 21:04:54

Hi, a tandem rider from Oxford here:-)

My stoker is 11 y.o., so for us 40 mi is a limit nowadays, and we are probably too slow to show you around on a bike.

Few remarks - you can take a train to Swindon or, even better, to Stroud, and take a taxi from there to your 1st stop.

A taxi there from Oxford wouldn't be that easy to get - it's too far for a regular taxi, I think, and will cost a foot and a leg.

From Stow-on-the-Wold, a bit closer station is Kingham (unless you take direct A429, which I don't recommend - in general, avoid Axy and Axyz roads - some of them might have a cycle lane, or just be wide enough - but some Axy are plain dangerous for cycling), and the ride to there is quite pleasant, mostly long downhill.

Regarding rides, the area around Stroud and Nailsworth is quite nice, if you are into climbing in particular.

 

From Stow, you can think of doing a ride to Charlbury and back.

Please shout if you need anything in Oxford, e.g. storage, a college visit, etc :-)

 

Cheers

Dmitrii

 

James Gill2024-04-13 22:04:12

Hi, tandem pilot from Swindon. I don't have any pre-made routes from Oakridge Lynch specifically but I can definitely recommend some great nearby cafes and areas to visit. It's a hilly area there - some steep climbs with pretty views at the top. Pretty much every road up to Minchinhampton Common is like this. As a cafe stop, the Jolly Nice is quite nearby and a favourite of ours. Also the Knead bakery in Elkstone is great.

Finally, I strongly advise avoiding this road in the screenshot! Very poor surface and steep. Going a longer way round will be more pleasant

James Gill2024-04-13 22:04:12

Hi, tandem pilot from Swindon. I don't have any pre-made routes from Oakridge Lynch specifically but I can definitely recommend some great nearby cafes and areas to visit. It's a hilly area there - some steep climbs with pretty views at the top. Pretty much every road up to Minchinhampton Common is like this. As a cafe stop, the Jolly Nice is quite nearby and a favourite of ours. Also the Knead bakery in Elkstone is great.

Finally, I strongly advise avoiding this road in the screenshot! Very poor surface and steep. Going a longer way round will be more pleasant

David Gray2024-04-15 08:04:08

There is an organisation in the UK called Sustrans who facilitate the National Cycle Route.If you look on their website you can search routes by keywords eg Cirencester and you will see parts of the network in that area, they also have maps etc. You can filter routes by traffic free etc.

Hope this helps

Sheila Ward2024-04-15 14:18:58

You might find some good routes here:

https://www.cotswolds-nl.org.uk/visiting-and-exploring/cycling-and-riding/cycle-routes/

https://www.cicerone.co.uk/cycling-in-the-cotswolds

https://slowcycling.net/uk-circular-routes/cotswolds/

Neil Benton2024-04-16 14:50:54

We live near Stow on the Wold but we don’t tandem there very often as Stow is at the top of a hill and we are in Broadway which is at the bottom of the hill. 

Here are some routes which might be of interest:

 Stow -> Lower Swell -> towards Harford Br -> Snowshill -> Chipping Campden ->Moreton in Marsh -> Evenlode ->Broadwell -> Stow.  We have done this route on our tandem and it was tough but manageable.  From this loop you can drop down to Broadway or Toddington to see the steam trains in action but it will mean a big climb back up the hill to join the loop.

Stow -> Broadwell -> Adlestrop -> Kingham -> Chadlington -> Charlbury -> Leafield -> Shipston-under-Wychwood -> Kingham and return.  I have done the Kingham to Charlbury sections on a tandem with daughter on the back.

You can extend the above route from Chadlington to include Finstock and Long Hanborough to Woodstock.  Woodstock has Blenheim palace which is the ancestral home of Winston Churchill.  This runs in part along the busy A4095 but the last time I did it there was a cycle path along most of this road.

From Stow -> Evenlode -> Moreton in Marsh -> then various loops taking in the villages of Todenham, Cherington, Stourton, Whichford, Great Wolford, Long Compton, Barton on the Heath, and even Hook Norton. Avoid long stretches on the A3400 as it can be busy with fast traffic.  Hook Norton is the home of Hook Norton Ales and the brewery has a visitors centre and does guided tours.  The brewery still has shire horses to deliver the beer locally and these can be seen on the guided tours.  https://www.hooky.co.uk/visit-us/book-a-brewery-tour/

There is a Roman villa at Chedworth which you should be able to get to via quiet roads.  Stow -> Lower Swell -> Lower Slaughter -> Bourton on the Water -> North Leach (avoid A429) -> Chedworth.  There are some steep climbs on this route.

The villages of Lower Slaughter, Upper Slaughter and Bourton on the Water are often visited by trips to the Cotswolds and are reachable from Stow.

 I find Ordnance Survey maps the best to use for planning, these are available on bing maps. I also use https://cycle.travel this has a useful feature of being able to suggest circular rides of a user selectable distance.  The routes are routed to prefer low traffic roads and are usually very cycle friendly.

 

Here are some roads I would avoid as they are busy with traffic.  A429, A424, A44, A3400

Hope this is useful.

Please get in touch if you need anything further.  Depending on your dates we would be happy to come for a ride with you.

 

Neil & Anna