gmj said:
I am taking part in a Charity bike ride to take place in Septemeber over
the course of 3 days. I am part of a relay team of nine who will cycle
in pairs with vehicle support in tow.
I am hoping to tap into the extensive data bank of road users who
frequent this forum to derive the quickest routes between the following
locations.
[...]
Quoted message said:Day 2 - Sheffield Airport to Oxford Business Park, Garsington
Sounds like what I did (in reverse) at the end of last month, admittedly
over two days. Get hold of some Ordnace Survey "Road" series (in green,
1:250_000) and "Route" series (in blue, 1:625_000), for the major
inter-city part of the planning, plus some from the "Landranger"
1:25_000 series (pink) for use in the the tricky bits in and around
towns. Draw a straight line between the points, and pick the path
nearest to that line that avoids the bits you don't want to visit...
Quoted message said:The only rule is that dual carriageways are not allowed to be used
unless where no other route is available.
I was following Roman roads a good deal of the time. They're mostly
single-carriageway and straight, but not flat.
From your POV, I did Sheffield - Dore - Chesterfield - Clay Cross, then
Ryknild Street to Horsly, Dale Abbey - Risley, cross the river Trent nr
Long Eaton, Diseworth - Coalville - Newbold, then onto the Fosse Way via
High Cross (where it crosses Watling Street).
It's a good idea to go through Cropredy via Priors Marston at some
point, and then hit the Banbury - Oxford Road by going south of Banbury.
You could use the A423 instead if you wanted, but I decided not to. The
Banbury road is OK if you're travelling on a weekday, but there's a
short stretch of dual carriageway which'll take some minutes to go
around. Frankly, I found the dual easier than the single, but YMMV.
Quoted message said:Our team does not contain any cycling enthusiasts so we are looking to
avoid hilly routes.
There are some pretty unavoidable ones up North, but it does tend to
flatten out towards Oxford. The Amber Valley (S. of Clay Cross) is
pretty but lumpy round the edges, and it's a little off the direct line.
Tea and lunch stops... I recommend the Durham Ox pub in Street Lane,
Denby, and the farm teashop (Near Meadow Farm, I think) between Breaston
and Risley.
Quoted message said:Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated, as there are 4
teams partaking with a lot of pride at stake.
Best of luck. By the way, if your Oxford Business Park meeting point is
the Cancer Research UK office there, give us a wave. I work in the
building directly opposite.
--
Andrew Chadwick
You never hear a Cricket crowd chanting "who's the [censored] in the hat?"
