Cycling through a city like London can be thrilling, exciting but downright terrifying. The thoughts of cycling through busy traffic can be enough to have your beloved bike rendered as nothing more than a clothes horse in your hallway for the foreseeable future. However, once familiar with the many cycling paths scattered throughout the city, you will soon realise that it is relatively easy to cycle in London.

Nevertheless, a change of scenery from time to time can be a breath of fresh air. Literally. I didn’t take a holiday abroad this year for obvious reasons, so over the past few months, as the lockdown eased, I have been taking time to explore more of the UK by bike.

Here is a list of my top three “Out of London" cycling experiences that I would highly recommend. In no particular order.

Dungeness via Rye and Camber Sands 

I have always had a fascination with Dungeness. The solitude intrigues me and the stark landscape is truly stunning. It's remote location however, is the primary reason for me bailing out of my own plans on several occasions.

That was until the end of June when I bit the bullet and went for it. I hopped on a train to Rye with my bike - a picturesque little town in East Sussex featuring quaint cobbled streets restaurants, art galleries and cafes. There were quite a few cyclists in the area too,  which made me feel much better about embarking on this trip alone. 

I left Rye in the direction of Camber Sands - a relatively short cycle at 3.5 miles and the only part of my trip which required me to triple check the route on the outskirts of the town. Sometimes the road less travelled is a muddy field full of sheep, but thankfully it led me to the beach - my first trip to the coast in quite a while. I felt very content with myself for having made it this far on my own and I was in absolutely no rush to leave the sand!

From Camber Sands I embarked on the last leg of my journey towards Dungeness. I cycled parallel to the beach for some distance until my path eventually led me across the road to a much narrower path, a little overgrown and rugged but manageable nonetheless. 

Before long I was on the seafront exploring the desert landscape and the artistic features of Prospect Cottage. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people coming and going which put me at ease completely. I took my time as I cycled along the wide-open roads taking it all in and excited to tell others about this otherworldly destination on England's South East Coast.

Bristol via Marlborough, Winscombe and Cheddar

This trip was fun from beginning to end with plenty of challenges to keep us on our toes. After my trip to Dungeness, I created a Facebook group called Ladies Who Cycle London - the intention - to make some female friends with a similar interest. I was delighted when four women expressed an interest in taking on this challenge with me. 

Starting at the Cutty Sark we travelled North of the River Thames towards Chiswick, passing Heathrow airport and Wokingham on the route - not the most beautiful ride, to begin with, however, we knew that once we reached Reading, our journey would be much more scenic and a lot more off-road. 

Much of our route past Reading took us along the beautiful Kennet and Avon Canal - miles of beautiful waterways, locks and colourful narrowboats. Personally, this was my biggest challenge as the terrain was quite rocky and slippy when the rain set in, so I would recommend a hybrid. We arrived in Marlborough quite late but The Bear Hotel were at our beck and call making sure we were fed and watered before a well-deserved rest after 89 fun-filled miles in the saddle. 

After breakfast in Marlborough on day two, we went on our way and were blessed with beautiful weather which thankfully held up for the day. Another day on the canal passing through quaint little villages on route - Devizes and Bradford-on-Avon to name but a few. We aimed for our second night's accommodation, The Woodborough Inn in Winscombe, which gave us the perfect opportunity to travel easily to Cheddar on our final day before reaching our final destination - Bristol! 

And what a final day we had. A much more chilled day in the saddle, mind you, climbing Cheddar Gorge is nothing to be sneezed at! However, it was, without doubt, a highlight of our trip before our arrival over the Clifton Suspension Bridge into Bristol. What an entrance! And what a trip!

The Isle of Wight

Another short but sweet trip with a wonderful group of new friends. We left London on a Friday evening and caught the train from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour for our 8pm ferry to Fishbourne. It was dark when we arrived at Fishbourne and with a two mile cycle to Yelf’s Hotel, our accommodation in Ryde, I am sure we could be seen from the International Space Station with all our lights. 

On Saturday morning we left Ryde and cycled back in the direction of Fishbourne towards Carisbrooke Castle. We were lucky to have such beautiful weather as we reached the coast and relished in the views over The Needles and Alum Bay before taking the scenic route across the headland and Tennyson Downs to Freshwater bay. Cycling is not encouraged, the amount of gates are certainly a deterrent, but we were happy to walk, talk and with some team effort...lift!

Villa Mentone Hotel, Shanklin was our last port of call that day with 50 miles clocked up - meaning that our final leg of the trip back to Fishbourne the following day would be a relaxed 15 mile journey and of course a trip to the Isle of Wight distillery to see out the end of another fantastic trip. 

Help us keep the City Girl Network running by supporting us via Patreon for the price of a cheap cup of coffee - just £2 a month. For £3 a month you can also get yourself a Patreon exclusive 10% off any of our ticketed events! You can also support us by following us on Instagram, and by joining our City Girl Network (city-wide!) Facebook group.

Written by Deirdre Pia

Facebook