Map (zoom in for more detail)
Directions & GPX etc
Route directions PDF (right click to download)
GPX file (right click to download)
TCX file (right click to download)
FIT file (right click to download)
Glorious Bike Rides
Glorious Bike Rides
Route directions PDF (right click to download)
GPX file (right click to download)
TCX file (right click to download)
FIT file (right click to download)
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I did this as my first Lost Lanes Central ride today and it was spectacular. I never really understood what was meant by “The Cotswolds” until today. And I never knew — despite living in London for over 20 years — how uniquely and charmingly beautiful the area is. It is only an hour, by train, from London Paddington.
Excellent first ride from Lost Lanes Central. Directions immaculate, even down to the alley way next to Pizza takeaway in Cirencester “easy to miss” – it was and we did! Bibury will never be a tranquil experience unless visited very early/late before the coaches arrive but the other villages on the route have real charm. Can recommend food at the Colesbourne Inn – menu was more interesting and eclectic than we had expected. If you want to stay overnight on the route, rather than using the Kemble train link, then we can recommend Thames Head Wharf (it’s a B&B without the breakfast, but with very amenable hosts). Final tip, if you are interesting in slightly off-beat sights – the Cotswold Airport (just outside Kemble) has rows and rows of jet airliners that are in the process of being decommissioned and dismantled (BA’s ex-fleet of 747s were all flown here at the end of their service, for example).
Did this one in a day from Ross-on-Wye, cycled 25kms to the train, a couple of trains to Kemble, what a lovely little station Kemble is, charming and well mainatained, met up with friends, cycled the route……it’s a lovely route, have done many LL routes, this is a charmer, although the big climb does seem to go on a bit!…..then there’s a flattish section on the top of the Cotswold plateau back to Kemble, we flew along the last 25 kms. After chips and shandy I set off home on the train and a final 25kms back from my local station, all in a brilliant day, perhaps the most ‘Lost Lanes’ narrative to my day ever ?. Brilliant.
Three of us tried this route today. I’ve enjoyed quite a few of Jack’s rides so far. Being map savvy we could design our own routes but these rides find us in places we wouldn’t necessarily go to and the homework has been done for us on what to look out for! Today I introduced two friends to a Jack ride. I needed to lengthen it as they would have grumbled under 100km..so we started from Horsley just west of Nailsworth which added 20km joining the route at Cherington and following it clockwise. Chedworth was worth stopping at and peering over the fence – surprisingly free from visitors on a bank holiday Saturday but it was only 10:00 and we had set off early. In fact all the lanes were blissfully traffic free until we reached Bibury. The place was heaving so we sped on to Colne St Aldwyns Post Office. This gem of a place doubles up as a cafe selling good coffee and very nourishing sweet potato ‘sausage rolls’ with a quiet garden seating area. Bliss! Cirencester was predictably busy but there was a big wedding going on at the church – made interesting spectating for a couple of minutes. A short detour to the Roman Amphitheatre was well worth a visit – nobody there in comparison and good to stand in the middle of and imagine. Then a relatively easy ride back west only the last haul up to Horsely was hard. Our climb clocked in at over 1300m! (due to our extension)