Our Ride Maps

Our Ride Maps

These maps were created using the actual recorded trackpoints from our GPS navigation software (RideWithGPS). The daily files were combined with GOTOES for Strava, into a single large data file for each trip. The software filtered to ignore trackpoints less than 4 metres apart. Then the data files were converted into web-friendly html files with GPS Visualizer. In order to present the maps properly, each trip’s html code was enclosed in an iframe.

Ride 1 – Weymouth to Cambridge (680 kms) – Sept 2022

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We picked up our BRAND NEW trikes in Weymouth on the English Channel. So exciting! Our hosts at the St John’s Guest House made us fabulous proper English breakfasts as we made a couple of test rides to shake out loose bolts. And we shook out a lot of them. Our trike assembler left quite a few ‘finger-tight’, causing a number of stops to pick up pieces. We finally got on our way heading to Cambridge, reminding each other to ride on the left.

The ride was beautiful, past Corfe Castle, the beaches of Bournemouth, forest trails, the huge Southampton harbour, an incredible evensong at Winchester Cathedral, magical Oxford, fabulous Ely Cathedral, fighting ferocious winds through the Fens, and a couple of evenings in our friend Sue’s house in Cambridge.

Ride 2 – Cambridge to Chester (1064 kms) – May 2023

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Now we are stoked (get it – Stoke-On-Trent?) for more England cycling, plus a good taste of Wales.

On our first trip the previous fall we intended to visit Bletchley Park (of Enigma code breaking fame) but were denied due to a national holiday. This trip we planned ahead to ensure success. A wonderful exhibit. It’s easy to feel the second world war activity – people poring over documents, machinery crunching numbers, typists entering encrypted data.

The cycling through Oxfordshire was sublime. Gently rolling countryside and quaint villages and small towns. As we entered Oxford we passed by the huge factory producing Austin Minis. We stayed two nights in Oxford, with our precious trikes chained up with hundreds of others in the main square. Terrifying, but luckily nobody damaged or stole them.

The academic and religious buildings in Oxford are spectacular.

After Oxford we rode into the hilly and lovely Cotswolds, and stayed a couple of nights with our friend Brian in his house in Blockley. Then visited spectacular cathedrals in Tewkesbury and Gloucester. Both of our Enviolo electronic gear shifters failed in Thornbury, just before the Severn Bridge near Bristol. Chris, from ICE Trikes, drove four hours from his Falmouth factory in Cornwall with replacements. Over-the-top customer service.

We were very impressed with Cardiff, and with our fantastic ride criss-crossing the England-Wales border up to Chester, near Liverpool. Great hill climbing challenges and incredible views. We left the trikes in storage in Chester, stayed a couple of nights in Liverpool (hosting Eurovision while we were there!), took the train back to London and flew home.

Ride 3 – Chester to Bordeaux (1701 kms) – September 2023

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This ride took us through more of Wales (YES!), southern Ireland (YES!!!), and to Bordeaux in France (YES!!!!!!). That route required two ferries – across the Irish Sea from Fishguard in Wales to Rosslare in Ireland (3-1/2 hours), and from Kinsale in Ireland to Roscoff in Britanny, France (overnight). Both ferries had excellent food, and the overnight’s sleeping accommodation was tight but comfortable.

Wales was, again, fantastic. A fascinating stop was Portmeiron, ‘The Village’ of the 1960’s TV show The Prisoner. The villages, hills, streams and views made for some of the best riding of all of our travels.

We hugged the south coast of Ireland between Wexford and Cork, and then headed inland to meet our friends Lynn and Steve for a couple of nights in Killarney. A great guide took us around the Dingle peninsula to see the rugged coastline of south-west Ireland. Our ride to Killarney was very, very wet, with three punctures to repair in cold pouring rain. Memorable! A driver ferried us in his van back down to the coast at Clonakilty to save us from hurricane force winds and torrential downpours. The final ride to the ferry at Kinsale was sunny, dry, and beautiful.

The ferry left us in Roscoff, Britanny, to begin our first cycling on the Continent. An interesting stop was Saint-Nazaire to visit its huge Nazi submarine pen. We shared Nantes with hundreds of Welsh and Argentinian rugby fans who had travelled to see their team play in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final. La Rochelle was enchanting, with a wonderful oyster lunch on the Île de Ré. Great sea views and wide estuaries as we approached the wine regions of Bordeaux.

Ride 4 – Bordeaux to Lisbon (1757 kms) – May 2024

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Ride 5 – Lisbon to Chartres (1659 kms) – October 2024

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Ride 6 – Chartres to Amersfoort (1238 kms) – May 2025

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Ride 7 – Amersfoort to St Albans (1112 kms)- September 2025

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