devoid of them!
‘Easy’ routes are relatively short (less than 25km), not overly steep and should not climb one hill after another (cumulative ascent no more than 300m). They only travel along A-roads for very short sections in urban centres (although they may well have to cross them, and other minor roads can be surprisingly busy). They will not usually have much off-road terrain; any off-road tends to be easier than that found on harder routes, but short sections may seem unrideable if you have limited experience of off-road cycling.
‘Moderate’ routes can be longer (14km to 45km), have steeper ascents and more hills in general (cumulative ascent no more than 500m); they may also have very steep downhills. They may tackle short sections of A-road (sometimes outside of urban areas) where needed to join up parts of a good circular route, and may encounter rougher terrain on a more frequent basis or for a longer duration (eg lumpy but solid surfaces, mud and loose stones). These more challenging sections will never last too long, but again, short sections may seem unrideable if you have limited experience of off-road cycling.
Everyone has their own opinion on what makes a route hard – here the off-road climb is tough but short (Route 2)
‘Challenging’ routes may feel noticeably harder than the other routes in the book. They are the longer routes (35km to 60km) and typically have more than 500m of cumulative ascent. Although they’re likely to include short sections of technical mountain biking (Routes 21 and 17 in particular), they are never out-and-out technical off-road routes. However, they may contain short sections that many riders will consider unrideable on an otherwise great route.
Day route vs multi-day route
Although no stage in Route 22 is tougher than a ‘challenging’ route, riders should not underestimate the cumulative effect of fatigue on a multi-day outing. On the other hand, its relatively few off-road sections are optional and it is well suited to all types of bike. Keen, fit and experienced riders, particularly those on road bikes, may well wish to compress this route into a two- or three-day challenge.
Wet conditions
After prolonged rain (and often in winter) many routes change character completely from their hard-baked summer surface. Woodland bridleways in particular are notoriously slow to dry. Some route descriptions give suggestions for on-road detours to avoid more awkward off-road sections; it is recommended that you use an OS map in conjunction with these. A few of the routes may be simply impractical in very wet conditions due to the amount and state of the off-road. On all surfaces, remember that braking distances should be considerably extended in the wet.
Using this guide
The bridleway between Aston Somerville and Childswickham (Route 5)
This guide describes 21 day routes and one multi-day route, arranged roughly in order of difficulty from easy through to challenging. To find a route to suit your location and your ability, check the table in Appendix A. Timings are not given for routes because the variation between those who like to amble along enjoying the scenery and those who want to do the route with head down and flat out is simply too great. Also, your speed on any given route or day will vary based a whole variety of things such as terrain, poor weather (including it being too hot or facing a headwind) and fatigue.
As a vague rule of thumb, the day routes in this book are designed to occupy from a fairly leisurely half day (easier/shorter routes) to a full day (moderate/challenging, longer or particularly off-road routes), with stops for refreshments.
At-a-glance information is provided in a box at the beginning of each route: start/finish (OS map reference and place name); distance; total ascent and descent; grade; terrain (percentages of road/trail/off-road); refreshment, parking and cycle hire options; suitability for road bikes; details of connecting routes; and any additional notes relevant to the route. Route 22 (multi-day) also includes accommodation options. Clear route maps at 1:100,000 (1cm to 1km) and also simple profiles accompany each route description and GPX files are available for every route at www.cicerone.co.uk/CyclingCotswolds. See the back of this guide for full details.
Staying on-road
Where the main route described goes off-road, an on-road alternative is described in the margin and marked on the map with a dashed route line.
Warnings
Warnings, including comments about tricky terrain, are also highlighted in the margin on coloured panels to make them hard to miss.
Conventions and abbreviations
Routes on the Sustrans National Cycle Network are abbreviated to NCN followed by the route number, for example National Cycle Network Route 5 is NCN5. Long-distance cycle routes, such as the Avon Cycle Way, are also abbreviated to their acronyms (ACW).
‘Towards’ or ‘to’
Where a signpost or map direction takes you towards a place (such as Bibury), but you will turn off before getting there, it is described as ‘towards Bibury’. Where it takes you all the way there, it is written as ‘to Bibury’.
Key waypoints
Places and features are highlighted in bold in the route description if they are shown on the accompanying route map, giving you an at-a-glance checklist of key waypoints. OS Grid references are given in a few places where there is no other suitable landmark/map feature available.
Turnings and junctions
Generally, ‘bend’ is used to describe the course of the road, not a junction. For junctions, ‘bear’ or ‘fork’ means a deviation of noticeably less than 90°, whereas ‘turn’ means roughly 90° and a ‘sharp turn’ is more than 90°. ‘Dog-leg’ is used to describe a turn (with or without a junction) one way, closely followed by a turn in the opposite direction, to end up on roughly the original course.
Side-turns, minor, major and main roads and crossroads
In keeping with Bikeability conventions, this guidebook sometimes makes use of the terms ‘minor road’ and ‘major road’. These terms do not give any indication of size or traffic volume, but refer to the priority of traffic at a junction, with traffic (which includes bicycles) on a minor road having to give way to traffic on the major road.
Priorities are only mentioned where it is useful for navigational purposes or where they are deemed essential (for example a minor road meeting a major road on a steep descent or round a blind bend), but everybody will have a different opinion as to which priorities are important and which aren’t. It’s also worth bearing in mind that road layouts change over time.
I’ve also extended the terms to crossroads, so a ‘minor crossroads’ is one where you are on the major road and are crossing over minor roads, and a ‘major crossroads’ is one where you are on the minor road and have to give way to the major road.
A ‘main road’ is usually an A-road. I try to avoid these as much as possible, but the Cotswolds are riddled with them, and crossing over them, or using them for very short sections, is often unavoidable. In such cases these sections are kept as short as possible, and are ideally in areas of lower speed limits (for example within villages) or on a downhill stretch. There will, of course, always be the occasional exception to this – for example within Bath City
