Family bike rides are a great way to explore the countryside, or even an urban environment if there are traffic-free cycle routes. It's a simple pleasure you can all do together as a family, it costs practically nothing (once you have the bikes, of course), plus it's a fun way to exercise. Here are some of the best places to cycle with all the family.
Bewl Water, Kent
- How to get there: Bewl Water is just off the A21 near Lamberhurst in Kent. The nearest train station is Wadhurst, six miles away
- Length: 12.5 miles (three hours)
- Gradient: There are a few very steep stretches
- Terrain: Mostly off-road, with some sections on quiet country roads
- Suitability: If you want to complete the full circuit, this ride is best suited to older children
- Points of interest: Part of Bewl Water is a nature reserve so there’s lots of birdlife. Look out for windsurfers and sail boats on the water too. A pleasure boat runs daily, except in winter
- View the route on gps-routes.co.uk
Despite the relatively short mileage, there are some tough sections on this circuit of Bewl Water, a reservoir on the border between Kent and East Sussex. With really young children, it might be best to tackle just a short section, but for adventurous older kids it is ideal. Depending on the weather, the path around the outside is generally open to cyclists from April to early November. Much of the path is muddy in bad weather and is suited to mountain bikes or robust hybrids.
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1. Start your ride from the Bewl Water Visitor Centre; you can hire bikes if you need to. Head anti-clockwise and you’ll get the more difficult parts of the ride out of the way first. As you leave the car park the climbing starts and the surface is rough in places. A left turn takes you back down to the water’s edge. It’s tempting to pause here for a moment or two to enjoy the view over Bramble Bay.
2. The trail continues along the north shore of Bewl Water in the shade of Great Hook Wood. Although it stays close to the reservoir, it’s a lot more up and down than you might expect.
3. From Combewell Wood the track loops around to head east. There’s a surprise in store as the trail takes a sharp turn to the right and climbs steeply. All but the fittest may have to get off and walk this section — hats off to anyone who rides to the top. It doesn’t last long though, and soon the route joins the road. There are some short, sharp climbs, but the downs on the other side are worth it.
The Tarka Trail, Devon
- Length: 31 miles (four to five hours)
- Gradient: Mostly level
- Terrain: Smoothly surfaced most of the way, but rougher south of Torrington
- Suitability: If you're doing the whole route, it's best suited to older children, if you're only riding sections of it, it's suitable for all ages
- Points of interest: Stop off at the Bideford Railway Heritage Centre
- View the route on Sustrans
Blackpool to Fleetwood, Lancashire
- Length: 12 miles (90 minutes to two hours, but leave plenty of time to stop off)
- Gradient: Flat
- Terrain: An easy ride along the seafront
- Suitability: Riding all the way to Fleetwood and back will be too much for some children, but anyone who can cycle should be comfortable riding the first few miles past Blackpool’s most famous landmarks
- Points of interest: For a short ride, this coastal spin packs in a lot, mostly of the man-made variety. There’s the Tower, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the piers, the Jubilee Gardens at Cleveleys, a boating lake and crazy golf at Fleetwood, plus a sandy beach and more
- View the route on Sustrans
The First and Last Trail, Cornwall
- Length: For younger children we would recommend the seven-mile section from Mousehole to Marazion (one to two hours). The whole trail is 25 miles from Land’s End to Hayle
- Gradient: Ride the Mousehole to Marazion section and the route is flat; the rest of the trail is hillier
- Terrain: Easy riding along the coast, with a mixture of well-surfaced off-road and on-road sections
- Suitability: All ages and all abilities, although you’ll need to be fit to attempt the full-length route
- Points of interest: There’s plenty to explore along the way, with lots of pretty shops and galleries in Mousehole, the fishing port of Newlyn, and the majestic St Michael’s Mount being particular highlights of this stretch of the southern Cornish coastline
- View the map [PDF]
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
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