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Hello,
I'm visiting my bro next week, he lives in chester-le-street, an I was going to chuck the CX bike in the back and have a few hours out with him. Does anyone have any good tips for gravel/bridalpath/light singletrack?
Nothing to lairy - he is a bit inexperienced, and I'm on a SS CX bike!
Cheers
M
The c2c route runs past Chester le street on a disused railway. Haven’t ridden it for years but I imagine there’s still plenty of cool stuff to see
Dozens of old railway lines round there. For ease of navigating head west up the coast to coast to the junction with the lanchester way near Consett at hownsgill tea rooms and back east along there to almost Durham and north back to Chester or street.
Or take a mtb and it’s a half hour drive to hamsterly.
+1 for what's been said already on old railway lines. You can relatively easily do a three county ride if you feel like it! Also, it's be rude to do any route that doesn't take in the Austrian coffee shop in Lanchester - amazing cakes!
As said above loads of old lines routes that would take you as far as you want, use sustrans to find them all , also beamish woods some are a bit more trail oriented but I know a fella that used to night ride round there on his cx, so more than possible. Just do Strava segment search over beamish wood, ( about 3 miles west of Chester le street) and on the c2c. You could also ride or drive up to bolts law and do the bolts law loop 24 miles of beautiful countryside.
I was going to suggest beamish woods Will and add I’d once ridden round there on a CX on a night ride. One of the worst rides of my life. I nearly died from both the pace of the ride and the gnar.
Were you actually referring to me by the way?
Not fun on a single speed though.
You can also head the other way down the C2C to the coast. It's not at all Gravelly, CX fun stuff, but you know, it's a day out at the seaside...
Or, head through Birtley from Chester le Street, there's a back road along to Lobley Hill, then you can come back west on Tanfield railway and at the end of there, you can either head for, and come back through, Beamish Woods, or follow the country lanes all the way back to Beamish.
The C2C route has been tarmacced in most parts but is a steady climb up to Consett, plenty of places around Beamish to jump off the line and play around.
If you can venture to the Angel of the North, there is a much more gravelly former railway line up through Kibblesworth to Tanfield Railway and a line down to Watergate Woods, Loop around there and back down for some fairly nippy descending from Kibblesworth back to the Angel. Plenty of Strava detail of the route.
If heading from Durham, park at Broompark picnic area and head up to Lanchester and Consett, more gravel less tarmac and a nice steady climb.