Dorset cycling- Hardy Monument-Upwey loop

I've cycled this route many, many times in all weathers and I never tire of it.
Beginning at a lay-by below Hardys monument you fairly whizz along the first part, a chalk ridge lined with the barrows of our Iron Age forebears who picked a pretty neat spot with far views over the whole of Weymouth Bay.

This where I usually partake of coffee and cake perched atop one of their barrows, the occupants never complain.
Reaching the road a right turn carries you on an exhilarating ride downhill to the outskirts of Upwey and its wishing well. Should more cake be required a tearoom is a little further on in the actual village; otherwise a gentle lane carries you past the premises of the renowned Baking Birds, two friends who have established an award winning bakery here...so should you require even more cake...

Eventually a bridleway leads you through open fields past a lonely abandoned farmhouse with the the Hardy monument once again on the horizon. Then a gentle but (to me) exhausting uphill cycle brings you back once again to the lay-by...more cake, anyone? 

Distance 8 miles (but seems more!) 

Dorset Cycling 8-Moreton Circuit

This is a wonderful cycle.
The ride starts from Moreton village (see here), burial place of Lawrence of Arabia and home to a fine tea room. Crossing a wide, picturesque ford (with a bridge for those who want to keep dry...) it whizzes along a firm and level cinder track to Turners Puddle.

Here stands a small neglected church. The bells, dating from the 14th C, were stolen in the 1950s but mysteriously reappeared, covered in mud, that Christmas Eve at the door of the farm with a note attached saying simply 'Sorry, Christmas.'

The rest of the trip along quiet lanes and heath is exhilarating with sightings of deer if you're lucky. Should those deer turn out to be twenty feet high with green horns, that is probably because the path passes close to the now decomissioned Winfrith atomic station.

Distance 19 miles On and off road.

Dorset Cycling 5 - A visit to Thomas Hardy's homes

Hardy's birth place at Higher Bockhampton is a picture-postcard thatched cottage, while his home in later years, Max Gate, a rather austere Victorian pile. Designed by Hardy himself it rather proves that he did well to stick to the day job. Both are owned by the National Trust and lie close to Dorchester.
Being just a few miles apart it is possible to walk or cycle between the two, along the footpaths and lanes that Hardy must have walked many times visiting the family cottage.

Max Gate

This off and on-road route passes through the grounds of Kingston Maurward, a beautiful Palladian mansion, now an agricultural college, and past the Old Manor, an exquisite late Elizabethan mansion, available for B&B.
From Max Gate you can stroll through Dorchester to the County Museum which holds a collection of Hardy memorabilia including his writing desk.

Distance around 7 miles there and back.

Dorset Cycling- A circular on-road route from Evershot

People often say to me they'd love to take the children cycling but are put off by cars. Well here's reasonably gentle route where you'll hardly see a gas guzzler.

Apart from the climb out of Evershot the terrain wheels across gentle downland with wide skies beneath the chalk escarpments of the Dorset Downs.

Note: It is advisable to dismount and cross the busy A37 on foot!

W

Saxon font, Melbury Bubb

orth a detour is St Mary's Church at Melbury Bubb which possesses an intriguing and exotic font made from the inverted base of a Saxon cross. The sinuous carvings covering it have a definite influence of the Norse. 

The village of Leigh has the remains of an ancient miz maze or turf maze and further on you pass the Friary of St Francis- no Gothic pile but a beautifully situated farm open to the public for retreats.

 

Distance 17.5 miles 

Time around 4hrs

Dorset Cycling - A family cycle from Poole to Bournemouth

Poole Quay- Brownsea Island in the distance

Let's get this straight, I loathe riding anywhere near cars. It's an unequal battle. It's also a scandal that in this day and age so little is done to separate 2 tons of murderous machine from we soft-shelled human beings. Believe it or not, though, it's still possible to find on-road routes where you can happily cycle as a family for mile upon mile with just the barest glimpse of those blooming gas guzzlers.

The easiest of these routes takes you along the waters edge from Poole by cycle path and then along Bournemouth's magnificent six mile esplanade to Bournemouth Pier.

Next to Poole Marina
The entire trip, around 12 miles return, is a visual feast,and it's virtually flat so that even the most unfit can walk it ... er... cycle it. The esplanade's open to cycles except for the months of July and August.

Bournemouth's six miles of sandiness

We began by parking at Poole Quay and had a coffee gazing out to the silhouette of Brownsea Island shimmering in the haze. Mounting our trusty steeds we sped along the water's edge to Sandbanks finding time to laugh at the futile efforts of kite surfers and watch tiny yachts skip across the glittering waves. 

A cycle lane took us through the traffic to the beginning of Bournemouth Esplanade thronging with people taking advantage of that rarest of things, sunshine. There was a distinct tinge of California as rollerbladers shot past and joggers pounded the beach.
On reaching Bournemouth we refuelled at the conveniently situated Harry Ramsden's before returning the way we'd come.

Innovative cycle direction post

(It you fancy you can combine this with a visit to the amazing Russell-Coates Museum and Gallery not five minutes walk from the pier.
Russell-Coates Museum and Gallery

Sandbanks

Bournemouth

Return at twilight