United Kingdom
The UK has a vibrant cycling scene despite busy roads riddles with potholes and country lanes which are full of mud, sticks, and water. This should not be a hinderance as the UK is a beautiful country to ride your bike with many quite unique areas.
South East England
Within all the busyness of the South East of England, riding south of London is remakably varied and in equal measures lovey and challenging. Steep climbs, even if short, and quintessential English villages in equal measures make riding south of the capital very rewarding. The Surrey Hills, Sussex and the South Downs by the coast are all great places for climbing. Combining the right routes can result in some serious elevation gain despite never being higher than 290m altitude.
To the north west of London are the Chiltern Hills between High Wycombe to the South and the M1 to the north. All of these areas are busy with cyclists and it would be unusual not to see individual or groups joining you on the road.
Bike friendly cafes in the Surrey Hills like the Heartwood Coffee Bar in Holbury St Mary and bike "destination" cafes where riding groups go have sprung up across the region. Some of the roads and lanes are sunken deep into the ground with banks as high as 2-3m but cars are generally courteous to riders. All of this makes riding in the South East really enjoyable.
The Surrey Hills has some fantastic climbing - these are some of the key hills
Box Hill
Box Hill is the premier climb in the Surrey Hills. Hosting the road race in the 2012 Summer Olympics has ensured it entered into cycling folklore. The gradient is gentle and the view riding up is very pleasant. There is a National Trust cafe on the top catering superbly for cyclists.
Don't make the mistake of trying to loop around Box Hill. As you leave the National Trust part, potholes will swallow you.
Sheeplease
Sheeplease is a hill that can be climbed from four different sides, all very different.
This is a great place for hill reps and building climbing stamina. On busy days there is a coffee van up top, great to stop for a chat.
For me this is normally the first and last climb of a Surrey Hills ride. On the bottom of the hill is Shere, and stop at Hilly's Tea Shop for a break is mandatory!
Leith Hill
Leith Hill is the highest hill in the Surrey Hills with 294m. The hill is heavily wooded but offers some superb views at times.
This hill has seven ways to ascent. My favourite one is Coldharbour Lane from Dorking which is a proper little climb. There is also Tannhurst Lane from the south which is seriously steep. The most straightforward route comes from Abinger, White Down Lane and Leith Hill can be combined on this route.
Or You can spend your entire ride just riding the climbs of Leith Hill.
Route Tip:
The Surrey Hills between Guildford to the west and Dorking to the east offers as good a climbing ride as South East England has to offer.
The climbs are short but can be combined into challenging rides. You can ride Box Hill from Dorking, Ranmore Common, Leith Hill and White Downs from Abinger, Homebury Hill and Barhatch Lane from Cranleigh and, Sheeplease from Shere which is also the most English village imaginable. For further suggestions, some of the most popular climbs in South East England.
Surrey Hills is an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) and a few interesting road combinations offers good riding and vistas over the lovely country side.
Places like Coldharbour, Peaselake and Shere and the surrounding countryside are quintessentially English.
Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight Randonnee, one of the great British rides
The Isle of Wight Randonnee route is not only a fabulous ride but also a superbe way to see the different sides of the Isle of Wight, mostly away from main roads.
Wooton Bridge to Chale
Starting from Wooton Bridge, the first 40 to 50 km are heavily wooded and virtual almost entirely up and down with a quick visit of the coast as this is an island after all. Up and down we go though woods, on farm roads with high hedges, through hamlets with quaint cottages all the way past Ventnor till about Chale.
Chale to Freshwater
The southern part of the ride between Chale and Freshwater was my favourite. The land opens up with big skys. You ride on country lanes through fields and quaint villages like you are on a time ride before hitting the white cliffs towards Freshwater. The cliffs are not only magnificent, they are also great to ride.
Freshwater to Cowes
The north western section between Yarmouth and Cowes is just delightful. More open than the first part of the course and littered with little uphills and wonderful descends. The roads throughout are great but especially on this section, a true joy to ride. In Cowes savagely steep roads await but also a quaint ferry ride to catch your breath.
Route Tip:
The Randonnee is a free cycling event held every year and follows the famous and extremely well signposted route around the island. I measured it to be 107km long with an elevation gain of 1600 meters.
This is a wonderfully hilly route and starting from Wooton Bridge with two thirds of the climbing to be done in the first half of the ride. If you take part in the annual Randonnee, you can start from any of the checkpoints but the natural starting point is at the checkpoint in Wooton Bridge which is also the closest to the Portsmouth to Fishbourne ferry.
One thing you notice about this route is that it is incredibly green and incredibly varied both in terms of roads used and in terms of environments.
There are heavily wooded sections, fields, cliffs, hills, bays and beaches and even a ferry ride is involved.
If you ride in the Randonnee, there are thousands of other cyclist, all having a great day in the saddle.
Scotland
Wild and wind swept, Scotland has a very melancholic and nordic beauty with low clouds, barren hillsides, clear rivers and always a chance of rain. Scotland is a great northern place to ride a bike.
Wild, windswept and brooding
I mainly rode in Aberdeenshire at the Dee valley. The Cairn O'Mount is my favourite climb and it has some viciously steep sections, especially coming from Fettercairn. On a nice day this area is unbeatable. The roads are rolling up and down the hillsides of the Cairngorm foothills. The hillsides can be extraordinarily barren and only covered in heather which is clinging to it for dear life. There are forbidden looking pine forests and mostly empty roads.
The further you travel down the Dee valley on the southern side of the Dee river towards Balmoral, the quieter the roads become. Further along you reach the Glenshee ski station and the Cairnwell Pass which is the highest main road in the UK. The ride from Breamar to the Cairnwell pass is not too taxing and has only really steepish gradients towards the very top. On a rainy day in the winter, this road can be extraordinarily barren and desolate with low hanging clouds, heavy drizzle and cold feet. No place to break down. There is a great cafe at the top to stop and refuel.
To the north of the Dee valley is the Don valley, which is hilly and quieter and gives the feeling of solitude and being miles away from all the things that normally go on in ones life.
The west of Scotland is more mountainous and more famous. It includes the Applecross peninsula with the Bealach na Ba climb which is probably the only alpine style mountain pass in the UK. There is also the Isle of Sky with its spectacular roads and landscape.
Route Tip: The Applecross Peninsula and the Bealach Na Ba is a classic ride in Scotland.
Climbing the Bealach Na Ba from Tornapress is 9.2km long and covers 619m elevation gain. Gradients can go up to 17% here. The total loop is around 70km long and a lot of the time on small or single track roads with questionable road surface. Taking a more robust bike that can handle the condition would be advisable.
Route Tip: The Cairn O'Mount stands at the beginning of the Cairngorms and guards over the flatlands of Aberdeen, like a Scottish Mont Ventoux. This route has a mountain section with a double ascent to Cain O'Mount and a ride through the Dee Valley. The northern ascent to the Cain is a little up and down through forests but the end section is totally exposed, only windswept heather and barren hill side. The southern ascent is more sheltered but seriously steep.
A word of caution regarding Scottish roads.
Scotland is remote, partly very remote, especially where the best scenery can be found. In the Western Highlands in particular, human settlements can be very sparse and the weather can change on a dime and not in a good way. Rural roads are often single track and have a certain nordic romanticism about them. This makes for great cycling but also requires a preparedness well above that for popping out for a ride outside of London. Rural Scotland can easily be underestimated.
Further, A-roads provide the connection across much of the Highlands and northern Scotland in general. These roads are normally in good condition but traffic can be very dangerous. In the absence of motorways, lorries and busses use them as transit routes, there are farm vehicles and large 4X4 cars. The lack of a hard shoulder and the twisty nature of some of these roads coupled with high speed of the passing traffic can make Scottish A roads dangerous death traps.
Beware of the Pothole
Road cycling in the UK calls for a change in approach to enjoy the incredible scenery, the quaintness of the place and spectacular nature that can be found in remote places. The bike has to be more robust and I changed down to a bike which is better able to deal with local condition. Taking an aero carbon bike into the country side is a bad idea. Some UK niche producers offer bikes that are specifically designed for UK riding and which are more robust, either in carbon or titanium. There are quite a few "master" frame builders in the UK and steel is increasingly in demand. Rourke Cycles is a good example of a long established frame builder. There is also a wide range of common brands that offer very capable endurance bikes suitable for UK riding. Wider tires are also a good idea. Once you are set up correctly, you can enjoy wind swept hillsides, remote roads and grouse hopping across the way.
Dig deeper into UK riding
Oscar Boyd video chronicled his cycle from Land's End in Cornwall to John O'Groats in Scotland which is a great watch. He also runs a very good website with further info: Oscar's Substack
Walk Wheel Cycle Trust for info on the National Cycle Network.
Cycling UK is great for gravel ride bike packing routes.
Stunning Outdoors offer cycling trips in Scotland have a nice route list (maybe less climbing here)
There are some nice route suggstions on Komoot for Yorkshire
