A base for a cycling holiday in the Fens

[sg37409]

thanks for all the response.  It is very helpful.  We might not now go to the fens, but the feedback here is great.  Will post where we end up.
thanks, steve

[exilefromkent]

I see you might not go after all, but just in case.

I stayed with my family at the YHA in Cambridge and it was very nice. Getting there by train from Manchester is a nightmare though, every train company has different rules on how many bikes they'll take. So plan ahead and book spaces where you can.

The Ride From Ely to Cambridge is nice, I once cycled from Cambridge to Lincoln, there is NOTHING to see. Instead I had the pleasure of riding 175km into a headwind before seeing the near mythical sight of a hill as we approached Lincoln. Far better to go to East Yorkshire in my opinion.

[Kim]

I stayed with my family at the YHA in Cambridge and it was very nice. Getting there by train from Manchester is a nightmare though, every train company has different rules on how many bikes they'll take. So plan ahead and book spaces where you can.

And try to avoid the CrossCountry Mordor Central to Stansted train, where if you manage to get a bike on at all, you'll be standing next to the reveal-a-door toilet, surrounded by luggages and screaming toddlers the whole way.  And you can forget any hope of blitz spirit from the train crew.

(If you have to do it, aim for the middle of the day, and avoid the start and end of university term, when international students will be trying to take their worldly possessions to the airports.)

[Robh]

Not sure if you're still considering it but, for future reference, I can recommend the Limes campsite in Great Steeping near Spilsby. We were there at the weekend in our baby caravan, but without bikes. It's a small site, pretty isolated, so very quiet and with basic but good facilities. The site manager/owner is extremely friendly and helpful; when I trotted out my reasons for not cycling in the area - as mentioned by others above - he corrected me and said that the wolds to the north of Spilsby had lots of quiet back roads and offer some good cycling.

(Edit: I seem to be getting my Fens mixed up with my Wolds. I blame inattention during Geography classes, compounded by old age.)

[vorsprung]

Suffolk is nice. Nothing to strenuous and lots of lane's 

yeah i like Suffolk, there's all kinds of fun stuff there like RSPB sites, Sutton Hoo, Dunwich

[Regulator]

I stayed with my family at the YHA in Cambridge and it was very nice. Getting there by train from Manchester is a nightmare though, every train company has different rules on how many bikes they'll take. So plan ahead and book spaces where you can.

And try to avoid the CrossCountry Mordor Central to Stansted train, where if you manage to get a bike on at all, you'll be standing next to the reveal-a-door toilet, surrounded by luggages and screaming toddlers the whole way.  And you can forget any hope of blitz spirit from the train crew.

(If you have to do it, aim for the middle of the day, and avoid the start and end of university term, when international students will be trying to take their worldly possessions to the airports.)

I've used that service a few times and it wasn't too bad - but then again I was travelling off peak.

[gibbo]

You all seem to have seen some very different fens to those I've seen, yes I need to use some busy roads for access, but equally I can ride for hours without seeing a car on some roads on some days

My commute home from Cambridge last week for example was very pleasant
- across Cambridge avoiding the tourists along the river, and the cows blocking the cattle grid
- get passed by two cars and a cyclist between Fen Ditton and the Quy Mill Hotel
- get onto the really nice cycle path past Anglesey Abbey
- One arsehole driver between the end of that to where I left the main road at Swaffham Prior
- 3 horses, 5 cyclists and a tractor on the back lanes between there and Wicken Fen
- back road from Wicken to Ely and up the river bank, one dog walker, one runner
- Through Ely, I didn't die, nothing fell off or broke on the bike (I've never so much as broken a spoke in 19 years living here)

Lack of suitable bridges - look at the map and plan your route. What would you do in the lake district, or the Galloway forest - roads are where they are, not necessarily where we want them to be, we need to decide how we use them

Let's hear if for the Fens! Good on you ElyDave.

[sg37409]

So in the end, we've booked a cottage near Pickering for the week. It'll be much hillier but the thing that swayed me was reports of the traffic. On the tandem, I don't have much tolerance for crap traffic.   (have fancied the rides to whitby mentioned here for a while, so we'll hopefully ride that one day)

Thanks again for the helpful replies

[sparklyfish]

On the tandem, I don't have much tolerance for crap traffic.

My stoker and I developed a new plan for oncoming traffic last year. I pulled a "how do I fly this thing?" face, while my stoker pretended to scream in abject terror "Mum, what are you doing?!".

We reckon that around 95% of oncoming drivers are gullible enough to believe us, and give us loads of room. 

[sg37409]

So in the end, we've booked a cottage near Pickering for the week. It'll be much hillier but the thing that swayed me was reports of the traffic. On the tandem, I don't have much tolerance for crap traffic.   (have fancied the rides to whitby mentioned here for a while, so we'll hopefully ride that one day)

Thanks again for the helpful replies

Just back from our trip.   Weather was pretty mixed but we got out 3 times.   I tried to avoid main roads as much as possible but we had to be on them a few times.    Main roads into/out of Pickering were crap  but the smaller roads were good.  Highlight was back from goathland over the high moors, deep fords very steep hills and no traffic.   That felt pretty adventurous for us.  (Also saw a “mallard” on the north York railway 👍)

Howardian hills were …errr hilly.   Nice enough.   Busy around the castle tho, where some single track roads are a bit of a rat run.  It’s not as easy dodging speeding vans on the tandem compared to solo.   

[Kim]

Howardian hills were …errr hilly.

As documented in this legendary post.