About the Cycle Tours

The cycle tours provide an opportunity for cyclists to combine a love of touring the countryside with an opportunity to understand how the landscape formed and evolved.  Each of the three tours would take half to one day depending on how fast you cycle and whether you linger at the stops and/or follow some of the walking trails also described here. The cycle tours mostly follow country roads suitable for all types of cycle, but there are some off-road sections that may be unsuitable for cycles with narrow wheels which are mentioned below.  Conversely, there are sections on classified roads, but the busiest A-roads are avoided. There are no cycle lanes in the region of these tours and so they are not suitable for novice cyclists or young children.  Each of the three routes is 25-30 miles long  and terrain is moderately hilly so a degree of physical fitness is needed. At several sites, a short walk is recommended to reach the best viewpoint and so clip-in cycling shoes are not recommended.

There are four off-road sections that can be incorporated in the tours.  In tour 1, there is a section around site 8 along a gravel track which is recommended for most cycles, although fast road cyclists might prefer to follow the car route instead from site 7 to site 10 which follows the busy A438.  Reaching site 12 at Kenchester is recommended for all cyclists, from which the shortened route is to return the same way to Hereford whilst the full route continues via site 13 to the Staunton moraine ridge at site 14.  The standard route to site 14 goes via the not-too-busy A480, but an optional adventurous road uses bridleway tracks and field crossings as well as minor roads to reach site 14 via site 13A.  In tour 2, a short but steep climb up the busy A44 en route to site 20 may suit some road cyclists, but most are recommended to follow a pleasant bridleway through Lyonshall Park Wood, although sections may involve dismounting in wet weather. From site 22, another bridleway through the wood lies beside a very scenic railway segment in the Arrow Valley, but in places cyclists will need to dismount and push before reaching rejoining a road at Titley Junction station, site 23.  Road cyclists may prefer to return to the A44 and onwards via site 24 to site 25, which is the same as the motorists route.

Tour 1 does not pass any cafes or toilets, although the National Trust at Weir Gardens on the A438 south of Kenchester (sites 10-12) does have facilities for which there is a charge. Tour 2 starts and finishes at Weobley and Tour 3 likewise at Kingsland where there are cafe and pub toilet facilities.
About Car Tours