The cliffs between Lyme Regis and West Bay are falling into the sea, and that is precisely why people come. This stretch of the Dorset coast is part of the Jurassic Coast, England's first natural World Heritage Site, and its soft clay and limestone cliffs constantly release fossils from the Jurassic seas of around two hundred million years ago. Ammonites, belemnites and the bones of marine reptiles wash out onto the beaches after every storm, and at Charmouth you will see families combing the shingle with hammers and bags at low tide.
The most famous fossil hunter of them all was Mary Anning, a working-class woman from Lyme Regis who, in the early nineteenth century, found the first complete ichthyosaur and plesiosaur skeletons on these shores, and helped to change the scientific understanding of prehistoric life. Her story is told in the Lyme Regis museum, built on the site of her family home. Between Charmouth and West Bay rises Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast of England, its top capped with golden sandstone that glows in the evening sun.
The main road along this coast, the A35, runs a little inland, climbing and descending through the hills with long views over the sea and countryside. It is a fine road to ride, with good surfaces and flowing bends, but it can be busy in summer with holiday traffic and caravans. The smaller roads down to the coast are narrow and steep, often single track with passing places, and they lead to small villages, beaches and car parks. Parking a bike is usually easier than parking a car, which is one advantage in high season.
Bridport, about six kilometres away, is the main town, with fuel, shops, a lively street market, and a long history of rope and net making. The phrase Bridport dagger was once grim slang for the hangman's rope. West Bay, the town's harbour, has golden cliffs that became familiar to television viewers as the backdrop of a crime drama, and stalls selling fish and chips and crab sandwiches. The weather on this coast is mild but changeable, and the cliffs are unstable, so keep away from the edges and the base, especially after heavy rain.