Why this ride
332 km from Wareham to Wareham, about 5 h 39 of riding. On the way it passes Lyme Regis to West Bay, City of Bath and back through Lyme Regis to West Bay. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point and City of Bath
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 332 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 39
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
This is where the geology lesson becomes a spectacle: Lulworth Cove, an almost perfect circle bitten out of soft clays behind a narrow gap in the harder limestone, and Durdle Door just to the west, an arch of Portland stone standing in clear green water. The Lulworth Crumple, where the rock layers have been bent nearly vertical by the same forces that raised the Alps, is visible at Stair Hole.
Read the complete Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point is where the day begins. Next is Lyme Regis to West Bay.
2. Lyme Regis to West Bay
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.
Read the complete Lyme Regis to West Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lyme Regis to West Bay comes up about 63 km into the recorded legs. Next is City of Bath.
3. City of Bath
Bath is one of the few whole cities on the UNESCO list, and it earns it twice over. Underneath lie the Roman baths of Aquae Sulis, built around the only natural hot springs in Britain, where water still comes up at around forty-six degrees and the great pool, with its later colonnade above, steams in the cold. On top sits the Georgian city that eighteenth-century society built when Bath became the place to see and be seen, in honey-coloured local limestone: the Circus, the sweep of the Royal Crescent, the shops on Pulteney Bridge over the Avon and the long elegant terraces climbing the hills.
Read the complete City of Bath write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 166 km into the recorded legs you reach City of Bath. Next is back through Lyme Regis to West Bay.
4. back through Lyme Regis to West Bay
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Lyme Regis to West Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Lyme Regis to West Bay, late in the day. Next is Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point.
5. Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point to Lyme Regis to West Bay
Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point → Lyme Regis to West Bay is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Lyme Regis to West Bay to City of Bath
Lyme Regis to West Bay → City of Bath is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
City of Bath to back through Lyme Regis to West Bay
City of Bath → back through Lyme Regis to West Bay is 103 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Lyme Regis to West Bay to Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
back through Lyme Regis to West Bay → Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point is 63 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.