Why this ride
A 370 km round trip from Bridport - roughly 6 h 31 in the saddle. It goes by way of Portland Harbour Shore, New Swanage to Studland Bay, Chesil and Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Lyme Regis to West Bay and Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 370 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 31
- 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. 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 is where the day begins. Next is Portland Harbour Shore.
2. Portland Harbour Shore
Portland Harbour is one of the largest man made harbours in the world, enclosed by breakwaters built in the nineteenth century, partly by convict labour, from Portland stone quarried on the island above. For over a century it was a major Royal Navy base, and today it is a centre for sailing, windsurfing and kite surfing; the sailing events of the 2012 London Olympics were held here. The shore between Weymouth and Portland, with Chesil Beach stretching away to the west, is a fascinating place to explore.
Read the complete Portland Harbour Shore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Portland Harbour Shore comes up about 39 km into the recorded legs. Next is New Swanage to Studland Bay.
3. New Swanage to Studland Bay
Between Swanage and Studland, the chalk of the Purbeck Hills meets the sea at the Foreland, and the white stacks of Old Harry Rocks stand off the headland like broken teeth. This is the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast, the World Heritage stretch of Dorset and East Devon that runs back through two hundred million years of geological history, and here the rocks are the youngest of the sequence, Cretaceous chalk. From Ballard Down above New Swanage, the views take in Swanage Bay, the Isle of Wight and the long sandy curve of Studland Bay.
Read the complete New Swanage to Studland Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 86 km into the recorded legs you reach New Swanage to Studland Bay. Next is Chesil.
4. Chesil
Twenty-nine kilometres of shingle, piled high and steep and running almost dead straight from West Bay to the Isle of Portland: Chesil Beach is one of the great natural oddities of the English coast. Behind it lies the Fleet, a long, shallow, brackish lagoon full of eelgrass and birds, and the whole system is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The pebbles grade in size along the beach, small as peas at the western end and as big as potatoes towards Portland, so precisely that smugglers landing on dark nights were said to know where they were by the feel of the stones.
Read the complete Chesil write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chesil, about halfway. Next is Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point.
5. 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 sits at 192 km, about halfway. Next is back through Chesil.
6. back through Chesil
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chesil write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Chesil comes up about 227 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through New Swanage to Studland Bay.
7. back through New Swanage to Studland Bay
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete New Swanage to Studland Bay write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 285 km into the recorded legs you reach back through New Swanage to Studland Bay. Next is back through Portland Harbour Shore.
8. back through Portland Harbour Shore
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Portland Harbour Shore write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Portland Harbour Shore, late in the day. Next is Lyme Regis to West Bay.
9. 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
The route ends here after 370 km.
Leg by leg
Lyme Regis to West Bay to Portland Harbour Shore
Lyme Regis to West Bay → Portland Harbour Shore is 39 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Portland Harbour Shore to New Swanage to Studland Bay
Portland Harbour Shore → New Swanage to Studland Bay is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
New Swanage to Studland Bay to Chesil
New Swanage to Studland Bay → Chesil is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chesil to Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
Chesil → Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point is 42 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point to back through Chesil
Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point → back through Chesil is 41 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chesil to back through New Swanage to Studland Bay
back through Chesil → back through New Swanage to Studland Bay is 58 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through New Swanage to Studland Bay to back through Portland Harbour Shore
back through New Swanage to Studland Bay → back through Portland Harbour Shore is 47 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Portland Harbour Shore to Lyme Regis to West Bay
back through Portland Harbour Shore → Lyme Regis to West Bay is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.