Why this ride
A 260 km round trip from Bridport - roughly 4 h 57 in the saddle. It goes by way of River Sid, Chesil, Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point and back through Chesil.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Lyme Regis to West Bay and Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 260 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 57
- 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 River Sid.
2. River Sid
The river Sid is short, quick and small, rising in the hills of east Devon and running down the green valley past Sidbury and Sidford to the sea at Sidmouth, where it makes the shingle beach that the town grew around.
Read the complete River Sid write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
River Sid comes up about 31 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chesil.
3. 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
about 88 km into the recorded legs you reach Chesil. Next is Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point.
4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Chesil.
5. 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 sits at 160 km, about halfway. Next is back through River Sid.
6. back through River Sid
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete River Sid write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through River Sid comes up about 228 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lyme Regis to West Bay.
7. 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
Lyme Regis to West Bay closes the day.
Leg by leg
Lyme Regis to West Bay to River Sid
Lyme Regis to West Bay → River Sid is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
River Sid to Chesil
River Sid → Chesil is 57 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 River Sid
back through Chesil → back through River Sid is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through River Sid to Lyme Regis to West Bay
back through River Sid → Lyme Regis to West Bay is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.