Why this ride
A 284 km round trip from Lyme Regis - roughly 5 h 26 in the saddle. On the way it passes Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks, Chesil, Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point and back through Chesil. Rivers set the line for much of the day.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
River Axe and Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 284 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 26
- 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. River Axe
The Axe is a modest river by most standards, rising in the hills of Dorset and winding down through east Devon to the English Channel at Axmouth, but it has a long history for something so unassuming. The Romans came up this valley, and the town of Axminster, about nine kilometres from this point, was a nodal point on the Fosse Way, the great diagonal road that ran from Exeter up to Lincoln. The river gave Axminster its name and the town gave carpets to the world: the first Axminster carpet was woven there in the mid eighteenth century, and the name has been on floors ever since.
Read the complete River Axe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
River Axe is where the day begins. Next is Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks.
2. Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks
Where the Otter meets the sea near Budleigh Salterton, the cliffs turn red. This is the start of the Jurassic Coast, the stretch of Dorset and East Devon coast that UNESCO listed in 2001 because the cliffs tell a continuous story of 185 million years. At the eastern end, at Orcombe Point in Exmouth, a stone sculpture called the Geoneedle marks the beginning, and from there the rocks run from the red sandstones of the Triassic towards the white chalk of the east. The section between Orcombe Rocks and Chit Rocks is the oldest, a wall of red cliff, sandy beach and sea stacks that look as if they were painted.
Read the complete Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks comes up about 30 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 101 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 179 km, about halfway. Next is back through Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks.
6. back through Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks comes up about 255 km into the recorded legs. Next is River Axe.
7. River Axe
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete River Axe write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
River Axe closes the day.
Leg by leg
River Axe to Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks
River Axe → Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks to Chesil
Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks → Chesil is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
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 Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks
back through Chesil → back through Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks is 71 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks to River Axe
back through Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks → River Axe is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.