The 370 miles of smiles
The 370 miles of smiles is a 370 mile bikepacking route that I put together, lots of gravel some great views and a lot of fun, it was created on the premise of making an actual gravel bike bikepacking route that is nice to ride on the gravel bike. And also so if someone who has done a bit of short bikepacking but wanted to try to stay out for a bit longer but with it being easy to bail off the route if need be. If you have a fair amount of fitness but don’t want a route that is constantly testing you (but does a little) then I think this is a good fun route to try. I tried to only use trails that are ridable all year round, you will find lots of different types of trails along this route from bridal ways, drove roads, cycle paths, country lanes to grassy trails, woodlands and canals. You spend most of your time away from the built-up world, however I didn’t want to just avoid everything like every other route, so I did include a little tour around Oxford (Cycle lanes for the most part) then up to my old playground, Brill Hill.
I can’t say there are no challenges along this route there are a few tough climbs, but I tried to reward you with either nice descents or some flat sections, quite a lot of nice views too, it can be a little tough the first 60 miles, but there are plenty of great riding to put the smile on your face. I also designed this route with it being really easy to shorten, it is essentially 3 different loops, so you can take this on in sections if the 370 miles feels too much.
This route passes through six different counties, Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. So you will get to experience a good mixture of terrain and landscapes from new forest gravel tracks, old chalk roads, Ridgway, Salisbury gravel and even a bit of city riding. This route is designed for the gravel bike 40-50mm is probably the most optimal tyre size but depending on your experience 35mm would be possible especially in the summer months. A short travel XC bike would be good too.
I have ridden these trails lots over the years in lots of different types of conditions, and they normally hold up pretty well, but conditions can change, so take it easy out there.
