Spring is when gravel bikepacking in the UK comes back to life. As the weak sunshine disperses those drab winter days, lanes dry out, bridleways firm up, and the countryside starts to move again.
This is the perfect time for a simple overnighter. The freshness in the air, the anticipation of a summer’s riding ahead.
Waiting until the weekend after the clocks changed is an ideal opportunity to test the legs and kit. No rush. Just riding from point A to point B. Pack some light kit and plan a route that’s challenging enough to make it all worthwhile.
This route linking Birmingham back to Yorkshire is a gravel, focused bikepacking overnighter, stitching together canal paths, bridleways, quiet lanes, and a final crossing of the Pennines via Woodhead Pass.
Day One: Birmingham to the Edge of Cheshire
An early train to Birmingham. Though cold, it’s clear and dry. The kind of morning that, with bike in tow, makes you glad you made the effort to set an early alarm on the weekend.
Image: Edward Kingston
By 9am, we’re rolling.
The first miles are exactly what you want from a gravel overnighter. Before you know it, the city fades quickly into canal towpaths and bridleways, morphing into quiet B roads and farm tracks. This isn’t the most beautiful countryside, but planning a route with mixed terrain and surface keeps things fresh.
Image: Edward Kingston
Through Staffordshire, the riding is steady with hard-packed gravel, quiet lanes and the occasional rough section to keep us in check. That’s the fun of a gravel bike, right? Knowing that it’s just enough to cope with what’s thrown at it.
A fistful of brakes, a squirrelly rear and a jerk of the handlebars. Bikepacking like this isn’t a race. A slow adventure is settling into the rhythms of riding, covering ground without thinking too much about it too much. And the best thing? Allowing your mind to wander to all those places it can now freely go.
As our route drifts toward Cheshire, the landscape opens slightly - this is a land of dairy farming (cheese anyone?), salt mining and winding the clock back in time, the silk industry. Here, the gravel smooths out, and with the roads straightening, we can lift the pace slightly, the end of day one in our sights.
Our overnight stop, on the outskirts of Macclesfield (home to The Silkmen), works perfectly right on the edge of what’s to come.
Day Two: Cheshire Gravel to the Pennine Crossing
Day two is a different kettle of fish - a marked difference both in landscape and riding.
In my book, Cheshire delivers some of the best gravel riding in the North West, quiet agricultural roads, light gravel sections, and long uninterrupted stretches that make it easy to find a pace.
We roll past Jodrell Bank Observatory - a slightly surreal landmark in an otherwise rural landscape. This deep space observatory and scientific research facility was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.
Image: Edward Kingston
Not long after, the route skirts Manchester Airport. Gazing skywards (not using the famous Lovell Telescope at Jodrell!), we hear plane engines roaring swiftly, followed by white shapes lifting into the void.
Soon after we leave the sprawling runway and infrastructure of the airport behind, the ride begins to change. Flatter miles give way to a slow build toward the Peak District. The climb to Woodhead isn’t sharp, but the sheer length of it makes it challenging enough. Into the Peak District proper we go. Large skies, open moorland and reservoirs stretching out below - the antithesis to the gritty, glass and concrete world of Birmingham train station we left just 36 hours ago.
Image: Edward Kingston
Back into Yorkshire, and a strong tailwind helps my tired legs. The route drops onto the Trans Pennine Trail, where old railway lines turn the final stretch into smooth, flowing gravel miles back across Yorkshire.
Through to Wakefield, the ride fades out. Unlike the glory of a group event, big finish, medal and all that, a ride like this just winds naturally to its close. There’s no adoration from event organisers or onlookers just the simple satisfaction of having crossed a small sliver of this country under your own steam.
Bike Setup
For a spring gravel overnighter, less is always more. I wanted a balanced setup that worked across mixed terrain. Weight centred and stable, easy access to belongings while riding, and enough capacity for an overnighter without overpacking. Here’s what I used on this ride.
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Testing the New Colorado 12L
Here’s a link to my route on Komoot.
