THE LAND CYCLING FORGOT

Quiet roads, a mixture of terrain, Shropshire could be one of the country’s best kept secrets when it comes to riding. Once restrictions had lifted we went to see if what the local riders had been keeping to themselves was as special as they said

- Simon Richardson

Name a famous rider from Shropshire? Struggling? Don’t worry, so were we. Shropshire isn’t a cycling heartland, it doesn’t have a broad base of clubs churning out endless talented young riders, a round of the Elite road series, or a storied history from a classic 1970s Star Trophy race. But it does have some fantastic riding.

We were alerted to the UK’s ‘hidden gem’ by Alec Bond of the Mid Shropshire Wheelers, a Shrewsbury-based club who are lucky enough to have this part of the country as their stomping ground.

“The riding round here is extremely good,” he promised us. “You’ve got mountains to the south with the Long Mynd and Stiperstones and if you carry on along those ridgelines you’ve got some great hills all the way to Ludlow. If you went southeast you got rolling terrain with more gentle slopes and if you go north or over to the east you’ve got some nice flat runs.”

Shropshire showcase

It’s 360-degree cycling from Shrewsbury, and whatever direction you go it’s a long way before you come across any big cities and busier roads.

Alec then sent us a route that had a bit of everything the area had to offer; starting and finishing on the flat roads east and south of Shrewsbury with some leg-breaking climbing in between.

The 110km route saw 1,700m of climbing packed into the middle 53km.