CX Bedford to Old Warden loop

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Bedford, England, GB

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Jon's off-road expeditions

Gravel/All Road/Bridleway exploration

27 km

130 m

This route should be rideable by most in under two hours and provides a little sampler of the off-road riding delights that Bedfordshire has to offer.

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# Overview
This route should be rideable by most in under two hours and provides a little sampler of some of the off-road riding delights that Bedfordshire has to offer.

The ride starts at the car park in Bedford's Priory Country Park before heading out of town on the old railway track bed (now cycle path) to Sandy. Once clear of Bedford and the dual carriageway it heads South over the fields to Cople, the Greensand Ridge and thence to the picturesque village of Old Warden before looping back to Cople and retracing its way back to the cycle way and car park.

## Where

The ride starts and finishes from the car park of Bedford's Priory Country Park, postcode **MK41 9DJ**

## Going

* The route uses a small amount of slow speed roads but is predominantly off-road running on a mixture of good cycle path and bridleways running on grass, hardpack and farm tracks. 
* There are no massive climbs or descents.
* No serious technical challenges.
* If it's been dry it will be easy(ish) but occasionally very bumpy going. If it's been wet for an extended period then the amount of mud may make it harder going depending on tyres and amount of mud clearance on the bike. The worst parts for this are likely to be along the @point[Greensand Ridge Walk](d,15904.41) and up @point[Wood Lane](d,18086.8) to the aerial farm.
* In places the route may be overgrown with Nettles, Brambles and Hawthorns etc.
* The usually very busy A603 is crossed on the way out and back at the @point[same location](d,3943.55) (sometime this is easier to accomplish by walking along the verges and using a nearby traffic island to cross the road as two halves instead).

## Facilities

* Free parking is available at the start/finish @point[Priory Country Park](d,27330.16).
* Toilets and coffee shop at start/finish.
* Pubs in @point[Old Warden](d,12560.97) and @point[Cople](d,22070.81).

## Points of interest
* The cycle track at the start and end of the route runs on the track bed of the old Oxford to Cambridge railway link that was axed by the [Beeching cuts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeching_cuts) of the 1960's (despite Beeching actually recommending to keep it!!!). Work is now under way to reconstruct this [missing link](http://www.eastwestrail.org.uk/central-section-overview//).
* The two large buildings you see looking east from @point[Park Lane](d,6703.98) are in fact the [Cardington airship sheds](http://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/Cardington.htm). These have housed various airship including the [R100](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R100), the tragic [R101](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R101) and currently the [Hybrid Vehicles Airlander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Air_Vehicles_HAV_304/Airlander_10). They've also now been used for a variety of other purposes including testing buildings and filming various Films and TV programs such as [Band of Brothers, Top Gear, Inception, Rebel One: A Star Wars Story, Dark Knight Rises](http://cardingtonstudios.com).
* Sheerhatch Woods is a sea of @poi[Bluebells in the Spring](5021707) in the early spring, around April time.
* Old Warden - In addition to being a rather pretty village, is also home to the [Shuttleworth Collection](http://www.shuttleworth.org/the-collection/). The Shuttleworth Collection preserves and flies aircraft up to the 1950s, including the world's oldest still flying, a Blériot XI dating from 1909. The organisation that runs it was created in 1944 by Dorothy Shuttleworth in memory of her son [Richard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ormonde_Shuttleworth) who died in a World War II training accident.  Look out for its amazing planes and remember them.

# Notes
* Instead of turning off to the Equine Centre in Old Warden it's a small diversion straight on of about 1km to the @poi[Shuttleworth Collection visitor center and its restaurant/cafe](5021492), where it's possible to see the aircraft being preserved as well as indulge in coffee and a cake.
* A nice alternative route back is to continue @point[straight on at](d,19876.92) towards Willington, cross the A603 there and then come back via @poi[Danish Camp](5021493) (and possibly its cafe) along the cycle track. NB: be careful crossing the A603 and you'll also need to be particularly vigilant for pedestrians etc around Danish Camp.

CX Bedford to Old Warden loop

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