When is the 2012 ‘Great Dorset’?
Sunday 3rd June. (This is the 33rd year!)
Starts at the Top 'o Town Car Park, Bridport Road, Dorchester DT1 1XT at 10am.

Everyone is very welcome
Organised by Dorchester Cycles for anyone who wants to come along. Everyone is welcome on the ride – it’s FREE – no need to book – just turn up on the day and have some fun! We have a wide variety of cyclists, from leisure cyclists to keen cycle enthusiasts.

It’s a forty eight mile ride!
(It used to be 60, but the route was through Poole, very busy and not particularly safe. Then when we took over the ride in the early nineties we changed it and it became 47 miles. Unfortunately the Cafe at the end of Arne closed so it became 44 miles. Then for this year with the expansion of the Stinsford roundabout i felt that has become an unnesessary risk so we are now going up the Piddle valley! Hence 48 miles!)

Please don’t be put off by the distance involved.

It really is an easy ride if, as intended, you take it gently and take the whole day over it!
If you click on the Google maps button then you you can view the map.
If you get away with the mass start at ten o’clock and finish at, say five o’clock that gives you seven hours to get round the route.
You only have to average about 7mph. Take an hour out for meals etc and you still only have to average 8.5mph.
Most cyclists can comfortably average 10mph.

Make a fun day of it!
Get together with friends, family, neighbours and work colleagues and get up a group and do the ride together. More banter, more jokes, the miles will fly by and you will have even more fun!
There are plenty of tea shops and Pubs on the route including The Granary at Wareham (next to the bridge), The New Inn at Church Knowle, Moreton Tea Rooms and the A35 Cafe at the Start/Finish.

Detailed Route
The route is fully signposted with our yellow arrows, so it makes navigation very easy! However if you wish click on the banner below (or the Google map button at the top of this page) to open the ride's own web site. We have provided full and detailed instructions with route maps, waypoints and GPS downloads.