The road.cc team's favourite routes on komoot: Liam's White Horse Epic

After plenty of you shared your routes with us for our mega competition to win a Garmin Edge 1030 (that is still in progress, good luck to the shortlist hopefuls!) we thought it was time to share ours with you. Introducing our favourite routes on komoot, where a member of the road.cc team will be talking about one of their favourite rides each month. First up, it's tech writer Liam Cahill with a 127km South West epic. Over to Liam...

> Getting started with komoot

"I call the ride the White Horse because of the Westbury White Horse hillside carving you can see on route... and it's an absolute cracker!

It starts in Bath, and you have to head out on the busy A4 which is a bit meh; but the thing I absolutely love about this ride is that it quickly becomes beautiful countryside. The first half is loaded with all of the climbing, so I can do it while the legs are fresh. If I’m riding with someone who doesn’t like hills, it’s better for them because they feel fresh too. Basically, it gets the elevation out of the way nice and early.

> Explore the road.cc ride collection on komoot

The first village is Chapel Plaister in Wilshire, it’s lovely and leads into this great little road that no drivers use. It’s twisty, fun and I can see everything for miles around.

The road comes out at Lacock and past a stately home, there’s usually a film crew there making some kind of period drama! Bowden Hill comes after this which is steep, there is a pub halfway up but I wouldn’t recommend stopping here. It’s very hard to get yourself going again. 

You’re then south of Calne, which is a lovely area. The roads are fast and the views are incredible; although in winter if I get into a headwind it can be absolutely brutal, like riding through treacle.

I then skirt around Devizes and head towards Westbury, riding through tiny little villages like Edington. The great thing about the ride here is that I can extend or cut it to suit what kind of ride I want to do that day, and how much time I have.

> How to get komoot routes on your Garmin

I can do the simplified version of it in about three and a half hours, but if I want to extend I go all the way to Westbury, through Frome and then back to Bath, which makes it about four and a half hours. If I want to cut back along the way I can. There’s a lovely little village called Steeple Ashton (the stomping ground of road.cc tech editor Mat Brett) which is a favourite cut-through of mine. The lanes are amazingly quiet.

There’s a bit of climbing before the descent into Bath. The good thing about living in Bath is that it’s basically in a basin, so you’ve always got a descent and a nice fast finish to the ride. The only issue is that the road directly up to my house is on a 30% gradient, which isn’t the best way to end it if you’re not on form. I tend to press stop on my ride recording before that bit!"

Want to share your favourite rides? Upload to your komoot profile and tell us about them in the comments!