I had the dubious pleasure of negotiating a mile of Route 4 on my road
bike with 18mm tyres this morning - railway ballast and deep sand seemed
to be the order of the day. Are most of them like that, and if so, why
can't Sustrans be more upfront about the fact that they're MTB-only (I
wouldn't even have wanted to take my expedition tourer down there!)

I read the C2C booklet last month and nowhere does it mention that
"proper" bikes are unsuitable for completing the route. Sorry guys, but
the NCN isn't going to be anything other than a weekend leisure activity
unless you can get some blacktop out there. Most people like to have
mudguards and road tyres on their commuting bikes!

On the other hand, the tarmac path from M4 J16 to Swindon town centre is
nice...it bypasses a piece of 70mph dual carriageway, which in itself
wouldn't be so bad if there weren't wheel-eating drains every 100 yds :-)

/rant over

Roger