A big group of us did the coast to coast last year in June.
We meet soon to decide next years outing.
Requirements:
Nice roads
Jaw dropping scenery
Massive piss up at the end

Last year was a one way, but I think a circular route might be easier to organise.

One idea was to finish in Belfast.

Or Edinburgh to Newcastle (getting train up to start).

From Newcastle you can do all the big passes in the North Pennines in a hundred miles – beautiful roads, great scenery and top notch piss up at the end.

Ring of kerry, slightly over 100 miles though

Slightly varied Yorkshire TDF route

Ace

Thanks

Fred whitton route?

Tour of Dartmoor.

Second the Fred whitton route… It’s a proper brutal ride though.

Alternatively, almost any minor road route in Scottish borders… Great scenery, quiet roads, challenging terrain.

3 pistes route, from pitlochry to cairngorm the hard way

Stage five of the tour of Britain over Dartmoor. Start and finish in Exeter. Epic ride, epic scenery. 3300m of climbing.

If you don’t mind doing 120 miles, there’s a great loop through Ross-shire.

I call it the Ledmore Loop.

Start at Dingwall, over to Ullapool – that’s a coast to coast done.
Head north from Ullapool to Ledmore Junction, then turn right back towards the East coat which you reach at Bonar Bridge. So you’ve now done another coast to coast.
From Bonar Bridge take the road to Tain, but turn right up the Struie (follow Dingwall signs) and head for Dingwall.
Dead simple navigation.

Or if you prefer an easier end to the ride, do it the other way round.

Has the advantage of long gaps between towns, brilliant scenery, and some nice climbs.

I know an old guy who does it on an an even older singlespeed, so it shouldn’t present any problem for younger riders on geared bikes. 🙂

Here’s some sample pics to help you persuade your mates:

Edinburgh to Newcastle

That was about 250 miles when I did it. Some of the bits down the coast are not very suitable for road bikes either, unless there are alternatives. But aside from that, it’s a very nice route. I’d recommend it.

More for the list. Cheers
Great pics epicyclo.
250 miles, we must’ve been thinking 2 days on that. No good.

jkomo – Member
…Great pics epicyclo.

Thanks.

For the purposes of a good piss up afterwards it might be a good idea to start from Ullapool. It has the best fish and chips in Scotland and there’s some great pubs.

It’s also handy for nipping over to the Outer Hebrides for a couple of days and there’s some brilliant small loops there.

The Fred Whitton looks amazing. Are the roads busy or nice and quiet?

Raphas “three days of Yorkshire” is an excellent route, string them together or a couple. Starts in York, heads to Nth York Moors to Helmsley, then to Masham (Black Sheep brewery) then over the Dales to Skipton.

Bloody lovely, a couple of B roads but mostly lanes, some excellent points of interest along the way and clearly the Black Sheep Brewery is an excellent stop over (or end of route)

Not great if you need to get to the start by train but I’ll suggest it anyway

Etape Du Dales route is a cracker

112 miles but it’ll feel like a lot more

If you’re considering travelling up to Edinburgh, you can do lots of good loops starting and finishing in the city.
This route takes in some of the classic local climbs,including the 1:5 ascent of Talla:

(Peebles CC photo)
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Dave-Harris-memorial-audax-not-official-route-map
It’s 200km, but you can shorten it a bit and get another nice climb and another fine view by taking the quieter B709 from Innerleithen to Edinburgh via the Granites, instead of going up the A7.

Roads aren’t the smallest but they’re quiet enough unless it’s a summer holliday weekend. And you might have used Salburn as the end of the C2C depending which route you took?

Slatburn -> Whitby (via the coast road through Loftus) -> Scarbrough (as previous, take the costal roads) -> Thornton -> Sleights (i.e. almost back to Whitby, then turn left at the bottom of blue bank) -> A171 accross the moors heading for Guisbrough but turn right at the bottom of Birk Brow and head for Skelton Via Boosbeck.

Accomodation and beer, the George in Skelton.
Food, the pier fish and chips in Saltburn.
Getting there, train to Saltburn or there’s free parking at the clifftop in Saltburn or at the George in Skelton.

As a route it doesn’t have a diproprtionate ammount of climbing, but the section between Thornton and Whitby is leg destroying, a few mid sized climbs, with steep decents so it feels longer harder as there’s little in the way of flats or coasting downhill, you’re either climbing or braking!

Reasons to do it – the seaside is spectacular, it reminds me why I prefer quiet Saltburn to the crowds of Scarbrough/Whitby, the last section back over the moor to Guisbrough is spectacular as the sun goes down.

If you need a guide let me know, I’m down south but always happy to do that loop.

Just enter the Etape Eryri – 100 miles, amazing scenery and it’s all organised for you

Just enter the Etape Eryri – 100 miles, amazing scenery and it’s all organised for you

Considered that for this year, but couldn’t get the time off work.

Closed roads innit? Is it a very early morning start? I know you have to be there to register the day before (which was what scuppered me).

Dunwich Dynamo?

110mile summer night ride out of London up the Essex coast.

Not quite what the OP asked for but pubs en-route stay open late, it’s free to enter and riding all night with a never ending trail of other riders’ lights in front of and behind you makes it special.

Fred Whitton route.
Tough but worth it, a recognizable challenge and you can get timing chips.

I think I’ll have a go at FW with a smaller group. Might be a pain dragging a large group who haven’t bothered with enough training.
It looks amazing.
The Scottish loops look ace as well, but it’s a long way to drive back feeling rough.

Carlisle to Edinburgh.
Railway station at each end.
No shortage of accommodation.
Plenty of places for food and drink.

Cycle via Eskdalemuir and Innerleithen.
Stop at the Samye Ling Buddhist monastery for cake.

Let me know if you want a gpx file.

The etape eryri is a great call. Start and finish in caernarfon. Plenty of pubs there.

It’s a 7am start so pretty early but it’s well worth it. Not on closed roads tho. I did it at a steady pace last year and too 8 hours. Doing it again this year!