Hi, I am looking at riding from Aldershot to Ballater in the Highlands next year. Bike packing and hopefully taking a week.

I want to stay away from super busy A roads, using nice B roads and even gravel roads. Has anyone done this type of trip?

Any route planners out there worth a look at. I know about bikehike and bike route toaster. Sustrans have maps showing traffic free cycle routes but I don’t know how good these will be for making progress!

NCN 1 will take you up the East coast to Aberdeen then just use the Desside Way from Aberdeen. However, NCN 1 in places is far from direct, so you probably want to find a more direct route up through the midlands, possibly look at NCN 11.

this one is ace I’ve found: https://www.cyclestreets.net/

enter your start and end postcodes and click to get the ‘quietest’ route and it will calculate the route using sustrans, bridleways and back lanes. I’ve found the sustrans routes listed as offroad will be gravel tracks at the worst and made up tarmac at best, they should be fine apart from the **** cycle gates, but that’s for another thread. Enjoy!

I tried riding from North East England to the Highlands using Sustrans routes, last summer. When I got home, I cancelled my Sustrans membership.

A few versions of the London-Edinburgh-London Audax route are available on-line and would make a pretty good starting point.

The Strava routing tool works fairly well but it likes major A roads in London, because lots of commuters use them and it seeks out hills so you need to check it’s road selection using something like http://www.brianfolts.com/driver/

I’d cycle to Euston and get the sleeper to Fort William, then spend the week cycling in the Highlands.

Be aware though that once in the Highlands proper there are usually just roads and off-road, and pretty much all the roads are A roads.

Great ideas there, thanks!
Just looking on the Sustrans website and it doesn’t fill me with confidence either.

I really like https://www.cyclestreets.net/, and it links to gpsies so I can save the routes online just in case.

I never thought to look at the audax routes. I started using Strava, but it crashed twice and I got fed up with it. And it likes the hills!

I looked at a more direct route, but I think the flat lands through Lincolnshire is looking tempting.

Haha, I think getting the train to Fort Bill and riding around the highlands will be another trip, more relaxing than this one.

This is all because my cousin / best friend died in Aldershot a few years ago and his father couldn’t bare him having to make his last trip home alone. So he popped the coffin in the back of his 110 station wagon Landy and drove him himself. Not wanting to ride up the M1, but I want to recreate his last journey.

I’d cycle to Euston and get the sleeper to Fort William, then spend the week cycling in the Highlands.

+1

That was my first proper bike tour, 26 years ago ❗

One advantage of the Sustrans routes is that they will be signposted and this can save time looking for junctions, getting lost etc. OTOH, given what Sustrans is about, many are aimed more at local sustainable transport and might wander around a bit passing schools, railway stations etc.

I’d be happy to help crowd-source a route for you but it would have to involve the B709 through the Scottish Borders 🙂

Following up on Scotroutes suggestion, I’d be happy to offer you several varying options from say the north side of the Forth through either Fife, Kinross-shire or Clackmannanshire into the Southern Highlands and on to your intended finish. These could include some interesting old drove roads, especially if your intended transport and skills are up for some variety in the surfaces… And you don’t mind pushing yourself and the bike occasionally.

Surely any route to Ballater has to involve the highest road in the UK? ie the A93 over the Cairnwell Pass.
It is an A road, but its not too busy. And it is a great climb and descent.

^ That depends!! Yes, you can take the A93 over the ski area at Glenshee and it’s a fine enough way to go… But there is a viable alternative way over the Capel Mounth, if you’re adventurous and:
A) you don’t mind pushing up the steep singletrack from Clova, and
B) You have at least a CX type bike with reasonable semi-slicks, so you can ride the estate road down the other side into GlenMuick!

Even if you do choose the A93 route over the southern Cairngorms, how you get to Glenshee from the south can also be made quite interesting.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to first work out how you’ll tackle the borders (see Scotroutes) and therefore where you’ll hit the Central Belt. From that point, work out how to tackle Fife or Kinross-shire and therefore whereabouts you’ll bump into the Highlands.

Hi, sorry for the delay, I was preparing for Mayhem, and then recovering!

Thanks for the great ideas. And for the crowd sourcing the route in the Highlands. Thats the part I am most looking forward to.

But riding UP Glenshee, jeepers. My fully laden Mondeo struggled!

I will be on a CX bike, but 28 Schwalbe One slicks. Think I will want to avoid the really rough stuff, but a bit of hike a bike will be OK if it lends itself to a spectacular route that cannot be missed!

I think this last part of the journey is where I want to make it as enjoyable as possible. I’ve only ever cycled though the Highlands with Tim, it’d be nice to take the scenic route.

I have plotted a very rough route to Dunkeld, through Lincolnshire to avoid the Peaks and the Dales.Anyone know how to say it, it was created in Strava?

I’d very much appreciate some input to make my route through the Highlands as spectacular as possible! Especially from people who love up that way.

Thank you!!!

Dave ‘sweary’ Barter has a LEJOG route for CX bikes, which he and pal Andy did last year . I think it is on GPSies or ask on BearbonesBikepacking forum

https://app.box.com/s/0bxgmnv2je34fjlft2xoyn8fppnek6xn
Here is my GPX of the route so far…

Jamie, that will be interesting, thanks!

I have found Dave’s CX route

Thanks Jamie, I will add that to the list! I will mainly be on the East of the UK though.

Here is my rough route

http://www.strava.com/routes/5464091

I chose to ride around some of the lochs in the Highlands as opposed to heading straight for Ballater. Only 20miles longer!