Anyone want to recommend me a route that’s fairly speed-optimised? If I wanted to push myself to do it as fast as I could?
If you do this you will spend a lot of time on fast A roads with 60mph cars whizzing [past your elbow on some of the most unpleasant roads to ride on in Scotland ( I don't know the english route). I have seen jogle riders on the A 9 dual carrigeway for example when there is a really nice parallel cycle route. I have twice had to emergency stop on the A9 when driving because of people doing jogle. There is no way on earth I would ride the A9 south of inverness and even north of inverness I would go the altnaharra route
The fast/direct option also misses much of the point of doing it. As many folk have pointed out, the ride lets you see the varied nature of life on this island. That only really happens when you get off the main roads that tend to link the cities and conurbations.
It's different if you're setting out just to do a FKT of course ...
Can I ask about cost? I've fancied this for a while..
I realise budget is relative but just wanted to garner an idea of how much it might cost over 10 days?
Can I ask about cost? I’ve fancied this for a while..I realise budget is relative but just wanted to garner an idea of how much it might cost over 10 days?
Transport to LE and from JOG.
Train to Penzance is relatively straightforward or do a one-way hire car.
Cost - a supported tour can be anything from about £1000 upwards. The Ride Across Britain event is £1850. Generally, the more you pay, the more support you get. At the very bottom end it might be a group of 8-10 people and one person with a van driving your bags up country and arranging basic accommodation en route, give you all a gpx file and meet you half way and at the finish. You may well need to pay for your own food each day though.
At the very top end, you get everything - signage, support vehicles inc Broom Wagon, luggage transfer, all accommodation & food, massage etc.
If you have your own vehicle and someone to drive it up country with you then it's 1000 miles of fuel to add into the cost too (plus home to LE / JOG to home)
Unsupported, you can do it pretty cheap by carrying all your own kit and camping / staying with friends etc but it'll be slower due to the extra weight. Or you can do a mix, travel slightly lighter, camp some nights / B&B some. At the expensive end, it's basically credit card touring where you're staying in anything from Youth Hostels / Premier Inn right up to 4* hotels.
Transport back from JOG - you can ride to Wick (15 miles south) and get the train to Inverness where there are train and plane options.
Minimum, unless you really are doing the true wild camping / bikepacking or you have a network of friends at the right intervals to say over is about £1000.
Merak
Quick search would suggest £2000 - 2500 for supported rides.
Unsupported ,you could probably do it all in (train ticket, accommodation and food) for around £900
Edit>> or what crazy-legs said <<edit
The fast/direct option also misses much of the point of doing it.
I guess you could mix and match to suit your own requirements. You could plan the route to use just quiet roads, and then see how fast you can do it. A bit like a personal GBduro
Some great insights here - thanks everyone 🙂
Now to read, digest, think, ride, ride, ride and get excited.
Just refreshing my memory on the route we took. We went the Altnaharra route and stayed in what in the SYHA at Carbisdale Castle on day 1. Remember it being a beast of a day but absolutely stunning and fairly quiet roads.
We bypassed Inverness entirely as had read about the horrors of the A9.
As a few others have mentioned ignoring possible wind issues we found it was a tradeoff between some bigger days in Scotland vs Devon and Cornwalls hills. Also don't ride from Bristol to Exeter with a hangover... its rough.
We did it supported (by family) in August 2019. Three of us followed the Ride Across Britain route, which at that time had GPX files on their website that could be downloaded. We camped the first couple of nights and then stayed in hotels the remaining nights. 9 days cycling in total, and an average of just over 100 miles a day.
We’d done a few training rides, but nothing too much. We generally set off around 9 each day, stopped after a couple of hours for a snack, then another couple of hours until a stop for lunch, and then usually 1 more break in the afternoon before cycling through to the finish.
The route was really good, with a lot of fairly minor roads. Following a GPX was great, as it took all the hassle out of navigation, so no stopping to check directions all the time. I really enjoyed the section in Shropshire and the Wye valley, but the Warrington/Manchester section was fairly busy, especially ending the day around rush hour.
I’d second the comments above about weather and kit. All the way from Cornwall we were lucky with weather, with mainly a tailwind and no rain. That was made up for on the day from Rosyth to Tomintoul. Heavy rain, strong winds and cold temperatures meant that I was under prepared (I had waterproofs with me, but not much else) but was lucky a friend in Edinburgh loaned me a pile of “winter” clothes to see me through the next day. That was the day the women’s tour of Britain stage around Perth was cancelled.
I have no experience to offer or advice to share but it does remind me I recently came across a couple of alternative routes.
A scenic one from Cyclist magazine which looks good if you have masochistic tendencies.
Then on Cycle.Travel an "Easy East Coaster" with apparently less climbing than most routes.
Also don’t ride from Bristol to Exeter with a hangover… its rough.
I can confirm that riding from Exeter to Bristol with a hangover is no better...
Did it 10 years back with my best mate on our 2speed Bromptons - 7.5days, unsupported and B&B. Tried as much as possible to stay off main roads i.e. like the A30 got to be crazy to ride on that!
Train down to LE and then taxi from Jog to the Thurso and then train / sleeper home
Think far better to do it with a mate rather than one of those supported Delotte things - they look awlful.
have the route as planned, though did make some changes on way - can share if needed.
if i did it again would take twice as long and get to look at stuff..
Did LEJOG in 2008 with 2 mates in 8 days averaging 120 miles/day, unsupported and finding YHs and B&Bs on the way. We went as lightweight as possible, which definitely helped and split the day into four roughly two-hour riding efforts interspersed with food/cafe stops. We rode S to N as the prevailing wind is SW but we ended up riding a week with mostly NE winds!
We were a bit time restricted and if I did it again I would take a bit longer to try and enjoy the scenery - 10 days supported would be OK. Day 3 was the hardest as the legs were tired and stiff after the relentless ups and downs in Cornwall and Devon, but it got easier after that as the legs realised that was what they did all day and the route wasn't as lumpy further north. If massages are available to you, take them. Chammy cream is worth its weight in gold. Take some warm clothing as, even in summer, it can get chilly/wet/miserable/D) all of the above as you progress north...
Presumably your supported ride includes getting to and from the start and finishing points and this is often the trickiest logistic - we got the train to Penzance and just rode to the start at LE. Getting back was trickier as (back then, don't know about now) the train from Wick didn't carry bikes and Scotrail's way around this was to drive them in a van to Inverness, but that was quicker than the train so they chucked the bikes out onto the platform at Inverness and left them there for almost an hour until the train got in! We ended up getting a mate to drive up in a people carrier to J'OG and paid his fuel and and overnight in a B&B.
Presumably your supported ride includes getting to and from the start and finishing points and this is often the trickiest logistic – we got the train to Penzance and just rode to the start at LE. Getting back was trickier as (back then, don’t know about now) the train from Wick didn’t carry bikes
Most supported rides don't - or they'll offer a taxi service from Penzance to LE and a coach service from JOG to Inverness at an extra cost. It's quite tricky with people potentially coming from all over via various means, some driving down with family / friends, some on the train, some flying to Bristol or Exeter... Same at the finish; some people rush off immediately, some stay and have a few extra days in Scotland, some arrange to be met by friends. It's a hell of a drive up there though!
The half way point of the ride is roughly Kendal / South Lakes area (depending on exact route). You've ridden up through Cornwall, Devon etc all the way up to Lancashire / Cumbria and that's half way, the rest of it is "Scotland". It goes on for bloody ages!
ScotRail takes bikes now, they're actually pretty good:
https://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/cycling/bikes-trains
if you live in a flat county train on hills or just getting to Lands’ End if starting there will be horrible (let alone returning the way you came). Devon was brutal, far worse hills than expected. The hills in Scotland are even more brutal.
Expect big weather. The day of constant rain in Lancashire. I went in July and the horizontal hail into a 25mph headwind in Scotland was the worst weather we had.
Be careful if you go on the A9, the bridges over rivers are often exposed to huge winds that smash into you when you when you reach the bridge (often at the bottom of a big descent). This can push you into the road.
in England we asked which car was most likely to have killed us in the previous 5 days. In Scotland esp. along Loch Ness coaches & cars passed with millimetres to spare (often stopping & repassing as close)
Make sure the bike is properly serviced. Consider it a huge reliability ride. I rode with a collapsing rear wheel, straightening it every evening. My derailleur went into the wheel & exploded. Tighten up all bolts, the rutted road surfaces loosened lots of fittings, I lost a cantilever brake bolt & the grommet for my bike pump. Take some spares bike shops are few & far between these days.
I ate fried breakfast, cooked midday meal & blowout in the evening every day & lost 4 stone. Don’t drink lots in the evening, you will be so dehydrated a huge hangover will occur. Food gets more spaced out in Scotland. At the end I fitted into a top I hadn't been able to wear for 20 years.
If camping Scottish midges are a real thing. Record speed tent erection guaranteed in the Highlands
