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Has anyone done this? It would be a bit of a stunt for work to attend a conference in London, but also an excuse to do something I've wanted to do for a while.
Route-wise, NCN tends to be too bitty and slow, intentionally taking in town centres. But riding on busy roads is definitely to be avoided where possible. The L-E-L event has a decent looking route - any ideas of how busy it is? I saw them come past my house just outside Edinburgh once and thought "you didn't send them along *that* road, when there's a decent cycle path running parallel, so it could take some planning effort to identify more pleasant options.
https://londonedinburghlondon.com/route
I did the last LEL. event. It was mostly a blur but I don't remember any roads apart from one shortly after entering scotland to be particularly busy. I think it would be a good starting point for a route faster than a NCN type one and then adjust with local knowledge or to detour away from bits where the LEL route went to a specific audax control.
I did halfway up in a day (London to York) and ended up getting the train home instead of finishing, hardest 14h on a bike I've ever done 😀 .
Did Edinburgh to London as a week long tour a couple of years ago. Wasn't a particularly direct route (we aimed for big-ish towns at the end of each day) but I can share it if you want.
I'm going to have a crack at LEL next year.
I only really know the bit from edinburgh south to the border at all. MY guess would be your choices are indirect, busy roads or loads of hills or a combination of all 3
google maps uses NCN1 which is 65 miles longer than the car route with alternatives via a701 which is 20 miles shorter
I did halfway up in a day (London to York) and ended up getting the train home instead of finishing, hardest 14h on a bike I’ve ever done
That's because you did it in 14h! 🙂
I only really know the bit from edinburgh south to the border at all. MY guess would be your choices are indirect, busy roads or loads of hills or a combination of all 3
google maps uses NCN1 which is 65 miles longer than the car route with alternatives via a701 which is 20 miles shorter
The LEL route going Innerleithen, Eskdalemuir, Brampton looks most direct and is largely quiet roads. Comfortable with that. The further South it gets, the less I know and more nervous I get about busier roads.
As long as you like hills 🙂
The further South it gets, the less I know and more nervous I get about busier roads.
You got a stopover point in mind?
I've done Manchester to London 3 times (more or less the route of the Rapha M2L) and that uses surprisingly quiet roads for the majority of it. Amazing how close you can be to Luton Airport but actually riding little lanes through cornfields!
However Manchester, although it's directly south, is probably more of a diversion than you actually need especially as it'd mean coming through the hilly Yorkshire Dales and Calderdale to get to it!
I've done York to Manchester too a couple of times.
Edinburgh I really only know from doing LEJOG up from Carlisle, across to Edinburgh and then over the Forth Bridge, that part of the route would be a mystery to me!
Search for tne London-Edinburgh-London audax route. Remember to only do it one way!
Allow about 48 hours, apparently.
The LEL route going Innerleithen, Eskdalemuir, Brampton looks most direct and is largely quiet roads. Comfortable with that. The further South it gets, the less I know and more nervous I get about busier roads.
I rode LEL in 2017, I don't think any of the roads is too much of a cause for concern.
Some of the roads through the fens can be a bit annoying, as the roads are a bit narrow for cars to pass, and there's a high enough volume of traffic, but if you're not riding in a group of 20 or 30 riders, on a route with over 1000 cyclists that drivers have already been frustrated by, you probably won't even notice.
audax route
Do they issue you a Dawes Galaxy and a grim expression as part of that?
Bear in mind that the 2025 LEL is being extensively revised.
Do they issue you a Dawes Galaxy and a grim expression as part of that?
2003 wants its joke back.
Slight hijack: anyone know if hopping onto the LEJOG route somewhere in (say) Herefordshire would be a wise way to do Cardiff to Scotland? I've a similar objective in mind, come spring time; ride home from a meeting.
Yes,
https://www.strava.com/activities/607043907
I'd drop me a PM and I can send you the route. The first half was quite nice. A bit dicey around York but that might have just been the time of day. There was a bit of unpleasantness somewhere south of that (Huntington) where we were on a busy road. Given what we were attempting the aim was to make it as short and flat as possible. If you weren't planning it in one go it would be easy to improve upon using this as a base diverting away from some of the less good bits.
This was the warmup from the year before but it was mostly the same route in reverse.
https://www.strava.com/activities/324856091
I live in Newcastle so there was method in going through there. I can give you loads of pointers north and south of there.
I would agree that the 2022 LEL is a good starting point. I think the organisers managed to design an interesting route that avoided heavy traffic almost completely.
Because of the numbers they took the most practical (but dull) option up the old A74 from Gretna to Lockerbie, so you could pick a more interesting route over the border on the wee back roads if you don't mind dodging a few potholes.
You can also save yourself a couple of very steep climbs by following the original 2022 route over Yad Moss, rather than the revised version via Chapel Fell (forced by a late road closure on Yad).
You could plan even better routes if you have the time to meander, but I think LEL 2022 is a good compromise between being reasonably direct and an interesting cycle.
I did Edinburgh London using an audax LEL route in October a few years back, nit sure if was the latest one.
A great route. The odd busy B road down south but only for very short section and was rush hour.
But in the main quiet back roads
Not sure of the latest Humber bridge rules for bikes.
I crossed at sun set was awesome.
Travelled pretty light 150 odd miles a day
Got the train back after visiting family.
The 'Easy East Coaster' LEJOG route might give you some ideas too, it's a 'minimal climbing' LEJOG option that I am riding in stages with my wife on our tandem 🙂
https://cycle.travel/route/lejog_east_coast
From Innerleithen via Eskadalemuir is fantastic but plan your stops as not much civilization.
Eskdalemuir Community hub cafe is great, check the opening times.
If its shut there is a drinking water tap out the back of the shed on the left .
There is a cafe at the Tibetan Monastery but only been once prefer the Hub Cafe which the LEL and audax organisers use regularly.
At the London end I came off the "LEL " gpx track in the Cambridge area as I was heading into London to a slightly different location.