I’m off to Edinburgh in early November, to see Scotland v Fiji. Thinking of taking the road bike and making it a bit of a tour, possibly up to JOG and back.

Likely to be mix of B&B, camping, possibly a bothy or two. I’d aim to keep train stations within bail out distance, though not sure how practical that is.

The only thing that’s really putting me off is the November weather. Though historic averages don’t seem too bad.

The question is mad idea or sensible plan? Any advice welcome.

Perfectly doable. Just check the forecast nearer the time if it’s looking good go for it. Only downside is the shorter days. You could do a cracking route up through Fife, then Glenshee and up through Inverness and onwards. Coming back you could keep further west. Lots of options.

Not sure there are many bothies accessible on a road bike. If you have a gravel or MTB then that opens up lots of possibilities like the Badger route and lots of both options.

Another thing to look out for is availability of B&Bs. Lots of owners take time off in November as they can’t take normal “summer” holidays. I’d book ahead if possible.

road bike and bothy don’t really seem compatible to me.

the weather could be fine or it could be horizontal sleet – but it should be predictable at the start of the trip; obviously you will be aware that lack of daylight starts to become an issue at that time of year.  Unless you enjoy riding in the dark or roads where people probably aren’t expecting to see a bike in the dark then I’d want to be tucked up in my accom by about 3.30-4pm.  You might also want to think about where you will be riding relative to low sun rise / sun set – obviously drivers should be cautious if they can’t see but I’d rather not assume that!

not sure that bail our plan to train station is going to make your life easier – but scotrail used to have a service where if you had a ticket already booked and had a major mechanical they would arrange repair or taxi to get you to the station – not sure if that is still offered but it could be a useful safety blanket.

Why JOG?  People only do LEJOG because they are the extremes of the country – I think there are probably far nice routes: cairngorms/ski-centres loop if you like hills. An extension of the 5-ferries if you prefer something different (you’ll need to see how winter timetables affect this).  Lots of nice riding in the borders or angus glens etc that might be more flexible to plan around weather and hide out in a small town if the weather is crap.

However I should probably say, May would be a far better time to do it!

Another thing to look out for is availability of B&Bs. Lots of owners take time off in November as they can’t take normal “summer” holidays. I’d book ahead if possible.

Yes it’ll be interesting to see what the autumn / winter season is like this year. A lot of highland places (both accommodation and often cafes and shops) would shut down out of season. Working in the west highlands a few years ago in Oct / November it was a real struggle to get food and accommodation – everything was just shut. I was was living on a diet of ham sandwiches for 6 weeks because the only shop open only sold ham and bread. But lockdown / staycationing really seems to have extended the season massively – working in pretty much the same area at the same time of year last year – everything was open,  and was fully booked.

Why JOG?

I went to JOG  once just because I was vaguely in the area. It wasnt really worth the 20 minute detour on its own merits. But it did it so that if I ever go to LE I may have set a record for the longest, most indirect route between the two.

I think at that time of year there would be load of better destinations and riding to get to them than “****ing Wick” 🙂

make a better, more interesting ride of getting to Inverness

It not so bad if you follow the NCN route to Tongue and then along the north coast. That also eases the detour to Dunnet Head.

Why JOG? Purely because over time I’m linking up individual rides that cover the whole of LEJOG/JOGLE. So was thinking it was a good time to get the northern most bit ticked off. Also, I’m not familiar with Scotland so don’t have anything in the way of a bucket list for it. Suggestions welcome?

Hadn’t considered places being out of season and not being open. Very good point. I was hoping not to have to book in advance, to remain flexible to avoid bad weather etc, but will take this into consideration. Of the two random campsites I checked, one was closed for the season, one was open all year.

I think there are a handful of bothies that are fairly easily accessible. Cant find it just now, but there is a book/blog listing them.

Perfectly comfortable riding in the dark, done many overnighters. But to be perfectly honest, I’d not considered much shorter days. Much of the reason to do it is for the views, so may adjust my ideas of suitable riding times.

Ah, and wouldn’t you know it, the bothy book is on STW…

The Scottish Bothy Bible – The complete guide to Scotland’s bothies

and a short list of the bikeable ones…
https://www.ukhillwalking.com/articles/destinations/bothies_by_bike_-_eight_of_the_best-6797

“Bikeable”. You were querying a road tour. A brief look at that list mostly rules them out. Gravel bike would work, though I guess it depends just how much pushing you are happy to do or what your propensity for taking road/touring tyes off-road is.

+1 on there’s nicer places and tours, and bigger places with more accomodation and food. Design a ‘nice’ route…

You want a bit of flexibility in your tour at that time of year as well, the weather in Scotland is not a uniform unit. It can be lovely and sunny with no wind in one bit, and gale force wind with horizontal rain in another! Even places as close as Edin/Glas have utterly different weather on the same day! Many is the time I have driven from t-shirt weather on one coast to a blizzard on the other!

FWIW I’m definitely not trying to put you off. I did a similar Coastal Scotland project a few years ago, riding smaller tours rather than one biggy. I’m just trying to give some advice to help your planning.

Personally I would go for a base and day rides rather than a tour. Id try to pick the base a few days before based on weather.

Suggestion would be Mull. Aviemore and Berwick. 3 different locations giving chance one of them has decent weather.

Early November is almost late October.

You can get some stunning days that time of year.
Cold, wet ones too.

I’d be heading south and bimbling around the borders: Berwick-upon Tweed across to Galloway etc.

Definitely agree, make the route the priority and not the destination.
I’ve often toured at that time of year and yes, it can be risky with weather and tricky to avoid too much road riding at night but the upsides more than outweigh the problems in my mind.
Keeping low level routes in mind, being flexible and having options will help. It can be an amazing colourful time of year, less tourism, more wildlife- the stags will probably still be roaring, maybe snow on the high tops (or even passes..).
Rather than seeking out bothies that may be a trachle to get to, why not look at one of the quieter camping spots like for example those on the Great Glen route, sheltered with trees, somewhere to have a fire and composting toilets. Touring, 32mm tyres would allow you to get to these. Most tracks that go anywhere near a bothy are going to be pretty lumpy.
Depending on time constraints, I’d be thinking about maybe head west to Glasgow or Dumbartonshire on the John Muir route, work across Argyll towards Oban by bike or train, then ride up the Great Glen to Inverness (choice of routes/altitudes/surfaces), cut across Speyside towards Tomintoul, crawl up to the Lecht or over the Cabrach to Deeside, then you’ve several options to head back towards Angus & Tayside. Some take you high into the hills, others stay lower. Once into Tayside, you can cross into Fife.
Remember, the long distance Citylink buses will carry your bike if you need a lift.
I’d add Ballater on Deeside to TJ’s 3 locations list, this would make a great base for 3-4 days of hard as you like road riding..

OK, point taken regarding the bothy idea, and even considering knocking the JOG waypoint on the head. Sometimes I get carried away with fantasy, hence asking on STW to moderate. Definitely appreciating all the advice, and if anything even more encouraged.

If the weather isn’t stupidly bad, my plan is to get back to Bath on two wheels, but to spend a week or more in Scotland pootling round wherever the weather looks most favourable, before turning south.

I usually motivate myself by having a definite A->B goal, hence JOG. But really beginning to warm to the idea of a base, and doing day rides, which really isn’t my usual style. And starting to build a list of possible locations and day routes. Wouldn’t have thought of it with out all of the input here 🙂

Be aware that the cafes/hotels etc have been struggling for staff post Covid so depending on them to be open en route might not go to plan… We were up doing the Edinburgh to Cape Wrath bit of The Great North Trail a few weeks ago and passed more than a few locations closed.

Mebbies supports the rides from a decent base location idea, p’raps an Airbnb? Means you can take food out daily and dry off nightly if needed.

Hmm. Mountain bike forum discourages bothy trip because the tracks in can be a bit stony.

I’d say early Nov is prime season almost for bothying on a bike. Compared to camping you have a roof. Fire to dry off at. Not yet dark at 4pm Minimal risk of ice or snow.

Obviously if by road trip it is 23mm tyres then no Otherwise 700×35 or wider will get you into plenty bothies.

Try Glen Feshie. Decent path the whole way bar one drop down at a river. Big space. No need to take in coal. The estate dumps old fence posts outside.

From the Feshie via Kingussie for a feed to Melgarve. Yards away from tarmac. Then head over to Invermallie. Either by road via Spean Bridge or if the weather is good over the Corrieyairick Pass A push up most of the way but good track down the west side to Fort Augustus. I have done it on a tourer

From Invermallie try Glen Duror or Corryhully. Glen Duror is very good track Corryhully is near flat tarmac private road. Private to cars only.

Another option from Melgarve is Allt-Scheicheachan. Down the A9 cycle track to feed and get a beer at Blair Atholl before going up the track to the bothy.

Allt Scheicheachan Bothy