Trip North England-Scotland

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
RealRedHair
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by RealRedHair »

RealRedHair wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 8:05pm Rowardennan and Inverarnan seems to be difficult; maybe I have to try to avoid that section then.

Is there any alternative bicycle trip for this part of my track? Any GPS available would be great. :D
Or is it possible to cross the lake by boat and continue on the other side?
Any suggestions for part of the track are welcome.
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Paulatic
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by Paulatic »

RealRedHair wrote: 22 Oct 2021, 7:59am
RealRedHair wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 8:05pm Rowardennan and Inverarnan seems to be difficult; maybe I have to try to avoid that section then.

Is there any alternative bicycle trip for this part of my track? Any GPS available would be great. :D
Or is it possible to cross the lake by boat and continue on the other side?
Any suggestions for part of the track are welcome.
Have you read viewtopic.php?t=147631
or West side viewtopic.php?t=140274
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Norman H
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by Norman H »

RealRedHair wrote: 22 Oct 2021, 7:59am
RealRedHair wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 8:05pm Rowardennan and Inverarnan seems to be difficult; maybe I have to try to avoid that section then.

Is there any alternative bicycle trip for this part of my track? Any GPS available would be great. :D
Or is it possible to cross the lake by boat and continue on the other side?
Any suggestions for part of the track are welcome.
I'm not sure that the the Rowardennan to Inverarnan section is the only one that would be problematic and if you have to bail out you will most probably end up on the A 82, which could be quite a culture shock if you've been used to cycling in the Netherlands. I would be looking to avoid Glasgow and the route over Rannoch Moor. The route via Aran and Kintyre has been mentioned but there are many other alternatives including public transport.

One option if you're anxious to see something of Loch Lomond would be to use the cycle path on the western shore as far as Tarbet and then take the ferry across to Inversnaid.

From Inversnaid head east along the shores of Loch Arklet to Stronachlachar and then take the cycle path along the north shore of Loch Katrine to the the eastern end of the loch. (The Steamship Sir Walter Scott also runs from Sronachlachar pier to Trossachs pier at the eastern end of Loch Katrine and could be a fun alternative) From the Trossachs pier car park there's just a short section on the A821 heading back towards Aberfoyle before you can enter the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park and join route7 to Callander and beyond.
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matt2matt2002
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by matt2matt2002 »

Nice Tarbert Inversnaid ferry. April to November. £10 I think plus £2 for the bike.
Can book ahead. Best to do that in Summer months.
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RealRedHair
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by RealRedHair »

Really found a nice Dutch site with GPS tracks :D . It gives many options/combinations are available to ride. Perfect.

See https://www.europafietsers.nl/fietsrout ... land-rond/
Als guides are available: https://webwinkel.europafietsers.nl/sch ... -oost-2019 and https://webwinkel.europafietsers.nl/sch ... noord-west
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gbnz
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by gbnz »

pal wrote: 21 Oct 2021, 8:39pm What you could also do, RealRedHair, if you want to stick with NCN7 as your route over the Pennines, is to take NCN14 down from Newcastle to Consett, and pick up NCN7 there. That would mean you could skip the not-particularly-pretty (though mostly flat) bit of NCN7 between Sunderland and Consett.

(But actually I think Hadrian's or Reivers might be the better option, unless you definitely want the Big Hills of NCN7!)
+ 1. Have to admit that unless there's some specific reason why you feel a need to cycle from the East coast (Sunderland), I'd skip the initial twenty miles and commence the ride further west. As stated above, the post industrial deprived areas of North East England are worth giving a miss.

At a simplistic level, the country becomes more picturesque West of the main North East A1 road / or rail line. Have to admit I'd jump on a train to Durham City and head West, or take the initial few miles West out of Newcastle on a train. It's an approach I've taken elsewhere and beneficial to the ride, there being little cycling around motorways, deprived pockets of housing and broken down industrial sites!
gbnz
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by gbnz »

RealRedHair wrote: 22 Oct 2021, 9:07pm Really found a nice Dutch site with GPS tracks :D .
Your posts do remind me that I need to head both West and North more! Both part of your route as I'm based in Northumberland, but reminded that I've never done that stretch between Edinburgh and Berwick, or immediately North of Carlisle
eileithyia
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by eileithyia »

Don;t believe the midges can be OK in May / June, I've had horrendous experiences of midges in late May early June, we even used a hostel instead of camping one night to escape them and they just followed us in on bags and clothing, the warden was literally vacuuming them up off the windowsills.... it had been a mild winter and the local shop had sold out of all anti midge deterrants as early as late April / early May and was still awaiting restock...
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pal
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by pal »

That's a very good point, Vorpal. (Perhaps a silver lining of the cold winter we had last year was that the midges were a bit less ferocious in the summer...).

Realredhair: you could sign up to the Midge Forecasting Service! https://www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/
RealRedHair
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by RealRedHair »

pal wrote: 24 Oct 2021, 10:57am Realredhair: you could sign up to the Midge Forecasting Service! https://www.smidgeup.com/midge-forecast/
Saw that site already but once I'm on the road I have to continue anyway. Most hostels, B&B and bunkhouses will have space available in May/June I guess so no need to make reservations in advance. So I can always go there when things get too bad. Going in April is too cold I assume.
bogmyrtle
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by bogmyrtle »

Going through Annan you will need to stay on the B 721 to get to the B724. The footbridge on cycle route 7 was washed away in a flood last night.
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Paulatic
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by Paulatic »

bogmyrtle wrote: 29 Oct 2021, 9:57pm Going through Annan you will need to stay on the B 721 to get to the B724. The footbridge on cycle route 7 was washed away in a flood last night.
Are you certain?
I thought it was the two footbridges higher up.
Route7 uses the 'Annan Millennial Bridge' not reported washed away AFAIK.
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Adamcycles17
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by Adamcycles17 »

How about Hadrian's Wall, then ncn7 then Arran over the ferries to Kennacraig. Twice per week you can then get a Ferry to Oban and then follow the Caledonia Way or get another ferry out to Barra and cycle up the Outer Hebrides. Don't miss Callanish stones.
RealRedHair
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Re: Trip North England-Scotland

Post by RealRedHair »

Found a new nice track: https://www.secondcitydivide.cc mainly off the main road. I think I will try the North part of the track towards Glasgow. :D
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