Cycling to Glasgow in October

[Tyre Lady]

Hi All - am thinking to cycle with a grannie and her grand daughter (13) - 600 miles to Glasgow.

Was wondering if you would sense check this for me and provide any tips, places to stay, better routes. Assuming Covid vaccinations means the country is safe for travel, am thinking about the following:

1. Aim for 30 miles a day
2. Take a day off after 6 days cycling
3. Take breaks every 2 hours
4. Use the National Cycle Network + Cycle.Travel (https://cycle.travel/map/journey/201725)
5. Want to do some wild camping if weather is okay..... and maybe look at stay in some camping barns or something like that? Maybe warm showers a couple of times to help the kid adjust and let her have some "warm showers"

Please critique. The 13 year is a athletic and has cycled across Devon with her Grannie.

[Jdsk]

Where from?

Have you previously camped while touring?

Jonathan

[Tyre Lady]

I have in 2019 when I cycled to Runnymede-Trieste-Geneva-Runnymede. I love it
Now looking to do a group and unsure about 13 year old. However would like her to have that experience.

Going from Runnymede

[thirdcrank]

I think you may be over-planning your schedules with things like thirty miles a day.

It's a long, long time since I was 13 - 1958 - and I only learned to ride a bike that Easter. By that long Summer hol I'd already tried the YHA and then went for a week youth hostelling on my own. My dear old dad insisted that I book in advance and that I should not be over-ambitious about mileage. The result was several early arrivals at that night's YHA.

I imagine that a 13 y.o. girl in 2021 with cycling experience would be much more capable than a 13 y.o. boy in 1958 with little cycling experience.

I can see that two adults would have more idea than I did about taking in the sights but you could easily have a lot of spare time.

[Paulatic]

October?
I’m going to guess you want to arrive at Glasgow for the 1st of November (COP26)?
Meaning your trip will be a few weeks in October. I think the weather will determine which days you have off so wouldn’t plan them rigidly.
If the 13 yo is built of similar stuff to yourself ( thinking back to your first big ride) then I’d envisage after your climb up through the Dales you’ll be flying and might easily beat 30mpd.

Edit: A closer look at your route and it is named COP 26
Have you considered coming across to the West coast from approx Leicester it will be a lot less hilly and probably more 13 yo friendly.

[Vorpal]

If the 13 year old is happy to do the distance, she'll likely be limited to to what you & her granny can do, rather than the other way around. If she's not keen, it may be a difficult trip for everyone.

What I'm trying to say is that her attitude is more meaningful than anything else in your planning. And camping will also depend on her attitude. Make sure she is okay with camping. If she has never camped while touring before, it might be worth alternating days between camping and staying in hostels, camping barns, etc. Keep some B&Bs or budget hotels in mind, just in case, and make sure she has the gear to keep warm and wears it.

I have a teen at home, and she is extremely reluctant to wear warm enough clothes in cold weather. She usually gets cold before she can get indoors. If you are cold for 10 minutes, or even 30, that's only miserable. If you are miles from anywhere to get indoors, it could be dangerous.

30 miles per day is likely a good starting distance. Unless you are booking some places to stay (shouldn't be necessary that time of year, until you get to Glasgow?), you can increase or decrease your mileage as it seems to suit. It might be a good idea to look for some things to see or do along the way, as well. After the first 3 days or so, she will likely finish the day with energy left to do stuff, and it will help prevent her getting bored.

[Jamesh]

Scotland in October could be quite chilly.

You could use the grand Union canal to Birmingham?

Then west of M6 perhaps to Liverpool?

Ferry crossing Mersey

Up via morcambe to Carlisle.

Shap wasn't too bad and you get a long free wheel to Penrith!

The boarders are a bit remote perhaps best going west coast where there are more facilities / places of interest.

Just keep it interesting.

Well done for getting a thirteen year old on a bike and off the pc / hallmark movies!!!!

Cheers James

[Mick F]

Just a quick query regarding the mileage.
600miles to Glasgow from near London?
Your link shows 475miles ........ which is correct-ish I reckon.

It's (only) 500miles to Glasgow from here in Cornwall. I know this, because I commuted to Glasgow fortnightly in the 1990s.

[Thehairs1970]

Make sure your sight seeing is what the 13 yr old wants to sight see too. Maybe get a list of things she wants to see and plan days around that.

[rareposter]

Just a quick query regarding the mileage.
600miles to Glasgow from near London?
Your link shows 475miles ........ which is correct-ish I reckon.

It's (only) 500miles to Glasgow from here in Cornwall. I know this, because I commuted to Glasgow fortnightly in the 1990s.

Going via canal towpaths and NCN could easily add another 150 miles onto the "as the crow flies" route though.

The plan itself is fine although wild camping adds a lot of extra kit plus the hassle of finding somewhere reasonably secure - it's not something I'd do much of outside Scotland where it's a) much more tolerated than it is in England and b) much easier to find a quiet spot.

1. Aim for 30 miles a day
2. Take a day off after 6 days cycling
3. Take breaks every 2 hours

I wouldn't be so prescriptive. Take breaks as and when they're wanted or as and when the opportunity arises. 90 mins since the last break and you pass a lovely cafe in the sunshine - probably worth stopping as you might not know what is half an hour further on. Distance will probably depend on weather, terrain, number and duration of breaks and while a basic "ideal distance" is good to have at the back of your mind, there's no shame in stopping earlier if the weather is foul or conversely, going further if it's a nice day and quiet trails.

Obviously if you've pre-booked accommodation then you don't have much choice in the matter, you have to get there like it or not!

Worth having bail out options in mind as well like a town with a Premier Inn type place and/or a railway station - there's always the option of getting the train north for a bit to miss out a section.

[Tigerbiten]

I was thinking of a more easterly route.
Head NE to Cambridge then north via the Vale of York.
Cross the Pennines over the top of Yad Moss, Barnard Castle to Alston, then continue onto Glasgow over Beattock summit.
Basically something similar to the route of the LEL from Cambridge to Moffat.

30-40 miles a day sounds reasonable, that's roughly my daily distance at a start of a tour.
I learnt the hard (painful) way if I do much further then it takes to much out of the legs for the next day.
But at that type of distance it's fairly easy to start just after the morning rush and still be finished by just after lunch.
So only half a day in the saddle, what are you going to do for the other half ??
I tend to sit around and read books on my kindle ......
Once I've cycled myself super fit then it's easy to do double that daily distance and a full day in the saddle.
That also make it easier to wild camp as you really want to stop late and start early.

Luck ............

[nirakaro]

That also make it easier to wild camp as you really want to stop late and start early.

By mid-October there's only ten or eleven hours of daylight in northern England/southern Scotland. Given a leisurely start, a granny-tolerant pace, and time to set up camp in daylight, I doubt there'll be much spare time by day. The nights might seem long though…

[andrew_s]

Unless you are booking some places to stay (shouldn't be necessary that time of year, until you get to Glasgow?)

Not in normal circumstances, but we haven't got normal circumstances, and I wouldn't expect them to be normal by October.

Even assuming that lockdowns in the UK have ended and everything is open again, it's unlikely that people will be safe from international travel quarantines, so more people than normal will be holidaying in the UK.

[Jdsk]

Great collection of constructive suggestions.

Can I emphasise the value of trial runs and bike and kit shakedowns... might that be possible?

Jonathan

[simonhill]

For those that don't know or don't remember, tyre lady posted back in May 2019. A non cyclist wanting to cycle from London to Trieste before running a marathon pulling a lorry tyre. Then cycle back all on an ancient borrowed bike.

Lots of scepticism plus lots of advice.

Bottom line, she did it. Never underestimate the tyre lady. Respect.