LEJOG - Quiet, scenic and long

[Weimarunner]

Not sure if this has been shared here before. Here's a link to a LEJOG route that I stumbled upon on the 'Travelling Two' website. The route was put together by David Piper - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16355794

I really like the look of it, thought I'd post it here to see what you all thought of it.

[Paulatic]

Not sure if this has been shared here before. Here's a link to a LEJOG route that I stumbled upon on the 'Travelling Two' website. The route was put together by David Piper - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16355794

I really like the look of it, thought I'd post it here to see what you all thought of it.

I've only looked at it through my area and it seems most odd. Biggest oddity is why go up the motorway from Ecclefechan to Lockerbie and the back down the motorway from Lockerbie to Fechan? Then use the B7076, avoiding any of the more pleasant options, to go north and then after suffering that heading west to Irvine. For scenic to Irvine I would use lanes taking you from Gretna - Dumfries- up Nithsdale.
So if the rest of the route is as Ill thought as the Southern Scotland section I'd be giving it a lot of scrutinity.

[rareposter]

Odd to go right through the centre of Birmingham as well unless it was for an overnight stop at a friend's house? Going over the Runcorn-Widnes bridge as well seems a bit off-route?

The numerous threads on here asking for route advice - I think anomalies like that highlight why it's so important to plan your own routes to cater for your own needs.

[Weimarunner]

Odd to go right through the centre of Birmingham as well unless it was for an overnight stop at a friend's house? Going over the Runcorn-Widnes bridge as well seems a bit off-route?

The numerous threads on here asking for route advice - I think anomalies like that highlight why it's so important to plan your own routes to cater for your own needs.

Quite right, I've not looked that far north. I did however like the way it crosses Cornwall, all small roads looking at google street view.

[robgul]

I've seen this guy's route stuff before - this says it all: I wanted to use as many of the Sustrans National Cycle Network (NCN) routes as possible, and traffic-free roads wherever possible.

Looks pretty crazy to me - centre of Goucester, Cheltenham, Birmingham, Stoke on Trent all seems a bit bizarre - apart from meandering in Cornwall/Devon and the big conurbations mention the rest isn't unusual for E2E rides if you have time to dwell.

An earlier attempt was made by a rider using as much Sustrans stuff as possible - his patience ran as he got so far behind schedule that he gave up on the idea somewhere around Redditch IIRC. His name was Simon Berry.

There are loads of Journals/routes and other resources on my website at http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk

Rob

[Norman H]

As I said on your other thread, that route makes some bizarre choices.

What sort of daily mileage are you looking for?

How many days are you aiming for?

I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment as I'm off to the New Forest for a few days tomorrow but here are a few comments/suggestions for the first few days

Do you really want to undertake a Devon C2C whilst riding an End-to-End?. The detour from Plymouth to Barnstaple is pointless.

The normal route when crossing the Severn at Aust is either up the Wye valley to Monmouth or through The Forest of Dean, possibly via St Briavels and Symonds Yat, to Ross-on Wye and then onwards through Herefordshire and Shropshire and the Welsh borders in the general direction of Chester. The route via Gloucester has its merits and will probably involve less climbing but stay south of the Severn until you reach Gloucester and then head north.

Heading towards Chester also avoids Birmingham, which I would have thought was a big bonus. From here the the route roughly follows the M6 corridor and the main problem is avoiding the worst of the urban sprawl between Liverpool and Manchester.

I would favour passing to the east of Chester and heading through the Delamere Forest and west of Warrington towards Lymm and then between Preston and Blackburn via Leigh and Westhoughton and up through the Forest of Bowland.

Have you tried Cycle.travel

[robgul]

Take a look at Rob & Jon's LEJOG on my website (link below) for a logical and popular route.

Rob

[Richard Fairhurst]

I've seen this guy's route stuff before - this says it all: I wanted to use as many of the Sustrans National Cycle Network (NCN) routes as possible, and traffic-free roads wherever possible.

The posted route isn't very NCN-heavy - it would be better if it was! You can get from Gloucester to the south-west Midlands easily and directly on the NCN, for example (roughly speaking, routes 41 and 45) but this route doesn't do that at all.

[bogmyrtle]

You will meet every tourist coach on the road following this route. There are so many better options. If you are able to take your time why not use the islands and quieter roads on the west coast of Scotland? The A82 on the lead up to Fort William is horrible. If you do this route get the Corran ferry across to the other side and use the road on the west side of Loch Linne then get the Camusnagaul ferry back across into Fort William. Alternatively go from Oban across to Mull then Tobermorey to Kilchoan then Ardnamurchan, then there is a choice of Sunart and up the west side of Loch Linne or turning north through Moidart if you don't mind hills. Or shorter, Oban to Craignure, Fishnish to Lochaline, up to Strontian then up the west coast of Loch Linne to Camusnagual.

[Si]

Odd to go right through the centre of Birmingham as well unless it was for an overnight stop at a friend's house?

I think he does it to use the canal network and thus stay traffic free. But, TBH, I won't use Worcs canal up to Brum city centre, better to use the Rea Valley NCN5, which is also mostly traffic free and quicker. Indeed, very much quicker as part of the canal network is shut at the moment.

[hilloverthehill]

Hi
I did a JOGLE in Oct/Nov last year, about 35% off road, and the rest mostly backroads. It was really hard work, back roads very hilly, but well worth the extra effort. I managed to follow canals pretty well from Lancaster to Coventry, very slow at times on a road bike, knobby tyres would have helped. Grand Western and Taunton-Bridgenorth canals in the SW much easier going. Also biked the Great Glen Way and forest roads in far north. Re comments about urban areas, I also came through Stoke and it was really pleasant, and off road by the canal; Preston was a bit grim due to poor NCN signage. If you want to have a look at my blog it's at hilloverthehill@blogspot.co.uk and I've got a more detailed route description I can forward. I took 23 days, though I was a bit limited by available daylight hours due to daft time of year. Total distance was nearly 1900 kilometres and height gain over 17000 metres. Lost half a stone!!

[PH]

It's maybe unfair to judge someone else's route, it may have been perfect for their criteria, though we don't know what that was and yours is likely to be different.
There's a whole load of options on robgul's website, worth looking for inspiration, then use something like Cycle travel or ride with GPS to plan your own. IMO the best route to find quiet roads and easily avoid urban areas is to cross the country from Bath to Oxford then stay East of the Pennines until Durham before heading to Edinburgh. At most it adds 100 miles, cuts out a fair few hills, easier navigation and statistically drier!

[RickH]

Odd to go right through the centre of Birmingham as well unless it was for an overnight stop at a friend's house?

I think he does it to use the canal network and thus stay traffic free. But, TBH, I won't use Worcs canal up to Brum city centre, better to use the Rea Valley NCN5, which is also mostly traffic free and quicker. Indeed, very much quicker as part of the canal network is shut at the moment.

I've only ridden it once but I quite liked the canal through the centre of Brum (Mrs H was at a conference at the University & I had a free day so we drove down and, while she was doing that, I went for a bike ride - out towards Dudley, through the Netherton Tunnel & back along the canals to the University). But, as you say, not good if it is shut - worth checking the Notices on the Canal & River Trust website for towpath closures if you are planning to use canal routes on a journey where it is important that you get through.