The practicalities of having a potted turn-by-turn manual with back-up GPS files - https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26701266 - to keep the little blue dot on the little red line make this a very practical way of not getting lost.I thought the guide did a very good job of keeping us on largely pleasant roads whilst keeping us going in the right direction. Where we intersected with National Cycle Network or Sustrans routes, rather than sticking rigidly to these, it took us along main roads if not too busy. (I think the Sustrans route would be a lot of hours in the saddle to cover in two weeks.)
I've also got no regrets about going straight over/through Dartmoor and the Lake District. There appears to be a lot of opinion here about going North of Dartmoor because why would you want to do all that climbing? Fair enough, but personally, after the exhaustingly lumpy terrain of Cornwall, one big climb to get onto Dartmoor was relatively easy, and absolutely worth the effort for the stunning scenery on the top. The Lake District was pretty easy going, with one long gradual climb on the way to Keswick, and the hardest section being just North of Keswick to get out towards Carlisle. If you're particularly averse to hills you wouldn't be doing LEJOG!
I've only got a handful of amendments to suggest, one major and some minor ones. Apologies if these specific points have been covered elsewhere but I've not seen many online comments specific to the Cicerone route, so here goes:
1. Day 12, between Fort William and Fort Augustus. "You will find that the NCN78 has a reasonably good, shale-type surface, ideally suited for hybrid and touring bicycles, although road bicycles can navigate the track but will need to use extra care to avoid punctures." Hahaaa! Sorry but I refuse to believe that since the book was updated in 2014 that the surface could have deteriorated to such an extent that large portions of it are completely unridable on anything but an MTB with suspension. One hour to travel 7 miles on a day of 83 miles was NOT fun. In lieu of doing more extensive research I think I'd prefer to put up with one of the busier sections of the A82 to get from Gairlochy to Laggan. (When we got to Thurso we bumped into another couple of LEJOGers whose only major gripe was exactly this stretch of the route.)
2. Carlisle to Gretna. Official route is straight up the A7 but you can travel on quieter roads and knock 3 miles off a less-than stunning section of the route by turning off the A7 a mile or so North of Carlisle and following the minor roads closely following the line of the M6. (Thanks for this forum suggestion in response to an earlier query from me.)
3. Forest of Bowland. Another chance to knock 3/4 miles, and some unnecessary climbing, off the route. Instead of heading into High Bentham, turn left off Slaidburn Road marked "Wray: 4 miles". (We didn't actually take this route but it's a marked cycle route so presumably just as nice as the longer, official, route we took.)
And one other caveat I've thought of. If you're thinking of using the route for a JOGLE rather than a LEJOG, I would strongly advise re-routing just south of Clun to avoid the ascent towards Pentre Hodre. Cripes! I was hard on the brakes all the way down and the surface is pretty awful. It was hard enough getting up there!
? Only around 10km right?
