Cycling UK Forum

is there a proven route that doesn t use main roads.

The CTC do some excellent routes but based on my own experience, you might want to consider a small amount of carbon monoxide sniffing in Cornwall and Devon because the B roads are mightly lumpy and even the A roads have some decent gradients on them.

I'm not recommending spending long periods on A roads but it's worth spending say 15 miles or so on them in some places, to avoid some of the coastal and other roads that have exotic gradients.

I have just completed John O'Groats-Land's End, from the north to the south.
I think that the best solution is to make your own route based on the three possibilities of the CTC. If you follow the CTC route B&B for instance, you're going to go through some extraordinary scenic patches, but very hard at times like Bentham to Slaidburn or vice versa. If you like I can send you the route I followed which is a mixture of A roads, B roads and some interesting cycling paths. But never mind the route you're going to follow, just do it and enjoy it. I had a great time. I have accomplished my dream and so be it.
Jean.

We did the JOGLE in June - made our own route from research with CTC, various guide books and net resources - you can see it at www.beewee.co.uk - if you want the map we produced e-mail rob (@ the domain in the URL) and I'll gladly send it to you

Most important is to do it - never mind the route!

Rob

I’d agree with those proposing you make up your own route, it was a big part of the fun for me. Choose the things that interest you and stay in the places you’d like to visit. The country is long and relatively thin, as long as you’re heading in the right general direction, it won’t make much difference to overall mileage. My 2004 trip stayed far enough east to cross the Humber Bridge, and the only urban area we saw was Edinburgh. At 1,100 miles it was only a little further than a more traditional route.
Enjoy the trip.