Looking for a challenging route

[schneewehe]

As this is my first time riding in the UK m looking for a route which passes as much cycing highlights as possible. I'm usually riding the Alps so I'd love to climb scenic passes. But of course I don't want to ride on highways or roads which much traffic.

So during my research I find this routes:
https://www.rideacrossbritain.com/route/ --> That seems really challenging, but I'm afraid if there are a lot of main roads included.

Another option would be the B&B Route, but I'm not sure if it's suiable for road bikes:
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/cycli ... hn-ogroats

And a third possibility could be this one, which tries to avoid any traffic roads. But as I love mountains I'd like to prever a route through the scottisch hills.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/17087989

But maybe someone has done the ride with as much mountains as possible and would like to share his data and experiences?

Kind regards Andrea

[rotavator]

There are some big hills in mid Wales that would give you a challenge although the views are not as awe inspiring as those in the Alps. I would suggest Lon Las Cymru for starters, may be starting in Chepstow and going over the Gospel Pass. If you manage to cycle up the hill N of Aberllefenni with a touring load and without electric assistance you will have my respect! There are other monster hills like Bwlch y Groes from Dinas Mawddwy and the Devil's Staircase if you prefer to devise your own route. Accomodation and food are relatively easy to find.

A possibility in Scotland is the Snow Road from Spittal of Glenshie to Tomintoul via Braemar (Edit: your routes 1 and 2 include some or all of this). Note that some of the A roads in Scotland (and in the rest of the UK) can be scary for cycling. Even the road around the north coast (NC500) is busier than it used to be.

EDIT: sorry I missed that this is in the LEJOG section so ignore my advert for Wales although you could fit in the Gospel Pass to a LEJOG route fairle easily.

[PH]

In England, from the Midlands to the Scottish border there'e the Pennine Cycleway, NCN Route 68, mostly on road, all of it scenic, you wouldn't have to stick to it rigidly, but it would make a good basis for the middle third. Plenty of guides and information online.
To the south of that, the Cotswolds are always a pleasure to ride through, stay off the main roads and you won't go far wrong, I don't have a specific recommendation, though I've enjoyed several routes through them.
There's also an Audax route, which I don't know much about other than it's reputation for being tough
https://markhbdm.wixsite.com/end2end/lumpy

[Jamesh]

Through Cornwall and Devon across seven bridge into Wales - Brecon beacons, mid Wales and Snowdonia, back into England peak District, up into Yorkshire dales, the lake District, over the boarders and the Highlands....

You'll need a couple of months!!

[Tiggertoo]

Andrea, your question caused me to wonder about routes anywhere in the world that offer the maximum climbing challenge.

Although the LEJOG route with highest climbing rate that I know of is Peak Tours route at 54,000 feet, one other (non-LEJOG) route that, as far as I know, gives probably the greatest elevation gain in any 'civilised' part of the world is the Blue Ridge Parkway in the US.

At 469 miles one way and 940 miles out and back - necessary due to lack of meaningful public transport - and with 97,300 feet of climbing (18.5 miles), the Blue Ridge has to be the granddaddy of all climbing tours.

[MrsHJ]

The raid Pyrenean is a good one but t not as much climbing as that I think. 28 cols in ten days. I’ve done some chunks of it.

[rareposter]

HI Andrea,

I've worked as a Ride Leader on the Ride Across Britain event several times. It's about 55,000ft climbing but yes, it does use a few main road sections. That's just down to the logistics of moving that many people through 100+ miles every day combined with the location of the basecamps so it would be relatively easy to alter the route accordingly to remove some of the main road bits. You could potentially cross-reference it with your final link to give you a nice hybrid route of minimal A-roads.

Days 1 and 2 are the hilliest - Cornwall and Devon are quite renowned for being constantly undulating although there's nothing there that comes close to matching Alpine passes in length!

You could easily add a bit by going up the middle of Wales which would be lovely as well as quieter than the RAB route.
The RAB route through Scotland is an absolute highlight.

Cyclist Magazine did a JOGLE ride a while ago, all on road but deliberately seeking out the hilliest route, you could easily take that and reverse it to do LEJOG. It was done as a serial in the magazine over the course of 12 issues (so a 12 day ride). I've got all the issues, I'll have a look later to see if they included .gpx files.

[Norman H]

The UK has much to offer the visiting cyclist but an end-to-end ride is not necessarily the best way to visit them. As an example of what I mean neither Land's End or John o' Groats would feature on my list of highlights

A better plan might be to list those locations you want to include and devise a route to include as many as possible. You could even consider using public transport links to maximise your choices. In this respect I would recommend this site as an excellent resource for planning cycle friendly routes.

It might also help others if you supplied a little more information.

Do you have a time schedule in mind?
What is your preferred daily mileage?
What is your preferred choice of accommodation?

[Richard Fairhurst]

[deleted]

[rareposter]

The UK has much to offer the visiting cyclist but an end-to-end ride is not necessarily the best way to visit them. As an example of what I mean neither Land's End or John o' Groats would feature on my list of highlights

I think, based on this thread:
viewtopic.php?t=150459

that the OP has already sorted travel into Heathrow, onwards to Penzance and then back from Wick > Aberdeen so I'm assuming that a LEJOG is more or less the default route and it's just a case of working out the "best" route for that now.

[puffin]

I use an adapted B&B route, it has 58,000 feet in climbs. Most of which feel like they are on the first two days.

[schneewehe]

HI Andrea,

I've worked as a Ride Leader on the Ride Across Britain event several times. It's about 55,000ft climbing but yes, it does use a few main road sections. That's just down to the logistics of moving that many people through 100+ miles every day combined with the location of the basecamps so it would be relatively easy to alter the route accordingly to remove some of the main road bits. You could potentially cross-reference it with your final link to give you a nice hybrid route of minimal A-roads.

Days 1 and 2 are the hilliest - Cornwall and Devon are quite renowned for being constantly undulating although there's nothing there that comes close to matching Alpine passes in length!

You could easily add a bit by going up the middle of Wales which would be lovely as well as quieter than the RAB route.
The RAB route through Scotland is an absolute highlight.

Cyclist Magazine did a JOGLE ride a while ago, all on road but deliberately seeking out the hilliest route, you could easily take that and reverse it to do LEJOG. It was done as a serial in the magazine over the course of 12 issues (so a 12 day ride). I've got all the issues, I'll have a look later to see if they included .gpx files.

Thanks for your advices.
I've seen the article but it only describe the first 3 days and there is no free download for the gpx file.
I think I will combine the routes as you suggested.

[Raggleswoodlucy]

We used the B&B route which we adapted for our tandem lejog in June 2022(planned originally for 2020 but Covid etc)
I can confirm it was a tough route with a 10 m diversion on day 1 due to A30 roadworks.
Day 2 was over Exmoor was tough. We climbed 64,000 feet over the 12 days. We would thoroughly recommend this route az it was mostly on B and C roads. Our route is below. We did day 1 to Tintagel, Day 2 to Stogumber, Day 3 to St Briavels, Day 4 to Market Drayton, Day 5 to Brockhall, Day 6 to Brampton, Day 7 to Penicuik Day 8 to Crieff Day 9 to Ballater, Day 10 to muir of ord Day 11 to Betty hill Day 12 JOG
https://www.plotaroute.com/mobile/route/1915425

[Mick F]

What about a "normal" route but on a challenging bike?

Berriedale Top.jpg (54.49 KiB) Viewed 4618 times

[schneewehe]

As last year our E2E was one of the greatest rides we'vd ever done, we want to do it again this year. The scenic route from the Cycling Magazin looks i spiring, but without a komoot account, I'm not able to download the track. Does anyone already have ii and could send it to me?
https://www.komoot.de/collection/102338 ... enic-route

I would like to see more from Wales als last year (Wye valley) and instead of Lake District go through the Peak District and Yorkshire and Dales Pennines.

Kind regards
Andrea