"Countryside" LEJOG

[John290432]

Has anyone ridden LEJOG avoiding major conurbations such as Bristol, Manchester, Preston and Glasgow?

Or is there a published "countryside" route somewhere?

[Jamesh]

I expect the sustains one is pretty rural?

Avoid the A30 / a49 head west of it. I found the A6 ok with the M6 next door but the forest of bowland isn't far away.

[PH]

Yes, possibly a lot easier to do if you go East of the Pennines. The only really urban riding we did was through Edinburgh and only that because my companion wanted to spend an evening there. You could use this East Coast route as a basis, though ours headed East earlier and missed Bristol, then later came inland to miss Newcastle.
https://cycle.travel/route/lejog_east_coast

Lots of people assume going East adds a lot of miles, ours was 1,100 which is maybe 100 longer than the popular touring routes, though as well as missing a lot of urban riding, it also missed a good bit of climbing, though we didn't purposely plan to avoid it.

[John290432]

Thanks. I saw the East Coast route and it will be helpful in some parts.

My idea was to follow the Cicerone route initially but go via Glastonbury. I know the roads in this area. I then planned to go between Bristol and Bath and then via Cirencester, Stowe-on-the wold and Banbury. I would probably then give Birmingham a wider berth than the East Coast Route and go east of Rugby. After that, I hadn't a clue, but I might just join up with the East Coast Route, but I'd certainly want to avoid York, Northallerton, Sunderland etc.

However, the devil is in the detail. I'd like to find a route that someone has already done.

[rareposter]

On road or off-road?

Off road is considerably easier to weave your way through by virtue of towpaths, old railway lines and options like the TransPennine Trail or the route of the Second City Divide (between Manchester and Glasgow although the accepted way of riding that appears to be the other way round...). However you do run the risk that some of it is really not suitable for anything other than MTBs and it's often difficult to find this information out via maps or route guides...

On road is a bit more limited and certainly around the Liverpool / Manchester / Leeds / York corridor and (to a lesser extent) the Glasgow / Edinburgh corridor, it can be tricky to find a truly quiet route. Further east (sort of Lincoln -> York) is easier to get quieter roads.

[PH]

However, the devil is in the detail. I'd like to find a route that someone has already done.

Mine was pre GPS days so I don't have a record, though if I put the overnight stops and a few additional points into cycletravel it's very close if not road by road perfect, it's very likely CT has done a better job of it that we did pouring over maps, though i remember that being a lot of fun as well.
https://cycle.travel/map/journey/342262

[Paulatic]

Thanks. I saw the East Coast route and it will be helpful in some parts.

My idea was to follow the Cicerone route initially but go via Glastonbury. I know the roads in this area. I then planned to go between Bristol and Bath and then via Cirencester, Stowe-on-the wold and Banbury. I would probably then give Birmingham a wider berth than the East Coast Route and go east of Rugby. After that, I hadn't a clue, but I might just join up with the East Coast Route, but I'd certainly want to avoid York, Northallerton, Sunderland etc.

However, the devil is in the detail. I'd like to find a route that someone has already done.

Why would you want to avoid Northallerton?
It’s a market town.

[John290432]

The Cycle Travel route was interesting. I'm going to look at that some more. I hadn't thought of going across the Humber Bridge but it would allow me to ride through the Yorkshire Wolds, which would be nice.

I'm looking to ride on-road although my bike accepts up to 38mm tyres with mudguards, so old railway lines and towpaths are fine. However, some surfaces are good and some to so good. There is often no means of knowing beforehand unless someone else has recently ridden that route and can advise.

Re Northallerton, I've never been there and I accept that's it's a nice market town. It's just my preference to stay in the countryside wherever I can, and not go through towns.

I think that my next step is to draft an outline route, and then try to join the dots with B roads, unclassified roads and traffic free paths, skirting around towns even where it adds miles. ...... unless someone has done it before and can provide a GPS file.

[rareposter]

Why would you want to avoid Northallerton?
It’s a market town.

+1, it's actually quite a nice little town.
Also "Sunderland" is a district rather than a specific town / city and again it's possible to be only a few miles from the centre of Newcastle and be in lovely quiet countryside.

[PH]

I hadn't thought of going across the Humber Bridge but it would allow me to ride through the Yorkshire Wolds, which would be nice.

Originally we hadn't thought of going over the Humber Bridge, but we were staying in some hostels and Beverly is much nicer than York.
I've nothing against Northallerton either, it isn't what I'd call urban, but I wouldn't choose it over the Yorkshire Wolds, we stayed at Osmotherly YHA.

[mattheus]

To avoid the seething conurbation of Northallerton you could veer NW just before, to Barnard Castle, then over Yad Moss (a gentle-but-beautiful climb!). This is the London-Edinburgh-London (audax) route, is tried and tested and avoids big towns.

(This also avoids all the NE-England towns/cities - Tyneside etc)

You could either follow their route to Edinburgh, or go through D&G upto the Dunoon ferry - then take some beautiful roads round the lochs (thru Inverary?) to rejoin the "standard" route around Aberfeldy.

[oldtimer99]

The East Side is great. I'm not going to suggest a route because there are so many options.
But....York is not a problem (my nearest city)
Many good cycle routes through and around.
Once you get beyond York, the A1 lurks and avoiding that will cause much pleasure!

The Humber bridge to Beverley will bring you through the very nice Lincolnshire wolds, to the very nice Yorkshire wolds. The lumpy bit is just north...the North York Moors. Some classic, beautiful riding...enjoy the climbs.

Back in the day, I rode from the Doncaster to Inverness up the Eastern roads.
In the days when Sustrans thought the taking the Northumbrian beaches with panniers would constitute a nice route. Surely they've changed that!

[Norman H]

I've often thought that the Fosse way would make an obvious and interesting choice for an east of the Pennines end-to-end route. Originally joining Exeter with Lincoln by way of Bath, Cirencester and Leicester much of the original route survives as easily identifiable sections of present day roads. With the aid of a modern day map it ought to be possible to plot a reasonably direct route using many of the more cycle friendly sections of these roads together with nearby cycle routes.

[Jon Lucas]

I've often thought that the Fosse way would make an obvious and interesting choice for an east of the Pennines end-to-end route. Originally joining Exeter with Lincoln by way of Bath, Cirencester and Leicester much of the original route survives as easily identifiable sections of present day roads. With the aid of a modern day map it ought to be possible to plot a reasonably direct route using many of the more cycle friendly sections of these roads together with nearby cycle routes.

Yes, if the OP wished to do this but to avoid Bath itself, they could approach Bath from the Kennet & Avon canal towpath (and reach that from quiet lanes through the countryside south of Bath - hilly but the Two Tunnels route can be picked up in Wellow and a signed route from this takes you to the canal from just past Midford). At Bathampton, 2 miles east of Bath, turn off to the north along the lane, and just after crossing the Batheaston by-pass there is a newish cyclepath off to the east that takes you over the river Avon and meets the road that is the start of the Fosse Way in Batheaston. Rural all the way!

[mattheus]

Yes, if the OP wished to do this but to avoid Bath itself, they could approach Bath from the Kennet & Avon canal towpath (and reach that from quiet lanes through the countryside south of Bath - hilly but the Two Tunnels route can be picked up in Wellow and a signed route from this takes you to the canal from just past Midford). At Bathampton, 2 miles east of Bath, turn off to the north along the lane, and just after crossing the Batheaston by-pass there is a newish cyclepath off to the east that takes you over the river Avon and meets the road that is the start of the Fosse Way in Batheaston. Rural all the way!

I've re-read this 3 times, and still can't put it in correct order! Shame - sounds nice

[I know Bath area quite well from a bike, but there a lot of roads, cycle-paths and canal-paths in a small area!]