Planning a charity ride for Dementia so far 2 of us doing this but hoping another 1 will join, riding Gretna - John o Groats, preliminary route is Gretna - Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond - Fort William. Fort William - ?????. ?????? - John o Groats. After Fort William looking for a suitable place to stop, any ideas, also what is the A82 like, most of the 2nd day is on this and I've heard that this is not the best road to take. A9 what is this like north of Inverness, is it suitable for a days ride to JoG?
We hope to have a support vehicle ahead of us and the plan is to camp.
Anyone have any other suitable route idea's
Gretna - JoG charity ride route?????
Re: Gretna - JoG charity ride route?????
The problem for most people, with the west side route, is getting round Glasgow and the suitability or not of the A82. There is another thread running on the forum at the moment debating the merits of Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The two most common choices are the Island route via Arran or the the route that you have chosen, The A82 along the shores of Loch Lomond. We took a slightly different approach which avoided the A82 alongside Loch Lomond.
We followed the B7076 ( the old A74) to Happenden and then cross country to Lanark. There's a YH at New Lanark. We then skirted Glasgow to the east roughly via Carluke, Airdree and Kilsyth, mostly on minor roads. From Kilsyth we climbed up into the Campsie Fells, well worth it for the view from the top. I had overnight accommodation with a friend at Balfron so we headed west along the Carron Valley towards Fintry but you could just as easily head east towards Perth etc.
From Fintry we headed for Calander via Lake of Montieth and on up through Strathyre on the A84 to Lochearnhead and A85 through Glen Ogle, There is an off road alternative here. Finally we picked up the A82 at Crianlarich.
With regards the suitability of the A82. A lot depends on the time of year. It does get busy in summertime. I personally didn't have a problem with it. There is an alternative to the stretch across Rannoch Moor via the bridge at Connel and along the coast to Fort William but it adds a good few miles. There is, I believe, some newly opened cycle track in that area. Finally we arranged our schedule to arrive in Fort William on a Saturday in order to negotiate the A82 along the Great Glen on a Sunday morning. An early start helps and in the event we only followed the main road as far as Fort Augustus and from there we took the old military road on the south side of the loch. A bit of a climb at first but a route that I can highly recommend. I'm sure others will be along with more suggestions.
The two most common choices are the Island route via Arran or the the route that you have chosen, The A82 along the shores of Loch Lomond. We took a slightly different approach which avoided the A82 alongside Loch Lomond.
We followed the B7076 ( the old A74) to Happenden and then cross country to Lanark. There's a YH at New Lanark. We then skirted Glasgow to the east roughly via Carluke, Airdree and Kilsyth, mostly on minor roads. From Kilsyth we climbed up into the Campsie Fells, well worth it for the view from the top. I had overnight accommodation with a friend at Balfron so we headed west along the Carron Valley towards Fintry but you could just as easily head east towards Perth etc.
From Fintry we headed for Calander via Lake of Montieth and on up through Strathyre on the A84 to Lochearnhead and A85 through Glen Ogle, There is an off road alternative here. Finally we picked up the A82 at Crianlarich.
With regards the suitability of the A82. A lot depends on the time of year. It does get busy in summertime. I personally didn't have a problem with it. There is an alternative to the stretch across Rannoch Moor via the bridge at Connel and along the coast to Fort William but it adds a good few miles. There is, I believe, some newly opened cycle track in that area. Finally we arranged our schedule to arrive in Fort William on a Saturday in order to negotiate the A82 along the Great Glen on a Sunday morning. An early start helps and in the event we only followed the main road as far as Fort Augustus and from there we took the old military road on the south side of the loch. A bit of a climb at first but a route that I can highly recommend. I'm sure others will be along with more suggestions.
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Tigerbiten
- Posts: 2525
- Joined: 29 Jun 2009, 6:49am
Re: Gretna - JoG charity ride route?????
If your camping then two places I've stopped at on your route are ..........
The Camping and Caravan Club site at Rosemarkie. About 80 miles from Fort Bill and 100 to go. Good campsite but the downside is you will have to get the Nigg ferry in the morning.
Or ...
The Dornoch Firth Caravan Park just after Tain. Around 100 miles from Fort Bill and 80 to go. Not so good campsite but better placed for a JoG finish the next day.
Both the A82 and the A9 can be/are busy main roads where the traffic can pass fast and close.
As I'm ok cycling on those types of roads on my recumbent trike, I found them ok.
Luck .......
The Camping and Caravan Club site at Rosemarkie. About 80 miles from Fort Bill and 100 to go. Good campsite but the downside is you will have to get the Nigg ferry in the morning.
Or ...
The Dornoch Firth Caravan Park just after Tain. Around 100 miles from Fort Bill and 80 to go. Not so good campsite but better placed for a JoG finish the next day.
Both the A82 and the A9 can be/are busy main roads where the traffic can pass fast and close.
As I'm ok cycling on those types of roads on my recumbent trike, I found them ok.
Luck .......
Re: Gretna - JoG charity ride route?????
We cycled on both the A9 and the A82 during our JOGLE. We only stayed on the A9 for a couple of miles between Tain and Dingwall, but that was bad enough. From Inverness, I'd recommend you go via Bonar Bridge, Lairg and Altnaharra to Tongue or Bettyhill and the ride along the north coast road. The Lairg-Tongue Road is a single track road with passing places, but it has hardly any traffic. We saw perhaps 6 cars an hour on this route.
I didn't find the A82 too bad over Rannoch Moor, but it is busy around Fort William. There's an alternative road along the south shore of Loch Ness, which is much quieter and will take you to Inverness. There's also a forest track route that will get you from Fort William to Fort Augustus, but it's not suitable for road bikes - Ok for tourers and MTB's.
I didn't find the A82 too bad over Rannoch Moor, but it is busy around Fort William. There's an alternative road along the south shore of Loch Ness, which is much quieter and will take you to Inverness. There's also a forest track route that will get you from Fort William to Fort Augustus, but it's not suitable for road bikes - Ok for tourers and MTB's.
Sherwood CC and Notts CTC.
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
A cart horse trapped in the body of a man.
http://www.jogler2009.blogspot.com
Re: Gretna - JoG charity ride route?????
Great info guys,
Were planning to go in May 2015 (already have a charity event this year) The route is almost identical to the UK END2END route http://www.ukend2end.com/page.php?ID=21&page_id=2. I have looked at the off road route but I'll be on my road bike, 25mm tyres
Were planning to go in May 2015 (already have a charity event this year) The route is almost identical to the UK END2END route http://www.ukend2end.com/page.php?ID=21&page_id=2. I have looked at the off road route but I'll be on my road bike, 25mm tyres
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Tigerbiten
- Posts: 2525
- Joined: 29 Jun 2009, 6:49am
Re: Gretna - JoG charity ride route?????
Going via Altnaharra is nicer but it's an extra 35 miles and 1,500 feet climbing.
So you're looking at a 120 mile day going around versus an 85 mile day straight up the coast from the Dornoch Firth bridge/campsite.
So you're looking at a 120 mile day going around versus an 85 mile day straight up the coast from the Dornoch Firth bridge/campsite.