A Safer Way route by Royston Wood

[Ice2911]

I have appreciated all the advice I have received so far as I plan my trip, so thank you all. I am looking at the route 'A Safer Way' by Royston Wood. It has 18 X 50 mile GPx files for gps or phone. Has anyone used this route? I will be interested in people's views of this route.
Update from me, bike sorted and training has begun for a mid June/ Early July ride probably 14 to 16 days.

 

[Ajax Bay]

My son in law and I did joggle in may 2013 using mainly the cicerone route and Garmin Edge 800. However this year starting on the 9 July 16. Sharon and I are planning on Lejog. We intend to use Royston Wood (A safer way) for most of the route.

 

[Ice2911]

Cicerone was the other route I was looking at' how was that? Looks as those go you are going to be about a week ahead of me.

 

[Ajax Bay]

@OB1Knobby 's post I quoted was from much earlier this year (2016). Quoting the post will have given him an 'alert' and he was online earlier this evening so hopefully will pop up and comment. Here's my route, well adapted from the one I planned and rode (Sep 15). Serious avoidance of A roads.

has anyone a route that is off road , bridlepaths, B roads, canal paths, tracks and trails.

Have a look at this route which I've knocked up: image and Ride with GPS: "LEJOG - Almost NO A roads" I have done a fair proportion of this route either during my end-to-end or on other trips.
A quick check suggests about 25km of A roads in the first 1500km which gets you to Tain, excluding the "A" roads on Isle of Arran and on the Kintyre and Sunart peninsulas. Camel Trail north of Bodmin. Canal side through and NE of Taunton. Strawberry Line Axbridge to Yatton. Banks of the River Wye north of Ross. Cross Wenlock Edge to the Hope Dale SE of Shrewsbury. Cross Delamere Forest (S of Runcorn). Widnes/Runcorn Bridge. Mostly B roads through Widnes, St Helens, Billinge, Orrell, Ecclestone, to cycle path through Preston. NE to Slaidburn and across the 'Forest' of Bowland to the Lune valley. Tebay, Orton, Lyement valley to Penrith. Back roads to Carlisle and then Gretna. B roads across to but then bypass Dumfries and back roads up the Nith valley to Kirkconnel. B roads and back roads to Ardrossan. Ferry to Arran and then ferry again to Kintyre. N to Lochgilphead, then Crinan Canal side before turning N to Kilmartin. Off on B840 all the way up Loch Awe and then NCN route across to Oban. Ferry to Mull and then back to Sunart peninsula (mainland) on Fishnish/Lochaline ferry. Up W side of Loch Linnhe to Camusgaul ferry to Fort William (timings important - alternative is Corran ferry and up A82 or carry on right round Loch Eil - extra 30km). Good cycle path up the Great Glen: canal tow path and rougher track NW of Loch Lochy all the way to Fort Augustus (NB when are the Scots going to start renaming all these colonial/English monarchy/nobility names, I wonder). B862 and back roads to Inverness, SE of Loch Ness. Zigzag W and N to Dingwall and back road to Evanton, Alness and NCN route to Tain. Cross Dornoch Firth on A9 and(with some detours on back roads follow to Lothbeg (10km NE of Brora). Mountain road to Strath of Kildonan and up to Kinbrace, W to Syre and join Strath Naver to Bettyhill. NCN route E to JoG.

 

[Ian H]

I have appreciated all the advice I have received so far as I plan my trip, so thank you all. I am looking at the route 'A Safer Way' by Royston Wood. It has 18 X 50 mile GPx files for gps or phone. Has anyone used this route?

Roy has. I don't know that he's on this forum.

 

[DanZac]

I used a lot of Royston's route with a few alterations when i went both ways in the summer.
If you want a quiet route its the one for you, but and its a big but, its certainly not the most direct route and probably not the flattest.
I transferred the suggested route to a road atlas to get a better idea of where i was going last winter then adapted the bits i didnt like the look of and to link up with accomadation etc then replotted it to my Garmin which worked for me. Helped to keep me focused and interested in the summers goal through the winter too.
If I was going again, and I hope to someday, I would deffinatly make use of Royston's route again, big thumbs up to him from me.

 

[robgul]

Loads of resource and routes/Journals at www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk

Having ridden it both ways I would highly recommend the Cicerone route with just a few tweaks - as suggested, I think Royston's route is a bit tortuous and lumpy.

Rob
(cycle-E2E is my website)

 

[OB1Knobby]

In respect of Ajax Bay's comments and route it is very similar but in reverse to my Jogle in 2013. This was a good ride with some fantastic scenery and I loved Arran.
.
Regarding Royston's The Safer Way, I did slightly adapt the route. In places especially the tow paths the ride was quite uncomfortable but maybe wider tyres would have helped. It may not be the shortest or flattest but certainly very safe and quite scenic the wildlife was also fantastic. If I may make one suggestion I would use the B9176 from Alness to Ardgay. It is a steady climb but it cuts of quite a few miles if you are going to Bettyhill via Tain, in addition I would strongly recommend staying at the Altnaharra B&B. The Crask Inn was up for sale and may now have changed hands. I have the route saved as a Memory Map GPS exchange file, the problem being there are 16 of them (One for each day) and you can only post 10 on here. If you would like to give me your email I'll forward them on to you. I hope you found the above helpful.

 

[Ice2911]

In respect of Ajax Bay's comments and route it is very similar but in reverse to my Jogle in 2013. This was a good ride with some fantastic scenery and I loved Arran.
.
Regarding Royston's The Safer Way, I did slightly adapt the route. In places especially the tow paths the ride was quite uncomfortable but maybe wider tyres would have helped. It may not be the shortest or flattest but certainly very safe and quite scenic the wildlife was also fantastic. If I may make one suggestion I would use the B9176 from Alness to Ardgay. It is a steady climb but it cuts of quite a few miles if you are going to Bettyhill via Tain, in addition I would strongly recommend staying at the Altnaharra B&B. The Crask Inn was up for sale and may now have changed hands. I have the route saved as a Memory Map GPS exchange file, the problem being there are 16 of them (One for each day) and you can only post 10 on here. If you would like to give me your email I'll forward them on to you. I hope you found the above helpful.

Thank you very much. 16 days is exactly what I was looking at. My email is Andrew-p3@sky.com and I would really appreciate the gps files thank you.

 

[Ice2911]

I used a lot of Royston's route with a few alterations when i went both ways in the summer.
If you want a quiet route its the one for you, but and its a big but, its certainly not the most direct route and probably not the flattest.
I transferred the suggested route to a road atlas to get a better idea of where i was going last winter then adapted the bits i didnt like the look of and to link up with accomadation etc then replotted it to my Garmin which worked for me. Helped to keep me focused and interested in the summers goal through the winter too.
If I was going again, and I hope to someday, I would deffinatly make use of Royston's route again, big thumbs up to him from me.

Many thanks for this.

 

[Ajax Bay]

In places especially the tow paths the ride was quite uncomfortable . . . I would use the B9176 from Alness to Ardgay. It is a steady climb but it cuts of quite a few miles if you are going to Bettyhill via Tain, in addition I would strongly recommend staying at the Altnaharra B&B. The Crask Inn was up for sale and may now have changed hands.

1) Some of the tow paths and cycle paths are excellent, though, on narrow road tyres: All the useful sections of the Camel Trail (near Bodmin); the Strawberry Line (Axbridge to Yatton (S of Bristol), the tow paths beside the Caledonian Canal (Corpach to Gairlochy, Bridge of Oich to Ft Augustus).
2) Definitely use the B9176 if you're going north rather than to Tain and across the Dornoch Firth on the A9. And if going via Lairg and Bettyhill/Tongue, get off the main road at Invershin, go up the 'back road' and stop and visit (walk down path) to the 'Falls of Shin' to see a salmon leaping the 15m falls, if you're lucky.
3) But if you are heading up the east coast, crossing the Firth north of Tain, use the back road from Alness via Lamington.
4) The Crask Inn - an end-to-end legend (12 miles N of Lairg) - stumbles on, sometimes closed and then reopens so well worth checking closer to the time (NB cash only). I stayed there there last autumn, enjoyed an excellent meal, good beer, slept like a log (Night 8) and the superb breakfast fueled me for the final 140km (plus 30km on the Orkneys).

 

[Ice2911]

Loads of resource and routes/Journals at www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk

Having ridden it both ways I would highly recommend the Cicerone route with just a few tweaks - as suggested, I think Royston's route is a bit tortuous and lumpy.

Rob
(cycle-E2E is my website)

Thank you for this and I will check out the website.

 

[Ice2911]

@OB1Knobby 's post I quoted was from much earlier this year (2016). Quoting the post will have given him an 'alert' and he was online earlier this evening so hopefully will pop up and comment. Here's my route, well adapted from the one I planned and rode (Sep 15). Serious avoidance of A roads.

Have a look at this route which I've knocked up: image and Ride with GPS: "LEJOG - Almost NO A roads" I have done a fair proportion of this route either during my end-to-end or on other trips.
A quick check suggests about 25km of A roads in the first 1500km which gets you to Tain, excluding the "A" roads on Isle of Arran and on the Kintyre and Sunart peninsulas. Camel Trail north of Bodmin. Canal side through and NE of Taunton. Strawberry Line Axbridge to Yatton. Banks of the River Wye north of Ross. Cross Wenlock Edge to the Hope Dale SE of Shrewsbury. Cross Delamere Forest (S of Runcorn). Widnes/Runcorn Bridge. Mostly B roads through Widnes, St Helens, Billinge, Orrell, Ecclestone, to cycle path through Preston. NE to Slaidburn and across the 'Forest' of Bowland to the Lune valley. Tebay, Orton, Lyement valley to Penrith. Back roads to Carlisle and then Gretna. B roads across to but then bypass Dumfries and back roads up the Nith valley to Kirkconnel. B roads and back roads to Ardrossan. Ferry to Arran and then ferry again to Kintyre. N to Lochgilphead, then Crinan Canal side before turning N to Kilmartin. Off on B840 all the way up Loch Awe and then NCN route across to Oban. Ferry to Mull and then back to Sunart peninsula (mainland) on Fishnish/Lochaline ferry. Up W side of Loch Linnhe to Camusgaul ferry to Fort William (timings important - alternative is Corran ferry and up A82 or carry on right round Loch Eil - extra 30km). Good cycle path up the Great Glen: canal tow path and rougher track NW of Loch Lochy all the way to Fort Augustus (NB when are the Scots going to start renaming all these colonial/English monarchy/nobility names, I wonder). B862 and back roads to Inverness, SE of Loch Ness. Zigzag W and N to Dingwall and back road to Evanton, Alness and NCN route to Tain. Cross Dornoch Firth on A9 and(with some detours on back roads follow to Lothbeg (10km NE of Brora). Mountain road to Strath of Kildonan and up to Kinbrace, W to Syre and join Strath Naver to Bettyhill. NCN route E to JoG.

This was incredibly useful, thank you for taking the time to post this it is very much appreciated

 

[Ice2911]

1) Some of the tow paths and cycle paths are excellent, though, on narrow road tyres: All the useful sections of the Camel Trail (near Bodmin); the Strawberry Line (Axbridge to Yatton (S of Bristol), the tow paths beside the Caledonian Canal (Corpach to Gairlochy, Bridge of Oich to Ft Augustus).
2) Definitely use the B9176 if you're going north rather than to Tain and across the Dornoch Firth on the A9. And if going via Lairg and Bettyhill/Tongue, get off the main road at Invershin, go up the 'back road' and stop and visit (walk down path) to the 'Falls of Shin' to see a salmon leaping the 15m falls, if you're lucky.
3) But if you are heading up the east coast, crossing the Firth north of Tain, use the back road from Alness via Lamington.
4) The Crask Inn - an end-to-end legend (12 miles N of Lairg) - stumbles on, sometimes closed and then reopens so well worth checking closer to the time (NB cash only). I stayed there there last autumn, enjoyed an excellent meal, good beer, slept like a log (Night 8) and the superb breakfast fueled me for the final 140km (plus 30km on the Orkneys).

Many thanks for this, very useful

 

[Brains]

@OB1Knobby 's post I quoted was from much earlier this year (2016). Quoting the post will have given him an 'alert' and he was online earlier this evening so hopefully will pop up and comment. Here's my route, well adapted from the one I planned and rode (Sep 15). Serious avoidance of A roads.

Have a look at this route which I've knocked up: image and Ride with GPS: "LEJOG - Almost NO A roads" I have done a fair proportion of this route either during my end-to-end or on other trips.
A quick check suggests about 25km of A roads in the first 1500km which gets you to Tain, excluding the "A" roads on Isle of Arran and on the Kintyre and Sunart peninsulas. Camel Trail north of Bodmin. Canal side through and NE of Taunton. Strawberry Line Axbridge to Yatton. Banks of the River Wye north of Ross. Cross Wenlock Edge to the Hope Dale SE of Shrewsbury. Cross Delamere Forest (S of Runcorn). Widnes/Runcorn Bridge. .

The "no A road" route around Bodmin will be as in the yellow highlight as from next spring once they have finished the new cycle route along Crabtree Lane. This will link the Camel Trail to Lanhydroc (stately home) by bike, so as to bring up the visitor numbers on the Camel trail going south from Wadebridge