teeonethousand
Über Member
My brother and I just completed a run to Edinburgh starting from near Thirsk North Yorkshire - more or less following Coasts and Castles route. Here is a short summary of the trip in case anyone else is planning to do similar, or bits of it and finds any info useful - I know I did when reading others accounts so.
Planning:
We decided to pre book accommodation so had to divide the ride up somehow and make reasonable guesses on what we could do. My brother is a much fitter and more experienced distance rider than me so most of it revolved around what I hoped I could do. I settled on 60 miles ish per day which is 20 more than my typical ride though I have done longer. We got a train back from Edinburgh to Northallerton and the train that stops at Northallerton only has 2 bike slots so the first thing we booked was that train and reserved the spaces. We then worked back from there for the hotels/digs And picked South Shields for night 1 then Seahouses then Dunbar then Edinburgh for a 14.30 train. It all worked well.
Packing:
i fitted a rear rack and had a waterproof roll bag that I think I got from Aldi so time ago …I have a few of different sizes as I used them for motorbike trips too and I chose the 20 litre one. Pair trainers, shorts, tee,socks,sports top for evening then spare cycling shorts, top, socks , gloves plus bog bag and charger. I washed the days kit and dried it overnight(s). I did not need anything I didn’t have.
Lessons learned:
Be clear on routes or live with the consequences. I put ‘take me to’ points in my wahoo and used that for guidance plus we sometimes followed the route signs plus occasional checks on google map. No regrets as we saw all the key things plus a couple of ‘adventures’ way off beam. One such adventure saw us on the cliff top path just north of Berwick….literally cliff top. Turned out to be a highlight. I don’t think the blue NCN route signs would be enough if you did not have any other guidance.
All traffic was courteous toward us both in city/town and country roads. All people friendly and happy to help out when lost, looking for ice creams etc.
Stunning views of coastlines, parks and general countryside. We do live in a beautiful country.
We have some fantastic cycle paths..occasionally with racetrack smooth surfaces.
LNER folks were brilliant with the bikes both in Edinburgh and our change at Newcastle …both places the platform staff got us onto the train early so we could rack the bikes. (My 45 width tyres only just went in the hanging hook!)
I could manage the mileage and no real problems to be fair….when you have all day you can cover some distance even on tracks although said tracks do take more energy that Road.
We got lucky with the weather…slight spit spots on day 3 for a few minutes otherwise warm enough. Very windy though, mostly behind/across but the final Dunbar Edinburgh run was straight into a brutal head wind.
I hope that helps someone.
Planning:
We decided to pre book accommodation so had to divide the ride up somehow and make reasonable guesses on what we could do. My brother is a much fitter and more experienced distance rider than me so most of it revolved around what I hoped I could do. I settled on 60 miles ish per day which is 20 more than my typical ride though I have done longer. We got a train back from Edinburgh to Northallerton and the train that stops at Northallerton only has 2 bike slots so the first thing we booked was that train and reserved the spaces. We then worked back from there for the hotels/digs And picked South Shields for night 1 then Seahouses then Dunbar then Edinburgh for a 14.30 train. It all worked well.
Packing:
i fitted a rear rack and had a waterproof roll bag that I think I got from Aldi so time ago …I have a few of different sizes as I used them for motorbike trips too and I chose the 20 litre one. Pair trainers, shorts, tee,socks,sports top for evening then spare cycling shorts, top, socks , gloves plus bog bag and charger. I washed the days kit and dried it overnight(s). I did not need anything I didn’t have.
Lessons learned:
Be clear on routes or live with the consequences. I put ‘take me to’ points in my wahoo and used that for guidance plus we sometimes followed the route signs plus occasional checks on google map. No regrets as we saw all the key things plus a couple of ‘adventures’ way off beam. One such adventure saw us on the cliff top path just north of Berwick….literally cliff top. Turned out to be a highlight. I don’t think the blue NCN route signs would be enough if you did not have any other guidance.
All traffic was courteous toward us both in city/town and country roads. All people friendly and happy to help out when lost, looking for ice creams etc.
Stunning views of coastlines, parks and general countryside. We do live in a beautiful country.
We have some fantastic cycle paths..occasionally with racetrack smooth surfaces.
LNER folks were brilliant with the bikes both in Edinburgh and our change at Newcastle …both places the platform staff got us onto the train early so we could rack the bikes. (My 45 width tyres only just went in the hanging hook!)
I could manage the mileage and no real problems to be fair….when you have all day you can cover some distance even on tracks although said tracks do take more energy that Road.
We got lucky with the weather…slight spit spots on day 3 for a few minutes otherwise warm enough. Very windy though, mostly behind/across but the final Dunbar Edinburgh run was straight into a brutal head wind.
I hope that helps someone.
