john o groats to glasgow?

[jim55]

i fancy doing this in the spring ,anybody suggest a route (same as the jogle?),i plan on b+bs for over night so no camping at all .its less than 300 miles ,so id b taking it really easy ,ten days or so and just pottering about 30 ml a day tops ,id like to do this ideally with a group or even another one ,i just dont fancy it myself ,i only know one friend that cycles and he has a mountain bike ,and when i suggested this to him he thought i was mad and said no chance !
any tips for planning this ,id love to do a full lejog or something but id wana see how i fared on this wee trial first
il have a look through the threads here but its something i wana do

 

[snorri]

I think 300 miles would be the distance on main roads, some of which can be a bit unpleasant to cycle on, then you would need to organise the return trip by rail or however ......
Just a thought, but why go to JOG on this occasion? I would suggest you go somewhere else and leave JOG until you do a tour starting at LE, otherwise the feeling of euphoria () you are meant to get on arrival at JOG from LE would be lost because you had cycled there before.
Why not plan a 300 mile tour starting and finishing at Glasgow? Someone local to you could perhaps come up with some route suggestions. As you say this is a wee trial, so staying closer to Glasgow makes it easier to bail out and get home if you have problems, but it would still boost your tour confidence if you completed the miles.
Enjoy, whatever you do

 

[jim55]

That's prob a good shout , prob go for fort William or something and cycle back , it's only is I've drove the a82 I was thinking that way ,, wherever I went it wouldn't good not Togo too far from home at first and b handy for b+bs en route, il have to get thinking

 

[srw]

Go island-hopping. Start with Arran, over to Kintyre then on up as far as you fancy.

 

[theloafer]

Go island-hopping. Start with Arran, over to Kintyre then on up tarbert -oban over to mull -kilchoan from here the road to ardnamurchan is STUNNING. then up to Mallaig over to skye a few day there as lots to see could leave skye by Kylerhea ferry -Glenelg- shiel Bridge-invergarry- Fort william then through Glen coe (long climb) or stay on the coast and back to Oban

 

[furball]

Agree with Snorri. Once you've been to JOG you probably won't want to go back. Save it for the big one.
Island hopping is ideally suited to your proposed mileage and accommodation should be easy to find.

 

[jann71]

Go island-hopping. Start with Arran, over to Kintyre then on up tarbert -oban over to mull -kilchoan from here the road to ardnamurchan is STUNNING. then up to Mallaig over to skye a few day there as lots to see could leave skye by Kylerhea ferry -Glenelg- shiel Bridge-invergarry- Fort william then through Glen coe (long climb) or stay on the coast and back to Oban

You could go from Mull to - Barra, Uists, Harris, Lewis and then to Skye, Raasay, then continue as above. Stunning!

Been island hopping few times and had fab times

 

[Herbie]

i fancy doing this in the spring ,anybody suggest a route (same as the jogle?),i plan on b+bs for over night so no camping at all .its less than 300 miles ,so id b taking it really easy ,ten days or so and just pottering about 30 ml a day tops ,id like to do this ideally with a group or even another one ,i just dont fancy it myself ,i only know one friend that cycles and he has a mountain bike ,and when i suggested this to him he thought i was mad and said no chance !
any tips for planning this ,id love to do a full lejog or something but id wana see how i fared on this wee trial first
il have a look through the threads here but its something i wana do

I can wholeheartedly recommend the trip i did with my son this summer....320 miles approx starting at Garve going up north west coast through Ullapool Scourie Durness Tongue Thurso (a wee detour} to JOG then doon the east coast taking in Wick and Brora ending at Inverness..took 7 days and we B and B'd it....great scenery

 

[mcshroom]

Another ride that's nice is the Lochs and Glens South from Carlisle up through Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Galloway Forest and Ayr before finishing in Glasgow.

I rode that route over four days in March 2011 and the route, especially through Galloway Forest is really nice. I also really enjoyed the long decent into Kirkcudbright

 

[Cush]

"Lochs and Glens South from Carlisle up through Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Galloway Forest and Ayr before finishing in Glasgow"
I can see Criffel from my back window that faces North West and I can assure you Carlisle is South of Dumfries but I do like that suggestion of the Glens and Lochs and will look at before I finalise my trip up to Glasgow, across to Edinburgh and back down to Carlisle via The Carter Bar

 

[mcshroom]

"Lochs and Glens South from Carlisle up through Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Galloway Forest and Ayr before finishing in Glasgow"
I can see Criffel from my back window that faces North West and I can assure you Carlisle is South of Dumfries but I do like that suggestion of the Glens and Lochs and will look at before I finalise my trip up to Glasgow, across to Edinburgh and back down to Carlisle via The Carter Bar

Cush, I think you've misunderstood me. The route is called 'Lochs and Glens South' as there's another route, 'Lochs and Glens North', that heads out the other side of Glasgow up to Inverness.

 

[stumpy66]

You could go from Mull to - Barra, Uists, Harris, Lewis and then to Skye, Raasay, then continue as above. Stunning!

Been island hopping few times and had fab times

What he said

 

[Cush]

Cush, I think you've misunderstood me. The route is called 'Lochs and Glens South' as there's another route, 'Lochs and Glens North', that heads out the other side of Glasgow up to Inverness.

Sorry, lad Ishould have known better. I will look at this route closer but I am not too fond of riding forest tracks with road tires un less it is bone dry and that will never be the case in Glentrool.

 

[mcshroom]

There were no unsurfaced sections that were required. There is an off road route through Glentrool but I stuck to the road route so I don't know what it is like. Most of the route was single-track road with a couple of cycle tracks.

I made it round the whole route without any problems* on a touring bike with normal Marathons on it (think they were 35s)

I'm not the best photographer, but if you want a feel for the route then my pictures are here

 

[Cush]

Great photos, Carlisle I know well enough and I recognised a few of the other places from my walking days and a family caravan holiday in Glen Trool when we visited the Bruce Stone and watched the goats bullying the tourists.