Lands End to John O'Groats

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

SJN

New Member
Just joined 'Cycle Chat'
I have been riding off road since 1990 and my brother and i are planning to ride Lands End to John O'Groats in May.
We reckon 10 to 12 days riding ,Staying in Youth Hostels and we want to stay on 'B' roads or smaller.
We got a Satmap system two months ago, which is great, and i'll be on a 2007 Dawes Ultra Galaxy and my Brother on a old, but good, Raleigh Record Ace.
Has anyone done a route thay can recommend?, or have any other hints or tips?.
Thanks
 

redfox

New Member
Location
Bourne End, UK
Hi and welcome SJN!

The most obvious place to look is 'The Ultimate Links List of Land's End to John o'Groats Cycle Trips', with more routes than you can shake a stick at.

Since you ask, I may as well mention my route, which was mainly on B roads, though not if an A road was considerably shorter or less hilly.
 

longers

Legendary Member
Hello SJN,

What redfox said.

The Touring and Expedition area is perhaps more geared to that sort of ride.

There's a good few people who have ridden it and some who haven't in there.
I'm going to give it a go this year, so have been getting lots of ideas about how and how not to do it.
 

redfox

New Member
Location
Bourne End, UK
longers said:
The Touring and Expedition area is perhaps more geared to that sort of ride.

Good point, I should pay more attention when using the new posts button. Will move to Touring and Expedition.
 
U

User482

Guest
SJN said:
Just joined 'Cycle Chat'
I have been riding off road since 1990 and my brother and i are planning to ride Lands End to John O'Groats in May.
We reckon 10 to 12 days riding ,Staying in Youth Hostels and we want to stay on 'B' roads or smaller.
We got a Satmap system two months ago, which is great, and i'll be on a 2007 Dawes Ultra Galaxy and my Brother on a old, but good, Raleigh Record Ace.
Has anyone done a route thay can recommend?, or have any other hints or tips?.
Thanks

Good for you. If you're planning to stay in hostels, the CTC do a specific route linking them together. I would suggest you also check out the independent hostels and bunk houses in Scotland - I think they're better value and more comfortable.

10-12 days is fairly ambitious if you're avoiding main roads. I took 12 days, averaging 75 miles per day, but there were a fair few main roads in my route.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
SJN said:
Just joined 'Cycle Chat'
I have been riding off road since 1990 and my brother and i are planning to ride Lands End to John O'Groats in May.
We reckon 10 to 12 days riding ,Staying in Youth Hostels and we want to stay on 'B' roads or smaller.
We got a Satmap system two months ago, which is great, and i'll be on a 2007 Dawes Ultra Galaxy and my Brother on a old, but good, Raleigh Record Ace.
Has anyone done a route thay can recommend?, or have any other hints or tips?.
Thanks

Have a look at the CTC web site www.ctc.org.uk. They have just set up a LEJOG specific forum.
 

longers

Legendary Member
That looks like a useful site Bonj, thanks :blush:.
 
U

User482

Guest
bonj said:
the best route calculator is www.viamichelin.com.

Bonj is right :biggrin:

Just be careful though - for example it doesn't know that there's a cycle path on the Severn bridge, so will try and route you via Gloucester instead!
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
User482 said:
Bonj is right xx(

Just be careful though - for example it doesn't know that there's a cycle path on the Severn bridge, so will try and route you via Gloucester instead!

It also doesn't know about the cycle path over the Humber Bridge....
 

Amanda P

Legendary Member
Me and Mrs Uncle Phil did it in July 2006. You can see our route, loosely based on one of the CTC's route sheets, here. We were camping, though, so didn't need to stop in towns; on the other hand, you'll probably go faster than we did.

One bit of route I'd highly reccommend is (I think) the NCN 74 from Gretna to Glasgow. It runs along the old A74, which is now replaced by the M74, and is a really splendid bit of road - quiet (thanks to the M74, which you don't even hear most of the time, but which takes all the traffic), fast and well-graded (i.e. there are hills but you don't notice them much because they're not steep). We did 79 miles that day, well over our usual heavy touring average, largely because of this excellent road.
 
U

User482

Guest
Uncle Phil said:
Me and Mrs Uncle Phil did it in July 2006. You can see our route, loosely based on one of the CTC's route sheets, here. We were camping, though, so didn't need to stop in towns; on the other hand, you'll probably go faster than we did.

One bit of route I'd highly reccommend is (I think) the NCN 74 from Gretna to Glasgow. It runs along the old A74, which is now replaced by the M74, and is a really splendid bit of road - quiet (thanks to the M74, which you don't even hear most of the time, but which takes all the traffic), fast and well-graded (i.e. there are hills but you don't notice them much because they're not steep). We did 79 miles that day, well over our usual heavy touring average, largely because of this excellent road.

It's less appealing when you're faced with a fierce headwind and driving rain! Boy did I suffer that day - 95 miles from Lockerbie to Loch Lomond.

If you want to keep off the main roads, when you get to the end of the NCN74, head through Hamilton for Glasgow, and south of Glasgow centre you can pick up the Clyde to Loch Lomond cycle path, which is completely traffic free. Just make sure your tyres resist broken glass...
 

Amanda P

Legendary Member
There are one or two potholes, as well.

maneatingpothole.jpg
 
Top Bottom