Route planning rules of thumb?

[dimrub]

Asking for a friend. How does one plan for this thing? Suppose one were to go unsupported, but light (no camping, credit card riding). One could:

1. Ask their favorite routing software to build a route, make sure most of it is on NCN routes, and the rest is away from highways and low digit count roads.
2. Take a route that one of the supported groups use
3. Do something else, based on some reasonable guidelines, e.g., "avoid city X", or "definitely visit the cathedral at Y"

What would you do?

 

[Mike Ayling]

Asking for a friend. How does one plan for this thing? Suppose one were to go unsupported, but light (no camping, credit card riding). One could:

1. Ask their favorite routing software to build a route, make sure most of it is on NCN routes, and the rest is away from highways and low digit count roads.
2. Take a route that one of the supported groups use
3. Do something else, based on some reasonable guidelines, e.g., "avoid city X", or "definitely visit the cathedral at Y"

What would you do?

Definitely not #1
Mixture of 2 and 3

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Asking for a friend. How does one plan for this thing? Suppose one were to go unsupported, but light (no camping, credit card riding). One could:

1. Ask their favorite routing software to build a route, make sure most of it is on NCN routes, and the rest is away from highways and low digit count roads.
2. Take a route that one of the supported groups use
3. Do something else, based on some reasonable guidelines, e.g., "avoid city X", or "definitely visit the cathedral at Y"

What would you do?

We might do this next year...

1. Decide how long we want to take
2. Plan stops about 30-60 miles apart, ideally in interesting places (put your own distances in à choix obviously). Visit more places if more time available eg Wales, Arran.
3. Plan route between on cycle.travel, tweaking per preference for shorter/ quieter/hillier dependent.

NCN IMO is pointless to pay any attention to.

Most people seem to do LEJOG fast as a challenge. I'd rather do it slow, over multiple years of necessary. Three weeks about the minimum to really enjoy it. Each to their own though.

 

[classic33]

Don't do what a relative of mine did some years ago. He'd used a route finding program which didn't give them the easiest route, between daily start and finish points. With unrealistic times given for distances. Distances that were a first for the five of them. Three had never done more than a mile locally, in the one trip before.

Made the ride that should have been enjoyable, a nightmare. The timetable was kept to as though it was the only way it could be done. He'd driven the same trip many times, in a few hours. The trip came to an end when the got caught in a downpour, which wasn't allowed for in his timetable.
A simple stop to let it pass would have helped.

 

[oxoman]

Have a look at one of the many bespoke websites that only deal with Lejog.
https://www.cyclelejog.com/routeplan.html
https://mylejog.co.uk/

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

I decide destination around the distance I want to ride. Put start and end into https://cycle.travel which generates a very cycle friendly route. Might manually adjust eg if want to go via eg supermarket (for evening food) or maybe ride further but less ascent. Press "to Garmin" and it's done.

Use every day on tour typically 2 months each tour. Been doing that for quite a few years now and never had a bad route from it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Never done it myself but did ride from Devon to York with a friend a few years back while he did the whole thing (logistics of getting to LE were beyond me, and I didn't have sufficient spare time to go all the way)

Anyway ... A major influence on his route was the location of people he knew who would put him up. I think there were five (maybe four) such points.

 

[raleighnut]

the tent

• raleighnut
• 12 Feb 2015

 

[Jameshow]

Never done it myself but did ride from Devon to York with a friend a few years back while he did the whole thing (logistics of getting to LE were beyond me, and I didn't have sufficient spare time to go all the way)

Anyway ... A major influence on his route was the location of people he knew who would put him up. I think there were five (maybe four) such points.

Mine was like that extended family were the main influence.

Otherwise I'd pick towns which were approximately the distance I wanted to ride each day.

If I were to do it again I'd do it much slower (did it in one week!)
Probably 4 weeks tbh.

 

[Punkawallah]

‘It is better to trade height for distance’.