southampton to Edinburgh

[swaythling5]

We are cycling on our tandem from Southampton to Edinburgh, we are new to long distance cycling and also to tandem riding, but have been doing some long distances in Spain over the winter. Aiming to cycle 75 miles a day. would appreciate loads of help with everything from is the garmin edge the best GPS to have, ?what route to try,? want to enjoy countryside as well as going fairly directly. Also any recommendations with footwear, we are not keen on cycling shoes that lock onto pedals. We currently have ortleib panniers but are looking for a top rack bag. We would like to try and get to Edinburgh in 10 days if possible, time not so much of an issue as we are both retired and in our 60,s.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Welcome to the site;
You'll probably not going to get very much response to your post as apart from the question about footware it's a bit too vague about what you actually want advice on. If you do a bit of research on the route and how you want to navigate (I've got a paper map fetish) you can ask more specific questions and you'll probably get a lot of feed back from people with local knowledge etc. Also, are you planning on camping, B&B, hostels? as this will make a big difference to kit etc.
Re. footware; I wouldn't rule out SPD's, you can get some easy release/semi platform types that are ideal for touring.
P.S I'm a Swaythling (old) lad myself.

 

[berty bassett]

i went from northants to up that way - kept to the right and it was pancake flat for 120 miles then headed nnw over Alston moor - what wasnt flat ! and headed straight through Edingburgh where i got lost but if you want gpx files of my bit i will dig them out - dont know about the bottom bit though although its easy to find the lel route what will get you from london - if you happened to be near there

 

[Tigerbiten]

I think you have two main options for a route.
1:- Head for Bristol and pick up one of the JOGLE routes north. That takes you west of the Pennines.
2:- Head Oxford-Peterborough to pick up the LEL route north. That takes you east of the Pennines.
I make it around 500 miles either way, so 10 days is a reasonable times.

 

[Ticktockmy]

So many routes you can take. When I plan a route idea similar to yours I draw a straight pencil line on a paper map between proposed start and finish point.
Then I check on http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map to check which NCN routes might be available, bearing in mind that some NCN routes can be off road also i check what points of interest might be along the route, then I can use the Line as a central reference point and guide.

 

[Ajax Bay]

For the route I echo what @Ticktockmy and @Tigerbiten advise. But you must set your route philosophy first, even before you choose east or west of Pennines eg:
Stay off trunk roads
Avoid (English?) A roads except when forced onto them
Follow NCN routes (or only when they don't wiggle)
Stay off minor minor roads (bends, gravel, cars coming the other way and can't be sure to pass, hilllier, steeper downhill, unknown bend at bottom)
Avoid climb ie by avoiding hillier lines or by seeking longer but gentler route choice (this has a macro and a micro application)
Wish to (seek out and) cross (and mostly climb) wilder areas, or not
Places (eg friends/relatives/'always wanted to visit') to go through.

A 'RidewithGPS' Soton > Edi'h gets you a route of 733km (not miles) so that suggests that, if you plan on 75 miles a day for 10 days you have a 60% extra route opportunity, so you have plenty of zig-zag room. In my comments below I'm working back from your detination.
@User9609 has offered his local (border) expertise. North of Carlisle/Banmpton, Eskdalemuir is pretty special heading towards Peebles but you also have the Liddesdale option up through Selkirk.
If you are taking a 'west' route (eg heading for Preston) then the bridge near Widnes is probably best for crossing the Mersey. There are forum members who can advise the best line through from Cheshire to Preston. Further north the Lune River valley NE of Lancaster right up to by Sedburgh is lovely, but you may want to go through the Lakes instead.
You're likely to wish to avoid the metropolis of Birmingham and its satellites so if you choose west then I'd head for Gloucester and then either head NW across to Leominster and up a LEJOG route through Shrewsbury, or stay a bit more north up the west side of the R Severn eg via Bridgnorth/Telford.
Out from Southampton, you could choose to go across the top of the New Forest to Salisbury and then there's a quiet road up the SW side of the Wylye valley to and through Warminster in which case crossing the Severn over the bridge is an iconic moment and opens up the options of the River Wye road past Tintern Abbey or over the Forest of Dean itself. Then there's an excellent line from Monmouth through Hereford to Leintwardine. Avoid the A49 which is the main N-S trunk road.

 

[Tigerbiten]

My way of picking a route is first to pull up a topo map of the area (https://www.worldofmaps.net/typo3temp/images/uk-topo-de.jpg) to find out where the hilly areas are.
Do I go over or around ?? I don't like hill so I try and go around them.
Do I go through or around cities ?? I also don't like riding through cities so I try to avoid them.
I use all but the most major main roads but I'm OK with fast traffic. Main roads tend to be flatter in hilly areas.
Sustrans routes. If they are going where I'm going, then I'll use them. But I'll not go out of my way to use one as they do tend to slow me down a little.
I use BikeHike (http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php) to workout a route as it uses both Google maps and the Open Cycle Map.

 

[jay clock]

a massive +1 for the Wylie valley west of Salisbury - from Wilton to Warminster - one of the most beautiful roads I know

 

[srw]

Look at the history of the forum for LonJoG, which went via Edinburgh. It got reasonably hilly around the Borders, but anything will.

You could meet that route somewhere in Herts.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Here are some route fragments which, combined, give you something to plan with, to beyond the English border. Just some ideas (but my point about settling philosophy (driver/stoker agreement!) is the prime):
Preston to Langholm
Severn Bridge to Shrewsbury
Southampton to Craven Arms

 

[Tigerbiten]

I like the east side of the Pennines as it tends to be less built up.
It's a reasonably easy to route Southampton - Oxford - Peterborough.
Then pick up the route of the London - Edinburgh - London.
2113 route here -> https://londonedinburghlondon.com/route/
Plus you can see what I think are the two best routes north of Carlisle, I like the eastern one.

Another option if you stick to the east side is to do the Coast and Castles route north of Newcastle.

 

[srw]

Oh, and footwear: SPD shoes. They make life easier on a tandem. There's a decent pair of Spesh touring ones with very rigid soles which are still comfy for walking. And I second the comment about agreeing philosophy, especially if you're not in a long-term relationship with each other!

 

[Ajax Bay]

I like the east side of the Pennines as it tends to be less built up

Without descending (too far) into west v east, on balance I can't see the attraction of the 200km from Northampton north to the Humber if you want a variety of scenery, but it is (much) flatter. Compare this with the unendingly varied scenery for the length of the Welsh Marches from the Severn to the Mersey (but then you do have to cross the band of urbanisation 'tween Liverpool and Manchester).

 

[Tigerbiten]

Without descending (too far) into west v east, on balance I can't see the attraction of the 200km from Northampton north to the Humber if you want a variety of scenery, but it is (much) flatter. Compare this with the unendingly varied scenery for the length of the Welsh Marches from the Severn to the Mersey (but then you do have to cross the band of urbanisation 'tween Liverpool and Manchester).

I hate to say this but ........
I'm on a low recumbent trike, so once the walls/hedges/crops/etc get over two foot high beside the road, I don't see that much/any scenery to the sides ..........

 

[ufkacbln]

So many routes you can take. When I plan a route idea similar to yours I draw a straight pencil line on a paper map between proposed start and finish point.
Then I check on http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map to check which NCN routes might be available, bearing in mind that some NCN routes can be off road also i check what points of interest might be along the route, then I can use the Line as a central reference point and guide.

+1 (ish)
I do the straight line, then look at interesting sites either side, unusual buildings, memorials, churches, historic sites, spectacular views, good pubs etc.

Then a bit of a meander to make the most of it - it is as much about the journey itself than just covering a distance

For instance if you cross to the east and take the Coast and Castles, then Lindisfarne would be a stop, as would the Rhymer's Stone near Melrose

When I did the welsh borders, i would detour to Kilpeck near Hereford to visit the fantastic church there