St Andrews to London

[gbs]

Two young friends (girls in their early twenties and not v experienced cyclists) plan to ride post summer exams. They are marathon running fit and for the moment let us assume they are capable of 50 miles/day. The real focus in my enquiry is on safety on the road and off it.

Worried mothers have heard about national cycle paths but I have suggested that the route will have to be substantially on the road if a trip time of less than 2 weeks is to be achieved.

Frankly, I am totally ignorant of that part of the country and will welcome any comment re

• routes
• accommodation
• NoNos

 

[jay clock]

look at the National cycling routes but personally I don't rate them. there are some good bits but often the signs are hard to follow and often there appear to be some bonkers little diversions to avoid something like a roundabout

Personally sounds like a fantastic ride

 

[Flying Dodo]

There's loads of resources out there for on-road routes to use, such as on the CTC web site.

 

[Cameronmu917772]

Surely 100 miles a day is a better target for super fit guys? In two weeks you could take your time aswell.
I don't know routes or accomodation but have a great time and take plenty of food and spares

 

[raleighnut]

Check out the Sustrans website for cycle routes, I agree with Cameronmu917772 that 100 miles a day would be easy to achieve with that level of fitness. Good luck to them.

 

[gbs]

Surely 100 miles a day is a better target for super fit guys? In two weeks you could take your time aswell.
I don't know routes or accomodation but have a great time and take plenty of food and spares

I have edited above to clarify . To re-iterate - we have here two female newbies who probably think it will be a bit of a lark. They need advice, the more specific to their route the better.

 

[raleighnut]

National route 6 (my local one) goes from Sheffield to London and that's on mainly country lanes and disused railway lines and there is a coastal route from Edinburgh to Hull. These routes are well signposted and are not usually "farm tracks". Just get them to plan out the route (after exams) and use suitable cycles and there shouldn't be a problem. A hybrid or touring bike would easily cope.

 

[Richard Fairhurst]

Punching St Andrews to London into cycle.travel/map (other route-planning sites are available ) gives a route of 504 miles of which just 18 are on A roads; a quick shufty along the route suggests that most of those are fairly quiet, such as an eight-mile stretch on the A73 in the borders. The majority is on minor roads. At 504 miles that's 10 days at 50 miles a day, which is plenty achievable.

So I wouldn't be unduly worried about safety - you can easily achieve a quiet route if you plan it in advance.

 

[22camels]

Marathon running fit and cycle touring fit are not the same, use different muscles. I think it's better if they start with lower mileage and build up. Have they done any full days in the saddle before? There is a certain mental element to it and also it's often not until you've cycled quite a long way that you start to realise it can get uncomfortable.. Though 504 miles in 2 weeks is very doable..

 

[Rasmus]

As long as you avoid the A91 and A92, any route choice in Fife should be fine, I think.

South of the Forth Bridge, I would recommend heading for Innerleithen and then picking up the B709 towards Carlisle. It does get fairly remote, so you need to be prepared with regards to food/water etc.

Regardless of "running fitness", I would recommend getting some decent cycling miles in before starting the trip. The body/saddle interface needs to be prepared for long hours...

 

[gbs]

Thanks everybody. I provided a precis of the above and a firm "go for it" to a worried mother. We shall see.