LONDON to GLASGOW

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laurashave 03 Jun 21:25  

Joined: 03 Jun 2008

Posts: 2

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Hi I am looking to do a bike ride from London to Glasgow for charity and wondered if anyone could tell me either of good route or how to plan a route or if there is such a thing as sat nav for bikes?!?!? Thanks

happy 03 Jun 22:05  

Joined: 15 Mar 2006

Posts: 302

Bike: Orange P7 with Rock Shox, Michelin Wildgripper Lites, XTR Chainset

My Profile 		Hi Laura,

That would certainly be a challenge. how many days are you planning to do it over. Do you have any indication on whether you would prefer to go down the west coast or east coast of Britain. Starting in Glasgow, probably west is easier.

There are plenty of computers that maps can be loaded on to, check this one out :

Garmin Edge 705

I also used to have a blackberry 8800 which actually came with fairly decent satnav software. Not really sure about the practicalities of using either of these over long distance, but I'm sure they would help.

Happy



My Latest Route: Oct 2010 Livingston to Ayr Avoiding A71

etuka 05 Jun 01:35  

Joined: 05 Jun 2008

Posts: 1

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Funny that, I'm going to Edinburgh from London on or around 23 June. I am also trying to plan my route - it is labour intensive using Google maps and I'm scratching around for something easier, too.


RavyDavy 10 Jun 19:29  

Joined: 10 Jun 2008

Posts: 1

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Very very new to this site, and just getting back into cycling.

However, I did notice from the sustrans website (I'm sure it was), that there is a national cycle route that goes from London, to Edinburgh - and there is another official route that goes from Edinburgh to Glasgow.


marcmcf 24 Jun 18:28  

Joined: 23 Jun 2008

Posts: 14

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My Profile 		How many miles is glasgow to london? Good luck with this ride! :)


laurashave 26 Jul 17:54  

Joined: 03 Jun 2008

Posts: 2

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Thanks so much for your responses - i am now getting in contact with sustrans to try and get the maps and some advice. I am in the middle of training and all is going well- I'll keep you posted!

Laura


Graham50 19 Feb 08:24  

Joined: 16 Jul 2008

Posts: 8

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My Profile 		Laura, did you do it? I am planning Lancaster to Wimbledon and would be interested to hear your of your ride between London and the Cheshire/Manchester area. Graham

My Latest Route: Mar 2009 Over Kellet to Liverpool

dudley 19 Feb 08:51  

Joined: 16 Jan 2009

Posts: 498

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My Profile 		i planned a routed from Edinburgh to Suffolk on the route planner here. Needed a bit of local knowledge in some parts, as it does't assist with hills

400 miles.

was planning to do it in four days in the autumn - just 'because it's there' and a change to the normal drive back to the folks.

If you know that you can do 50, 60, 70 etc miles in a day, plan a rough route here, work out were you need to find a bunch of B&B addresses

then for bits where you are unsure, buy some OS maps to help you know the hills.

remember, you dont need a 500 mile plan to hand all day - you only need the day plan, then you have the evening to refine things for the following day


good days / bad days / weather / wind etc will change the plan within minutes of starting!



My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular

ronmac 19 Feb 12:34  

Joined: 02 Feb 2009

Posts: 14

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My Profile 		Obviously preparartion is a major part but I wouldn't plan route in too much detail. It only takes one wrong turn and all those detailed plans are out the window. I might be old fashioned but I would start by buying a U.k. RoadMap book from the discount book shops (1:250,000 i.e. 4 miles to an inch) for about £2.99. This would help you formulate a general plan.
You can then combine this with the sustrans info for when you wish to cycle on cyclepaths rather than roads. O.k. this doesn't show hills but you're going to encounter them anyway so just get up them when you come to them. You'll be pretty fit doing this anyway. Just my thoughts on the matter. Ron.


ridgebackPanorama 23 Sep 21:25  

Joined: 23 Sep 2009

Posts: 1

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Hiya, I'd be inclined to come East to Edinburgh using the Sustrans route, then aim at Berwick, using the old A1, then Newcastle, Leeds, Lincoln and onwards South.
In common with the other replies, get an old road atlas and plan a " provisional" route, suss out your potantial overnight stops but be very prepared to be flexible.

We did Lands end to John O'Groats a couple of years ago,and Bilbao to Le Havre last year on this format. Dont plan in too much detail, just have an idea where you are headed each day.

On both our tours, we met loads of interesting folks, who were keen to hear about our trips.

Best wishes with your toy,

Richard



philtabest 14 May 15:36  

Joined: 26 Jan 2009

Posts: 4

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Hello,

I am planning London - Edinburgh myself, still feel like I need a bit more training in order to do this. Something to do for the summer me thinks. The advice given on this forum has been very usefull to me and I thank the people who have contributed in the making of this post. The main thing that was worrying me about my journey was not fitness, but the thought of coming of a roundabout to find out I have taken the wrong exit and finding myself merging with the motorway.

As regards to dealing with hills I would recommend doing the below in order to build up fitness level. find the stepest hill in your area and practice cycling up the hill, I live in Nottingham and find the best hill to practice on is Arnold Lane. This road is a connection road between arnold and Gedling. This is not the steepest hill in Nottingham, but I find that it is good to practice on because it is very steep and 2 sided. So once you get to the top of the hill, you can turn around and repeat.

Philip