I'm sure it's something many of us have thought about, so I wondered what peoples off-road LEJOG route would look like?

There are few options north of the border - Penine way then Rays borders 350 route to peebles followed by Markus's route to Edinburgh then up through Fife to Perth via lomonds. From Perth you can either head up through the Cairngorms to Inverness and pick up the HT560 route at contin or cut across to the Ht560 at loch lagan via Ben alder - various ways but minimal road riding. Or you could head up to Glasgow via Dumfries and Galloway and then use the WHW to Kinlochleven and then the HT560 route north. The last bit would involve a lot of road riding so maybe make it a Lands end to Cape Wrath as you could follow the ht560 route to Glengolly, then either follow Strath dionard to the durness road or come out on the Ben hope road and go over to Loch Eriboll on the old road. Then you get the ferry over to Cape Wrath and your done! Far more scenic than JOG....

You produce the GPX, we'll ride it!

htrider wrote:You produce the GPX, we'll ride it!

I'm sure theres enough of us on here to pull something together. Always wondered why the EWE didnt turn out as a LEJOG?

Scottish National Trail by Cameron McNeish runs from Kirk Yetholm to Cape Wrath. That's Scotland sorted .

TBH I'd go for a quiet road option over a pure off road one. I looked into a few options for off road a while back and there was loads of convoluted stuff. ie ride 14 miles off road from a to b instead of riding a mile on a quiet road.

I'd be happy to help with the South West section. Cornwall wont be great in the west, there just isn't much, but there are some nice sections as you get towards Bodmin then Dartmoor etc.

Question is do you want off-road to avoid traffic,or off-road to take on the best singletrack on offer?

Wot Richpips said. I have been looking at a CX suitable route. I did a lot of it when I rode the 3 peaks on the CX bike.

If that's the case then maybe a LECW 'gravel' route would be a much better experience? As Dave says, something suitable for a crosser but too much for a road bike.

I looked into a few options for off road a while back and there was loads of convoluted stuff. ie ride 14 miles off road from a to b instead of riding a mile on a quiet road.

That's one of the things that sometimes annoys me about Sustrans stuff but obviously in their case it's usualy 14 miles on quiet lanes to bypass a mile of A road.

Chew wrote:

htrider wrote:You produce the GPX, we'll ride it!

I'm sure theres enough of us on here to pull something together. Always wondered why the EWE didnt turn out as a LEJOG?

Not exactly inundated with riders doing the short version....

Someone linked to this the other day somewhere, there's a video a few posts down... No info about the route mind... http://tracksterman.tumblr.com/

As others have stated, really super tough route would be aiden harding EWE linking up with what htrider or ray describes, or a variation of.

But it is just a matter of time before someone actually lays some sort of route end to end and does it. Posts it on self supported uk. Considering the type of people who bikepacking in the first place. It's natural progression to do a up or down route, as there are plenty of variations across Britain.

I'm not about to do it anytime soon, but a too-challenging-for-a-road-bike route would be ideal

It's also more practical and probably more type 1 and 2 fun

There's an off road lejog on the CTC website but you have to be a member to access it ...

Years ago in Tongue youth hostel I met a bloke doing an off road end to end (not sure what he was doing in Tongue). I just remember he was wearing a white onesie type skinsuit covered in Tesco logo's! Oh and he was reading a Marple novel and putting the pages in the bin as he read them.

Anyway he was following the straightest lines he could make, but he said he was going to change this as he kept going into ditches, rivers and "found" a cliff. I was going to call him an oddball but there's a real possibility he is on this forum...

Ralph Hughes mountain biked the length of Britain: 1,267 miles through England, Wales and Scotland – with his camping gear on his back.

He said: "I tried to include as much mountain biking as possible. Notable points en route: Land’s End, Bodmin Moor, the edge of Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Quantocks, Bristol, the Severn Bridge, the Black Mountains, Radnor Forest, Wenlock Edge.

I then went east to ride the White Peak, Sheffield, the Pennines (mostly on the western side), north from Carlisle to Biggar through the Scottish Borders, north west through Kilsyth, on to the Trossachs, west to pick up the West Highland Way, Fort William, the Great Glen Way almost to the Moray Firth, north west and inland to Lairg, then through Sutherland to John O’Groats."

Found this on CTC website.
There is a map and route information.

PS

The other thing I was looking at was long distance horse rides as they use bridlepaths which should be open to bikes.
Not found anything yet but other thought was Route2 out of Cornwall into Devon. 2 Moors up to Somerset coast. Short stretch of beach to WSM.
Bristol South Wales. Wales S-N. Liverpool to Manchester and beyond turn left up Penine route into Scotland.
Just need to fill in the blanks but suspect will require fair bit of road work unless you use long distance footpaths and go at night when the walkers are not about.

Chew wrote:

htrider wrote:You produce the GPX, we'll ride it!

I'm sure theres enough of us on here to pull something together. Always wondered why the EWE didnt turn out as a LEJOG?

LEJOG is too long an anagram. EWES sounds much betterer

theres this one:


Day 1
Land's End to Truro

Day 2
Truro to Launceston

Day 3
Launceston to Fremington (Barnstaple)

Day 4
Fremington (Barnstaple) to Blue Anchor

Day 5
Blue Anchor to Barrow Gurney

Day 6
Barrow Gurney to Abergavenny

Day 7
Abergavenny to Forest Inn

Day 8
Forest Inn to Much Wenlock

Day 9
Much Wenlock to Fenny Bentley

Day 10
Fenny Bentley to Dunford Bridge

Day 11
Dunford Bridge to Hebden Bridge

Day 12
Hebden Bridge to Austwick

Day 13
Austwick to Appleby in Westmoreland

Day 14
Appleby in Westmoreland to Longtown

Day 15
Longtown to Tibbie Shiels Inn

Day 16
Tibbie Shiels Inn to Castlecary

Day 17
Castlecary to Kingshouse, Strathyre

Day 18
Kingshouse, Strathyre to Kinlochleven

Day 19
Kinlochleven to Fort Augustus

Day 20
Fort Augustus to Contin

Day 21
Contin to Lairg

Day 22
Lairg to Forsinard

Day 23
Forsinard to John O'Groats




A ride of 1,201 miles, ascending over 130,000 feet and enjoying along the way the delights of:

The Camel Trail, Bodmin Moor, The Tarka Trail, Exmoor, Dunkery Beacon, The Quantocks, Cheddar Gorge, The Mendips, Avon Gorge, The Black Mountains, Radnor Forest, Wenlock Edge, Ironbridge, The Way for the Millennium, Tissington Trail, Cut Gate, The Pennine Bridleway, Leeds-Liverpool Canal, Cam High Road, Lady Anne Clifford’s Highway, The Maiden Way, Craik Forest, Black Law, The Trossachs, The West Highland Way, The Great Glen, Gleann Mor and the wilds of Northern Scotland…

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~ianclare ... inbike.htm

If that's the case then maybe a LECW 'gravel' route would be a much better experience? As Dave says, something suitable for a crosser but too much for a road bike.

Imnterested.. I have a GPX of a Chilterns-Purbecks ride based on byways and lanes that I've got ready for a trip if the time+weather opportunity crops up. Loads of nice 'all-road' riding across a green strip of the UK, along the Ridgeway, Wessex / Lambourne downs, Salisbury plains and the New Forest.