Our Route

Lots of obsessing over the route and we’re planning on taking 13 days for our adventure. That said, we’re going to play it by ear, so we might do a bit more or a bit less each day.  We’re going to be booking accommodation a couple of days ahead of when we need it, so I expect things will go slightly off plan. So, here what things look like at the moment.

Day 1 – John O’Groats, down into the middle of Scotland. (132Km, 1270m of climbing). We’ve taken this route so we can go via Loch Naver (supposed to be super pretty). Plus it keeps us away from the A9, which can be a bit busy.

Day 2  – pushing on to Inverness. (106Km, 852m of climbing). It’s one of the places that Caspar wants to visit . It’s on the usual route for JOGLE, so a sensible second stop.

Day 3 – Middle of nowhere and expect it to be a hard day (150Km, 1133m climbing). We’ll be going around the edge of the Cairngorms as we push on towards Edinburgh. It’s going to be a bit of a long day and there won’t be much around.

Day 4 – down to Edinburgh, staying with Nicole (130km, 1330m climbing). Looking forward to staying with Nicole, Quinn and Kayla. We might be able to get some washing done too . (shhh, we’ve not asked them yet as we might be a bit smelly by then). We’ll be a bit off the usual JOGLE route at this stage as most people go closer to Glasgow.

Day 5 – is going to be a long day down to Carlisle (150Km, 1034m). We’re back onto a fairly classic route now as we start dropping south. I know it looks like we’re going down a motorway, but there are a whole bunch of B-Roads that run next to it.  Might stop in a Gretna Green for a coffee as we push on into England.

Day 6 – detour into the Lake District (133km, 1220m climbing). We’ve both wanted to go into the lake district, but it’s been too far away for a weekend away. We realised we were going past it, so decided we needed to change our route to take in Lake Windermere. It adds a bit of distance and climbing, but it could be lovely if the weather is kind to us. At the end of the day, we have to push East a bit to pick up the regular JOGLE route again.

Day 7 – it’s the halfway point and a bit of an unknown quantity (131km, 1564m climbing) We’re dropping down between Manchester and Liverpool. It could be a bit of a slog as there aren’t any big things to see, so a bit more research might be required. We’ll be stopping in Knutsford where Caspar used to do some work with Barclays bank.

Day 8 – Taking a bit easier today (103Km, 802m Climbing). Continuing our push south, Caspar wanted to go slightly off the usual track to see the iron bridge (where the Industrial Revolution started). We’ll see how this days goes – it could be one where we can catch-up if we’re behind our schedule or we could end up pushing-on if things are going well.

Day 9 – end of “act 2” as we get to stay with Jade (133km, 1333m Climbing). Looking forward to cycling through the Shropshire Hills and running down next to Wales before we jump over a few miles East to stay with Jade and Luca.

Day 10 – from Jade to seeing the Kents in Bristol (96Km, 552m Climbing). This is one of the shortest of the days we have planned and should be a nice ride alongside the river severn. (but you know what they say about the best laid plans)…….  Looking forward to seeing everybody and am sure Sol will be excited about seeing Milo!

Day 11 – Backwell into the proper West Country (137Km, 1459m Climbing). So we’re going long today. The plan is to push-on today and tomorrow so that we only have a short final days ride. We’ve not found a hotel in Crediton, but there should be come choices. We are hoping to see Lesley Findlay on the way if they’re around too.

Day 12 – the penultimate day and it’s another tough one (128Km, 1651M climbing) We decided we might want to go partying on our last night way (well not really, but it’s an option….). If we can, we’ll push to get to Newquay as Caspar hasn’t been there for 20 years and Tates for 10 years…  worth stopping in to see how it’s changed.

Day 13 – OMG, it’ll be the final day and the push for the summit (77K, 916M climbing) It’ll probably be emotional, but it’s the final day. The couple of hard days riding beforehand mean we should be able to get to Lands End by lunchtime. Hopefully Mum, Dad and maybe Pru will be there to meet us?!??! (hint, hint, hint).

So there you have it…. 13 days, nearly 1000 miles, at least the same climbing as going up Mount Everest TWICE. I suspect a couple of sore bottoms. there will likely be more tweeking to the route, but that’s the bare bones for right now!.