Sustrans Lochs and Glens route - advice

zaynan

We are thinking of doing this route as our annual ride - Carlisle to Inverness. Plan is to do the 400 miles or so over 5 days - 80 miles-ish per day. Last summer we did the Lon Las Cymru route from Holyhead to Cardiff which is 250 miles and pretty hilly. We did this over 5 days too which was good. Has anyone done both these routes and which would you consider to be the most hilly. I'm just wondering if 80 miles each day might be too much for some of us especially with the hills....

inaperfectworld

i've only done the southern half carlisle to glasgow. 2 stretches are hilly between gatehouse of fleet and newton stewart and then through galloway forest park and carrick fells. the other stretches are relatively flat. always difficult to advise others, different fitness etc, personally i think if you had 50 mile days on lon las cymru then 50 mile days woould be more appropriate than 80 in the day on these 2 sections. and get the route sorted in advance of going through dumfries. i did 15 miles extra on account of the route signs being poor. if in doubt just take the main road to cargenbridge and dalbeattie (straight on at 1st roundabout after leaving outskirts of dumfries) if i recall correctly. when i went ,this roundabout had a bar thru the cycle route sign in that direction and a new sign told me to turn right at this r'bout. i then came to cyc e route off to the right on old railway bed going northerly ). this takes you back to centre of dumfries. having gone in and out of dumfries at least 4 times i was hopping madand in frustration. took this dalbeattie road despite the black bar through cycle route sign and the right route to millom cropped up to the right off this road. my map was old maybe there is a newer one updated; sustrans say follow the signs rather than the map, but these can be stolen and mucked around. hope the signing is in btter shape next year

Cunobelin

I find that these routes are best savoured.... I did the lower part in a week, because there is so much to see!

From the Bargrennan Tombs to the Burns heritage in Ayr or the castles and coastal views.

Not forgetting the "Wicker Man" connections of Gatehouse, Whithorn and the local area.


One other point is that as with any "open area" the Galloway hills are remote and can be a problem if you have an accident or injury. Be prepared.

zaynan

Thanks inaperfectworld. I got a bit lost with your directions but I think you could be right about 80 miles being too much. It's meant to be a fun thing for us - all getting together after not seeing each other for a year, so, maybe we just have to add a couple of days on if we can or take some short cuts or start/finish further out/in. I'm ordering the Sustrans map/book pack so I'll have a look at profiles and see how hilly it is. Hills are good - we enjoy them (I think!) but as for keeping our average speed around the 13-15 mph average - especially over 80 miles - we might be in for some late/dark/hungry finishes which is never fun especially 5 nights in a row!

zaynan

Cunobelin - you are right, its good to savor these things and a little challenge along the way makes it even more interesting! It's no fun when it just becomes a "must get there" thing. I'm looking forward to it already!

Cunobelin

The Wicker Man and Gatehouse or Creetown

I stayed in a hotel in Gatehouse that has a small cupboard, open it and there is a cave like hole into the wall - creepy!

galaxyboy

I'm also thinking of doing this route next year. Can anyone tell me if the route will be suitable for my carry freedom Y frame trailer.

nwallace

Have done Inverness to Pitlochry (on the way to perth)
and have done Glen Ogle both directions.

There are bits were the map talks a load of tosh, like the crossing of the Garry near Blair Atholl.

http://www.hyperthenellyphantsports.fot ... 50863.html

The only particularly bad bit is the pathetic excuse for a route over Drumochter. It is just a sheep track at the side of the A9.

From House of Bruar at Calvine to Dalwhinnie there is pretty much nothing, there are signs telling you this. Really your last chance of getting sustenance is at Blair Atholl (unless you are a millionaire in which case House of Bruar will probably be fine)

Seems to be a fair bit in the forests between Aberfoyle and Balquider

North of Glasgow your major climbs are:
Pass of Lenny 1:61
Glen Ogle, not sure if this is sealed surface now, was loose at Kingshouse when I did it (the railway section was closed due ot land slides so had to climb the road) 1:60
Drumochter is tougher going North
You may wish to take the military road to Slochd village if you have knoblies
Slochd (the descent into the Findhorn valley on the other side will be immense judging by the severity of the climb)

inaperfectworld

galaxyboy most of the route is fine as it is on road,and i can only recall one short section unsuitable for as trailer, a mud track thru'a wood(just before gatehouse of fleet) but there it is easily avoidable. most of the route from irvine to glasgow is marked as cycle path but it is largely old railway line so a good surface i should have mentioned that i was travelling alone and most of the route from irvine to glasgow passes thru' not the best (but far from the worst) that glasgow has to offer, but there is no escape route from the track if there is trouble and i was pleased that it was pelting with rain to keep troublemakers away; i was nevertheless catcalled a couple of times. it would have been fine if more than one but alone did feel a bit vulnerable.

tardington

nwallace wrote:

Have done Inverness to Pitlochry (on the way to perth)
and have done Glen Ogle both directions.

There are bits were the map talks a load of tosh, like the crossing of the Garry near Blair Atholl.

http://www.hyperthenellyphantsports.fot ... 50863.html

The only particularly bad bit is the pathetic excuse for a route over Drumochter. It is just a sheep track at the side of the A9.

From House of Bruar at Calvine to Dalwhinnie there is pretty much nothing, there are signs telling you this. Really your last chance of getting sustenance is at Blair Atholl (unless you are a millionaire in which case House of Bruar will probably be fine)

Seems to be a fair bit in the forests between Aberfoyle and Balquider

I was a bit disappointed in the climb to Slochd - mainly as a fellow rider went on and on about how steep and hard the climb was!

House of Bruar isn't very pleasant, is it? 8)

nwallace

depends which way you are going i suppose, going south it jsut rises from Findhorn Bridge with a gradient that seems about 1 in 1 , then eases out to an insanely boring gradient with no reference but I was still bloody struggling (actually I stopped half way up the steep bit)

Probably one of those fast accelerating descents that scare me on the way north.

The descent on the other side seemed like nothing but a very long and fast drop with not too much gradient to cause uncomfortable acceleration, suppose being on the old road it;s also quite wide and with decent visibility.

Drumochter going south is a bastard. There is no real ascent in it as Dalwhinnie isn't much below, it's the issue that all wind directions get you, there is no shelter because it is essentially the meeting point of a shed load of valleys. The descent to Calivine was pretty good though.

tardington

Ah. We were going north, leaving that morning from Blair Atholl campsite... Fellow cyclist complained about the giant climb, pfft when we got there! I liked the pub lunch at Dalwhinnie hotel (or pub?), it looks pretty crappy from the outside..

ETA I mean she complained all through breakfast before we'd even left the campsite about the Killer Climb!

inaperfectworld

galaxy boy; should have made it clear that i have only done carlisle/glasgow, so don't know about the northern bit. mostly i found the hills long but not too steep, but i do recall a bit of off road track section on the way into newton stewart which had a really sharp pull up to the old rail track bed and i had to get off and push you could avoid this by following the road

eyes like marbles

the section from Drymen to Aberfoyle through Gartmore ( and then either the road over the Dukes Pass and along the lochside is a wee bit hilly ) going through the forest past Loch Drunkie to Callander is forest track so would suggest better mileage would be 60 ish that day, done Glasgow to Inverness and to be honest the rest is fine you just need to work in tea stops and your overnights it depends on your companions and your route if they are fitter they might not need as many cake stops as i did but i also enjoyed a slow pace to take in my surroundings.

galaxyboy

inaperfectworld wrote:

galaxy boy; should have made it clear that i have only done carlisle/glasgow, so don't know about the northern bit. mostly i found the hills long but not too steep, but i do recall a bit of off road track section on the way into newton stewart which had a really sharp pull up to the old rail track bed and i had to get off and push you could avoid this by following the road

Thanks inaperfectworld, I'll try to find that section on the map and plan to avoid it.