2010-09-06 - 2010-09-10 : London to Edinburgh, with a possible favour

This autumn seems like a reasonable time for a trip that I've been considering since the start of the year.

First things first, route.
*
Mon, Sept 6th = London > Northampton;
Tue, Sept 7th = Northampton > Nottingham;
Wed, Sept 8th = Nottingham > Leeds;
Thu, Sept 9th = Leeds > Newcastle;
Fri, Sept 10th = Newcastle > Edinburgh;*

Next, accommodation.

Two things...

**1st thing: **My relying on friendly folk to put me up for the night. I'm relatively sure that I could locate someone at each destination, given a bit of time. Righty-ho, but I'm not so keen on the thought of scamming free digs.

**2nd thing: **A few people with whom I've chatted have suggested that I complete the trip for charity. I'm all for charitable events; though in my case I'd be concealing a selfish experience beneath a blanket of smug. So,

Combining the previous two paragraphs gives us this:-

I would donate £30 a night to charities selected by those who are kind enough to let me stop over.

With this in mind, does anyone know of anyone who might put me up for the night? I wouldn't need more than a shower/ bed each evening, and of course somewhere dry to store a bike. I'd feed myself, I'd say please and thank you, and I'd try to remain as discreet as possible.

I appreciate the irony of asking a London forum about matters North, but I'm dead serious and would be extremely grateful of any support.

Cheers.

Edit...

Well now, having thought further over the last day or two, I'm not at all sure of my potential plan's validity. Couchsurfing is a strong option, but even this is overshadowed by the lovely institutions that are youth hostels (I do love a youth hostel).

I originally had something idealistic in mind, thinking that a little mutual charity might be rather neat, but having given greater consideration to the possibility of dossing with strangers I'm now less keen on it as a solution. For starters, much of my early investigation was met with a perfectly understandable "You're a bit odd, aren't you mate", which couldn't really be countered by an offer to provide references. There's also something to be said for not having to egg-shell around the houses of strangers of an evening, parking up near a YHA dorm seems by far the more breathable option. While I reckon that my idea would work in Boris Johnson's cycling Utopia, in reality it's a plan ripe for mis-interpretation and mild discomfort. It's good to talk, every day's a school day, the best laid plans, and fools rush in.

So bollocks to me and my idiotic intentions. I'm going for a very straightforward cycling holiday in September. I'll prolly write summin about it here, for which I apologise in advance.

May have a room near Northampton for the first leg - will PM details...

Cool cool, thanks very much for the thought.

At the moment I'm trying a few different leads to see where they get me (not far, so far), but I'm genuinely grateful and I'll drop you a note with plenty of time to spare. All options considered.

I'm aware that such a request for support might appear a little idiosyncratic, I just figure that it would put a positive spin on the trip.

Have you tried couchsurfing.org?

Yes. I've had a few friends use it successfully and I'm definitely going to give it a whirl. This sort of thing is certainly what couchsurfing is designed for, it's only that I quite like the tone around here and thought that I'd be more likely to find empathy among cyclists. Mebe not, s'interesting though.

A good shout, cheers.

Nick

This looks epic. I guess about 90 miles a day? Does not sound impossible, but I guess you need to avoid going off too fast, and also if you give yourself most of the day for the ride, you can afford some reasonable stops. (I know that this will not happen, and that you will probably attempt to skip at least one of the overnight stop towns!)

I know exactly what you mean about the charity/selfish thing. When I did the Vatternrundan, loads of people told be to raise some money, (which I did in the end) but to begin with I felt a bit like a fraud, as I was going to do the ride anyway, mostly because I thought it would be fun.

In the end I figured that if people want to use my bike ride as a focus to donating to a charity, why waste that opportunity. In the end I just did one email to everyone in my email address book, and I was amazed at who sponsored me. For the sake of 10 minutes on one of those just giving websites, I think it is worthwhile.

Cant offer any help with the accomodation I'm afraid, but best of luck.

Simon