London to Cumbria ~300mi - Any route planning tips?

The friend who I mentioned earlier as living near Ashbourne lives on a farm in the manifold river valley. The river itself runs through his farm. Amazing area, I spent many a school holiday up there helping out during lambing etc.

His Dad's farmhouse about a mile away has the most amazing view from the upstairs toilet. You sit down to take a dump and can see directly down Dovedale...

If memory serves me correctly, isn't there a cycle path on a raised but abandoned railway near there?

This is my problem...as soon as I start to plan the route I get distracted by all of the options! To solve this, I have broken the route down into three chunks and will break it down further to help me plan it point to point.

Cheers all for the tips...keep them coming. And if anybody wants to tag along for part or all of it, just holler.

~180mi @ 15mph

Just notice this ^ Mad! When you say you were a wreck, what do you mean? Could you even get off your bike?

Just notice this ^ Mad! When you say you were a wreck, what do you mean? Could you even get off your bike?

Hmm, I was quite tired and definitely wouldn't have been up for doing even 20 miles the next day. It took me around 17 hours including breaks. The bike was a hybrid with alfine 8-speed hub gears, toestraps and panniers with not too much in them.

My #1 tip is to take food. There's nothing worse than running out of energy. Also you'll probably want some basic tools (allen keys, tyre levers, patches, couple of spare tubes, etc) in case. I've never had a problem on a long distance solo ride, but it will happen one day. You hear some horror stories of "I was just going along and my pedal fell off." Have some kind of backup plan in case you need rescuing 10 miles from a train station. It's good that you have relatives spaced out along the country - make sure you have all their phone numbers!

Whenever you stop, top up your water bottle(s). You get through a lot of water and if it's a hot day then you'll probably need to take the water situation quite seriously.

Packing a warm jumper and thin waterproof is probably also a good idea - things can get surprisingly cold and if you're wet and cold it's just not nice (and can get a bit dangerous).

Having fixed dates leaves you at the mercy of the weather lottery - keep a close eye on wind direction and strength. If you have a tailwind then that is awesome. 20mph headwind all the way to Coventry is not a fun experience, I can tell you.

Plan the route to go reasonably near various train stations which can get you to your destination, in case your timescales prove optimistic.

Mini cheddars are full of energy. Green and black's chocolate is very welcome in the middle of nowhere.

Also my saddle was definitely not a "comfort" model and it left me tingling for a good couple of days which was quite worrying.

~180mi @ 15mph - took the whole damn day and I was a wreck...

...It took me around 17 hours including breaks. The bike was a hybrid with alfine 8-speed hub gears, toestraps and panniers with not too much in them.

Nutter ;)

That's pretty hardcore.

Mini cheddars are full of energy.

Is this proven by scientists?

Is this proven by scientists?

Yes! We did an experiment at school where we set them on fire and measured how much they heated some water.

Mini cheddars were by far the most energetic.

Here's the route I took from Buxton onwards towards Coventry. Numbers are miles to go after that waypoint.

through Buxton heading for Ashbourne
R at Harpur Hill Rd 0.8
H.Hill Rd turns R becomes Burlow Rd 1.7
R at B5053/Buxton Rd
cont. along B5053 4.4
thru' Longnor
L 1.1
L 1.4
L t/wards B5054/Hulme End 0.7
L at B5054 0.2
R 0.2
R t/ward The Dale 0.9
R at The Dale 79'
Sharp L t/ward Leek Rd 1.9
R t/ward Leek Rd 75'
Follow valley ~4.0
right at river junction
L at A523 495'
R t/ward Dale Ln 1.1
R at Dale Ln 0.9
R at A52 0.6
L t/ward Back Ln 1.6
R at Back Ln 0.4
R at Hall Ln 36'
L thru' Wooten 0.1
L t/ward B5032 1.3
In Ellastone, R at B5032 1.0
Slight L at B5030 1.3
thru' Doveleys(?)
Slight L thru' Rocester to stay on B5030 1.5
R t/ward B5030 thru' Crakemarsh 1.6

Straight outta notebook

I feel lame for relying on GPS now...

You're going to use a GPS?

I am in the process of deciding between three options

1) Use my Garmin Forerunner 205 to keep track of pace and distances. It does not have a mapping function so would be just for recording data. Rely on notes and maps for directions.

2) Use a Garmin Edge

3) Use maps and notes.

Garmin make light work, but if you're used (and brought up on) to using maps and notes, those are plenty enough.

today should be renamed 'national coincidence sunday'

the coincidence relevant to this thread is someone I know is planning to ride from central london via epping forest and then all the way back up to cumbria/keswick. but I think he is taking a more leisurely 5-7day ride instead....
http://www.homeofmillican.com/
(can't find exact link to ride outline!)

also point 'B' on the map is like a 15minute ride from my front door, weird or what O_o

Weird but I tell you what, I'll be grateful to learn from his/her experience! I shall be scrutinising the route shamelessly...

Ed: For rides up to 50mi I normally do ok navigating by memory but I always have the back up option of Google maps on my HTC phone should I get lost. I always have my Forerunner running to log speed data etc.

For new routes up to 100mi I plot the route in imapmyride+ on my HTC and try to ride it without needing to refer to the phone...

I'm new to multiday long rides so I don't know what will be best for me. I've got enough time to prepare route notes and practice so why don't I do both and see which I prefer?

I feel lame for relying on GPS now...

Hey I had a GPS phone too (two of them in fact), but I found the little flip notebook list of directions very handy - you can have it in your pocket and look at it without stopping easily. My phone wouldn't have lasted the journey - your GPS might.

Finally, good luck getting even a GPS signal in the Manifold Valley if you go there. It's the non-urban canyoning effect in action :)

Use whatever methods are available to you - it's a long way and you should try and make it as easy on yourself as possible.

.

Oh and a little bike computer is worth it IMHO. Better than using GPS to count distance and speed. I have a Cateye Micro Wireless and it's OK.

On experiance if you use a Garmin you will still need some kind of paper route as a back up

a good note making technique is 'tulips' as taught to folks doing mtb trail leader courses. on phone but will try to Google link more details for you later.

Don't get hung up on navigation, maps and note sheets should suffice. You have already broken the journey into three days, if you break each day into 36* mile blocks between tea/food stops then you have manageable sections to remember.

Also, what rhowe said about GPS, although extend that to quite a lot of the valleys in the Dark Peak. Also expect no phone signal for significant parts of days 2 and 3.

*36 miles is a personal preference based on my 1ltr water usage for on a warm (not hot) day.

My folks have a got a cycle friendly B&B just south of Windermere. And my Mum's cooking is ace.

http://www.greenacres-lindale.co.uk/

Let me know if you are interested.

Examples of Tulips, more detail than needed on this really, but if you want to go the whole hog this is a full evening in with a map, pen, and some paper...

http://www.donbarrow.co.uk/v4_pro-tulip_road_book_examples.html

Wow rhb, Tulips certainly appeals to the geek in me. What a decent looking system!

Sadly that sounds like a good night in. With some lagers.

Photoben: Thats a really good suggestion. Give me a few weeks to get a draft route sorted and I'll let you know.

My folks have a got a cycle friendly B&B just south of Windermere. And my Mum's cooking is ace.

http://www.greenacres-lindale.co.uk/

Let me know if you are interested.

Awesome, I'll be definitely stopping there before heading up to Wasdale.