Tentative Tour, London, Edinburgh, John O'Grotes

[mickeg]

I am planning my next bike tour.  I have never been to the UK before, so I thought I would mention it here, where many if not most forum users are in the UK.

Just a bit of background, I started planning a LEJOG trip in 2019.  Then Covid happened.  Later, got back to the planning on that and decided that was too much of a trip, dropped that plan.  Thus, twice I started planning a UK trip, both times did not follow though.  Maybe this time will be different.

Tentative plan:

Fly to Edinburgh.  Why am I flying to Edinburgh?  Delta flys there.  They also fly to London.  But I would rather avoid flying in and out of such a busy airport in such a huge metro area, so do not want to fly to London.  And the photos I see of Edinburgh makes that look like a very interesting place.

Stay in a hostel in Edinburgh for probably two nights while I reassemble my bike, look at maps, talk to people, buy butane canisters, buy some food, do a bit of sightseeing, etc. 

Then take a train to London.  Looks like there are two train options, Avanti or LNER, both of which have the same luggage criteria.  I have no clue which train to take.  Stay in a London hostel, probably about three nights.  Play tourist.  Avoid the extreme tourism spots, but check out museums, etc. 

Then start riding my bike north, aim for Edinburgh.  Once I leave London, I would have no reservations, until a few days before my flight home.  So I can travel at whatever pace I want to, can camp on nice days and look for a hostel when I want to get out of the rain.

Over the weekend I was looking at maps, putting hostels and campsites into my GPS, etc.  I also looked at Ride With GPS, looked to see if anyone had planned out a ride like that before.  Someone had mapped out a route that looked like it was on quiet trails and back roads, about 15 percent unpaved.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49188937

I have not yet looked to see what Komoot says about London to Edinburgh, so I am not yet sure if that RideWithGPS route is the right one for me.  But tentatively, I like the looks of that route.

Plan is to mostly camp in campgrounds, occasionally hostels if I want to get out of the rain.

When I get to Edinburgh, relax a day or two at the hostel, then keep going north towards John-O-Groats.  Then turn around and back to Edinburgh.  The part of the track on this ride that is north of Edinburgh is probably what I would do.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/43518622

But I still plan to compare that to what Komoot might suggest.

Or if I am going too slow and can't make the distance I planned, turn back early to make sure I make my flight home on time. 

Or, if I get lazy, cut the trip shorter and see how many photos I can get of Nessie.

And fly home after about six weeks.  But first do a bit more sightseeing in Edinburgh while I am packing up my bike, etc.  The hostel there will store my S&S backpack case.

I am looking at a trip that would start in about two months, I have made no reservations yet.  So far I have about $35 USD invested in a map and renewal of my Hi Hostel membership.  But if I do this, I will probably start making reservations in a week.

The Nomad Mk II is a heavier duty bike than I need for a trip like that, but having an S&S coupled bike so I can avoid oversize luggage makes that the right bike for this trip.  I was thinking 40mm tires, until I realized that about 15 percent of that route out of London is unpaved, so would probably use 50 or 57mm wide tires on the Nomad if I take that route. 

Thoughts anyone?

[PH]

All in my opinion:
My favorite route planner for the UK is cycletravel, it picks out the sort of quiet roads and trails I like:
https://cycle.travel/

The National Cycle Network (NCN) is a mix of on and off road paths and trails, it generally avoids anything too extreme.  It isn't perfect and can sometimes meander unnecessarily, but it often makes a good basis. If you don't mind the hills, The Pennine Cycleway (NCN 68) will take you from Derby in the midlands to Berwick on the Scottish border:
https://cycle.travel/route/pennine_cycleway

The Southern part of the Coast and Castles route (NCN 1) overlaps with the Pennine Cycleway from Newcastle then continues up to Edinburgh. 
London to Derby has loads of options, depending on your interests, but to be honest if I had limited time in the UK, I might find better ways to spend it.
If you don't do the Pennine Cycleway, your choice is East or West of the Pennines, you don't want to be crossing them too often.  East is flatter and drier, West is a good bit more urban, but you do get the option of going through the Lake District.
Andy Corless's E2E Audax route that you've linked to, pretty much takes the shortest practical cycle route, it's well thought out for that purpose, but for a tour, there are better options. The A9 North on Inverness is used by a lot of E2E riders, I don't think it's a nice ride.
Once North on Inverness, there's not much to see, that can be nice in a way, but the landscape doesn't change much.  I understand the appeal of ticking off the most Northerly point, but the most Westerly, Ardnamurchan, could be a much more interesting ride - You could also come back from there via two ferries, the isle of Mull, and one of the UK's most dramatic train rides.

Hope that gives you something to think about!  Happy to elaborate on any part of it, not upset if someone else has a contradictory opinion on any of it.