my Scottish mission! future planning help!!

[jonnyboy666]

so gents, i am gonna try my best to come visit you guys in august for the national on the 14th (the sunday). i know it's way off but i want to try and get organised as time soon speeds on!

bearing in mind i live in southampton, the furthest point i could possibly be from you!!! my plan is to drive up via wales and riding at a couple of places on the way then do the same on the way back down.

this is the plan for the trip up, drive to afan forest, about 3 1/2 hours, ride in the afternoon then continue driving to dolgellau, about 2 hours north (near coed y brenin) and stay the night, ride the next day and again stay the night. then get up and ride coed y brenin again then leave for scotland which according to google etc is about 4-5 hours to roughly where the meet is.

what i want to know is what are the recommended riding areas i should be looking for?(other than the organised ride) the way i see it is scotland is such a long trip that i might aswel make the most of the time i am up there.

time wise i will have loads as i work shifts and i am off work from 4th to the 21st assuming my shift doesn't change between now and then, so i can be pretty flexible as to which days i go or how long i can stay, also i can add an extra day or so if i'm having fun!!

any recommendations will be awesome as it will help me plan what i'm gonna do.

also if anyone is available for a ride on any of the days that would be cool as i'd love the company!

also any recommendations for b+b's or campsites (with showers) would be helpful.

cheers gents

jon

 

[velomaniac]

After Wales before Scotland you should check out the Lake District, couple of good trail centres, one at Grizedale by Windermere and another at Whinlatter by Keswick. The latter is a good challenge with veiws to die for

Remember there are of course the 7 stanes trail centres. Ae, Mabie, Dalbeatie, Kiroughtree, Newcastleton all in Dumfries and Galloway plus Kielder just inside England. Plus Glentress and Innerleithen near Edinburgh.

Rough camping is possible in many rural settings in Scotland plus there are bothies, bunkhouses, Scottish YHA hostels, campsites gallore, B&B's a plenty etc. Just avoid Edinburgh in August unless you like crowds as the Festival and Fringe pack the street of the capital making finding somewhere to stay a bit tough.

 

[jonnyboy666]

was thinking of stopping in the lakes/peaks etc on the way back down, i don't want to be too knackered when i hit scotland, it might end up being about 6 or 7 days on the trot riding, riding slowly on my own after the meet would be fine but i don't want to hold the group up by being too tired.

so which are the nearest to drumlanrig?

 

[velomaniac]

Ae and Mabie are close to Dumfries which lies a few miles south of Drumlanrig. Dalbeaties the next one along from those.

 

[jonnyboy666]

coolio, need to start thinking about a route between them etc

are these trail marked trail centres? the sort where you just turn up and follow a marked route meaning no need for maps etc? i ask because i suck with maps!!

 

[kaya]

Jon I can't help you with the Scottish leg of your travels but I can tell you your times for traveling in Wales are way off. Wales in August is a car park, the roads are more like B roads and very slow going. Ive surfed most of the Welsh coast and still have nightmares thinking about getting from point A to point B, but on the plus side its a beautiful country and I never got board of being in it.
As your going to be passing you may as well ride the Marin trail at Betws-y- Coed and then you can have a wander round the waterfalls, its just up the road from Coed-y-Brenin, you could also think about riding Snowdon there is a voluntary ban between 9-5 (I think that's the right times) but you could set off mid afternoon and then descend after 5 :twisted:

Have a good trip
kaya


.

 

[jonnyboy666]

well the 2 hours from afan to dolgellau is maybe 1/2 hour more but i have done that trip quite few times and i don't mind if it is a bit longer as i won't be riding again till the following morning.

the dolgellau to scotland time is based on google maps to drumlanrig.

i was thinking about the marin trail but i prefer coed y brenin, i know there is another trail not to far away beginning with a "P" but i can't think of the name!

anyway it's all planning at the mo so we'll see what happens, it's more looking for ideas at the mo, places i have been and want to fit in and places i haven't been i want to try.

either way i think it will be an epic week or so

 

[Mr Panda]

Jon I can't help you with the Scottish leg of your travels but I can tell you your times for traveling in Wales are way off. Wales in August is a car park, the roads are more like B roads and very slow going.
kaya


.

Very true - i used to go over to Brecon and Snowdonia a lot from London. Mental traffic when I got there. Same with the lakes at peak times.

My advice would be to get north of Edinburgh/Glasgow, like 100 miles north, then things start to get interesting

...depends what your after riding-wise really.


August = Midgies, big time. :twisted:

 

[kaya]

Stunning view Mr P
If I was planing a trip to Scotland then I'd have to include somewhere in the highlands its such a cool place, Especially as your traveling from the other end of the country.

With a bit of luck I should be at the Drumlanrig ride so you can tell me all about your road trip

 

[jonnyboy666]

just got back from the pub, been google mapping the various names of places listed above to suss out where abouts they all are.

lots of options!! :shock: you lucky locals!! not jealous of all those options in close proximity at all!!

anyway, which would be considered to be the best riding (aswel as being easy to follow) for the other days?

i am thinking 8 days in total,

day 1, drive to afan, ride in the afternoon, then drive on to dolgellau and stay the night

day 2, ride at coed y brenin then stay the night

day 3, ride at coed y brenin, then drive north to scotland and stay the night

day 4, ride at drumlanrig for the retro meet

day 5, which place to ride?

day 6, which place to ride?

day 7, which place to ride?

day 8, drive half way home, where to ride?

i have 3 days unspoken for which could all be in Scotland, having checked where Drumlanrig is there are alot of options relatively local so which do you guys think are the best?

meaning, waymarked routes, route options, cafe, showers, etc

and for the record i'll probably have 3 bikes with me, 1 modern full suss, 1 modern hardtail, and a retro weapon, so knowing that the car parks are relatively secure would be good, unless a local is happy to house them for me when not in use.

cheers by the way, this info has been very helpful