Re: Round the houses Tour
 

ref sticking to the coastline as much as poss, bejeezuz, ah thought that was just me :p

glad to see a few of you do that as well, yep, it can be slow going at times but you see some magnificent views.

Have done from Glasgow right along the coast down to Mull of Galloway (even right round the funny shaped bit north of Stranraer, right round that bit as well). Then along the coast to Dumfries, right across the borders (keeping as close to the line as possible), then right up along the coast finishing at South Queensferry.

The last bit I done was from St Andrews down the coast to North Queensferry, the road from Crail to Elie had some gorgeous views and the harbours were stunning as well.

Roll on the summer :D

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

Having read and absorbed your comments and looked in more detail at the route, miles and road type i will bow to the superiority of your garnered experience and wisdom and accept that the timings may have been slightly ambitious. I also looked at incorporating some of the Islands but feel these actually deserve a trip of their own (5 day island hopper from calmac) as many ferries and islands as you can fit in, which i will look at later (2010?)
In order to make the proposal more appealing and allow adequate time for proper appreciation for the many marvels the route has to offer i have a new proposal.
Split it in two. A lowland ramble and a highland rollercoaster. This gives a number of benefits:
less rigorous riding schedule,
Geographical orientation to allow others to join in,
2 shorter trips less fatigue on rider, bike, personal commitments,
May act as "bolt on" to Essex Lounges' tour of scotland.

To this end I have done a first pass (somebody really needs to teach me the intricases of google maps) at the lowland Route as this will probably be the first one. Same as before, sticking to the edge of Bonny Scotland as closely as possible. This Gives a route of approx 750 miles so probably 3 days. Possible stops around Dumfreis area and lochgilphead / inveraray?? again only rough ideas at the moment.

Again open to comments / advice and anyony that feels they may want to join for all or some of it.

Thanks,

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

I'm defiantly up for as much as possible.
I'm afraid I can't offer much in the way of help on routes as I seem to just remember roads when I'm on them but have no idea what the name is or what town it went through.

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

I'm up for tagging along, definately. I can help with routes/scouting for any of the roads in D&G if that's any help to you?

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

Ok first pass at part on of this tour, 3 days for everything south of The Clyde and the Tay...

day 1 home to Glasgow to stranraer right down the west coast. 230 miles 7 hours

Day 2 Stranraer to Kelso skirting the border 230 miles 6 hours

Day 3 Kelso to perth then home 230 miles 7 hours.

Picked Glasgow and perth as they then allow the next parts to pick up nice and easily, ie perth heading NE and glasgow heading Nw.

Picked Stranraer and Kelso as stops as i know i can get a bed for the night there, but this can be moved to suit. Probably looking at this in april, warmer, time for me to build up my stamina.

Comments welcome:takeabow:

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

Just my input......

Most of day two, the roads don't stick close enough to the coast to make it worth riding them on a "coastal tour". An inland road is an inland road, if you can't see the sea you might as well be miles from it. Just take the fastest road that gets you to the next one where you can see the sea. By doing that you could really cut Kirkcudbright to Dumfries out by using the A75, then extend the route to include Edinburgh and home and cover it in two days (moving end of day one further round to Kirkcudbright or Dumfries if necessary). Picking up the next section of the tour at the Forth Bridge.

For people who live in Glasgow they can choose whether to ride home at the end of day two and return back to the Forth Bridge in the morning (an extra 80-90 miles) or set up camp near Edinburgh somewhere.

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

Not technically a Coastal tour more a circumnavigation of Scotland, in reality 7/8ths of the border is coast so can understand the confusion.

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

The confusion was.....

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

My bad, corrected ;)

Re: Round the houses Tour
 

Anyway, you should follow the coast road even if you can't see the sea otherwise nasty little pedants like me will call you a cheat. To your face!