After studying the various routes that other cyclists have taken, it was decided to plan a route that avoided busy main roads where possible without going miles out of our way. Using Youth Hostels if they were on the route but B&B's if they were not. Also we wanted to avoid Glasgow/Edinburgh by taking the Ferry from Ardrossan across to the Isle of Arran (highly recommended). Another consideration was that the route must pass Preston (Lancashire) to enable us to spend one night at home.
Once the basic route had been chosen, Ordnance Survey Maps were borrowed from the local Library (aprox. 40 maps) and over a period of time the route transferred onto the pages of a British Road Atlas (4 miles to 1 inch).
The required pages for each day were torn out of the Atlas and sellotaped together. The maps were marked up and also a full description of each days route was printed onto both sides of a pocket sized card which was then laminated.
At this point (January 2002) the first problem was encountered, four out of the five Youth Hostels on the first weeks route were all booked up. So the route was amended and the decision taken to use B & B's for the first week. With a mixture of Hostels and B & B's the second week.
Click here for the full route details.
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