[Joinee Kristoff]

So then, I've (possibly foolishly) decided that in Spring 2011, with absolutely ZERO training, I'm going to attempt to cycle from Coast to Coast (Whitby to Bleakpool) via 5 other locations, playing a gig in each location each day.

I will do this with no money of my own (other than absolute emergency money), any fees I get paid will go towards the charity, any sponsorship and donations on the night of the gig will also go to charity. I will have to rely on the kindness of gig promoters and punters at the gigs to shelter me, and hopefully provide me with food, and all with just a ukulele (which I'm going to beg Kala for a travel uke to do this with haha) and two changes of clothing!

But what I need right now, is a way of planning my journey, and getting an idea how long this will all take!

Does anybody know of any route planners for cyclists?

[Gaz]

Cycle-route.com is a good place to look - someone might already have done it and logged it!

This post has been edited by Gaz: 01 August 2010 - 08:12 PM

[Joinee Kristoff]

Hmm, any existing routes aren't going via the places I'm intending on playing gigs at. *continues mooching to see if I can find anything else on there that may help me*

I'm fearing I may just have to Google Map it, avoiding motorways, and trying to have a stab in the dark at how long each leg will take me (bearing in mind, I'm the most unfit person in the world... which is why I'm doing it with no training, because there's no fun or challenge in me doing what to an experienced rider is a fairly doable journey, with 5 stops on the way!! lol)

[Poohbah (Gsq)]

Someone's already done everything. I once decided it'd be a genius idea to segway across Canada.

Someone had already done it. AND made a film about it.

Actually, I think they Segwayed across America, rather than Canada. But still. The effect is much the same (a very cold, bored person on a Segway for several months).



... I don't think any of that has helped you.

So: good luck!!

Actually, from Whitby, if I was you I'd consult a map of the North York Moors and pick a nice quiet route to get across it, coming out somewhere on the A170. You could do the main route that comes out in Pickering but that's the route that everyone drives, so whilst it's hardly DEAD BUSY, you'll still have a lot of traffic - and if you're cycling across 500 square miles of beautiful wilderness, you might as well go along a route that doesn't involve traffic! Oooo you could maybe follow pretty much the way the steam train goes - Whitby, Grosmont, Goathland, Levisham, Pickering... hmm, no I think that'd just bring you out onto the main Whitby/Pickering road. Maybe from Grosmont head towards Rosedale Abbey (that's the name of a village) - there's actually a STUNNING bike track just above Rosedale Abbey.... it goes along old ironworks... it's what used to be an old railway line...

Anyway, yeah, you really need to get some maps of roads and paths in the North York Moors that you can cycle along, because there's some absolute stunners (with some steep hills!!!)...

OK. I've almost helped now. Probably more than when I was rambling on about segways in North America anyway...!

(Oh, there's not exactly anywhere to do a gig in the middle of the moors where people will go - well, actually, there IS an uber-cool little venue bang in the middle of the moors, but I think they only have genuine "I've had a record in the charts" musicians do gigs there - but it'd be a very nice cycle to get you to a town somewhere where you could do a gig. It would admittedly be the long way around. But it would be breathtakingly beautiful! Whereas the A170 from Scarborough to Thirsk isn't exactly the unprettiest road in the world, and has some nice views... but it's not quite the same.)

This post has been edited by Poohbah (Gsq): 01 August 2010 - 08:31 PM

[Poohbah (Gsq)]

(Goathland is a fun place to go through, because that's where Heartbeat and bits of Harry Potter were filmed...)

[spannz15]

mapmyride.com I swears by its brother mapmyrun.com

[Joinee Hathorn]

http://www.cyclestreets.net/ is a really nice cycle route site, although I suspect it might be slighty better on urban routes, I particularly like the route height above sea-level bit...

[Joinee Kristoff]

Thanks for your advice! I shall give some of them a go. My first stop isn't going to be a venue in the moors, I'm planning on doing 50miles the first day, to York on the first day, then the following days shorter legs as I become more and more knackered

Whitby to York, to Leeds, to Hebden Bridge, to Manchester, to Preston, to Blackpool

edit : Also, I saw Heartbeat being filmed, the episode where Greengrass hires a JCB and digs for treasure, but actually hits a water pipe. I saw that sequence, we (my family) where also asked to wear some period clothing and mooch about the train station as background extras, but my dad wanted to get back to the campsite the miserable twunt) lol

This post has been edited by Joinee Kristoff: 02 August 2010 - 10:50 AM