Couple more photos:






upload image

I guess I asked for that.

No intention to split it just yet. But thanks for the offer.

This is going well!

Any offers?

Hi, I've just finished building up a really interesting MTB, which I've been putting together on the basis of things like the HT550 and the Tour Divide. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B05GvFTNrqL3UGpHN3UzNmhubzA/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B05GvFTNrqL3UGpHN3UzNmhubzA/view?usp...

While the idea of adding the Welsh divide is certainly tempting, in my opinion it differs too much from the geographic divide as defined by the topography of the UK landmass. Sure, it ticks a catchy geopolitical box, and the chances are better than good that the riding would be great. But to me, it'...

This a key decision in planning the route While I can't claim any greater authority over this process than anyone else, my view is that the Avon Loop, to some extent, should be there. The Avon is one of the biggest rivers in the country, to ignore it entirely would be to sort of miss the point. Plu...

There's been an brilliant response to this idea. So thank's to everyone who has chipped in so far. The vast knowledge and enthusiasm on this forum has only gone to show me up for the utter fraud that I've always known myself to be. That being said, fraud or not, I'm genuine about trying to ride this...

Nice One! I've got a few days off after Easter - if my Ridgeway Double plans are scuppered by bad weather, i'll go and ride some of the Southern sections of this (in the region of the 150-300km markers) and report back. Great! The Cotswold bit is quite close to me, so I can check the top end of thi...

Hi, based on the GPX track for the actual geographic divide, I've (very clumsily) used Ridewithgps to plot the first 500km. I've tried to use bridleways, green lanes and tracks as far as possible, but inevitably there are road sections too. Since I have little knowledge of the SE I can't say that th...

4. The S and SE looks tricky all the way to Calne (though not impossible) the South Downs Way is still an option to make a lot of it easier to follow and accomplish. Does anyone have any thoughts? Do we take the South Downs, of find a route through the Weald? I'm looking at this at the moment and s...

Following the Avon loop pushes you away from Birmingham doesn't it? Which is good for avoiding urban areas. If you ignore the Avon loop you can get from Derby to near Tamworth (and on to Birmingham if you so wish) via a pretty rough/bumpy canal path (Trent and Mersey? - I can dig out the GPX track ...

Amazing response from everyone. So, to summarise we have the following 'rules' 1. The start and end must be the watershed (within legal and accessible reason) 2. The route should use the watershed as a guide, but not at the expense of poor riding or missing an absolute gem (this rule is kind of vagu...

Excellent. I have been doing a bit of gpx doodling, Scotland based, this lunchtime. There's quite a nice looking route from the base of glen golly to dunnet head on forest, estate and back roads, I'm guessing that that part of the world could be a bit heavy going off tracks! It looks pretty sensibl...

I know we haven't actually got a route yet, but to help provide a bit of focus for all concerned, I wondered if we should set a date for the Group Start? :lol: Next year some time? What would be the best time of year? late June when the days are longest? its going to be loooong. even a very simple ...

Firstly I think that we'd need to settle on a start and end point - technically I suppose the two points should be the junctions between the North Sea and the Atlantic. The northern one is Dunnet Head, the southern is Leathercote Point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea. From that I'd mark out...

Not sure if anyone has mentioned Alpamayo Designs yet? They've recently launched as a new bikepacking bag company ( http://www.alpamayodesigns.com ). Jam Bo and I used some of the early designs in Iceland last summer and it proved to be top quality kit. Definitely worth a look if you're in the marke...

6. Kennet and Avon Canal to Devizes That section is cheeky isn't it? I thought you had to go on the road from Kintbury to Devises Good to know, thanks! It looks like you can jump onto the White Horse Way from just north of Burbage at Burbage Wharf. Between Kintbury and Burbage Wharf there looks to ...

Erm hmmmm! just to make a point.... I think you'll find the UK might start at either Hermaness or Saxavord on Unst ( where I am just now :-bd) There is a watershed down the 'spine' of Shetland, though you'd be a better bike pusher/carrier than me to do it strictly! Then Orkney to Scrabster before y...

Having spent several hours pouring through the OS Maps on Bing and the Sustrans maps a few things have become clear: 1. Yes, it's doable. BUT there are going to be quite a few on-road sections. I expect these will diminish the further north you go. 2. Using canal tow paths might help a bit http://ww...

ctznsmith wrote:Too far south for glaciation isn't it?

For the ice, yes. For the significant effects of meltwater and post-glacial Isostatic rebound, no.

Any info you can provide would be gratefully absorbed! Cheers.

If the south downs way is below the watershed and the north downs way is the bit above it that goes across to Dover, what's the watershed on? That's an excellent question, and I'll be the first to admit that the geomorphology of the SE isn't my strong suit. However if you go to the Geology viewer o...

Doesn't the Tour Divide have to divert around some wilderness areas where cycling isn't allowed? As close as is practical would be a starting point. It seems to. But there also seem to be areas where fairly dull looking tracks (which are very close to the geographic divide) have been sacrificed in ...

Been following this and it all looks very interesting. To answer questions relating to how pure the route needs to be, has any compared the TD with the actual watershed? I seem to recall that the TD route crosses the "divide" a dozen or so times, but I'd be interested to see if the route ...

So here is the same watershed map with the HT550, Pennine Bridleway and South Downs marked on (bear in mind this is all super-rough). There are a lot of gaps, but I reckon is shows promise.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B05GvF ... sp=sharing

jam bo wrote:and no, I'm not coming with you.

Yes, you are.