I was looking at this again over the last couple of days. Really not inspired by the central section and thinking that the Wales option is worth pursuing.

If the route visits Tewkesbury (where the Avon and Severn meet) then heads a kilometer down the severn there is a mini ferry that lands at the Lower Lode Inn.

Anyone fancy planning a route that goes from Tewkesbury in an arc from there heading north of the Wye, across to loop around towards Llanidloes and towards the source of the severn. then north for a bit before heading back east under the Dee/Dyfrdwy to finish on the bridge over the M6 near Keele Uni (where the existing route goes.

Theres some good riding in the vicinity of that loop I guess.

a map of welsh river - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... .lakes.jpg

I'd made a start on this. When I get chance I'll crack on and actually finish it.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:I'd made a start on this. When I get chance I'll crack on and actually finish it.

Excellent. I realise this takes the route well away from the original idea. But the route has the potential to be so much better

Send me what you have if you get a minute

Not much to send yet Ian ... at the moment it's either in my head or highlighted on various maps.

Bearbonesnorm wrote:Not much to send yet Ian ... at the moment it's either in my head or highlighted on various maps.

No worries. Just curious

Wow! Great to see that this thread still lives. I've been off my bike with injury for the better part of 10months, just coming back on line now (thank fudge).

I gave some thought to the Midlands Conundrum and came up with the same 2 answers as you guys have:

1. Canal towpaths as close to the true watershed as possible (the purist in me likes this, plus there's something perversely entertaining about a swathe of urban riding), or
2. Cross the Severn nr Tewksbury and and head up via the Malverns and Shropshire Hills before cutting back towards the Pennine Bridleway (the cyclist in me likes this far more).

I'd be forever grateful if you could share your findings with me. It's still somewhere on my radar to give this a go.

Cheers.

https://greatbritishdivide.com/

Goddamnit. I was FAR too slow, and (possibly) stupid to put this route idea on a public forum (though maybe that's a little too paranoid).

Annoying as I'd just (last week) finished putting my version together after coming back from the AMR2020. I had even roped in some people to help scout the gaps between the well known bits.

Balls.

But is that route a divide in the geographical sense or just another event tagging onto the Tour Divide brand? I was playing with computing the real Uk watershed when I did my map-a-day challenge. It is very computational intense so I stopped it as it killed my computer. I must try it again as I’m pretty sure it is nowhere near that route.

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 6:47 pm But is that route a divide in the geographical sense or just another event tagging onto the Tour Divide brand?

err...

I meant watershed divide. No way the UK one would go that far west into Wales

No, that's not the true divide. However it makes little odds. There's already a UK Divide (which is a version of LEJOG) and now a Great Britian Divide. The actual divide (such as it is) will be lost in the chatter (and the mis-use of the already overused "divide" term).

I have plotted the UK watershed. I've also come to the conclusion that the River Severn watershed means that the route goes via some truly dreadful cycling. So even my version (which I've tried to keep vaguely true) has been bastardised to make the riding better.

Also, the GB divide route (with the exception of the Wales bit) is actually pretty close.

The (non-geographic) "UK Divide" would surely need to go through Ireland.

Can't we just drop the Divide moniker for routes that aren't approximating the watershed?

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:52 pm Can't we just drop the Divide moniker for routes that aren't approximating the watershed?

I would get right behind this. It's a geographic term, not a fecking sales pitch.

Seconded

Too late chaps, the cat's out of the bag.

See you at the Dales Divide.

We will let the Dales Divide off as it is £0 as opposed to £275

One rule for the everyman, another for the moneyed elite.

The Class Divide.

Ha!

Also in DD's defence, it does look like the northern part of the route is a pretty good fit for the watershed of the purple river basin flowing down to the Humber estuary

I confess that I'm just bitter I didn't get there first. Looking at the Great British Divide route vs the catchment map above, it's actually not too far off at all. It's been noted before (not just by me) that the Severn Catchment is a total b'stard to work around. And it seems that the route setter has opted to skirt the Welsh side of it, which while being geographically inaccurate, is actually a pretty good solution.

Fair play to whoever dreamed it up. Though for £275, those Checkpoints had better be stocked by Fortnum and Mason.

I must say that I'm starting to become quite confused by all the new routes popping up.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Mon Mar 09, 2020 3:25 pm I must say that I'm starting to become quite confused by all the new routes popping up.

I can handle the number of routes. It's the number of routes calling themselves "Divide" that bothers me.

Yes, I know that given the title of this thread that makes me a hypocrite, but when I started this 4 years ago there was one or two. It's testament to the huge upsurge in bikepacking popularity and the position of the TD as the pinnacle of the sport, but it's getting a bit dull.

I've just re-read most of this thread. And it's a tragedy we never finished it. Ianfitz in particular had done a monumental job of stringing it together.

I can handle the number of routes. It's the number of routes calling themselves "Divide" that bothers me.

The lack of imagination is a worry but I suppose adding the word 'divide' to a route aligns it in peoples minds without said people having to do any real degree of thinking

my guess is if you use the " in words " of the current time, ie divide/gravel then its a way of being able to charge more as more folk are keen coz its cool however another in word at the mo is CORONA, hmmmm may we could come up with some sort of festival where by we could sell corona ( beer that is ).