I am keen to take 5-6 days off work and go and do one of the long distance cycle routes up north on my hardtail mountain bike. I've probably left it a bit too late in the year to camp, although I do have a winter bag which should cope but I will be on my own and my tent is around 2.7kg already without the addition of a mat, cooking gear, etc (I hiked the Dales Way with it all and it was pretty heavy!). Can anyone recommend any routes that have bunkbarns or hostels along the way? From what I've seen, there aren't too many along some of the routes and I would have to use hotels or B and Bs which I'd rather not do due to their cost. I'm not fussed for doing it in the fastest time possible if taking more time means I can utilise the bunkbarns etc. It also needs to be a route that's accessible by train either end as I am based in Leeds with no car! Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
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 Pleased to see I'm not the only girl who likes to head off on her bike for a week  Sorry, I'm not a lot of use on cycle routes with hostels etc, I've always gone in the summer and taken a very lightweight tent (did a few days from Holyhead down to Dolgellau this summer, but then had mechanical problems!) Have fun!
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 Southern Uplands way has lots of Bothies on it. It could be worth a look. http://www.southernuplandwayholidays.com/cycle-the-southern-upland-way-c106.html Or maybe the Pennin Bridleway http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/PennineBridleway/
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| Edited: 18/10/09 17:04 |
 How far north? You could do the Sustrans C2C from home. Northwest over the Dales & Lakes to the start, do the C2C, come back over the NYM. I'd be impressed if I did that in six days. How off-road you make it is up to you. On the C2C there's Youth Hostels at Keswick & Edmundbyers. The one at Edmundbyers I can recommend.
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I'd look at Youth Hostels, and then just make up your own route between them?
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Plan your own taking in Bunk Barns
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.jpg) I usually plan my own routes stopping at B&B's, saves carrying a tent and sleeping bag, plus also you get a good breakfast.
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You could maybe have considered the southern section of the Sustrans Coast & Castles route. I did it from Sunderland to Aberdeen in 7.5 days. You could take the train to Newcastle upon Tyne and start there. You should then be able to reach Edinburgh in about four days, or longer if you just want to explore and (say) visit Lindisfarne. There were several good commercial campsites between Newcastle and Berwick. I had a rough camp west of Berwick and also used the SYHA hostel at Melrose. There are choices of campsites or hostels at Edinburgh. I can recommend www.thetrainline.com for really good fares. My single returning from Aberdeen to Newcastle would normally have cost around £85 but I got it for £17! You need to be sure to book your bike at the same time as space is at a premium and the guard checks your booking. If you didn't want to fork out for the train to Newcastle and if you could get across to Hull then I spose you could take Route 65 or Route 1 north..
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