I want to go on a major cycling ride to and through Britain and Ireland soon. I've got nearly the entire month of October off work, to do it.. And here's a plan. But is it viable?

I'd cycle from Nijmegen to Hook of Holland, then from Harwich through London to the South Coast to re-visit Brighton. Continuing on to Exeter, then up to Bristol, passing Stonehenge on my way to Reading, then to Stratford and back down again to Gloucester, Cardiff and Pembroke. I'd then grab the ferry across to Ireland, where I'd do a big circular movement through Cork, Tralee, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, to Belfast and down again to Dublin or Dun Laoghaire for another ferry across to Holyhead. No finally towards my holy grail: Scotland. But not via a quickest route: first to Chester, Manchester, Leeds, York, Newcastle and then finally to Edinburgh. Then going West via Stirling and Fort William to the Isle of Skye and Stornoway (obviously not cycling across the Atlantic), back to the mainland at Ullapool and then passing Thurso and Wick before getting back to Inverness. Then to Glasgow via Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth, and on through Ayr to reminisce at Stranraer and Port Patrick. I haven't been there since the student exchanges in 1993. Lastly, I'd go back East through the Borders to Newcastle, from where I'd ferry back to Amsterdam and on to home. Ambitious? Aye. But it's mouthwatering prospect!

Labels: travel