[LEL17] Alternatives to LEL

[L CC]

There's nothing in Longtown after midnight but misery.

[Karla]

I've got a spare room in York which you're welcome to use - I could send you a key so you can get in at whatever unearthly hour you arrive?

[madcow]

Scotch Corner motorway services are only a mile off route at Middleton Tyas.
Most of it is shut overnight but I think that the Costa bit is open 24 hours.

There is one 24 hour garage just north of the Humber bridge, but they won't let you inside after midnight.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Shell/@53.765056,-0.4510925,16z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x780ae027b887848d!8m2!3d53.7648951!4d-0.4560721?hl=en

There is also a new Shell garage in Pock  which is open 24/7. It's off route by a few hundred metres , nearer the A1079 but you can retrace into Pock without having to use the Hull road.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/''/shell+pocklington/@53.9207119,-0.866333,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x4878d792f62053a7:0x303aac8e988501fb!2m2!1d-0.7962936!2d53.9207323

[Ben T]

There's nothing in Longtown after midnight but misery.

are you implying there's something that isn't misery before midnight?

Longtown Lockerbie and Langholm - like a bermuda triangle of doom!

just ride as fast as possible through there and make sure you haven't got morrissey playing

[madcow]

Longtown Lockerbie and Langholm - like a bermuda triangle of doom!

Not the best choice of phraseology given that at least one of those places has experienced an aircraft falling out of the sky .

[Ivo]

There's nothing 24-hour in Thirsk or Northallerton - it might be easier to go off-route and through York to eat/stock up.

Nowt 24-hour in Barnie either, but Barton Truck Stop World Heritage Site is on the route (where it crosses the A1), and the forecourt is 24-hour. Or Scotch Corner is just up the road.

After that, I don't think there's anything 24-hour until you hit the M74 corridor - Gretna Services, Johnstonebridge and Lockerbie Truck Stop. The Spar garage at Alston opens early (6, I think), and there's plenty in Brampton that'll be open early.

If you are coming south from Edinburgh in the small hours, there probably won't be anything open until you get to Langholm. A mate rode through Eskdalemuir overnight a few weeks back, and had to top up his bottles from rainwater in the puddles.

Old LEL's used to have controls at Barton Truck stop and a Truck Stop in Carlisle.

[Exit Stage Left]

The Carlisle Truck Stop cafe is 24 hours during the week, and is next door to a 24 hour Asda. There's a road to Gretna that goes past it.

[hippy]

Thanks all. Haven't had a chance to visualise or plot any of this stuff on the route yet but it's appreciated. I'll get to it soon and have a better idea of what i should be doing. Plan was roughly 400+ per day stopping whenever i felt the need. Handy to have food stops in mind for the night and remoter bits.

I was going to take my new-to-me waterproof bivvy and nap roadside when tired but hotels, etc certainly not frowned on, depending on weather and mood. I've ridden Gretna to Edinburgh before doing but lejog record route so probably busier roads to these LEL ones.

[hippy]

If I aim for 500k/day x 3 that should leave me nicely trashed for Monday on the sofa.

Just having a quick look now and depending on my speed I could stop at Barton Truck Stop (~430k) which is probably too early to stop or just refill there and push on to Gretna Services (560k, slightly off route) where I've stayed before during LEJOGish. I may just try and get away with a bus stop/bivvy snooze somewhere around the 500k mark and then head up to Edinburgh and start south again but that leaves a lot of apparent emptiness south to deal with - though hopefully I grab enough in Edinburgh.

Couldn't see anything 24h in Longtown. There's a caravan park at Langholm that says 24h but I presume that's the park and not the cafe which doesn't help much.

Just remembered I'll be riding from home so need to add 50k to all these, so perhaps the Barton Truck Stop would be a good shout for a first sleep? ~480k.
Then, if I manage another 500k I could do the same on the way back (or perhaps detour to Scotch Corner services)? Probably being a bit optimistic at my pace though to be honest. Not sure how much I want to push the sleep dep. What will end up happening is I'll just wing it and bivvy wherever, unless it's too wet or cold in which case I'll track down a hotel (I hope).

[hippy]

I've got a spare room in York which you're welcome to use - I could send you a key so you can get in at whatever unearthly hour you arrive?

Mighty kind of you to offer but I'm using this as a bit of a TABR test run so I don't want to make my life too easy

[Phil W]

After you cross the Humber bridge and exit the country park. There's a Premier Inn if you turn left and go about 400m down the road. They have an all you can eat buffet and unlimited coke deal.  About an hour north of Louth there's a solid brick built bus shelter that's good for a kip if you pass when needing a doze. You'll also pass near Hull airport in the Wolds. You may be able to get something to eat there at odd hours.

[hippy]

000k - Ealing
040k - Davenant Foundation School, Loughton
140k - Saint Ives
192k - Spalding
269k - Louth
324k - Kingston Upon Hull
363k - Pocklington
427k - Thirsk
467k - Barton Truck Stop
491k - Barnard Castle
507k - Middleton-In-Teesdale
541k - Alston

So, likely to try and get to Thirsk-BartonTruckStop-BarnardCastle, then kip somewhere.
That would put me in Alston in the morning I guess, assuming I leave Fri morning. So I could stock up there and push on.

[Deano]

At Barton, only the garage forecourt is 24-hour - you'll have to nip up the hill to Scotch Corner to grab a sofa if you want some kip there.

[hippy]

At Barton, only the garage forecourt is 24-hour - you'll have to nip up the hill to Scotch Corner to grab a sofa if you want some kip there.

So I could get food there but I'd need to bivvy out of sight somewhere else? Or by 'garage forecourt' do you mean I can self-service some petrol only?

[Deano]

Nah, you can get food and stuff as it's manned (assuming nowt changes with the A1 roadworks, which isn't a guarantee).

Scotch Corner is less than a quarter of a mile off route, has comfy sofas and a 24-hour Costa. I don't know why you wouldn't use that.

[hippy]

Nah, you can get food and stuff as it's manned (assuming nowt changes with the A1 roadworks, which isn't a guarantee).

Scotch Corner is less than a quarter of a mile off route, has comfy sofas and a 24-hour Costa. I don't know why you wouldn't use that.

I'd plugged Barton in, simply because it was on the route. I have enough trouble following set routes as it is without heading into the great unknown away from the Garmin Purple Line of Truth.
I do have Scotch Corner starred on my Google Maps but I'll put a note in about in on my town cheat sheet. Ta

[hippy]

Are Costa cool with peeps snoozing on their sofas?

[L CC]

Are Costa cool with peeps snoozing on their sofas?

Depends when and where.
I've never had a problem.

[Veloman]

Are Costa cool with peeps snoozing on their sofas?

Quite possibly when they are busy and during the day and if you are wet and/or smelly or splattered with mud.

But at motorway services in the middle of the night then no problem in my experience.

[Whitedown Man]

Are Costa cool with peeps snoozing on their sofas?

Each of the last two years on The Buzzard I've used the Costa at Exeter Services for exactly that - staff have been absolutely fine with it.

[hippy]

Cheers. Sounds good

This is the rough plan, which will obviously go to complete pot when I get pissed tomorrow night and start late after 2hrs sleep, the Garmin dies after 200k and I forget my food money...

000k - Ealing
040k - Davenant Foundation School, Loughton
140k - Saint Ives
192k - Spalding
269k - Louth
324k - Kingston Upon Hull
363k - Pocklington (Shell 24h, York offr)
427k - Thirsk
465k - Middleton Tyas (west to Scotch Corner 24h Services)
*sleep1*
467k - Barton Truck Stop (on-route services)
491k - Barnard Castle
507k - Middleton-In-Teesdale
541k - Alston (10pm Co-Op, Spar)
570k - Brampton
590k - Longtown (Gretna offr)
612k - Johnstonebridge/Annandale Water Services (offr)
640k - Moffat
715k - Edinburgh
---
044k - Innerleithen
054k - Gorden Arms (www.thegordonarms.com)
110k - Langholm (Servo 7-7, Co-Op)
127k - Longtown (Gretna offr)
144k - Brampton
175k - Alston (10pm Co-Op, Spar)
*sleep2*
209k - Middleton-In-Teesdale
225k - Barnard Castle
246k - Barton Truck Stop (on-route services)
250k - Middleton Tyas (west to Scotch Corner 24h Services)
286k - Thirsk (York offr)
351k - Pocklington (Shell 24h)
388k - Humber Services/Premier Inn
417k - Calstor
443k - Louth
522k - Spalding
581k - St Ives
605k - Cambridge
694k - Loughton
740k - Ealing

[hippy]

Got as far as Carlisle and pulled the pin since it was windy as hell and I was moving too slow (sounds just like LEJOG... what is it with me and heading into Scotland) and didn't want to take the whole four days.

In case anyone is wondering the first 600k at least didn't present any obvious GPS routing issues. It was a little busy outside of Spalding I think and I overshot a couple of turns but the GPS seemed correct and it was just me not quite getting the right turn.

Since I was wet I didn't want to bivvy so stayed a few hours at Old Oak Tree, Beck Ln, South Kilvington, Thirsk YO7 2NL - they left the door open for me for my late arrival. Quite nice and cheaper than Prem Inn.

Barton Truck Stop has a cafe above the service station but they don't start frying until 9am

Still, got in a days riding and saw parts of the UK I've never been to before. Maybe the familiarity with the Carlisle-Edinburgh bit bred contempt? Pennines were beaut but that bloody wind was ridiculous.

[jsabine]

Wind was bad enough on our Arrow, and it was abeam for most of the route - we only really flogged dead into it for 30 miles or so across the Wolds.

Sorry you didn't get further than Carlisle, but sounds like a sterling effort nonetheless.

[hippy]

I tested some new stuff and found some more issues with my current setup, plus I was only down to do 24hrs so I technically achieved my training goal. Still always a tinge of disappointment to leave things unfinished. I can't even blame a Garmin for this one