A week before starting a new job & without any adventures/trips planned, I chose Second City Divide (SCD) ~600km “all-road”, scenic route from Glasgow to Manchester; packed my bags, booked a one way train ticket & set off. SCD has been on my radar for some time and has mostly been gathering dust, as one of those “some day” projects.

“3 to 6 days - don’t underestimate it” - SCD FAQ

Having weighed up route profile, my fitness, (moderate) experience, and wish for a relaxed trip [¹] I earmarked 4-5 day completion. Due to remoteness and wish to wing as much of the trip as possible I wild camped all along the route, following leave no trace principles (there are campsites, hotels and bothies on/near the route if you chose the more comfortable approach).

Monday 25th - Late start

I traveled from Liverpool Lime Street (LIV) to Glasgow Central (GLC) via change at Preston (£34.9 with a railcard) on Monday 25th of July. Cancellation of LIV -> PRE train and subsequent lack of bike spaces on PRE -> GLC service leading to a 3-4h change instead of original 20mins, didn’t make much of a difference to me (apart from being annoying) [¹].

After arriving in Glasgow ~6pm, I bought abysmal fish and chips from a chippy around the corner from the station. Even whilst hungry, I barely managed to eat half of the portion. I began the ride ~18:38 with 2h of daylight remaining.

Start of the route was quite underwhelming, busy city and suburban roads led to standard british farm roads, which led to a dead-end road with several properties. This was first of many times I questioned the route. As it turned out, I had to wade through waist high grass field behind someone’s back garden to reach a forest track.

Having learnt from my midge related mistakes last year, I applied anti-bug spray and threw on a head net (worth the investment!) as soon as I found something to lean my bike against. Riding through Whitlee wind farm was fun and definitely a good taster of what’s to come later: beautiful, expansive, big sky views with hardly a soul in sight.

As I was exiting the grounds of the wind farm, it began to get dark, I was nowhere near either of the spots I intended on camping in when I left Glasgow. I precariously persevered for another hour and a bit, riding along sleepy towns and even beginning a gravel climb with limited visibility. Having found a quiet spot along a gravel track above Lanark decided to call it a day.

	~60km, ~917m asc, 3h21min moving time, Strava Activity, Komoot Tour

Tuesday 26th - Trust the .gpx

Woke up near some ruins and a fly tip site, sheltered from the wind. Early start ~7:30am, even in mid-summer was chilly, but with rolling terrain and well paved surfaces was fast going. After ~10km I got a glimpse of wilderness to come; an uphill grass trail with fallen trees and waist tall grass in all directions between Howgate and Lochyock hills. En route I was followed by a bird of prey and deer bouncing in distant fields.

This was followed by a very fast gravel-to-paved road where I narrowly avoided road closure (diggers were unloading and workers arriving as I exited ‘closed’ road). Stopped in Crawford truckers stop for some late breakfast (full Scottish, tea and cake) where I met truck drivers who have been all over the world - definitely a worthwhile place to stop for food and a chat. Proceeded via wind farm behind Crawford where terrain was unforgiving and unrelenting, as fun as descends were, they didn’t feel worth the climbs (especially into the headwind…).

When I initially investigated this route I hoped to stop at the Gameshope bothy for my first night, but since plans were scrapped I could ignore it. However, having forgotten which turn to ignore en route, I took an unnecessary detour before having to turn around, climb back down to valley floor, just to go back up via horribly steep climb. Fortunately views and descent that followed more than made up for the work.

Stopped for coffee at the Glen Café near St. Mary’s Loch just before it shut for the day. Another infuriating up and over followed with some proper hike-a-bike sections. Then came another dead-end with .gpx pointing to another overgrown path into the forest (see below). Reluctantly I gave it a go before my path was cut off by fallen trees and a precarious walk down to a gravel track on the other side of the forest/tree plantation. Rough-stuff as advertised I suppose.

At this point I was quite tired, but kept failing to find a suitable place to pitch a tent. I carried on for some time, riding into Scottish Borders area. With daylight running short I managed to find a flat patch of grass by calm stream. Seemed like a natural spot to call it a day.

	~137km, ~2289m asc, 8h45min moving time, Strava Activity, Komoot Tour

Notes:

• Mobile signal was quite poor between St. Mary’s Loch and Scotland/England border (up to ~10miles south past where I stopped for the day)
• Trust the gpx
• Don’t feed the Glasman

Wednesday 27th - Border crossing

Woke up to sound of sheep’s bah’s, and sunlight warming half of my tent. Shouldn’t have come as a surprise seeing as I pitched my tent on one of the only flat pieces of ground with low grass. Having slept in and having a wash in the river after a massive day felt great! This was the point where the trip really started to feel like an adventure. Took ~10 miles of riding and climbing half way up to Scotland/England border to finally get signal. Having wiped maps from my Wahoo during trip to France week prior, this was my chance to re-download England maps and ensure I had working navigation for rest of the trip.

Descend into Kielder forest was as nice as any Scottish equivalent to my pleasant surprise. I was riding on getting food at the visitor centre for a late breakfast/early lunch. On arrival all places seemed too commercial to be welcoming and inclusive of cyclists. When I was about to either throw my bike over into the beer garden of a near by kitchen/bar or leave, I bumped into another touring ready cyclist - Stuart, who was also exploring SCD!

We left our bikes behind, got a table and a meal with bunch of drinks each as we shared stories and experiences along the route. It turns out he set off Monday morning, and even with half-day lead I managed to overtake him. Possibly because I opted out for grim road side ‘camp spots’ opposed to comfy bothies! - (not a brag, should’ve stopped at least one bothy)

We carried on together through remoteness of northern England and Hadrian’s wall. Hearty noodles and a pint for tea felt well earned after reaching Haltwhistle. Met a chap who moved to Haltwhistle from Norway after ‘76 winter and a young lad who was touring from Newcastle. Me & Stuart decided to make a sensible call and find a spot to kip while the night was young instead of risking riding further and not finding anything for hours. Slept at the end of some estate. Happy to report didn’t get trampled by deer overnight.

	Searching for signal, ~15km, ~350m asc, 1h moving time, Strava Activity, Komoot Tour
	~82km, ~1130m asc, 5h moving time, Strava Activity, Komoot Tour

Thursday 28th - Calling it a day

The morning was wet and miserable. Me and Stuart stopped for food and hot cuppa in Alston, and after some consideration both decided to put a pin in the trip in this town. Weather was only going to get worse and we had the biggest climb of the whole route to overcome - Cross Fell. Additionally, I didn’t want to start my new job utterly knackered.

We rode over Hardside pass with wet and muddy Cross Fell being covered by a heavy cloud it seemed like we made the right call! With another pit-stop in Penrith me and Stuart parted ways, while I headed south towards Kendal to catch a train home, Stuart rode across Lake District home.

Riding parallel to M6 and into Lake district was miserable. Amount of motor traffic and quality of driving was nothing to be envious of, easily the worst part of the entire trip. If bike reservations weren’t mandatory and bike spaces more ample on west coast main line, I definitely would’ve ended the day in Penrith instead.

	~89km, ~1390m asc, 4h36min moving time, Strava Activity, Komoot Tour

Summary

• Trust the gpx
• Bring bug repellent & midge head net
• Mobile signal was quite poor between St. Mary’s Loch and Scotland/England border
• Don’t feed the Glasman

SCD organizers set a mass finish date for the first weekend in September, and I decided to return to finish the route. You can read about that here.

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