Back in September I rallied a rowdy bunch to ride the Second City Divide, a 620km (400 mile) bikepacking route from Glasgow to Manchester. Only we were heading North and against all advice set off from Manchester city instead, as leg three of my four-year, four-trip LEJoG off road.
You won’t find my write up here like other trips, but rather in print form (see below), accompanied by Tudor’s incredible photography. Here’s a little excerpt from the introduction, to set the scene.
spontaneous /spɒnˈteɪnɪəs/ adjective
- Performed or occurring as a result of a sudden impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus.
This was not your conventional bikepacking trip; dates marked out in the calendar months before, options discussed at great length and kit choices queried and questioned over and over again. Sometimes, when life takes an unexpected turn, a window of opportunity offers itself up for the taking. We grabbed it with both hands.
There were a few of the early warning signs that Autumn was upon us. Those first couple of commutes home without bike lights where you really ought to have remembered some, the odd crunchy leaf on your dash through the park, and an early chill that leaves you reaching into the back of the wardrobe for those merino base layers again. Winter was truly on the way, but there was still some beautiful autumnal riding to be had – so I hoped.
What would prove to be one of the best weeks of the year started with a public instagram story request for bikepacking company, a swift few messages and a healthy serving of faith/naivety (choose as you see fit). Our mismatch crew of loose acquaintances at the ready; the spontaneous last of the summer sun ride in the North was set to go.
“SECOND CITY DIVIDE IS A BIKE-PACKING ROUTE BETWEEN GLASGOW AND MANCHESTER; TWO PROUD SECOND CITIES LINKED BY, IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY, SOME OF THE UK’S BEST ALL-ROAD RIDING.”
Over 600km stood before us between Manchester and Glasgow. If you’re looking for a fast and easy A to B route, this is certainly not for you. Instead, the route (a labour of love by Northern lads Luke Douglas and Christian Smith) meanders across the North of England, zig-zagging almost to the Irish Sea then back across to the Yorkshire Dales, before crossing Hadrian’s Wall and into Scotland via Kielder Forest. From past experience, where you can see a route wiggling about as much as this one, you’re in for a treat.
Although there’s an official yearly attempt on the route, it’s available online year-round for anyone to go and try out at any time. Each September a date is set for beers in Manchester, so riders are free to leave Glasgow at any time they like to make the finishing party – whether that’s an exhausting three days or a leisurely ten. We really like that. We’d missed the official date by a week and had heard it had been a wash out too, with just 5 from 10 riders finishing. We hoped we’d have better luck.’
Second City Divide – The Zine
After our trip, we decided to put something together, Tudor and I. His photographs, my words, and the nostalgia and physical art of print really appealed to us both. We brought on board Hannah’s design skills and before we knew it, we’d brought 52 silky pages of goodness to the market, in for form of a zine.
If you’d like to buy a copy, you can do that here. All proceeds from the sale of the zine are being split between the Mountain Bothies Association and the Great North Air Ambulance Service. Thanks for your support!
Go ride it yourself!
Check out this collection that I made for kmoot below for daily routes for a 6 day attempt from North to South, as well as tips for unmissable trails and pubs! If you’d like to adjust for a different number of days, this is really easy using the multi-day planner in komoot premium, drop me a line with any questions.
A huge thank you again to Luke and Christian for spending countless hours (/months/years) recceing the route to make Second City Divide as great as it is.
If you ride it, why not consider thanking them by making a donation to the Mountain Bothies Association, the Great North Air Ambulance Service or treating yourself to some of their delicious Outdoor Provisions goodies?
Hey Katherine. Zine purchased! I’m looking forward to getting it, it looks beautiful. Had I spotted the instagram story I might have come along — I really fancy doing this route. I did you see you post something about being in Manchester for the start shortly after you set off, but that was a bit too late…
Author
Thanks Graham! It’s a super duper route, would really recommend it. Next time eh?
Hey Katherine, Fantastic post. Looking to ride this in a few weeks. Just wondering roughly how much the riding is roughly is off road vs on road? Thanks!
Author
Heya Angus, you’re gonna love it! Remember that the bothies are closed atm tho. If you check out the daily routes here, you can see exactly how much is road/off road https://www.komoot.com/collection/898918/rough-stuff-of-the-north-second-city-divide
Hi Katherine, I’m the gamekeeper on Ousby Fell & Bullman Hills on which part of the second city divide seems to now run through.
Can you advise the organisers of this challenge that this section is a private road for accessing grouse shooting. We start shooting on Wednesday & this route runs through 4 rows of grouse butts & quite close to 2 more.
This is a serious health & safety issue to your riders I’ve stopped several in the last 3 weeks & told them all that they shouldn’t be there & it’s dangerous.
The route that should be being used is the Pennine Way or the Maiden Way.
Phil
Hi Phil
I’m looking for information on this route – I live near the Manchester end, so don’t know the area you’re talking about very well.
From what I can tell, the route follows the Pennine Way to the South Bullman Hills and Ousby Fell.
Are there new restrictions in place for this part of the route?
Hi Phil, which section is this?
Hi Katherine
Is this book still available?
Thanks