[Closed] Help needed

Yes.
There are several potential routes for a coast to coast but it would be good to have a picture of how physically hard days you're looking for and how much tech you want, as these will help inform the best way to slice up the options.

There are of course numerous bases for using as a hub as well; Perhaps top on that list might be Deeside, Braemar/ Ballater/ Aboyne; this is great for a range of rides, from mellow to mad.
Plenty of other choice locations though, including Torridon if you want max tech or Dunkeld/ Pitlochry for a mix of routes from forest winch & plunge to big mountain routes.

If you're really new to the place and really want to make the best of a Scottish trip, I'd strongly suggest booking a guide. That'd be money very well spent, when spread around a group and there are plenty of folk about who can plan you an awesome adventure.

On road / off road? 50miles a day off road would be challenging unless you're keeping to "gravel". Camp or hotel or bunk house?

What about the west highland way?

My initial thoughts are that there's not much mountain biking at the Montrose end so you'd likely need some sort of road schlepp at that end.

Next is that logistics can be an issue if you're thinking of using trains. Getting to FW should be fine on the new carriages but there are restricted spaces on the East Coast line.

Third is that your group is based  across "all of the UK" but no one knows Scotland 😉

As above, a better idea of fitness, experience and accommodation preferences will help in coming up with ideas.

Thanks, this is great. The average age of the group is now 60+, but we have been doing this for over 30 years and most of us go out twice a week, all year round and would consider ourselves reasonably able and fit. 6 or 7 hours in the saddle is generally fine, although I'm guessing finding pubs/cafe for lunch stops isn't always going be straightforward. I am considering looking at a guide, also thinking about a support vehicle to lug our kit from overnight stop to overnight stop to save lugging it all in panniers might be a useful addition.

The logistics of us all getting up there is a bit of an issue as most of us are based in the south of England, but I'm guessing it will be a combination of driving and trains. Then getting a coach back from the end point to our cars at the start point should we do a c2c.

Cheers, yes the logistics is something else I'll be working on once I know what the ride will be, but we've organised a lot of these so have lots of options from trains (as you say, not sraightforward with bikes) to driving either in small groups or hiring a van/trailer.

Ha, yes, I didn't explain that very well did I 🙂 We are based all over, from Cornwall, south and north Wales, the Midlands and Yorkshire and although we have cycled the east coast of England up to Edingburgh before, none of us have ever cycled anywhere north of there. Yet. It's always been the logistics of travel that has stopped us, it's actually been easier to cycle the Ring of Kerry and the Wicklows than the north of scotland.

In terms of fitness, we are mostly in our 60's now, but will happily spend all day in the saddle and cycle whatever is in our way. Accommodation wise, we would consider anything bit wild camping these days.

Thanks

A mixture of both ideally - yeah, I did suspect 50 miles a day might be pushing it, thanks for confirming!. Finding bolt holes 40 miles apart is a bit of a challenge on that particular route.

Thanks

Yup, that's another route I've considered, and it looks a good option. Our very first ride was the c2c from Whitehaven to Tynemouth and I like the idea of our 25th also being a c2c, west to east.

Thanks Scoutroutes. Yes, once we've tackled Mount Keen, the ride in to Montrose doesn't look particularly interesting/challenging.

I did a C2C that was Fort William to Buckie, via the Great Glen Way, Fort Augustus, the Corrieyairack, Aviemore, and the Speyside Way. It's not exactly gnarly but does pass through a few small towns en route and sounds like the distances involved would be about right. There might be tweeks that could be made to throw in a bit more climbing and tech.

Thanks again Scotroutes - I will look into this Fort William to Buckie route, looks perfect at first glance - thanks for your time!