It’s 7 days since I got home and after a week at work I thought it was appropriate to write a quick summary of the journey. The 15 days spent cycling the length of Britain was an amazing experience. We covered on average 70 miles a day climbed more than the combined height of Kilimanjaro and Everest and cycled in total 1005 miles. Travelling by bicycle gives you the time to appreciate the wonderful and diverse country we live in. From the narrow country lanes in Cornwall, with the roller coaster up and downs, to the empty windswept landscape of Scotland, we have seen some stunning scenery. We have met some fantastic people along the way, from fellow cyclist trying to complete the end to end in their own unique way to travellers in coffee shops and service stations who have asked how far we had cycled and generously given us donations to St Luke Cheshire Hospice. Cycling is also a superb way of seeing the best of British wildlife as you silently make progress along country lanes. We have seen hares, deer, seals, kites, buzzards and the majestic golden eagle.
Our bikes were fantastic across the whole journey Dad was on his hand built George Longstaff tourer and I was on my 1964 Mercian touring bike. Both British built bikes may not be the lightest but will still be able to tour the length of Britain in 50 years time. In answer to the most common question since I finished the ride; no I didn’t get saddle sore which is testimony to the comfort of a properly broken in Brooks saddle.
A big thanks to Jill who kept me going with texts and phone calls during the ride and mum who organised the trains and the accommodation at minimum cost. The staff at Darnhall School have also been amazing making sure the school was ready for the new term after a programme of building work. The welcome they gave me when I returned to work on Tuesday shows how lucky I am to work with such a fantastic team.
The blog was a good way to share the experience with family, friends,colleagues and the wider Darnhall community. All the messages of encouragement and donations to St. Luke’s definitely urged us on. The donations are now approaching the £1000 mark show the generosity of friends, family, colleagues from Darnhall, Oaklands and the Winsford Education Partnership. If you enjoyed following the blog my good friend Jon Jerrard will be blogging his progress on the coast to coast walk starting today.
http://jonscoasttocoast.blogspot.com/
Above all a special mention must go to my Dad Pete. I visited Lands End last year on holiday and I phoned dad and explained I wanted to do the ride to mark my 40th birthday. Dad did all the organising planned the route, made sure the bikes were serviced and got the motivation to ride 1000miles, 10 years after completing LEJOG in 1999. Dad will be 65 in October and a busy life as granddad, a holiday companion for mum and gofer for the family sometimes leaves little time for training. But, Dad has bags of strength and stamina and by the final week he was racing cyclists 40 years his junior and leading into the wind on the final day in the worst conditions we have both cycled in. I am privileged to have been able to complete this trip with my Dad and hope we can continue cycling together way past his 65th birthday.
Simon
Saturday 5 September 2009
Day 15
Thurso to John O'Groats
Went to bed last night feeling optimistic we only had 20 miles to go. However, we awoke to the worst storm I've ever cycled in with 50mph +winds coming off the North coast. At John O'Groats when the north wind is blowing there is no land mass before the arctic to break the wind. We were further north than Gothenburg and Moscow and wind chill factor must have been below zero. The sheep were hiding behind walls, branches were being blown off trees and we had to cycle leaning intothe North West wind which otherwise would have blown us off. t took under two hours to get to John O'Groats and it was without doubt the toughest part of the journey. At times when cycling directly into the wind we were pedalling in our lowest gears even on downhill sections.
When we arrived we felt more relieved than elated. The weather was that bad we ran to the missing John O'Groats sign, quickly took a photo and ran into the cafe to shelter from signs and bins being blown over. Like Lands End the official fingerpost had been removed. In Lands End we were too early to pay the £5 to have our picture taken, in John O'Groats the official photographer had not turned up for work because of the weather.
In the cafe, which is only open for three more weeks before it closes for the winter; we sat next to the radiator and began to thaw out. We were joined by another cyclist in the cafe whose friend had abandoned the ride 20 miles before the finish to phone a taxi because of the dangerous conditions. When his friend arrived in the taxi, they
postponed their journey by one hour and let us loan their taxi for the 18 mile trip Wick. The £22 taxi ride to Wick including bike carriage was worth every penny and two cyclists from Bath saved us from the early onset of hypothermia and the dangers caused by the high wind.
Thanks for all texts and messages today. I'm now on the sleeper train from Inverness to Crewe.
Stats
403 feet climbed
20 miles cycled
Final stats
Total mileage
1005 miles
48000 feet climbed
Went to bed last night feeling optimistic we only had 20 miles to go. However, we awoke to the worst storm I've ever cycled in with 50mph +winds coming off the North coast. At John O'Groats when the north wind is blowing there is no land mass before the arctic to break the wind. We were further north than Gothenburg and Moscow and wind chill factor must have been below zero. The sheep were hiding behind walls, branches were being blown off trees and we had to cycle leaning intothe North West wind which otherwise would have blown us off. t took under two hours to get to John O'Groats and it was without doubt the toughest part of the journey. At times when cycling directly into the wind we were pedalling in our lowest gears even on downhill sections.
When we arrived we felt more relieved than elated. The weather was that bad we ran to the missing John O'Groats sign, quickly took a photo and ran into the cafe to shelter from signs and bins being blown over. Like Lands End the official fingerpost had been removed. In Lands End we were too early to pay the £5 to have our picture taken, in John O'Groats the official photographer had not turned up for work because of the weather.
In the cafe, which is only open for three more weeks before it closes for the winter; we sat next to the radiator and began to thaw out. We were joined by another cyclist in the cafe whose friend had abandoned the ride 20 miles before the finish to phone a taxi because of the dangerous conditions. When his friend arrived in the taxi, they
postponed their journey by one hour and let us loan their taxi for the 18 mile trip Wick. The £22 taxi ride to Wick including bike carriage was worth every penny and two cyclists from Bath saved us from the early onset of hypothermia and the dangers caused by the high wind.
Thanks for all texts and messages today. I'm now on the sleeper train from Inverness to Crewe.
Stats
403 feet climbed
20 miles cycled
Final stats
Total mileage
1005 miles
48000 feet climbed
Friday 28 August 2009
Thursday 27 August 2009
Day 14
Carbisdale Castle to Thurso
Any day's cycling which starts with a coffee stop after only 7 miles is going to be a long one. We forgot to make tea at breakfast in our rush to make an early start. We stopped at the Lairg Community Cafe after only 30minutes cycling. We had coffee, bacon sandwiches and cake and asked the heplful staff if they could make us a packed lunch. Then we set out into the wilderness of what must be the only single track A road in Britain, for the 30 mile stretch between Liarg and Bettyhill.
Ten miles out of Lairg Dad fulfilled a lifelong ambition when he spotted a Golden Eagle and we both came over all Bill Oddie. I only had the iphone handy and the picture posted on the blog doesn't do it justice. But, Pete knows his birds and we had a superb view for two minutes and it was one of the magical moments of the trip. When we reached The Crask Inn the owners confirmed there were Golden Eagles nesting in the nearby crag.
The Crask Inn must be one the most remote pubs in Britain and is a must for all visitors to the far North West of Scotland. It is run by a sheep farmer and his part-time teacher wife. When dad reminded them he had visited 10 years before, the land lady brought out free cake to celebrate the anniversary. The Crask Inn attracts an eclectic mix of passers by and tourists, as we were leaving a family of 8 from San Francisco all dressed in Tweed had called in for the authentic Scottish experience.
The ride north of the Crask Inn alondside Loch Naver and later the River Naver is a stunning piece of road for cycling. If there is any part of Britain that can be described as a wilderness then this must be it. We made good progress for this section of the ride, motivated to ride faster than the midges could fly and got our first view of the North Coast of Scotland at Bettyhill. The beach was empty, with golden sand which I imagine would make an excellent spot for surfing. We had a late lunch in the hotel overlooking the beach and the only visitors we saw on the beach were a group of six north atlantic seals.
After ideal cycling for our first 50 miles we were left with 34miles on undulating coast road into a headwind. We battled the headwind and hills to Thurso where we are staying at Sandra's Backpacking B&B above Sandra's chippy. Sandra turned out to be hairy Scottish bloke and must be Thurso's local equivalent of Alan Sugar.
Only 20miles to John O'Groats tomorrow, then a short 16 mile ride to Wick station, where we catch the 4 hour train to Inverness and then the sleeper train to Crewe. Can't wait to get home to see Jill now.
I'm just about to shut my eyes, hoping Sandra's B&B has an upto date fire certificate.
Stats
3566 feet climbed
84miles cycled
Sent from my iPhone
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