Lands End to John O'Groats

Finally

2009-09-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

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

Day 15

2009-09-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

John O'Groats 50mph wind and rain

2009-08-28T02:19:00.000-07:00

We made it!

2009-08-28T02:17:00.000-07:00

Day 14

2009-08-27T14:26:00.000-07:00

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

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Our first view of the north coast of Britain at Bettyhill

2009-08-27T06:54:00.000-07:00

We're very excited to have seen a Golden Eagle

2009-08-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

Middle of nowhere

2009-08-27T03:32:00.000-07:00

Outside the Lairg Community Cafe

2009-08-27T02:05:00.000-07:00

Lycra

2009-08-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Cycling in the rain for past two days has given me time to reflect on the merits of my cycle clothing, especially Lycra.

I have tried many different types of cycling shorts since I started cycling 30 years ago. The terrible high cut running shorts from the 1980s, fashionably baggy mountain bike shorts and specially designed touring shorts designed to look like normal shorts. But, despite my best efforts I cannot find a better alternative to Lycra.

Lycra is the perfect material for cycling. It is lightweight, it stretches in many directions, it dries quickly and is just warm enough to keep your legs warm but not too hot. Of course there is one downside to lycra.... it looks odd! The staff at Darnhall still talk about the shock of when a previous Headteacher turned up for work in his lycra cycling shorts. However, there are no viable alternatives.
I have always felt self-concious wearing lyrcra off the bike, even if I'm just buying a Snickers and an energy drink whilst out for a ride. I always keep my cycling gloves and helmet on in shops just to make sure everybody knows I am a cyclist out cycling.

My dad Pete has never suffered from lyrcra phobia, he loves it! There have been times when he has picked Jill and I up from Manchester airport wearing his best figure hugging cycling gear. Residents of Pickmere in Cheshire will often see him mowing the lawn or cutting his hedge in his cycling shorts.

During our trip I am becoming a more confident wearer of Lycra. I have visited Weatherspoons, walked through city centres even ate out in my best bib shorts. Staff at Darnhall be warned..... I soon may be turning up for work in Lycra.

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Day 13

2009-08-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

Loch Ness to Carbisdale Castle.

A cold day with rain for 90% of the ride to the North East of Scotland.

The day started with dad giving Martin a quick service of new brake blocks and oiling the moving parts after yesterday's rain.
We shared the Loch Ness Hostel with 13 cyclist's with a support team of 4. There were two cooks, a van driver carrying all their gear and a mechanic/medic following in a car. It made me realise what a good team we had been over the last 13 days. Dad has been the mechanic,navigator, bed maker and washer upper. I have been responsible for laundry, cooking and carrying the tools.

The rain continued throughout the morning and we met the first seroius hill in Scotland - the lung bursting climb out of Drumnar Drocket.
We managed to find an immaculate, but empty, hotel in the middle of nowhere for coffee and cake. The staff were very friendly and accomodating considering we were dripping over their recently polished floors.

The rain continued throughout the morning when I saw an equally drenched cyclist had joined us. It turned out to be Andrew again (see Day 6 and Day 11) who had climbed Ben Nevis and like us was making his way to Carbisdale Castle. Andrew joined us for lunch of soup and a sandwich at the excellent Station Cafe in Dingwall. The friendly staff brought out the Calor Gas heater for us to dry out and warm up.

We decided to ride the 33 miles to Carbisdale Castle in one stretch as we were getting colder after each stop. We arrived at the YHA at 5pm where we had dinner and washed and dried our clothes.

A big day tomorrow of 80+ miles to Thurso. Hoping for drier weather for our last big day.

Stats

63.7 miles

2782 feet climbed

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Dormoch Firth

2009-08-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Beauly

2009-08-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

Day 12

2009-08-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Glencoe to Loch Ness

We woke to the sound of rain outside and the mountains shrouded in mist. The forecast of light rain showers proved to be optimistic. We left the Glencoe YHA fueled with the breakfast of champions -porridge and powdered milk.

The first coffee stop was Fort William after 17 miles of easy riding. To make sufficient progress we try to make coffee and cake stops every 20 miles. Our shortest intervals between stops have been less than 10 miles and our longest approaching 30 miles. On the whole we have got the right balance between stops and riding, only once have we finished after dark. The route to LEJOG can be done in less time than we have taken, but a quicker schedual inevitably means cycling busy A roads and less coffee and cake stops.

Ten miles out of Fort William we were overtaken by two young cyclists on racing bikes attempting to cover the LEJOG route in 11 days. They overtook us 200m from the brow of a hill and passed us with a quick greeting of "Hi". Realising that we were approaching the end of the hill and we were both feeling strong we gave chase. We quickly caught them and passed a few pleasentries when the younger of the two raced past Pete on the downhill section. The young cyclist made the mistake of overtaking Dad on a downhill section not realising Dad has been undefeated in the Vetenary Cycling Club's down hill competition for the past 5 years. Being shaped like an egg, combined with being short and heavy makes for the perfect downhill aerodynamic package. After a few pedal strokes Pete sped past him. However, when the hill began to flatten out we still hadn't shaken him off. We both knew we were getting close to the next coffee shop and this was our chance to show the young cyclist our turn of speed. We both selected our largest gear, stretched out for the lower reaches of the drop handle bars and put the hammer down! The young cyclist must have thought we were completely bonkers as we employed the drafting technique of taking turns at the front for 1 minute then dropping behind and letting the other take a turn. We were touching speeds of 25mph on the flat and after a mile our challenger started to drop behind. Not wanting to be caught on the next hill we continued our high tempo straight to the next tea shop where we celebtrated our victory of experience over youth with more tea and cake.

On leaving our lunch stop we were met with rain fall of Scottish proportions. A dreadful hour of cycling in the rain with heavy traffic and poor visability followed.

We arrived at the foot of Loch Ness where we bought food for our evening meal at Fort Augustus and cycled to the Loch Ness YHA in more rain, in another record finish of 4pm. Almost as soon as we sat down the clouds began to break and we now have unbroken blue sky over Loch Ness.

The forecast is for heavy rain tomorrow as we get nearer to John O'Groats.

Stats
2229feet climbed
59.4 miles

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Loch Ness

2009-08-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

Fort Augusta

2009-08-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

Loch Locy

2009-08-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

Day 11

2009-08-24T12:06:00.001-07:00

Loch Lomond to Glencoe

A perfect days cycling through some of the most stunning scenery I have experienced.

The day started off with two welcome, if unexpected events- a lie in....7:30am, and a full nights sleep!

One of the early decisions was whether to apply the midge spray. The day before had been far too wet for midges and they had all stayed at home. Today it was feeding time and dad had already provided breakfast for a few, whilst getting the bikes out. One of the downsides of the midge spray we had brought with us, was that it melts plastics and synthetic materials. As all my cycling clothes are made from artificial fibres, I had a tough decision to make; to get eaten alive by the infamous Scottish midges or risk my clothes disintergrating. I decided to apply the spray, as so far my Lycra is holding up.

We enjoyed the 20 mile stretch along the banks of Loch Lomond and stopped for coffee after 18 miles. Just as we sat down Andrew Tomlinson, the guy from Woverhamton who is cycling LEJOG and climbing the three peaks, pulled in. We had met Andrew in Clunn, Shropshire, 6 days earlier and it was good to share experiences and routes we had taken. Andrew was on his way to Ben Nevis then John O'Groats. He was in good spirits, but did admit it was by far the toughest thing he had done. After watching Andrew speed off on his lightweight road bike, I climbed aboard my fully laden 1964 touring bike, Martin, which has come to resemble a Honda Goldwing with it's enormous panniers.

We climbed our way towards the Highlands with dad setting a strong pace. Dad is getting stronger each day and our average speed today was the highest of the trip.
We have travelled on the A82 all day and despite the lorries, cars,coaches and motorbikes wizzing by, the road is a must for all confident cyclists looking for a gentle gradient into superb countryside.

The landscape of Scotland is vast and the scenery on the ride just got better and better.

My friend Martin Turner, who works for TrailFinders in Manchester, has traveled the world over and rates the landscape of West Scotland as highly as New Zealand. After today's ride I have to agree with him. I have never ridden an easier 65 miles or cycled uphill grinning like a Cheshire cat before. The stunning scenery took my mind off missing home and aching muscles and just made me feel grateful to live in such an amazing country.

The day ended with the descent through the pass of Glencoe which resembled the landscape from Lord of the Rings. Superb !

We reached the Glencoe YHA in a record early time of 4:30pm.

The weather and scenery should be the same for tomorrow as we make our way to Loch Ness.

Stats

2469 feet of climbing
65.8 miles

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Ranoch Moor Summit

2009-08-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Pete

2009-08-24T06:51:00.000-07:00

Achallader

2009-08-24T06:50:00.000-07:00

Loch Lomond

2009-08-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

The magnificent Highlands

2009-08-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

Loch Lomond YHA and the sun is shining

2009-08-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

Day 10

2009-08-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Sanquhar to Loch Lomond

We woke this morning to Scottish rain. I have cycled in Manchester and Lakeland rain and after a full day of cycling in the best rain Scotland had to offer I need to inform you Scottish rain is the wettest.

Dad started by replacing the flexible spoke we had used last night with a permanent one. Our friendly host Angus helped with the loan of a spanner. We cycled in the rain on the quiet road from Sanquhar to Crawford John where we saw only three cars in 90minutes.We stopped at a service station 30 miles south of Glasgow where we met Steve and Mona from Norfolk who were touring around Scotland.

The 30 miles to Glasgow flew by on what semed to be an never ending downhill.The motorists through Glasgow were fantastic and gave us plenty of room as we made our way to the city centre. I thought it was slightly odd that the locals were cheering us on and pumping their fists in the air as we rode through Hamilton, Gorbals and the city centre. What I hadn't realised was that Chris Hoy the multiple gold medal winning track cyclist was in town for the Sky Bike Event - Glasgow's largest mass participation cycle event.

Glasgow was full of shoppers and we proudly walked through the town pushing our bikes. When I enter a new town I often hear myself subconciously whistling the theme tune from a spaghetti western as we arrive on our two wheeled horses and try and find a local saloon for coffee. Unfortunately this time we found Glasgow's roughest saloon and had to make a swift exit after our food as we were too scared to use their toilet.

We followed Loch Lomand cycle path for the next 20 miles which must have been designed for mountain bikes as 80% of it was poorly surfaced. The rain got even heavier and we had to negotiate large sections of water logged path.
We arrived at the Loch Lomand Youth Hostel soaked through but were delighted to find they had an evening meal service and a laundrette to wash our clothes.

I'm hoping for better weather tomorrow as we cycle to Glencoe.

Great news about the cricket today. We were met with some mixed responses when we asked how the cricket was getting on in Glasgow!

Thanks for all your generous donations to St Lukes Cheshire Hospice. I'm delighted to have exceeded the £500 target with five days to go.
It has been incredibly motivating to watch donations come in during our ride. Donations can still be made on the Justgiving website or to me in person if you would still like to make a contribution.

Thanks also for your comments - cheeky and/or supportive, I read them as soon as I'm off the bike at the end of the day.

Simon

Stats

Total Ascent 2293
75.2 miles

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Gasgow City Centre

2009-08-23T06:26:00.000-07:00

Cycle path to Glasgow

2009-08-23T03:19:00.000-07:00

The Road from Sanquhar to Craven Arms

2009-08-23T03:18:00.000-07:00

Day 9

2009-08-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Carrock Fell to Sanquhar.

We left the luxury of the Brangate B&B with a full English breakfast in our stomachs and waved goodbye to our hosts Adam and Denise. At £25 each, with a superb breakfast, the Brantgate B&B is an excellent stop over for cyclists riding LEJOG, the Coast to Coast or walkers wanting to climb the magnificent fell of Blencathra. The quite lanes of North Cumbria were a good start to the day.

We made our first stop at Watts Victorian Coffee shop in Carlisle where we enjoyed the morning sunshine.
We made our way into Scotland via John O Groats and cycled along the A75 from Annan to Dumfries. Cycling on long flat roads with a head wind makes the worst combination for enjoyable riding. The lack of changing scenery and the grind of cycling into a head wind, where sometimes you have to pedal down hill, made this stage of the journey very dull.

We had a welcome break from the headwind at an ice cream stop where we met Jordan and his family. We met the traffic coming out of the Queen of the South game in Dumfries and on the busy A76 to Thornhill we were thankfully aided by a tail wind.

One mile out of Thornhill I heard a loud crack which sounded like the frame of my bike had broken. After looking at the bike we discovered a broken spoke on my rear wheel where I had been carrying the large panniers for the past three days. Dad skillfully repaired the wheel with a flexible spoke.

We had fish and chips in Thornhill and rode the easy 12 miles to Sanquhar.

Glasgow and Loch Lomond tomorrow with a day a heavy rain forecast.

Stats

2415 feet climbed
83.7 miles

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Scotland

2009-08-22T05:04:00.000-07:00

Scotland

2009-08-22T05:03:00.000-07:00

Thirlmere

2009-08-22T03:10:00.000-07:00

Day 8

2009-08-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Pennines and The Lake District

Today was technically our hardest day if you add the total distance cycled and the amount of climbing.

The day from Slaidburn started with a 13 mile climb to Bentham in North Yorkshire. We were asked by a local lady where we had cyled from, when we explained we had come from Slaidburn and it had been hailing she replied in the broadest Yorkshire accent "well I'm not surprised they're not rate in the ed up there."

I asked at a local sandwich shop if there was a cafe in the village. Not wanting to miss a sale they quickly produced two folding chairs, two mugs of tea and bacon sandwiches. For a brief moment Bentham had it's own pavement cafe until it started raining again.

We passed through Kirby Lonsdale, descended to Kendal and by following signs for Burnside and Staveley we managed to avoid the main Kendal to Windermere A road. We stopped for lunch at a favourite of mine, Wilf's Cafe in Staveley.

After a day of rain, hail, sun and wind our feet were still soaking by the afternoon and this prompted us both to buy some waterproof overshoes.

After a day of cycling along quiet country roads the busy A road between Windermere and Ambleside came as a shock. We had coffee in beautiful Grassmere where we met a French couple who were fascinated by the amount of luggage we were carrying.

The ride along the west side of Thirlmere was fantastic and we managed to avoid the main A66 road from Keswick to Penrith by following a gated road that runs parallel.

We had left it too late to get to the B&B before dinner and decided to cycle straight to the pub for dinner. We then cycled the 2 miles back to our accommodation in the dark by light of two dynamos. Great if you can ride above 15mph!
We arrived at excellent Brantgate B&B at the foot Blencathra at 9:15.Our first night in B&B is a welcome change from life in Youth Hostels.

Scotland tomorrow. I think we passed the half way point today but as the weather gets wetter and colder the challenge remains constant.

Thanks for all your comments and kind donations to St. Lukes Hospice during the last week, keep them coming they really help to motivate us.

Simon

Stats
5196 feet climbed
71 miles cycled.

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Kirby Lonsdale

2009-08-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

King of the mountain

2009-08-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

2009-08-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

The Road to High Bentham

Day 7

2009-08-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

After having a fantastic time at home. I left home at 7:20 and cycled the 16 miles from Sandbach to mum & dad's house. We spent 45 minutes reducing our luggage to one bar bag and two large panniers.
Dad was familiar with the route to Lancashire where he was based at Bickershaw mining complex near Leigh towards the end of his career with British Coal.
We circumnavigated Bolton and made our way over Winter Hill where the terrestial TV signal is broadcast for Cheshire. We could see a large proportion of Greater Manchester with the new top heavy building at Deansgate standing out.
We had some pretty heavy rain over Winter Hill and my cycling waterproof kept me dry and warm all day.
We stopped for lunch at Treats sandwich shop in Blackburn where I had a jacket potato with chilli and dad had a superb Lancashire Hotpot.
After negotiating our way through Blackburn we cycled to Whalley where we had coffee at The Abbey. The roads after Whalley became quieter, more cycle friendly and steeper. As we rode through the Ribble Valley and onto the Trough of Bowland the sun started to shine.

We climbed the last 13 miles to Slaidburn which got steeper and steeper, arriving at the Slaidburn Hostel at 5:30pm. Dinner at the local pub and bed at 9pm.

Happy Birthday to my nephew, Owen, who is 9today. He a big Liverpool fan and is visiting Liverpool for the Alan Kennedy tour. I wished him happy birthday this morning and I thought he was very polite not metioning Liverpools result against Stoke last night.

Tomorrow we will be cycling through my favourite part of England, the Lake District.

Stats
3312 feet climbed
62 miles for Pete
78 miles for Simon

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Ribble Valley

2009-08-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

Day 6

2009-08-19T14:10:00.000-07:00

A perfect days cycling home to Cheshire, a goodbye to our good friend Mike and a return to Sandbach in record speed.

The day started with an unexpected bonus of a breakfast of porridge & milk. We found some unclaimed sachets of porridge in the Clun YHA and Andrew Tomlinson and his brother left us their milk. Andrew is riding from Lands End to John O’Groats and walking the 3 peaks of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis on his way. Andrew was joined today by some friends from the Wolverhampton Racing Club on his journey to Snowdon. Details of his fundraising can be found at http://www.justgiving.com/the-long-way-up/ .

After being overtaken by Andrew and his mates from Wolverhampton quite early in our ride, we made our way through the beautiful Shropshire Countryside. The downside of quiet cycling lanes and unspoilt countryside is the lack of coffee shops and a mobile phone signal. We had to cycle an unprecedented 27 miles before our first coffee/ tea stop in Shrewsbury where I quickly logged onto the internet to check if Stoke had made the unexpected move of signing Steven Gerrard before tonight’s game against Liverpool.

With caffeine levels and mobile phone signal restored we set on our way to Whitchurch. Between Shrewsbury and Whitchurch we had the perfect cycling conditions of flat countryside and a tail wind. We covered the 20 miles to Whitchurch in less than 90 minutes and were that shocked by our rapid progress we had to stop for tea and cake.

The lanes from Whitchurch to Nantwich were virtually traffic free and I can recommend them to all cyclists looking for quiet, flat country lanes. We entered Cheshire through the beautiful village of Wrenbury and pushed on to Nantwich where Mike made his own way to Crewe station to catch the train to Holyhead.

As we got closer to home we were met by the welcome sight of the Eaton family: Claire, Nigel, Bill and Lizzie at the Royal Oak car park just outside of Nantwich. I had promised Claire I would give her a call as we passed close to her house and the family made a quick outing to give us a wave and some warm words of encouragement.

I left my Dad somewhere between Middlewich and Crewe. I quickly made my way home showing strength in my legs, I’d forgotten I had. I’ve spent the evening reducing my luggage, eating curry and catching up with Jill. It’s great to be home and I know that leaving tomorrow will be difficult. I read the kind messages from class one, to give me inspiration and the customized card from Cheryl and Dave Stacey.

We’ve got 9 more days cycling ahead of us and over 600 miles. I’ve halved my luggage, bought some travel wash for the clothes, and packed instant porridge and powdered milk.

An early start tomorrow of 7:30 on our way “up north”….

Stats for Day 6

2843 feet climbed

Trip distance 78.7 miles

Moving average 12 mph

Mike's Blog

2009-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mike's Blog

Mike Venebles, 68 of Plumley, whose cycling CV includes Lands End to John O'groats twice, Knutsford to Barcelona and The West Coast of America is blogging.

" It's obvious now I have not prepared properly for this tour. I am finding it much tougher than the previous two times I have done LEJOG.
It could not possibly be my age could it?
Simon's dad,Peter is one of my best mates and we have cycled thousands of miles together. Having Simon join us has been nothing but a pleasure: he has urged us on when Pete and I have been flagging; he has acted like a domestique in the Tour de France - getting food and water for us; he has pushed us on during the last couple of miles of the day - always the hardest. Simon has shown his leadership qualities. There is a "downside" and that is his refusal to let Pete and I stop at many of the tea shops we would have gladly stopped at.
My bicycle holiday ends at Crewe today where I am going to get the train to Holyhead so I can say goodbye to our daughter before she and her family leave for China. Cycling and sharing the fun with Simon and Pete has been a real pleasure. He is a top man.
Mike"

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Saying goodbye to Mike at Nantwich

2009-08-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

At home in Sandbach reading the good luck message from year 1.

2009-08-19T10:32:00.001-07:00

Donation

2009-08-19T04:19:00.000-07:00

A couple from Shrewsbury asked if we had cycled up the hill. When
we told them how far we had cycled they gave me £5 towards St Lukes.
Thanks Mr and Mrs Charles Francis.

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Shrewsbury

2009-08-19T03:29:00.000-07:00

Day 5

2009-08-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

Perfect weather for cycling through the counties of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Monmouthshire. We made excellent progress through the Forrest of Dean, The Wye Valley and the rolling countryside of Shropshire.
We stopped for coffee in the market town of Ross on Wye and lunch in Leominster.
We arrived at the youth hostel in Clun at a sensible time of 7pm and celebrated Mike's last evening with us with dinner in the local pub.
It has been great to have Mike join us after a three year break to get his bionic hip. Mike has got stronger each day and I have no doubt he would have completed LEJOG for a third time if it wasn't for family commitments. A big thanks to Mike's wife Pam and his daughter Sally for loaning us Mike for the week. We have shared some superb moments on our journey which I sincerely hope we can repeat in the future.
Mike will have cycled 400 miles in 6 days by Wednesday, which is an outstanding achievement. Mike has the physical and mental stamina of a person half his age and above all is a great bloke to spend time with.
Tommorow I will be cycling home to Sandbach where I will be sleeping in my own bed and seeing Jill for the first time in a week. Next stop Cheshire!

Stats for day 5
3019feet climbed
66miles

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Wye Valley

2009-08-18T04:35:00.000-07:00

Weight

2009-08-18T02:18:00.001-07:00

Weight is so important when cycling uphill. Bradley Wiggins the multiple Olympic gold medal winning track cyclist has always been a very talented time trial cyclist but always struggled in the mountains on the Tour de France. This year he has lost 7kg since the Beijing Olympics and has climbed superbly in the tour finishing 4th, the equal best finish for a British rider.
On our ride this year we have made the mistake of carrying too much weight! Because we are away for 15 days we have packed too much and when we get home we are planning on reducing our luggage considerably.

Stats for Day 4
3323 feet climbed
59.6 miles
275 miles in total

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Dad and Mike on the Severn Bridge

2009-08-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Day 4 Street in Somerset to St Briavel

2009-08-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

Day 4 Street in Somerset to St Briavel

The day started with eggs, toast and cornflakes which we shared with a German cyclist. We made an early start at 8:30 and made our way to Wells to find a new link for Mike's chain and the correct tool to fix it if it broke again. I enjoyed looking around the magnificent cathedral and acting like a tourist.
After a double expresso we started to make our way to the Mendips over the Old Bristol Road, one of the longest and steepest climbs so far. The Mendips home of the Cheddar Gorge and Wookie Hole are great for cycling with wide roads and views over Somerset.
We sped into North Somerset and stopped for a lunch of steak & chips and veggie bake and made our way to Bristol. We managed to avoid a steep climb into Bristol along an A Road by climbing up a Forrest track where I managed to jam my chain, dad met an inquisative Labrador and Mike was propostioned.
A fast descent to the magnificent Clifton Suspension bridge where we enjoyed the view over Bristol taking photos and eating ice cream. We avoided the major roads through Bristol but unfortunatley got lost when trying to locate the cycle track to the Severn Road Bridge.
The Severn Road Bridge was a highlight of the trip. I could not stop grinning as we cycled the whole span of the bridge to Wales.
We arrived in Chepstow at 6o'clock and decided to call into Tesco for dinner. However, Tesco in their wisdom had decided to turn their cafe into a pharmacy. Not to be thwarted by Mr Tesco's quest to turn floor space into maximum profit we bought sandwiches, crisps, Bakewell Tarts and Tonic water, which allledgedly stops you getting leg cramps when cycling, and picniced at a local Church.
Due to our sight seeing, long lunch and hunt for bike parts we had made slow progress and still had 2.5 hours cycling to go at seven o'clock. We slowly made our way towards Welsh Bicknor YHA following the beautiful Wye valley. At 8pm we were still 11 miles from our destination and were very close to the St Briavels Castle YHA. Dad had the fantastic idea of phoning the Welsh Bicknor YHA to see if they would change our booking to the nearer accomodation. We were all keen to finish cycling before it got dark and Dad was at his most charming in persuading the warden to change our booking.
I'm now enjoying a pint of Butcombe Bitter in St.Briavel and looking forward to cycling along the Wye Valley to Shropshire tomorrow.

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Severn Bridge to Wales

2009-08-17T09:03:00.001-07:00

Clifton Suspension Bridge

2009-08-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

Wells Cathedral

2009-08-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

Day 3

2009-08-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Day 3

Steps Bridges near Exeter to Street YHA near Glastonbury.

The day started with two tough climbs towards Exeter. We got stocked up with provisions from Tesco Express in Exeter - Snickers, Mars bars and Lucozade. We had a 9:30 comfort break at Weatherspoons where we were greeted with some strange looks from the locals as three sweaty Lycra clad athletes wobbled their way up stairs.

Today was our first day with sun giving us all a chance to perfect a Tour de France tan of a burnt nose, red forearms and brown shins.

We made good progress to Honiton despite the ongoing battle between paper maps, GPS and iPhone.
We met family friends Ken and Margaret for lunch at the Boston Tea Party cafe in Honiton. They moved from South Manchester to Seaton,Devon a couple of years ago and are enjoying life by the sea.
Unfortunately lunch was cut short as I had miscalculated the mileage for the rest of the day by 20miles.
The ride out of Devon on the A30 was the worst of the journey so far.
The A30 and A303 is one of main roads out of Cornwall and Devon. We were passed by hundreds of caravans, lorries, horse trailers, boat trailers and coaches. We spent 15 miles on a road you would try and avoid in a car.
If cycle use is going to increase across the UK there has got to be more driver education on how to pass a cyclist safely. Some drivers allow 2 metres and more when passing cyclists and others less than 30cm. 2 metres is enough distance for a cyclist to have a wobble without being hit 30cm could possibly kill the cyclist.

For any cyclists planning on following our route you should either avoid the A30 out of Honiton or prepare for a horrific 1hr of cycling with wobbles.

After the A30 we turned off to the fantastic Somerset lanes. Virtually traffic free and flat. The perfect cycling was slightly spolied by us managing to find Somersets roughest pub whose name I can't remember.
The crisps and pickled egg washed down with lime and lemonade did compensate for the loud music from a van in pub car park.
After getting supplies for our evening meal we were on schedual to get to our destination at a sensible time of six o'clock. Unfortunatley disaster struck 3 miles from home when Mike's chain snapped. However, Mike is made of pure Sheffield steel and managed to push his bike the rest of the way where Dad mananged to fix it with the help of Paul from Huddersfield's chain breaking tool. Paul a newly qualified teacher is following main roads to John O'Groats covering over 100miles a day. Good luck Paul.
Tomorrow we will be cycling over the Severn Bridge to the country of my wonderful wife, Wales.

Stats
64 miles cycled
3400feet climbed
Calories consumed 30,000+

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Day 2

2009-08-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Day 2

Golant near Fowey to Steps Bridge near Exeter.

A good day with less rain more climbing and a thankful good bye to Cornwall.
The cycling started at 8:30 with some of the steepest hills we've come across. A wrong turn down to the fishing village of Polpero sapped both our strength and our moral. After a few arguments we decided to trust the GPS and maps rather than our misplaced sense of direction.
We arrived in Looe at 11 o'clock having made painfully slow progress. At Looe I had the genius idea of buying an enormous Cornish pastie that I just about managed to squeeze into my ruck sack. I returned to chomp on the pastie throughout the day's ride and can recommend Cornwalls finest foodstuff to any aspiring Tour de France cyclists.
The road out of Looe to the ferry at Torpoint was busy with holiday traffic and the quick ferry ride to Plymouth across the River Tamar a welcome rest.
Plymouth was horrendous. It was a home match for Plymouth Argyle against QPR and negotiating the poor mix of dual carridge way, A -roads and poor cycle lanes was hazardous. After Plymouth we climbed up to the highest point on the whole of our route,500m at Dartmoor.
Once the clouds lifted, Dartmoor was fantastic cycling country full of wild ponies, cattle and sheep on unfenced roads which had the effect of slowing the holiday traffic. We stopped at Prince Town near Dartmoor Prison, filled our water bottles and prepared for the last 20miles.
This part of the ride had some fantastic long open decsents which at one point I reached an eye watering 44mph. The final climb of the day was one of the toughest from Morton Hampsted and I had to have a Snickers bar at the top as the seemingly never ending pastie was gone and I was becoming dizzie and light headed. A condidtion cyclists strangely refer to as the "bonk".
After the the life enhancing powers of snickers I wizzed down a 4 mile decent through woods with no traffic which was as good as any ski run.
We arrived at the Blytheswood Hostel near Exeter and were given a fantastic welcome by Patrick who had even driven to the local Co-op to get us supplies. Looking forward to tommorow away from hills of Devon and Cornwall and onwards to Somerset.
Finally... what a start for Stoke, Goaarn you Mighty Potters and welcome back to the Medfords I'll try and call you tomorrow. I've listed our statistics below. We have climbed the equivalent of Snowdon from sea level three times in the last two days. I'm pretty tired and ready for bed.

Statistics
Friday
71 miles cycled in 7.5hrs
5250 feet climbed
Saturday
5698 feet climbed
67 miles in 8hours

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Taxi for Mike

2009-08-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

25 miles to go

2009-08-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

Dartmoor it's grim down south

2009-08-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

2009-08-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

The River Tamar with Plymouth in the background. 45miles to go.

2009-08-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Fowey in the rain

2009-08-15T01:08:00.000-07:00

2009-08-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

Mike and Pete on the River Fal

Ships on the Fal

2009-08-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Day 1

2009-08-14T13:31:00.001-07:00

A tough day. Hills, hills and more hills. Highlights of the day *arriving in Land's End, *crossing the river Fal on the King Harry Ferry
and a missed call from the Chris Evans show.

We woke at seven, left the hostel at eight. Arrived at Lands End at 8:40 where we took some photos and got asked by a tourist if he could take our photo. We made our way to Penzance and made good progress for the first 30miles after which it became steeper and steeper.
The King Harry Ferry crossing was one of the few opportunities we had to stop. We were met with the bizarre sight of enormous car transporters being stored on River Fal. The global economic downturn in the car market means it is cheaper to keep the inactive ships parked on the River Fal with a reduced crew.
I had a voice mail from the Chris Evans show who were interested in playing my request for "King of the Road" by the Proclaimers as the first song on tonight's show. Unfortunately I was too exhausted to pick up my voicemail. I'll try again next Friday when we cycle towards Scotland or the Friday after when arrive in John O'Groats. I'll put a post on the blog if we're sucessful.
Thanks for all your messages of support.
Simon.

A morning cycling in fine drizzle.

5.8 miles to go having a drink in Tesco

38 miles done with about the same to go again.

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Nearly there

2009-08-14T10:12:00.001-07:00

6 miles to go we're in Tesco in St Austel.
Spent the last 10 hours cycling,and pushing up Cornwall's finest hills. Dad and Mike are still breathing and looking like a couple of extras from Shaun of the dead.

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St Michaels Mount

2009-08-14T02:11:00.000-07:00

2009-08-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

2009-08-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

Lands End in the drizzle

2009-08-14T00:37:00.000-07:00

St. Just

2009-08-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

I’m travelling to Lands End today to stay overnight at St. Just youth hostel. We will mostly be staying at youth hostels on our journey which are a strange choice as the combined age of the three of us is 170+. I’m meeting Dad and Mike at Penzance this evening.
I loaded the bike up this morning and have managed to fit all my belongings without having to carry a front bar bag. My bike seems pretty heavy but if I start reducing the amount of luggage it could mean going to the pub in lycra!!!

Martin fully loaded

2009-08-13T02:08:00.000-07:00

Tintagel to Boscastle

2009-08-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Jill and I have just finished the stunning coastal walk from Tintagel (Birth place of King Arthur) to Boscastle (the fishing village that flooded in 2004).

Cornwall

2009-08-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

I've just completed my first ride in Cornwall Polzeath, Port Quin and Port Isaac. I managed three hills with chevrons, which means they are between 1 in 5 and 1 in 7, without walking. Polzeath was teaming with thousands of families, surfers and teenagers. Port Quin was beautiful and looks like a good spot to start a coastal walk. Port Isaac, where they film Doc Martin, was like a picture postcard. Legs feeling strong and although I wouldn't say I'm enjoying the up hills the chances of me collapsing half way up are getting less. Thanks for the donations and messages of encouragement on the blog. Could you include your name in any messages you leave on the blog as it doesn't let me see the name of the sender?
Simon

Goodbye Devon

2009-08-07T09:28:00.001-07:00

Hurrah, I finally have a wifi connection. The weather is glorious and we are staying at probably the most dog friendly hotel in Britain called Dalswinton. We left Devon this morning and had a long lunch at the excellent Dartmoor Inn. We are now just outside of Watergate Bay in Cornwall and are moving onto Paidstow tomorrow.

Devon was great and we celebrated Jill's birthday at Michael Caine's restaurant in Exeter.

I spotted my third holiday celebrity this morning and said hello to Andrew Marr whilst I was walking the poodles. He had an incredibly deep voice which I hadn't noticed from his Sunday morning tv show.

I've not been on the bike for a couple of days and Cornwall looks worse than Devon for hills. I believe Lance Armstrong starts tapering off his training before a big ride so I'm gong to enjoy a few short rides next week with plenty of long lunches.

I have attached some of the Dorset photos below I promised last week.

Simon

Dorset

2009-08-07T09:21:00.001-07:00

Dorset

2009-08-07T09:15:00.001-07:00

Devon

2009-08-06T00:59:00.001-07:00

Seven days to go before we start the trip. I've cycled about 70 miles this week and I'm feeling ok.I rode 33 miles yesterday following the River Otter from the coast. Thankfully there were no huge hills on the ride and only a slight beeeze. I'm finding it impossible to ride over hills greater than 1 in 5 which are common in Devon.
I spoke to dad yesterday and he has struggled to get out on his bike as much as he would like. I'm sure he'll be fine once he's got his cycling legs back. I'm strongly advising him to keep his bike as light as possible by reducing the amount of luggage he carries.
Mike is busy training in Angelsey and has been preparing with regular visits to the gym.
Jill and I are visiting Exeter today for her birthday. We're moving onto Cornwall tomorrow with the promise of good weather and a wifi connection.
Simon

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Route

2009-08-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

Still can't get wifi and I'm blogging from my phone. Dad has finished the route which we will be following using his gps. The aim is to avoid most of the main roads and I know dad has been busy plotting the best route on his computer. Click on the link below for a detailed overview of our planned route.

http://www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=13544

Simon

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Wild garlic

2009-08-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Food

2009-08-01T06:45:00.001-07:00

Excellent food; BBQs, fresh crab, fish and the highlight of the week eating at the 2009 Master Chef winner's new restaurant the Wild Garlic in Beaminster. Matt Follas opened four weeks ago and judging by our experience, the modest final bill and the quality of food The Wild Garlic should become a top destination on the food map of the south-west. The food was simple, authentic and superbly cooked from fresh local ingredients. The restaurant was unpretentious with excellent service. Jill's lamb was the best she has tasted and my John Dory was stunning. Had a good chat with Matt, after the meal,who shared his techniques for cooking the loin of lamb. He also spoke openly about his journey from amateur cook to Master Chef Winner and planted the seed of going on cooking course to further my skills in the kitchen.

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Dorset

2009-08-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

Having spent 7 days in deepest darkest Dorset, without either a mobile phone signal or broadband I am now able to update my blog from The Slice of Lime Café in Budleigh Salterton.

Dorset home of two Hardy's Thomas the novelist and Lord Nelson's famous companion was a beautiful setting for a weeks holiday. Quaint villages with thatched cottages, a spectacular coastline and miles quiet lanes for cycling. Dorset seemed quieter and less discovered than Devon and Cornwall.

I cycled about 110 miles last week and found some fantastic lanes from the Ordnance Survey Landranger map 194. There was one challenge during the week, hills. I found one flat three mile stretch of Roman road that resembled cycling in Cheshire and the other 103 miles were either up or down. I managed to reach 41mph on one downhill section and on the toughest uphill 3mph. I need to get in a few more miles this week in Devon if I'm going to be able to cope with the first few days of LEJOG which are supposed to be the hardest.

Martin the bike managed the ups and downs far better than my legs, although I had to replace the brake blocks and a mudguard bolt from Dorchester Cycles whose service was excellent.

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Walking

2009-08-01T05:46:00.001-07:00

Two fantastic coastal walks a circuit around Abbotsbury and figure of eight around Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove (see pictures).

Beach volleyball in Weymouth

2009-07-26T02:55:00.000-07:00

Dorset

2009-07-24T05:19:00.001-07:00

Mike has kindly loaned me his bike carrier and Martin is safely on the
roof. We're off to Dorset, hope I've remembered everything.

Simon

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Martin on the car

2009-07-24T05:08:00.000-07:00

Mike and Pete

2009-07-21T07:14:00.001-07:00

Mike

2009-07-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

Good news, just got confirmation Mike Venables will definitely be joining us for the first half of the journey,Lands End to Home. Mike has ridden LEJOG twice before and his positive outlook and knowledge of the route will be a real plus.
Mike is a semi retired vet, which could come in handy. Originating from Sheffield Mike still supports his local football team "Manchester United" and I will do my best not to mention Ronaldo, Tevez or Barcelona until we get to Penzance.

Soaking Wet

2009-07-19T04:46:00.000-07:00

Just cycled 30 miles over Mow Cow and got very wet on the way back.

Thanks to Chris and Vicki for an excellent BBQ in Wilmslow to celebrate Baz and Chris's birthday.

Looking foward to watching the Tour de France today, it finsishes in the ski resort of Verbier and should be an eventful stage.

Mow Cop

2009-07-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

Back on the bike

2009-07-18T05:58:00.000-07:00

Just finished 12 miles cycling in windy conditions around the Cheshire lanes. First time on the bike after a few weeks off with a sore knee. My knee held up OK and my bike rode like a dream thanks to Pete giving it some TLC.

I've had my Mercian bike for over 25 years, bought with money from my first paper round; the bike was second hand at the time and is actually older than I am. I've decided to give the bike a name after our long and sometimes painful relationship. I've decided on Martin after two of my good friends Martin B. and Martin T. who share many qualities with my bike. They are not as fashionable as they once were, carry a few extra pounds and are above all strong and reliable.

I looked into getting a new touring bike this year to complete LEJOG and after much research I couldn’t find a better bike. If I manage to finish the ride I think I'll send it back to the Mercian factory in Derby for a re-spray.

Last day at school

2009-07-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last day at school today so will hopefully be able to get out on the bike a bit more. Thanks for all the messages of encouragement from the children, parents, governors and staff at Darnhall Primary School.

Training

2009-06-18T15:19:00.001-07:00

The training is going well. I cycled 36 miles over Mow Cop and
Biddulph Moor on Sunday and I am continuing with my morning visits to
the gym. I'm definitely getting fitter and will need to increase the
cycling over the coming weeks to get used to many hours in the saddle.
I've discovered I can blog and post photos from my iphone which will
enable regular updates during the trip from August 14th. Eight weeks
to go.
Simon

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The Route

2009-05-11T11:27:00.001-07:00

We will start at Land’s End cycling from England to Scotland due to the prevailing Southerly wind. We are planning to take 15days with no rest days.

We will slowly wind our way over the undulating countryside of Southwest England, cycle parallel to the border of Wales, through the Pennines and Lake District, onwards to the Scottish Borders, travel via Loch Ness, then finally on to John’o Groats.
We are basing our route on the “Youth Hostel Route” provided in the CTC “End-to-end” pack.

Simon

The Bikes

2009-05-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

The Bikes

Simon will be riding a 1965 Mercian Touring bike and I will be riding a hand built 1986 Longstaff Tourer.
Both bikes are equipped with purpose made racks for rear panniers, TA triple chain sets giving a wide range of gears, Brooks leather saddles and cantilever brakes. The Longstaff wheels are 700c 40 spoke on Mavic rims with 28mm tyres. The Mercian wheels has Weinmann rims, 36 spokes and 27x 11/4 tyres.

Pete

Itinerary

2009-05-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

ITINERARY – LAND’S END TO JOHN O’GROATS
AUGUST 2009

14th August - Land’s End – Golant YHA .. 85 miles

15th August – Golant – Steps Bridge …75 miles

16th August – Steps Bridge – Street…60 miles

17th August - Street – Welsh Bicknor…75 miles

18th August – Welsh Bicknor – Clunn … 50 miles

19th August – Clunn – Home…75 miles

20th August – Home – Slaidburn … 70 miles

21st August – Slaidburn – Carrock Fell…70 miles

22nd August – Carrock Fell – Sanquhar…90 miles

23rd August – Sanquhar – Loch Lomond …73 miles

24th August – Loch Lomond – Glencoe …70 miles

25th August – Glencoe – Loch Ness …60 miles

26th August – Loch Ness- Carbisdale Castle..65 miles

27th August – Carbisdale Castle – Thurso…80 miles

28th August - Thurso – John O Groats… Wick Station 36 miles

Train home 4.00pm Friday 28th August… arrive Crewe Saturday 29th August approx 5.30am