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
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Lycra
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.
Sent from my iPhone
Day 13
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
Sent from my iPhone
Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Day 12
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
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, 24 August 2009
Day 11
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
Sent from my iPhone
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