Statistics
- Days: 14 ( July 9th to July 22nd 2018)
- Distance: 1040
Miles
- Elevation:
‘A must do multiday trip for all cycling enthusiasts’
This ride compared to all of my other adventures required the most
amount of planning because of its sheer scale and logistics required. I ensured
to a great extent that we would cycle quiet traffic free roads with as many
cycle networks as possible but still keeping in mind that the paths wouldn't be
too rough for Catherine's racing snake of a bike. I planned the trip using the
Cicerone LEJOG book alongside online recommendations of local roads and routes
that would encompass fantastic views and avoids busy traffic. Then I further
tailored the route towards the nearest campsite (with shower facilities...a
necessity after many gruelling hours in the saddle); this appeared more
difficult than I expected as a substantial number of sites in the summer
required a 'two-night minimal stay'. The difficulty of finding campsites
further increased in Scotland as there were minimal sites available which may
have been down to the accepted wild camping nature of the country and its midge
infested reputation that put off the typical tourist.
I undertook the ride with Catherine and Samuel, it would be our
first big event with the three of us together. Catherine was the cycle hardened
ride who had rode multiple 100 miler rides and was a regular club ride. whereas Myself and Samuel were relatively new
to properly cycling on the road (only 1 year of experience) so we didn’t know
what to expect but with our base fitness from sport and running we excitedly
prepared over 2018 to cycle the length of Great Britain. To train for the LEJOG
I rode a few hundred miles route, commuted daily to the University of Derby and
undertook a hilly bike packing trip in winter with Sam. However, all three of
us hadn't cycled day after day for this period of time so we were anxious about
how our bodies would cope with the continual cycling and intake of cereal bars
(or in our case flapjacks and brick-like granola bars!).
Fortunately, my parents offered their support for the trip which
meant we didn't need to be self-sufficient and carry a tent, sleeping
equipment, cooking utensils and an endless amount of food. Thus, all I carried
on my ride was four inner tubes, 4 litres of water, satnav unit, spare
batteries, camera equipment, lunch and snacks...all of this fitted snugly into
my bike-packing saddle bag, top tube and handlebar bag. This made the ride
almost like a holiday rather than an extreme cycle challenge as we had a
relatively light bike for the day and a luxurious tent set up with brilliant
calorific meals waiting for us as we pedalled onto the campsite. This did make
the ride brilliant as we could bring spare parts, many clothes and a foam
roller (a significant tool at providing our legs with a well-needed recovery at
the end of the day).
Day 1
(Land’s End to Fowey)
Statistics
- Distance: 65.2 Miles
- Elevation: 6148 Ft
Land’s End to Penzance
Our trip had begun, we set off from the campsite downhill towards
Land’s End for the obligatory photo of proof that we started from the very
bottom of Great Britain. Our morale was high, my bike was 100% clean/spotless,
and we had 1040 miles ahead of us.
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| Let the adventure begin! |
It was a brilliant start from Land's End to Penzance as we had a
variety of twisty descents and sharp climbs that were under an abundance of
overhanging trees which made it challenging to judge the road surfaces
underneath our tyres. Despite this, a typical looking commuter on a folding bike
seems to have no problem as he swiftly overtook us which made Samuel rather
frustrated, but we knew we couldn't go sprinting ahead this early on in the
ride, so we gritted our teeth and continued to twiddle our legs with
preservation of the body in mind. Even though this ride was a linear trip, we
had two days of seeing glimpses of beaches, sea and bays due to the southern
pinnacle nature of Great Britain.
Penzance to Marizion/ St Michaels mount
We rode a brilliant 4-mile gravel path (National Cycle Network 3)
that I couldn’t resist taking us on; it traversed closely to the shoreline of
Mounts Bay which was a brilliant start to the day. It was a great choice
compared to the busy road that ran parallel, but I did become slightly worried
for Catherine racing bike when the small gravel turned to rocks, but it was
definitely worth being next to the sea for a few miles (my fingers we crossed
we didn’t get a puncture this early into our cycling epic).
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St Michaels Mount to King Harry Ferry
After our quick photo and scan around the area, we powered
through, which claims to be one of the oldest villages in England! I had a
significant focus on my Satmap at this point as I didn't want us to take a
wrong turn at such an early stage of our cycle tour and due to the multiple
turns and crossroads, there was a high chance that we could have gone wrong.
Fortunately, we didn't which allowed us to make brilliant time to get us to the
first ferry...how exciting! (In context, adequate cycle touring speed is any
speed faster than walking, but even this is questionable up very steep hills).
King Harry Ferry to Fowey
After a short wait for the chain ferry to cross the River Fal
(departs every 20 minutes) we boarded, took on a few snacks and looked out onto
the river to spot some seals (a poster displayed the wealth of seals in the
area, but unfortunately, we weren't successful at seeing any!).
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We immediately ascended a steep hill towards Philleigh and Tregony. We were in our hardest gear on the ferry due to the picturesque descent that took us into the bay which made the climb out of the ferry difficult for the first 50 metres until we had enough speed to change into a realistic and comfortable climbing gear.
The day was mentally challenging for a relatively short route, but
the constant heat of the sun at approximately 30.C shining down on us took a
significant toll on increasing our levels of fatigue. Sam, in particular,
struggled on the first day, which was a worrying moment for myself as he
doubted his ability, which was not what we needed at this point of our
trip. Catherine and I had our fingers
crossed that his legs would quickly adjust to the hills and the miles, but
fortunately for the rest of the journey, he had no problem at all. When we
reflected on this day I think we can primarily put our struggles down to the
severe heat, I got through all 4 of my water bottles for the ride, and I didn't
want the weather to be this hot for the whole journey (We had 30.C for three
solid days).
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Day 2 (Fowey to Looe)
Statistics
- Distance: 66.8 Miles
- Elevation: 4442Ft
We set off at 6:30 (A routine we stuck to; 5:15 wake up, 6:30 set
off) from Polgaze Farm in order to make the first ferry crossing for the day
from Fowey at 7:00.
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This was a beautiful small town with a monster looking hill at the opposite side of the estuary and of course, due to my hill seeking nature plotted the ride to go up it. Even for me, the hill was very steep, it was a climb that required us to grit our teeth and dig deep on our reserves which wasn’t ideal considering the undulating and constant hills we had for the rest of the route.
Once we reached the top, we took a turn which took us down a proper country
road. We had a small channel of tarmac that we had to guide our way through as
there were loose gravel, mud and manure all over the road for a good few miles.
It was definitely a traffic-free road, as the overgrown bushes and poor road
surface almost made it look like a bridleway!
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| Looe |
After a few more sharp climbs later we descended quickly down some swooping turns into Looe. This was our first stop for a quick snack, it was a picturesque area with a nice little harbour that was full of a variety of fishing and sailing boats. The estuary was sparkling powder blue and the seagulls were squawking. But, we couldn’t sight see for too long as we still had many miles ahead of us. Therefore, we were straight into another climb, this one was long but still maintained its steep nature of the Devonshire hills.
Looe to Torpoint ferry
After the awesome descent towards Hessenford that encompassed wide
twisty roads, we encountered our first conundrum or in fact, we had 2 issues at
one time; Catherine’s rear brake was not working (it nearly shredded her tyre
after rotating 90 degrees and rubbing on the sidewalls) and Sam had a rather
dramatic standstill crash due to forgetting to unclip from his bike.
Fortunately, a quick tighten and readjustment of Catherine's brake callipers
and a dust down of Samuel (plus he had to retrieve his bar end cap from a road
drain), we were back on our road trip.
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Torpoint Ferry- to Yelverton
We had our second ferry for the day, it was considerably larger
than the previous ones, we had used. It is the main crossing to Plymouth which
meant we had to wait at traffic lights that consisted of 7 lanes of traffic
queues with each individual light that turned green one after another. To
further, enhance the ferry crossing, we had a history lesson about Plymouth
from another fellow biker, this guy’s bike had a motor but his expert local
knowledge made up for his 'cheating style’ of transport.
I wasn’t looking forward to this next section as it went through
the city of Plymouth, I planned it to be as traffic free as possible but there
were still many unavoidable busy roads and large triple lane roundabouts.
Luckily, there were some brilliant newly cycle paths installed which reduced
the stress levels for a few miles until we re-hit the main road that led to
Yelverton.
I was thankful that we put our heads down for this section and
powered through the A836 and escaped the hectic life that we all aimed to
escape on this trip. But I don’t think Catherine and Sam appreciated the
erratic cycling nature of my speedy legs at this point, as I struggled to
look back and see if they were still with me while I was trying to look at the
satmap, traffic around me, what lane of traffic to be in and the colour of the
traffic light!
Yelverton- Postbridge (Dartmoor National Park)
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This ride had contrasting scenery with busy city roads to isolated
rolling hills in the remote countryside of the Dartmoor National Park. This
section was the latter of the two and it was just brilliant. The hills were
harsh but the descents were awesome. Catherine made a few friends with the
local free-ranging wild horses. They were wandering aimlessly in the middle of
the road and with her kind nature, she immediately escorted them off the road
from the busy traffic. They may not have thanked her but further down the road
we did see a sign saying 133 animals had died on the road that year so maybe
she saved those terrible statistics for a bit longer!
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We had a peaceful section across the moors towards Two bridges,
the nature of the ride meant we had limited recovery on the downhills as we
ascended above sea level for approximately 25 miles which meant a vital photo
and drink stop was needed on the bridge.
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Once refuelled, we had another sharp climb towards Postbridge. Our
energy stores were low due to the constant heat throughout the day which meant
a further snack stop, this had a lovely backdrop next to the robust pack horse
bridge with the calm water running through it. The area was flooded with
touring camper vans but you could definitely see why, as it was beautiful.
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| Postbridge |
Postbridge – Moretonhampstead
After riding through the open and unpopulated Dartmoor national
park, we were shocked to see an imposing structure of a prison (HM prison
Dartmoor); the prison date backs to 1805 to house the French prisoners of war.
It used to be renowned as the toughest place for confinement; however, today it
holds with category C prisoners that even holds a museum about crime and
punishment
We had some fantastic panoramic views on this section before we
had a fast-downhill section through the pretty town of Moretonhampstead. This
was a slight detour from the book due to the limited number of campsites in the
area. We went down some very nice traffic free country roads which were great
in order to loosen the legs as a cooldown with all three of us together in a
line chatting away which is normally difficult to formulate when we were on the
fast roads.
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| The state of Catherine's legs after every day of riding! |
Day 3 (Moretonhampstead to Glastonbury)
Statistics
- Distance: 82.3 Miles
- Elevation: 4816
Ft
Moretonhampstead to Exeter
We set off at 6:20 down some very narrow country roads. Stupidly
we didn't have our arm warmers; thus we were shivering for approximately 30
minutes until we had to go through a closed road which required a few hike a
bike moments over the workmen's mess from the severely dug up road. (It was not
surprising why it was closed as the holes looked like the journey to the centre
of the earth!). This slight challenge was fine for Sam and me, but it required
extra caution for Catherine's skinny tyres as there were a fair few large rocks
scattered on the road.
After we weaved around a few twisty roads, we passed a lovely
isolated thatched cottage. However, I immediately became distracted as I saw a
glimpse of another fellow cyclist, my competitive nature or as Catherine put it
'your testosterone has kicked in'…I left the other two and decided to slip street
this carbon chain gang cyclist up a 15% hill. I don't think my legs appreciated
the fast climb, but it was entirely worth the satisfaction that I kept up with
him, especially as my bike was twice as heavy as his plus it was loaded up with
touring gear.
Exeter to Broadhembury
Once we approached Exeter, it was rush hour; I now had to have
100% focus on my satnav due to the dual carriageways, busses, busy traffic and
general city life. We did have a few moments of severely raised heart rate when
we negotiated around the large duel lane roundabouts, but overall this wasn’t
as hectic as were expected when comparing it to Plymouths experience the
previous day! The continual cycle paths around the city were fantastic, and you
could certainly see that the traffic in Exeter is horrendous due to the mass
number of commuting cyclists which we aren't used to in our local area of
Derbyshire.
After we got out of the city we had some brilliant traffic free,
back lanes which allowed us to talk together rather than being in single file
looking at the other person's back wheel. The weather for the ride was getting
increasingly hot, primarily through the country roads in Somerset where wheat
fields above your head surrounded you. There was virtually no wind, and it became
fairly uncomfortable as the heat seemed just to be trapped it, so we began to
continuously guzzle our bottles of water (approximately four bottles drank a
day so far). This weather was a challenge, but with regular snack stops in the
shade, we soon powered through the heat and maintained our constant touring
speed.
The peaceful section immediately ground to a halt as we had a
significant traffic issue that we had to try and tackle together, this was the
crossing of a dual carriage to the other side to make a left turn that was
approximately 200 metres of adrenaline-fuelled danger riding ahead of us. This
was a waiting game as we swiftly walked over to the central reservation with
ease, but then it became difficult to get onto the left hand as the cars and
lorries were rapidly passing us which you could genuinely feel the gusts of
wind blowing into our faces. Once we were successful at getting onto the dual
carriageway, we cycled as fast as we could up the road to get us back onto the
quiet lanes as the lorries were just rapid. We really couldn't avoid the dual
carriageway, but fortunately, we were only on it for a short distance, but it
got our adrenaline pumping, and more specifically Sam’s strong language began
to exacerbate.
We were relieved once we got off the dual carriageway, but due to
Catherine’s kind nature she ordered us to pull in and let a lorry pass, but she
caught her wheel on the curb and drastically crashed. Fortunately, she only had
a few cuts and bruises as I feared the worse when she was flat on the floor
next to a lorry which was very close to rolling straight over her! It was
slightly ironic as we safely road the dangerous section of the dual carriageway
and then an injury occurred on the quiet country roads! After a thorough check
for gravel rash and any serious injuries, Catherine took a jelly baby, a large ibuprofen
tablet and instantly powered on like a war hero; it was almost like nothing had
happened to her (she never fails to amaze me, how mentally robust, bulletproof
and resilient she is).
The distance was passing by fast; we were covering speeds at a
comfortable 12mph which was ideal for cycle touring (the right balance between
taking in the scenery, not destroying our legs for the next day and not cycling
too slow that the hours in the saddle were even more painful). We passed a
significant looking private school (Millfield) with facilities that lasted for
miles (the students must have to be bussed between every lesson it was that
gigantic of a place!), we then had the brilliant descent looking over toward
Glastonbury Tor. However, this descent didn't last long as we had a long and a rather steep hill to get us to the campsite.
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| Glastonbury Tor in the background |
This was a unique campsite any of us had ever been on; it was
called Paddington Farm Trust (Glastonbury), it had a mixture of free-spirited
families and the site's facilities were rough and ready but with the added
touch of flowers everywhere. The showers, in particular, were one of a kind, it
was a makeshift, renovated milking parlour with all of the original machinery
that we banged our hips on. It was strange but very basic with a shower
attached to a milking machine and a massive heavy sliding door that was
initially to keep the cows in, however, it definitely didn't prevent the peeping
children out as there were many gaps and the door had no lock so this was
probably the fastest shower of our trip!
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| The campsites sunset |
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| The milking parlour showers |
Day 4 (Glastonbury to Whiddon Down)
Statistics
- Distance: 74.7 Miles
- Elevation: 4531Ft
Glastonbury to Wells
Wells to Chew Valley Lake
Once the bike became rideable once more, we carried on. We rode an
excellent gravel crunching path towards Wells which was far better than the
main road that ran beside it. Once we came to the end of the trail, we had a
long climb out of Wells, our legs were slightly fatigued and stiff, but we
eventually made it to the top as a group. We were shocked how fast the days
were flying and consequently our morale was very high, which meant the miles
just kept increasing with ease. We didn't faze the distances, and once we would
get back to regular rides back home, we would defiantly not be satisfied with a
small 50 miler ride as it would be over too quickly.
Unfortunately, the skies were darkening, and the inevitable rain
would come…we became soaked instantly, but we reached Chew Valley Lake, it was
beautifully calm and scenic, which took our mind off the weather for a short
period. The lake was situated at the foot of the Mendip hills and is one of the
largest artificial lakes in the country that has nearly 300 species of birds
around the area.
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| Chew Valley lake |
Chew valley lake to Winford
The rain was still pouring, we were wearing our skimpy Lycra top
and shorts but were determined not to put the raincoat on and give into the
elements. I did become concerned for Catherine as her road bikes brakes were
practically useless in the rain and we had many fast-slippery, wet descents
ahead of us.
Winford to Ashton Court
The rain continued, and the road began to look like fairy washing
up liquid. This was the first day of precipitation for the trip, and our bikes
became quickly dirty. We made a turn off the excellent smooth road and onto a
closed byway which didn't look bad when I researched the roads via google maps,
but it was severely overgrown and eroded. Catherine was extremely precautious
weaving through the nettles, potholes and sharp bends around the limited path
that I created from my bike that cut us a route through the thicket.
Ashton court to Bristol
We then approached Ashton court, where we cycled through the
archway towards the estate’s mansion. It was a lovely area with wide paths
throughout; no cars were allowed in the area. It was brilliant to cycle as 3 in
line and chatted away together before we soon approached the busy city of
Bristol. There was even a Wallace and Gromit trail around the area which looked
a lovely family orientated activity. We cycled under the Clifton suspension
bridge and traversed the river Avon via another beautiful cycle path.
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| Ashton Court |
Bristol and Avonmouth to the Severn Bridge
As we approached Bristol, there were countless artistic graffiti
on bridges, walls and tunnels. It was incredible artwork compared to the avid
teenage vandal’s graffiti work that mainly encompassed swear words, nudity and
general vandalism in our city of Derby. But as soon as we became close to
Bristol, it was quite hectic with roundabouts, and lots of lorries, heading
towards the Avonmouth Docks. It was rather sketchy as we tried to weave around
the potholes and change lanes in front of the fast-moving traffic.
Severn Bridge to Tintern Abbey
To bring our heart rate down from the busy traffic through
Avonmouth I suggested we would have a freewheeling race across the Severn
Bridge. This was not a typical speed race as our average speed was below
walking pace; we had to get as aero as possible and shift our body weight back
and forewords without pedalling to get our bike across the other side of the
long and almost flat bridge. I suspect the drivers who passed us were
questioning what we were doing, but it was brilliant fun that was vital at
destressing from the busy section we had just done. (Sam won the freewheeling
race; his victory was dubious with accusations that he sneakily pedalled to
gain some extra speed that he suggested was from a gust of wind)
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| The freewheeling race over the Severn Bridge |
Tintern Abbey to the campsite
Catherine’s front derailleur had been temperamental for the whole
trip, but this time it officially broke, so I decided to pull into the car park
of Tintern Abbey. After over an hour of faffing and a kind ice cream gesture
from Samuel, we had to continue our ride to the campsite. Due to the lack of
bike tools and spare parts I had on me, I couldn’t fix the bike, hence we
continued to our site.
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| Not a bad place to have a mechanical! |
Day 5 (Whiddon down to Bishops Castle)
Statistics
- Distance: 63.3 Miles
- Elevation 3885Ft
Whiddon Down to Monmouth
We had a brilliant start to the ride; it was down a rough fire
track road in the forestry commission. After many sweeps and turns, we came to
a narrow footbridge that was slightly rickety but a unique experience that was
worth the tricky navigation to get it. Once Catherine plucked up the courage to
let go of the rails of the bridge we carried on. We still had more off-road
trails, which was an impressive start to the ride as it was traffic free for 5
miles. We then reached Monmouth which was a lovely town with wonderful quiet
roads
Monmouth to Bishops Castle
We were maintaining good speed through the ride, miles were passing rapidly, and we were nearly a third of the way due to the short-planned ride for the day. There were two very mean unexpected climbs, Sam had two fewer gears (He kept reminding us about his disadvantage- despite Catherine's racing bike had considerably less gears than our bikes) due to a temperamental derailleur, and Catherine’s road bike gears meant they were both grinding their way up which looked pretty painful.
We had 8 miles to go and had a brilliant country road decent until
Catherine had the first puncture of our trip. Luckily it was a quick fix, but I
still didn't manage to sort her front derailleur out which meant she was
proactively running a 1x set up with minimal speedy gears. Once passing the
beautiful town of Wells, we had the severe last climb up Bishops Castle that
was full of colourful quaint shops.
Day 6 (Bishops castle to Runcorn)
Statistics
- Distance: 77.7 Miles
- Elevation: 2152Ft
This day was a slight change to the routine. We got up at 5: and
set off much earlier as we had the luxury accommodation ahead of us at
Catherine's brother's house in Runcorn. However, we couldn't complain much
about the tent accommodation and three-course meals served by my parents each
evening that they prepared in the campervan- they were a fantastic support team
which made LEJOG more of a holiday than a challenge as all we had to do was
ride our bikes!
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| A lovely gravel path to start the day with |
We continually powered through the villages and arrived at Shrewsbury
for Catherine’s first official toilet stop due to the explicit sign explaining
the fines if she did!
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| Shrewsbury |
Once we got to Frodsham, Samuel wanted to go into a bike shop to
look for some bargains. we were both drooling over the nice expensive bikes and
I even got a nice treat of an anodised Hope seat clamp from Catherine and Sam
as thank you for organising the trip which made the day even better (it’s the
little things in life).
To conclude, the ride was nice, with few busy roads, Catherine had a few songs stuck in her head and it was the fastest we ride for the trip (It was the incentive of a hearty pub meal, freshly washed kit and a warm comfortable house for accommodation).
Day 7 Runcorn to Orcaber Lane near Settle
Statistics
- Distance: 78.0 Miles
- Elevation:
5039Ft
We set off bright and early from Catherine’s brothers, had the
wave goodbye from her family and we set off down the local canal. Half a mile
in and her front derailleur broke again (we fixed it last night with a new gear
cable), we quickly turned around got the tools out of the house and made the
quick fix. Catherine was slightly annoyed that I was her bike technically
failing again, but due to the nature of back to back riding for two solid
weeks, anyone’s bike was vulnerable to a mechanical failure.
Most of the ride at the start was on fast roads riding through
built-up areas; Warrington, Leigh, Bolton and Blackburn. This was hard to avoid
due to the nature of a linear ride. To make the situation even harder for
navigation, I forgot my north mapping card for the day which meant I had to
follow a breadcrumb trail on my Satmap compared to the detailed maps I am
normally used to. But with extra care at staring at the screen, I made little
errors apart from being in the wrong lane on a right turn in front of a police
station, but fortunately, it was early in the morning, and no PC plod saw me. We
even had numerous traffic lights to tackle with constant races with a learner
driver along the way which reduced the stress levels of busy rush hour.
Leigh- triathlon
Once we approach Leigh, we had a slight issue of the local roads
being closed due to a triathlon; we could either make a significant detour or
sneakily join the road. I didn't want any detours, but Samuel and Catherine's
reluctantly wanted to go through the barriers and ride the race route. However,
they had no choice as I was navigating, so they followed. It was another
memorable experience that added to the trip. We even got mistook from the marshals
for being the triathletes as they screamed at us once I came off route and got
back on track. I understand they would have been shocked to see anyone else on
the roads, but surely they must have noticed my fully laden bike with a laptop
and realize we weren't racing…nevertheless, it was a hilarious experience, but
I don't think Samuel and Catherine agreed
Bolton to Blackburn
Once we got out of Bolton, we were onto the moors, the views were
stunning, but we had a problem. Most of the roads were closed again, we
initially thought it was for the iron man triathlon event, but numerous fire
engines were passing us. After passing a few more closed road signs, we got
stopped by the police asking why we were on the road, after a quick explanation
about our trip he let us off. The reason for the road closures were the open
moor fires which caused devastation to the countryside, footpaths were closed,
and the Dingle and springs reservoir were empty due to the pumping of water for
the fires.
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| Closed roads with the large fire hoses we had to dodge! |
Slaidburn to Orcaber Near Settle
This section was absolutely stunning we were in the depths of the Forest
of Bowland. the ride became all of a sudden hard. we commonly saw 16% hill
signs. some were short and brutal and some were very long. But the descents and
views were incredible. We had our first water bottle fill up in a church
which was a massive help for the difficult undulated terrain. The miles didn’t
pass fast for this section but we all had smiles on our faces as it was an
incredible area.
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| Steep climbs meant great descents! |
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| We had the delight of a table on every pitch to eat outside. The site had luxurious toilet facilities and a rainforest style shower! |
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| The daily chores of washing and drying our cycling kit |
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| The continual tinkering and maintenance to keep the bike running at its optimum |
Day 8 (Orcaber Lane near Settle to Keswick)
Statistics
- Distance: 64.1 Miles
- Elevation:
3412Ft
We set off out of the campsite brought and early. We doubled back on the route that we did yesterday due for a few miles and headed to High Bentham for checkpoint 1. It was beginning to drizzle, so we put on our coats and carried on. The weather didn't improve for the day, so we put our head downs and continued to Kendal. Sam and I motivation for the day was visiting the UK's biggest bike shop in Staveley and the outdoor gear shops in Ambleside
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| A lovely traditional signpost as we left the campsite. |
The ride was relatively flat until we entered the lake district, Kendal was a beautiful place with lots of lovely outdoor gear shops for us to dream over as we cycled past. There was another dreamer own the road who I nearly ran over on my bicycle due to his intoxicated nature and lack of awareness when crossing the streets.
Once we got to Windermere the ride changed for the best, the
rugged scenery of the fells, lakes and hills were incredible. We had our lunch
next to Windermere Lake, dodged the toilet fee by sliding through the barrier,
and we carried in towards Ambleside. the pace all of a sudden increased as Sam
had his eye on a bit of shopping but due to the stunning scenery I made
forceful stops so we would take it in
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| The Lake Windermere lunch stop |
We arrived at Ambleside and to Sam’s disappointment, the product
he wished to purchase was out of stock. This probably was for the best as it
prevented Catherine from falling asleep as we constantly drooled over new fancy
gear that we couldn't afford!
The last section towards Keswick (campsite) had some brilliant
fells either side of us, we tried to go through a closed road that traversed
the left side of the valley, but it was impassable meaning had to continue
along the main busy road towards the site.
We made good time at the site, put the awning up and had a shower.
This was the first time we had the eager midges biting us, but hopefully, this
helped us ease into the skittish human eating midges that awaited in the next
few days of our journey. Due to the short ride, we had the luxury of cramming
into the campervan and watching a film together, but this only lasted for 5
minutes as we all fell asleep swiftly due to the continuous day in day out
cycling we had undertaken
Because of our successful kip, we even decided to cram in the
campervan for our overnight sleep to avoid the midges (5 adults total in a
small van at a push). Before this, we were all wrapped up like beekeepers to
prevent as many bites as possible, which was a sight for any other nearby
camper as the midges didn't seem to affect them at all. However, we would still
go back to the site for future adventures as the location and views we could
wake up were great. (Unfortunately, we didn't wake up to a beautiful sight as
we had the typical British Lake District rain!)
Overall the latter part of the ride was stunning, the rain was
constant through day and night, but we were one step nearer to John O’ Groats,
the anxiety increased as we had two big days in front of us. However, due to
the high spirits of Catherine, we never got too overwhelmed by the sheer
challenge and distances throughout the trip.
 |
| The campsite view |
Day 9 (Keswick to Lettershaws Farm, Abington)
Statistics
- Distance: 94.3 Miles
- Elevation:
4364Ft
We then had a short off-road gravel section it was great with
muddy puddles and overgrown thicket which was far better than the alternative
busy road. We hoped once we got this section out of the way the rest of the
ride to Scotland would be flat; to an extent we were right. We only had
problematic hills to tackle, but most of it was travelling along quiet roads
that traversed the dual carriageway which was satisfying to see as we had
little traffic on the road until we began to get close to the forests in
Scotland and then we commonly saw timber lorries and machinery speedy passing
us. This was another ride that we had our coats on for the full day; we hit regular
pockets of rain with strong headwinds when the roads began to open up.
 |
| The final glimpses of the Lake District National Park; next stop Scotland! |
Once we crossed the border from England to Scotland, the roads all
of a sudden got rough, Catherine's bones were shaking on her rigid carbon bike,
and Sam's voice was vibrating when trying to pronounce road signs in Scottish.
The roads were appalling for the whole way to the campsite, potholes, cambers,
rough gravel and holes then we could quickly have gone over the handlebars on.
Therefore, we had to act like proper cyclists and warn when we saw hazardous
surface approaching, so we didn't have any problems.
 |
| A HUGE milestone reaching Scotland |
Once we got to Gretna Green, I decided to stop off and take a few
photos to bring back the brilliant smiles I'm used to seeing of Catherine. She
looked slightly demoralised from the rain and the nasty saddle sores she had
been dealing with for the whole trip, so a few quick photos and a look round
the popular tourist attraction brought her instantly back to her bubbly self.
We couldn't belie how packed such a small area was of oriental tourists, it was
strange to see as we had most of the ride cycling alone or next to cars.
 |
| Gretna Green |
 |
| The bagpiper at Gretna Green |
We had a quick bite to eat and snack at Moffat to give our glutes a rest, and we set off for the final leg. This seemed a long ride as so the intake of sugary jelly babies and wine gums soon gave us the needed energy and moral to complete the journey.
The rest of the section began to become slightly tedious as we
practically rode a straight line for the past 50 miles, but at least we to
maintain a rather comfortable speed which brought us to the campsite at 3:45.
The location of the site was fantastic, the views were epic, but the only
downside was we were next to a stream which attracted walls of Scottish midges
which were irritating, to say the least.
 |
| Sam was a brave sole showing his bare skin to the Midges |
Day 10 (Abington to Loch Lochmond (Arduli Hotel))
Statistics
- Distance: 92.4 Miles
- Elevation:
2523Ft
We set off bright and early, saw the sunrise as usual and got
eaten alive by the midges. However, within 30 metres (we didn’t even leave the
campsite) Sam’s jockey wheel off his derailleur fell off. We searched all over
the place for his bolt and spacers, but it couldn’t be found. This was a
slightly worrying situation as we were situated in the middle of nowhere, but
fortunately, I managed to bodge a fix by putting a pannier rack bolt to tighten
the jockey wheel up. However, because we lost the spacers, also this meant Sam
struggle to pedal as we had to clamp the bolt directly onto bearings. I did
worry that we would have to turn his chain into a fixed wheel, but fortunately,
it worked as a temporary basis.
 |
| Catherine avoiding the midges while I persisted on having a photo |
After half an hour of faffing around we set off, Catherine was
hardcore and set off in bearskin which I think she soon began to regret. Thus
multiple midge bites were starting to come to the skin where Sam and I were
fully clothed and ready and even cycled for a mile or so with midge nets and
full body cover.
We quickly delayered after we left the site and continued our
second-long day. We powered through the continuous rain with maintaining our
high moral and laughter. I wasn’t looking forward to the middle section of the
ride as it went through Glasgow.
But this never came to fruition as we traversed the canal along a
lovely traffic free muddy trail. This was epic, as we managed to miss various
busy roundabouts and dual carriageways. But Samuel was desperate to find a bike
shop to fix his derailleur, so he put the big bike shops onto his phone, and we
began to weave our way through the hectic city life. It was hectic with
pedestrians stepping out in the middle of the road, buses, vans and lorries all
hurrying to get into a lane where we tried to prevent from being crushed.
This was an interesting experience and an unsuccessful trip for
Sam’s proposed shopping spree. He got me back on route, and I began to do an
easy navigation set back to the campsite.
The last 45 miles was stunning, we had lunch outside of Glasgow and followed a canal toward Erskine Bridge, which meant more traffic stress-free navigation.
 |
| Clydebank |
The last 45 miles was stunning, we had lunch outside of Glasgow and followed a canal toward Erskine Bridge, which meant more traffic stress-free navigation.
We then kept dipping in and out of the main busy road that
followed Loch Lomond. Occasionally we would have a cycle path which meant some
lovely scenic photographic and snack stops.
 |
| Loch Lomond |
Once we arrived we were right next to Loch Lomond, Catherine
instantly jumped into the lake and swam in her cycling clothing she’s much
braver than me) and then the swarm of midges began to arrive and eat us to the
Bone. After a quick shower, covering of midge repellent, we had spaghetti
bolognese and watched the beautiful sunshine upon the lake. The campsite was a genuinely impressive
location, just a shame about the midges!
 |
| Loch Lomond right next to our campsite! |
Day 11 (Loch Lomond to Glencoe)
Statistics
- Distance: 42.1 Miles
- Elevation: 2515Ft
We set off as quick as we could due to the horrendous midges (A
common occurrence in Scotland), we had a long continuous climb, to begin with
(my longest climb to date but it was not my hardest). The views were stunning,
with incredible vistas for the whole ride. The ride was short due to limited
availability of campsites in the area, but it gave the legs a needed recovery
and my camera a well-needed photo shoot.
This was one of my favourite days for the trip, and maybe of all
time, the views throughout were continually breath-taking with very rugged
landscapes for the whole ride. Due to the minimal miles for the day, it meant
long exposure photography, lunch stops and lots of stop-starting to absorb the
STUNNING views.
 |
| A long exposure photography with having my fingers crossed that the bike didn't fall into the water |
After we had the long climb, the descent was, and if not, the best
we have ever come across we were surrounded by towering mountains, and it just
felt unreal. I did find it difficult to accelerate above 30mph due to the
strong headwind and heavy bike luggage, but this didn't matter as we just
needed to soak up as much of the dramatic scenery as possible. We weren't
hungry, but due to Catherine's urge to paddle in every spot of water we passed
on the trip, we decided (Or heavily persuaded) to have lunch beside the river
just before Glencoe. This was our favourite picnic spot of the trip (we made it
compulsory to have lunch and sandwiches every day to prevent Strava segment
bashing, to make it a touring trip of exploring the area rather than looking at
stats).
After our longest lunch stop of the trip, we arrived at the
campsite. It was located next to a river with the backdrop of the towering
mountains. After continual persuasion, I gave into Catherine's suggestion of
going for a wild swim. This was a beautiful place for my first wild-swim, it
was freezing cold but a fantastic experience I won't forget!
 |
| My first wild swim! |
Day 12 (Glencoe to Inverness)
Statistics
- Distance: 87.4 Miles (including
a half marathon of running)
- Elevation: 3793Ft
This day began with the worse rain we had for the whole trip.
Proper British weather soaked us to the bone instantly, to make the matter
worse my GPS failed, which meant we had to rely on Catherine and Sam's minimal
navigation experience and mapping systems on their smartphones. The fog was
very thick, which was a shame as we knew the views we were missing along the
way; we were towered over by the rugged mountains.
We passed Fort William, got continuously sprayed by busses and
from my fellow teammate's bicycle wheels. We then reached a peaceful canal
system, most of the ride from this point onwards was off-road gravel cycle
paths, the conditions were not pleasant, our bikes were looking like concrete
machines, they were utterly ditched! Myself and Sam were still mesmerised with
the incredible paths but, Catherine was not, her slick wheels were spinning,
and her bones were shaking over the wee gravel (we were becoming climatized to
the Scottish language).
The rain continuously began to fall, and much to our surprise, my parents were waiting at a lay-by next to the Caledonian Canal. This was the first time we had an official checkpoint for the trip, and it was a well-needed morale boost. We had croissants and hot chocolate waiting, this began to thaw out our shivering bodies, but as we stopped, we soon realised that we needed that extra support as our clothes were incredibly dirty from the slurry-like paths. (We didn't want any chafing this early on in the ride, so we kept our fingers cross and rode more sensible avoiding the big muddy puddles).
This took an even bigger turn for the worse once we set off, the
path began to have larger pebbles and rocks which made it inevitable puncture
territory for Catherine. And once Samuel said "be careful" to
Catherine, ironically, she immediately had her first puncture. This was my
worst experience of changing a tyre and inner tube; we were in the middle of
midge infested woods. We got eaten alive and even worse than this, the terrain
of the track became rougher, Catherine had only two tubes left, and there were
20 miles of rough gravel paths go. We had our fingers crossed that her tyres
would survive, Catherine carefully and cautiously weaved her way through the
path to find the smoothest way to avoid a puncture, but the luck was not in our
favour. Catherine had a further puncture which meant we only had one more spare
tube. We quickly fitted the last tube and tried to maintain high morale.
However, not much further on, she experienced another puncture!
This was a bad situation, we were 15 miles away from any road, and
we had no reassurance that however we would get there. we may still be stranded
if there were no civilisation, signal or bike shops. We were definitely on edge
for this part as we didn't want another puncture…. but we did…we were stranded,
I bodged the inner tube with tape and plasters. Catherine rapidly cycled as far
as she could until the remaining air in her tube would escape out of the
puncher hole. We repeated the process of rapidly pumping the tube up and
watching Catherine go as far as she could until the air would escape. But, this
didn't last for long. The tube had multiple puncture holes and damage which
left us stranded…. I felt guilty that these punctures were down to my planning,
so I suggested I would run with her bike until we could find an alternative.
(14 miles until the nearest road at this point which meant a tough half
marathon was ahead of me as I still had to haul her bike too)
Catherine rode my bike, and I put her bike on my shoulder and ran
in full cycling clothing (cleat shoes, bib shorts etc.). This was a rather
ambitious undertaking; my shoulder began to ache a few miles in so I decided to
wheel her bike on one wheel in front of me. Both Sam and Catherine offered to
run with the bike too, but I stubbornly declined and saw it as my next
challenge. 10km in with a bike in one hand, I began to get into a routine, I
ordered Sam to power on ahead in case my parents were sightseeing (7 miles
ahead) he speedily got aero and powered ahead while I maintained running with
the bike. After a quick toilet stop in a composting toilet, Catherine proposed
to hold the bike while cycling and I would run beside her. This worked for
periods of time, and I could run freely in my uncomfortable cycling shoes.
Catherine had two bikes that she careful had to control (my bike was way too
big for her, and her other bike was in her left hand that she had to prevent
from directing it into her front wheel or she would fall off). This required
much concentration but she did exceptionally well, which helped the situation
dramatically.
To summarise this eventful section: I had run 12.7 miles, 6.2 of
them with a bike in my hands and the rest without. It was an interesting,
unique experience that was an added memorable experience of the iconic LEJOG
route, however, arguably I hadn't cycled the whole route now which may mean I
have to do the entire route again at some point…..(Any excuse to spend 2 weeks
cycling through fantastic scenery and escaping the busy lives we lead)
Nevertheless, once we arrived at Fort Augustus, my energy was
drained from the run. My dad repaired Catherine's bike while mum forced food
down me, before I had a quick power nap in the campervan before I got back on my
bicycle to continue the journey for the day (I was determined to not give in
regardless of the distance, we had left and how hard the last 13 miles was.)
After an hour of recovery, there were two route options to
Inverness a hilly route as planned or a flat busy route along the A82. Despite
the lactic in my legs and fatigued muscles, I got back on the bike and stuck to
the original route as planned and grinded my way up the B862 Glendoe road that
followed Whitebridge, Errogie, Dores and Foyers (it was the hardest and longest
climb of the end to end route). The route utilised the spectacular general
wades military road which resulted in stunning views and a lack of traffic all
of the way towards Inverness.
Once we arrived at the city of Inverness, we pitched up the awning
and went to the local swimming pool, which included a spa and sauna that was a
well-deserved recovery session for the legs. The location of the campsite was
great; we were in the middle of the city; thus, in the evening we had our first
brought meal (A pizza- the only evening my parents didn't cook a 3-course
dinner in the campervan). Despite the difficulties of the day we were getting
close to the end of our trip, and it had been superb so far.
Day 13 (Inverness to Lairg)
Statistics
- Distance: 58.5 Miles
- Elevation:
2736Ft
This was the penultimate day; we quickly weaved through the city
of Inverness to find the nearest bike shop to get multiple inner tubes for
Catherine to prevent any disasters like the day before. This did change our
routine as we had to set off later due to the large opening of the shop, but we
got the pleasurable experience of tackling the busy commuting traffic through
the city which wasn’t as bad as we expected. Sam took on the role of chief
navigator as my GPS unit was still broken, which he did well for the rest of
the trip as the unit did not revive.
After our shop of an abundance of inner tubes, we continued our
ride over Cassock Bridge and had a snack while viewing the wide river of Beauty
Firth. Once we go out of Inverness, we were heading to Dingwall with the
Cromarty Firth river inlet on our right. The views were beginning to look like
the countryside again apart from the glimpses of massive oil rigs in the
distance.
The ride began to open up even further with much less limited
traffic passing us. We then powered through to ‘Boner Bridge’ which was a
unique area with dozens of fly fishers wading in the Monarch Firth and Kyle Of
Sunderland river. I soon met up with my parents who gave us ice cream while we
read the information board for the area which highlighted that fly fishes
caught up to 20,000 fish a year in the 1900s.
After a vital refuel and hydration we continued along the road B864 towards the fall of shin, this was a fantastic spot as we saw salmon leap above the river trying to attempt to get up a rather steep waterfall (Salmon can jump up to 12ft high according to the information board which is mind-blowing).
After a vital refuel and hydration we continued along the road B864 towards the fall of shin, this was a fantastic spot as we saw salmon leap above the river trying to attempt to get up a rather steep waterfall (Salmon can jump up to 12ft high according to the information board which is mind-blowing).
 |
| Falls of Shin |
After a longish stop from watching the leaping salmon, we headed to Lairg, I think Samuel was slightly frustrated with our leisure speed at this point as he began to go for a rather extraordinary aero position on the bicycle! |
 |
| Superman Sam |
We then passed a bearded Scotsman laden up with large front and
rear panniers. We presumed he was cycling to Lands’ end (JOGLE) but when we
asked him, he replied “I’m cycling to Inverness for the shits and giggles"
this made us laugh and chat for the rest of the ride (It's a quote we will
never forget and always reuse when the weather turns against us and we
question, why we are out fighting the harsh elements,) about the joys and the simplicity of riding a bike. Lairg had a lovely atmosphere with a small village
festival with old fashioned dancing.
 | ||
| A hydration present for my Dad for nearly driving the whole of Lands End to John O groats in the campervan
We then arrived at our campsite, it was remote and, in the
wilderness, but it was perfect and incredibly reasonably priced; it was even under-priced
in our opinion! A couple had hand-built the toilets out of wood and they even
had a games room with a miniature bar (The bar was wasted on me).
|
Day 14 (Lairg to John O’ Groats)
Statistics
- Distance: 93.7 Miles
- Elevation: 3937Ft
The final day of our adventure and we set off wearing limited
clothing due to the delay of our smelly clothes being washed from the campsite
from the following evening. The first 10 miles were challenging with a strong
chilly headwind; the occasional brutal side wind that blew us into the middle
of the road. The clouds were dark, which looked like heavy rain was to come,
but fortunately, we avoided it with our nifty pedalling. Moral was high as it
was the last day, but the ride at this point looked cruel as the wind was
killing our speed. This day was particularly remote with limited supplies (food
and water) and minimal traffic. We had a sense of feeling isolated and being in
the middle of nowhere as we hardly passed anyone apart from the occasional
loaded up bike tourer, farmer and sparsely inhabited villages.
 |
| Our portable home for two weeks |
We arrived at Alnaharra and met a kind man in his motorhome who
were supporting another LEJOG group; we also saw some stags which was a beautiful sight that we all hoped to see in Scotland and luckily, we did just
in time before our ride ended.
|
The scenery from this point on increased dramatically, we turned
right following the B873 which had brilliant views of the stormy Ben Kilbreck
mountain and even better, the wind was behind us which meant the average speed
increased dramatically. It did amaze me how much our mood changed when the
elements changed in our favour.
We then reached Bettyhill, this was our first sight of the coast,
we immediately got the sense of achievement that we had nearly completed the
ride, morale was high, but after a few minutes, we were disappointed that the trip would soon come to an end. We may have seen the sea, but due to the nature
of this route, we followed the cost for another 60 miles which regularly gave
us glimpses of the rough see which place on our mind of how long it would be
until we reached the pinnacle of Scotland.
 |
| Bettyhill |
Once we had 30 miles left, we began to increase our speed
dramatically, we held 21 mph for 1 hour and remained at 18mph for the rest of
the ride which didn’t help our legs warm down. Maybe this was due to the lack
of pain, our legs were experiencing, so we needed to smash the final bit to feel
some aches and pains the day after or maybe we were just excited to finish.
We had reached our destination, JOHN O GROATS. The ride was
completed, 1040 miles under our legs, and we felt great. After numerous photos
of the obligatory signpost and our grinning faces (or shall I say Catherine’s
natural grinning face and mine and Sam’s awkward smile), we walked to the
campsite (about 100 meters away from the signpost), had a shower and our final
meal for the trip.
 |
| Lands End to John O' Groats complete! |
It slowly began to sink that we had cycled from one end of the
country to the other, but it was upsetting to think it had ended and that
Catherine would be going home the next day. (Myself, Sam and the family had
another week planned to tour the west side of Scotland which was part of the
North Coast 500 route which may be our next cycling adventure on our to-do
list!)
Lands End to John O Groats
summary
Overall,
the trip was a fantastic experience. It is a definite for any enthusiastic cyclist to say they have cycled the whole length of Great Britain. I had a
brilliant experience, with continual laughs and saw an incredible variation
of the diverse scenery, Great Britain has to offer; we went through cities,
countryside, mountain passes, villages and towns. In particular, Scotland was the place that
stood out to me the most; first time exploring the country opened my eyes up
for other trips NC500, HT550 mountain bike route, Badger divide and the capital
trail.
All
three of us completed the ride comfortably (Apart from Sam's worrying first-day struggle), without having too many bike mechanicals (apart from the puncture frenzy day for Catherine's bike), we were lucky with the weather and didn't get eaten alive by midges for the whole of Scotland. It was indeed an epic ride that I cannot wait for the next trip with Catherine and Sam; it made the trip extra unique and memorable. Sam was an incredible laugh with constant humour and Catherine is just an inspirational individual with incredible fitness, personality and mental robustness.
All
in all, it was one epic ride with a brilliant set of friends that I cannot
wait to do my next adventure with!
Campsites
|
Day
|
Night
|
Camp Site details
|
|
Travel down in the evening
|
Sat
|
07/07/18
|
Travel time from Home to Penzance 5
hrs 54mins - 341.9 miles
|
Arrive
|
Sun
|
08/07/18
|
(Camp
Site at Trevedra Farm Caravan & Camping Site , Sennen,
Penzance. Cornwall TR19 7BE - Tel 01736 871818
|
Day 1
|
Mon
|
09/07/18
|
Polgaze Farm, FOWEY, Cornwall. PL23 1JZ - Tel 01726 833642
|
Day 2
|
Tue
|
10/07/18
|
Woodlands Spring Touring Park, Venton, Drewsteignton, Devon. EX6 6PG - Tel 01647
231695
|
Day 3
|
Wed
|
11/07/18
|
Paddington Farm Trust, Maidencroft Farm, Maidencroft Lane, Wick, Glastonbury,
Somerset. BA6 8JN - Tel 01458 832 752
|
Day 4
|
Thu
|
12/07/18
|
Doward Park Campsite, Great Doward, Symonds Yat West, Ross on Wye,
Herefordshire. HR9 6BP - Tel 01600 - 890438
|
Day 5
|
Fri
|
13/07/18
|
Foxholes Castle Camping, Foxholes, Montgomery Road, Bishop Castle,
Shropshire. SY9 5HA - Tel 01588
638924
|
Day 6
|
Sat
|
14/07/18
|
Luxury accomodation: Catherines
Brothers house
|
Day 7
|
Sun
|
15/07/18
|
Orcaber Farm Caravan & Camping
Park, Orcaber Lane, Nr Settle,
Yorkshire - Tel 07800 624994 (check address LA2 8AE)
|
Day 8
|
Mon
|
16/07/18
|
Dalebottom Farm Caravan Park, Dale Bottom, Naddle, Keswick, Cumbria. CA12 4TF - Tel 01768 774713 / M 079303 15775
|
Day 9
|
Tue
|
17/07/18
|
Lettershaw Farm, Abington, Biggar, Lanarkshire. ML12 6TA
|
Day 10
|
Wed
|
18/07/18
|
Ardlui Hotel, Ardlui, Loch Lomond, G83 7EB - Tel 01301 704243
|
Day 11
|
Thu
|
19/07/18
|
Red Squirrel Campsite, Glencoe, Argyll, PH49 4HX.
- Tel 01855 811256
|
Day 12
|
Fri
|
20/07/18
|
Bught Park Caravan Park &
Campsite, Bught Lane, Inverness,
Scotland. IV3 5SR - 01463 236920
|
