Cycling John o'Groats to Lands End
End2End : 14th June - 23rd June 2014 (c950 miles, unsupported)
The 10 days of the cycle are represented below, I always planned to highlight the basic obvious route but we will have a map and a compass (and an i-phone!) so the actual plan is we will navigate around these routes on the day, which we did quite well. Therefore I wanted to create this page with a left and a right comment box, the left is why I planned it like this and the right is what we actually did, which I will fill in as we go along. It'll provide a good comparison for us to look back on and for learning from. (click the maps to expand)
Okay, so day 1 of 10 and a relatively straight forward first 90 miles (ish). Accommodation booked just South of Tain. Elevation is about 3800ft so not too bad although it looks lumpy. 2xfull 650ml water bottles required as minimal shops. My mother tells me when I was about 2yr old we got stuck in a snow drift on this road (photo op!)
Day 2 - Looking forward to this day, traversing Loch Ness looking for the monster? Two on the day choices, the first is the A9 or the Cromarty Ferry, the second is which side of Loch Ness - Skania Trucks and a tourist route vs 1000ft climb and true nature? The conventional route is 3000ft the other route is 4000ft. Decisions?!?
Day 3 - A morning view of Ben Nevis! followed by an easy 18 miles before a 1100ft climb and one of the most stunning views in the UK through the Glen and then traverse down past Loch Lomond to Dumbarton. This on paper is my favorite day already, I suspect the weather will make all of the difference on this day.
Day 4 - The first day of true civilization and a trip from Dumbarton to Dumfries. Its quite a hilly day with 4000ft climb. There is a notable 7 mile climb on this route at 41 miles so that's a head down moment. This is on paper our first true 100 mile day but the motivation is early the next day we will have conquered Scotland ..........
Day 5 - With Scotland behind us (shame) this is actually quite an easy day, right up to the point we start a slow 1300ft, 35 mile ascent and Shap summit, then a 20 mile descent towards Kendal to the accommodation which is a 2 bedroom holiday flat. 3200ft climbing over 102 miles, our second true 100mile day.
Day 6 - A consecutive and final 100 mile day of the trip but I suspect this one might be sore. Only 2500ft climbing but through some busy terrain and past Liverpool who will no doubt still be going on and on about how close they came to winning the league, either way it'll be noisy. A tough day all round.
Day 7 - Traversing the Welsh border with a single 1237ft peak with quite a steep 450ft climb to contend with. 99 mile plan so doesn't qualify for a 100miler but on the whole a relatively flat day which I hope will be welcome. This takes us within reach of the right hand turn which will take us on the home straight!
Day 8 - A 90 mile day with a welcome 30 mile flat run in towards the end, we will need this as the next 2 days are the dreaded South West. Today says goodbye to Wales and turns us on to the last leg of the journey. The plan is that Chris Murphy Joins us this evening and cycles the last 2 days with us after recovering from a knee op.
Day 9 - And then there were 3. We will need another pacemaker by now (not the heart type) so Chris can help us along. This is nearly a 5000ft climbing day with hardly a flat section to speak of. 86 miles of hills so we will be doing our homework on this route to minimize the climbing. At least we can have a pasty or two for energy.
Day 10 - This is it, the end is in sight, after a final 82 miles and a lighter but still hilly day of 3800ft climb. We have now climbed well in excess of Everest, burned well over 30,000 calories and no doubt half a van of Jaffa Cakes. The last 5 miles are downhill and the pint of Local Cornish Ale awaits ..... no idea how we will feel.
Not so straight forward, Cyclemeter recorded the ascent at nearly 7000ft, when i observed the lumpy nature of the terrain, i was right from about 20 miles to about 60 miles it was testing for a first day of JOGLE. No phone box unfortunately, its been removed much like every other phone box in the UK (mobiles? who'd hav em')
I was right, the cycling on this day, whilst testing was absolutely stunning. Over the Black Isle in to Inverness, definately use the East side of Loch Ness, no traffic, stunning views and you trade that off for the long steady incline to 1400ft. If you are doing LEJOG expect this route to be alot harder as its a fierce incline to 1400ft
You thought Day2 was stunning, this day will live with me forever. It was an absolute pleasure to ride this 88 miles, weather perfect at 17oC, lochs like mirrors and scenery like nowhere else in the UK. The scenery numbs any effort you need to put in. A must stop at the Green Welly in Tyndrum for Scotch Broth and Lorne Sausage roll, perfect route planning, great to be alive today.
On the road shortly after 05:00 to miss the traffic in Glasgow, a wise move. First 30 miles a steady 750ft climb out of Glasgow but the weaher was glorious. After that it was an undulating trip through country roads pretty much all the way to Dumfries, bit of heavy traffic towards the end. The odd low flying fighter jet which excited John (as he used to fly them)
Up early and on the road to Gretna, crossing the border was a real mental milestone, it felt incredibly good. A light undualting ride to the steady climb towards Shap. Loved climbing shap sumit, weather again was stunning. The descent in to Kendal was best described as exhliarating. Tired after 5 days but in relative terms quite a straight forward day. In some ways I felt fitter now.
This lived up to being the least scenic day. We were joined by 2 mates who toed s along for about 30 miles which was a welcome help, also some good local knowledge to guide us through a maze of roads, take the wrong roads here and you increase your risk significantly. My advice would be to plan this part of your route very carefully. Enjoyable but glad today was over.
Actually covered 103 miles as we detoured down the Welsh. It was really worth it though, stunning scenery, nearly as good as Scotland. There was a 7 mile steady incline through a forest heading towards Bishops Castle. After which it was a fairly flat run in to Hereford, again the sun splitting the skies, both of us feeling good now, its true that you get fitter as you go along.
Ended up doing 108 miles today, albeit the last 4 in an ambulance as John was hit by some arse in a car, who booked himself a day in court for wreckless driving, John used up one of his 9 lives today. Apart from that the Wye Valley is a pure pleasure, take the old bridge over the river as it's much easier. The run then down to Taunton was flat as a pancake, although quite busy.
Johns son Chris joined us today, the plan wasnt to replace him but Johns injuries made that the case, real shame but he was alive!. This was actually 76 miles, again beautiful day which made it a pleasure. A hard climbing day though but you just need to grind through it. I'd rather be doing this on day 8 than day 2 thats for sure. Very lumpy but I did manage the pasty and soup!
Definately tired today but the thought of finishing is worth more than a box of energy bars. Not quite as lumpy as day 9 but hilly nonetheless. beautiful day for the last 86miles. Roads are busy on this section so be careful planning, last 12 miles to LE are unecessarily hilly!! but from the crest of the hill the sight of the finish line puts a shiver down your spine - amazing feeling.