Land’s End to John O’Groats - another story

Land’s End to John O’Groats - another story

Sustrans route with a racing bike???

I completed one of the major items on my cycling bucket list this year – the Land’s End to John O’Groats ride. Starting from Land’s End on July 10^th and arriving at John O’Groats on July 21^st, I used the Sustrans Guide, only departing from it to avoid the very rough stuff, and to get to my bed and breakfast for the night. The Sustrans guide is broken down into stages between 20 and 50 miles in length, and I planned to do two or three stages a day. The guide recommended not using a racing bike, but did suggest Gatorskin tyres were tough enough. I started with a pair of them on my racing bike as I don’t have a tourer. I wrote a blog recording my story of each day and emailed it to my friends and family. This article is compilation of the blog entries.

Day 1 Land’s End to Bodmin 92 miles.

My friends can see from my Strava data that I am slow. 11 mph average today. That's because I am doing the Sustrans route based upon the National Cycle Network. Today about 70 per cent was on road and 30 per cent off road, which can be a tarmac cycle path, gravel, or an unsurfaced road or track, really only suitable for a mountain bike. I call the gravel and unsurfaced tracks Strada Bianche light, medium or gross. I hope the proportion of tarmac to path improves. It is quite nice to see the NCN routes, but some of them are plain silly. I imagine that they were invented by a bearded man on a touring bike who likes to sleep in a hedge and can't stand the sight of a motor vehicle. More to the point only a gravel bike, which I have not got around to buying yet, would do well on the whole route. My Pedalforce with 23mm Gatorskin tyres is coping with the tough stuff ok though.

I saw a train level crossing on a cycle path today. Never seen that before! I also nearly saw an accident. I descended a hill and found a ford. I dismounted and walked across where the water was shallow. The paving was treacherously slippery. Going up the hill I saw a boy who looked like Dennis the Menace going downhill to the ford with a stupid grin on his face and his feet on the handlebars. His parents passed me a few seconds later. I just told them to stop at the bottom of hill, where I assumed they would find their son's body floating in the water. I pedalled on, so I could get to Bodmin in time to watch the football.

The landlady said she often had LEJOG cyclists staying with her. She was impressed with how little I was carrying and took my photograph before I set off in the morning.

Day 2 Bodmin to Dulverton 115 miles

I noticed that my first stage today went near my friend Graham Everson's holiday cottage. Unfortunately, he declined to join me on his bike as he had a cookery lesson with a certain Mr Stein. Then I noticed today on Strava that he was out early doors for a ride that crossed my route. If we had crossed paths it would have been Stanley meeting Livingstone on Bodmin moor.

I followed the path of the bearded one to Bude. Just as I got to believe that he had begun to think tarmac was a good invention, he would veer off down a farm track. I began to realise this was to show me a wonderful view. Unfortunately, my official photographer Mr Edwards does not join me until Penrith, and as I did have time to waste because of a football appointment (England vs Croatia). I carried on leaving the vista unrecorded.

After Bude it was mostly the Tarka trail to Barnstaple. I think Dr Beeching has a lot to answer for. A railway line is for trains not cyclists. He should never have given a chance for cyclists to get off the road, allowing cars to take over the tarmac.

I read a book about Tarka the otter when I was a kid. I can't remember much about it except the otter was the hero. There many children on the trail learning about this otter. I am sorry to confess I disrupted their lesson by roaring past in time trial mode shouting 'bicycle' because I was trying to get to Dulverton in time to watch the World Cup.

I was in the middle of Exmoor when the football started at 7pm. I stopped and picked it up on radio 5 and got the news England had scored. I then cycled happily on listening to it with a lot of sheep which had red and white dye on them. Then I lost mobile signal. By the time I got to Dulverton things had got worse and then I experienced the misery of extra time at my very nice bed and breakfast. The owner was as sad about the result as me, so we had a few beers to drown our sorrows.

115 miles today and lots of hills and Strava Bianche. Only 1km of rough stuff. 40 miles of gravel though. Off to Glastonbury for lunch and then Bristol for the night.

Day 3 Dulverton to Bristol 90 miles

Today I followed the bearded one from Dulverton to Glastonbury. I decided he must be very short (see the photo of where the cycle path is five feet high) and originate from Glastonbury where the people look very strange. I had lunch in a cafe watching lots of weirdos walk by and wondered if I should grow a beard myself. I rejected the idea. My wife Esther would not approve. After lunch I discovered my rear tyre was flat. I fixed it, but then it went flat again by the time I got to Wells. I found a bike shop where the friendly mechanics put on two new tyres.

I give the tyres 2 days life expectancy if the NCN is similar for the rest of the route. The guys in the bike shop thought the NCN was a nice way to do LEJOG. I guess it helps them sell tyres. I am reserving my opinion for when I am finished.

I am now in Bristol staying with my sister in law Alison. Feeling fine. She asked me if at the age of 64 was I overdoing it?

Day 4 Bristol to Malvern 90 miles

Today's ride was along nice quiet smooth roads except for a short rough towpath section where I got another puncture. Maybe Sustrans appointed a new route designer and sacked the bearded weirdo. I ride in hope.

What am I carrying in my rather large saddle bag? I used to be fascinated by pictures of fighter aircraft with all the equipment laid out on the runway in front of them. Before I left Land’s End I took a picture of what's in the bag.

Off the bike clothes:  T-shirt, shorts, flip-flops.

Washing stuff: Razor (no beards allowed!), shaving cream, shampoo, body wash, toothbrush, toothpaste, interdental brushes, dental floss (yes I am a bit obsessive about looking after my teeth),  clothes washing liquid, sun cream, insect repellent (not needed, despite travelling through Scotland), nail clippers, comb.

First aid kit: large plasters (I sometimes crash), savlon (cyclists know what that is for), sudacrem (for when savlon does not work...), hygienic wipes.

Electric stuff: five port USB charger and plug,  cables for phone, Garmin, etc, backup battery, Aftershox headphones (you hear by bone condition, so your ears can listen for the traffic, earphones, iPod mini.

Other: emergency blanket, towel (Arthur Dent took one).

Bike stuff:  3 inner tubes, spare tyre (added later), multitool, 3 gas canisters, tyre spanners, gaffa tape (gorilla tape added later), pump, chain oil, rag, spare brake blocks, bike lock.

Cycling kit for cold and wet weather: jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers, snook.

All this adds several kgs to the load.

I have two big Camelbak bottles, which in the heat are proving to be necessary. I carry two biscuits and two gels and drink tabs in the cross bar bag. I eat at stops and not on the ride. The biscuits and gels are for emergencies. In my pockets I have the Sustrans guide, my phone, money and route schedule. I am using my Fred Whitton jersey because it has the biggest pockets of all my 25 cycling jerseys. I have one set of cycling kit which I wash every night. Breakfast is a dampening experience...

Day 5 Malvern to Carden Park 100 miles

More rough stuff just before Ironbridge - the Mercian Way stretch gave me another puncture. As I am staying with my brother Vin at Carden Park tonight I used the Garmin navigate to city function to get there from Ironbridge. I thought it would send me on A roads, but it didn't. It preferentially searches for cycle routes such as the NCN, and sent me along some fast quiet roads, although the route was not the most direct. Shropshire and Cheshire have some great cycling roads. Good surface, not much traffic and fairly flat.

I listened to the second half of England vs Belgium on internet radio 5 live as I was cycling through Shropshire. Amazing how all this technology works.

Day 6 Carden Park to Whalley 88 miles

Arrived Whalley. For you southerners who don't know, it's pronounced "war-ley". It's a nice little town in the Ribble valley. The beer's good, property is cheap. There are even designer clothes shops. I will try and persuade Esther to move here...

I did some nature cycling along a canal path through Lancashire's salt mines this morning (it was news to me it had any). I cycled through Manchester, which was like a ghost town with people indoors watching Wimbledon or the World Cup on a sunny Sunday afternoon. After Manchester the Sustrans route had a lot of off road stuff. I decided that I had had enough of that for the day and took the A roads to Whalley, which were ok as it was Sunday.

I got to my hotel in time to see the second half of the France vs Croatia World Cup Final. I thought the Croatian president Kolinda Katarovic should have got the trophy, as she was the real star. If she had been centre forward Croatia would have won, as she could have hugged all the French defenders while Modric scored.

Off to Penrith tomorrow to meet up with Nick, my official photographer.

Day 7 Whalley to Penrith 100 miles

Arrived in Penrith this evening. It had been raining all afternoon and I was not a little damp. The Forest of Bowland (I don't know why it's still called a forest because I could see very few trees) and the Lake District manage to look beautiful in the rain. No off-roading required. It took all my skill at cycling to stay on road along the hilly and windy route through the wet country lanes.

I found a village called Holden on my route this morning. I's my middle name. I guess it's where my ancestors came from. See the photo.

Nick arrived in Penrith this afternoon. He will be riding with me for the next three days. Somehow the B&B had lost our booking, so he sorted out a new place to stay before I arrived. What a hero! He is now sleeping soundly while I type this. He has not cycled anywhere yet!

I have not scheduled a rest day on my trip. Unlike the professionals riding the Tour de France, who had a day off today. Riding through the pouring rain made me think I should have had a day off as well.

Off to Gretna Green with Nick tomorrow morning.

Day 8 Penrith to Crawford 83 miles

My bike, which has been riding itself all the way from Land's End, deserves special mention. It's a Pedalforce RS frame with Campag triple groupset. This gives me a low 1:1 ratio for dealing with the many steep climbs on this trip without overstraining. I had an Achilles problem on the London Edinburgh London ride last year, so avoiding the same injury had been a major concern for me. So far so good. The bike has Tri bars - great for speeding along the flat sections and varying my position. The saddle is a new design from Brooks - the C15 - which is made from rubber and reputedly needs no breaking in. That's not quite true. Two hundred miles in Wales two weeks ago before LEJOG, and some more on this trip, seems to be the amount of time my bottom and saddle have needed to fit in with one another. The luggage kit is a Specialized Burra Burra. The bag takes 10 litres of kit. I weighed it today - 5 kg.

Nick and I cycled together to Gretna and got on so well we made a civil partnership there. Then in the afternoon we had a long flattish ride along the old A74 to Crawford, where I used my tribars to go fast and leave Nick behind. He has now dissolved the civil partnership, but we are still friends.

Bad news this morning. A rogue guest has stolen all 4 TV's and some other bits from my house in South Africa.  We have a good house manager there who is sorting things out.

On some of the cycle paths on this ride I have come across people on mobility scooters going for a ride on their own. If I had a crash I could probably get up and get going again, or at least walk to get help. If the people in the scooters had a problem they would be stuck. Who is taking the biggest risk? I admire their courage in getting out and about.

I have mostly told the B&B and cafe owners I meet about what I am doing. Twice the response had been "oh yes, we had someone walking the route last week!" Now that's a thought. Cycling is the easy way...

Day 9 Crawford to Collander 94 miles

The first stage this morning to Glasgow used fast cycle paths next to the A74. I think the path was the remnant of the original road. Then they built the A74 and then the M74. The original road has not been maintained. What a surprise! People have used it as their recycling site!

We took cycle paths into and out of Glasgow, which in general were nice to ride along and quite picturesque so Nick took a few photos. Understandable as he is the official photographer.

Then Nick began to feel pedalling was too hard. Nothing to do with doing his second long ride in two days. His mudguard was rubbing against his back wheel. I held back comments about using mudguards in the middle of summer and fixed his problem with some gorilla tape. We cycled on for many miles. I came to a turning and waited for a while. My phone pinged and there was a text saying the problem had recurred. I went back and did more gorilla tape work on the mudguard and we continued. Then just before Collander I got a message that the problem had happened again. We both agreed on the phone that more gorilla tape was not going fix it and Nick valiantly cycled on with his mudguard brake (which makes him descend even more slowly) and to his credit arrived at the hotel not long after me. Tomorrow morning that mudguard is planned for removal.

Some wonderful scenery on the ride through the Trossachs today. 

Off to Pitlochry for lunch tomorrow. Nick then returns to Dorking where you can buy dinner after 9 pm, unlike Collander, where we had to resort to takeaway pizza. I continue on to Aviemore, another 100 miles in total.

Day 10 Collander to Aviemore 110 miles

Day 10 started with removing Nick's mudguard. The threads in the frame for the bolts that hold the luggage rack and mudguards to the frame were stripped, the root cause of the problem. One bolt had been lost. I got a wire hanger and some pliers from the hotel owner and made a hook to hold the luggage rack to the bike. With the addition of gorilla tape to hold the luggage rack onto the frame, Nick was ready to ride.

The morning ride along Loch Tay was wonderful. Quiet tarmac roads, great scenery and sunshine. We got to Pitlochry in time for a nice lunch.

I then continued onto Aviemore. Nick stayed in Pitlochry for some sightseeing and travels back to Dorking tomorrow. The official route to Aviemore was on quiet roads for the first 30km. The last 60 used a cycle path that varied from tarmac to rough track. I got a puncture on that and decided to ride on the hard shoulder of the busy A9. I got a puncture on that as well, so I completed the ride riding along the white line of the A9. Very fast but a little scary with the trucks and coaches passing at 60/70 mph. I arrived in Aviemore at 1945. 964 miles since I left Land's End. The distance to John O'Groats on the Land's End sign said 874 miles. Where did I go wrong?

Good news. The South African police have caught the thieves who robbed us and we may get our TVs back.

Off to Inverness and then Lairg tomorrow after buying more tyres, tubes and gas canisters in Aviemore.

Day 11 Aviemore to Lairg 85 miles

Today's ride started from Aviemore in the pouring rain. I stocked up with tubes, tyres and gas canisters from the local bike shop. They only had one 23 mm tyre. The shop assistant said they are going to stop stocking them. Larger tyres don't fit my bike.

I was told by the lady who ran the B&B that the scenic Sustrans route would be gravelly and the mist would obscure any views. I decided to get to Inverness as fast as possible by going along the A9. More white line tracking with trucks and buses trying to squeeze past me in the pouring rain.  I found the truck drivers good at waiting and passing me with plenty of room, but the bus and coach drivers did not. Obviously, the people they are carrying are more important than me.

As I got to Inverness the rain stopped and the sun came out. I stopped in Dingwall for my lunch. A seagull tried to steal my panini when I was in the café, but an alert customer frightened it off. The seagull continued to watch me as I ate the rest of it and looked rather grumpy when I left no scraps. There was not much choice of soft drinks, so I tried an IRN BRU I never knew it was orange. I think it explains the high incidence of red hair amongst the Scots.

The afternoon ride to Lairg started with another heavy shower. After an hour it stopped, and the mist lifted so I got some nice views as I cycled over the moors. At Struie hill lookout I was presented with a wonderful view of the Kyle of Sutherland and Dornoch Firth. See the picture. Then a bit more cycling through Bonar Bridge to Lairg. I will be back in this area in September to play golf. I have organised the golf tour for my friends here this year.

I am in Lairg staying in a cottage attached to a farmhouse which has two very large dogs to guard it. I have tried to show I am dog friendly, but these two animals are not sure about me yet. I will have to slink out tomorrow morning without becoming their breakfast. I found a DVD of The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey, in the cottage. It's one of my favourite stories and I am going to watch it.

Off to Tongue tomorrow and then Thurso and then John O'Groats. I have to be there in time to get the 6 pm ferry to Orkney, so it is an early start.

Day 12 Lairg to John O’Groats 103 miles

I got up at 5am to make sure I arrived in time to catch the 6pm ferry to Orkney. The first 41 mile leg from Lairg to Tongue was a ride through a complete wilderness. No people or animals. Just a landscape of hills and bogs. Maybe there was someone out bog snorkelling but obviously I couldn't have seen them.

Eventually I came across a few cars. It was a single track A road with passing places. Must be the only such A road in the UK. Most cars would not wait at passing places for me. One RV driver forced me off the road. I hope his brakes failed and he plunged off a cliff. It was more dangerous than the A9! I got to Tongue and had my second breakfast and then started the next 43 mile leg to Thurso. Lots of up and down. The clouds started to clear away and there were more wonderful views like the one in the picture. After a quick lunch in Thurso I had the shortest, flattest, and therefore fastest last leg to John O'Groats, which I could do mostly on the TT bars.

I got to John O'Groats just after 3pm this afternoon. Another cyclist who had just completed it took my photo.

My LEJOG distance is 1160 miles. I had a further 7 miles to go in Orkney to get to my hotel in St Margaret's Hope. I arrived early enough to have a beer and get the 4 pm ferry, sharing the trip with a party of American tourists on a journey to find their ancestors. I was eventually asked by one of them if I was part of the group. I replied "no" and that "I knew my ancestry". 

After doing 97 miles a day on average for 12 days in succession to my surprise I feel fine. Nothing painful. I had sore feet on the first day but not again. Keeping my shoes loose helped. I did get some pain from the saddle towards the end of the day in the first week but that stopped. I suppose my bottom has adjusted to the Brooks saddle. Over the last week I have not been able to attack a climb - my heart rate stubbornly won't go above 120. I think that is a sign of fatigue. I need a few rest days! No recurrence of the Achilles problem I got on the LEL, which I was fearful of.

As my official photographer Nick has now gone home I took some pictures of my own. Now for the Tour of Orkney and Shetland.

Post Script

I cycled around a Scapa Flow to Kirkwall and had an early lunch, then set off for a 50 mile circuit of Orkney. Wonderful views. Quiet roads. Wished I could have stayed longer. I caught the overnight ferry to Lerwick in Shetland where I met my son Iain and his fiancé Sarah. We explored Lerwick for the day and they got the overnight ferry back to Aberdeen. I stayed an extra day to do an 80 mile ride to Eshaness. The scenery there was beautiful. Just 10 miles before journey’s end a van overtook a bus, forcing me off the road to avoid a head-on collision. I thanked myself for not cycling head down and got the overnight ferry to Aberdeen, had lunch with Iain, and then caught the train home.

Would I use the Sustrans route again? Yes, but with a gravel bike, a new type of bike for cycling off-road. Would I do LEJOG again? Maybe in a vain attempt to emulate Michael Broadwith, who did the ride in 44 hours and 25 minutes.

National Cycle Network - National treasure or national embarrassment?

The NCN has been constructed by labelling routes that carry little or no motor traffic. The routes can be on A, B or tertiary roads shared with motor traffic, or paths shared with pedestrians which may be surfaced with tarmac, gravel, or nothing at all. None of the routes have been dedicated to cyclists, showing that cycle routes are not considered in transport planning in the UK. This compares very poorly with many other developed countries, proving that cycling is still not recognised as an important method of transport in the UK. The NCN has been created by the enthusiasts in Sustrans with little public support. What we have is a national treasure. What we don't have is a national embarrassment.

The NCN route from Land's End to John O'Groats exemplifies the shortcomings. Cyclists should have routes that are safe yet allow them to maintain an average speed of at least 13 mph (20 kph) on the flat. Safe means the cyclists are well separated from motor traffic, either because there is a dedicated cycle path or because the road is wide enough for a motor vehicle to pass a cyclist with 5 ft (1.5m) of clearance. The speed criterion means cyclist have a surfaced road or path and do not have stop frequently for obstructions and deviations. Unfortunately, large parts of the end to end route don't meet these criteria, especially the second one.