Author: tandm

Hi again.   It’s us.   Thanks for dropping in on this, the blog of our 2017 end-to-end bike ride.   Just to say that this year (2018) we plan to cycle from Chippenham in Wiltshire out to the west coast of Ireland.   If you’d like to follow the new blog, please look here.    Thanks.   T&M.

 

I managed to work out how to get Google to display our actual route, together with a selection of photos on a map.     Take a look here.

Finally, some fun stats about JOGLE:

•  record for rider on a conventional bicycle is 44 hours, 4 minutes and 20 seconds
• fastest completion by unicycle is 6 days, 8 hours and 43 minutes
• record time for a runner is 9 days and 2 hours
• Sean Conway swam the complete route from 30 June 2013 to 11 November 2013. He is the first and only person to swim from Land’s End to John o’ Groats.
• fastest journey by bus was set by Clive Burgess using 32 buses, in 3 days, 8 hours and 55 minutes
• fastest passage between the two points was made in 1988 by a McDonnell Douglas F-4K Phantom in a time of 46 minutes 44 seconds

 

Here are a few miscellaneous thoughts and suggestions for anyone thinking of doing the End-to-End ride:

• Most people go from Land’s End to JOG (supposedly because of the prevailing winds), but we liked the JOG->LE direction and had as many tailwinds as headwinds.  Also, country roads are often sheltered because of the hedges.
• We were doing this mostly to be able to see the countryside and stop when we wanted, and found 40-50 miles a day was a good distance.  You cover some ground, but you don’t feel at all rushed.
• It was good that we booked our start and end accommodation well before we left.  In north Scotland, there aren’t a lot of accommodation options, and in Cornwall there are lots, but they get booked up early.
• Good also to book your train tickets because there is limited space for bikes.  You can reserve at the time of booking.
• We used Lands End to John O’Groats Cycle Transport Service to get our bikes to Inverness and then up to JOG.  They’re very good, and will help with all kinds of logistical needs.
• The bikes (Trek 520 and Specialized AWOL Elite) were great.  We had 3 flat tyres and had to change a set of brake pads, but no other problems.
• The National Cycle Network routes are excellent.  Occasionally, there might be a sign missing or obscured by trees, or the route ambiguous.   But on the whole they are well signposted and clearly a lot of effort has been made to make the routes cycle friendly, even on the bigger roads where wide dual-use pavements are provided.
• Cycle.travel is a great (free) website for route-planning between the NCN routes.  It chooses good routes for cyclists, just very occasionally coming up with a segment that’s more of a goat track than a cycle path.
• This all said, it was invaluable to use my phone as a handlebar-mounted Satnav.  We used Locus Map Pro, which is an excellent app with more features than you’d ever need.  We would plan each day’s route on cycle.travel, save the GPX file and import into Locus.  Most of the time we could then just follow the route, but sometimes I’d switch on the navigation feature so it showed each turn.  Without having active tracking, we would have gone off-route much more frequently because you only need to miss one sign and you could go miles before realizing.
• We started with far more clothing than we needed, and ended up shipping a box load home.  Really, you just need cycling shirt and shorts, cycle rain jacket, and stuff to change into in the evening.  Our cycle stuff was all synthetic, so we could wash it every evening and it would all be dry by the morning.
• It would have been nice to have Goretex cycle jackets, but ours worked well, only letting in water on days when we were out for over 6 hours in heavy rain.
• Neither of us like the padded bike shorts.  Better to find a saddle that’s comfortable and wear ordinary shorts.
• Pannier covers are a good idea – they keep panniers dry and clean.
• We both used high-power rear flashing red lights which were clearly visible even in bright sunshine.  I think they’re essential.  You need to know that drivers can see you.  (It’s especially a comfort when you’re cycling on a busy road in torrential rain.)
• That’s it.  It was a really enjoyable trip and I’d happily do it again, trying a different route.

Day 30:  Final Distance     1152 miles   1854 km

We rolled in to Land’s End yesterday morning after a short 11 mile ride from the pub where we’re staying.  (A technical glitch prevented us putting up a post yesterday.)

Well, the ride has been a lot of fun and, through people’s kind donations, we did raise some money for ALS and MND charities.   (It’s remarkable how many people we’ve met in the last week who have had family members or friends affected by the disease.)

We would encourage anyone to do the End-to-End ride.   You see so much of the country and meet lots of different people. We’ll put up a longer post in a few days about what worked and what didn’t, and any recommendations we’d have for those thinking of doing the trip.   Overall though, we were very pleased with the route we took.   The bikes were great and, really, everything worked out very well.

Thanks for following us on our blog, and thanks also for the donations to the ALS and MND charities.

We think we might try New Zealand next.

T & M

We are so close to the end.  It’s been very fun because everyone reading our t-shirts shouts out “You’re nearly there!”   An insightful observation that we are surprisingly already acutely aware of.  More than one shouted “which way are you going?” which is quite funny what with the answer being emblazoned on our chests in large white letters.  All comments welcome and so well meaning.

It was a special day on another front with regard to our shirts.  Our B&B hosts made a contribution to ALS.  We stopped at a tiny shop for an ice-cream at the seaside town of Hayle and a woman shared her MND story with us (Motor Neurone Disease as it’s known in the UK) and gave us another donation. Later in the day, cycling along the waterfront in Penzance, a couple stopped to chat about their MND story, and they too gave us a donation.

The sun shone all day!

Last day tomorrow.

---

Day 28:  1100 miles (1770 km)

We had heavy, heavy rain with a strong wind all day today, which reminded us of Scotland.  It was warm though.  (Today’s weather forecast for Scotland predicted frost in some of the glens.   In mid-July!)

Being soaking wet, though, is fine if you keep your torso dry.   We wear shorts, which quickly get soaked, and booties, which eventually let in the rain but still keep your feet warm.  Our jackets keep us fairly dry inside, though the arms eventually let in the water.   The delightful thing, then, is that we look forward to hills because peddling up a hill keeps you warm.   So we arrived in St Newlyn East this afternoon exceedingly wet, but quite warm.   We couldn’t imagine camping.   Setting up and crawling into a wet tent is for people much more hardy than us.

Forecast for tomorrow? Dry and sunny.?

If the title doesn’t make sense then you’ve clearly missed out on that Cornish epic series Doc Martin.  Well, we are in Cornwall now…the last county on our journey south.  We knew we were in Cornwall because we cycled up and down, up and down, up and down, across a moor, and down and up, down and up.  It was only 36 miles today but the old quads are feeling it this evening.

Also…it’s started to rain.

We had a stand off with some big cows with big horns when the track we were on went over a cattle grid and across their field.   The cows won, smug and powerful, as we bumped our way back over the cattle grid and had to backtrack a couple of miles.

 

 

.

 

 

Day 26:  1030 miles (1658 km)

Today we cracked the 1,000 mile mark as we cycled to an old inn close to Lydford Gorge on the edge of Dartmoor.

Our thesis that just about everyone has cycled End-to-End received more credence today.   We stopped at a tiny village shop and cafe for a quick cup of coffee.   A cyclist sitting outside noticed our T-shirts and told us that he’d done LEJOG 2 weeks ago in 5 days, cycling 200 miles a day.   He said he was a little saddle sore.   An older woman inside the cafe said that she and her husband had finished LEJOG last week.  She was 69. At least they took three weeks.

We continue to cycle through amazing countryside. We could be doing more miles per day but it is 7:00pm and we’ve showered, washed our cycling kit, and been down for dinner and a very nice pint!  Blog and diary, cup of tea.  Simple pleasures.

 

We’re in Tiverton, Devon, after a fairly relaxed day of cycling that took us from the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal to the Grand Western Canal.    The latter is certainly western, but was never grand, being eclipsed in the late 1800’s by the railways.   Still, it’s nice to see this wide and beautiful canal used for recreation today.

Had a very nice cup of tea at the end of the canal at Ducks Ditty Cafe Bar with cyclists Mark and Helena    who we met on the canal.  High on the list of topics of conversation was the swapping of saddle sore stories. Always worth sharing well earned advice!

 

Wearing our spiffy new T-shirts with “John O’Groats to Land’s End” brightly emblazoned on the front means we’re getting more interest from passers by and other people we meet.   Though doing the End-to-End isn’t necessarily that special, it would seem.   Just about everyone has a close relative or friend who’s done the trip, and usually in some way much more remarkable than us.   “Oh yeah, me grandad did it when he was 84.   In 10 days.  Both ways.  Hopping backwards on a pogo stick.   Wearing a gorilla suit.   With a parrot on his shoulder.   And he had a bad back.”   Pause.  “How long did you say you’re taking?”

Nevertheless, we’re getting lots of encouragement, which is nice.   Random people calling out ‘Good luck’. Two ladies even whooping and clapping!

It was an easier ride today, coming across the Somerset Levels.  Mostly small lanes and then back on another tow path by the Bridgewater to Taunton canal.  A canal that was barely used before steam engines and rail lines made canals obsolete.

Beautiful beautiful scenery!