Stats at Last

Its taken me over a month but here are the stattos.

Heres the data table Longest day was Perth to Kingussie at 121 klicks. Average distance was 89km on the odometer and we travelled roughly 3kms extra each day than measured on the map. I'm very happy about the accuracy of my odo so this is probably due to extra bits cycling round carparks, to shops etc.

Height climbed was on average just over 1000m each day. Most was Langholm to Edinburgh (profile below) with 1859m. That day felt long but not the hardest. The climbs were actually quite gentle.

Flattest and probably easiest day was standish to milnthorpe with no real hills. it was also our fastest day as we were fit and motivated

Looking at the profiles and remembering how we felt day two was toughest. Lots of 50m+ steep hills. we also weren't fit yet at that point so it really took it out of us. I think the only climbs i thought might beat me were in Cornwall and Devon.

biggest hill of the trip was the pass of drummochter. which has to be said in a comedy gimli scottish accent

we clearly got faster as the holiday went on but once in scotland became a bit more relaxed and basically went along on cruise control. fatest speeds were in the middle when we felt we had a long way to go and might not make it if we didn;t keep up progress

LEJOG Finished

We left JOG in the car on Tuesday morning. It felt surreal traveling a days distance in one hours worth of driving. It took us 7 hours to get to Coldstream on the English border when it had taken us 7 days of cycling to get through Scotland.

The weather gods must really like us because it was very blustery yesterday morning (probably F5 NE) and wouldn't have been a nice cycle if we had been a day later. I think we must be in the driest 5% of the population present in Britain over the last 3 weeks. Soo jammy. Maybe driest 2%!

We saw a bunch of guys on road bikes climbing the Berriedale Braes and then a loaded down couple climbing the Helmsdale Hill and it was a weird mixture of emotions seeing them. I sympathised for the pain they would suffering climbing the hills but envied the fact that they were still cycling and were yet to have all the feelings that go with completing the ride. Don't think I don't fancy cycling the A9 north of Inverness though unless it was a real challenge not a supposed holiday. Too busy and not as scenic as the route we took.

The road home passed close to much of the route we took north from Edinburgh. From the A9 cycletrack to the Forth Road bridge it was nice to relive some of the experiences so soon after. I think when ever I drive that way in future my brain will fill with memories of cycling whether its where I hit a bad pot hole, had a tea stop or did a brilliant bit of road.

Today our knees feel pretty normal again, although also like they would be extra succeptible to ligament damage if twisted, and thighs no longer burn whenever I walk up the stairs.

Need more time to put it all in perspective.

I'll do some proper stattos when I'm back home and post a link for the photos.

Lejog day 18 bettyhill to john o'groats

Not enough superlatives for today. Perfect weather with sunshine all day and only a light easterly. A bit odd heading eastwards into the sun as we climbed out of bettyhill after so many days of heading north. Great road with views out to sea and orkney and back to the sutherland mountains. A decent stretch of cyclists fantasy tarmac into melvic. The road was surfaced dressed in the centre but there was a 50cm strip of the smoothest tarmac of the trip. Ace. The country got progressively flatter as we neared thurso where we had scotch and macaroni pies for lunch. Bit of a drag to dunnet before we went out to the headland. See blog photo below. Not many people will have had as northerly a pee as me! Best pee view yet. The remaining 15 miles passed quickly enough although we had a false dawn at a village a mile short but finally got to jog and met dad down by the harbour. A few photos but it didnt feel like the end. Mad photo booth man chipped in that it was really hilly and rubbish to duncansby head but he was only trying to protect jog as the end. We cycled back through jog village and headed to the real end at the lighthouse. It felt much more fitting and the surprise little hill was a suitable final hurdle. The pentland firth looked mediterranean and the sea stacks impressive. Finally we could stop peddling. Woo! distance 100.00 (cos i cycled round the carpark twice to make it so) average 15.5 kph cumulative 1589km

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Lejog day 17 lairg to bettyhill

The park house in lairg is definately the best stop of our trip. Great rooms good views and poached haddock for breakfast. Today started off sunny and warm but i regreted not putting my jacket on after about 300m. Long gradual climb from lairg into flow country with big views big hills and big forests. The landscapes were so big i now know how sam and frodo felt looking out over the emlyn muir. Lunch stop for soup and sandwiches at the crask inn which is amazingly remote and feels like a 30year timewarp. Wind hindered downhill to altnaharra and then along the shore of loch naver. Beautiful bit of cycling here and then along strath naver to bettyhill. Think i saw a peregrine falcon but need to check a bird book. Probably the best day ride of the trip. Met a spanish guy called carlos from horsham who is about finish his end to end walk. 3 months! A much more immpressive challenge than just cycling it. distance 74km average 15.2kph(we mosied for much of the day) cumulative 1492km (we will end up just six of 1000 miles i think)

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Lejog day 16 inverness to lairg

I forgot the stats yesterday. Distance 80km average 17kph cumulative 1320km. Back to today. Cold blustery f5 ne wind made the kessock bridge alarming and the the ride out to cromarty a real pain into the wind. The black isle was lovely but ill probably only remember the wind. Pizza at a nice cafe in cromarty before getting the ferry over to nigg. The smallest ricketyest car ferry i have been on and all the better for it. The photo below should show it. It was rolling around in a 1m swell and had trouble getting the ramp to hold on the slip. The two cars that it can hold went on gingerly as the ramp was up and down with the waves. We had to time perfect bike human leaps to make sure our feet stayed dry. The cars were then turned on a turntable. Best ferry ive been on. More windward work before a tea stop in tain and then a nice loch side beam reach to bonar bridge. Along this section all the cycling finally altered sarahs brain and she now thinks all sheep bleat "graaaeme" in declaration of their undying love for me. Bit of a drag from bonar bridge up to lairg but the kyles of sutherland were nice. I hadnt realised how much we had to ascend to get to lairg so found it mentally tough when i just wanted to finish. Not sure how far we would have got on our trip if the wind had blown like this every day. Devon? Anyway v nice room in lairg which is rightly proud to be home to the largest one day lamb sale in europe. Wooyaay. Road kill update: our first alive lejog hedgehog scuttered into the track as we walked back to our b&b. North coast tomorrow hopefully. Dude! distance 98km average 15kph cumulative 1418

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Lejog day 15 kingussie to inverness

Woke to an amazing valley bottom mist and it was quite a bit colder. Not quite frost but the heavy dew that shows how busy spiders have been all summer. Spooky cycling along in the half weird light lined by scots pine and birch . Aviemore for hot chocolates and a warm up and the mist burnt away while we sat. Nice road to carrbridge with a long gradual decent through thick conifer forest. We were back on route 7 and chose the on road route up to slochd summit. Local roads and then more great old a9. Saw some of the off road route and it looked great but for off road bikes only. Very bouldery. Best descent of the trip down to findhorn bridge and we tried tomatin distillery for a cafe but no luck. Most industrial and least picturesque distillery i have seen. Bit of a headwind nagging away now when ever we werent west of north and we descended through forest to daviot before heading east to culloden battlefield. A nice ride out there generally downhill. The visitor centre was a bit of a spaceship but the moor was very atmospheric even in sunlight. Found lunch there and then whizzed into inverness with wind assist. Nice riverside b&b and sat outside still mit beer after a walk around the castle (not as good as launceston)!

Lejog day 14 perth to kingussie

Another lovely morning but the coldest yet. Anyone would think we were travelling north in autumn! Were read a poem to the lost biker and regaled with tales of previous deviant guests over breakfast but the grub was decent. Slightly hairy dual carriageway after perth to avoid the circuitous part of route 77 but we joined it when it became more direct. Tay valley was splendid in the sunshine and best cake and hot chocolate stop yet in dunkeld before the worst tourist tax lunch in pitlochry. Good off road bit of cycleway through some posh estate after dunkeld but roadies should take the alternative road route. Not that sustrans tell you what to expect though. We got on cycleway 7 just before the big pit and the first lane it took us down was a bit steep but after that it was great all the way. Old a9 now a b road past blair atholl before a brilliant section of disused road through birch woods. The sun dappled on the river, the broom popped in the heat and the seeds from the rosebaywillow herb drifted gently on the breeze and clogged the eyes and choked the lungs of passing cyclists. we met some other lejoggers just as the first shower came on and they abandoned the cycleway for the road when it turned to shaley stuff. The rain came on stronger as we continued the steady grind up to the pass of drummochter but stopped before the summit. The cycle track was a bit uppy downy and bendy but also kept up the interest compared to a road. Overall i think it added 4 miles. Not great for skinny road tyres tho. Finally we got to the summit and started the equally gradual downhill. It was a bit cold by now so we stopped in dalwhinnie for a cup of tea. The other lejoggers were there and had been completely soaked on the road. I now understand why sustrans dont usually tarmac! As we left sarah lit her "nearly there afterburners" and i didnt see her for ages. Seemed a long drag and downhill wasnt steep enough to coast. Finally got in at just before 8pm with our longest day ever. Bit of a rush to get for food and we ate like very hungry people. distance 121km ave speed 15.7kph (good given off road nature of a lot of the trail) cumulative 1240km

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Lejog day 13 edinburgh to perth

After the exertions of the last two days we decided an 80miler to pitlochry was a little excessive so we opted for perth. Very hard to leave this morning and also passing stations with a direct train home! It was a bright and sunny morning and really cold. We fought our way down to haymarket and hopped onto sustrans route one out to the bridges. Cycleway had some pretty bumpy sections and one so bad i was depanniered for the third time this trip. At least no scary run into traffic this time for the rescue mission. On a road surface note scotlands are bad and lothians are the worst so far. It became a game of spot the cycle route sign as we got further out the city with comedy behind tree positioning and ambigous arrows but route one got us right out to the road bridge. Had great views in sunshine as we crossed the forth and then the first haggis suppers of the trip in inverkeithing. Rolling farmland with good views to kinross for afternoon tea and then a long decent down glen farg that sarah loved and i found too flat to build decent speed on the bad surface. Sarah didnt even feel the bumps and got to the bottom minutes before me. Short drag to perth and fin. Its cold here! todays photo is looking back to the bridges cos i forget as we were actually on it so its rubbish. distance 80km average 16.3kph (surprisingly high considering how easily we took it) cumulative 1118km

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LEJOG Day 12 Langholm to Edinburgh

Left Langholm in bright sunlight but with wet roads from an earlier downpour. It felt very autumnal and thermals were worn. The ride up to Eskdalemuir was beautiful in the sunlight with the river and burns all very full from the rain. Had tea and chocolate at the Samye Ling Tibetan centre. A strange place but certainly tranquil. Would have been nice to look around the gardens and buildings but we had to move on. We were overtaken by a heavy shower as we crossed from the Esk (Dumfries and Galloway) to the Ettrick (Scottish Borders) valley and got pretty wet coming down the other side. Not as shoe squelching as yesterday though. Lunch at Tushielaw inn would have been perfect timing but it was randomly closed for lunch today. Never mind, there was a hotel over the next hill in the Yarrow valley so we plodded on as the sun came back out. Unfortunately the hotel had just closed for refurbishments so we had some muesli bars to keep us going until Innerleithen. Best downhill of the day to Traqair and then we crossed the Tweed to find the first hotel now closed for lunch as it was after 2pm. grrr. Starting to get a bit annoyed by this point. Finally found somewhere still serving on Innerleithen High Street and the grub was good. Amusingly the Tweedale Hotel had reopened 2 days before after refurbishment.
Up next was a bit of a drag along the Tweed to Peebles and from there over to Penicuik. This was the worst leg of the trip yet as a long day, bad road surface, long gradual climb, muppet drivers and plenty of vehicles combined to have us raging at ourselves and each other. Once over the top the road surface got even worse so Penicuik has now overtaken Lancaster in the Bad Roads category. Of particular note are cycle lanes/strips at the side of the road that are so full of potholes you end up cycling in the traffic anyway and have longitudinal cracks wide enough to swallow a wheel.
Finally got to aunty Leslie's near Fairmile head both very tired and very glad of Shepherds Pie.
This blog probably sounds a bit grumpy but as far as I'm concerned the day to Innerleithen was the best of the journey so far. Quiet roads, glorious scenery, no killer gradients and long sweeping downhills.
back by popular demand is the interesting roadkill category. Today: a tawny owl
distance 115 km
average 16.7kph
cumulative 1039km
g

Day something - milnthorpe to langholm.

Here comes langholm (is what the sign says). We are now in our third and final country of our epic journey. We started out cycling some small country lanes to kendal which seemed to take ages which i think was largely due to the anticipation of shap. We decided not to stop in kendal so that we would be warmed up for the long climb ahead. Graeme gets the prize for worst motivational manager ever as we went past a shap mileage sign which said 14 miles and graeme remarked "its uphill for all of that" , "great just what i wanted to hear" i replied. So we started our ascent in a cool light drizzle. As we continued on the road i realised the pass wasnt going to be as bad as i had anticipated. Although the majority of the hill was straight up there were some little downs in between which gave recuperation time. It became ever mistier and the drizzle became downpour as we neared the top. We got absolutely totally soaked for the first time. Who would have thought that could happen in the lakes! As we descended the water on the road was so bad we could barely see to cycle and the wind chill was pretty extreme in our wet clothes. We arrived in shap sodden tryin to find somewhere to warm up but none of the pubs were open so we were starting to get a nasty sinking feeling that we would have to cycle wet and cold to penrith. Luckily the local chippy was open so we really enjoyed a warm up and cumberland sausage and chips for lunch with a big pot of tea. Bit of a slog to penrith as we were quite tired from the hill climb then had to climb a pointless hill in penrith navigating around the town centre on the one way system. More ups and downs into carlisle on the pretty straight roman road. Then cycling up the a7 in the sunshine. Graeme lost a pannier for the second time this holiday. Then in a later tiredness related incident he did a gravel dive by misjudging the edge of the road and ending up in the grassy verge after a "controlled bail". Yeah right! Lovely pine smells coming along the a7. Finally arrived in langholm having done our highest pass and mileage of the holiday so far. Also managed to get over 10mph avg speed too. A good day! Stats - 116km(although odo failed for a short while so this is probably understated by a couple of km). Cumulative 924 km. Avg speed 17.5 although could have been faster if not waiting for graeme to get back on his bike!

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Lejog day 10 standish to milnthorpe

Another relatively short day to get to another family stop this time at grandpas. Started off grey and cool and gradually turned to drizzle and the first proper rain of the trip for the last half hour. We arrived very wet, me particularly as we discovered the slick tyres of the cyclist in front (sarah) picked up the surface water really well and sprayed the cyclist behind in the face (me). Route was straight forward a49 to preston then mainly a6 onwards. We took a bit of a detour to cockerham before lancaster. Nice to see the back of the a49 as weve been on an off it for the last 4 days. Lunch in garstang which is a much nicer place than i expected and then a good tea stop at carnforth station and railway exhibition. The photo that should be attached below shows the nominal half way point of the trip at 800kms or 500miles. Trucking on now! distance today 83km average speed 19kph cumulative 807km

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LEJOG Day 9 Weaverham to Standish

Just a short one today to get us back to the Standish Guest House (TM) where the food and accommodation has been exceptional and will hopefully continue that way tonight. We are paying our way here buy trading the nightly tariff against our appearance fee.

Today was basically the A49 all the way. This road gets a bit of a bad press from other LEJOGgers but we found it relatively quiet (it shadows the M6), flat, mostly wide enough and with cycle lanes through the busy bits of Warrington and Wigan. A bit weird coming into Wigan from a new direction and being a tourist.

had a spanner mechanical as i put the wheels on the wrong bikes after we got delivered back to weaverham and then had our first proper one as sarahs front mech became mis-alligned but this was easily fixed...in warm sunshine. i have a sneaky suspicion punctures and proper mechanicals are waiting for bad weather and strong winds on the top of scottish hills

distance today 43km
ave speed today 17kph
cumulative 724km

Lejog day 8 craven arms to weaverham

We both woke up feeling it would be better to have a normal length cycle today and a short one tomorrow with tourist stops in wigan rather than a no holds barred attempt to get all the way to standish. We were both in a much more positive frame of mind and steamed into shrewsbury with a 21kph average over 22 undulating miles. The a49 was generally wide and well surfaced and not the bad ride some have claimed. I think we suddenly felt we were achieving the north after a few days of samey middle england and it felt good. Nice cream tea and we kept up the pace via wem to whitchurch for lunch. Hit cheshire soon after and that meant we were back in the north. Woohoo! Had some fun picking our way through a big queue with white van men shutting the door on us but we got through that and we time trialled into weaverham with me as lead out. Waiting for our lift to the standish guest house just now and we'll come back here tomorrow to continue. Given the quality of the food and accommodation so far there is a lot to be lived up to. distance today 108km average speed 19kph cumulative 681 km. interesting road kill for the day: tortoise shell cat

Lejog day 7 -monmouth to craven arms

Today was sunny but mentally the hardest yet especially for me. Had a mini crying fit at a costa coffee in hereford still dont understand why. Then after lunch suddenly got the idea that if we managed a 50 miler today we would be close enough to get to my mum and dads tomorrow. This spurred me on massively and i started to go much faster and at last i felt like there was purpose in every revolution. There isnt much to see along the roads we have been on today. Just more rolling hills that seemed neverending. Saw some wheat being harvested which was pretty dusty and the tractors carrying the grain were a bit disturbing as they came past us. Got to craven arms and had a little bit of trouble finding accommodation. Found a place called the craven arms hotel which usefully isnt a hotel anymore. It used to have rooms apparently! Then there was another hotel where they wouldnt let us have a room because it hadnt been serviced! Aargh! Luckily the hidden hills discovery centre (a tourist centre) came to our aid and after a bit of kerfuffle managed to secure us a bed for the night. Very funny the american girl who first tried to book couldnt work the phone and was saying she couldnt get through to the only b&b that was within 3 miles of here. We started to contemplate a slog up the road to church stretton. Luckily her colleague decided to try the nearby place a second time. Yeay! Very happy. Now in the pub waiting on grub. Just hoping the weather gods keep the winds down tomorrow and that we can complete the southern leg to get to my folks. i suppose a good thought is that we are a third of the way through. Although this could also be considered a very bad thought! Stats- graeme beat the speed record with 68.5kph. Hoopla! Distance 85km avg speed 15kph. 1 cake, 1 icecream. Sarah

Lejog day 6 cheddar to monmouth

Ooh ow! Today was a toughy. Started well by feeling ok at breakfast, but both went rapidly downhill (metaphorically). Physically we went uphill with a grinder up the gorge. The drizzle set in from the offset and the gorge, although spectacular, was oppressive in the rain and felt neverending. Chew lake is apparently the most depressing place to stop for tea although the scone was ok we were left feeling down. We got back on our cycles just in time for drizzle to kick back in. Legendary timing. We took our first wrong turning shortly afterwards so it wasnt going well. Drag over to a place called ham green pill-where i jested that you would need medication if you ate green ham. Ha ha you have to keep your sense of humour on these things. Followed cycle path 41 through a massive council estate to get to the avonmouth bridge. Avonmouth is a shithole. Was expecting a big lorry park and wasnt disappointed. Cycle paths were awful and we were frequently abandoned to the busy lorry filled road. Got through unscathed to join the severn and wye bridges were we bumped into the fellow lejoggers from our cheddar b&b. dont think they were as clued up as us tho because they were navigating with a lonely planet guide and one of them had fallen off a couple of times. Bit of a drag out to tintern but then the scenery improved a million times over. The wye valley was beautiful (even better for being fairly flat!). A few ups and downs into monmouth but pretty good. Think i had some of my darkest hours today. I am not ashamed to say there were a couple of points where i shed a tear or two. It is pretty hard this lejog thing! But have now managed 3 60mile days in a row so something to be proud of. Hope we can take it a bit easier the next couple of days as our backsides are now pretty worn out. Really looking forward to the ride from wigan to standish though :0) sarah. Stats - 97 km, 14.8kph 488km cumulative. Road kill was varied today a badger,fox and a squirrel. I managed to also smuggle a caterpillar across the welsh border in my hair.

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Lejog day 5 tiverton to cheddar

Today was the first day anything other than a full breakfast was offered so we took advantage with boiled egg cheese and croissants. The bridge guest house is yet another place we liked. We left tiverton on the canal and followed its weird glowing greenness until it ended where it has fallen into disrepair. Lots of dog walkers and a stupid boxer dog walked in front of my wheel and i hit it and nearly fell into the canal. Fortunately the owner just thought it was funny and didnt mind a squashed dog. Jumped onto roads until taunton where we had an early lunch. The somerset levels were and we rolled along to glastonbury for another bite to eat. The last couple of hours were a little bit hillier as we passed through wells and then some smaller villages before reaching cheddar. Physically not too tiring a day but probably more mentally taxing for the lack of hills to focus our energy. On a bumpier part of the canal i noticed the speedo wasnt reading so i think the totals are a few clicks short of the true values. This didnt affect our average speed though which was our best yet. today 96km average 17.7kph total 391km

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Lejog day 4 launceston to tiverton

Another breakfast where we both felt crap. This must be part of cycle touring cos thats the third day in a row. we forced as much down as we could and headed straight out to our first hill. It was pretty steep and seemed to last but it was made worse by the fact it was the last hill in cornwall. We whizzed down the other side and both entered devon undefeated cornish hill champions. Devon nearly undid us straight away with a 20% and a 15% in the next few miles. Thankfully ridge top riding from there. Devon minor roads are also surfaced really badly. Sarah says devon knows how they make them so bumpy. No suitable tea and cake until hatherleigh and a series of traverses from one river valley to another til we crashed a village pub bbq at chawleigh. A local had once had mail mis-directed to our chorley. Not too much thatch or saxon churches in lancashire though. The rest of the ride was along a great ridge with views very reminiscent of the merse as we looked over to the mass of dartmoor. a couple of classic long descents with an unexpected stinger of a hill in between and we found ourselves in tiverton. Spotted a nice looking guest house with a terrace by the river and enjoyed g&ts there before a very good chinese where i spilt beer over sarah. I also have to praise the weather gods again as we had helpful winds all day and after a couple of hours of light drizzle we had sunshine. 86km today ave speed 15.5km/h 295 km total

Lejog day 3 - lostwithiely to launceston

We both felt a bit rubbish today so didnt want another biggy. Today we went just under 40 miles. Much nicer day than yesterday from a hill perspective. Long rolling hills rather than deep sharp ravines of despair. Lovely sunshine today and no burn which is always good. Long grinder out of bodmin which was pretty hardcore and got to the top to see a very sweaty looking celtic graeme. The no. 81 for both of us. Nope we carried on our way to the humorously named camelford and them finally launceston. Am starting to get a big head with all of the olympics comments. Coming out of bodmin a guy shouted that he would give me a gold medal when he saw of complete a wee steepy. Camelford had good pasties. Went to see a cool motte and bailey castle in launceston before pub for curry and a pint for a bargain 6.50 very good and hit the spot. Stats. Icecream nil, pasties 4. 57km, 208 cumulative and the top speed record remains with mrs champion. Yeay! Anyway now going to finish drinks and head for another early night after another cup of tea. Tea tastes even better after cycling. Sarah

Lejog day 2 lizard to lostwithial

Sarah says hills are pointless and why not make it all flat. Today was pretty tough uppy downy country with a few real steepies thrown in. It started off in glorious sunshine after a good breakfast at seaview b&b (i recommend it) and we went through lovely country to reach helford. We caught the ferry and then tackled the double inclined hill away from the river. One corner was particularly steep. Might have been one in three on the inside. Got sniffy looks at the first cafe we came to so left and went to the next where someone shouted 2012 at sarah. Some stupid cycle lanes on the way none worse than the one that encouraged us up an uphill dual carriageway before abandoning us later to the mercy of seventy mile per hour traffic. Did quite a bit on sustrans routes 3 and 32 today. Particulary good for getting into truro. Good pasta lunch in truro followed by palava in tourist info booking accommodation. Comedy double act with old faffy lady and lazy mardy computer literate one. After several calls and much panic they got us a place they said was in lanivert near bodmin. Not padstow but bang on our route so we headed off to dairyland which was about half way. Lots of river valleys made it hard work but we got there and had a cream tea. While we were sat in the cafe i looked at the b&b booking and noticed it said lanlivery not lanivert. A worried map search revealed this to be a few miles further but well off our route. Id have gone a different way from truro if we had known! We dodged a shower while inside but went back out into cool greyness. The wind was slightly less helpful on our new course but still generally beneficial. Curiosity is supposed to kill cats but today it was nearly sarah as a kitten ran out in front of her. The mizzle set in for the last forty minutes and so did the hills. The last one went on forever. Just as we got to the b&b the rain really came on and we rushed inside. Apparently the pub was booked out for food so our lovely landlady did us the best cheese on toast ever. We wandered down to the pub for a drink and found we could actually get food so steaks all round. To bed now at 0930 cos we is both knackered. I hope its true when people say the first few days are the hardest. teashop scores :ice creams one, cream teas one. 3 points score draw. 94 km today. 151 km total.

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Lejog day 1 lands end to lizard

The travel lodge last night was rubbish. Hot, bad bed and noisy so we all slept badly. Sarah slept a lot of the way in denial that we were going to start the ride. We both got more nervous as we got nearer and i lost my appetite. I also had a complete mental abberration getting the bikes ready and split my chain for no reason. Weather was perfect as we did photos by the sign and start line. Didnt bother signing the end to end book as we just wanted to start. Said goodbye to janet and david and, just like that, we were off. Half past one. Nice ride to penzance via st buryans then along seawall to marazion where we helped a guy with a puncture before going to helston which has the most hidden tourist info in britain...in the council offices! Did help us get a room at lizard tho. Good cycle to lizard and a sunny evening walk to the point. Now awaiting mussels and skate. distance today 58 km. max speed 66.7 km by sarah so i must try harder. no cakes! ;-(

Journey to the end of the land.

Currently in the rubbish travel lodge at bridgewater. Got away in decent time last night and journey was good until ten miles from here when a phantom double lane closure caused a forty minute delay. like all highly prepared athletes we prepared with pick and mix and nearly made ourselves sick.

LEJOG -1

Still in the office but raring to go. We're staying at Bridgewater services tonight which I believe is the only motorway services with a multi-storey carpark. I think that is probably bad for caravans.

Anyway, Sarah's mum and dad are driving us in the postman pat mobile (red boxey van sized thing) so we'll hopefully squeeze in amongst their stuff in the back seat. The boot will be entirely taken up by our bikes. At least we can get them both inside the car easily enough though.

Hoping to get to LE around midday tomorrow and make a start. I guess Helford, Penryhn or Truro might be the stop over after the detour to the Lizard. I hope recent bad weather means Cornwall won't be booked up over the holiday weekend otherwise we'll be sleeping in bus shelters!

A few last minute mechanicals (front mech broke and rear hub went on my bike) but Wheely Good Bikes saved the day. New chains and brake blocks all round after a thorough clean last night. I'll be happy if we get to Bristol without having to visit a bike shop

Tissington Trail Ride

Another decent weekend ride with Scabbington and Elaine. This time testing our mindset in pouring rain, pretty much all day. 45mile round from Tissington to Parsley Hay to Middleton Top on the Tissington and High Peak trails and then by road to Ashbourne. Had a cup of tea to warm up at Parsley Hay just as weather really deteriorated and cloud came down as we got towards Middleton Top so it got really cold. Lunched there and went back out into lighter rain. Epic downhill into Ashbourne with Sarah and I slip streaming our way past each other down the hill. Had tea and cake at a nice florist/cafe and then headed the last few miles back. Pointless hill out of Ashbourne back onto the trail and drying kecks were really chaffing now. Had a real go at the steep hill back to our campsite and felt suitably knackered afterwards. Great ride, pity about the weather. Not sure we're going to get any decent rides in between now and starting so that may be it for significant training. Will need to keep fitness up on the odd little ride.
Saddle has really changed shape now thanks to the long ride in the wet. Looks a bit odd now

More training

We've managed a couple of longer rides the last two of weekends.

First one was up at my parents in the Borders. On a very hot day from Coldstream we cycled to Duns and up the Hardens before passing through Longformacus to the top of the road in the Lammermuirs. Then has a great decent and river valley ride back to Duns. 45miles and 1200m climbing, we even kept up and average of 10mph so quite please given the heat.

Last weekend we trialled pannier/B&B riding. From Chorley we hopped onto the Leeds Liverpool canal on Friday evening and cycled to Clayton-le-Moors and a B&B. 22miles, a few dodgy dogs/neighbourhoods in Blackburn and one off by me got us there. Nice curry for tea too but wished I'd kept the MTB tyres on. Bit slippy on the unmade sections. On Saturday we headed off further eastwards. Very rough to Burnley, nice local cycling to worked helped us negotiate the tunnel/motorway and then a great ride up to the top pound of the canal at Foulridge. Quick ice cream and tea before continuing. The track got really tough after Barnoldswick and Sarah had a bad off involving a dry stone dike and a potential broken hand. Lunch at Gargrave before more roughness to Skipton. Afternoon tea there and we finally got back onto a good surface near Bingley so the final cruise into Leeds flew by. I made us climb an unnecessary hill to get to Alice's but we found it in the end. 63 miles! Longest day ever by Sarah and the sort of daily distance we need on Lejog.

So getting good to give it a crak now. Tissington Trail this weekend...with forecast it will be pissington trail!

LEJOG Training Started

Managed to get a nice ride in yesterday from home, up to Rivington circumnavigating the Yarrow reservoir. Sarah coped really well on the two single chevroned sections but i managed to fall off on one. Touched some mud on the verge with new tyres and grip level was zero.
Nice chilli baked potato for lunch at Rivington Church Hall before a pleasant cycle home via Adlington and Coppull.
Bit a a speed compo down to Birkacre from Coppull and I nearly came a cropper but outdid Sarah by 1.4kph. Phew...I will have to expend effort to keep up downhil demon status. She's quick!
16miles so will have to keep building up from here

Day 10 / 11

Early start to catch the ferry from Stornoway and group farting particularly bad after last nights curry. Bueatiful clear skies but very windy and heading into it so cold on deck. Full Calmac breakfasts all round and corresponding toast fight. Great views as we headed into Loch Broom. Bike taxi turned up bang on time. glad we don't have to cycle 57miles into a strong easterly.
bit of a faff in the big I as all the couriers were closed due to bank holiday monday so we had to beg a favour from a bike shop.
went for a walk around looking for pitch and putt but ended up going to the aquapark. the flumes were great. had some pizza and made it to the station in plenty of time for the sleeper. turns out the booked up bike space was taken by seafood. grrr
no real excitment on anyones return journeys. even scabbington got home on a train

Day 9 back into the stormaway

We woke to yet another glorious day but with a strong north easterly for the third day running. This meant the west to east route back to stornoway would be more demanding than the way out. Surprisingly the first third had a tail wind and we sailed through nicer country than we remembered from two days ago. Once we hit the head of the loch the wind dug in and things became more difficult. We worked well as a peleton until just before lunch when differing energy levels split us a bit. Stopping in a grassy hollow out the wind it became very hot. The sky was cloudless and views to harris perfect. the afternoons road was lovely with lochs and moorland. Greylag geese and lapwings were seen many times. A cuckoo flew in front of us too. Still fighting the wind we got back to stornoway with a brief tantalising view of the sutherland mountains. Will shortly be heading into town to sample its sunday fare. We will see what is open. last ride of the trip. Cyclocamping is great. distance today: 55 km total distance: 450 km no good downhills

Day 8 another windy day not due to millington

Today was meant to be a rest day with a nice day cycle along to the end of the road no west lewis. The outward leg was great with the road sweeping up and down past secluded coves and perfect white beaches. At the road end we had a leisurely lunch before turning back into the wind. Its strenght increased and it was a hard slog back. Looking forward to a good pasta dinner. also one definate golden eagle sighting and two possibles distance today: 50 km total distance: 395 km

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Day 7 gone with the wind

Woke to a strong easterly and headed down to the pier for the boat to tanera. Turns out an easterly is no good for tanera so boat was not sailing. As we deliberated over brekkie the boat from stornaway came in...so we caught the return. Bit of mad planning to make sure it would work so tonight we find ourselves on the north coast of lewis with only 10 miles of road left to explore to the west. This involved a great 10 mile section of downwind at 30 kph average. Now in amazing coast country. Good bbq and wind to finish but its getting cold. distance today: 65 kph total distance: 398 km

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Day 6 big gears and big climbing

Had a close escape with an ex marine leach in the pub last night. Tried to break our fingers with his handshake and did a faux hand chop on tim. Met him again this morning at the post office where he was a little more subdued without alcohol. Managed to start out before 10 for once with some nerves about distance and height gain for the day. Weather was cold and breezy with headwinds for much of the day. Coast around gruinard was good but all the little hills and the wind were adding up. Big climb of the day turned out to be a steady grind from the wooded glades of dundonell into the wind and descent was poor due to headwind. We went round the windward mark when we hit the main ullapool road so all was then good. Busy road but more opportunities for getting truck drivers to honk. Great fish and chips in ullapool followed by live music in the pub. A Tough day distance today: 85 km max speed: 66 kph total: 290 ish km hardness rating: its up there!

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Day 5 push for victory

Craig bothy was beautiful in the morning sun and porridge with raisins set us up well for the push to redpoint. It turned out to be tougher than yesterday and the first hour took us only 600 metres. It got easier after that but the 6 km still took 4 hours. Great views all the way out to harris. Nice paddle in freezing cold water at redpoint before being back on the road to poolewe. Gentle climb followed by a lung busting downhill race brought us home. A tough day. distance today: 37 km max speed: 67 kph total: 199 km

Day 4 where theres gain theres pain

Day started off pretty slowly with a fairly leisurely cooked breakfast. Campsite was on sheildag grazing commitee ground and had an excellent view over sheildag island. We headed for the whisky bar at the torridon hotel for a few malts and an excellent ploughmans. Climb to diabeg was steepest so far on trip and pretty nasty. Downhill was great and max speed equalled trip speed record without even trying. Push to craig bothy was tiresome but we were piped in by some school kids also staying at craig. Tea was a brilliant curry followed by rice pudding and tinned fruit. distance today: 35 km max speed: seventy kph total distance: 161 km hardness rating: arm busting

Day 3

Left applecross with ice cream and high spirits. Cycle north along the peninsula was glorious with whales and views of raasay skye and outer hebs. Got a bit tougher as we it the north coast with lots of steep up and downs. Torridon opened up and we got a good sighter for tomorrows bike push. A couple of great down hills but the ups kept coming so the day felt pretty hard. A few black cullin at sheildaig inn and a bbq later to follow to make best of the good weather. distance today: 41 km max speed: 62 kph total distance: 126 km hardness rating: moderate

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Day 2 Bealach na Bastard

Well we all made it up the belach na ba. a couple of us has feet down a few times but no pushing occured. we all rate it as the hardest hill we've ever done. at the top we took the bikes up to the radio mast for a mad downhil back to the road. decent to applecross was good but not epic due to headwind and prescence of lethal hairpins. high speed for the day was earlier near the avalanche shelter between stromferry and strath carron. lovely weather and ate outside at the applecross inn. early to bed becasue we were all knackered.
distance travelled today: 62 km
max speed: 70.4kph
total distacne: 85km
todays hardness rating: fuckle muckoff

Day 1

Finally got to kyle at nine in the evening. Longer journey than expected. Wanted to do at least a few miles before camp. Got to plockton and had campsite finding fun followed by carbonara and mother scabbington cake in brandy custard (reduced to clear). Yum yum. kms cycled thirteen weather is cold

Travel sucks ass

Managed to make lots of noise for the fat canadians in the form this morning. Went for a two for one fry up and returned to find scabbingtons karrimat. Cycling through town to millets his bike sounded terminal. Ed and scabs got lost going to the bike shop but then discovered the sound was just his lock rubbing on his wheel. Panic shows how nervous we are about his bike! Tim arrived and weve got on the west highland flyer ok. kms cycled: eight round edinburgh max speed: fifty down the mound just at the big fw now. Weather and views are great

Oh and the mound is steep

A few beers in edinburgh

A nice pint or two in aulde reekie. Followed by a millers ed towel fight

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Post one

Bit of a mad rush to get to the station on time. Sarah and i spent rather too long up the scaffold painting the gables and left sixty minutes to in from paint and dust covered in chorley to washed and train ready in preston. Needless to say sarah drove progressively. The train arrived nice and early and boarding was stress free... Except for the guy who got on after us and had no space for his bike due to virgin trains putting food containers in the way. Just as well for me timbo missed his train! scabbington has a beard:-* its a bit scabby but he did bring beer. He says hello

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tim hooper is a cnut

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first post. from internet