Reflections

Reflections on LEJOG
On a long cycle trip like LEJOG you live in a bit of a bubble. Eat, ride, sleep, repeat…or perhaps in this case eat, ride, eat, ride, eat then sleep , repeat! I don’t know how many extra calories you burn but with this tour company, Peak Tours, (http://www.peak-tours.com)  you certainly get the opportunity to consume as many as you burn.
I’ve not watched TV for two weeks even though most of the B&Bs have had one, and a quick check of the BBC news web site each evening has been the dose of reality. With about an average of between 5 and 6 hours riding time each day, there’s not much time for anything else. It has been tiring but not exhausting, except for the climb into the Cairngorms on day 11.
The Landscape
We’ve seen some varied and diverse scenery, starting with the rolling (steep) hills and estuaries of Cornwall and Devon, Dartmoor, then the Somerset levels, Herfordshire apple orchards, flattish Shropshire and Cheshire, the conurbations around Warrington and Blackburn, then on through Lancashire. The Lake District followed with some medium hills, then on up to the Borders area. Scotland is bigger than it looks on the BBC weather maps! We crossed cities such as Edinburgh and Perth and then the wilderness of the Cairngorms, and some serious hill climbs there. Then on into the wilderness of Northern Scotland after Inverness.
We did some notable bridge crossings: the Severn, Bristol Clifton suspension and Forth to name a few.
We also saw lots of Tarmac ! Much of it needing some repair especially in Scotland.
The bike and kit
My bike passed the test with flying colours. I cleaned it most evenings much to the amusement of some of the others but it paid off, with no serviceability issues and just a few squeeks developing on the last day…maybe something to do with the mice in the barn on the last night!
The weather was very changeable and I used both summer and winter riding kit. The two new pairs of shorts I got for the trip which were designed for long rides turned out to be invaluable. (Gore Xenon 2.0 ladies and Castelli Women’s Free Aero ). I swapped onto new Schwalbe One tyres half way through and they were fine. Warm waterproofs were essential too.

The people
A trip like this is made or otherwise by the people on it. This was a great  success with a mixed crowd who worked well together. Inevitably in a group of 20 you spend more time with people who cycle at a similar speed to yourself and I had the good fortune to end up with a few great guys most days. No names on a public blog, but you know who you are! Thank you for making the trip so wonderful. I will think of you all, complaints and all, every time I ride for the next week or so 🙂 we dragged each other through our personal purple patches and got to the end as a team.

The highs and lows

Best days cycling: through the Lakes to Keswick
Hardest day: Kinross to Ballater
Wettest day : day 2 out of Fowey

Would I do it again? Probably no, as I’ve done it now, and the next big ride will be somewhere else in the world.

I wrote the attached in my training plan many months ago. It was worth it!

Day 14: Crask to John O’Groats 82 miles/130 km

After 14 days on the road we made it to John O’Groats about 5pm this evening. This will be a short post tonight as the Internet access here at JOG is very slow and flakey. It really is a bit of a remote place.

the ride today was fine and dry with a tail wind at last for much of the day. The first 30 miles or so followed a Loch and then a river until we arrived at a place called BettyHill on the northern coast of Scotland. The coast is dramatic and wild. The next 50 miles or so followed a rolling coastline until we eventually got to JOG. The site itself was windswept and cold and a small post marks the end of the journey. It was rather nice to tell some tourists there taking photos that we had come from Lands End!

My bike top bar bag ,after last night in a barn. Mice ate into it to get to a sweet in it!

Mice damage !

The bleak landscape from Crask towards the coast

BettyHill, where we joined the North coast

The End!

We are End to Enders!

Reflections on the journey will be written on the bus back to Inverness tomorrow, or maybe on the flight back to Manchester.

It does feel good though to have completed about 1,588 km of cycling with about 17,500m of hills climbed in 14 days.

the final route is here https://www.strava.com/activities/385838454/embed/2a6de5b2557000f87c1eb1cd78d2546d423a5a20

Day 13: Inverness to the Crask, 68 miles/ 110km

today was noted as a “moderate” day in the trip notes, compared to the last few which have been noted as “hard”. The morning certainly felt much easier but the last past of the afternoon had a real sting in the tail.

The mornig started with a run out of Inverness over the Kessock Bridge. There followed a lovely run along the coast line followed by some great climbs (that means they are easy enough to ride hard and stay on the big chain ring!) . There were some spectacular views over various Firths. The weather was dull but dry and the wind calm ish…

Kessock Bridge

Cromity Firth

View towards Ardgay

The land was getting more and more remote and after the final brew stop at Lairg, we climbed out across some bleak desolate moorland, only for the weather to change to a huge head wind again, and heavy showers. The last 12 miles were a real hard slog uphill into the wind along the A836, which is the only A road I know of that is single track with passing places! I’ve no photos of this route as the weather was too foul to get the iPhone out. The final stop was an inn in the middle of no where called the Crask, which is a favourite with LEJOGers as the only place to stop in the middle of no where. A warm fire was roaring, the bar was open, and the local collie dogs looked for new playmates amoungst the visiting cyclists trying to warm up. We meet the couple from Lancaster again also on their final stretch on LEJOG.

The Crask Inn

Inside The Crask

Inside the Crask

Tomorrow is the last cycling day. It seems so long ago since we started out in Penzance, but I must say I am ready for a day or so off the bike soon. Just 82 miles to do tomorrow. Two more brew stops and one more lunch!

You can see the route here https://www.strava.com/activities/384842765/embed/7dd56aa34c3b4f119ba6f4a180b803f3c520ca1e

Day 12: Ballater to Inverness 74 miles/118km

A friend posted the following motivational image on FB last night, which turned out to be very appropriate today.

Today was a big hill morning. And we had a string northly head wind which as we climbed into the mountains ( I am going to call them mountains not hills today! ) the wind gusted at least 30 miles per hour. The climb up The Lecht is brutal at the best of times, but with such a string head wind it was virtually unrideable. The brew stop was at the top by the ski lifts and ski cafe. By the time we got there, Jim the driver had set up the brew table in doors as the gazebo frame (check out some earlier posts for pictures of it) had self destructed in the wind and was a tangled wreck ready for the skip. But we all made it up there.

Part of the climb up the Lecht. Note this is NOT the top!

Lower part of the Lecht climb. We have come over the ridge in the far distance and that road you can see there

but once off the tops of the hills there weather improved to a mild head wind.

Panoramic view somewhere near Grantown on Spey

the rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventful in comparison and we cruised down into Inverness about 6pm. A long hard day.

My garmin continues to have lock ups and did it again on the approach to the city. Strava link to follow later tonight.

Only two more cycling days to go!

Day 11: Kinross to Ballater. 82 miles 132km

wow, today was a tough ride. It started quite benign with some rolling beautiful landscape out of Minross, through Perth and then on to Blairgowrie.the sun was out too.  As I mentioned briefly the Small family is from the area just before Blairgowie (Dunkeld, Coupar Angus etc) so it was interesting to see that area.

Perth, across the river Tay

Fellow LEJOGers

Some nice lenticular clouds

After a lunch stop though the real challenge began with a steady climb at first up towards Glenshee, but a really steep climb for the last few miles as the road reaches the ski lifts. (For the cyclists amongst the readers this is The Cairnwell Climb 65 in the 100 greatest Climbs book) To add to it, there was a very strong headwind all day and by the time we got to the top of the pass where the brew van was, there were horizonal showers blowing through. It required a great deal of determination and motivation to trudge up the last few miles.

The view back down the glen was great though between the showers.

View back down from Glenshee climb: we have just ridden up that

View up the last few miles of the Glenshee climb

Dropping out of the top of the hills required some serious hard pedalling into the wind but once down into the valley it was a different world again.

Braemar Castle

We followed the road into Braemar and then on past  Balmoral and through woodland and forests. We didn’t see the Queen but the was a policeman on the gate as we went past! As the Braemar Games are this weekend we think she is here! The last few miles into Ballater were quite tiring and I can say this has been the hardest day so far for me, I suspect because we are doing big hills on legs that have cycled over a 1,000 kms in the last 10 days. Tomorrow it is more hills ( including The Leicht Climb 66 in the 100 Greatest Climbs book)  and on to Inverness.  Only three more days until we get there!

the route from today is at https://www.strava.com/activities/383321717/embed/ff2732c8d6ae2dc2efbe61b0c2e80be0bb2783ad

Day 10: Moffatt to Kinross. 80 miles /130km

Today was a harder ride, starting with a steady  10k long 300m climb out of Moffatt.  The plus was about 20k of descent on the other side. The weather was also much cooler today, but it stayed dry! The real attraction today was cycling through Edinburgh and then over the Forth Road bridge. There is also a new bridge being built adjacent to the two existing bridges.

After the final tea stop just over the river crossing it as then a rolling push to get to Kinross before the showers came through. We made it.

I have to say I prefer the wild roads to ride on than through cities such as Edinburgh, those we did stop there and take quite a few photos.

Tomorrow we move on past Perth to Blair Gowie, and near Dunkeld and Coupar Angus. This is where the Small family came from some generations ago. Then some big climbs into the Cairngorms. I better eat well at dinner tonight!

the route from today is https://www.strava.com/activities/382541676/embed/16d3246d3789ff9a25020cccfa4d3da9d64e7503

View of Moffatt frm the climb out

Edinburgh castle

Me and my bike at the top of the Forth Road bridge with Forth rail bridge behind

The building of a new bridge

The cycle track across the Forth Road bridge

Day 9: Keswick to Moffat, Scotland. 74 miles/119km

Yet another day of fabulous riding. The route out of Keswick up to Welpo on the way to Carlisle was stunning. A much nicer sunnier day ment some wonderful blue sky views. It started rather misty in Keswick

View out of my hotel room at 0800

The climb out up into the hills soon warmed us up and was just really good.

I think this is Skiddaw…

Nice hills!

View back towards Keswick where we started

Top of the first climb of the day

Scotland border at Gretna

It’s a light bike!

Also at Gretna, well over half way now

lunch stop was at Gretna, and the afternoon was a more ordinary rolling roads through the country, though it has changed with more pine forests (you can smell them) and Scottish stone cottages.

During the day we ride as a small group. We chat for hours about all sorts of things: films, where we have travelled, cricket, the athletics, bike rides, our families, you name it we chat about it! The art of touring cycling is to maintain a speed you can chat at, then you know you are going at a pace you can sustain all day. We cycled with a couple from Lancaster for a while who are fellow LEJOGers who we kept bumping into every few days.

The brew van continues to cause me problems: it is just so tempting to eat what is provided when really I am not sure I really need it. There is always a fresh cup of tea and all sorts of cake and biscuits. There is fruit but (Staff R if you read this I am sorry! ) the sweet stuff is just so tempting after hours of riding.  Tomorrow I am going to try to stick to fruit! Maybe…

Today’s route is at https://www.strava.com/activities/381826980/embed/b158bf7ee5608743f6130261e8ed494024220912

Tomorrow is day 10 of 14. The end is almost in sight, but I don’t really want to stop just yet.

Day 8: Condor Green To Keswick, 58 miles/ 96 km

What a fabulous day. Today was cycling heaven. A wonderful route on rolling roads with a few big climbs to keep it interesting and some great views made for a easy day. One of the guys I was riding with reckoned it was his best ever day cycling!

The route kept us mainly away from main roads and the bank holiday traffic though it was slow going though Windermere. Most of the tourists only go within about half a mile of the town centres so we soon got back out into the unspoilt areas. Breakfast was at our Mill hotel where outside a family of swans was trying to navigate past a closed lock gate! They just kept trying for ages…

Swans at Condor Green

The morning route up to Bowness was just sheer cycling delight, fast rolling empty roads. We also went through some rather nice country parks.

Milnthorpe

Milnthorpe

The route took us past Windermere lake, Rydal Water and Thirlmere.

Windermere

Rydal Water

this evening we are in Keswick which is rather full of tourists which is a bit of a shock to the system as we’ve been in some very quiet nightstop locations recently!  You definately get into a bit of a LEJOG bubble on tours like this. Everywhere seems booked up so not sure yet where we will be eating this evening.

I’m really looking forward to tomorrow now: we track up Carlisle, Greta and onto Moffatt. It feels like we are making progress up the map now.

You find today’s route here http://www.strava.com/activities/380974955/embed/1a6387d384606088338705ebb6c2d07129d278b3

Day 7: Frodsham to Condor Green 72 mile /118km

Today was down in the trip notes as a hard day but it didn’t feel like it. Maybe the fitness of riding everyday is starting to kick in! After Emma reappeared this morning with my clean washing (thank you!!!) we set out out of Frodsham. The start was a fairly tedious ride through the towns of Runcorn and Warrington. The only point of note was we past right by the HP office so I stopped to take a photo. Quite a unique way of marking 20 years with the company today! And as my bike is a “Cycle to Work” purchase it can be confirmed I have cycled to work, abet by a somewhat indirect route.

HP office Warrington

The route the moved on up through Lancashire including a climb up to Belmont. You may know it from the large mast on the top which you see as you go north on the M6 and M61. Despite tired legs I actually set some PB times here: I was last on these roads about February.

We has another enormous lunch at the Rock Inn just off the tops, with views over the county. You could actually see Blackpool Tower on the far horizon. But my photos of that just don’t really do it justice: iPhone cameras are good but not that good…

Another awful busy section through Blackburn and then on into the country virtually all the way to the coast. We are staying at a tiny village called Condor Green which is just south of Lancaster. This evening I walked down to the harbour village near by. But no photos yet to post as my iPhone doesn’t seem to want to sync to the Cloud tonight and I write this on my iPad. I’ll add them in tomorrow.

We are nearly half way into this trip now. The half way mileage is sometime tomorrow morning. 20 strangers set out a week ago, and it now feels like we’ve know each other for ages. Gone are all the awards moments of the first day: we are all now comparing notes on the state of our backsides and remedies/prevention methods for any saddle soreness! (I’m pleased to report no problems in that department for me thanks to a well used saddle and some excellent Gore cycle shorts)

Tomorrow should be a more photogenic day as we go though the Lake District all the way to Keswick. The sun was out all day today: I’m hoping for the same tomorrow. The company on this trip remains excellent and I am having a wonderful time. Maybe I won’t return to work and I’ll carry on cycling around the country….

Today’s route is at https://www.strava.com/activities/380169851/embed/a11b6762c2143f00f7d3098ef8a97d2169c8f621

Day 6: Clun to Frodsham 78 miles /125km

A short post today as I didn’t take many photos in this leg as this is really home territory for me. I also met up with Emma for dinner this evening and she is kindly doing some smelly cycling kit washing overnight! She’s also bought my decent track pump over which I am putting on the van for the rest of the trip as the ones supplied are rather poor. We had a lovely meal out at the Fishpool Inn at Delamere and I even bumped into someone I know in there. Definitely home territory!

After telling you all about pacing myself yesterday, today was flat enough to put a bit of pace down and I did the 125k ride with an average moving speed of 24.5km/hr. With a following wind and the sun on your back there is nothing quite like spinning on the lanes. Days like this make you wish you could ride every day. We dipped in and out of Wales today as the route ran up the England Wales border for much of the afternoon. It was a long stage today and we have made some good progress up the map. You can see the Mersey from here.

We are still eating far too much on this trip, I am going to have to lay off the nice stuff at the brew van for the next few days or else I am not going to be able to get up the hills in Scotland.

Today’s route is at https://www.strava.com/activities/379366662/embed/eaca2862dc80c7ecd7c994d0243a34fb38aabb9d

Tomorrow is a tricky start to get through the Warrington area and then on up past Bolton into Lancashire. The scenary should start to get more interesting again then.