Land’s End – John O’Groats September 2007- Sam, Mike with Colin and Lynne.

 We kept a blog for the duration of the trip to try and let you know what we got up to and to remember our highs and lows.

In conclusion…

A unique trip of 1,009 miles will be remembered for the happy spirits that prevailed in the whole camp in the face of 86 mile days, 2,000foot climbs and driving rain and wind. The individual days weren’t what made this a tough physical and mental challenge, it was the getting on the bike day in day out, legs permanently aching and trying to eat as many carbs as possible at every opportunity! Over the 15 days cycling we saw more of the British Isles than my previous 25 or so years and more wildlife too- deer, grouse, rabbits, hawks, partridge and a pear tree or two. We couldn’t have done it without the support team of mother and father Tomson (who himself cycled over 600 miles with us) who were ever present with food, drinks, B&B’s and encouragement. We hope this blog was interesting to read and conveys the highs we experienced in what was a truly memorable 15 days. Thanks for your sponsorship.

Sam and Mike

DAY 1 Saturday 1^st September- Land’s End to Newquay 56 miles

We (Sam, Mike and father Colin) started off at 10.35 after photographs at the famous sign alongside a bunch of old school motorcyclists doing the same trip. An overcast day was perfect conditions for cycling with the sun occasionally breaking through the clouds to warm the three cyclists as they wove their way through West Cornwall. After a few typically Cornish downhills and uphills we reached our first stopping point at Marazion looking out to St Michael’s Mount.

We powered on to lunch in Redruth in a local pub where we met up with the support wagon (mother sent from heaven Lynne), and then on to Perrinporth overlooking the beach and enjoyed some carrot cake and bananas to refuel. A gruelling climb followed, to get out of this pretty seaside town and then we wound our way into Newquay and to our B&B in Trevarrian. Day 1 done, no punctures, no disasters, good weather, off to a good start…

DAY 2 Sunday 2^nd September- Newquay to Okehampton 67 miles

A brief description of Cornwall reads; it is hilly and based on our experience full of strange people running Bed & Breakfast’s. While tucking into a cooked breakfast to give us energy for the day the ahead the guy running our second B&B informed us that the sausages cost 8 pence each and was extremely pleased about this!! What the hell is in an 8p sausage… no we don’t want to know!

Back to the trip and we cycled up from Watergate bay through ridiculous hills out of pretty bays until we reached the Camel trail where we had flat cycling for the first time on the trip!

The mileage was increased today and a delightful burst of rain as we were half an hour from Okehampton was lovely, especially as we had to cycle on a fast down hill stretch of the A30 (dual carriage way) with trucks flying past… (of course we did not remember to bring lights!)

A good day finished off with a few glasses of recuperative wine at the Lovely Jane Colegates house. (this is hard you know!!)    

DAY 3 Monday 3rd September- Okehampton to Wedmore 81 miles

81 miles!! Today was the day we were slightly concerned about. 81 miles and more hills, this was a cracker. Powering through 45 miles before lunch including 3 climbs classed as severe by the book was tough but the scenery was beautiful and the pub at the end was brilliant.

Highly recommended The Bear at Wivelscombe good food and lovely place. We assume the beer was good but it would have been slightly risky to have a tipple with nearly 40 miles left to go. (maybe when we get to Edinburgh)

From the pub we headed for Taunton and then to the wonderful Somerset flats. (2 counties down). Yes they are flat and in true Tour de France style we slipped streamed our way to within 10 miles of Wedmore where two sharp hills really added to the days burn.

Greeted by rock cakes and more wine at the wonderful Wimborn residence staying with friends beats B&B’s any day!!

DAY 4 Tuesday 4th September- Wedmore to Tibberton 74 miles

Leaving Somerset today we left what shall be known as the “Roadkill County”, we saw badgers, squirrels, rabbits and more all in 2D. The morning session saw us climbing 4.7miles through the Cheddar Gorge, where we saw a madman attached to a cliff for 7 days for charity, not a bad effort! At the top of the gorge we had our hardest laugh of the trip- it’s hard to explain but imagine stampeding cows infuriating a farmer due to our cycling up a country road- genius.

Later this day we all enjoyed crossing the old Severn Bridge which yielded spectacular views and led to us moving into (albeit briefly) and out of Wales (Chepstow). In fact today saw 4 additions to “County Count” as well (Somerset, Bristol and Avon, Monmothshire, Gloucestershire).

DAY 5 Wednesday 5th September- Tibberton to Wrockwardine 75 miles

Spending over 5 hours on the bike a day, trying not to stare at Mike’s arse in front of me, tends to make the mind wander. We are both now suffering from ‘repetitive song syndrome’- an irritating tune going over and over in the head in time to the pedals pumping. Favourites include the Chris Moyles “Dom Knows Somebody..” jingle, the Didier Zokora Spurs chant and “Faith” by George Michael. We’ll keep you posted on any more tunes added to the repertoire throughout the trip.

Back to the route and we passed through the historic town of Ironbridge after a rollercoaster of an afternoon and finished with a 5 mile pull up the Wreakin. (180meter climb). Day was finished with the usual pub dinner and wine (all the best athletes train on pub food).

DAY 6 Thursday 6th September- Wrockwardine to Orrell 86 miles

Less hills was the promise of day 6 and it did deliver to this, but it was a tough 86 miles due to winding back-country B roads in the morning and a fresh northerly wind in our face in the afternoon. It’s now amazing to think when you cycle how far north we are and the accents of the people we come across during one day change enough to surprise you. We left Cheshire today to meet Lancashire and the promise of Scotland faintly in the distance.

The mind wanders… We’ve already mentioned repetitive song syndrome, but today we tried to keep the brain sharp and from wandering away with the fairies which could result in a trip into the hedge after hitting a pothole if you’re not careful. Today we tried to play games but it proved pretty hard to hear each other along main roads and I learnt that Mike is the worst ’20 questions’ player ever. We finished in Orrell and were spirited away to the Northern Tomson’s house for a well earned rest from B&B’s. Thoughts are of tomorrow’s epic mileage and topography….

DAY 7 Friday 7th September - Orrell to Kirkby Stephen 83 miles

Another 80 mile plus day with some of the most beautiful scenery to date. The final 20 miles to Kirkby Stephen although mainly up hill were stunning, cycling slowly was the order of the day just to take in the views of course…

A quick stop in Lancaster was a god send to fix a vreeking noise which had developed in my bike (mike) was driving me slowly insane. All fixed we continued on our way through the peaceful countryside only disturbed by Sam’s regular ‘comfort breaks’!

Another thing you notice when on the road is the state of the road you are on. Yes it is very sad but smooth new tarmac without a blemish vs a slightly ageing tarmac makes all the difference to the impact areas! Smiling at the sight of new tarmac is an experience only those doing long distance on a bike can fully understand!

DAY 8 Saturday 8th September- Kirkby Stephen to Eskdalemuir 79 miles

SCOTLAND!! We have made it over the border thus cycling the entire length of England which we were pretty pleased with. We had covered 600 miles by the end of the day which means Scotland is a lot bigger than you think!

Again beautiful scenery and the final 14 miles in the Scottish borders were breath taking if not slightly painful due to a combination of hills and my bike (mike) which has now developed an annoying clicking sound, 400 miles of that lovely!

A mention for our 3^rd support person Emma who braved the barren north to join us for a few days and who lifted all our spirits, while on a near permanent sugar high! That’s it now just B&B’s and tarmac until John O’Groats!

DAY 9 Sunday 9th September-  Eskdalemuir to Edinburgh 61 miles

We saw more ‘Lejog’ ers today. So far we’ve seen around 10 fellow lunatics on bicycles who all seem to be completing the trip in a similar number of days to us. We’ve seen tandems, a tricycle type device and people laden down with panniers and rucksacks full of carbs and spare parts (we get envious looks when we mention the support wagon). When you stop and talk to fellow lejoggers there is an immediate sense of camaraderie and encouragement between both parties and photos and stories often exchanged.

Today we saw more spectacular vistas as we rolled through from valley to valley full of sheep and heather. We saw about 3 cars in one hour of cycling, it was truly the most isolated cycling we’ve done so far. A stiff north westerly wind caused a bit of trouble when we had over 9 miles of climbing up valleys in the afternoon but we rolled into Edinburgh at about 5.30 with a respectable average speed of 13mph for the day, ready for an evening in front of the rugby on TV!

A View from the Support Team / Domestique / Part Time Rider

The blog from the team so far understates the physical and mental demands of such a schedule for anyone. Every day is a relentless struggle to bash out the miles, consume the carbs ( and drugs where needed), keep hydrated ,beg Lynne for physio, service the body and the bike, do the blog etc, etc.

I see this as a part time rider doing 50 miles a day as compared with the 70/80 for the team, and see also the fantastic contribution Mike makes as the key Domestique carrying food, drink, spares and everything else.

The mental side appears when the men head off singing each day and give a whoop ( of sorts ) at the news that a serious hill is next.

Now the heavy stuff starts. Early hills ,more miles, and then the Day of Reckoning – 4 hills over 2000ft . Wish them luck.

Colin

DAY 10 Monday 10th September-  Edinburgh to Spittal O’ Glenshee 77 miles

We negotiated our way out of the capital of Scotland in one piece except for a pesky wasp that decided to get stuck between Mike’s helmet and his head. It was a little disoriented and gave him two stings on his forehead, not the best start to the day. But some fellow LeJoggers who were getting lost trying to find the Forth Road Bridge with us, kindly provided some anti-histemine tablets to ease the pain. We eventually found and crossed the bridge and the day really got going.

Our planned route from a Lonely Planet book (recommended by a friend) has proved a useful ally but as we progress further north we have the nerve to challenge it more often and choose, shall we say, more direct routes! This was in evidence today as we improvised and chose more direct A roads rather than the possibly more scenic B roads over ever increasing in size hills. We reached the fabulously named Spittal O’ Glenshee as the midges started to close in and we lay our heads to the pillows wary of the next day- the killer…

DAY 11 Tuesday 11th September-  Spittal O’ Glenshee to Grantown on Spey 61 miles

The Killer was so named as our LP book shows the topography of the route and alerts you to different severity of the hills/mountains we were climbing. Today had “5.3m hard climb’ to reach over 2,000feet. This was followed by 4 more peaks with another 2k+feet summit which reads in the book “Take consolation in the roadside footprints and wheel marks of cyclists who’ve walked before you.” We were prepared and despite some insanely steep climbs (including a 0.7mile very steep climb up a 1 in 5 hill) we managed to our immense satisfaction to cycle the whole way. We were so high that we passed by two ski resorts complete with chair lifts, and were told by locals that the road we were slogging up was often closed in the winter due to snow. There’s no doubt we were blessed by the weather as, although we had a stiff north-westerly, we had no rain and perfect temperatures. The scenery, although we were struggling to breathe, was breath-taking with immense valleys full of only heather, grouse, sheep and the odd car.

Father Colin wisely chose today as a ‘rest day’ and chose the Whisky Distilleries instead! I think I can safely say that for me and Mike this was easily the hardest day of the tour and the relief and joy of seeing the support car at Grantown on Spey was tangible for all.

DAY 12 Wednesday 12th September-  Grantown on Spey to Inverness 40 miles

After yesterday’s monster this was scheduled as a half day, only 40 miles, into Inverness to give our legs and bodies a wee rest from the punishing they’ve taken on the last 11 days, over 700 miles. Colin joined us for the whole day as we wound our way through pine forests and over streams and rivers, very pretty cycling. As we cycled, varying songs were being belted out, as, shock horror, there was some rain falling upon us, and in Scotland, the cheek! Our repertoire has now expanded to include some Lion King tracks, Happy Birthday (Kool&The Gang version) and some Oasis. I’m sure we were a sight for locals in some of the small towns we whizzed through, as we sang away.

We were off the pedals by 4 and super-support wagon leader mother Lynne had booked us all in for massages to ease the aching pains. So now I sit in yet another B&B, this time in Inverness, ready to head out for more carb-loading food and quite happy in the knowledge that we have only 3 days of cycling left, but sad at the thought of these strikingly different two weeks coming to an end.

DAY 13 Thursday 13th September-  Inverness to Laig 72 miles

A cheeky north westerly wind meant we spent ½ of today flying along with it at our backs as we headed for lunch in a small town called Tain. The afternoon was less pleasant straight back into the wind, lovely!

Today was spent cycling along fairly flat roads along the edge of Loch’s and Firth’s stopping at Shin Falls to watch salmon leaping up the river. Just before this a delightful rendition of Bohemian Rapsidy was heard along the A836, luckily the only ears to suffer were those of the sheep and cows.

Talking to animals has also become a past-time as we wizz down country lanes. Sam has a particular talent for talking to sheep which will no doubt appear in his CV on our return. 100 miles to go!!  

DAY 14 Friday 14th September-  Lairg to Betty Hill to Laig 46 miles

Today was a wee one, but gee was it a tough one! We had to push for almost the whole day into a 30mile an hour+ north-westerly wind, with periodic horizontal rain biting into the face and hands. We had a quicker than usual banana pit-stop to try and warm up our ice-block feet. Cycling in the lowest gear and really feeling the deep deep burn in the legs trying to get through the wind, we reached the one-shop town of Altnaharra and had some sandwiches in the one place possible, the town hotel!

Tonight, we have reached the north coast of Scotland and the wind is phenomenal here in Betty Hill, and the view too. We can see the beach from the hotel and are set to watch the English get wooped by the Springboks at the rugby and take in some final carbs, and a few drams of whisky to warm the cockles. Mike, myself and the support wagon and dad are all now excited about finishing and finally reaching the goal and moment we’ve been thinking of for almost a year now. Some 40 mile an hour easterly wind and rain can’t stop us now. Next stop the finish line at John O’Groats…