Member’s Land’s End to John o’Groats by Bike
Back in July, Centre members and brothers Tony and Frank completed the iconic bike ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
They started the challenge by travelling down to Penzance by train, the following day included a short 7-mile cycle to Land’s Ends with the other 22 riders in the group.
They continued through beautiful Cornwall which was hard work due to the extreme heat and ended up at Fowey, a lovely little town and harbour (5.15hrs duration, 5112ft climbed, 72miles cycle).
After a good night’s sleep and with the sun shining, they continued to Plymouth and into the stunning scenery of Devon. On through to Dartmoor and at the very top, they all stopped off at Willey’s Ice Cream van for a much-deserved cone, before finishing at Moretonhampstead (6hrs 64001ft 62miles).
After an evening bath, a couple of beers and another good night’s sleep, the next day they settled into the ride through to Exeter. The sun was hot and after several wasp stings and horsefly bites amongst the group, they finished at Street (7.42hrs 4826ft 75miles).
Tony said that their bottoms were really sore and sudocrem was their saviour! From Street they passed by Glastonbury through Wells on to Bristol across the Severn Bridge and finished at Monmouth a lovely ride easiest day (5.38hrs 3976ft 69miles).
From Monmouth They continued through to Wales on to Hereford, where they met up with their cousin Gordon (ex-SAS soldier) and they spent time at the graves of his fallen friends…humbling… then they caught up with the other riders. Apart from their GPS acting up, It was a really fast ride through the lovely countryside the shortest ride so far. finishing at Clun (5hrs 3333ft 58miles).
They left Clun on through to the lovely town of Shrewsbury into the countryside with some peloton riding and then on to Runcorn the longest ride (6.10hrs 79miles 3457ft).
Another hot cloudless day greeted them, fortunately the north headwind was nice and cooling. This was a difficult ride navigating through and around many cities from football giants to rugby league champions. Their focus at this stage was on the GPS, junctions, traffic, people, and traffic lights. They then headed back out into the countryside and finished for the day at Lancaster, with another lovely hotel meal and a hot bath to relax (6hrs 3600ft 73miles).
Lancaster though to Penrith was beautiful and such a stunning part of the country. Another hot day with plenty of tree lined cycle paths bordering the Forest of Bowman, the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District. There were lots of sharp short hill climbs (10%+) but the sights at the peaks were well worth it (5.30hrs 3370ft 60 miles).
They left Penrith for their venture into Scotland and were dreading the change in the weather. They crossed the border where they all happily snapped away, taking photos for memories on passed Gretna Green and headed to Moffat , feeling elated and surprised that they had all got there with no problems,. The weather was still hot and cloudless with no let-up but better than rain. An overnight stop off in Moffat, (6.20hrs 2700ft 70 miles) with the knowledge that the following morning started off with a 5-mile climb.
A misty start with a beautiful climb followed by the most bone shaking, hard core rutted road they had ever known. This went on for 60 miles all the way to Penicuik (nonstop wrist aching and trying to stay out of the saddle). They reached Edinburgh without a drop of rain and stayed at The Green Hotel in Kinross. The two rooms in this hotel where they parked their bikes were full of Rock and Pop memorabilia; from guitars owned by Jimmy Page and Keith Richards, to signed photos, paintings, and drum skins.
Another bright and sun kissed day, ready for their ride through the beautiful Scottish countryside to Perth and into the heart of the Cairngorms. They had an 82miles cycle ahead, with 5000+ft to climb including the awesome ‘never ending’ climb up Glenshee and on through to Ballater. Tony said that it was as spectacular as they could have imagined. Ballater to Inverness was a very hilly terrain with the massive Lecht to traverse and then to Inverness the capital of the highlands.
Next day with a short ride of 69 miles and lots of singing along the way, they cycled to the outpost called Crask for a beer and horsefly bites ouch! This was in the middle of moorlands with mile after miles of flat empty space and they were thankful to the sunshine and lack of wind. They reached the final day all intact and looked forward to parking the bikes. The beautiful landscape really got their hearts racing, as they were riding along the top of Scotland with very little between them and Iceland. The weather was yet again kind to them as they enjoyed a bit of Scottish mist for the final gathering outside Jon O’Groats as they all rode in together.
Tony said “I don’t believe there will ever be another 14 days of sunshine from Land’s End to John O’Groats again, so happy it was for our group full of humour, togetherness, all of us there to help each other and organised by the fabulous Peak Tours. Highly recommended. Accommodation, bags, food, breaks, all on hand to help with any problems bikes, wasp stings, sudocrem, water and laughter”.
Their highlights include the beautiful fishing village of Fowey, ice creams at the top of Dartmoor on the hottest of days, the stunning Lake District, the peloton riding, crossing the Scottish border, the sun shining, climbing of Glenshee and the daunting but incredible Lecht and of course the completion.
1008 miles covered over 61,000 ft climbed in 14days, well done Tony and Frank.
