GPX Files and accommodation

Each of the links below will allow you to download the GPS track from the particular day's ride. Those really interested can analyse speeds, climbs etc. Or just use them to plan your own ride.

22 Aug 11 - St Austell to Lands End stayed at Commercial Hotel, St Just
21 Aug 11 - Exeter to St Austell stayed at Premier Inn, Carclaze
20 Aug 11 - Cheddar to Exeter stayed at Georgian Lodge
19 Aug 11 - Welsh Bicknor to Cheddar stayed at Cheddar YHA
18 Aug 11 - Clun to Welsh Bicknor stayed at Welsh Bicknor YHA
17 Aug 11 - Wrexham to Clun stayed at Clun YHA
16 Aug 11 - Preston to Wrexham stayed at Premier Inn
15 Aug 11 - Penrith to Preston stayed at Travelodge, not far from Rheged
14 Aug 11 - Beattock to Penrith stayed at Premier Inn, Bilsberrow
13 Aug 11 - Falkirk to Beattock stayed at Marchbankwood House
12 Aug 11 - Pitlochry to Falkirk stayed at Premier Inn, Cadger's Brae
11 Aug 11 - Inverness to Pitlochry stayed at Pitlochry SHA
10 Aug 11 - Helmsdale to Inverness stayed at Inverness SHA
9 Aug 11 - John O'Groats to Helmsdale stayed at Helmsdale SHA

What's that bike?

Has that bike got smaller wheels than normal? Yes, they're 24" or 520 size, for which you can get some pretty good HP tyres. The frame is an Airnimal Chameleon which is designed in Cambridge, all welded aluminum alloy. There's about 40mm suspension movement at the rear (elastomeric) and a carbon front fork. The idea is that the bike folds down to airline carry-aboard size with the wheels removed. A pretty compact size is achieved with only the front wheel out. The seatpost comes out and the seatpost tower hinges forward, whilst the handlebars and stem also come off easily.

I wanted to build up the bike myself rather than buy off the shelf so I could decide which components to use. I got started on the idea of using stuff from the Northern hemisphere as much as I could. Not from any particular motivation, given that the frame was built in Taiwan! After a fair amount of research I decided on SRAM Force as the groupset; the quality of this is better than Shimano Ultegra but much lighter. The main deciding factor was the deal I got, it was best VfM  compared to Ultegra, CampagnoloTriple, and SRAM Apex. Anyway turns out the groupset is made in China. So much for the Northern Hemisphere!

Rims came from Velocity (Australia), double butted spokes from Sapim (Belgium) and hubs from Hope (Barnoldswick, England) as did headset and seatclamp.

The bike rides stiff and fast, comparable to a good steel diamond frame (I should know). It is a bit limited on top speed because gearing was selected for hill climbing/touring. I've got a range of 20 gears from 37 to 108 inches. For weight weenies it is not comparable to a carbon frame bike by any means, but I value comfort and durability on long rides. The Chameleon does well on Sustrans type paths too.

Nutrition and recovery

My daily supplements - usually overkill

Well, since we got back home I've had a few questions about the some stuff I didn't really cover in the daily reports on the ride. So I'm going to use a few extra blog posts to explain and leave a record for myself  'cos I'm bound to forget again by next time. (...er... wot do you mean, next time?)

I knew that nutrition would play a large part in the ride since I'd be exerting between (easiest day) 3000 and (hardest days) 6000 additional calories per day, on top of my Basal Metabolic Rate (just means the energy I use each day to exist) which is 1825 calories.

As we all know, the recommended daily allowance for a male adult is 2500 calories, whereas I'd need 2 - 3 times that amount. I also knew that the body can't store much more than about 90 minutes worth of energy in a readily usable form. Whilst this is generally not a problem if you've eaten a meal in the last 3 hours, where and when we'd get to eat was a bit of a lottery. I could have designed a route past a series of cake shops but decided on having supplementary food available instead.

On our last End to End (1998) we pretty much depended on petrol station flapjacks; cheap, plentiful and energy dense. (6000 calories can be quite bulky - choose your foods with care!) As a drawback, they aren't exactly healthy. This time I wanted to be sure my supplements were good quality. After a lot of reading I settled on a daily allowance of 2 x High5 Energy Source drink (180 kcals each), 1 x Torq bar (214 kcals), 1 x High5 Sports Bar (215 kcals), 1 x Clif Shotblox (200 kcals), 2 x High5 Isogel (104 kcals each), and 2 x Torq gels (114 kcals each). In other words the equivalent of a substantial main meal, all derived from fruit/fair trade and organic ingredients. For hydration I chose High5 Zero (think energy drink without no cals) which I carried in a Camelbak Rogue.

As it turned out this was mostly overkill and only on 3 days did I need to eat the whole set of supplements (Inverness - Pitlochry, Pitlochry - Falkirk) and more (Exeter - St Austell).  My favourites worked out to be (in order of priority) Strawberry Yogurt Torq Gel, Sports Bar, Black Cherry Yogurt Torq Gel. However I biased consumption in favour of solids early and only used gels towards the end of the day if I needed them.

I soon tuned in to when food was needed.  I'd find I was thinking about food, or (slightly more desperate) getting a bit of a quiver.  Even worse, slowing down and feeling miserable signalled the need for a solid meal. Whilst in theory you should eat a bite every 20 minutes or so, in practice it depends on the terrain and pace, and I had to re-learn stuff that I used to know whilst cycling regularly and had forgotten.

Recovery didn't get neglected either. I knew that recovery had to start within 30 minutes of finishing each day and I used For Goodness Shakes Vanilla powders, on some days mixing this with the residual Energy Source drink. Most nights I used SIS Nocte Vanilla at bedtime. These are drinks designed to replace essential minerals, as well as replenish carbs.

I suppose I should point out that I'm not a nutritionist.  All I'm saying is this worked for me.

Get back on the bike

Day 14 3/4 Colin's Gap
Why didn't I think of this before?  Today we had to fill in the gap that Colin had missed on Sunday between Dobwalls and Roche. Yay, bike ride!  We were away from St Just by 10:00 and dropped off by 11:00 with 16 miles to cover.  And a tailwind, wow. Before long I was up to 30 mph (yes, revved out).  We didn't have to ride all day, so everything went in short of anaerobic effort and it took just 55 minutes to complete. Hardly a noteworthy time, but it seemed good to us as we sat in the cafe waiting to be picked up again.

So there you have it. The fulfilment of a long held goal, done in my own style on a folding bike that I'd built myself. And Colin's too, to complete the ride in his 70s.

Anyone could do the End to End; you don't need to be super fit or fast, but you do need vision and determination. We had both.

Today: 18 miles, Max speed 31.5mph, and that's all folks :O)

The finish line

The finish line

Day 14: St Austell to Land's End
It was a real struggle to get out of bed this morning after my 'big' day. With my body being decidedly unco-operative I made it down to breakfast to find out what had happened to Colin. It seems he had made it to the far side of Liskeard by late evening and been picked up by Margaret. In discussion we decided to spend today riding to Land's End and for him to use the spare day tomorrow to ride the 20 mile 'gap'.

Puncture-resist this!

Great plan but I was hardly awake so we didn't set off until 10:00. We decided to head for the A30 in order to make best progress South-West. But which way to go? Bing was still convinced that the hotel was in central St Austell, so we asked a local chap for directions. So it was that we set off for Roche and the Goss Moor Trail which is actually the old A30, and the scene of my puncture. It seems puncture-resistant tyres are not proof against a 20mm roofing nail (imagine that).

At Fraddon we got onto the new A30, but I seemed to have no energy and could barely maintain 15mph on what was essentially a flattish route. The idea of getting on the A30 had been to pick up speed and make good progress. I put this down to the efforts of the day before and plodded on as well as I could. Eventually we got to Hayle and decided to stop for coffee. Where I discovered that the back brake had been binding since I'd mended the puncture 25 miles beforehand! Strangely, after drinking some coffee I was back to my old self again.

Eventually we got to Penzance and the final 10 miles to Land's End passed very quickly. By 16:30 I was leaning against the railings of the Marker Post, strangely deflated. What was I going to do tomorrow?

Dunnit

Finished at 16:30 with a total of 908 miles :0) Now celebrating in St Just, details of today's ride later...

Counting chickens

Presently at Hayle on A30 and with 21 miles to go according to Bing.

The biggest day out

Please don't let this be the last ferry...

Day 13: Exeter to St Austell
An unbelievable day. Once again the satnav (now christened 'Bing' cos it goes bing) threw a Wendy as we set off, so we missed the bridge I'd hoped to aim for. So we headed for Crediton, then after 5 miles or so plotted a course for. St Austell over Dartmoor.

This was a great idea. The skies were clear and visibility fantastic as we wound our way gently up the valley. Idyllic for maybe 40 minutes when we came to a 1 in 5 climb that just went on and on. I had to ride it zigzag as there was no way I could have walked up it on cleats. This set the scene for the rest of the day.

By lunchtime we'd made it 18 miles to Moretonhampstead and the start of Dartmoor proper. We met up with Rose and Margaret at the first ice cream carpark and I made the decision to press on as Colin was struggling a bit. There was a stiff headwind which didn't help any!

An hour later I stopped for an ice cream myself at the final ice-cream carpark and headed down to Tavistock to pick up the A390, which in fact is really a poor B road. Up down up down, each screaming descent followed by an equally screaming climb in low gears. I started to dread each downward section, knowing that a stiff hill was to follow and that my quads had pumped out long since.

I emptied my 2litre camelback and a 750ml energy drink, downed 5 gels 3 energy bars and a halfpack of Shotblox. I could feel the edge of the hunger 'knock' creeping closer and it showed in the ever decreasing progress and yawning. I stopped in a pub for water but no food was on, Sunday evening.

By 18:30 I stopped for a pasty, flapjack and lucozade dinner at the Spar shop in Liskeard and then Bing took me on a loony route of minor roads, farm tracks and the odd B road to the Boddinnick ferry. I was very pleased to arrive in time for the penultimate one.

With the light failing I covered the final 7 miles to St Austell but the hotel was at the northern end of town, up (you've guessed it) another 2 mile hill. The light had gone completely as I rode away from the last street lights, no moon, hoping that the hotel was not much further as both Satnav and Googlemaps had it in the wrong place. Eventually I had to get off and walk as I couldn't see the difference between the pavement (which I was on) and the road, and there was a pretty good chance of falling off at the speed I was able to maintain. After 100 yds or so, hooray the lights of the hotel and Rose who had come out to meet me. 10:00 pm.

Today 80.8 miles 13200 ft of climbing max speed 48.1 mph

The Devonian Express

Rodrigo, Colin, Stuart, Tim, Rob - all aboard for Exeter

Day 12: Cheddar to Exeter
Surprise! This morning we were joined at Cheddar by Colin's friends Tim, Rob and Rodrigo, who'd decided to ride to Exeter with us. Great! I happily informed everyone that the route wasn't quite 60 miles and was mostly flat. There was an obvious sense of relief (but they should know better by now).

There was the usual sizing up in the first few miles to Wedmore, who's quick and who can climb etc, (Rodrigo clearly winning on both scores) but of course the real point is who can make it all the way to our destination? From Westhay we head towards Othery, which included one of those deceptive climbs that makes you feel your legs aren't working and a technical descent on tarmac singletrack. Now the search for coffee started, and eventually we found a friendly pub serving fantastic bacon sandwiches. Cheers Tim for buying the round :)

Next we dived off the A381 for the approach to Taunton, along the canal towpath, which wasn't completely to the taste of those on road oriented bikes. There was the odd hairy moment nipping under the bridges which never looked to be high enough to clear your head - and this had to be balanced against the increasing headroom over the water... and there's no curb... slowly does it.

In Taunton we sat outside the pasty shop sympathising with the ice-cream man who didn't look to have sold so much as a cone all day. Well it was cold and raining - this is August after all. The rather unpleasant A38 was our route south; complete with traffic jams, dusty re-surfaced carriageway, headwind and.. hills.  We were all grateful to turn on to the B3181 at Cullompton but even that seemed to have been re-surfaced over corrugated iron. But the sun came out, so we were happy.

Finally we turned on to National Cycle Route 3, 7 miles to Exeter and the hilliest section yet. Eventually it was genuinely downhill all the way to St Davids station where we bid the chaps farewell, all in good spirits. And then returned uphill to our B&B.

Today: 65.4 miles, cumulative 780.5 miles. Today's max speed 35.7 mph.

The (half) hardest day

Colin and Roddy: Showing us young'uns how it's done.

Day 11: Welsh Bicknor to Cheddar
Today has been a real bee-atch of a ride. First we had to cross the footbridge over the River Wye, which meant riding the singletrack through the woods, no real problem but then there was the climb out of English Bicknor, the climb out of Coleford, the climb up to St Briavels and the climb out of Chepstow. And the climb up the Severn Bridge and the Avonmouth Bridge then, unbelievably worst of all, the climb out of Portishead to my house, where we had lunch. All in all, 6200ft of ascent in 38 miles. We were shagged.

To bring a comparison, this amount of climbing would be a full 70 mile day in Scotland. It's been the toughest day of the trip, and Cornwall is unlikely to compete. Thank goodness for the Strawberry Line cycle path which we followed this afternoon, which saved us having to climb over Shipham. Otherwise I think we may have needed an ambulance!

We were joined this afternoon by my friend Roddy of Axbridge Cycling Group, and this lifted our spirits tremendously, riding with us between home and Sandford. Cheers Roddy :)

The very weird part of the Strawberry Line is Shute Shelve tunnel. This saves an awful lot of effort, however the tunnel is not lit from above. Instead there are LED catseyes set in the road and powered by a solar panel on the hill. As the tunnel is dark, but the end remains bright, you lose peripheral vision. It's strange how much you rely on peripheral vision for secondary balance on a bike, and it's loss does kind of freak you out for a bit.

Early baths for us tonight. Hope tomorrow is easier!

Today 58.5 miles, cumulative 715.1 miles.

Have now updated previous posts with relevant pictures :)

Who needs a rest - not me!

Chocolate Box Cottage somewhere in Wales

Day 10: Clun to Welsh Bicknor
The idea for today was to have a sort of rest day even though we had to travel. Resting on the bike is better than laying on your back doing nothing, you have to get the blood moving through your muscles to clear away any lactic acid, and provided you don't over exert yourself it can be pretty beneficial.

In training I worked to build stamina which meant a combination of shorter harder rides mixed with longer slower rides. Ideally you then do as much of the actual ride as possible without getting out of breath. The terrain and distances do make a joke of that sometimes, several days on this trip have had more than 6000ft of climbing!

I'd spent part of last night fitting the Speedplay pedals I bought in Alf Jones Cycles. 5 mins to change the pedals but what a fuss to fit the cleats! There are shims and a baseplate and springs and a metal plate and 7 tiny screws. Each side. I see what's going on here - the pedal body and retaining mechanism is now attached to your shoe. All that's on the bike is axle and bearings. First impressions are good, positive engagement and release with your foot completely free to move within a 15 degree arc. I'll be happy if they last longer than 4 months ( which the Time ones haven't).

We set off this morning on great roads, gently rolling with a tailwind. Heading for Leintwardine at first and the first 18 miles passed uneventfully. I was just thinking 'hmmm I'd like a coffee' when hey presto there was a cafe sign. We rode up to the Watering Hole cafe in Amsterly to be told 'OK you can select from these sandwiches and these cakes, and would you like tea or coffee?' We asked for coffee and cakes only and the chap said he'd bring them out directly, this took him a scant 5 minutes. But then an odd question 'do you want the sandwiches bagged?' The mystery cleared - he had assumed we were the advance party of a group of 22 riding South to North which had phoned ahead to pre-pay!  Great place and very friendly.

The route then took us swinging round to Hereford, where the cyclepaths took us to some of the least attractive areas of the town. All pretty uneventful stuff. But then came the climb out of Hereford towards Ross on Wye and aaarrgh that's a bit tough. The road got all uppy-downy but thankfully just a few more miles to go, heading first to Symonds Yat East and finally our destination Welsh Bicknor. No, make that the 2 miles of 1 in 6 to Welsh Bicknor. What a majestic place, what a view. Rest day - why am I so knackered?

Today 54.2 miles Cumulative 656.6 miles. Today's max speed 36.1 mph.

Wobbling through Wales

Day 9: Wrexham to Clun
Quick update. Couldn't get a 3G signal last night because we stayed at a very remote hostel. We had a top day with a few navigational errors (ahem)adding about 5 miles to the route. Now stopped for coffee at the Watering Hole near Leominster (highly recommended for cyclists). Will write more later. Mileage yesterday 64.6 making a total of 607.2 miles overall. Max speed 36mph.

Offline off the map

The ever-peaceful Clun Mill

I'd spotted a bike shop the previous evening, so first thing we went back to the very excellent Alf Jones Cycles of Gresford. Colin checked through the spare inner tubes whilst I eyed up the Speedplay pedals - remember I'd broken the Time pedal and cleat earlier in the week. As is the danger in any decent bike shop we were soon brandishing our credit cards. Colin had 2 tubes and a puncture-proof tyre, whilst I had some gorgeous new Speedplay Zeroes. And some more spare patches. You never know.

All told it was 10:00 before we turned south and our journey for the day, first destination Wrexham centre where satnav decided to throw another Wendy. The poor thing couldn't hack the one-way system. I picked a direction (Whitchurch) and went with it, with the idea we'd correct later.

This was inspirational - the road to Whitchurch was very smooth and fast. Sadly 30 minutes riding showed us deviating significantly from the right direction. Our correction, to Erbistock, was through some of the prettiest lanes on the journey yet. Blissful in the sunshine, we stopped for coffee. Now back on route, we stopped for lunch at Stan's Supermarket - an amazing place bigger than the average Tesco and completely independent.

In Oswestry we stopped to look at the remains of the rail station and offices which still dominate the centre of town although no BR trains have run there since the '60s. Then on into the hills and a very convoluted run of B roads which must have made sense to me when planning but seemed completely obtuse when riding. Eventually, signs for Craven Arms which isn't a pub but an actual whole town. I wonder how long the bar is.

The hostel is an old watermill in the middle of nowhere, a lovely peaceful spot with no mobile reception at all.

Local knowledge

Me and Russ - pavement pirates ;]

Day 8: Preston (Bilsberrow) to Wrexham.
This was a day of bits. First up we had to ride to Preston as despite all billing the hotel we stayed at wasn't actually as far as Preston. Shorter day yesterday, longer day today. But the satnav was having a Wendy: 'Route Calculation Error' it said cos it couldn't work out how to cross the Ship Canal, the Mersey or the River Dee. Human intervention suggested we head for Chorley on the A6, and we set off in pouring rain.

Chorley must be a big place as we saw signs saying 'Chorley' for hours but never got there, skirting through outlying villages instead. A shame because I like their cakes (I know it shows) and wanted to try the authentic version. Eventually Wigan was our saviour and we turned towards that modern metropolis. (No I'm kidding on both counts). Colin wanted to know if we were near the sea because he'd seen signs for Wigan Pier, and I had to explain about the tiny loading dock and warehouse where narrowboats used to deliver their cargo.

As we headed towards Warrington, I called my buddy Russ who hails from that area and who as a member of the original 1998 LEJOG Chain-gang of Four had promised to ride with us on part of the route. We met up about 10 minutes later, and guess what the sun came out and the rain stopped. They say it only shines on the righteous!  Russ's idea of riding with us turned out to be escorting us to lunch. No complaints here, but after lots of food and chat it was getting a bit 'mid-afternoon' and we realised we had to set off again.

Over lunch I'd re-programmed the satnav with Russ's local knowledge. 'I'll get you over the ship canal, but the best way over the estuary is Frodsham and I guess you'll get over the Dee at Chester'. Computer says yes - once again we had turn by turn instructions. It's a bit of a black art dealing with this thing as the routing algorithm often goes off on a wild tangent and has to be tamed by judicious waypoints. It will then insist that all waypoints are visited in turn - if you bypass one it's like a bulldog with a fresh bone.

We proceeded to ignore the satnav as Russ showed us the up the pavement through the alley across the pedestrian crossings and against the flow of traffic route to get to Warrington town centre. Which is pedestrianised so we rode through that too. What a blessing local knowledge is! Must have shaved miles off the satnav journey and to boost things further Russ landed us on a low traffic alternative to the A56. Cheers buddy!

It was about 3.15 as we climbed our way out of Warrington with 30 miles to go, but unfortunately Colin then suffered the puncture from hell. It was a pinch-flat from a rock he'd hit. With the wheel out of the frame (hmm, unusual, I thought - you can usually repair a puncture without removing the wheel) he started heaving at the tyre with some metal tyrelevers. "Give that here" I suggested waving my Milk Levers (made from recycled milk cartons) which usually master any tyre. Help! Not this one. Made by Gommitalia it's the tightest 700c tyre ever. It took both of us to get the tube free, which I fixed with a Park self adhesive patch. Meanwhile Colin had installed his spare tube, then we wrestled the tyre back on. The tube would not hold pressure. We wrestled the tyre back off, and I fixed the hole that had been made with the tyrelever using a self-adhesive patch. Meanwhile Colin had installed the tube I'd previously repaired, and we wrestled the tyre back on.

Pumping up the tyre, all seemed good but I was concerned that we get a certain pressure into it to guard against further pinch flats. Suddenly a 'psssshhhhhh' sound could be heard, and the tube deflated again. Rats. We wrestled the tyre off, to find that the patch Colin had installed days before on the Pitlochry Cycle Path (see earlier post) had come free. ....I fixed the hole with a self-adhesive patch.... we wrestled the tyre back on... thankfully for the last time. It was the blackest of comedies given our situation, a whole hour messing about with the world's tightest tyre. Talk about the obstinacy of inanimate objects. It's my opinion that the bike had taken on a mulish attitude and wished to bask in the sunshine for as long as possible.

And what do you know, within 5 miles we passed from brilliant sunshine into a squally shower.

Today's ride 69 miles, total so far is 542.6 miles.  No max speed today 'cos I reset the computer accidentally whilst helping fix the puncture.

A normal day

Muck and filth and a broken pedal

Day 7: Penrith to Preston.
When you do something for long enough, it becomes natural and unremarkable. I reached that point today, when of course I got up and ate breakfast and then rode my bike. The first leg was the climb to Shap Summit, highest point on the A6, followed by the descent to Kendal, 25 miles thanks, stop for lunch in Morrisons, blah blah.

But then it got more interesting as we entered the bit of the country that few holidaymakers visit, well I certainly hadn't been there before. I mean the area around Carnforth. We took the A65 out of Kendal but soon got off the beaten track on to National Cycle Route 6, one of those rarest of things, a metalled singletrack with grass down the middle, and 6ft hedgerows either side to keep the wind out. Bright sun, what more could you ask for? The hills were more rounded than the rugged climbs of the lakes, so better progress as well. Suddenly I'm back climbing on the big ring again.

All too soon it was over as we arrived in the confused sprawl of Lancaster city centre, and got back on the A6. I can do that without thinking.

There are things happening subconsciously, like I don't have to push my legs down - that happens automatically. Instead I'm thinking about lifting my knees towards the bars, and keeping my big toes aligned in the same rotational plane as my heels, but even that's moving towards subconscious. And pushing back against the bars. People will have you believe that you must pull on the bars, but a simple experiment tells you that isn't so. Push against them and arch your back - there you go, faster. The only time you pull is in a sprint or climbing when you're out of the saddle, to use the gyroscopic forces of the front wheel to force the pedals up against your descending feet. That's great away from the lights as it looks scarily wobbly to car drivers and gets you up to speed quicker.

We rolled along the A6 to the outskirts of Preston, where we stopped for the night. Tomorrow, get up, repeat through Cheshire? We shall see.

Today 64.6 miles, cumulative 473.6 miles  Today's max 41.6mph

Pictures Too

Well, I've worked out how to add pictures. There's an appropriate one for each post and a slideshow of various pics from the journey at the top. I'll be updating the album as well each day. As always click on a picture for a bigger version if you want that sort of thing.  All images copyright fr333zin 2011. Ask me nicely if you want to use one fr333zin(insert 'at' sign)gmail.com.

A heartfelt thanks to all those that have donated and left kind messages at http://www.bmycharity.com/H4HStuartJOGLE the amount raised now tops £400. You lovely people you.

For other readers - it's not too late - click the link above :O)

Haggis power!

Yayy!! England!

Day 6: Beattock to Penrith.
Today was payback day. The sun came out, we had a tailwind, and the hills were only gentle. And we had a secret weapon - haggis!

Last night's dinner was at the Star Hotel in Moffat http://www.famousstarhotel.co.uk/ and I chose the Haggis main course, one of the best I've ever had. I think I said we were staying at Marchbankwood House http://www.marchbankwood.co.uk/ and guess what was part of the breakfast menu, yes that's correct. So with double helpings of Haggis the day's ride was just so easy. Could this be the new sports superfood? Get yours here http://shop.scottishhaggis.co.uk/Category/53-haggis.aspx

Either side of the A74(M) is what used to be the main road, but it's since been downgraded to B category and is only used by locals. It's a fabulous smooth surface and is graded for easy motoring (that is, when it was built the contours were evened out which is usually only done for A roads) and this makes for easy riding too. Thanks to this and other factors we were in Gretna by midday, so we went for lunch with Rose and Margaret at Thorntons Chocolate Cafe in the Outlet Centre. Then a few hundred yards later, we crossed in to England. Yayy!! We had completed all 380 miles of Scotland.

Shortly after we navigated the centre of Carlisle on a bike friendly route (we've been on them all day) and the ensuing 15 miles to Penrith were no bother at all.

Unfortunately, today I have managed to break a pedal cleat (5 days old) and the pedal itself (4 months old) which makes pedalling a bit awkward on the left leg. Those that have seen me ride would know that my pedalling has always been dodgy on the left leg. And the right leg. It does mean I'm looking to replace though and my options are limited; I don't want Shimano on this bike, can't get on with Look and have just broken Time, which only leaves Speedplay. Hmmm.

Today's ride 59 miles, cumulative total 409 miles.  Max speed today 32.9mph

The crossing

Single to Bristol please

Day 5: Falkirk to Beattock
I think I saw a chamois at a zoo once, it was like a small deer thing. Wikipedia says it is a goat-antelope species. They are also in my shorts making a big contribution to comfort on this long ride. Originally cycling shorts had an insert with a chamois leather top (to go next to your skin if you see what I mean) and these were essentially rubbish. Hard to keep clean (!) and went hard as a board when washed, not good. Enter chamois cream, which is not made from chamois, but was used to soften the chamois to a usable state.

Fast forward several decades, and we now have synthetic chamois. Not a stuffed toy goat-antelope as you might think, but carefully thought out and tested inserts with contoured variable density padding specially designed to keep yer sit-upon comfy whilst it's being sat upon. And which are machine washable. And anti-bacterial. Not to be out-done, chamois cream has also been re-vamped. My tub is made with synthetic beeswax, wow, wot is a synthetic bee? You don't put it on the pad anymore, you apply it to.. well isn't it obvious? Reading the ingredients it could be part moisturiser, part local anesthetic. And it works.

I was glad of the advances in bum comfort technology today as we grovelled through grimy central Scotland into a continual headwind with 2200ft of climbing. Lots of long dead road-kill (eurgh), poorly repaired surfaces, squally showers and very slow progress.  A real first is that we saw no open cafes or pubs and this led to mass consumption of energy bars and gels and an eventual desperate lunch at 3pm in a bus shelter, where I had to eat my emergency pasty. This had been in my barbag since John O'Groats and become fairly disintegrated thanks to getting routinely squashed as other stuff gets put in or taken out. I'd been trying to ignore it in the hope that I'd be able to legitimately throw it away. I really don't like mass produced pasties.

Just after lunch we struck the A74(M) and turned south on the B road that runs parallel to it. Eventually the scenery got better, live wildlife could be seen. We stopped at the motorway services in Abington, looking like aliens amongst the car-borne normal people. Climbed up past the new windfarm, then thankfully the road took a downwards direction for 10 miles or so and we were able to pick up a bit of pace to our destination, the lovely Marchbankwood House just outside Beattock. Just been for dinner at the Star Hotel in Moffat, and all is well with the world - thanks to synthetic chamois and synthetic bees.

Today's ride: 70 miles, 350 miles cumulative. Today's max speed 36mph.

The rough and the smooth

Yer not kidding

Day 4: Pitlochry to Falkirk
I wasn't sure about today when planning the route as there were too many unknowns. The alternatives were either to follow lots of A roads, which makes for good progress but can get tedious if the traffic is busy; or to follow lots of B roads which are slow going in the hills but really get to the best of the scenery. And somehow I had to join up bits of the map which no-one had been on yet - let me explain. I'm using Opencyclemap on my GPS, which is both cheap and detailed. However the map is open source surveyed, that is people like you and me travelling the world and uploading tracks to show where routes exist, and which could be cyclepaths or roads. If no-one has uploaded the track of a cyclepath or road it doesn't show on the map until someone does. More importantly for me it means that you can't plan a GPS route using paths or roads that it knows don't exist. Clear? Me neither.

In the end I plumped for a mix of the A and B roads which is how we came to leave Pitlochry on National Cycle Route 7 and 77 past Beatrix Potter's Garden and along the banks of the Tay, eventually to Bankfoot. Where we then got on the A9 and ripped along in top gear until we got to Perth. That was the smooth. Unfortunately it was also where Colin got confused about 'A9' and 'Perth' whilst 'off the back' and decided to detour into the centre of Perth whilst I stood and waited for him at the Broxden Roundabout (only about a mile since I'd last seen him) for about an hour.

Leaving Broxden still on the A9, we blasted along again until the turn-off to Dunning, and Dunning Common.  Sounds harmless enough, but is actually a wilderness area starting with a 3 mile climb past burns and forces swelled with the recent rain. I would describe the atmosphere at this point to be a thick mist so we were pretty soaked. Just after the top I heard the phone ring, so stopped to chat with Rose. Oh joy, she and Mother in law have just arrived at  the hotel reception to learn that our bookings have been cancelled. I discuss calmly with the receptionist, no make that calm and friendly as I knew Rose would be doing the iron glove treatment. Turns out they had two bookings for the same surname (imagine that) and when one (not us) cancelled, the hotel didn't check properly and cancelled ours not theirs. So we got booked in to another hotel in the same chain further along our route for less money, result.  Who needs it though, in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain with your lungs much further up your throat than they should be. That'll be the rough then. And eventually the descent to the Yetts O'Muckhart, 5 miles of tarmac singletrack and well worth the visit.

Over the Rumbling Bridge, we stopped at the fabulous Milk Bar cafe in Powmill where they serve the sort of cakes you can only get in Scotland, with a friendly welcome. It was good to thaw out but no chance of drying off. Onward to the Clackmannanshire Bridge (which should have led directly to our original hotel) and a further 5 miles to our overnight stop.

Today: 65 miles, 280 miles cumulative. Max speed (computer is fixed now) 38.5mph.

Pictures

I haven't worked out how to post pictures yet.

The longest day

Oh please... 27 miles? Oh god...

Day 3: Inverness to Pitlochry.
But first a few words about Colin. He's my long suffering Father in law and cycling companion, 73 years old and always ready to go out on his bike. He organised our 1998 Lands End to John O'Groats trip, is always going to the Alps, you get the picture.

It stayed dry today. Our first climb of the day was on National Cycle Route 7 and was hard going. I'm thinking 'this is unnecessarily hard' or words to that effect anyway. The grind eventually popped us out on the A9, a road I was anxious to keep away from although we were following that route all day.

A brief screaming descent led us to the B road to Carrbridge. But first another hard climb, this time to Slochd Summit 400 metres above sea level and the highest point of the Highland Main Line. At least that's what the sign said.

Finally Carrbridge at 12:30 and we have made 25 miles, sadly there are still 65 to go. We treat ourselves to breakfast at The Old Bakery and marvel at the Carrbridge Tapestry, created by 6 local ladies and depicting scenes of everyday life in Carrbridge. Which, did you know, is the home of the World Porridgemaking Championship Competition.

But we had to get on. First Aviemore and then Kingussie, help we are not even half-way. At Newtonmore we re-joined the A9 thinking to cover the ground a bit mbut got caught out by the contraflow system at Crubenmore. I was soon fed up playing with the traffic anyway, you never know what you might be breathing. So I was happy when we spotted a large sign saying 'Pitlochry Cyclepath Pitlochry 27 miles'. Unfortunately this was surfaced with loose gravel and made slow going. However, the views were spectacular and to cap it all a Typhoon came winging overhead at low level.

Rose (my wife) called to ask what we wanted for dinner and would we be there for 7 pm er... Not likely.

We grind on over what must be the remains of the old main road. I pushed on then Colin called to say he'd punctured and I should go on. I do reluctantly, well that is the spirit is willing but the legs ain't working. I neck another gel mmm Strawberry Yogurt flavour, and some energy comes back. 30'mins later, Blair Atholl, but why aren't there any signs for Pitlochry? A long term feud over tourism perhaps, or an oversight by the signs man whose parents run a Blair Atholl tea room?

The remaining 5 miles pass slowly and painfully.

Today's ride 90 miles.

Aqualung

UK's smallest car ferry

Day 2: Helmsdale to Inverness

It rained today. As in 'heavy rain' interspersed with 'less heavy rain' but nonetheless persistent. On top of yesterday's 4 layers I added a goretex top. If it gets any more bleak then I have one further top and then I'm done. Nothing daunted, we stood around until we were fairly soaked before setting off. Keeping warm is more important than being dry anyway.

We stopped in Golspie for a cuppa. Goodness know what the locals thought as we dripped through the door. Then we had to cross the Dornoch Firth, which has a cheery little sign saying 'Side Winds'- no kidding. Is there perhaps a Dept of Remedial Signs at the DOT? It should read 'Beware of Angry Cyclists that have been blinded by lashing rain that was blown at them sideways'. Of course, that would have to be in very small print.

At the far end of the Dornoch Firth we found solace in Tain, famous as the home of the Glenmorangie. For me it is now famous for the Sunflowers Cafe where we had lunch with magical properties. Suddenly the rain seemed more friendly - but it was going to take more than magic to get it to stop. It's still raining now.

10 miles past Tain is the Nigg ferry, which has space for just 2 cars. We enjoyed the 15 minute ride to Cromarty. Even though it rained.

Crossing the Black Isle was something I'd been looking forward to, sadly there were no views to be had as we climbed over the spine of the island. The feeling of remoteness was still there as our climb took us up into the cloudbase. Then it was the vicious A9'that felt otherworldly when we reached it well into the rush hour.

Just been for a lovely mixed grill at the Snow Goose. Bit of a food centred day, really. Apart from the rain. We should have ridden in wetsuits.

Today's ride 73 miles. No max speed cos the cycle computer's bust.

Horizontal weather

You can't miss them.

Day One: John O'Groats to Helmsdale.
A few second thoughts this morning as we built our bikes in the carpark at JOG. Already down to 12 Celsius then there's this biting North Westerly wind howling across the site. Three layers and a windproof gilet can't hide the fact that I'm wearing shorts. Colin has sensibly elected to wear tights.

I know that we'll warm up when we start riding, but first the official photos. Business is flagging says the official photographer as we get our pics taken under the signpost. I'm not surprised, global warming has done nothing for him.

At 11:00 we start riding, grateful that the wind is behind us for the first few miles into Wick, where the bargain of the day was had; 5 rashers of bacon in a Morning Roll for £1.60. I had to have two. The sun came out and we did feel warm but the wind remained in spades. Every so often a hairpin would take you back into the teeth of it, when a lorry came the other way you nearly went backwards. Even though you were going downhill.

We got to Lybster about 3pm and were lucky to find a friendly new cafe open on Main Street. I wanted to make sure we were fully re-fuelled for the infamous Berriedale Braes, a 2 mile 1 in 8 descent followed by a 2 mile 1 in 8 climb. It was tough going at first. I was thinking 'if this is my bottom gear, then I'm going to have some problems later on'.

Thankfully, when I looked down I was still in third. Clicking second it all got easier and my mood lifted considerably. 6 miles later I rode up to the Hostel to find dinner already being cooked - heaven.

Today's ride 52.1 miles, max speed 44.2 mph

Ready for anything

Just contemplating Brekkie in preparation for our first day of riding. Arrived at Helmsdale Hostel yesterday evening amidst light rain :( and no heating here as it is a balmy 12 Celsius! We were forced to seek solace at the Belhaven Arms. At least they had a fire and a TV which we kind of take for granted at home.

A friendly few locals in the bar ask about our intentions and then declare authoritatively on my sanity. Fair dos. But you have to remember that many Of the folk they meet in that bar have the same ideas. And that's when we learn we could have stayed at the Hotel for only £4 a night more.

Today's plan is to drive to John O'Groats, unload the bikes for photos etc. and then ride back to Helmsdale. I've already promised we'll be back in the Belhaven to let them know how it went. I think they're pretty convinced they won't see me again. Still, the weather is at least milder than yesterday and I know it always looks worse than it is.

But first, Brekkie.

Wot I Forgot

What I find about any long journey is how you cope with what you forgot to bring. Yesterday we covered the first 400 or so miles North, stopping at Dumbarton Premier Inn overnight. This is so new that satnavs can't find it, so cue lots of fun as we roamed the streets looking. Eventually someone matched instructions from the website with a physical map, and we arrived!

Unpacking the car into our rooms gave the opportunity to check everything again. You can never do this as it goes in for some reason. Bikes in the rooms (check) cycling gear (check) Colin's insulin (check - you can have hours of fun with that one). So far, so good. However, no shower gel, no spare bike computer battery (rats, it needs changing) and oops no cycle helmet.

I'll just pause here to note we are driving up the side of lovely Loch Lomond in the sunshine. Which is an expression of hope in any language.

So this morning we are stopping at Fort William to attempt to sort out 'wot got forgot', then it'll be the Great Glen route to Inverness and beyond. Let's hope there are no polar bears.

Gadgets

Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to have too many gadgets. 20 years ago setting out for a ride my sole thought would have been whether to have water or juice. Now I've just finished the detailed route planning for the 14 days of JOGLE; using my laptop and a Garmin Oregon as well as a Philips Road Atlas.

The Oregon is a pretty versatile device; as well as moving map display and turn by turn instructions it takes 3 megapixel images tagged with your position. In a pinch you can get route directions back to anything you've taken a picture of, clever. Best not take any pictures of body parts, you never know where you could end up.

Me and the Oregon are old friends now. It sits nicely in a cycling jersey pocket and pings when you have to alter course; sometimes this is a cue to take it from said pocket to check where to head next - which is shown as arrows on the map. I bought the frankly rubbish handlebar mount for it but that gets in the way of my barbag and cycle computer. I'm running Opencyclemap which is open source and shows all the National Cycle Routes.  Hooray for Sustrans. Garmin Mapsource serves as the planning tool, after the near impossible feat of converting the map database for its use, why does it have to be so hard, but a big thanks to the boys and girls who provide free help to make it happen.

Apparently I have to have a phone and a camera as well, so there is only limited space in said barbag for the real essential - energy food - but more on that another time. The phone is for keeping this blog up to date (and emergencies) and the camera is, well, for making sure I have a decent record of what happens this time, and sharing some of it with you.

This means I have 4 separate chargers to carry plus sundry leads as well. Long gone are the days when a Victorian gentleman adventurer would set forth to conquer the world armed only with a questionable set of tweeds and a slice of toast.

Anyway, the point is that thanks to those 20 years of progress, I cannot contemplate a bike ride without at least the use of a GPS, cycle computer, phone, camera and laptop.

Right, time for some sleep as we start our journey North tomorrow.

Whoosh!

When I started this Blog I foolishly planned to update it every week. Guess what hasn't happened! Somehow there was always something else to do than spend 20 minutes on, I don't know, the merits of SRAM drivetrains (really good)over Shimano (er... Also really good). So what has happened since January?

Well, training has been a big part of it. I count over 400 miles on the turbotrainer and over 1000 miles on the road. Lost over 20 pounds. Averaging 15 mph on rides of over 50 miles which isn't exactly tearing up the Tarmac, but it's enough.

All the accommodation is booked, which is to say that the route is defined as well. It's a 14 day ride, departing from John O'Groats on 9 Aug and arriving in Lands End on 22 Aug.

I'm riding in support of Help for Heroes. You can support my ride by donating at www.bmycharity.com/H4HStuartJOGLE

I've started training.

Equipment.   Last year in a fit of enthusiasm I bought an Elite Realaxiom turbo trainer. Having set it up and played with it for a while, my laptop then gave up the ghost and had to go for repair. For those who don't know, the Realaxiom needs to be controlled by a PC. By the time the laptop came back 3 weeks later, I'd lost interest amidst work pressures. It's perfect for my needs now, though. Set up in the garage with my old end to end bike installed, I've been able to do two training sessions so far.

I researched pretty thoroughly before settling on Realaxiom, and thought long and hard about Tacx. I didn't know then that Realaxiom doesn't integrate with Training Peaks, but for my purposes that hardly matters. There's a number of useful features it does have though. The best of these is the springy feet, which you set up according to your mass. This allows the bike to move slightly beneath you as you pedal, which makes it feel more like you are on a bike than the usual rigid and unforgiving turbo trainer experience.

The idea of the Realaxiom is that you play a DVD of an actual piece of road, which is filmed from the rider's point of view, and this advances at the speed you are 'riding' at with resistance changing automatically to match the gradient. This works well against the boredom factor! You can also set up programs and I've dabbled with Power vs Distance today. 10 miles at 125 watts actually, which is not that much but all I could manage.  18 miles covered so far.

Time to have a look through my cycling clothes. Hmmm, the curse of the conditioner has been visited on some of the lycra items, particularly shorts (which stretched and went baggy when tested) so they go in the bin with a batch of droopy socks. Baselayers are still OK but they've been christened 'wife-beaters' by the missus so it all needs an overhaul.

This is where it starts.

This morning, gazing at my expanding waistline and wondering why my only focus seems to be on work, I thought about the chill summer evening in 1998 when we arrived in John O'Groats to complete the End to End (E2E) for the first time. I can't remember who, but someone half joking said 'Let's ride back again.' It may have been me. This half-asked question has gone unanswered for long enough, and this year I'm going to complete the journey.

Most End to enders do the Land's End to John O'Groats trip. That direction takes advantage of the prevailing wind but does mean you have to spend the first few days in the tough hills of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. Counter-intuitive maybe but it is far harder terrain for cycling than say, the Lakes or Highlands. Doing John O'Groats to Land's End you should have ridden fit by the time you get to the South West.

That's all theory today, as I'm 15st at a conservative estimate and haven't ridden a bike seriously since 2002. Last year I rode to a friend's house a mile away. Once. So it's going to take some will-power.

Sounds like a New Year's Resolution doesn't it? As in 'futile promise that I have no intention of keeping'. Anyway, watch this space and see how I get on.