LETJOG
A short memoir of the trip my friends and I took to John O Groats from Lands End on our bikes for charity. Donations still welcome at www.justgiving.com/teamslice1
Content
LETJOG (Lands End to John O Groats)
From 10/08/2012 until 22/08/2012
With:
Chris Barratt – Aka: Baz, Barry, Johnny Mapface or Barry Mapface Alex Stone – Aka: Stone, Stoney or ADHD (Baz’s nickname for him on account of his affinity with caffeine and it’s ability to make him fire off like a bullet before crashing shortly afterwards and needing more to keep him going.) Tom Wilson – Aka: Wilson or Tom (imaginative I know) Michael Barratt – Aka Mike Edward Cohen – Aka Ed
Friday 10th August
Baz and Stoney loading up for the first day’s ride
We all finished work and met at Baz’s to load-up the rest of the stuff and have our first look at the new bike rack with the bikes on it. Thankfully all of the bikes fitted onto it and we set-off after a short stop for fuel, beer and a bit of food at about 6-7pm. After endless traffic jams we finally reached our first campsite Lower Treave (which was just 3 miles from Lands end) at about 11:00pm and went straight to bed ready for the start the following day
Saturday 11th August (Day 1)
We woke up at about 8am and had ourselves some porridge, divvied up the cereal bars, loaded-up the camper and set-off for Lands End. The woman on the gate didn’t charge us the £5 to get into the car park and showed us the start line (yes there’s a start line!) where we lined-up for a photo and set-off. Immediately we were called back by Stoney who’d discovered that his speedo had been a casualty of him washing his bike shortly before the ride so we had a further 5 minute delay. After establishing that we couldn’t fix it, we were off again at a leisurely 11mph as Baz and Stoney were both carrying injuries (Baz had a dodgy knee and so did Stoney.) The ride itself that day was pretty uneventful for me: I got a pinch puncture about 30 miles in due to having rubbish pressure in my rear tyre, we met Baz’s dad at the roadside about 45 miles in for some lunch and the weather was ok but there was a horrible head wind that whole day so any downhill descents were nullified and we had to pedal basically all of the way to the finish 72 miles away. We were introduced to the hell that is the A30 aswell and had to cycle down it for pretty much the whole day. The A30 unfortunately for us is the quickest route out of Cornwall and is a hilly, poorly maintained dual carriageway with lorries, caravans and cars cruising by at about 60-70mph as you try and cycle on the pitifully small (less than a metre in width at points) hard shoulder that is strewn with stones, glass, potholes, discarded bottles and rubbish from passing cars and roadkill (we even saw the kitchen sink!). The route itself consisted of frequent hills and dips that varied in incline and length. I thought that both Baz and Stoney had been ok during that first day aswell but it turns out that both were struggling with their injuries and Baz had even considered pulling out of the second day because of the pain his knee was causing. We reached our first campsite called Rising Sun just outside a place that looked like it was called ‘Ultranun’ at about 7:30-8pm. The site was nice and secluded (only one other tent there) and it was opposite the rising sun pub which was great as we wanted a nice victory pint of local ale and a good pub meal to celebrate our first day. The ale and meal were brilliant and I went to bed at about 10-
11pm that night I think but Baz and Stoney were kept awake by the people in the other tent talking into the night as they stayed-up a bit longer making final arrangements.
Rising Sun campsite (the pub was just past that fence behind the camper)
Sunday 12th August (Day 2)
As usual we woke-up at about 8am. I introduced the guys to my secret cycling fuel of bacon and eggs for breakfast (scrambled egg with cooked bacon in it) which became our mainstay aswell as a bowl of porridge mixed with golden syrup and Cadburys chocolate buttons (try it, it’s bloody lovely). We set-off at about 10:30 and had an 85 miler to cover which took us back down the dreaded A30 again almost ALL DAY. Things went a lot smoother this time though as the weather was nice and hot and I had my tyres at 120psi like Baz and Stoney (which is great as stones just ping off your tyres when you hit them. Stoney enjoyed trying to get them to hit the central reservation when they flew off which he managed a few times). Again we stopped for lunch at the roadside at about 45 miles in where Mike cooked us some pasta and chicken. We also got to pass through Exeter which Baz liked as he used to live there for a time when he was studying teaching there. Baz told Stoney and I to head for a place called Honiton which was very close to Exeter so when we reached Exeter we both hoofed it thinking that our destination was a few miles away. Unfortunately for us the destination was another 2 hours cycle away from Honiton so we were forced to struggle on up the Cornish hills until we reached our campsite (Thornleigh.) Thanks to our haste earlier in the day we arrived relatively early at about 6pm. We all had a shower, chatted a bit to the couple camping next to us (who were really offish with us until they realised that we’d booked and weren’t just rocking up to their campsite) and then headed to the local pub for more local ale and some food. The meal was a bit rubbish if I’m honest (overcooked lamb) but we got a good feed and were in bed by about 11. The owner of the campsite was really nice and only charged us for the camper too.
Thornleigh campsite
Monday 13th August (Day 3)
After the usual doubled-up breakfast of porridge and egg and bacon we set off for day 3 which was to be 78 miles taking us through our first city, Bristol. It was raining as we set-off so we all got to try out our wet weather gear. Baz had his (frankly hilarious) overshoes on aswell as his dayglo waterproof coat and Stoney opted for just his dayglo waterproof coat as the overshoes he had bought were too small for his shoes (silly bugger) I opted for my supposedly water / windproof coat and cycling shorts (which turned out to be neither.) We all got absolutely drenched that morning climbing the Mendips (seriously steep Cornish hills) and saw our first crash that happened about 200 yards up the road from us when Baz stopped to phone his dad who was lost and likely unable to meet us for lunch. Thankfully it wasn’t serious (some car had tried overtaking and caused a head-on with the car in the opposite lane) so we cycled through the wreckage past the queuing cars and found ourselves a local pub to seek refuge from the rain and grab a bite to eat. They wouldn’t let us take our soggy bikes inside so we sat by the open door and froze some more for a bit before the manager made himself known, put on some radiators for us and offered us some old bar towels he had to help dry ourselves off. We had a really nice pub lunch and waited to see if Baz’s dad could locate us before we had to leave again. Thankfully he did which meant I was able to change into a jumper and leggings to try and keep warm because I was frozen and really not looking forward to having to face the rain again in my soggy coat and cycling shorts. Shortly after we set-off again the rain stopped and the sun beat down on us once more forcing us to have to stop at the top of an extremely steep 15% incline hill (where a lorry had stalled having failed to read the ‘low gear now’ sign) and remove the layers we’d put-on when Baz’s dad had seen us for lunch. A few more steep hills later and we reached Bristol. After a few wrong turns Baz managed to negotiate us through with ease and we climbed our way through to reach the A38 where we had to stop briefly as Stoney was crashing from the caffeine of the coffee he’d had at the pub earlier. A few cereals bars and about 20 miles later and we arrived at our third campsite (Apple Tree) which was beautiful and had the finest facilities I have ever experienced at a campsite in my whole life (huge shower complex with solar heated under floor heating and mod-cons.)
After a shower, Stoney’s parents and sister joined us for a pub lunch at a nice local pub. I opted for orange juice this time as I was concerned that I hadn’t been sleeping well drinking 3 pints of ale per night. The meal and company was great and we got into bed at about 10:30.
Apple Tree campsite with Stoney’s sister, Dad and mom.
Tuesday 14th August (Day 4)
This day was great, the weather was brilliant the entire day and we were treated to some glorious views as we passed through Gloucester and Worcester on our way to our destination. We stopped-off at a national trust park to sit under a tree and enjoy our lunch in the sun (where Stoney got his coat covered in sheep poo, Haha) and we reached our campsite in Little Stretton at about 5:30 which gave us ample time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings we had, have a shower and prepare for yet another pub meal. We were joined by our friends Ben, Sadie and Amy and Mikes mate Dave for an absolutely massive meal. They had such huge portions that we were all totally stuffed by the end of it and in bed by about 11:30. I’d had a great night’s sleep the night before by avoiding alcohol so I opted for orange juice again to see if it wasn’t just a one-off. Muscles began to ache at this stage aswell and Baz had acquired a second knee support as his other knee was causing him problems now. Stoney’s knee was also still an issue and he had developed a worrying pain in his neck.
Relaxing at our Little Stretton Campsite
Wednesday 15th August (Day 5)
It began raining as we left our campsite on the morning so we all donned our modified waterproof clothing (I thought if I put a jumper on underneath my waterproof coat it might keep me warmer like wetsuit effect. How wrong I was) and set-off for what was going to be a 90 miler. This was by far our most trying day. We were battered by winds and torrential storms, had monotonous roads to negotiate, I fell-off (thanks for that stone ), Baz got a puncture (in his puncture-proof Kevlar protected tyres) and Stoney’s rear wheel bearing died meaning he had to limp his bike to the campsite with a noise sounding like someone playing the spoons rattling away for the last 40 miles. To top it all off it was bloody freezing and the rain didn’t stop for our entire 90 miles until we reached the campsite. I think the only good thing about this day was the respite we got during lunch when we stopped at a local cafe and had a really welcome slice of chocolate cake and a hot drink. The staff there took pity on us and allowed us to sit in their cafe and eat our own food (bless them.) This was our first campsite we’d had to go off-road to find which doesn’t bode well for 3 road racing bikes and 3 riders each wearing road racing shoes with cleats on so after a short trip down a shitty dirt path we found Mike who’d set-up the camper. As was becoming the norm by now we found a local pub and had by far the finest meal of the whole trip. We arrived relatively late that day on account of all the stoppages and distance we had to cover so we had to forego a shower and hotfoot it to the pub for some food as they stopped serving at 09:30pm. It was called the corner house pub and had outstanding food for the same prices as all the other pubs we frequented. I’d like to return there one day when I’m not unshowered and unkempt as it was a really swish looking place where all of the other patrons were dressed in evening wear and such and looked like they were there for an occasion of some kind. Haha. Top food though and a welcome relief from the hell of the rain. Got back to camp at about 12 and went straight to bed.
Thursday 16th August (Day 6)
After Breakfast, checking the tyre pressures, divvying up the cereal bars, changing Stoney's rear wheel for the spare I’d bought with me, basic maintenance on the bikes (GT85ing the chainset basically), filling the water bottles and getting the camping stuff packed away (we’d got into a routine by now) we set-off back down the shitty dirt path and rode out ready for day 6. We got about a mile away before realising that the cassette on the wheel Stoney had replaced his with was loose so we had to return to camp (back up the shitty dirt path) and get the tools out of the camper to tighten it. We set-off again at about 11:30 and had 78 miles to cover. Stoney got himself a puncture about 50 miles in so we stopped by a local garage while he sorted it out. When we were there, a fellow LETJOGger cycled up to us and offered assistance. I nicknamed him Billy no mates on account that he was doing the ride alone as his friend had had to pull out. He had a hybrid bike that was loaded down with panniers and didn’t have the benefit of a support camper like we had so was taking his time to complete the route and was staying in B+B’s where possible. After Stoney had fixed his puncture we set-off again, passed Billy no mates having a fag by a river and got our first taste of glorious Lake District scenery. After a brilliant road (lots of climbs and dips through beautiful countryside) we reached Windermere which as usual was packed with tourists. We passed through Windermere pretty quickly (having dodged the very heavy traffic) and were hit with our final road of that day. I forget what it was called, the A592 I think but it was a truly stunning road to cycle. The scenery was breathtaking, the weather was brilliant and we had our first taste of a category 2 climb of about 3-4 miles up a 15% incline. Baz was really struggling with his knees by this point so we took frequent rests and loaded-up on cereal bars to get us to the top. When we reached the top we were treated to an epic 2-4 miles descent of equal gradient to our climb where we reached speeds of 46.6mph and overtook cars as we snaked down into the valley where our campsite was. After a bit of confusion and a mile trek down another shitty dirt path we reached our campsite (Side farm.) This campsite was sat next to a lake and had the best view I have ever seen but I wasn’t able to take a picture as it started to rain shortly after we arrived and had gotten foggy. No pub lunch for us that night as we couldn’t make it back down the shitty dirt path to the local town pub before they stopped serving so we cooked-up some pasta and chicken, dodged the midges and got an early night (about 10-11pm) I think.
One of the stunning views of the Lake District
Friday 17th August (Day 7)
This day started with heavy rain but we were getting pretty hardened to it by now so we donned our wet weather stuff and trudged back down the shitty dirt path to the road. Our shoes and cleats were getting battered by now so we had difficulty getting locked-into our pedals. We eventually managed it and we were away for a 78 miler. The rain eased later on in the day and we passed through Lancashire and Penrith (a picturesque part of the UK where my friend Ad used to live and i hadn’t been to for nigh on 9 years) before we hit Carlisle and then were into Scotland! After a short stop for a photo by the ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign we pressed-on into the nearest town and didn’t have lunch until about 52 miles in. We stopped at a Co-op to grab some food and got chatting to an old local man who told us that they get all of the LETJOGgers coming through there (some as old as 70!) After lunch we pressed-on through some stunning countryside, shitty roads, frequent logging lorries and a very welcome 5-6 mile descent to our campsite. Baz had relented earlier in the week and opted to use his gel saddle cover to ease his aching arse and Stoney had asked Mike if he could get him one aswell so we were intercepted by Mike and his friend Ed (who would be joining us for the rest of the trip) about 10 miles out so that they could give Stoney his gel saddle and ease his suffering. We arrived at our campsite (Riverside Caravan Park) in good time and were afforded a bit of time to get set-up, have a shower and drink a victory beer before we got into a taxi Ed had ordered to take us to the local pub 2 miles down the road. We had a nice meal in a pub that seemed stuck in time-warp (imagine attending someone’s wedding reception that you don’t know and you’re almost there) and Ed and Mike enjoyed their local ales before we headed back to the campsite and bed at about 11-12pm.
Raining at Riverside campsite
Saturday 18th August (Day 8)
It rained (as was becoming the norm since hitting the northern parts of the UK) as we left the campsite for a 78 miler. It rained on and off during the day and the organic scotch eggs and sausage rolls that Ed had bought with him to add to our cereal bars were very welcome when we stopped to check our route just past a kayaking competition in a remote Scottish village. We stopped in a place called Peebles for lunch and had some seriously poor fish and chips before cruising on to Edinburgh where I found an 8gig SD card on the floor (winner!) as we sat and ate some more cereal bars before heading through Edinburgh. To our dismay, bicycles (and horse drawn carriages for some reason) aren’t permitted to use the Edinburgh bypass so we had to add an extra 7 miles to our journey by going through Edinburgh on a cycle route they call ‘The red route’ as it’s indicated by tiny signs with RR in red on them. This took us on the worst maintained roads and cycle paths in existence and damn near shook the fillings from our teeth before we reached our next campsite called Loch Side Farm weary from our ordeal. This was a crappy little caravan site situated right next to the motorway (not the loch as the name suggests) on a working farm that had unclean and unsavoury toilets and shower facilities and a really annoying chav family camping nearby whose kids insisted on kicking their footballs and shooting their water pistols in our general direction. Thankfully, the parents reigned-in their kids and we made our way to a local curry house where we had the weirdest curries and naan breads ever (Scottish people have different curries to us it seems) before returning to the tents for a nights rest. My achilles had been playing-up slightly during the final stretch on the bikes that day so I did a few physio exercises before bed hoping that it would be better in the morning. We reasoned that due to route changes etc we must have covered 85 miles+ that day as it just didn’t seem to end.
Leaving Loch Side Campsite (Thank god)
Sunday 19th August (Day 9)
I woke-up to discover one of the offspring of the chav family had decided that he was going to stand outside of my tent until I got up. I got a bit of a startle as I opened my tent that morning but he soon lost interest when I got up and went to the toilet and instead turned his attentions to Baz who was packing his stuff away. The weather was brilliant hot sunshine that morning so we all took the opportunity to dry our wet things (which were seriously humming by now) before we set off for a 74 miler. We saw about 200-300 other riders all going the opposite direction to us (some kind of race it seemed as they were all wearing numbers) as we began our journey and were treated to some stunning scenery, beautiful smooth roads and great surroundings (aside from the power station we passed through.) When we stopped-off for a bite to eat and to allow Baz to rest his knees Stoney and I were told-off by some local man who took offence at us pissing on a bush opposite his house (it was nowhere near his house!) but this didn’t dishearten us as shortly after we set-off again we were treated to a sweet, long descent where we could freewheel happily at about 30-35mph for about 5-6 miles through glorious scenery in the sun. Then we hit the A9. The A9 isn’t dissimilar to the A30 in that it’s another dual carriageway stuffed full of fast moving traffic that love to kill cyclists (particularly Stoney.) Fortunately, the first 5-6 miles of it were smooth and downhill so we could freewheel at about 25mph down the ample hard shoulder. It began to rain shortly after we stopped for lunch at a service station just outside Perth so we had to do the final 23 miles soaking wet with the threat of instant death from some dickhead lorry / caravan driver ever present. Thankfully, we weren’t killed and we arrived at our next campsite called Milton of Fonab which was a nice large caravan site with brilliant facilities and a laundry that I took full advantage of. We ate that night in the local town at a sweet little pub called The Mill. It was called the mill on account of the watermill outside (since converted for aesthetic purposes only) the atmosphere there and menu proposed a meal of fine restaurant quality but it didn’t quite deliver as well as the Corner House and the Eaton Mess was missing the meringue (unforgivable!) My achilles had seriously flared-up during that day’s cycle aswell and the walk to and from the pub was excruciating. I wasn’t looking forward to having to get back on the bike again the following day.
Leaving Milton of Fonab in the morning. (That’s Mike on the right seeing us off) . Monday 20th August (Day 10)
Surprise surprise it was raining as we left again that morning. I had tried in vain to do some physio on my achilles to prepare it for the ride but it was too painful so I had to stop. We all mounted our bikes like war-weary soldiers (Baz’s knees were crippling him and he had taken to downing Ibuprofen at regular intervals during the rides, Stoney’s knee problem remained but he didn’t seem to mind it much and he still had a pain in his neck. We were all slowly falling apart.) and set-off for the days ride that promised a full day of 79 miles down the A9. (Oh joy!) To my surprise, the stretch of the A9 we had to cover that day was beautifully picturesque and Baz gave me some of his Ibuprofen to help ease my suffering which helped massively. We were also given a nice surprise in the form of about 15 miles of descent that allowed us to freewheel at about 25-30mph and take in the scenery whilst enjoying the beautifully smooth road. We stopped off at a local town called Aviemore(local skiing mecca) where we had a pizza each before heading off back to the A9 for the final 20 miles of our ride. We reached that night’s campsite (called Aucnanilhillin)in a placed called Moy at about 5:30-6pm and were in the middle of nowhere so the campsite owner kindly offered to drive Mike and Ed to Inverness to get some takeout of Thai food and beer for us all. The beer and food went down nicely and we had the rare opportunity to sit in the camper and have a good old chat amongst one another. Sitting outside of the camper wasn’t an option at this point as the midges were coming thick and fast and were out for our blood. I went to bed at about 10:30 I think before being awoken shortly after by a domestic happening in the camper opposite us. It sounded like someone was being beaten up inside but it turned out it was their kid having a paddy. Haha.
Heading out from Aucninanilhillin campsite (in pain!)
Tuesday 21st August (Day 11)
Mike had bought me some Nurofen the day before (Lovely bugger) which I gratefully took before setting off for another painful day on the bike. Our final 2 days promised shorter rides (today’s was 68 miles) which was a relief. The weather was pretty typical Scottish rain / sun and we crossed lots of long bridges with awful road surfaces into the highlands and began to see signs for John O Groats on our route! An absolutely massive fly smashed into my eye during one of our descents that day aswell but for the most part it was a pleasant ride down the A9 (which had turned on us again and was offering up more crappy road surfaces.) Baz found us a nice little shortcut that took us off the A9 (thank god)and down a country lane strewn with farms and oh so expensive looking houses before rejoining the A9. The rain came and went and we stopped off in a roadside cafe that looked really shitty from the outside but was very swish on the inside with automatic taps and soap dispensers in the toilets and good food. We had a great little meal there before we headed off for our final 18 miles to the final campsite that Baz had been instructed was called Dudgeon but it turns out that that is the name of the farmer that owns it and the campsite is actually called Cakraig which we sailed past and didn’t realise we’d missed until about 2 miles down the road. This campsite was wild, I mean wild as in it was vast and situated on a large field with a beach that stretched for about 2-3 miles. People had dotted their caravans and tents across it and it had one toilet block that was a converted radar centre from WWII with one shower for men and one for
ladies that was serviced by water from the local hills which was a browny colour (we avoided drinking any.) It was also about 2 miles away from the main road so once again we had to trudge down another shitty dirt road carrying our bikes and ruining our expensive road shoes and cleats in the process. The local pub was about 6 miles down the road but the man in charge (an ex army driver from Lancashire who seemed a bit tapped to me) very kindly offered to drive us to the local town to get some food. He had a Volvo which seated 4 comfortably but there were 5 of us so we packed ourselves on top of one another into his car and set-off. The only place open was a local favourite called ‘La Mirage’ which was a local favourite and a curious place in that it had no central theme. It obviously served seafood on account of the large picture of a seafood platter on the wall but had the most random decor I have ever seen in a restaurant. In the centre of the restaurant they had erected a fake tree which was adorned with odd lights and flowers and the restaurant itself was decorated with random objects and trinkets the most noticeable of which was a waist high lamp in the shape of the legs and skirt of a burlesque dancer wearing red knickers that they’d placed next to an archway. Despite the decor and the staff’s strange demeanour (they seemed afraid of us) we were served the finest local fish and chips we had encountered the entire trip and were given absolutely colossal portions of both haddock and chips (2 battered haddocks each and a mountain of chips and salad.) Johnny Volvo face (the nickname I had given to our campsite man from Lancashire) had offered to drive us all back to the campsite and had been dozing in his car in a car park nearby so we roused him and all piled back into his car for him take us all back to the campsite. We went straight to bed at about 11:00 knowing full well that the following day was all that remained between us and completion of our journey!
The expanse and solitude of Cakraig campsite
Wednesday 22nd August (Day 12)
I woke very early on this day (about 5am) and got up to have a piss. When I opened my tent I was awe-struck by the amazing sunrise that lay before me but quickly had to retreat back into my tent to escape the millions of midges that had found me cursing them for stopping me from enjoying the sunrise (wish I’d taken a photo of that sunrise). The others eventually all got-up and we set off back up the shitty dirt path for our final day of cycling all tired, injured and in pain. Today had promised to be a good one though as Baz had told us it was only going to be 52 miles. On further inspection however, he discovered that it was going to be 58 as he had miscalculated the route and hadn’t included finding the end of John O Groats. We set-off back on the 2 mile trek up the shitty dirt path which dealt the final blow to my right cleat on my road shoes making it impossible to clip-in effectively. As usual it rained and rained hard shortly into our ride but we were all prepared for it and pressedon to the two hardest climbs we had encountered since we began. Not only was one of them a category one but we were all injured and I had lost my ability to stand on my bike to pedal as the pain was too great in my achilles. Despite the pain (the gradient was such that I had to stand or risk falling off), we managed to scale the two climbs leaving a further 38 miles of the A99 to cover to the finish. On a map the route looked relatively uneventful and not particularly hilly or anything so we weren’t worried and decided to press-on without really stopping for lunch outside of wolfing down some Scottish pies Ed had furnished us with when he and Mike caught-up to us at the roadside earlier on. What we hadn’t accounted for was wind. The wind was HORRENDOUS that day and coupled with the icy rain and fatigue of the category one made those final 38 miles miserable and difficult. Baz’s knees were seriously hindering him by now aswell as he dropped back well short of the pace that Stoney and I had set which meant frequent rest stops. Headwind and rain conquered and all extremely weary from our unexpected ordeal we sailed into John O Groats at about 4pm with a mixture of euphoria and relief that we wouldn’t have to get back on the bikes for a long while. We stayed there for a bit, had our photo taken by the signpost, had a victory coffee from the local shop and enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t windy and the sun had come out before packing-up the camper, seeing Ed off (he had booked a bus back to our campsite that night and was going to meet us just outside Inverness) and heading off back down the A99 victorious.
I had a great time during my LETJOG experience. There were times when I felt that it just wasn’t worth it (rainy days mostly) but the thought of the people I would be letting down and money I’d already raised helped to spur me on to finally complete all 932 miles in 12 days raising about £1500 in the process (my sister had been working behind the scenes organising other sponsors outside of the justgiving site.) Two things that really struck me about the whole journey were: the beautiful scenery that the UK has to offer if you get-off the motorways and use the A roads and the friendliness and sincerity of the people that you meet on the way.
Massive thanks to Mike for being the best support vehicle ever and getting our food-in aswell as booking us into campsites etc, Ed for providing endless knowledge and some seriously sweet scotcheggs, sausage rolls and pasties, the manager of the pub we found in Cornwall on that cold,wet day (you saved my life!), the staff at the cafe we found on that day it rained all day who allowed us to eat our soggy pasta whilst dripping all over their floor, Johnny Volvo face for being truly outstanding in his hospitality driving us to the local town and allowing us to stay at the campsite that night for free and to Baz and Stoney who helped make this an unforgettable experience. I think coast to coast will be the next challenge ;) Tom Wilson If you like what you’ve read and would like to make a donation then you can do so at: www.justgiving.com/teamslice1
Job well done at John O Groats
Me, Baz and Stoney at the finish
My ruined cleats
Enjoying lunch at the side of the A30
Imagine sitting on this for 932.20 miles
Cycling glasses are an effective way of avoiding midges in Scotland
Things I’d change:
Use a hybrid bike with a wider range of gears and fatter tyres capable of eating the potholes and things you encounter on the shittier roads COMFY SADDLE! Ensure that my waterproof clothing is actually waterproof. Buy a pannier. I had a relatively small bag thing (pictured above) I bought that sat under my saddle that was big enough for a coat and jumper but Baz and Stoney both had these large panniers (also pictured above) that they could carry all of their stuff in and served as decent mudguards attached to their seat stems. Fit the bike with mudguards. It’s bad enough being on the bike in the rain without having to put up with a wet arse aswell Smaller airbed. The airbed I took with me was comfy and everything but when fully inflated it took-up a large portion of my tent leaving little headroom or room for maneuvering. Bring a tarp to cover the bikes overnight as they had to sit in the rain a lot of the time on the campsites.
Bring something to fix your GPS / phone to your bike so that it can be easily viewed. It rains frequently so a waterproof container is essential. Billy no mates had one of these and I was well jealous Bring some waterproof overshoes. I tried desperately to get hold of some a week before we left but all the shops were out of stock and I didn’t have time to wait for delivery online so had to put up with icy feet when it rained.
Casualties of our ride:
3 x inner tubes My airbed (damned thing kept deflating towards the end so I binned it at our final campsite.) 1 x rear wheel bearing and possibly the cassette of Stoney’s bike Likely all of our chains as they were showing signs of rust towards the end Stoney’s front tyre (which needed replacing seeing as it was bald when he set-off)
Essentials to bring:
More than 3 cycling Jerseys (it takes days to dry things in the wet so bringing lots gives you more chance of wearing something dry each day) More than 3 pairs of cycling shorts (I also bought some cycling leggings that proved useful on the windier days but soon weighed me down and kept me cold when they got wet) Pair of good quality cycling gloves with padding in the palms. (I bought 2 pairs; 1x open finger and one closed finger pair for wet weather.) Cycling jumpers (I bought 2 with me) WET WEATHER COAT ( I can’t stress this enough. When you hit Scotland expect a heavy shower at least once per day) A tool kit and bike tool. The tool kit lived in our camper and proved worth it’s weight in gold for tinkering with the bikes and the bike tool was useful when we were on the rides and needed to make adjustments to headsets and cleats. Cycling glasses. I bought some with interchangeable lenses that proved worth their weight in gold when it rained as bombing hills at 30mph whilst blinded by rain is never going to end well.
Bikes we used:
Me: Boardman Team Pro 2012 Carbon Stoney: Fuji (Road) Baz: Orbea (Road)
From 10/08/2012 until 22/08/2012
With:
Chris Barratt – Aka: Baz, Barry, Johnny Mapface or Barry Mapface Alex Stone – Aka: Stone, Stoney or ADHD (Baz’s nickname for him on account of his affinity with caffeine and it’s ability to make him fire off like a bullet before crashing shortly afterwards and needing more to keep him going.) Tom Wilson – Aka: Wilson or Tom (imaginative I know) Michael Barratt – Aka Mike Edward Cohen – Aka Ed
Friday 10th August
Baz and Stoney loading up for the first day’s ride
We all finished work and met at Baz’s to load-up the rest of the stuff and have our first look at the new bike rack with the bikes on it. Thankfully all of the bikes fitted onto it and we set-off after a short stop for fuel, beer and a bit of food at about 6-7pm. After endless traffic jams we finally reached our first campsite Lower Treave (which was just 3 miles from Lands end) at about 11:00pm and went straight to bed ready for the start the following day
Saturday 11th August (Day 1)
We woke up at about 8am and had ourselves some porridge, divvied up the cereal bars, loaded-up the camper and set-off for Lands End. The woman on the gate didn’t charge us the £5 to get into the car park and showed us the start line (yes there’s a start line!) where we lined-up for a photo and set-off. Immediately we were called back by Stoney who’d discovered that his speedo had been a casualty of him washing his bike shortly before the ride so we had a further 5 minute delay. After establishing that we couldn’t fix it, we were off again at a leisurely 11mph as Baz and Stoney were both carrying injuries (Baz had a dodgy knee and so did Stoney.) The ride itself that day was pretty uneventful for me: I got a pinch puncture about 30 miles in due to having rubbish pressure in my rear tyre, we met Baz’s dad at the roadside about 45 miles in for some lunch and the weather was ok but there was a horrible head wind that whole day so any downhill descents were nullified and we had to pedal basically all of the way to the finish 72 miles away. We were introduced to the hell that is the A30 aswell and had to cycle down it for pretty much the whole day. The A30 unfortunately for us is the quickest route out of Cornwall and is a hilly, poorly maintained dual carriageway with lorries, caravans and cars cruising by at about 60-70mph as you try and cycle on the pitifully small (less than a metre in width at points) hard shoulder that is strewn with stones, glass, potholes, discarded bottles and rubbish from passing cars and roadkill (we even saw the kitchen sink!). The route itself consisted of frequent hills and dips that varied in incline and length. I thought that both Baz and Stoney had been ok during that first day aswell but it turns out that both were struggling with their injuries and Baz had even considered pulling out of the second day because of the pain his knee was causing. We reached our first campsite called Rising Sun just outside a place that looked like it was called ‘Ultranun’ at about 7:30-8pm. The site was nice and secluded (only one other tent there) and it was opposite the rising sun pub which was great as we wanted a nice victory pint of local ale and a good pub meal to celebrate our first day. The ale and meal were brilliant and I went to bed at about 10-
11pm that night I think but Baz and Stoney were kept awake by the people in the other tent talking into the night as they stayed-up a bit longer making final arrangements.
Rising Sun campsite (the pub was just past that fence behind the camper)
Sunday 12th August (Day 2)
As usual we woke-up at about 8am. I introduced the guys to my secret cycling fuel of bacon and eggs for breakfast (scrambled egg with cooked bacon in it) which became our mainstay aswell as a bowl of porridge mixed with golden syrup and Cadburys chocolate buttons (try it, it’s bloody lovely). We set-off at about 10:30 and had an 85 miler to cover which took us back down the dreaded A30 again almost ALL DAY. Things went a lot smoother this time though as the weather was nice and hot and I had my tyres at 120psi like Baz and Stoney (which is great as stones just ping off your tyres when you hit them. Stoney enjoyed trying to get them to hit the central reservation when they flew off which he managed a few times). Again we stopped for lunch at the roadside at about 45 miles in where Mike cooked us some pasta and chicken. We also got to pass through Exeter which Baz liked as he used to live there for a time when he was studying teaching there. Baz told Stoney and I to head for a place called Honiton which was very close to Exeter so when we reached Exeter we both hoofed it thinking that our destination was a few miles away. Unfortunately for us the destination was another 2 hours cycle away from Honiton so we were forced to struggle on up the Cornish hills until we reached our campsite (Thornleigh.) Thanks to our haste earlier in the day we arrived relatively early at about 6pm. We all had a shower, chatted a bit to the couple camping next to us (who were really offish with us until they realised that we’d booked and weren’t just rocking up to their campsite) and then headed to the local pub for more local ale and some food. The meal was a bit rubbish if I’m honest (overcooked lamb) but we got a good feed and were in bed by about 11. The owner of the campsite was really nice and only charged us for the camper too.
Thornleigh campsite
Monday 13th August (Day 3)
After the usual doubled-up breakfast of porridge and egg and bacon we set off for day 3 which was to be 78 miles taking us through our first city, Bristol. It was raining as we set-off so we all got to try out our wet weather gear. Baz had his (frankly hilarious) overshoes on aswell as his dayglo waterproof coat and Stoney opted for just his dayglo waterproof coat as the overshoes he had bought were too small for his shoes (silly bugger) I opted for my supposedly water / windproof coat and cycling shorts (which turned out to be neither.) We all got absolutely drenched that morning climbing the Mendips (seriously steep Cornish hills) and saw our first crash that happened about 200 yards up the road from us when Baz stopped to phone his dad who was lost and likely unable to meet us for lunch. Thankfully it wasn’t serious (some car had tried overtaking and caused a head-on with the car in the opposite lane) so we cycled through the wreckage past the queuing cars and found ourselves a local pub to seek refuge from the rain and grab a bite to eat. They wouldn’t let us take our soggy bikes inside so we sat by the open door and froze some more for a bit before the manager made himself known, put on some radiators for us and offered us some old bar towels he had to help dry ourselves off. We had a really nice pub lunch and waited to see if Baz’s dad could locate us before we had to leave again. Thankfully he did which meant I was able to change into a jumper and leggings to try and keep warm because I was frozen and really not looking forward to having to face the rain again in my soggy coat and cycling shorts. Shortly after we set-off again the rain stopped and the sun beat down on us once more forcing us to have to stop at the top of an extremely steep 15% incline hill (where a lorry had stalled having failed to read the ‘low gear now’ sign) and remove the layers we’d put-on when Baz’s dad had seen us for lunch. A few more steep hills later and we reached Bristol. After a few wrong turns Baz managed to negotiate us through with ease and we climbed our way through to reach the A38 where we had to stop briefly as Stoney was crashing from the caffeine of the coffee he’d had at the pub earlier. A few cereals bars and about 20 miles later and we arrived at our third campsite (Apple Tree) which was beautiful and had the finest facilities I have ever experienced at a campsite in my whole life (huge shower complex with solar heated under floor heating and mod-cons.)
After a shower, Stoney’s parents and sister joined us for a pub lunch at a nice local pub. I opted for orange juice this time as I was concerned that I hadn’t been sleeping well drinking 3 pints of ale per night. The meal and company was great and we got into bed at about 10:30.
Apple Tree campsite with Stoney’s sister, Dad and mom.
Tuesday 14th August (Day 4)
This day was great, the weather was brilliant the entire day and we were treated to some glorious views as we passed through Gloucester and Worcester on our way to our destination. We stopped-off at a national trust park to sit under a tree and enjoy our lunch in the sun (where Stoney got his coat covered in sheep poo, Haha) and we reached our campsite in Little Stretton at about 5:30 which gave us ample time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings we had, have a shower and prepare for yet another pub meal. We were joined by our friends Ben, Sadie and Amy and Mikes mate Dave for an absolutely massive meal. They had such huge portions that we were all totally stuffed by the end of it and in bed by about 11:30. I’d had a great night’s sleep the night before by avoiding alcohol so I opted for orange juice again to see if it wasn’t just a one-off. Muscles began to ache at this stage aswell and Baz had acquired a second knee support as his other knee was causing him problems now. Stoney’s knee was also still an issue and he had developed a worrying pain in his neck.
Relaxing at our Little Stretton Campsite
Wednesday 15th August (Day 5)
It began raining as we left our campsite on the morning so we all donned our modified waterproof clothing (I thought if I put a jumper on underneath my waterproof coat it might keep me warmer like wetsuit effect. How wrong I was) and set-off for what was going to be a 90 miler. This was by far our most trying day. We were battered by winds and torrential storms, had monotonous roads to negotiate, I fell-off (thanks for that stone ), Baz got a puncture (in his puncture-proof Kevlar protected tyres) and Stoney’s rear wheel bearing died meaning he had to limp his bike to the campsite with a noise sounding like someone playing the spoons rattling away for the last 40 miles. To top it all off it was bloody freezing and the rain didn’t stop for our entire 90 miles until we reached the campsite. I think the only good thing about this day was the respite we got during lunch when we stopped at a local cafe and had a really welcome slice of chocolate cake and a hot drink. The staff there took pity on us and allowed us to sit in their cafe and eat our own food (bless them.) This was our first campsite we’d had to go off-road to find which doesn’t bode well for 3 road racing bikes and 3 riders each wearing road racing shoes with cleats on so after a short trip down a shitty dirt path we found Mike who’d set-up the camper. As was becoming the norm by now we found a local pub and had by far the finest meal of the whole trip. We arrived relatively late that day on account of all the stoppages and distance we had to cover so we had to forego a shower and hotfoot it to the pub for some food as they stopped serving at 09:30pm. It was called the corner house pub and had outstanding food for the same prices as all the other pubs we frequented. I’d like to return there one day when I’m not unshowered and unkempt as it was a really swish looking place where all of the other patrons were dressed in evening wear and such and looked like they were there for an occasion of some kind. Haha. Top food though and a welcome relief from the hell of the rain. Got back to camp at about 12 and went straight to bed.
Thursday 16th August (Day 6)
After Breakfast, checking the tyre pressures, divvying up the cereal bars, changing Stoney's rear wheel for the spare I’d bought with me, basic maintenance on the bikes (GT85ing the chainset basically), filling the water bottles and getting the camping stuff packed away (we’d got into a routine by now) we set-off back down the shitty dirt path and rode out ready for day 6. We got about a mile away before realising that the cassette on the wheel Stoney had replaced his with was loose so we had to return to camp (back up the shitty dirt path) and get the tools out of the camper to tighten it. We set-off again at about 11:30 and had 78 miles to cover. Stoney got himself a puncture about 50 miles in so we stopped by a local garage while he sorted it out. When we were there, a fellow LETJOGger cycled up to us and offered assistance. I nicknamed him Billy no mates on account that he was doing the ride alone as his friend had had to pull out. He had a hybrid bike that was loaded down with panniers and didn’t have the benefit of a support camper like we had so was taking his time to complete the route and was staying in B+B’s where possible. After Stoney had fixed his puncture we set-off again, passed Billy no mates having a fag by a river and got our first taste of glorious Lake District scenery. After a brilliant road (lots of climbs and dips through beautiful countryside) we reached Windermere which as usual was packed with tourists. We passed through Windermere pretty quickly (having dodged the very heavy traffic) and were hit with our final road of that day. I forget what it was called, the A592 I think but it was a truly stunning road to cycle. The scenery was breathtaking, the weather was brilliant and we had our first taste of a category 2 climb of about 3-4 miles up a 15% incline. Baz was really struggling with his knees by this point so we took frequent rests and loaded-up on cereal bars to get us to the top. When we reached the top we were treated to an epic 2-4 miles descent of equal gradient to our climb where we reached speeds of 46.6mph and overtook cars as we snaked down into the valley where our campsite was. After a bit of confusion and a mile trek down another shitty dirt path we reached our campsite (Side farm.) This campsite was sat next to a lake and had the best view I have ever seen but I wasn’t able to take a picture as it started to rain shortly after we arrived and had gotten foggy. No pub lunch for us that night as we couldn’t make it back down the shitty dirt path to the local town pub before they stopped serving so we cooked-up some pasta and chicken, dodged the midges and got an early night (about 10-11pm) I think.
One of the stunning views of the Lake District
Friday 17th August (Day 7)
This day started with heavy rain but we were getting pretty hardened to it by now so we donned our wet weather stuff and trudged back down the shitty dirt path to the road. Our shoes and cleats were getting battered by now so we had difficulty getting locked-into our pedals. We eventually managed it and we were away for a 78 miler. The rain eased later on in the day and we passed through Lancashire and Penrith (a picturesque part of the UK where my friend Ad used to live and i hadn’t been to for nigh on 9 years) before we hit Carlisle and then were into Scotland! After a short stop for a photo by the ‘Welcome to Scotland’ sign we pressed-on into the nearest town and didn’t have lunch until about 52 miles in. We stopped at a Co-op to grab some food and got chatting to an old local man who told us that they get all of the LETJOGgers coming through there (some as old as 70!) After lunch we pressed-on through some stunning countryside, shitty roads, frequent logging lorries and a very welcome 5-6 mile descent to our campsite. Baz had relented earlier in the week and opted to use his gel saddle cover to ease his aching arse and Stoney had asked Mike if he could get him one aswell so we were intercepted by Mike and his friend Ed (who would be joining us for the rest of the trip) about 10 miles out so that they could give Stoney his gel saddle and ease his suffering. We arrived at our campsite (Riverside Caravan Park) in good time and were afforded a bit of time to get set-up, have a shower and drink a victory beer before we got into a taxi Ed had ordered to take us to the local pub 2 miles down the road. We had a nice meal in a pub that seemed stuck in time-warp (imagine attending someone’s wedding reception that you don’t know and you’re almost there) and Ed and Mike enjoyed their local ales before we headed back to the campsite and bed at about 11-12pm.
Raining at Riverside campsite
Saturday 18th August (Day 8)
It rained (as was becoming the norm since hitting the northern parts of the UK) as we left the campsite for a 78 miler. It rained on and off during the day and the organic scotch eggs and sausage rolls that Ed had bought with him to add to our cereal bars were very welcome when we stopped to check our route just past a kayaking competition in a remote Scottish village. We stopped in a place called Peebles for lunch and had some seriously poor fish and chips before cruising on to Edinburgh where I found an 8gig SD card on the floor (winner!) as we sat and ate some more cereal bars before heading through Edinburgh. To our dismay, bicycles (and horse drawn carriages for some reason) aren’t permitted to use the Edinburgh bypass so we had to add an extra 7 miles to our journey by going through Edinburgh on a cycle route they call ‘The red route’ as it’s indicated by tiny signs with RR in red on them. This took us on the worst maintained roads and cycle paths in existence and damn near shook the fillings from our teeth before we reached our next campsite called Loch Side Farm weary from our ordeal. This was a crappy little caravan site situated right next to the motorway (not the loch as the name suggests) on a working farm that had unclean and unsavoury toilets and shower facilities and a really annoying chav family camping nearby whose kids insisted on kicking their footballs and shooting their water pistols in our general direction. Thankfully, the parents reigned-in their kids and we made our way to a local curry house where we had the weirdest curries and naan breads ever (Scottish people have different curries to us it seems) before returning to the tents for a nights rest. My achilles had been playing-up slightly during the final stretch on the bikes that day so I did a few physio exercises before bed hoping that it would be better in the morning. We reasoned that due to route changes etc we must have covered 85 miles+ that day as it just didn’t seem to end.
Leaving Loch Side Campsite (Thank god)
Sunday 19th August (Day 9)
I woke-up to discover one of the offspring of the chav family had decided that he was going to stand outside of my tent until I got up. I got a bit of a startle as I opened my tent that morning but he soon lost interest when I got up and went to the toilet and instead turned his attentions to Baz who was packing his stuff away. The weather was brilliant hot sunshine that morning so we all took the opportunity to dry our wet things (which were seriously humming by now) before we set off for a 74 miler. We saw about 200-300 other riders all going the opposite direction to us (some kind of race it seemed as they were all wearing numbers) as we began our journey and were treated to some stunning scenery, beautiful smooth roads and great surroundings (aside from the power station we passed through.) When we stopped-off for a bite to eat and to allow Baz to rest his knees Stoney and I were told-off by some local man who took offence at us pissing on a bush opposite his house (it was nowhere near his house!) but this didn’t dishearten us as shortly after we set-off again we were treated to a sweet, long descent where we could freewheel happily at about 30-35mph for about 5-6 miles through glorious scenery in the sun. Then we hit the A9. The A9 isn’t dissimilar to the A30 in that it’s another dual carriageway stuffed full of fast moving traffic that love to kill cyclists (particularly Stoney.) Fortunately, the first 5-6 miles of it were smooth and downhill so we could freewheel at about 25mph down the ample hard shoulder. It began to rain shortly after we stopped for lunch at a service station just outside Perth so we had to do the final 23 miles soaking wet with the threat of instant death from some dickhead lorry / caravan driver ever present. Thankfully, we weren’t killed and we arrived at our next campsite called Milton of Fonab which was a nice large caravan site with brilliant facilities and a laundry that I took full advantage of. We ate that night in the local town at a sweet little pub called The Mill. It was called the mill on account of the watermill outside (since converted for aesthetic purposes only) the atmosphere there and menu proposed a meal of fine restaurant quality but it didn’t quite deliver as well as the Corner House and the Eaton Mess was missing the meringue (unforgivable!) My achilles had seriously flared-up during that day’s cycle aswell and the walk to and from the pub was excruciating. I wasn’t looking forward to having to get back on the bike again the following day.
Leaving Milton of Fonab in the morning. (That’s Mike on the right seeing us off) . Monday 20th August (Day 10)
Surprise surprise it was raining as we left again that morning. I had tried in vain to do some physio on my achilles to prepare it for the ride but it was too painful so I had to stop. We all mounted our bikes like war-weary soldiers (Baz’s knees were crippling him and he had taken to downing Ibuprofen at regular intervals during the rides, Stoney’s knee problem remained but he didn’t seem to mind it much and he still had a pain in his neck. We were all slowly falling apart.) and set-off for the days ride that promised a full day of 79 miles down the A9. (Oh joy!) To my surprise, the stretch of the A9 we had to cover that day was beautifully picturesque and Baz gave me some of his Ibuprofen to help ease my suffering which helped massively. We were also given a nice surprise in the form of about 15 miles of descent that allowed us to freewheel at about 25-30mph and take in the scenery whilst enjoying the beautifully smooth road. We stopped off at a local town called Aviemore(local skiing mecca) where we had a pizza each before heading off back to the A9 for the final 20 miles of our ride. We reached that night’s campsite (called Aucnanilhillin)in a placed called Moy at about 5:30-6pm and were in the middle of nowhere so the campsite owner kindly offered to drive Mike and Ed to Inverness to get some takeout of Thai food and beer for us all. The beer and food went down nicely and we had the rare opportunity to sit in the camper and have a good old chat amongst one another. Sitting outside of the camper wasn’t an option at this point as the midges were coming thick and fast and were out for our blood. I went to bed at about 10:30 I think before being awoken shortly after by a domestic happening in the camper opposite us. It sounded like someone was being beaten up inside but it turned out it was their kid having a paddy. Haha.
Heading out from Aucninanilhillin campsite (in pain!)
Tuesday 21st August (Day 11)
Mike had bought me some Nurofen the day before (Lovely bugger) which I gratefully took before setting off for another painful day on the bike. Our final 2 days promised shorter rides (today’s was 68 miles) which was a relief. The weather was pretty typical Scottish rain / sun and we crossed lots of long bridges with awful road surfaces into the highlands and began to see signs for John O Groats on our route! An absolutely massive fly smashed into my eye during one of our descents that day aswell but for the most part it was a pleasant ride down the A9 (which had turned on us again and was offering up more crappy road surfaces.) Baz found us a nice little shortcut that took us off the A9 (thank god)and down a country lane strewn with farms and oh so expensive looking houses before rejoining the A9. The rain came and went and we stopped off in a roadside cafe that looked really shitty from the outside but was very swish on the inside with automatic taps and soap dispensers in the toilets and good food. We had a great little meal there before we headed off for our final 18 miles to the final campsite that Baz had been instructed was called Dudgeon but it turns out that that is the name of the farmer that owns it and the campsite is actually called Cakraig which we sailed past and didn’t realise we’d missed until about 2 miles down the road. This campsite was wild, I mean wild as in it was vast and situated on a large field with a beach that stretched for about 2-3 miles. People had dotted their caravans and tents across it and it had one toilet block that was a converted radar centre from WWII with one shower for men and one for
ladies that was serviced by water from the local hills which was a browny colour (we avoided drinking any.) It was also about 2 miles away from the main road so once again we had to trudge down another shitty dirt road carrying our bikes and ruining our expensive road shoes and cleats in the process. The local pub was about 6 miles down the road but the man in charge (an ex army driver from Lancashire who seemed a bit tapped to me) very kindly offered to drive us to the local town to get some food. He had a Volvo which seated 4 comfortably but there were 5 of us so we packed ourselves on top of one another into his car and set-off. The only place open was a local favourite called ‘La Mirage’ which was a local favourite and a curious place in that it had no central theme. It obviously served seafood on account of the large picture of a seafood platter on the wall but had the most random decor I have ever seen in a restaurant. In the centre of the restaurant they had erected a fake tree which was adorned with odd lights and flowers and the restaurant itself was decorated with random objects and trinkets the most noticeable of which was a waist high lamp in the shape of the legs and skirt of a burlesque dancer wearing red knickers that they’d placed next to an archway. Despite the decor and the staff’s strange demeanour (they seemed afraid of us) we were served the finest local fish and chips we had encountered the entire trip and were given absolutely colossal portions of both haddock and chips (2 battered haddocks each and a mountain of chips and salad.) Johnny Volvo face (the nickname I had given to our campsite man from Lancashire) had offered to drive us all back to the campsite and had been dozing in his car in a car park nearby so we roused him and all piled back into his car for him take us all back to the campsite. We went straight to bed at about 11:00 knowing full well that the following day was all that remained between us and completion of our journey!
The expanse and solitude of Cakraig campsite
Wednesday 22nd August (Day 12)
I woke very early on this day (about 5am) and got up to have a piss. When I opened my tent I was awe-struck by the amazing sunrise that lay before me but quickly had to retreat back into my tent to escape the millions of midges that had found me cursing them for stopping me from enjoying the sunrise (wish I’d taken a photo of that sunrise). The others eventually all got-up and we set off back up the shitty dirt path for our final day of cycling all tired, injured and in pain. Today had promised to be a good one though as Baz had told us it was only going to be 52 miles. On further inspection however, he discovered that it was going to be 58 as he had miscalculated the route and hadn’t included finding the end of John O Groats. We set-off back on the 2 mile trek up the shitty dirt path which dealt the final blow to my right cleat on my road shoes making it impossible to clip-in effectively. As usual it rained and rained hard shortly into our ride but we were all prepared for it and pressedon to the two hardest climbs we had encountered since we began. Not only was one of them a category one but we were all injured and I had lost my ability to stand on my bike to pedal as the pain was too great in my achilles. Despite the pain (the gradient was such that I had to stand or risk falling off), we managed to scale the two climbs leaving a further 38 miles of the A99 to cover to the finish. On a map the route looked relatively uneventful and not particularly hilly or anything so we weren’t worried and decided to press-on without really stopping for lunch outside of wolfing down some Scottish pies Ed had furnished us with when he and Mike caught-up to us at the roadside earlier on. What we hadn’t accounted for was wind. The wind was HORRENDOUS that day and coupled with the icy rain and fatigue of the category one made those final 38 miles miserable and difficult. Baz’s knees were seriously hindering him by now aswell as he dropped back well short of the pace that Stoney and I had set which meant frequent rest stops. Headwind and rain conquered and all extremely weary from our unexpected ordeal we sailed into John O Groats at about 4pm with a mixture of euphoria and relief that we wouldn’t have to get back on the bikes for a long while. We stayed there for a bit, had our photo taken by the signpost, had a victory coffee from the local shop and enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t windy and the sun had come out before packing-up the camper, seeing Ed off (he had booked a bus back to our campsite that night and was going to meet us just outside Inverness) and heading off back down the A99 victorious.
I had a great time during my LETJOG experience. There were times when I felt that it just wasn’t worth it (rainy days mostly) but the thought of the people I would be letting down and money I’d already raised helped to spur me on to finally complete all 932 miles in 12 days raising about £1500 in the process (my sister had been working behind the scenes organising other sponsors outside of the justgiving site.) Two things that really struck me about the whole journey were: the beautiful scenery that the UK has to offer if you get-off the motorways and use the A roads and the friendliness and sincerity of the people that you meet on the way.
Massive thanks to Mike for being the best support vehicle ever and getting our food-in aswell as booking us into campsites etc, Ed for providing endless knowledge and some seriously sweet scotcheggs, sausage rolls and pasties, the manager of the pub we found in Cornwall on that cold,wet day (you saved my life!), the staff at the cafe we found on that day it rained all day who allowed us to eat our soggy pasta whilst dripping all over their floor, Johnny Volvo face for being truly outstanding in his hospitality driving us to the local town and allowing us to stay at the campsite that night for free and to Baz and Stoney who helped make this an unforgettable experience. I think coast to coast will be the next challenge ;) Tom Wilson If you like what you’ve read and would like to make a donation then you can do so at: www.justgiving.com/teamslice1
Job well done at John O Groats
Me, Baz and Stoney at the finish
My ruined cleats
Enjoying lunch at the side of the A30
Imagine sitting on this for 932.20 miles
Cycling glasses are an effective way of avoiding midges in Scotland
Things I’d change:
Use a hybrid bike with a wider range of gears and fatter tyres capable of eating the potholes and things you encounter on the shittier roads COMFY SADDLE! Ensure that my waterproof clothing is actually waterproof. Buy a pannier. I had a relatively small bag thing (pictured above) I bought that sat under my saddle that was big enough for a coat and jumper but Baz and Stoney both had these large panniers (also pictured above) that they could carry all of their stuff in and served as decent mudguards attached to their seat stems. Fit the bike with mudguards. It’s bad enough being on the bike in the rain without having to put up with a wet arse aswell Smaller airbed. The airbed I took with me was comfy and everything but when fully inflated it took-up a large portion of my tent leaving little headroom or room for maneuvering. Bring a tarp to cover the bikes overnight as they had to sit in the rain a lot of the time on the campsites.
Bring something to fix your GPS / phone to your bike so that it can be easily viewed. It rains frequently so a waterproof container is essential. Billy no mates had one of these and I was well jealous Bring some waterproof overshoes. I tried desperately to get hold of some a week before we left but all the shops were out of stock and I didn’t have time to wait for delivery online so had to put up with icy feet when it rained.
Casualties of our ride:
3 x inner tubes My airbed (damned thing kept deflating towards the end so I binned it at our final campsite.) 1 x rear wheel bearing and possibly the cassette of Stoney’s bike Likely all of our chains as they were showing signs of rust towards the end Stoney’s front tyre (which needed replacing seeing as it was bald when he set-off)
Essentials to bring:
More than 3 cycling Jerseys (it takes days to dry things in the wet so bringing lots gives you more chance of wearing something dry each day) More than 3 pairs of cycling shorts (I also bought some cycling leggings that proved useful on the windier days but soon weighed me down and kept me cold when they got wet) Pair of good quality cycling gloves with padding in the palms. (I bought 2 pairs; 1x open finger and one closed finger pair for wet weather.) Cycling jumpers (I bought 2 with me) WET WEATHER COAT ( I can’t stress this enough. When you hit Scotland expect a heavy shower at least once per day) A tool kit and bike tool. The tool kit lived in our camper and proved worth it’s weight in gold for tinkering with the bikes and the bike tool was useful when we were on the rides and needed to make adjustments to headsets and cleats. Cycling glasses. I bought some with interchangeable lenses that proved worth their weight in gold when it rained as bombing hills at 30mph whilst blinded by rain is never going to end well.
Bikes we used:
Me: Boardman Team Pro 2012 Carbon Stoney: Fuji (Road) Baz: Orbea (Road)
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