|
Start |
Destination |
Distance |
Time |
Comments |
|
Land's End |
Penzance YH |
20 miles |
3 hours |
Via the Coast |
|
Penzance YH |
Golant YH |
80 Miles |
10 hours |
Via Truro, getting lost |
|
Golant YH |
Steps Bridge YH |
70 miles |
9 hours |
Over Dartmoor |
|
Steps Bridge YH |
Bath YH |
93 miles |
11.5 hours |
Lots of climbs over the last 20 miles |
|
Bath YH |
Winchcombe |
68 miles |
8 hours |
Staying at the in-laws' |
|
Winchombe |
Borrowash |
97 miles |
10 hours |
easy cycling |
|
Borrowash |
Langsett Pub |
75 miles |
9 hours |
Took the A5 to Bakewell |
|
Langsett Pub |
Kettlewell YH |
70 miles |
9.5 hours |
Tough day: hills and rain |
|
Kettlewell YH |
Edmundbyres YH |
65 miles |
9.5 hours |
Ditto |
|
Edmundbyers YH |
Hawick B&B |
74 miles |
9 hours |
Ditto |
|
Hawick B&B |
Edinburgh YH |
60 miles |
6 hours |
Easy ride, not too hilly |
|
Edinburgh YH |
Pitlochry YH |
80 miles |
9 hours |
Lovely ride, had lunch with sister-in-law |
|
Pitlochry YH |
Inverness YH |
98 miles |
9 hours |
Wouldn't have got this far without a tail wind |
|
Inverness YH |
Nairn B&B |
52 miles |
7 hours |
Horrible wet and grey day |
|
Nairn B&B |
Tongue YH |
38 miles |
5 hours |
Cold and grey in morning, bright in pm |
|
Tongue YH |
John O'Groats YH |
69 miles |
9 hours |
Cold but bright |
I really enjoyed the trip and was quite content with my own company. You tend to meet people on the road and of course in the Youth Hostels. Stopping off with friends and relations helped of course. The most difficult aspect was keeping the daily mileage up and knowing that whatever the weather you have to cover the distance. I believe my route was more severe than the normal route to the west of the Pennines because of all the climbing required. I was very disappointed that the weather was so bad between S Yorkshire and the Boarders. We had the wettest May for many years in 2006 so I was unlucky. My lack of extensive training was not too much of a handicap, I soon got reasonably fit. If I could have had more time off work it would have been much more enjoyable taking 3 weeks over the ride. You’d have time to actually look at sites and perhaps squeeze in a couple of rest days.
Top Tips• Fit SPD pedals, I found these much better than toe clips, except for the falling off the bike problems at the start of the trip!
• A bar bag is recommended for ease of map reading and carrying odds and ends.
• I found the Carradice camping long flap saddle bag excellent and large enough to take all my clothes and could be expanded to take shopping.
• A cotton hanky needs to be close at hand for wiping eyes after a fast downhill run or mopping a sweaty brow. I had one in my bar bag side pocket.
• Keep your compass on display in your map case so you can continually check your direction of travel.
• Check out your waterproof clothes by having a shower in the gear before the trip to check for leaks. I didn’t and had to but a new jacket.
• Don’t be afraid to use your granny gear. Just slog up the hills at 4 mph. This will prevent you exhausting yourself and also puts less strain on the transmission.
• I found the click click of index gearing got really annoying so I disengaged it. Much better and it was no problem changing gears the old fashioned way ‘by feel’.
• Put new tyres and new transmission on the bike before you set off. I had no problems with the bike at all. No punctures and no broken spokes.
• Waterproof socks are excellent and make cycling in the rain much more comfortable.
• Handle bar tape has a habit of moving around after continued use. I applied some evo-stick to the handlebars before wrapping the tape. It never moved during the whole trip.