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May 2008 found us clipping into our pedals at Land's End, a mismatched group cycling all the way to John o'Groats for Princess Alice Hospice. We'd only met once before at a fundraising event, but somehow by the time we started, friendship was already taking shape. That's the thing about a 900-mile cycle ride — you either become mates or you don't.
The first two days were brutal. I'd put in what felt like reasonable training, but Cornwall and Devon had other ideas — short, sharp hills, one after another, relentless. On day one I made it into the accommodation just before the heavens opened — the slower riders weren't so lucky and rolled in drenched.
Then in Cheshire, the first proper disaster. I was swapping the micro-SD card out of my GPS at camp — the card with the recorded route on it — and fumbled. Dropped it into the grass. We searched for ages. Nothing. My brother had a backup of the track files at home and re-sent them, but I still needed a physical card to put them on. So I peeled off, cycled to the nearest town with a shop that stocked the right card, then hunted down an internet cafe to re-download everything. It left me well behind the group for the afternoon — but the geek in me couldn't just carry on with a hole in the log.
About halfway up the country came the climb to Wanlockhead — Scotland's highest village at 467 m, with a pub that claims the title too. The Mennock Pass isn't especially steep but it is long, and the trick was to sit in a high gear and spin it out. Slow, patient. Plenty of time on the way up to watch prospectors panning for gold in the streams — at my speed, why not.
Then, at the top, the second disaster. I was hanging up my washing, stepped onto a dry stone wall, and the thing just crumbled under me. One badly sprained ankle later, swollen, black and blue. I couldn't walk. Distraught, I went to bed early, skipped dinner, and told myself the ride was over.
Next morning a fellow rider strapped the ankle up for me, and I hobbled over to the bike fully expecting the trip to be done. Then I clipped in, turned the pedal through its first rotation, and it just hit me — cycling isn't weight-bearing. I'd honestly never thought about it before. I could barely walk, but I could ride. Yay. On we went.
Glencoe came a couple of days later — on paper a big climb, a long steady drag up onto Rannoch Moor, topping out around 350 m — but by that stage we were well through the pain barrier daily and the body just accepted what we were doing. Gentle gradient, easy rhythm, honestly a lovely ride. The downhill off the other side was the reward — a long, fast descent, overtaking camper vans the whole way down. Huge fun.
When the group finally reached John o'Groats, I couldn't quite call it quits. A day trip to Orkney followed — boat and bus combo — before I headed home. The whole journey ran on fuel that might surprise you: Dairy Milk 1kg bars, which became our de facto unit of distance. One bar per segment, the maths worked out perfectly.
We were a proper motley crew — all different ages, fitness levels and bikes, thrown together and somehow gelling. A lovely lady drove the support van, ferrying our tents and heavy kit so we could ride unladen. Along the way we picked up another rider who was suffering, and she carried his gear too. Back at work afterwards, the girls in the office commented on how lean I was looking — my Dairy Milk journey wasn't over though, and that weight went back on pretty quickly.
It's funny how these trips work. You're grinding through them, living moment to moment, barely noticing the enormity of what you're doing. Only when it's done do you realise what you've actually pulled off.
Places Visited
- Sennen (Land's End), Cornwall — 1 night
- Exeter, Devon — 1 night
- Street, Somerset — 1 night
- Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire — 1 night
- Clun, Shropshire — 1 night
- Hollins Green, Cheshire — 1 night
- Ribble Valley, Lancashire — 1 night
- Cumberland — 1 night
- Wanlockhead, Scotland — 1 night
- Arrochar, Scotland — 1 night
- Glencoe, Scotland — 1 night
- Inverness area — 1 night
- Culrain, Sutherland — 1 night
- Wick, Caithness — 1 night
- Sandwick, Orkney — 1 night
Stats
| Dates | Saturday 17 May – Sunday 8 June 2008 |
|---|---|
| Countries | UK |
| Duration | 23 days |
| With | Group charity ride + solo Orkney day trip |
| Distance | ~1,700 km (1,100 mi) |
| Route | Land's End → Exeter → Somerset → Ross-on-Wye → Shropshire → Cheshire → Ribble Valley → Cumbria → Wanlockhead → Arrochar → Glencoe → Inverness → Culrain → Wick → Orkney |
| Charity | Princess Alice Hospice |
| Transport | Bicycle |
| Temperature | 5–18°C |
Photos
