Rabbits sir, faahsands of 'em

A cycling trip like this is great if you're into birds or wildlife (which I'm not in particular) My best sight was at 7am, cycling out of Carrbridge on the old A9 (a bit of road being used as a cycle path), of a deer standing 50 yards in front of me in the middle of the road. Or perhaps the many hawks hovering above the road, swooping down into the fields nearby. And is it true that there are more rabbits in Britain than humans? It certainly seemed like it, and I only saw ones that lived near the road.

The roadkill count:

2 badgers
1 fox
1 deer
Many rabbits, including one clearly a pet
Hedgehogs
Squirrels
Crows
Rats

But not these:



This was on the A6 north of Preston, at rush hour. Unfortunately my camera angle doesn't show the line of cars held up behind this - if I'd got a good picture of that it might have been newsworthy.

On a similar note, here are nice pics of a swan and cygnets, on the canal between Taunton and Bridgwater:


You see, I'm a bit more fluffy than you expect.

An inventory

I travelled quite light, although I could have economised more, and the bike itself isn't the lightest. But, for interest, here's a list of what I carried with me:

2 cycle shirts, one short-sleeved, one long
2 prs cycle chorts
4 prs cotton socks
1 pr cycle shoes, comfortable enough to wear to walk around in, with cleats to fit in my SPD pedals.
1 pr light cotton shorts
1 light cotton t shirt (last two for wearing in the evening)
1 sports vest (base-layer)
1 Berghaus waterproof jacket
1 pr waterproof trousers (only used on day 2)

1 travel towel
1 first aid kit
5 OS road maps (1:250,000)
3 End to End guidebooks (two of them left at Perranporth)
2 novels (only 100 pages read in 12 days)
1 camera
1 pocket DAB radio
1 mobile phone
Rechargers for above 3 items
4 inner tubes (only one required)
Tools and stuff - WD40, oil, spanners, allen keys
1 heavy duty lock - left in a pub in Cornwall, far too heavy
1 combination lock
Sundry power bars (disposed of after a week)

I tried to wash and dry my clothes at each stop, but that wasn't always possible - often radiators wouldn't be on, and it takes more than 12 hours for cycling clothes to dry, and far more for cotton socks to dry. At one point I had 4 pairs of wet socks.

I had plastic bags to keep the books and maps dry, but not the clothes. The panniers weren't waterproof, and the detachable covers I had pooled water inside their elasticated lining, which made the panniers wet at the bottom anyway. I should have remembered the tip to have plastic bags inside the panniers. It's always good to have, at minimum, a pair of dry socks to change into after several hours of rain.

But apart from the heavy ABUS lock, which was a mistake, I'm happy with the amount of kit I took. Remember that you can always buy anything more you need en route.

Yet more pics

I didn't take many myself - I wasn't really on a sightseeing trip, the weather was rubbish for most of it, and pics of roads and bikes leaning against signposts aren't very exciting. But here's some of the ones I did take (or had taken with my camera)

Land's End (note silly hair caused by headband)


Perranporth (first stop):

First thing in the morning, Day 2. It rained for 5 hours more after this:

Tintern Abbey (in a thunderstorm - there are pics below taken by M of me wandering off to take this pic)

Morecambe Bay, at sunset:

Getting to Scotland:

My bike, after I came off:


The road ahead is a cycle path, the one across is a side road. The car I was trying to avoid (and succeeded) came from the right, and stopped to the right of this shot, as I stopped before the road. The main road down to Dumfries is, luckily, only about 50 yards ahead.

Young boys march in Larkhall:

What you can't quite see is the t-shirt of the guy on the left, which says 'No Surrender', as did the motto on the drum. Nice.

Dunkeld. This was the most beautiful place I went to on my trip, although I don't think I captured it in my pic.

The light, in early evening, was perfect to illuminate this meadow of bluebells, but again, very hard to show it:

For those of you who like pictures of bikes and road signs:

Or just road signs:


And the end:

Some videos

M also took some neat action videos, and then edited them with music!

Cycling over the Severn Bridge:



Up the Wye Valley:



And more:



A very short one showing the rain:



M catching and passing me on a downhill:

Some more pics

The bike:

Silly hair:

And then it started raining:



But I was well wrapped up:



Towards Monmouth, where M left me and sped off up the road:

Some pics

M kindly took several snaps of me when we met down in the Wye Valley. Some of them are quite good.

Going across the (old) Severn Bridge:

Is this a warning or an instruction?

The End

As most of you may have gathered by other sources, I made it to John O'Groats, at about 2pm on Wednesday. The surprise was that my mother turned up, all the way from Sussex, which meant I had champagne (which we didn't drink) and some photos of me arriving.

Day 12 (Wed 23/05/07)
Helmsdale to John O'Groats
Day Miles 54
Total miles 958

I joked the night before that I hadn't needed any of the four inner tubes I'd brought, and that I'd probably get four punctures on the last day. I didn't, but I got one 40 miles from the end, travelling downhill at 20mph. It wasn't a blowout, thankfully, but it was caused by a cheap inner tube supplied by the man in Dumfries who gave me a new wheel - the hole was right next to where the valve is glued to the tube. I changed the tube in 10 minutes, which was satisfying as it usually takes me much longer, and back on the road.

By that time I'd already passed the only significant obstacles on the way - deep valleys at Helmsdale and, notoriously, Berriedale. Even back down in Aviemore the doctor had joked to me about how hard I'd find Berriedale. Of course I didn't - I pushed my bike the whole way up. By this time I'd lost my lowest gear again, so it wasn't very feasible to cycle up it.

I then had problems with my saddle, which started swivelling about. As it's a sprung seat, the saddle post fits inside the main seat post which is attached to the frame. The connection between the first two had become worn, so that the saddle was just sitting inside the seat post. It made riding slightly more difficult - you steer essentially by using your hips to guide the bike, so if the seat swivels as you try to do this you lose some control. It wasn't critical, and I managed to get the 10 miles or so to Wick, where I found a man in a bike repair shop who did it for me for free.

The last stretch into John O'Groats from Wick is quite exposed, with strong cross-winds, and a little hill just before the end too, which is a touch frustrating. But from the top of the hill there's a great view of Orkney - I'm not sure when I'll next have an opportunity to go there, so it was a shame I couldn't this time.

There's a nice long freewheel down the hill into John O'Groats, which is just a small collection of buildings around a tiny ferry harbour. There's no fanfare to greet you - 4000 people do this annually, I was passed on the road by a couple of guys (on good bikes, with only one pannier each (Mummy had turned up to take some of their luggage)), I met one at the end, and as I was leaving 6 in identical clothes streamed in, having probably done it in under a week. As one of my guidebooks says, don't expect a pat on the back from the landlord of the Groats Inn, he gets a dozen people a day in. He was mostly moaning about how it rains every day from September to April.

I didn't have any sense of euphoria or relief when I arrived. I suppose the arrival of my mother added an unexpected domesticity, but I think I'd already factored it in by then - when you spend days trying to achieve something, but know for the last two or three that you are going to make it, then the final arrival doesn't feel like such a huge achievement. I wasn't staggering over the line in exhaustion or pain, as in a marathon, and it's not as if the destination is stunningly beautiful (apart from the pleasant view of the Orkneys) as when you climb a mountain. I was a tiny bit underwhelmed, and just looking forward to the train ride home.

Here's some pics of me arriving:







I didn't cycle back to Wick in the end - the bus could take bikes, and I wasn't too keen on 17 miles back into the wind, so we hung around JoG in a cafe for a couple of hours until the bus left. It wasn't due to lack of energy though - my mother was surprised that I was so lively, but I'd only done 54 miles that day so still had plenty of miles left in me.

After a couple of drinks and sitting around I was pretty tired, and only managed to watch half of the Champions League Final that night, falling asleep at 9pm (and waking up at 5.30am) The journey back from Wick was long but not unpleasant - 4 hours to Inverness, another 3.5 to Edinburgh, then 4.5 hours to London, then I had a 4 mile ride back home from King's X (along the Marylebone Road, which I still consider one of the more dangerous roads in the country)

I now have access to plenty of pics, so I'll put some of those up, and also draw my route out properly.

Getting on my Wick

So, it's a race to get there before either my bike or my body falls apart. So far this morning I've had a puncture, and my seat's falling off, but I'm in Wick with only 17 miles to go.

Day 11 (22/05/07)
Carrbridge to Helmsdale
Day miles 98
Total miles 904
To go 55

I didn't quite manage 80 miles from Inverness, but Helmsdale was the last decent sized town on the road before Wick 38 miles further on, and immediately after Helmsdale are a couple of very steep gradients which are better tackled in the morning than in the evening.

The road up from Inverness wasn't so scary. There was a cycle route (NCN1) for the first few miles, but then that diverted up north, and there was quite heavy traffic until past Tain, but after that a mostly flat road, following wind, and not much traffic. Fine weather too, the sea was very flat. The only slightly stressful bits were where the road occasionally veered west, into the wind, and across Cromarty Firth and another of the inlets, where there's a very strong crosswind.

Helmsdale is a small fishing village, with a couple of hotels (one full, one expensive) and some B&Bs. I checked into a B&B - they only had a family room (double bed, single bed, sofa) for £30, but as that was cheaper than the cheap hotel anyway, I took it.

My elbow definitely needs attention. I reckon I have ligament damage. There's no pain in usual use, but I can't put pressure on it or it pops out - not an actual dislocation I think, just a moving of the ligament. I'll go to St Mary's on Friday. I hope I don't need surgery. Never had an invasive procedure (no sniggering)

I left myself 55 miles to JO'G today, with 17 miles back to Wick afterwards. Now in Wick, so I'll be back in a few hours.

Pah, it's only a flesh wound..

You know the feeling when you're cycling along unconcerned, then your elbow pops out then back in again? You don't? I do.

As I suspected, I'd weakened my elbow by falling on my left arm on Saturday. It may just be ligament damage - I'm not sure that I dislocated it riding along yesterday, but it was a bit distracting. I saw a doctor in Aviemore, and she agreed with me that, as it doesn't hurt in normal use, I can just use tubigrip and get it seen to in London when I get back.

So, riding to John O'Groats is easy, I can do it one-handed...

Day 10 (21/05/07)
Pitlochry to Carrbridge
Day miles 67
Total miles 806
To go c 149

I didn't make it as far as Inverness last night, as I suspected. I left Pitlochry quite late, about midday, and took the cycle route (NCN7) which is largely made from remnants of the old A9. The first hour or so was quite hard, not just because of the various ailments, but because going up Glen Garry was a slight incline into a stiff headwind. I only went at about 9mph there, very dispiriting, but then when I turned a corner and went up the next glen, I had a slight downward incline and a good tailwind, and freewheeled at about 20mph for 15 miles or so. Great fun.

I'm in Inverness now, and only have stingy 15 minute slots on the PCs in their public library, so can't say much more. I'm deciding now whether to take the fearsome A9 or to try to work out a back route. I want to do about 80 more miles today (I've done about 27 so far), which will leave me say 40 to JO'G tomorrow, then 17 back to Wick. However, these mileages may vary if I take safer back routes.

What happened to my last post?

hmm, I wrote a very long post when in Carlisle, but it's not up, only the title. That's pretty annoying, especially as this is a record for me of what I've done. ok, to reconstruct it from memory...

Day Five (Wed 16/05/07)
Hereford to Chester
Day miles 95
Total miles 385
To go c 590

I got to Chester without major incident, and stayed in the youth hostel south of the city. It was packed - it was half term last week, so a lot of the hostels had young kids in it. No proper drying facilities for my gear, so another day of wet socks...

Day Six (Thu 17/05/07)
Chester to Morecambe
Day miles 93
Total miles 478
To go c 497

This was not a pleasant day. It rained for the first three hours, as I was trying to navigate my way through the Liverpool conurbation. I got lost in Runcorn - I was slightly consoled in this by reading that Phil Horsley, who wrote one of the better Lejog guides, also got lost there - and had trouble getting over the Runcorn Bridge (over the Mersey) at rush hour. The youth hostel didn't do breakfast early enough for my departure, and I ended up not having any until St Helens, after about 4 hours on the road. My left knee had also started hurting quite a bit, the rear ligament, which I know is the sort of strain that persists. That made the day a bit of a struggle, although there weren't many hills, and the A6 from Preston to Lancaster isn't so busy, and even has cycle lanes in part. I had intended to go as far as Arnside, on the edge of the Lake District, for that night, but when I rang ahead the YHA there was full, so I diverted over to Morecambe, along a well maintained cycle route from Lancaster, and stayed in a hotel on the front overlooking cocklepicker bay. Because of the persistent pain in my knee, I decided not to go through the Lake District, but to take the A6 skirting it.

Day Seven (Fri 18/05/07)
Morecambe to Lockerbie
Day miles 99
Total miles 577
To go c 398

My morbid tour of disaster locations continues...

The worst part of this day was going over Shap Fell in a 50mph cross-wind, with rain. Possibly the worst weather I've ever been out in, and far too dangerous to cycle in on a busy road. The freewheel down the other side was pretty precarious - wet and cold, and I staggered into a pub in Shap, at the bottom of the fell, desperate for a cup of tea to warm me up. The weather eased up a bit later - I got the worst of it just at the worst place to be - and I stopped for lunch in Penrith, a pretty market town, and then agin in Carlisle, where I wrote an extensive post which has been lost.

From Carlisle the direct route to Scotland goes on the A74, but as that is the link between two busy motorways, I avoided it and did a dogleg on the minor roads. Unfortunately this meant that I was coming into Scotland into a strong headwind, which seemed symbolic of something...

The road parallel to the A74 (M) is pretty flat and car free, as most of the traffic on the route is on the motorway. I got into Lockerbie around 8pm, to find there were no hotel rooms left, but there was a B&B, and I had a good dinner at one of the hotels, chatting to a yank from California who was touring Britain on a Harley (wimp) and who had forthright views on immigration and the death penalty. He was a firefighter and auxiliary policeman, so my vigorous debate with him was surprisingly restrained...

Day Eight (Sat 19/05/07)
Lockerbie to Hamilton (Glasgow)
Day miles 62
Total miles 639
To go c 336

A bit of a disaster today.

I've ridden for a few years in London, on some quite dangerous roads, and never even had a near miss. I've freewheeled at 35mph down rain-sodden mountain roads without a wobble. On Saturday at 8.30am I was riding along a deserted road, and diverted on to a cycle path alongside it. Across that path was a side road, which probably had one car an hour on it. The one car this hour arrived at the junction at the same time as me, coming along the cycle path with restricted view because of trees, and in the rain. I slammed on the brakes, the back wheel skidded, the front wheel locked and buckled, and I went over the handlebars. The car stopped well before it might have hit me, and in fact I stopped before the road, so the chances of a collision were small, but you make the decision to brake instantly.

So I had a buggered front wheel, and also a slightly bust left arm. I've previously had problems with this arm - I broke my elbow when I was 17, but the fracture wasn't noticed for about 3 years, after I'd dislocated it a few times, so it's always been weak. Landing on my outstretched arm as I did has definitely jarred the elbow. I'll have to see when I get back whether there's any deeper damage.

There was a house nearby with a very nice old man who agree to look after my bike and panniers while I hitched a lift into Dumfries for a new wheel. Luckily I was right on the junction with the Dumfries road, and even more luckily within 2 minutes of trying to hitch a car came by with two bikes on the roof rack - they were mountain bikers on their way to Dumfries. They gave me a very quick lift into town, I got a new wheel, and then a bus back to where my bike was.

Then the day got worse.Horrendous, blustery, showery weather all day, crosswinds, headwinds, hailstones in my face, everything. Dodgy knee, dodgy arm, a strained achilles tendon...it was a hell of a slog. By the time I got to Hamilton I'd already decided I wasn't going into Glasgow centre, never mind my original plan of getting beyond it up Loch Lomond, and I was considering altering my route drastically. I found a decent hotel on my route and checked in early, quite battered.

Amusingly, I got held up on the route by a young boys march (all big drums and flutes), with guys wearing 'No surrender' shirts. I think it was in Larkhall. The police wouldn't let me (or about 30 cars behind me) overtake the march, and I thought cycling through them might be a bit provocative...

So, a change of plan. Instead of going west via Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Fort William, I'd go east via Perth. That would save me about 45 miles, supposedly the weather was a bit better on the east side, and the hills not so extreme.

Day Nine (Sun 20/05/07)
Hamilton to Pitlochry
Day miles 100 (!)
Total miles 739
To go c 230

From the trip's worst day to the best. It didn't start off well. I woke up feeling bruised, and had a lie in (until 7.15am!), and the first hour or so on the road was very painful. I had aches or pains in my left elbow, left knee, left achilles, which made pedalling hard, and right wrist, which made changing gear hard. A tubigrip on the elbow and some ralgex on elbow and ankle helped things, as did the lack of traffic in the Glasgow suburbs early on a Sunday morning. I worked my way round via Motherwell and Airdrie (I only know these places as football teams), up past Cumbernauld, then got onto the Clyde and Forth canal, which was about 8 miles of flat towpath that took me towards Falkirk. Past the elegant Falkirk Wheel (I should link to it but don't have time), then towards the Kincardine Bridge.The weather brightened up significantly, and the road towards Perth was flat through countryside similar to Kent. My various pains were largely gone, although I couldn't put so much pressure on my left foot or left arm.

Out of Perth it's the A9 all the way to Wick. It's a pretty bog standard busy A road, very fast and unpleasant for cyclists, but parts of it do have NCN cycle routes. I took a diversion off, then took a break to try to sort my gears out. The rear derailleur wasn't finding one of the gears - the problem was actually in the handlebar thumbshift, which was worn out, but I didn't know that, and messed around with the gear cable (under expert telephone guidance from R), and ended up with a frayed cable I couldn't reattach. Had to lock the gears down and cycle the 15 miles into Pitlochry in one gear (well, 3 because of the front gears, but one of them is only useful when going downhill at 25mph)

That didn't matter so much as the ride into Pitlochry was stunning. I went through Dunkeld, a small town on the Tay, then followed an NCN cycle route from there to Pitlochry. It went through the forest and alongside the Tay for several miles, and it must be one of the most beautiful places in Britain I've been to. The weather was perfect, early evening, strong sun, and it was very peaceful - I came across a clearing cloaked with bluebells, which I'm sure my pic won't do justice to.

I got into Pitlochry quite late, having made 100 miles for the day, and found a B&B. This was a favourite Victorian resort town, so there are lots of old Victorian houses which are now hotels and B&Bs. My landlady generously gave me £20 in sponsorship (she's a Boer, and responded to me explaining what MSF do in Africa, although I wasn't touting for sponsorship, so it was a nice surprise)

Porridge and a fry-up including haggis this morning, although a late start due to getting the bike fixed, and updating this (I hope it works) A long ride to Inverness, 85 miles on the road, 101 miles on the cycle route. I'll probably get there late, but I may be able to phone ahead and reserve a room somewhere if I'm sure I can make it. Then it's the final run up to JoG.

Charles Darwin went to school in this building

Good afternoon from Shrewsbury Reference Library, in a town mourning the death of the most amusingly-named football ground in the country. 53 miles this morning from Hereford, I'm hoping to break 100 miles for the day, although as that might leave me in post-industrial nowhere on the outskirts of Liverpool, I might hold back a bit.

Well on target, physically fine thanks to a man with an allen key. Sorry yesterday's entry was so abrupt - was just trying to get information down with an impatient cyclist sitting outside and time online limited. I'll continue...

Day Four (Tues 15/05/07)
Bridgwater to Hereford
Day miles 93
Total miles 290
To go c 685

This ended up being the most satisfying day of the trip so far. After struggling for 50 miles to meet M at Severn Bridge by 12pm (and I was late), I managed to do another 43 miles over some hills, through some torrential rain, and get to a town just one behind my original target. And my knee problem may well be sorted.

As I was starving by the time we met up, I insisted we went into Chepstow for lunch. M dutifully sat outside while I ate, and then while I was on here writing my blog (sorry!), but he also adjusted my seat by a half inch, as I suggested, which made all the difference to my knee. (At first he adjusted it by about an inch and a half, which nearly made all the difference to my chances of getting anywhere, ever) It's a common cyclist's problem - incorrect saddle height means you're putting excess pressure on the knee tendons. I suppose I hadn't noticed it for 3 years as I don't go up many hills in London, but also because much of my cycling is out of the saddle, so I'm adjusting the stresses on the knee.

The knee was still sore though, so the trip out of Chepstow was painful, and then as we headed up the Wye Valley there was a huge downpour, and even some thunder as we stood in some shelter opposite Tintern Abbey (it's a ruin, no idea what Wordsworth saw in it. At least Byron owned his own ruined abbey) I could tell M was getting a bit frustrated at my slow pace (and was rather bemused at the contraption I was riding), but he took loads of pics, and even some film, but I can't get on youtube to see it from here. If you read this, can you post up links to your flickr stuff in a comment, M? Thanks.

Once in Monmouth, I was feeling strong enough to get to Hereford (although Leominster, 13 miles further, would have been pushing it) I've been to Hereford before, once when I cycled from there to Hay (and I thought that was arduous!) It's a nice town, with a cathedral more noted for its literary significance than its architecture - it has a copy of the Magna Carta, the Mappa Mundi, one of the most valuable maps in existence, and a chained library with incunabula (15th century printed works, very rare and valuable) I'm sure there are plenty of librarians reading who'd appreciate it.

But I got there too late and left too early to have another look round. There aren't so many hotels in Hereford, so I accepted a room for £55 - when you've cycled for 8 hours and need a bath and a bed, that looks like good value. My waitress was new and pissed, which amused me - she had slightly smeared make-up, was trying everso hard to keep it together, repeating everything, being very solicitous to the point of irritating...well, it kept me awake at dinner.

Annoyingly, I only found out after I'd washed half my clothes that there were no drying facilities in the room. Damp (but clean) cycling top for tomorrow then.

Day Five (Wed 16/05/07)
Hereford to ...

Feeling much refreshed today. I still have a support on my knee, but it's barely hurting at all - yesterday almost every downstroke of my right leg caused pain, for about 20 miles. Try limping when pedalling, it's not an easy position.

I took the backroads from Hereford halfway up to Shrewsbury, bypassing Leominster, but in the end having to use the A49. Part of the trick of this is good navigation, avoiding the horribly busy A roads used by supply lorries who give you little space or warning, but also avoiding the hills. My bar bag has a map-holder on it, and I've always been a pretty good navigator, so much of my thinking time is spent working out where I'm going next, and how far to the next resting point.

It should be reaonably flat from here for a while, up towards Liverpool (which I'll bypass), and through the northern towns. Urban cycling should be quite quick, although held up by traffic lights. I'm looking to get a couple of 100 mile days done while I can, then see what the Scottish lowlands are like. I'm considering my options re the Highlands - it isn't necessary fot me to go via Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Fort William, although it is a beautiful route - I've been there more than once in the car. I'm not sure my body and bike are up to it. I'll see how I feel once I hit Glasgow, and what the timing's like. Scooting across to Edinburgh and across the Forth Bridge is the other option, but that leads to the dreaded A9. It's flatter and faster, but also more unpleasant and dangerous. We'll see.

My current decision is whether to head to Chester, where there's a youth hostel, or try to get further than that. I've spent too much time in Shrewsbury as it is, so Chester may be the best option. It's about 40 miles from here, I should do that in 4 hours (including rest breaks) - been averaging a good 12.2mph on the road today.

What's the record for pushing a bike from Land's End to John O'Groats?

Hello all, sorry for lack of updates but it's hard to find an internet cafe in the South West of England. Apparently they don't get much call for that sort of thing down there.

I'm currently in Chepstow, having just met up with a kind (although pony-tailed) footie poster who's going to escort me up the Wye Valley. I'm a tiny bit behind my (very ambitious) target, but I could possibly catch up with it tonight, if all goes well. I'm aiming for Hereford, but if the road, and my body, are good I might make Leominster as planned, which is only 13 miles on from Hereford.

A summary of the trip so far: wind, sun, rain, rain, hills & rain, rain, hills, hills, sun, flat, light rain, Wales.

And in more detail:

Day One (Sat 12/05/07)

Route miles 46
[Total miles 58]

A 6 hour train ride from Paddington got me into Penzance at about 1.30pm. From there it's an annoying 11 miles journey to Land's End, even more annoyingly straight into a 20mph wind. Land's End is nothing much - a hotel, a gift shop, and a concession taking photos and the fingerpost that's been there for 50 years. I avoided the charge by standing outside the railing and getting a pic a couple of yards from the post itself. It hardly matters.

I avoided the A30 almost entirely in Cornwall, as advised - it's a horrible road for the most part, more or less a motorway with two lanes, no fun and pretty dangerous for cyclists. So on day one, a half day for me, I took the coast road round to Perranporth, through St Ives and St Agnes. The weather was pleasant, mostly sunny with a stiff breeze off the sea, and the route not particularly arduous. St Ives looks like a lovely town, and the beaches along the north coast of Cornwall are very long and sandy, but I didn't hang around to check the views.

Perranporth is a small coast village just down from Newquay, very popular with surfers as it has a vast, flat sandy beach, and the youth hostel, in an old coastguard hut on top of a cliff, has a fantastic view of the coastline. And in the morning, it had a fantastic view of the rain too.

I met a few women in the hostel who were also doing Lejog for charity, but in 20 days, so not much chance of our paths crossing again.

Day Two (Sun 13/05/07)

Day miles 63
Total miles 109
To go c 865

A bad day. It was raining when I got up, I left at 7.15am, and it rained non-stop for another 5 hours. Pretty unpleasant stuff. I always knew days 2 and 3 would be pretty tough, the terrain in Cornwall and Devon is pretty notorious, but adding rain to that makes it miserable. Did you see the news story of a thousand or so students being plucked off Dartmorr because of the weather? That's what I was enduring. I had a full English breakfast in Padstow, and tried to get a bit dry, then a big pub lunch, then a huge meal in the evening. I was wondering how I'd get the 7000 or so calories per day I needed. Lots of food very regularly is the simple answer.

I was aiming for Okehampton, but it was closed for Sunday and Monday, I presume on account of the Ten Tors challenge, but in the end I only made it as far as Launceston, about 19 miles short. I was pretty shattered by then, although it was only 4.30pm, so I had time enough to head on. No hostel, so I stayed in the White Hart Hotel for £38.

On top of the rain and terrain, my knee started to hurt. It wasn't so debilitating, just an ache when going up the tough hills, but a warning signal. By the evening I was very much doubting the 11 day target, and perhaps whether I could do it at all.

Day Three (Mon 14/05/07)

Day miles 88
Total miles 197
To go c 780

A much better day. I wasn't much looking forward to the hills across to Okehampton and Crediton, but they weren't so bad - helped by a fair amount of pushing the bike. The weather started off cool but overcast, but from about midday there was plenty of sun, and getting into Somerset, rolling countryside rather than sharp ups and downs of the moors. Much of the ride was really quite nice, although my knee was getting worse. I took the back roads a lot, avoiding the busy main routes (I'll put a full map up of the exact route at a later date), and when I got to Taunton, at around 5pm, I felt still energetic, and saw that there was a canal towpath route into Bridgwater. That was the best part of the trip so far - flat, sunny, beautiful countryside, completely unhurried. Got into Bridgwater at 6.30pm, from a 7am start, about 8 hours on the road out of that for an ok average of 11mph.

Day Four (Tues 15/05/07)

I'll update this a bit later, but briefly, it was 50 miles or so from Bridgwater to the Severn Bridge, skirting Bristol, where I met Martin, who's waiting patiently for me to finish this so we can go up thw Wye Valley. I may pop into Tintern Abbey, see what Wordsworth was going on about.

I've covered a quarter of my route so far, but my knee's getting worse. I know that woman with cancer cycled across the States recently, but I bet her knees were fine. So were mine before I started this...

Thanks for your support. I'll check in again when I can.

The Route - Day one - Land's End to Perranporth

I managed to avoid the A30 almost entirely, apart from the necessary bits down to Land's End, then back out again. The coastal route is much more pleasant, has some great views, and the wind should be behind you (or a little to the side) It's not so hilly to start with, just a little rolling again. It's quite easy to pick your way round the coast towns, via St Just, St Ives and St Agnes. If you start earlier than I did, you can make it as far as Padstow.



Route:

A30 from Land's End
Left on to B3306 towards St Just
Follow to St Ives
Through St Ives town, then A3074 towards Hayle
B3301 round coast to Portreath, then B3300
Back roads to St Agnes via Porthtowan
B3285 to Perranporth
YHA on clifftop overlooking beach

The Route - prologue

I'm adding the full route here, as a guide, but I'm also aware that the maps add a lot to downloads, so I may dispose of them.

The first day required a 6 hour train ride from London Paddington to Penzance, then a 10 mile cycle to Land's End, into the wind. Follow the A30 (not much other choice), it's mildly rolling but not that concerning. The wind is more of an enemy.

Smokeless

In a happy and appropriate coincidence, tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of me giving up smoking (I promised I would if Arsenal did the double, and had my last ones while celebrating the last game of the season. Very Nick Hornby)

If I complete this I may see it as a final reclamation of my life from cigarettes, as I'll be nearly as fit as I was when I started smoking at 16. Sometimes what is done can be undone, but it takes a lot of work.

Map...

If you click on the map, it'll take you to the mapmaking page (based on googlemaps) so you can zoom in and find the detail of the route. Then you can see if you live close enough to wave to me, or dress up like this guy:

THE MAP

It took me a couple of hours to draw this map, and it brought home just how far it is...

I have 10 stages (plus a half one at the beginning), but they're flexible as I don't know how I'm going to do on the road, and a couple of them are probably too long. I've tried to navigate between youth hostels on the route, and, where possible, to rest just before a big climb rather than just afterwards.

Highlights of the trip are North Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Wye Valley, a bit of the Lake District, Loch Lomond, Glencoe, and Loch Ness and Inverness.

Thank you!

A note about everyone who's sponsored me so far.

Thank you very much. I'm amazed by how many people have given. I suppose the size of the challenge, the worthiness of the cause, and the large number of random online acquaintances I have, have all contributed. Of course this just adds to the pressure for me to complete it.

I booked my first night's stay, in Perranporth, which is near Newquay on the north Cornwall coast. It's about 40 miles from Land's End, which I should be able to do in half a day, and is in an old coastguard hut overlooking a 3 mile stretch of sandy beach from high on a cliff. It looks great. I'll see if I can find a pic. Here we go:


The next youth hostel from there may be Northcombe, in Exmoor, but I need to check the route to see how far that is and whether it's doable in a day, considering how hilly it is down there. I may need to have back-up plans if I find the going's tough.

More maps to come tomorrow.

Route plan - stage 1

Some kind poster has identified a decent map-making tool, which I'll try to use to plot my route.

Although I want to avoid the A30 in Cornwall where possible, as it's meant to be quite nasty in parts, in the extreme South West it's the only route, unless you take a very long a scenic ride round the coast. So I'll have to chance it.

On the first day I'll get to Penzance at about 1.30pm, then it's an 8 mile cycle to Land's End, where no doubt I'll be ripped off just to have a picture taken next to the fingerpost. I reckon I can do 30-40 miles that afternoon, which gets me nearly as far as Newquay.

The main problem then may be finding accommodation. Bear in mind I'll be on the North Cornwall coast, prime surfing territory, on a Saturday night in May, staying in a youth hostel. There won't be a bed. Maybe I'll ring tomorrow.

Let's see if this map works:

Down to 11 days

My trip got a bit harder the other day.

The length of it was defined by the train availability. I'm taking a 7.33am train from Paddington to Penzance on Saturday 12th May, getting into Penzance just after 1pm, costing just £20 as I booked it a few weeks ago.

The return journey, from Wick, is a bit trickier. It requires at least three trains - changing at Inverness and Edinburgh at minimum - and as Scotrail trains only accept one bicycle at a time, it needs advance booking.

In addition, you can't get from Wick to London in a day on weekends because the timetable doesn't allow it, so my original plan was to return on the Friday or the Monday, giving me 12 or 15 days to complete the trip in. 15 days means about 65 miles a day.

To further complicate things, that weekend is a Bank Holiday, so the cheap tickets have already been booked for Friday and Monday, which means the cheapest available is £124. So I can only return on the Thursday or the Tuesday. Tuesday would mean taking another unpaid day off work, in which case I might as well pay the £124 and come back earlier. So Thursday it is, for £36.

This means the trip has to take 11 days, plus half a day on Saturday, when I might be able to do about 30 miles (plus the 10 miles to cycle from Penzance to Land's End to start the trip) That means 85 miles a day. Experienced cyclists I've spoken to have said that would be quite arduous, as I'm not so experienced, I don't have the most appropriate bike, I'm unsupported, and I haven't built in any rest days.

Ah well, it wouldn't be a challenge otherwise.

Training ride - 63 miles

Yesterday I cycled to Whitstable, on the Kent coast, for lunch. 63 miles, mostly flat although with two or three hills, following Watling Street, the old Roman road, down towards Canterbury.

I'm quite exhausted today, and I have a bit of an ache on a tendon under my right knee which doesn't bode well, but I learnt quite a bit:

1. The tip is to aim to do two thirds of your daily miles by lunchtime, as the afternoon is inevitably slower going. If I can manage 60 miles by lunch, leaving 20 or 30 for the afternoon, I'll be on target.

2. 1.5 litres of water weighs quite a bit (1.5 kilos, as it happens) When going through areas well-supplied with shops, buy water more often and in smaller bottles.

3. There's no shame in stopping, and no advantage in bravado. If tired when going up hills, stop. Lactic acid builds up quite quickly in the legs, but a 5 minute break can refresh them.

4. A baseball cap is useless as a tiny gust of wind whips it off. A headband keeps the sweat out of your eyes, but makes your hair stand up stupidly.

5. I left at 7.15 and made it by 12.45, so 5.5 hours on the road, including a few small breaks, at an average of nearly 14 mph when rolling. The net 12mph figure is the important one for me, it gives me a guide to how long I should expect to be on the road during the day. 7 hours of riding will get me my daily target, but that presumes no hills, so some days I’ll have to exceed that.

6. Tendonitis could be a killer. I was fine during my ride down, but when I tried to cycle back from Victoria at night my knee was aching. It may be that I need to take a day or two off during my trip to recuperate.

7. I think taking books with me is a bit ambitious - I reckon I'll be far too tired every night to read anything. But I can't go two weeks without a book to hand...

8. My cycling clothes don't dry overnight from washing.

9. When on a main A road in the country, with traffic and juggernauts, but narrow lanes, it can be safer to ride on the pavement. Yes, I know you're not meant to, but there are often no pedestrians within a mile in these areas, and it's really no fun having a supermarket lorry speed past you at 50mph leaving 18 inches gap.

I had a delicious (and hugely expensive) lunch in Whitstable - razorshell clams, lobster, sticky toffee pudding (I needed the calories!) and lots of Chablis with friends. That's not going to be my normal fare on this trip - I couldn't afford it for a start!

I have a few pics which I'll upload tonight.

The plan

On Saturday 12th May I'll start cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats. The distance on the road is a little under 1000 miles. I plan to take under 2 weeks.

I'm not really fit enough, although everything I've read suggests I don't need to be - it's not a race, and there are only a couple of days in which the climbing is particularly arduous, notably Cornwall. I've been cycling about 8 miles a day to work for the last 6 months, including one very steep hill. It's not much. The most I've ever cycled in one day is 37 miles. I need to average 65-80 miles per day. My main worry is tendonitis, a strain behind the knee that makes cycling impossible.

My bike is a basic Trek 7200 hybrid. Nothing special, although I am encouraged by the fact that someone did it on a penny farthing in the 1870s, in 5 days! And that about 4000 people do it every year now.

I'll be travelling very light. On the same principle as if you buy a big rucksack, you'll fill it up and won't be able to carry it, I'm taking only two panniers and a bar bag. That means two sets of cycling gear, and one of casual for the evening, plus waterproofs. And two big books, as yet undecided.

I'll be staying in Youth Hostels. I'm not particularly precious, and I only need a shower and bed every night, plus a decent meal which I'll eat out. Hopefully most hostels nowadays have internet connections so I can update my blog and catch up on emails.

I'm raising money for Medecins Sans Frontieres (my justgiving page) I wanted to help a charity that does significant work in Africa, and that would be recognisable to anyone who might support me. I think MSF is a very worthy cause, and I urge people to support them by sponsoring me.

Can anyone show me how to create a map of the route?