Footnotes - JOGLE
John O'Groats - Lands End - 25th July 2002
I can't believe we're here right in the middle of the Scottish Highlands, Audrey and me. The views are spectacular as we look from the train. We have been on the train eight hours so far. Eight hours ago our families gave us a tremendous send off from Parkway Station. We will miss them, but for the next 3 weeks it's just Audrey and me, our bikes and our dream.
Well, after a positive start we got thrown off the train at Inverness due to Railtrack overbooking on the bicycles. Apparently they only had room for two and they took six bookings. We had to get off with two really nice guys from Hull who were also doing the same route as us and we all laughed as we ended up travelling the final hundred miles by coach and having Iain the bus driver act as our guide, pointing out lots of things of interest which we wouldn't have seen from the train.
After staying in a youth hostel in Thurso the first night, we cycled to John O'Groats the following morning. We stayed there for an hour or so. We found it a nice relaxing place, quite the opposite from Lands End, which was much more commercialised. We had our books stamped in the local pub, had our photographs taken at the famous landmark and it was so exciting getting on the start line knowing that we were now pedalling for home!!
We then cycled through Wick and really spectacular scenery. We were treated to the sight of seals on the rocks, an otter sanctuary, and two eagles. This was really a lovely part of the journey. We stayed the night at a converted railway station just outside Lybster with a lovely couple Kath and Dick, who not only cooked us an evening meal but also made us pasties for our journey the next day. The weather started quite nice, the sun shining and not too hot. We cycled just 46 miles the first day.
We then went from Lybster to Dornoch on a lovely sunny morning. This was a most spectacular ride today along the A9 - lots of birds, rabbits, sheep, lamas and lots of steep ascents and descents with breathtaking views on either side. We cycled through Helmsdale and met another cyclist going the other way. It was great sharing the journey with others and hearing what they had gone through.
We were now averaging 60 miles a day and one day managing 75 miles. It's true what they say, you really do get fitter as you go along. We now went along Loch Ness and saw an eagle and a falcon. We were told by the lady at our B & B to take the scenic route alongside the Loch. It was lovely for about 15 miles and then we suddenly started to go up and up. Eventually, after a couple of hours we were so high that we could hardly see in front of us and I mustadmit this was a little scary. For the latter part of this ride the weather changed dramatically and we had torrential rain and what was to come were the worst floods in Scotland for years.
We went from Inverness to Spean Bridge and on to Fort Augustus/Fort William and saw the magnificent Ben Nevis. I don't think our photographs will do this part of the journey justice. We also bumped into Jimmy Saville on the top of the mountain. He had just come over the road to see what was going on (apparently they were filming 'Rockface' and Jimmy lived just across the road. We had our photographs taken with him.
We then went to Crianlarich/Lochenhead/ where we got lost. This was an awful part of the journey as we were cycling all day and had to go back to where we started. We were also caught in the worst thunderstorm that either of us had ever experienced. It didn't help that the man at the B & B was a little worse for wear to say the least. From there we went on the Paisley which wasn't the best of places but we had a really nice B & B to stay in. This was probably the only part of the journey where we felt a bit flat. After getting lost and still quite a way from getting out of Scotland, the realisation that we still had such a long way to go.
We now decided to really go for it and make up for lost time. We got on the A74, which runs parallel to the M74 - it was a quiet road and we were able to do nearly 80 miles today and our goal was to get to Carlisle. The weather started to get a little better and we got to Gretna Green by Friday 5.00pm and the icing on the cake was that we had a wonderful B & B (like a self contained flat) and the lovely Violet who washed our wet clothes and even tumble-dried them.
We were enthusiastic again. It was a lovely sunny morning and we were going through the Yorkshire Dales. Lots of streams, bridges, steam trains, everything you dream of on a bike ride. We were tired from yesterday and decided to take it a little easier today. We then travelled on the busy A66, which wasn't very pleasant and then on to a Youth Hostel in Kirby Stephen. We met some really nice people - walkers, cyclists and had a three-course meal. Also, we slept on bunk beds (guess who had the top bunk?)
When we eventually got over the border into Lancashire (Clitheroe) I felt like I was on home territory. One of the guys we met at the Youth Hostel managed to fix Audrey's milometer, which stopped working due to the torrential rain. From Clitheroe we went to Warrington where we both met up with friends, and from then we cycled to Telford. We were really going well now and suddenly Tewkesbury was in sight and we actually stayed on the A38. We then cycled to Bridgnorth, which was a lovely place. Our next stop was to be Lydney. We stayed with Audrey's friends, Jean and Leroy, and slept in their caravan in their front garden. They made us to welcome and we were excited as tomorrow we would see our families on the Severn Bridge.
When we eventually got on the Severn Bridge we were so excited as we had looked forward to this moment for so long. The first people we saw were Paul (Marshall) and Angela who were walking on the bridge. Our families, Paul, Angela, and Steve Parsons greeted us with party poppers and telling us how proud they were. I met the lovely Chloe (Audrey's granddaughter) the reason for Audrey's ride. We stayed with them for an hour or so and then we were off again, along the Portway and on the A38 where we stayed the night in Churchill.
Next stop was Exeter. It wasn't the easiest of places to get out of, and when we did eventually get out we got on the A30, which would take us right to Land's End. As we approached Exeter we were treated to the company of Alan Jacobs and his lovely family (plus new addition Aaron). They came all the way to see us and give us lots of encouragement. The A30 was so hilly and next was Launceston (charming place) and then Redruth. We cycled past the Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor.
We left Redruth at 9.00am on Tuesday 13th Aug. and we arrived in Penzance at 11.00am - had lunch - arrived at Land's End at 1.00pm and we had a warm reception from Chris and Bertie (Audrey's brother), then signed in and saw the museum where they had on display all the different means of travel that had completed the ride.
We were really made to feel special - people clapped and one boy asked for his photograph with us.
We finished off the day by going out for a meal. It really was a great adventure!!
Would I recommend doing it? - Yes, but only once.
TOTAL MILEAGE - 1,021
Audrey - thank you for your encouragement and your humour. You were brilliant!
Thank you Chris and Bertie for your support. |
