by Steve Pleasance...

25 June – 8 July 2023

I had a pretty extensive bucket list when I retired; a mixture of travel, physical and mental challenges, simple pleasure and esoteric stuff. There have been an awful lot of iterations of the list in terms of priority, timings etc., and I’m slowly working through them, e.g. I’ve sailed across the Atlantic, become a glider pilot. However, cycling the length of the country had always been a dream of mine and I put down a deposit for a 14-day supported LEJOG with Peak Tours in 2019.

Then Covid happened………

Finally, after backlogged weddings, holidays, grandchildren even! I got a slot this summer.

To be honest, I hadn’t been doing a lot of cycling, so over the first part of this year I started with the club run routes, once then twice a week, extended to 70-80 miles (e.g., out past Bury and Oakham) and incorporated a couple of consecutive training days. I also started taking spin sessions at One Leisure twice a week.

Peak Tours take care of the route, accommodation and daily moving of luggage, so the main thing you have to think about is the logistics of getting down to Cornwall and back from Scotland. Given some commitments immediate before and after the tour I decided to forego my Trek bike and hire a bike (Cannondale CAAD 12) and a Garmin from Peak Tours, which meant I could get a train to Penzance and fly back from Inverness.

After arriving at St Just and getting set up on the bike there was an evening meal where the 3 guides gave an introduction to the tour and I met the 21 others riders in the group. Quite an eclectic bunch; 3 Americans, an Aussie, an Irishman, 2 Welsh speakers…. OK does sound like the start of joke but as we were to find out over the next two weeks just a wonderful group of really nice people.  Youngest 35, oldest 73, just two ladies and a group of 8 guys from the Thames Ditton area raising money for Prostate Cancer UK.

On the Sunday morning we all cycled the 6 miles to Lands End for the obligatory photo at the signpost and then we were on our way in glorious sunshine.

I’d chosen the 14 over the 10 day tour not only because the lack of training but since I also wanted a more relaxed journey and time to enjoy the adventure. It’s still an average of 70 miles a day and Peak Tours have tweaked the route over the years to stay off main roads and use country lanes and incorporate cycle paths.

We had been warned the first two days, despite being short in terms of mileage, were going to be hard with lots of short climbs and by the end of day 2 we were 130 miles in, taken two ferries, gained 11,500’ elevation and were out of Cornwall into Devon and across Dartmoor.

With the exception of the Americans and the Irishman, over the next 3 days we were all into uncharted territory with regard to the number of consecutive days cycling and aches, pains and niggles became the subject of breakfast conversation. The route took us out of Devon, across the Somerset levels past Glastonbury Tor, the Cathedral at Wells, across the Clifton suspension bridge and over the Mendips. We crossed the Severn bridge into Cymru with a rendition of Land of My Fathers' ('Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau') for the Welsh boys and yes it rained for the first time! We continued up the beautiful Wye valley past Tintern Abbey, overnight in Monmouth and into Herefordshire and Shropshire (stunning countryside).

I was settling into and revelling in a slower pace of life and simple routine; cycle, eat, sleep (oh, and drink, with a different, local real Ale every day). The days were broken into manageable 15 to 20 mile quarters; breakfast to morning brew van, to lunch (usually a pub), to afternoon brew van and on to dinner and overnight accommodation.

Day 6 and 7 were both hard days of 82 and 72 miles respectively, taking us out of Shropshire, through Cheshire (weaving between Liverpool and Manchester) and ending at Lancaster University. Unfortunately, we lost a rider on Day 6 who had a bad spill on a fast descent in the rain and broke his shoulder and ended up in Shrewsbury Hospital A&E.

Four of us made Day 7 even harder by including a Park Run at Phoenix Park (near Runcorn) even before we started cycling for the day.  We rode together to catch up, hampered by 18 mph head winds and heavy rain showers on a route that included part of the tough bike course for Ironman Bolton (being held the next day) which I did 10 years ago in 2013.

The next two days were again made tougher by the continuing rain and high westerly winds. On Sunday we travelled from Lancaster up to Penrith (62 miles) on the East side of the Lake District National Park, missing perhaps the best of the Cumbrian scenery (i.e., hills) but still with some “lumpy” climbs and dodging rain showers. Great night in Penrith, Tapas and Paella and too much beer. Day 9 was really tiring with cross winds all the way past Carlisle and then as we reached the half way point and the Scottish boarder, the heavens opened! After lunch in Gretna Green, we headed West directly into wind along the Solway Firth before turning North again past Lockerbie to overnight in Moffat (72 miles).

As Billy Connolly said; “There are two seasons in Scotland; June and Winter”

Day 10 on the 4^th July (Independence Day for the yanks with some gentle ribbing and Stars and Stripes at the brew stop) was a day of two halves. It started with a 7.5 mile steady climb out of Moffat passing the source of the river Tweed and then a 20 mile fast descent on the smooth, quiet A701 (absolutely beautiful). We continued along the south of the Pentland Hills to have lunch in Penicuik. Happy Days!

The afternoon was drizzle to start, heavy rain navigating through a busy Edinburgh, biblical rain with lightning going across the Forth Road bridge and finally horizontal rain from car splashes and really cold! Finally reaching Kinross soaking wet after 82 miles.

Thankfully the rain had stopped on Day 11 (another 80 miler) and we had an undulating morning to Perth, over the river Tay past Scone Palace, over the river Isla and on to Blairgowrie. From here we started the gruelling climb to Glenshee Ski resort in the Cairngorms @ 2300’ with legs aching at the top. Relief was a long descent (hitting 40mph) into Braemar then over the Dee, past the Kings (inherited) Scottish residence at Balmoral and into Ballater for beer and a curry!

Touted to be one of hardest but best days of the tour, Day 12 (72 miles) lived up to expectation! Coming on the back of yesterday’s climb, this morning we started climbing straight out of Ballater up to The Lecht, another ski centre even higher at 2300’ this one with a couple of 20% sections. I clocked 50 mph on this descent. Lunch was at Nethy Bridge before cycling through glorious Speyside whisky country down into Inverness.

Day 13 was an easier day after the previous two, cycling alongside the Beauly Firth followed by a steady climb from Dingwell over to Bonar Bridge with super views across the Dornoch Firth. We followed the river Shin (saw Salmon leaping at the falls) up to the Loch at Lairg and finally the isolated Crask Inn (think Slaughtered Lamb in American Werewolf).

The 82-mile route on the final day took us along the banks of both the loch and river Naver to the Atlantic coast at Invernaver, over Betty Hill and then a really hard slog into a 20 mph SE head wind past Dounreay and on to John O Groats in brilliant sunshine. I even had a dip in the North Atlantic. Celebratory photos, evening meal and lots of beer (and the odd dram).

An absolutely brilliant adventure, with some really great people.  I clocked a total of 1006 miles and 61,239’ elevation. What a great two weeks! Peak Tours were excellent, I’d recommend them to anyone and I’m already looking for another tour.

Don’t hesitate to give me a shout if you have any questions or want more details.