AshWarP: LEJOG (End to End) Ride Done - Going Home

Travelling Home from Wick

The LEJOG (End to End) ride completed the night before, it was a strange feeling to be no making plans for setting off to ride our bikes long distances whilst we consumed breakfast.  We figured we still needed to help our bodies to rebuild after the big effort of the last 9 days, so we tucked into yet another big cooked breakfast.  We had been staying in the Norseman Hotel (www.norsemanhotelwick.co.uk) in Wick and there breakfast offering was ample, in a running buffet style, so it seemed rude not to eat heartily.

With the important task of nourishment out of the way, it was just a case of rounding up the gear, which was luckily all dry this time after using the bin liners in the pannier bags.  Packed up and ready to leave and ready to check out of the hotel we decided to have a wander around town and, smart phones in hand, see what options we had for the journey home.  Unlike the car hire to Penzance prior to our departure, we hadn’t decided how we would get home.  We both obviously needed to get home, but with it being a Friday the immediate pressure was off.  Other than the wedding Paul’s was going to attend on the Sunday, we didn’t need to rush home for anything on the weekend (apart from meeting back up with the WAGs).

The Spot in Wick  - Looks Like Just a Toy Shop

We visited the train station in Wick and had a look at our options.  The lady working there was extremely helpful and looked into everything for us.  She even looked at what was going to work best for us, considering we had the bikes, from both a cost and timing point of view.  She seemed to be struggling to get a guaranteed connection at Inverness that would have room for us to put the bikes on.  She suggested us seeking an alternative way of getting the bikes home separately and then our train options would be better.  That sounded like a good plan.  The lady recommend a local toy shop/bike shop that often offered a courier service for the bikes.  Obviously, being one of the larger towns in the area and with a number of accommodation options, Wick seemed to a common place for people riding their cycles End to End to stay.  From that point of view, the locals were all used to seeing cycling tourists and offering them services, help and advice.

We head of to the recommended shop.  It was called “The Spot” and did a large range of toys, models and games along with a range of everyday family cycles.  The man in the shop (Brian) suggested he could do each bike for £50 (fifty pounds), which included both the packing up and shipping of the bike directly to our doors.  We figured that we would need the bikes for a few days when we got home, and tot be fair we both have other bikes if needed, so letting somebody else take care of getting them home seemed like a great idea.  It’s one thing taking the wheels off and putting them in the back of a car, it’s another thing altogether rushing between connecting trains etc. with a bike in tow.  That bit sorted, we head off back to the train station to sort out our tickets and route home before getting the bikes back to the shop, so that Brian could organise the shipping for us.

On the way back to the train station, Paul suggested we look at splitting our journey between the train and bus an the journey home.  We hadn’t got a final price, but the cost of getting home on the train had been stacking up and considering that we’d already parted with fifty quid to remove the hassle of travelling on public transport with bikes, we needed to consider the cost.  Now that we were on foot and travelling with just our pannier luggage our options did open up a bit.  Paul had a look at the Megabus web site on his phone and reckoned that we could pick one up at Inverness and then get back to Preston (we have a big bus station there - was once the largest terminal in Europe, I think) with perhaps one or two changes on the way.  This seemed like a reasonable plan and would definitely save us a few quid compared to making the entire journey by train.  It probably wasn’t going to be a quick and would involve a bit more stopping, but at least we’d be sat down all the way and could rest a bit as we travelled.  We booked the mega bus online and then went back to the train station to sort out the train from Wick to Inverness.

The bikes dropped off with Brian, the travel arrangements sorted and checked out of the hotel, we set off the get on the train.  It wasn’t going to be too far to the first stop in Inverness and we were going to have a reasonable stop there to wait for the connection with the mega bus.  We picked up supplies at the local co-op and got on our way.  The train journey was fairly pleasant.  The train was pretty quiet and the scenery out of the window was good, but not spectacular.  It was a dry, but not overly bright day at this point and it was interesting to pass through a good number of the towns and villages we’d cycled through the day before.

Once in Inverness the weather had taken a turn for the worse.  We had a bit of time to kill, so we stocked up on more supplies, from another co-op, for the rest of the bus ride into the night and grabbed some reading materials (cycling magazines) to read whilst we were on the move.  However, the supplies this time did include a few cans of the local beer.  As we were walking around the rain was coming into my leaky trainer again.  Now that carrying things wasn’t as much of a problem, I set off to investigate what I could purchase as an alternative, more suitable footwear, in the local shops.  We got settled in another Wetherspoon’s first and it set off alone for a bit to explore.  Fortunately, I discovered the local Sports Direct and was soon in position of a nice pair of ’cut-priced’ Karrimor walking boots.  I returned to the Wetherspoon’s pub to meet up with Paul, had a few beers and dined out of burger and chips again.

We departed from the pub and had small wait outdoors to get on the appropriate Megabus.  I can’t remember too much about the journey on the bus, other than the early scenery.  I suppose because a lot of it was in darkness later on, as I don’t think we got back to Preston until something like three or four in the morning.  We did travel along the A9, which a totally different route to the one we’d cycled and that did afford us nice views of the Cairngorms into the early evening until dusk.  We had a change quite early on at Avimore (I think) and then a bit of a stop on the outskirts of Perth at Broxden Park and Ride.  Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed the alcohol on the bus, so we’d had to stash that in the hold with the luggage!  By the next stop at Glasgow, it was quite late at night and completely dark, so it was a case of trying to rest as much as we could and keep our lift from Preston informed (my girlfriend Rachel) as to how we were progressing.  I can never sleep properly sat upright on public transport.  I do doze a bit, but always feel worse when I wake up.  We were totally shattered at the end of the journey, and it was a great relief and pleasure to see Rachel in the bus station car par in Preston.

Our adventure over Paul and I parted ways at his home on the way back to mine.  It was great to be back, but it was a real anti-climax to be not thinking about were we would next be cycling to.  Oh well, maybe next year we can do something similar?

LEJOG (End to End) Day 3 - The Heart of England

Leg 3 - Royal Wootton Bassett to Ladywood (Birmingham)

Looking back, our cycle though the ‘Heart of England’ was probably my favourite part of the trip in England.  It was a great day, as far as the weather was concerned.  We rode on some historic roads and saw plenty of sights.  It was also a great time for catching up with old friends.  The morning was made very special by having the chance to spend some time riding with my cousin Karl on the run out of Royal Wootton Bassett and up towards Cirencester.  I always had a slight (superstitious) doubt about how we were going to get through the day event free when it was Friday the thirteenth.  However, we had absolutely no problems, and this was one of my best days out cycling if not one of my best days out generally.

We started to feel the ride in our legs now.  The descent down my cousins stairs was a bit tricky.  I eventually opted for coming down sideways to lessen the pain.  The prospect of getting back on the bike now was a bit daunting.  It was a much shorter distance today (about eighty five miles), but still a pretty long one with the panniers and luggage.  I had a very pleasurable evening the night before, and stayed up a little bit late catching up with my cousin considering we were needing to put in a substantial ride day after day.  Fortunately, nobody was needing to rise to early for work.  Karl’s wife only needed to be on the go at about nine, his daughter was off school and he was on our timetable, as he was riding with us.  We had a relative ‘lie-in’ before we got up for another cooked breakfast.  We got the bikes out, took advantage of a fellow cyclist’s track pump and got on our way with the local escort.  It was very sunny, with lovely blue skies, but a little bit chilly to start with.  Surprising, the legs were less painful riding than walking.  That was a great relief.

A Bit More Pressure Before We Go - Nice Track Pump 

Can we not Take This Bike Instead?

We had a route on the back roads up to Cirencester planned, but had a slight blip early on as we met some road works and had to turn back a bit.  We’d seen a road closed sign on our approach, but assumed that getting through on foot or by bike would not be too much of a problem.  However, the workmen were adamant that we could not pass for safety reasons.  It wasn’t too much of a drama, as there was an alternative road not to far back on the way we’d already come.  However, our ‘local guide’ did open himself up to a bit of stick.  He’s already been pushing the pace a bit early on until he realised that we just couldn’t do eighty plus miles at twenty mile per hour with the luggage and we’d have to pace ourselves.  If he wanted to blow out the cobwebs, he needed to wait until his return home without us.  It was strictly fifteen miles per hour for Paul and I, as we didn’t want to blow-up later.

The Cousins Before Departure

The detour was a minor inconvenience, but I am glad to make it.  We would have naturally bypassed a place called Ashton Keynes, and it would have been a pity if we did.  It was a very picturesque little place and the river that ran at the side of the road was crystal clear with lovely little bridges crossing it periodically.  I just regret not stopping, getting the camera out and taking a few snaps.  Soon back on the original track, we carried on up to Cirencester.  Karl accompanied us as far as the East side of the town and the junction of Burford Road and Stow Road and we continued up the A429.  A bid farewell to Cousin Karl and prepared myself for a leg on Fosse Way.  Roman roads can be a little bit disconcerting to ride on.  They’re sometimes so straight that you don’t feel that you are making any progress.  The stretch out of Cirencester was particularly bad, as it was quite undulating too.  

Paul and I ended up being separated for a bit on this stretch.  I think I’d progressed through some traffic lights and he’d been caught when they were on red.  However, I stopped for a natural break and it still seemed a long time before Paul appeared.  When we did eventually meet up again, it turned out that Paul had experienced a little bit of Friday 13th Bad luck and had been on the deck.  He’d stopped on some wet leaves at the side of the road and slipped off when starting off again.  Fortunately there were no injuries (other than hurt pride) and the bike was OK.  However, he’d needed to backtrack a bit, as he’d dropped one of his pannier bags in the fall and hadn’t realised until a passing motorist pointed out the problem.

The Unicorn Hotel - Stow-on-the-Wold

We got to the end of the long, straight road and arrived at Stow-on-the-Wold, we didn’t stop for long, we just had time to have a quick look around and decide the next part of the route.  We decided to head out Eastwards and get away from the A429 for a bit.  As well as the long straight sections it had been pretty heavy with traffic and we hoped to find a road that was less travelled by motorists.  We went a few miles out of our way, but we weren’t concerned as this was going to be one of the shortest days on the entire trip.  We headed along the A436, but knew that we’d need to head back Westwards at some point.  Our new route took us into Oxfordshire for a short while.  We did our usual County border updates here.  However, the roads taking us up to Cirencester had failed to point out that we were entering Gloucestershire, so we’d already missed on of the borders already.  Continuing on, we soon picked up a back road, which linked to the A3400 that was destined for Stratford-upon-Avon.   I’m glad we found this road.  It wasn’t a particularly planned thing, but often the best events aren’t.  It was an extremely picturesque part of the route and relatively traffic free.  We passed through a little village called Long Compton and decided to take a break here.

Ash Checks in at Oxfordshire

Paul at the Oxfordshire Border - What Happened to Gloucestershire?

The road (A3400) heading into Long Compton had bee very pleasant.  The sun was shining, but the arm warmers were still on.  The scenery was very picturesque, not stunning but what some would say is ‘typically English’.

Views from the A3400 in Warwickshire

A View of the Road (A3400) Heading Towards Long Compton

We stopped to get supplies at a little local shop aptly named ‘The Stores’.  Yet again, Paul and I were separated for some time.  We’d decided to enter the shop separately, so that the other person could keep an eye on the bikes.  Paul had gone into the Stores first.  I’d been sat outside in the sunshine, but after a good few minutes I was confused as to why could be taking so long.  I had a quick look through the window and could see the shop staff talking to a lady with a baby, I presumed this was causing the hold up.  However, the lady came out the shop and somebody who had entered after Paul also did.  This didn’t seem right.  I’m sure it had been more than ten minutes now.  Had Paul been abducted?  A few minutes later Paul reappeared outside, clutching a few more supplies (the usual chocolate bars by the dozen), which included a freshly made sandwich.  After the ’where the heck have you been/what the heck have you been doing?’ conversation, it became apparent that the lovely old ladies working in the shop had disappeared into their kitchen to make Paul a sandwich by special request when it transpire they didn’t have any on first asking.  After this delay, I though better of going through the same thing again with them.  They had been very helpful and accommodating, but I though I’d just grab a few bits of fruit, cakes and flapjacks etc.

Long Compton in Warwickshire

'The Stores' in Long Compton

We continued tracking back North-Westerly and on our run up to Stratford (upon-Avon).  This wasn’t the final destination for the day, but was one of the key points.  We passed though Shipston-on-Stour and (I think) inadvertently came off the A3400 for a bit as we passed over (crossed) Fosse Way.  We travelled though Ilmington and then got back on our initial road choice for the last section up to Stratford.  We didn’t need a stop in Stratford, but it would be a shame to stop in such an historical place without having a look around.  I’d been in this part of the country before, but I’m fairly I’d never been to Stratford before that day.

Paul Updates Followers on Facebook in front of Shakey

Paul Surveys His Surroundings in Stratford-upon-Avon

In Stratford-upon-Avon, we had a brief stop to update our social network followers, and this happened right next to the Gower Memorial, which has a statue showing Shakespeare seated on top of it.  I took the chance to photograph the views of other tourist enjoying the area generally and specifically the river.

Paul Paying Homage to Shakespeare 

In Stratford-upon-Avon, we had a brief stop to update our social network followers, and this happened right next to the Gower Memorial, which has a statue showing Shakespeare seated on top of it.  I took the chance to photograph the views of other tourist enjoying the area generally and specifically the river.  Even though it was only a fleeting visit, we did feel like we had time to soak up some of the atmosphere and history.  The views of the river, and people boating on it, were particularly satisfying.

A View of the River Avon in Stratford

To some extent, it was reverse tourism.  We knew where we needed to get to, and roughly the direction, but each day we would decide the route as we rode along.  This meant that before we left Preston we hadn’t considered that we would be passing through Stratford and what we might see when we got there.  Most of what I know about the places of interest on the route have been learned since we completed the ride and returned how, rather than the usual sightseer’s way of planning what you might look at first.

Gower Memorial, Stratford-upon-Avon (statue showing Shakespeare seated)

We just had to accept that with the limited time we had (eight or nine days, ten at the most) the primary focus of the trip would have to be the cycling and anything else we stopped and saw along the way would be a bonus.  Taking this into account, we were very lucky with what we did eventually see.  We may not have stopped anywhere long, and we may not have ventured off the road, but we did enjoy a lot along the way.  Whichever way you look at it, touring by bike give you much more chance to see things as compared to travelling by car.  Things don’t pass you by too fast to even notice them when you are touring on a bicycle.

Tourists and Local Enjoying the Area on a Lovely Spring Day

We left Stratford using the A3400 again, and we passed “The Saxon Sanctuary“ of Saint Peter’s in Wootton Wawen.  It was another quick fuel stop for Paul (more chocolate no doubt) whilst I took the opportunity for some more ancient building photography.  By this point, I’d started taking some flak from Paul about my apparent interest in the architecture of old churches, abbeys and monasteries.  Undeterred, I continued to capture these land marks to further study on our return home.  We were creating some great memories along the way, but it was nice to capture some of them digitally.  It was also good to be able to be able to send some of these views home people who we interested in tracking us on our little journey.

The last section of the day pushed us along from the North of Warwickshire and into the heart of one of the largest cities in England.  We still had the rural feel for quite some time and passed through places such as Henley-in-Arden (also known as simply Henley), before hitting the big Metropolis at the back end of rush hour on a Friday evening.  It was quite a contrast, but still a great adventure in a different way.  We sped into the city with the rest of the traffic easily having only ridden a mere eighty five miles on this day.

Passing through Henley-in-Arden - a small town in Warwickshire

In a similar way to how I’d been in frequent contact with my cousin the day before trying to organise our arrival at his home, it was Paul’s turn today to keep in touch with his friend Dave (known as Dufus - I still don’t know why).  It turned out that that Dave was Paul’s ex Brother in Law.  They had previously married two sisters and Paul’s was the only marriage that had lasted.  Dave’s  marriage hadn’t lasted, however, the friendship with Paul had.  Dave greeted us, and I must admit I was slightly concerned at the time.  Paul had exclaimed something along the lines of, “hello my darling” when Dave appeared, and I wondered just how close these two guys where.  However, my fears soon subsided, as I realised that Paul was speaking to his wife on the phone at the very same moment as Dave had come out of his flat to meet us.





We were treated to a rather large meal of home made lasagne at Dave’s with garlic read and a rather strong red wine.  Dave was a professional cook and, as it turned out a keen collector (and consumer of) strong red wines.  I believe the one we had was in the region of 15% by volume.  Freshened up and suitably stuffed the very generous helpings, we decided to venture into the city for a few drinks as it was the start of the weekend.  Dave’s place was within walking distance of the centre, which was a bonus.  After visiting a local pub, we move on to the town and a few bars on the main socialising area of ’Broad Street’.  A checked in at home, and my girlfriend knew of the area, when I mentioned where we were, so it was too late to pretend that we were having a quite night in.  We had a good night, nothing too crazy, but hectic enough considering we were in the middle of a cycling marathon.  After a few beers we headed back, but we couldn’t switch off straight away as Dave insisted we had a night cap.  Apparently, single malt whiskeys was also one of his hobbies and specialist subjects.  Possibly not the best way to counter dehydration, but enjoyable all the same.

A Nightcap at Dave's

The following day we had to ride a reasonably straight forward leg back to Preston, our home, our friends and our families.  Hopefully this was going to be OK as our bodies dealt with the alcohol?

LEJOG (End to End) Day 1 - Cornwall into Devon

LEJOG Leg 1 - Land's End to Sourton Cross (Okehampton)

We arose on the Wednesday morning eager to get going, the weather was cool (not cold) and it looked like there had been quite a bit of rain in the night, but things were drying out.  There looked to be a fair breeze, but thankfully whilst not the Westerly we'd been hoping for it seemed to be North Westerly.  This mean we'd have it on our tails and left shoulders.

The Famous LAND END Sign

Our night (before) in St Just had consisted of the most expensive fish and chip dinner ever, followed by a couple of beers in the pub attached to our accommodation (The Commercial Hotel - www.commercial-hotel.co.uk).  The Hotel was good and we just psyched ourselves up for the (very) long ride ahead.  We also got connected on Facebook, as we planned to use our Social Media accounts to keep friends, colleagues and loved ones up to date about our journey.  It had been somewhat of an afterthought, but we both had set up sponsorship web pages so that we could hopefully raise a little bit of money, for our respective charities, along the way.

The Bikes (mine on the left) Looked Ready to go Too

We’d both slept OK and had been suitably fed (with full cooked breakfast) prior to leaving The Commercial.  We packed everything we’d needed for the previous evening into our pannier bags, checked the tyre pressures etc. and embarked on the first short leg to the official start line.  The journey was about 6 miles from St Just to Land’s End and surprisingly the bike with luggage seemed much more responsive and manageable to me compared with the night before.  Hopefully this meant that it was going to be easier than I’d been slightly worrying about the previous evening.




It was pretty quiet in the area and the tourist attraction side of Land's End hadn't really got going at that time in the morning.  There were a few locals around, who appeared to be working on a roof and that was about it.  On the downside there was nobody around to help us with the photography (thankfully modern digital cameras have timers on them for self portraits), but on the plus side there wasn’t anybody around to charge us for anything related to our visit.

Ash Ready to Leave Land's End - Only 874 Miles to go

Paul and His Trusty Steed Before the Off

A Quick Self Portrait on The Timer with Camera on the Rocks

We rode away from the sign and into the main tourist area of Land’s End had a quick look around and another brief stop for picture taking and then we were on our way properly.  The sun was shining and we were feeling pretty optimistic about the journey ahead.  We got on our way properly at 09:23 am on Wednesday 11/04/2012.

The Tourist Stuff at Land's End (Penn-An-Wlas)

Ash Posing Before Leaving Lands End

Our plan for the first day’s riding was to stay to the main routes in Cornwall.  Whilst there was an opportunity to take in some nice scenery by moving off the beaten track we were worried about potentially dragging the journey out by traversing heavy and undulating roads whilst we were just feeling our way with the heavy bikes with luggage.  This meant that we’d mainly be on the A30 for most of the day.  The A30 turned out to be a pretty well maintained, smoothed surfaced road.  However, on the downside, it became progressively busier as we travelled further East.  Whilst there wasn’t a cycle path there was an area on the outside of the white line marking the edge of the road that could be ridden on.  I avoided doing this most of the time for fear of the debris on this part on this part of the tarmac, whilst Paul used it more often than not.  I was a bit wary as, whilst we were both using decent Winter tyres, neither of us had anything wider or heavier duty than we’d have normally been sporting at that time of year.

Views of the Cornish Countryside from the A30

Paul Pulling into the Lay-by to Meet Me 

As far as the riding was concerned, we’d come to an agreement that we’d ride at our own pace and ensure that we had regular meet ups.  We’d done a similar thing on a Sportive ride we did the previous Autumn and this seemed to work out OK.  Sometimes it is very hard work riding at somebody else’s pace (either slower or faster than you’d want to be going) even it is only 1 mph different.  It also meant that whilst we rode together quite often, we were very rarely drafting (i.e. riding in each other’s slipstream to save some energy).  I think we both felt that this was cheating a bit and that it would meant that we weren’t riding under ‘our own steam’.

Pleasant Skies above the A30

The riding in the gutter approach proved to be a problem on the first leg for Paul.  He punctured within the early part of the ride.  However, he was convinced that he’s hit a reflector embedded in the tarmac when moving from the road to the edge of the tarmac rather than hitting a stone or any other debris.  We had spare tubes a plenty, so doing a quick change (even on the rear wheel) wasn’t a problem.  What was a problem was the fact that both our bike pumps couldn’t deliver enough pressure.  This was especially worrying when we had the extra weight of the back end.  We tried with both Paul’s and my pump and got as much air into the tyre as we could, but it couldn’t have been much more than 60 psi (our tyres would normally be inflated to circa 100psi).  We soldiered on and aimed for Bodmin to take a lunch stop and see if we could acquire a new pump, or at least borrow one to get Paul’s tyre back up to pressure.  The frustrating thing was that one of Paul’s stolen bikes had a pump on it than was more than up to the job.

Saint Petroc Parish Church - Bodmin

We rode into Bodmin past the Saint Petroc Parish Church and had a look around for a bike shop.  We found a mountain bike sales and hire place (Bodmin Bikes - www.bodminbikes.co.uk) and the guy there was very helpful, but unfortunately he‘d nothing to attain the pressures we needed.  We found a little café on a pedestrianised street and had another fairly substantial meal, even though a very large breakfast had been consumed not too many hours earlier.  We were conscious that we were going to be burning a lot of calories pedalling all that distance with the extra weight and we were sure we didn’t want our bodies to run out of fuel.

Substantial Lunch - Even After a Big Breakfast!

Paul Leaving Bodmin Heading for Halfords

We had a relatively leisurely meal and pondered our options for the journey to the nights accommodation and a likely place to get more air into Paul’s rear tyre.  We got on our way and headed to a Halfords at the edge of the town.  Paul also seemed to experiencing some trouble with the screws on his cleats at this point and as he was using the two screw SPD cleats (as opposed to the three I had on my Look ones), so loosing a screw was going to pose a problem.  Neither of us had thought to bring any spare screws, something that I would always ensure I had on any future long distance bike rides I embark on.  Whilst the man at Halfords didn’t sell SPD pedals, he was more accommodating and he managed to fix Paul up with a new screw and some more air in the tyre.

Windswept Trees by the A30 in Cornwall

We continued our journey onwards towards Devon.  The roads were still very good and noticeably better than those of Lancashire and the North West of England.  After many miles of riding already, we hadn’t seen a single pothole.  The rest of the days riding was pleasant, but relatively uneventful.  The weather stayed fair and we saw quite a bit of sunshine.

Paul Updating Our Followers on Facebook

On arrival at the signs denoting the border between the two counties (Cornwall and Devon) we started a ritual that would remain for the rest of the journey, or at least when passing into new counties that weren’t too near home and overly familiar.  The novelty also wore off a bit when we got into the second week!  We would stop for a small break, take a few snapshots, Tweet them and/or upload them to Facebook.  Again, for those interested back at home they could see were we had travelled to in real-time.  I pondered that this was something that only riders making the journey in recent years would have been able to do.  We got a few ’Likes’ & ’Retweets’ and then we were bake on the road again.

Ash at the Devon Border Control

We got to the end of the day’s journey well before nightfall, we’d been on the road for about nine hours in total and had been riding for just over six hours.  We had a brief stop on the run in to Sourton Cross, the location of the Travelodge we were aiming for, which was just South of Oakhampton.  The approach was very straight forward, it was a motel just off the A30, so there weren’t any problems finding it.  A had a bit of a wander round after we’d checked in and freshened up.  There wasn’t to much around a I was trying to figure out where we could eat later that evening that would be within reasonable walking distance.

Views from the Travelodge Car Park

We’d travelled about ninety five miles on the first leg of our LEJOG, but taking into consideration the six we’d done in the morning before the start, this was our first hundred mile ride with luggage and we’d got through it!  We made a few phone calls to people back at home and eventually headed across the A30 to a pub for an evening meal.  It was a crisp clear night and we ended up refuelling at the Prewley Moor Arms (www.prewleymoorarms.co.uk).  The pub and meal were both pleasant, but perhaps a little expensive for a couple of low-budget travellers like ourselves!  I can recommend the Isotonic Sport drinks on offer there.  I partook in the consumption of a couple of pints of the ‘Jail Ale’.  It was just the tonic after a long day in the saddle.

Sunset Seen from the Motel

Maybe not quite Lucozade but the Local Beer 'Jail Ale' is Recommended

One day down with a few minor worries but no major concerns and we both seemed to be feeling fit.  Paul had felt a few twinges from his back, but nothing to feel too bothered about.  Our legs felt OK, bbut how they would be the following morning was another question altogether.  The next leg of the journey was going to be a very long one.  Relatively speaking we were going well out of our way to go and visit my cousin and it was going to be not only the longest ride we'd done with the extra weight, it was going to be the longest distance either of us had ridden in one day before.

LEJOG (End to End) Before the Ride - Preparation

Preparing for Paul’s and Ash’s LEJOG Challenge

Unfortunately, only a few days before the ride Paul had his bikes stolen from outside where he lives and this left him without anything to ride.  Time was very short for sorting out an alternative and it seemed unlikely that the stolen bikes would be retrieved in time, if at all.  The only bit of luck he had was that he’d previously passed on an older bike to one of our club mates, and he was still refurbishing it to sell.  Paul took the decision to abort the sale and get the bike back.  It seemed less risky to be doing a long distance bike ride on a bike he’d owned and ridden before, compared to having to borrow or purchase one with an unfamiliar set-up.  Paul had already been experiencing a bit of back pain on the run up to April, so we were worried about anything that would exacerbate the situation.

Last Minute Fixes

The weekend leading up to our Land’s End to John O’Groats was the final chance for any preparation.  We’d been using the bikes we were going to be taking most of the time, so putting things like the pannier racks on was left to the last minute.  They weren’t something I particularly wanted to be carrying around for any longer than really necessary.  I was going to be using my everyday training bike for the LEJOG, so the panniers weren’t being added until the eleventh hour.  This was perhaps a little bit risky, as it wouldn’t give me much chance for testing or becoming accustomed to the extra weight and different balance.  My bike didn’t have any lugs on the frame or forks that would normally be used for clamping on things like mudguards or pannier racks, so I had to improvise with ‘P’ clips.

Most of my new equipment for the ride hade been purchased from various sellers on Ebay.  I was taking the view that pannier set up was only going to be for the End to End ride and I’d be removing it on my return.  This meant that I was trying to strike a balance between something that would last the duration without giving me any problems and something that would be expensive and last for a long time.  I took the view that as long as the pannier rack was stable I shouldn’t need to spend a lot of money for something that needed to be sufficient for only about two weeks and a thousand miles.

The only slight problem with my approach was that I didn’t really have any time for tweaking the set up.  I fixed the pannier rack to the bike and this seemed stable.  Although, with the ‘P’ clip attachments, I didn’t have much room for manoeuvre as far as it position was concerned.  I’d opted for the cheaper end of the market and purchased a set of Twin Pannier Bags that were fixed together and draped over the rack.  I think I’d only paid about ten pounds for them.  They certainly seemed durable enough and I was happy with them, but weren’t watertight.  The real downside was that I discovered that my heel clipped the bottom corner of them, due to the very square design.

I didn’t have too much time and a solution needed to be found.  I couldn’t ride that distance with my heels clipping the pannier bags on every pedal stroke.  The conclusion was that I needed to lift the bags up and possibly back a little bit without moving the rack.  I am a bit of a hoarder, so I ended up rummaging through everything I’d accumulated in my garage over a couple of decades and came up with a rectangular plastic window box (for flowers or plants) that was near enough the same width and length as the top of the rack.  I commenced drilling holes in the bottom of the box to allow me to attach it to the rack with cable ties.  Once attached, I had a quick test and the extra three or four inches in height was enough to lift the front corners of the bags away from my heels.  The only problem was that I had now covered the spring loaded clamp, so had now way of holding down the flap that joined the left and right bags.  I bit more rummaging in the garage and I came up with a short bungee rope that would hopefully do the job.  It was all a bit ‘(William) Heath Robinson’, but it did the job.  By good fortune rather than good design, I ended up with some extra storage space and the bungee rope that acted as a nice place to clip my gloves when I was taking out my phone, wallet or camera.

Ash's LEJOG Bike with Pannier Rack and Window Box

A Closer View of the Window Box Attachment

Booking our LEJOG Transport and Accommodation

We’d decided to make the popular South to North journey and had taken a view that we’d only plan and commit to the first half of the route that would take us back to our home town (city) of Preston and a night in our own homes.  We’d been fortunate enough to get a couple of invites to stay with friends and family on the way.  This meant a slight adjustment to the route (travelling further East than normal) that would mean we wouldn’t be passing near or through Bristol.

Our plan was to pick up a hire car the day before the ride, load the bikes in and drive it (one way) to the nearest place to Land’s End that the car hire company had an branch.  This turned out to be Penzance.  We’d accepted that there wasn’t much available in Land’s End itself in April, as far as accommodation was concerned, so we booked a night in a hotel at St. Just a few miles away from the start.  This meant that we’d need to ride from the car hire office to the hotel the night before and from the hotel to Land’s End on the day prior to officially starting the End to End ride.

Our plan was as follows:

• Leg 1 - Land's End to Sourton Cross (Okehampton) - 11/04/2012
• Leg 2 - Sourton Cross (Devon) to (Royal) Wootton Bassett - 12/04/2012
• Leg 3 - Royal Wootton Bassett to Ladywood (Birmingham) - 13/04/2012
• Leg 4 - Ladywood (Birmingham, West Midlands) to Walton le Dale (Preston) - 14/04/2012
• Leg 5 - Preston to somewhere near the border of Scotland [RVCRC A Ride] - 15/04/2012 

Before the Official LEJOG Ride

We’d decided to make the journey unsupported, which meant that we had to carry everything we needed in our pannier bags.  However, we were not camping (yeah!), so we didn’t need to pack a tent, sleeping bag, etc.  I got everything together and the rough weight of kit came to about 18 lbs (pounds).  Considering that there was a bit of weight in the pannier rack itself and my bike normally came in at about 21 lbs (pounds), this meant that are bikes with kit were approximately twice as heavy as they normally were when we rode them.

Ash's Pannier Bags and Full Kit for the LEJOG Ride

The ride from the car hire company Penzance branch to the hotel on the night before our LEJOG challenge was a bit of an eye opener and a slight concern.  Stupidly I’d practised riding the bike with the rack and the pannier bags attached, but they hadn’t previously been packed with any of my kit in.  I found the eight mile journey quite difficult and felt like the bike was swinging about all over the place when I stood up out of the saddle to climb some of the Cornish hills.  I was more than a bit concerned as the day after we needed to cover more than ten times this distance!


Anyway, it was too late to change anything now.  I would just need to get used to things!