LEJOG - random bonus blog post

A big thanks to Lizzie for Tracy's 50th birthday present. She stopped by today with her hand drawn picture, inspired by our exploits in cake consumption. A lovely souvenir of our adventure. Will be taking pride of place in our lounge.

LEJOG 2024 - a reflection

So it's been a week since we finished our trip, so we figured it was time to take stock and reflect on our adventure.

Positives: Tracy was pleasantly surprised at how much she enjoyed the trip and that her body coped with the mental and physical demands over so many days, although her bottom is not so sure. Dan was pleased and surprised that we didn't fall out.

Cake.

Another one of the highlights was the people that we met along the way - certainly the LEJOG jerseys helped spark conversation. We wish that we had two each, so that we could have worn them every day. We do regret not taking pictures of the people that we chatted with, since they were such an important part of our days. 

Hula hoops.

Our favourite places included Cornish coasts and villages, the hidden Luxulyan valley, top of the Mendips, the Wye valley, the Yorkshire fells and the Scottish Highlands, during the 5 minutes that it wasn't raining.

Writing the blog was also a highlight of the trip. Thanks to everyone who followed our story and commented either on Facebook or the blog itself. We really enjoyed doing it and the motivational messages that we received, seemingly reading our exploits became part of many people's routines. Cheesecake is still a cake though. 

Negatives: Tracy claims that my incessant toilet stops were infuriating - about five for every one of hers. If she wants to discuss slowing us down...

Tracy got saddle sore. I didn't, not sure why. Might be saddle height, luck or the fact that I used udder cream.

At an average of 65 miles each day, there wasn't enough downtime - it was an enjoyable ride, but we didn't really get to do anything else each day. Next trip will be more of a sight-seeing tour connected by riding.

Other bits: The national cycle route was fabulous- mostly traffic free and takes you to some beautiful places. Worth checking out locally. The only times that we had issues on our route was when we had to divert from them, sometimes you can't avoid the A roads (looking at you Scotland). However, if you plan your timings, you can mitigate. We hit the busy part of the A9 at Dornoch on a Sunday afternoon, hoping it would be quieter then. The Highland festival that we passed probably didn't help with traffic though! Best laid plans and all that...

The subject of busy roads brings up the subject of the kill count - dead things spotted on our travels. The list includes:

27 birds (various types)

2 foxes

2 deer (one very flat)

1 badger

1 stoat/weasel (not good on deceased mustelid family classification)

1 frog (inflated)

1 sheep (not Shaun or shorn)

1 Hare (or v large rabbit)

2 Rabbits (or 3 if one disguised as hare)

5 squirrels (squiggled)

2 hedgehogs

1 rat

1 mouse (indeterminate type)

1 mole (smaller than you expect)

Weather makes a massive difference - we started in a heatwave in Cornwall and finished with thunderstorms in Scotland. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have left the storm shelter behind in Bristol, saying "we won't need that". We started early almost every day - it makes such a psychological difference getting the miles in before lunch. The day we didn't, was the nightmare day 12. We knew that the bad weather was coming in, but prioritised a lie in and breakfast, due to our late finish the night before. We should have stuck to our plan and been guided by the weather forecast, rather than our desires.

Hostels - do have useful facilities that we were rather poor at using. We did use the drying rooms in Scotland, but not the self catering kitchens. We could have saved some money by cooking ourselves rather than having to eat out (such hardships). We also discovered that the availability dates for English hostels were released later than Scottish ones. We could have used more of them if we had booked later.

Would we do this again? - absolutely!

Loved the cycling and need to reduce the miles a bit, but in the future, we are looking at cycling:

Slovenia

Croatia 

Ireland 

France

Yorkshire/ Lake District

Pacific cycle route

Whatever our next adventure is, we will be blogging it! 

Thanks for following our adventure. 

Dan + Tracy

LEJOG day 15

The alarm went off at 4am on the last day of our trip. It was Tracy's 50th birthday and she was determined to milk it for all it was worth, hence the early start. 

Tracy's first 50th birthday card

We had decided to get on the road early to avoid as much of the forecasted rain and 40 mph winds as possible. We had also changed the route, opting for the most direct, A9 then A99 through Wick, missing out Thurso and the Northern coastline altogether. In our haste to depart, we left our lunch behind in the fridge! It was a shame to cut short our stay at Helmsdale as it was our favourite accommodation of the whole trip.

On leaving Helmsdale we immediately hit a 2.5  mile long climb. Luckily, Tracy had stealthily made and consumed coffee in the communal kitchen, so her legs were actually awake, completing the hill with no rest stops at all. Continuing along the undulating coast we encountered the longest downhill of our trip at Berriedale followed by a 10% climb. Tracy surprised both herself and me by tackling it in short order.

Down this hill and up to this viewpoint 

The winds got stronger and the rain was harder the closer we got to Wick, but undaunted, we arrived at the town at 9am.

We stopped at the Bridge cafe in Wick to re-caffeinate and refuel. Tracy had a delicious bacon roll and I opted for beans on toast - proper comfort food for the weather.

We checked Google maps which confirmed that we only had 16 miles to go, mostly flat. This raised our spirits immensely and we felt almost like we were racing to the finish line. The sign for John o Groats read 3 miles and despite a tail wind those last miles seemed to take forever.

Caithness is full of...

...nothing. (a cleaner version of what I actually said at the time)

We passed the village sign and onwards to the visitor centre and the obligatory photograph at the signpost. This was the hardest part of the morning, having to co-opt a passer by as official photographer, whilst we removed waterproof layers in the driving wind and rain , so our LEJOG jerseys were on display. Our discomfort is in no way obvious in the pictures!

So happy to have finished

Then off to the cafe for the last (but not really) cake of the trip and double coffees. A well earned rest and a change into dry clothes and we felt more human again.  Tracy was still buzzing from the achievement rather than the caffeine an hour later when we walked the bikes to the Seaview hotel, where we were being picked up by a bike-taxi at 3 pm.

Tracy thought that this was the last cake of the day

On the way up we encountered the 3 LEJOGers that we had met in Whalley, just about to complete their adventure. High fives and selfies all round and we were all grinning like Cheshire cats.

Ray, who we met in Yorkshire

The Seaview hotel, like most properties in Caithness, looks very tired and weathered from the outside, but a cosy welcoming bar awaited inside. We had lunch, the ubiquitous veggie burger for me and a steak and ale pie, which seemingly contained a whole cow, for Tracy.

Gavin, our taxi driver from Inverness arrived early at 2:30pm. We soon had our bikes loaded and were on our way South once more, making short work of the miles that we had worked so hard to cover this morning. The sun finally showed itself, transforming the bleak surroundings, as they appeared to us this morning, into colourful rolling countryside and impressive coastlines.

The three of us chatted all the way to Inverness, apart from Tracy, who had a brief nap, once the caffeine ran out and the celebratory cider from lunch kicked in. Gavin is an interesting guy, well educated, having travelled the world in various jobs. He was also an avid cyclist, having developed a passion for bike touring to escape his troubled home life as a 14 year old. He told us with a wry smile, "I used to just ride up the West coast for days at a time. Nobody knew where I was, I had nae money, but would blag it. I can't believe now that I used to do that"

He dropped us off at the Inverness hostel (I had decided to treat Tracy on her 50th birthday, by pulling out all the stops).

A quick video call with our bickering children at home before thankfully having to cut it short to go to the Italian restaurant in Inverness for dinner. They may still be arguing now for all we know.

What Tracy didn't know was that we were being met by friends from home, Jannise and Ross, who now live about an hour from Inverness. The look on Tracy's face was priceless - she was surprised and delighted.

We enjoyed our time together and an excellent dinner, before the staff brought out the actual final cake of the trip. Jannise had made a stunning 50th birthday cake, which brought tears of laughter to all at our table. It was also delicious.

A work of baking art.

Those that know, know

The evening felt so short, with our friends dropping us off at the hostel, with promises of us coming back up to visit soon.

Today was a good day to be on the saddle. Actually today was just a good day to be alive. 

Distance travelled: 51 miles

Elevation: 2954 ft

Cake of the day: Shed cake (thanks to Jannise who must have spent hours on it).

Tracy whinge factor: 0/10 (a bundle of positivity today)

Total distance: 1018 miles (we did it!)

We intend to do one final post after we return, to collate our thoughts, reflections and tips on our trip 

We're done!

 

Finished about 11:30. Today's blog will follow later.

LEJOG day 14

An early start this morning to get us the best part of 90 miles to Helmsdale. We crept out of the Lochside hostel, at 6 am leaving the young revellers to sleep off their inevitable hangovers. This was the first early start for a few days and it seemed to affect Tracy quite badly.

Sun rise from our hostel window

Loch Ness from the back of the hostel

Her mood was low, her pace was snail and I was worrying if we would finish the route before midnight. We proceeded sloth like along the bank of the loch, no Nessie in sight. Every undulation slowed Tracy's pace further and at one point we were passed by a walker with a Zimmer frame.

We hit the steepest, longest hill that we have encountered since Devon and it was definitely time to use the lowest gear once more. Tracy found an even lower gear, walk incredibly slowly, stopping seemingly every 10 steps. I was very concerned. We eventually reached the summit, where I virtually force fed her chocolate and tunnocks caramel wafer bites. She recovered somewhat on the downhill to Beauly. We got a coffee from a petrol station. Suddenly Tracy came back to life. It seems that she has a problem.

My name is Tracy Mitchell and I am a caffeine addict!

From then on she was back to her normal self and our pace picked up through the day so that we averaged 11mph, one of our quickest days.

Cake themed bollard covers...

... crocheted in Dingwall...

...to mark the arrival of the queen of cake!

We continued on through various villages before stopping in Tain, for a romantic lunch of a Tesco meal deal, whilst sat in the carpark on a yellow salt bin. We were stalked by a persistent seagull, desperate for scraps. He was disappointed.

We crossed the Dornoch firth on the A9, a busy road, but not so bad on a Sunday afternoon. The further north that we went, the lighter the traffic became.

Dornoch firth

It's a sign I tell you!

We stopped at Golspie where possibly the last public toilets in the UK are to be found. The seagull was back. Definitely the same one.

The hostel at Helmsdale is beautiful. An old school gym with high ceilings and lovingly refurbished. We received a warm welcome from Marie, the manager. she even provided us with shower gel and flannels to remove the bike-chain oil stains from our legs.

We ate at the local fish and chips restaurant, where Tracy attempted to eat a haddock that was perhaps the size of the fabled Nessie.

A small Haddock apparently. Tracy was up to the challenge!

Marie told us about her trip on the Pacific coast cycle route from San Francisco to Mexico. Now there's a possibility for our next adventure...

For now though, we are more concerned with the strong winds and rain arriving in the morning. We are going for a super early start to avoid the worst of it. Tracy might remember to wear her waterproof coat this time, but therein lies another story.

Distance travelled: 88 miles 

Elevation: 4374 ft

Cake of the day: Mint choc chip cupcake from Spar (slim pickings today)

Tracy whinge factor: 2/10 (all in the first 90 minutes)

Total distance: 967 miles

LEJOG Day 13

A short day to the Lochside hostel at Loch Ness. Only 40 miles and mostly off road. Hopefully an easier time than yesterday!

We started with a well deserved lie in. No alarm and Tracy didn't wake up until 8am. Almost missed breakfast!

We left the hostel at 10 am and went straight to Nevis bikes, where they sorted out Tracy's pannier rack. We also bought a new back light as we mislaid one the day before. I expect that it will turn up somewhere in the bottom of a bike bag when we get home.

We continued on the NC 78 from Loch Linnhe, up Neptune's staircase (a series of locks) onto the Caledonian canal. The weather was ok, a light tailwind and a few showers, so we made excellent progress on the flat route.

Neptune's staircase - Locks on the Lochs

We continued onto the great glen way, on the shore of Loch Lochy (lazy naming here guys). Mostly a good riding surface, but I had already warned Tracy that one section we would need to get off and push. It turns out that there was a diversion in place to avoid construction work, so despite going uphill a bit more, we could actually ride it all.

The construction work is for a pumped storage facility, part of the green energy drive in Scotland. I told Tracy all about how it worked. She was obviously thrilled.

We met a solo walker, Eddie, who was hiking the whole of the great glen way over 6 days. We chatted about our shared misfortunes with the weather the previous day, before taking our separate routes.

Continuing on the Caledonian canal, to Loch Oich (I could be making these names up you wouldn't know) we diverted onto the road due to forestry work. This was not ideal, but we picked up the pace as we were well overdue coffee and cake.

Locks at Fort Augustus 

We ended up at the Boathouse restaurant, in Fort Augustus , overlooking Loch Ness (the only one that you actually know). We had coffee and decided to wait 20 mins for the kitchen to open so we could have tea. We both chose different stews - warming comfort food.

We were treated to a view of a rainbow and probably a seal.

Tracy "Is that a seal'

Tracy "No, I think it's a dog"

Dan "No that's a seal"

Tracy, whilst trying to take a picture "Oh, it's gone now. Typical. Well, if it was a dog it's drowned" She has a dark side.

Seal/dog had departed/drowned

We only had 10 miles left to go. A quick detour to the Spar shop, mostly to pick up cake, as Tracy by this point was having withdrawal symptoms, ended with a long chat with Jonny from Cornwall. A cycling enthusiast and now a resident of these parts we had quite a chat about routes etc. He said that LEJOG is on his bucket list, but has always been put off by the roads. Apart from yesterday, our route hasn't been too bad in terms of traffic.

A day without cake isn't really a cycling day at all

Tracy and I set off once more in our own personalised style. Me with a dukes of hazard style leap and off we go, Tracy with a very unstylish driving miss daisy approach before changing down from the inevitable wrong gear.

We arrived at the Lochside hostel at 7 pm. Everyone was so welcoming and also about 12. It felt like we were in a student flat or at a teenage birthday party, to make sure things didn't get out of hand. We left them downstairs having a jam session and had a video call with Rosie.

A good day to be in the saddle. An early start I'm the morning, as we have 85 miles to Helmsdale.

Distance travelled: 45 miles

Elevation: 2284 ft

Cake of the day: caramel and cranberry slice

Tracy whinge factor: 0/10

Total distance:  879 miles

LEJoG day 12

Hoping for a shorter day after yesterday's (mis)adventures. We paid for a breakfast at the hostel and whilst tucking in to muesli, marmite toast and orange juice with plenty of coffee, we realised how depressing dry pain au chocolat and hotel room coffee had become.

We set out on what should have been a simple 55 miles and it almost immediately started raining. Uphill to Tyndrum and the Green Welly stop, the wind began to pick up. We received a round of applause from a crowd waiting at the bus stop for our efforts.

Continuing on the A82, we paused at a viewpoint (there was no view) at Loch Tulla, for Tracy to deliver an expletive ridden rant about how much she hates Scotland. As we crossed Rannoc moor and towards Glencoe, the wind picked up to 40mph and the rain was unrelenting (T - it was painful!).  We sought temporary shelter at the Glencoe mountain resort. Coffee and lunch followed by lots of prevarication to delay the inevitable departure. 

Chilli con carne on a cold day

Cake of the day 

On the A roads, I always cycle behind Tracy, acting like an ineffective human shield. Today this meant spray from her back wheel ending up in my face. Today's game was positioning myself in the perfect position to be safe under braking and far enough away to avoid the spray. I lost that game almost continually.

We waited as long as possible for a gap in the weather. When one eventually appeared, Scotland had just baited us - shortly after leaving, the rain and wind picked up once more. The A82 is awful, traffic is unrelenting and no cycle provision - Nicholas don't come this way! The (nonexistent) views of Glencoe are not worth it.

The trouble with technology...

...is that the built-in algorithm...

...makes everything look better than it was.

To be fair, what could be seen of Glencoe was seriously impressive but the energy sapping winds and driving rain just coloured the experience. When you are having to pedal hard just to cycle downhill, you know things are bad.

When sometimes we really need you...

...to understand how much it sucked.

Eventually, we were able to get off the A82 and take a minor road towards  Glencoe village.  At that point the wind started to drop, the rain eased and our moods lifted. This, unfortunately was just a brief respite. The rain returned but this time of apocalyptic proportions. The raindrops actually hurt.

We sought shelter once again in the Gathering at Glencoe inn. The manager informed us that the restaurant was closed, but we could use the bar. We sat dripping in the bar area, Tracy looking particularly forlorn. The barman remarked that she looked shell shocked. 

Once our coffees had had their warming effect, I was keen to get going as we still had 20 miles or so to ride. Tracy wanted to stay put but I was extremely unreasonable and forced her out into the rain (Tracy wrote that last bit). We briefly contemplated booking the nearest hotel, but realised that everything was fully booked.

We had more rain, a few tears and mild hypothermia, before the weather relented and decided to let us live after all. Tracy perked up as warmth returned to her limbs and her brain and we picked up the pace. 

We briefly boarded a ferry to Corran, as it was signposted to Fort William. Indeed, it would have been a better route, as you then ride the North shore of Loch Linnhe, to pick up another ferry to Fort William. The ferry man told us that we wouldn't make the last ferry, so we came straight back. It looks on our Strava route like we popped across the loch for a beer at the inn. The warmth of the ferry allowed us to increase our pace once more and by 6:30 we were in Fort William. We grabbed some food for the hostel and continued on to Glen Nevis, at the foot of the UK'S highest mountain.

The day wasn't done with us yet though. In the last mile, Tracy's pannier rack collapsed. Seemingly two bolts had come loose on our journey. Hopefully we can get that sorted in town tomorrow morning.

The hostel is amazing - better than every accommodation that we have had so far.  Tracy immediately jumped into the ensuite shower and then huddled under the duvet until the warmth had returned to her old lady bones. We finished the day with a beer in the lounge and feeling vaguely human again. 

This was the worst day of cycling that I have ever had. It was possibly the worst day of anything that Tracy has ever had. Tomorrow can only be better.

Distance travelled: 55 miles

Elevation: 2721 ft

Cake of the day: Smarties chocolate tiffin slice 

Tracy whinge factor: 10/10 (but all of it justified)

Total distance: 834 miles

LEJOG day 11

A late start for us at 9am, despite the alarm going off at 5:30, there was mutual and yet unspoken decision to lie around. We used the back up Satnav, as the one yesterday had died from the rain.

Leaving Hamilton - some kind of industrial sculpture 

We picked our way along the slow and winding cycle route from Hamilton, but it got a lot faster once we hit the Clyde. 

David Livingstone bridge

11;30 saw us having coffee and cake at a Costa in the centre of Glasgow.  

Biscoff cheesecake 

Feeling refreshed, we started our way out of Glasgow on a disused railway which had been turned into an excellent cycle track through Clydebank.

Disaster struck as I picked up a puncture! Not a worry as I have spare inner tubes, but soon discovered that my combination of tyres and wheels are a really tight fit. After breaking a tyre lever, nicking two inner tubes, we decided that we needed professional help. Some of you may argue that you already knew that. We phoned a local bike shop and said  that we would be there in about 20 minutes.

My attempt at the worlds slowest puncture repair

Tracy carried my kit, whilst I had my bike on my shoulder. Not a good time for Google maps to start playing up, but it did, so it took a while for us to realise that the guy waving at us from across the road was Paul, the cycle mechanic. The shop, de'ils on wheels, had no signage and was situated in the base of a high-rise.

Paul was a lovely guy, so helpful. The shop specialises in refurbishment of second hand bikes and maintenance. It is also part of a charity that does subsidised repairs for the deprived families of the area. Paul sorted our puncture whilst we grabbed lunch from the local shop. He thoughtfully offered us the use of the loo, saying it's a fair way to Crianlarich! We were now 2hrs behind our (somewhat flexible) schedule.

My bike hits 15000 miles - number of punctures, 1

We bid our farewells and continued on the route to Dumbarton, before heading up the river Leven to Loch Lomond. 

Bowling harbour - since all signs just said "Bowling"...

...we both thought the locals were obsessed with lawn-bowls

By this point it was raining, which further dampened out spirits. We headed to Loch Lomond shores as  we saw on the tourist information map there were toilets and refreshments. Turns out it was a big shopping centre. We found a cafe and figured it now being 4:30, we could grab food, so we wouldn't need to worry about it in Crianlarich. The waitress took our order and we were looking forward to a warming bowl of pasta each. She returned 5 minutes later, to inform us that the kitchen had just closed. Thanks world!

We drank our coffees and continued on our way. By this time it was raining heavily, no longer dampening our spirits, but trying to drown them. We found a McDonald's where we decided to stop and eat - we really need to start using Google maps to see what is around us a bit more often. 

Sitting in McDonald's - only marginally less depressing than being in the rain 

We then headed north on the West Lomond cycle route still 33 miles to go and 5.30pm already. On any other day we would have beautiful views of the loch and surrounding mountains. Not today, the grey of the loch merged with the grey skies and the mountains were hidden in clouds.

West Lomond cycle path

Ben Lomond across the loch.

As we rode, the  rain at least eased off and we pressed on to Tarbet, where the cycle route ended and we rejoined the now sparse road traffic. We continued our solemn drudge uphill to Crianlarich, whilst being accosted by midges. We passed signs for waterfalls and viewpoints which on any other day...

We finally arrived at Crianlarich youth hostel at 8:45pm,  soggy but unbroken. Tracy was grateful for the ensuite (not available at the hostel in Ingleton). A hot shower and free tea and coffee restored both our humanity and positivity. Hopeful for better luck and weather tomorrow.

Distance travelled: 75 miles

Elevation: 3900 ft

Cake of the day: Biscoff cheesecake (We are currently arguing if cheesecake is a cake or a dessert. Tracy thinks it's a dessert, I think it is a cake, because it's in the name - feel free to contribute!)

Tracy whinge factor: 2/10 - a hill too far (T: given the rubbish weather and time pressure, I thought I was remarkably positive!)

Total distance: 779 miles