It's only just over a week since we finished cycling, and yet it already feels like an age! I thought it would be interesting to collate some statistics from our ride. It's taken a while - particularly as some of the information from Strava seemed somewhat suspect! I remember one day, freewheeling down a hill, my bike computer recorded my speed as c 36 mph - and I could feel my back wheel starting to slide from under me. So I don't believe that I ever went as fast as 46 mph, which Strava recorded as my max speed a couple of times!
So, for what it's worth, here are some of the numbers. There's a bit of guestimating here, but I've taken them from a combination of Strava, my bike computer, and a route plotting website.
Total distance travelled: c 1,040 miles to Duncansby Head (c 18 of those miles were on the ferries to and from Arran)
Maximum distance in one day: 65 miles (all on the bikes, day 11 Sedgwick (Kendal) - Gretna, the day we went over Shap)
Average distance per day: 49.5 miles
Total time on the road (including all the stops): 136 hours, 35 mins
Overall average speed: c 6.4 mph
Total time actually cycling: 110 hrs, 9 mins
Average speed while moving: c 9.4 mph
Total height gained (and lost!): 45,183 feet (Strava gives a completely different figure, but I don't trust it) - this equates to more than 1.5 times the height of Everest
Number of punctures: 0!!
Bike shops visited: 1 (on the final day - see the blog entry)
Kings of the Mountain: I award this honour to both Nathan and Joel. Nathan pedalled up every single hill, with the sole exception of the temporary woodland path covered in wood chippings! When Joel was doing well, he was the first to the top of every hill, including both Shap and the road over Arran. He struggled more in the early days, and towards the end when he was very tired!
Friday, 4 August 2017
Friday, 28 July 2017
LeJoG - The Thank Yous
As I've mentioned before, there are lots of people who have either helped to make our End to End journey possible in the first place, and/or have supported us en route. This is our opportunity to say a massive 'thank you' to you all.
We'd never have been able to take on this challenge if I hadn't been able to take a Sabbatical. This year, the timing was just right for us as a family - any other year, it wouldn't have worked out nearly so well. We're very grateful to those within the Diocese of St Asaph who make such decisions, for making it possible for me to take that Sabbatical this year. And also to my colleagues in Wrexham, who are covering for me while I enjoy this break - thank you all for taking on the extra services and pastoral responsibilities while I'm away. And especially to Jonathan, who as Mission Area Leader, has organised so much of it. In addition, there are the Churchwardens at St John's and St James', who have been keeping things going on the ground at the churches - thank you, Jenny and Steve, Jackie and Dilys!
It's been very encouraging, as we've been cycling, to read the various comments which so many of you have posted, either on the Blog itself, or on Facebook. Thank you for taking the time and being interested.
As you may be aware, we have a give.net page set up for those who'd like to sponsor our ride. Thank you to those who've sponsored us through it (and in other ways too). So far, we've raised nearly £700 online (including Gift Aid), plus a couple of donations which have been given to us as we travelled, including one from our hostess at http://www.broadlea-cottage-accommodation.co.uk/. You can see the details of who will benefit, and how to donate, if you go to: https://my.give.net/ErringtonsLeJoG.
We've stayed in lots of different places over the course of our journey, but there are a few which deserve a special mention and 'thank you'. Most of the B&Bs we've stayed at have been very helpful, but Julie and Barry at http://www.theoaks-bed-breakfast.co.uk/ in Devon really went the extra mile for us. My mother, Faith, put us up for one night as we travelled through Shropshire, and Geoff and Brenda were wonderful hosts for the second weekend just near Kendal. Thank you to you all for making our journey easier, and welcoming us into your homes!
I mentioned Pauline in one of my earlier posts. She has spent the last few weeks housesitting for us in Wrexham, which has given us peace of mind while we've been away. Thank you, Pauline - we'll look forward to seeing you when we return!
The original inspiration for tackling this cycle ride came from my friend Jane. Ten years ago, she and her husband Clive joined me on a much shorter ride along the Trans-Pennine Trail (Southport to Hornsea). Nathan and Joel were quite small at the time - Nathan did cycle a few miles with us, while Joel rode in his seat on the back of my bike. We talked about the possibility of doing it again in 10 years time, with the boys cycling too. Jane would have loved to have done 'End to End' herself, but sadly ill-health now makes it impossible. So we dedicate our ride to Jane, and thank her for her inspiration, her generous support as we've done LeJoG, for her prayer, texts and love.
There are many other people who have been praying for us as we travelled. Thank you, one and all! We've seen so many answers to prayer, and it's such an encouragement to know that our brothers and sisters in Christ have been holding us in prayer over the last few weeks.
Finally, and most importantly, we are so grateful to our heavenly Father!! He's been a constant presence with us. He's kept us safe on the roads. He's given us amazingly good weather. He's kept our bikes going - we haven't had to deal with a single puncture, or any other problem with the bikes the whole way! He's kept us going - somehow, we've always had the energy to keep going. And he provided the wherewithal in the first place, in the form of a 'windfall' last year, which has financed the trip. We give him the glory.
We'd never have been able to take on this challenge if I hadn't been able to take a Sabbatical. This year, the timing was just right for us as a family - any other year, it wouldn't have worked out nearly so well. We're very grateful to those within the Diocese of St Asaph who make such decisions, for making it possible for me to take that Sabbatical this year. And also to my colleagues in Wrexham, who are covering for me while I enjoy this break - thank you all for taking on the extra services and pastoral responsibilities while I'm away. And especially to Jonathan, who as Mission Area Leader, has organised so much of it. In addition, there are the Churchwardens at St John's and St James', who have been keeping things going on the ground at the churches - thank you, Jenny and Steve, Jackie and Dilys!
It's been very encouraging, as we've been cycling, to read the various comments which so many of you have posted, either on the Blog itself, or on Facebook. Thank you for taking the time and being interested.
As you may be aware, we have a give.net page set up for those who'd like to sponsor our ride. Thank you to those who've sponsored us through it (and in other ways too). So far, we've raised nearly £700 online (including Gift Aid), plus a couple of donations which have been given to us as we travelled, including one from our hostess at http://www.broadlea-cottage-accommodation.co.uk/. You can see the details of who will benefit, and how to donate, if you go to: https://my.give.net/ErringtonsLeJoG.
We've stayed in lots of different places over the course of our journey, but there are a few which deserve a special mention and 'thank you'. Most of the B&Bs we've stayed at have been very helpful, but Julie and Barry at http://www.theoaks-bed-breakfast.co.uk/ in Devon really went the extra mile for us. My mother, Faith, put us up for one night as we travelled through Shropshire, and Geoff and Brenda were wonderful hosts for the second weekend just near Kendal. Thank you to you all for making our journey easier, and welcoming us into your homes!
I mentioned Pauline in one of my earlier posts. She has spent the last few weeks housesitting for us in Wrexham, which has given us peace of mind while we've been away. Thank you, Pauline - we'll look forward to seeing you when we return!
The original inspiration for tackling this cycle ride came from my friend Jane. Ten years ago, she and her husband Clive joined me on a much shorter ride along the Trans-Pennine Trail (Southport to Hornsea). Nathan and Joel were quite small at the time - Nathan did cycle a few miles with us, while Joel rode in his seat on the back of my bike. We talked about the possibility of doing it again in 10 years time, with the boys cycling too. Jane would have loved to have done 'End to End' herself, but sadly ill-health now makes it impossible. So we dedicate our ride to Jane, and thank her for her inspiration, her generous support as we've done LeJoG, for her prayer, texts and love.
There are many other people who have been praying for us as we travelled. Thank you, one and all! We've seen so many answers to prayer, and it's such an encouragement to know that our brothers and sisters in Christ have been holding us in prayer over the last few weeks.
Finally, and most importantly, we are so grateful to our heavenly Father!! He's been a constant presence with us. He's kept us safe on the roads. He's given us amazingly good weather. He's kept our bikes going - we haven't had to deal with a single puncture, or any other problem with the bikes the whole way! He's kept us going - somehow, we've always had the energy to keep going. And he provided the wherewithal in the first place, in the form of a 'windfall' last year, which has financed the trip. We give him the glory.
Thursday, 27 July 2017
LeJoG Day 20 - We made it!
The final leg of our adventure is over! We arrived at John O'Groats shortly before 3.00 pm today. We finished as we started in brilliant sunshine, so the north coast of Scotland was looking its best, and we had wonderful views of the Orkney Islands not far off the coast.
Joel led us today - he's a great navigator, and as he wanted to get the whole thing over with, we moved at quite a pace! We're staying in Thurso, and our route brought us back through the town around mid-morning. We stopped at the bike shop to get a minor repair to my bike (as Joel put it, I had a screw loose! - or rather, missing!). We also found the ice cream parlour and treated ourselves.
Steve met us at lunchtime and cycled the last few miles with us along to John O'Groats. We had to wait our turn for photos by the signpost - the previous cyclists to arrive had done the journey in 11 days! At least we could get to the sign without paying for the privilege at this end of the trip. There's apparently no official finish line here - it got covered up! Another visitor kindly offered to take some photos with all four of us in them.
The name John O'Groats comes from a Dutchman called Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who was given the job of running a ferry to the Orkneys after James IV of Scotland had acquired them from Norway.
After we'd bought one or two souvenirs, we continued to Duncansby Head lighthouse, before we cycled back to the car. I don't think our achievement has quite sunk in yet - there's a bit of a sense of anticlimax just at the moment, and maybe relief.
And so our story comes to an end. I will probably do a couple of extra posts as I reflect on our experiences over the next few days - always assuming I have access to a good internet connection! At the moment, I just need to sleep!
Joel led us today - he's a great navigator, and as he wanted to get the whole thing over with, we moved at quite a pace! We're staying in Thurso, and our route brought us back through the town around mid-morning. We stopped at the bike shop to get a minor repair to my bike (as Joel put it, I had a screw loose! - or rather, missing!). We also found the ice cream parlour and treated ourselves.
Steve met us at lunchtime and cycled the last few miles with us along to John O'Groats. We had to wait our turn for photos by the signpost - the previous cyclists to arrive had done the journey in 11 days! At least we could get to the sign without paying for the privilege at this end of the trip. There's apparently no official finish line here - it got covered up! Another visitor kindly offered to take some photos with all four of us in them.
The name John O'Groats comes from a Dutchman called Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who was given the job of running a ferry to the Orkneys after James IV of Scotland had acquired them from Norway.
After we'd bought one or two souvenirs, we continued to Duncansby Head lighthouse, before we cycled back to the car. I don't think our achievement has quite sunk in yet - there's a bit of a sense of anticlimax just at the moment, and maybe relief.
And so our story comes to an end. I will probably do a couple of extra posts as I reflect on our experiences over the next few days - always assuming I have access to a good internet connection! At the moment, I just need to sleep!
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| We made it! |
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| Joel took this photo looking out towards the Orkney Islands |
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| I set my trip to 0 at Lands End. Today it reached 1,000 miles, and went back to 0! The second photo was taken at John O'Groats |
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| A Sustrans Millenium signpost - we weren't sure that 'Lands End' was in the right direction! |
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| Two views of the harbour, from which Jan de Groot ran his ferry |
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| The lighthouse at Duncansby Head |
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| Looking west from Duncansby Head |
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
LeJoG Day 19 - How great is our God!
[The LORD] makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
(Psalm 104:3)
This morning's forecast still showed a storm over the far north-east of Scotland, where we were due to cycle today. We set off, hoping to get as far as possible before the storm hit. We'd been advised to take the road up the valley of the River Helmsdale, and down the valley of the River Halladale to the north coast on the other side. It was a good piece of advice. It was a lovely road to cycle, a mainly gentle upward slope to the top, and then gently downhill.
We were blown up the valley, before the storm! The wind made it very easy cycling, and the rain never caught up with us! After two hours, we'd reached the top, and by lunchtime, we'd reached the coast road to the north. That was 40 miles! So thank you to everyone who was praying for the weather to be kind to us - and praise the Lord for answered prayer!
Once we turned onto the coast road towards Thurso, it was immediately clear how blessed we'd been. We were now trying to cycle against the wind - and it's very exposed up there! We soon decided that we'd quit while we were ahead. Steve met us in the car for lunch, and we gave ourselves the afternoon 'off'.
Not long before lunch, we passed a sign which told us we were 37 miles from John O'Groats. So tomorrow we have less than 40 miles to cycle! We're going to continue to Duncansby Head, which is a couple of miles further than John O'Groats, and even further north and east!
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| There's not far to go now! |
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| The A897 out of Helmsdale - Joel didn't believe me when I said it was an 'A' road! |
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| Right at the top of the pass we found this sign and 'cairn' |
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| Looking back down the Helmsdale valley |
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| We were paralleling the Far North Line to Thurso and Wick - this is Forsinard Station, which we came to shortly after starting our downward journey |
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| It's very remote up there! |
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
LeJoG Day 18 - Keep right on to the end of the road
Keep right on to the end of the road,
Keep right on to the end,
Tho' the way be long, let your heart be strong,
Keep right on round the bend.
Tho' you're tired and weary still journey on . . .
When we got to Loch Ness on Saturday, it felt as if we'd as good as reached the end of the road - there were only four days of cycling left, with shorter distances than we'd been doing. After two and a half weeks of cycling, we're much fitter. So I thought these last few days would be easier. More fool me! While we are much fitter, but we're also 'tired and weary'. It's a struggle to keep going. But I'm glad we're cycling, and not walking! We met a couple today who are walking Lands End to John O'Groats, with their dog! They started towards the end of April, and are hoping to reach John O'Groats during the first week of August.
Our ride today started with a very pleasant 10 miles or so above the Cromarty Firth, to Tain. We visited this town two years ago, 'ancestor hunting' - Steve has ancestors buried in the cemetery there. We didn't revisit their grave today, though!
From Tain onwards, we were on the A9, across the Dornoch bridge and then north-east along the coast to Helmsdale. Maybe 30+ miles of grinding along a major road has added to my sense of struggling to continue at present! The road wasn't too busy, so not as scary as the road along the Great Glen on Saturday, but it's not the kind of road where you can relax and enjoy the ride. Fortunately, the rain held off until we arrived at Helmsdale, where we're staying in a B&B. A hot bath and a good meal have done their job, and a good night's sleep will hopefully leave us ready to tackle the road up the Strath of Kildonan and on to the north coast, and to Thurso tomorrow. It still looks as if we're likely to be getting both wet and wind-buffeted, but Thursday looks better, so even if we do a relatively short distance tomorrow, we're still on course to get to John O'Groats on Thursday!
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| Not many photos today - just these two views of the Dornoch Firth, taken from the bridge across it |
Monday, 24 July 2017
LeJoG Day 17 - A sunny day in Scotland
The weather forecast for this week was good for today and tomorrow (where we are, at least!), but lousy for Wednesday. So we decided we'd better try to make the best of the two good days to come.
Our rest day yesterday was much needed, but once again, made it harder to get going again this morning! Even so, we set off in good time to go back up to Loch Tarff. It's hard to grasp that our adventure will all be over on Thursday!
We still had the rest of Saturday evening's hill to climb, a few miles of hard slog. Once we reached the top though, General Wade's Military Road stretched in front of us, and we had some long downhill stretches, eventually reaching the side of Loch Ness a few miles further on. The road continued into Inverness, where we had lunch by the River Ness. It was a beautiful day, as you'll see if you look at the photos below!
After lunch, we continued over the Kessock Bridge, which gave us great views over the Moray Firth to the east, and Beauly Firth to the west. We made good progress, and after an ice cream stop in Dingwall we climbed up to parallel the main road above the Cromarty Firth, and had even more fantastic views.
We didn't manage to get very far ahead of ourselves, but as we're staying tonight at the Youth Hostel in Inverness, the further we went, the longer the drive both this evening and tomorrow morning! We're all very tired, and energy levels aren't as good as they were last week. Prayers that the weather won't be quite so bad as expected on Wednesday would be greatly appreciated.
Our rest day yesterday was much needed, but once again, made it harder to get going again this morning! Even so, we set off in good time to go back up to Loch Tarff. It's hard to grasp that our adventure will all be over on Thursday!
We still had the rest of Saturday evening's hill to climb, a few miles of hard slog. Once we reached the top though, General Wade's Military Road stretched in front of us, and we had some long downhill stretches, eventually reaching the side of Loch Ness a few miles further on. The road continued into Inverness, where we had lunch by the River Ness. It was a beautiful day, as you'll see if you look at the photos below!
After lunch, we continued over the Kessock Bridge, which gave us great views over the Moray Firth to the east, and Beauly Firth to the west. We made good progress, and after an ice cream stop in Dingwall we climbed up to parallel the main road above the Cromarty Firth, and had even more fantastic views.
We didn't manage to get very far ahead of ourselves, but as we're staying tonight at the Youth Hostel in Inverness, the further we went, the longer the drive both this evening and tomorrow morning! We're all very tired, and energy levels aren't as good as they were last week. Prayers that the weather won't be quite so bad as expected on Wednesday would be greatly appreciated.
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| Urquart Castle across Loch Ness |
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| A view along the length of Loch Ness |
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| Lunchtime view - pedestrian bridge over the River Ness in Inverness |
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| Lunchtime view (2) - looking the other way along the river |
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| A view of Cromarty Firth |
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| Another view of Cromarty Firth - what looks like an insignificant bridge is actually the A9 crossing - the major road in NE Scotland |
Sunday, 23 July 2017
LeJoG Day 16 - The unpredictability of cycle routes
Until Friday night, we've been very lucky in the Youth Hostels we've stayed in, which have been very quiet overnight. On Friday our luck ran out, as a coach turned up at Glen Nevis hostel at 11.45 pm, just as Steve and I were trying to go to sleep. It stopped outside our window with its engine running for 15 minutes or so, and of course its impossible for a coach load of people to come in very quietly! Not conducive to a good night's sleep!
Coming back to the cycling - on Friday I was very thankful for the cycle tracks we travelled - yesterday (Saturday), I was very unimpressed!
From South Ballaculish, where we finished on Friday and started again yesterday, there's a good cycle track alongside the road as far as the Corran ferry - although at one point it suddenly disappeared, there was a confusing selection of patched road and dropped curbs in the wrong place for cyclists, which resulted in Joel taking a bit of a tumble - fortunately no real damage was done.
The National Cycle Network sends people across the Corran ferry to the north side of Loch Linnhe, and then back on the ferry at the other end to Fort William. We'd already decided to stay on the main road - it's shorter, and avoids the potential delays waiting for a ferry. We also picked up that the route over there goes along a single track road, which is used by lots of logging lorries, so it's not much safer than the main road anyway. It was lucky for us it was a Saturday - traffic wasn't too bad. But the main road has no provision for cycles, and little opportunity for people to overtake, so I was very relieved when we made it to Fort William without incident! At one point, we'd pulled into a layby and were joined by another cyclist. He was doing Lands End to John O'Groats in nine days - yesterday being the penultimate day. That means cycling about 100 miles a day - the most we've managed, on a very good day, is 65! But speed isn't everything - the best bits of our ride, for me at least, have been the times when we've been on quiet roads, or off-road on good tracks, and there's time to enjoy the scenery, hear the birds sing, and give thanks to our Creator God for so much beauty.
Once we were through Fort William, we joined the towpath beside the Caledonian Canal, which was a lovely ride. The Caledonian Canal was built as a shipping canal, so it's very wide. It joins the lochs along the Great Glen, so ships can travel from Inverness at the north-east end to Oban and so out to sea at the south-west end (and vice versa, of course!) It's one of Thomas Telford's amazing feats of engineering. The locks (with a 'k' not an 'h'!) are enormous - we saw about half a dozen boats of various sizes start on their way together up 'Neptune's Staircase' (a series of eight locks) from Fort William. According to Wikipedia, it's the longest staircase lock in Britain, and it takes about 90 minutes for a boat to go through the whole system.
When we got to the south end of Loch Lochy, we were onto minor roads for a few miles, but then found ourselves on a very bumpy forest track for the next few! After a few minutes, we'd had enough of it, and unfortunately the next section of canal towpath, between Loch Lochy and Loch Oich, didn't look very good either! So it was back to the main road for the next few miles. Fortunately, that was followed by another good section of canal towpath to Fort Augustus. It's a shame that you can't tell from the Sustrans map what kind of surface an off-road cycle track is going to have . . .
From Fort Augustus, we had a big climb up the road to the south side of Loch Ness. It was a killer, at the end of the day, and after six days of cycling! We didn't quite make it as far as we'd intended, but we'd done most of the climbing by the time we decided to call it a day. Once we'd loaded the bikes onto the car, we drove the rest of our route to Inverness (we'll cycle it tomorrow!), and stopped at the viewpoint to take some photos.
Last night and tonight, we're staying by Loch Ness. Today is a rest day (much needed) - a chance to wash smelly cycling clothes, do some maintenance on the bikes, and take stock. We were watching the weather forecast this morning, and looking at the map of Britain, and where we now are, it seems phenomenal how far we've come!
Coming back to the cycling - on Friday I was very thankful for the cycle tracks we travelled - yesterday (Saturday), I was very unimpressed!
From South Ballaculish, where we finished on Friday and started again yesterday, there's a good cycle track alongside the road as far as the Corran ferry - although at one point it suddenly disappeared, there was a confusing selection of patched road and dropped curbs in the wrong place for cyclists, which resulted in Joel taking a bit of a tumble - fortunately no real damage was done.
The National Cycle Network sends people across the Corran ferry to the north side of Loch Linnhe, and then back on the ferry at the other end to Fort William. We'd already decided to stay on the main road - it's shorter, and avoids the potential delays waiting for a ferry. We also picked up that the route over there goes along a single track road, which is used by lots of logging lorries, so it's not much safer than the main road anyway. It was lucky for us it was a Saturday - traffic wasn't too bad. But the main road has no provision for cycles, and little opportunity for people to overtake, so I was very relieved when we made it to Fort William without incident! At one point, we'd pulled into a layby and were joined by another cyclist. He was doing Lands End to John O'Groats in nine days - yesterday being the penultimate day. That means cycling about 100 miles a day - the most we've managed, on a very good day, is 65! But speed isn't everything - the best bits of our ride, for me at least, have been the times when we've been on quiet roads, or off-road on good tracks, and there's time to enjoy the scenery, hear the birds sing, and give thanks to our Creator God for so much beauty.
Once we were through Fort William, we joined the towpath beside the Caledonian Canal, which was a lovely ride. The Caledonian Canal was built as a shipping canal, so it's very wide. It joins the lochs along the Great Glen, so ships can travel from Inverness at the north-east end to Oban and so out to sea at the south-west end (and vice versa, of course!) It's one of Thomas Telford's amazing feats of engineering. The locks (with a 'k' not an 'h'!) are enormous - we saw about half a dozen boats of various sizes start on their way together up 'Neptune's Staircase' (a series of eight locks) from Fort William. According to Wikipedia, it's the longest staircase lock in Britain, and it takes about 90 minutes for a boat to go through the whole system.
When we got to the south end of Loch Lochy, we were onto minor roads for a few miles, but then found ourselves on a very bumpy forest track for the next few! After a few minutes, we'd had enough of it, and unfortunately the next section of canal towpath, between Loch Lochy and Loch Oich, didn't look very good either! So it was back to the main road for the next few miles. Fortunately, that was followed by another good section of canal towpath to Fort Augustus. It's a shame that you can't tell from the Sustrans map what kind of surface an off-road cycle track is going to have . . .
From Fort Augustus, we had a big climb up the road to the south side of Loch Ness. It was a killer, at the end of the day, and after six days of cycling! We didn't quite make it as far as we'd intended, but we'd done most of the climbing by the time we decided to call it a day. Once we'd loaded the bikes onto the car, we drove the rest of our route to Inverness (we'll cycle it tomorrow!), and stopped at the viewpoint to take some photos.
Last night and tonight, we're staying by Loch Ness. Today is a rest day (much needed) - a chance to wash smelly cycling clothes, do some maintenance on the bikes, and take stock. We were watching the weather forecast this morning, and looking at the map of Britain, and where we now are, it seems phenomenal how far we've come!
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| Cycling up the towpath beside Neptune's Staircase |
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| A collection of boats in one of the Neptune's Staircase locks |
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| Ben Nevis in the background - we travelled the railway in the foreground two years ago |
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| Part of the Caledonian Canal near Fort William |
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| General Wade's Military Road - part of our route for tomorrow (Monday) |
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[The LORD] makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. (Psalm 104:3) This morning's forecast stil... -
The final leg of our adventure is over! We arrived at John O'Groats shortly before 3.00 pm today. We finished as we started in brillia... -
A minor miracle or two occurred today - we got ourselves organised and out of the hostel by 8.40 am, and we cycled further than any other da...