Now watch the Movie!

We have made a short movie of our tour using a miniture camcorder attached to Alastair's handlebars. You will enjoy it if you like the quirky Scottish ferries (and it helps if you like The Killers)!


Link to:   Our Movie



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Postscript to our LEJOG; Some thoughts of the Parents who took their 11 year old son on a cycle ride the length of Britain

We started our planning for our LEJOG about 12 months or so before we undertook our adventure and relied heavily on the excellent resource of the CTC forum and Rob ‘s End to End website. Our tour started on the first day of Tommy’s summer holiday break and was scheduled to last 22 days.

Training for our Adventure

We had decided that our tour and our daily rides should be set by the riding ability of our son anticipating that he is likely to get fitter and stronger as the tour went on.

Serious training –if you could call it that – did not start until the spring of 2011. By this time our accommodation had been booked and we would be averaging 45- 50 miles per day. Our longest day ride was 62 miles.

Training was restricted mainly to weekend because of school and work commitments. On bank holidays and short breaks we did longer weekend rides. The first of these was on the Kennet and Avon Canal from Bristol to Reading which we did over three days. Tommy started to cycle to school each day: not a great distance in itself but it meant that he was on the saddle daily and clocking up 40 miles per week on ‘the school run’.

We entered a small number of charity rides that extended to around 30 miles each and conscious of the hilly beginning and ends of our tour we took advantage of living close to the South Downs to ensure we got at least 3 or 4 hill climbs around Petersfield and the East Hampshire Hangers most weekends.

The longest  day ride we did prior to the LEJOG was actually only about 43 miles, but having read numerous accounts that you don’t need to train the actual distance you intend to cycle we thought this would be sufficient since Tommy was able to cover the 40 miles or so comfortably in about 5  hours. The challenge would be of course would he be able to do this amount of cycling each day for three weeks?

This goes to the very point of making the ride achievable. We planned this as a series of daily rides of around 45 miles per day (which we knew our son could achieve) rather than a 1030 mile tour.
We were worried that constant time on he saddle would bring saddle sores but apart from a few grumbles on Days 4 and 5, Tommy didn't complain of this problem. During the LEJOG, we religiously applied Assos Chamois Cream to his sit bones on his backside each morning and this, together with a shower as soon as we stopped cycling, seemed to do the trick.

Planning Our Route

The first ‘port of call’ was Phil Horsely’s excellent handbook ‘The Great British Bike Adventure’ and we decided to use this as the basis of our route.

We also decided that we would pre-book accommodation all the way up to JOG having decided that it would be best to start at Land’s End on the basis of being frightened to death of finishing in Devon and Cornwall with all the horror stories about the hills. As events turned out, we didn’t think the hills of Devon and Cornwall were quite as bad as some had made out: the biggest factor as to the severity of the day's cycle was ‘weather’ driven not the terrain (also more about that below). It was also fortuitous of us the pre-book accommodation since many of the hostels were fully booked on the nights we were staying.

Our priority was road safety bearing in mind we were cycling 1000 miles with an 11 year old. We spent a lot of time reading and researching routes taken by others but the priority was minor or ‘B’ roads which generally meant a longer (and hillier) ride - but less traffic. We also made good use of dedicated cycle tracks (eg, Granite Way, the Strawberry Way around Cheddar and the cycle path from Oban to Ballachulish).  North of Bonar Bridge you can use the A roads with virtual impunity (but take the B road via Falls of Shin!) since they are often single track and very quiet.

I subscribed to the OS Getamap service for just £18 and traced our route onto printable A4 pages. Copies were given to Tommy’s Grandmother who was in her car carrying our kit. We had a stapled small bundle of OS 1:50.000 Land Ranger Maps courtesy of Getamap with the route depicted in blue. At the end of each day, that bundle was discarded and the following days bundle taken on the ride. This was an excellent way of route finding and generally we did not miss any major turns. The 1:50,000 maps were supplemented with Multimap  street maps with road names when we went through main towns (eg Preston) and again this worked well other than some of the chosen roads were ‘one –way’ but going the wrong way!

Tommy’s Bike

We decided to invest in a ‘child specific’ road bike for Tommy and bought an Islabike Luath 24. We visited the factory in Ludlow and had Tommy measured and fitted by Isla Rowntree herself. The basic cost of the bike was £400 and we had the factory added extras of mudguards, cycle rack, Schwable Marathon tyres and a water bottle. The final cost was about £500 but I believe it to be money well spent. We had no mechanical problems at all with Tommy’s bike and no punctures either.

The bike only has just one crank at the front and a cassette of 8 at the back, but they were a quite wide ratio of gears. The real benefit was the addition of short reach brake leavers which meant braking was easy for Tommy with his smaller hands.

Accommodation

We had discounted the idea of camping since we were able to ‘press gang’ the mother in law to support our ride. Our accommodation was predominantly Youth Hostels and the remainder Travelodge’s, Premier Inns and Holiday Inn Express. We had one night in a B&B.

At Youth hostels were had pre-ordered breakfast when it was available. The standard of Scottish Youth Hostels we found to be superior to the English ones. Oban SYHA was akin to a 4* hotel!

Travelodge’s however were fantastic value (in two cases just £19 per room). With the availability of an en-suite with a hot shower and a good night’s sleep, this set us up for the following day’s ride.

Never the less, Tommy enjoyed the camaraderie of the Youth Hostels and being able to talk about his adventure with other cyclists and hostellers: something you cannot do in a Travelodge environment!

We ought to add here that all the YH Wardens were first class (bar one!) but special praise must go to the Scottish wardens who went out of their way to make us feel welcome. On each of the 6 occasions we spent a night at a Scottish hostel the Warden took the trouble to suggest and then telephone on our behalf to make a table reservation for an evening meal at nearby restaurant or pub.

A typical day’s ride

 Generally Tommy was allowed to sleep in until he was ready to get up, but typically we started cycling around 9.15 – 9.30am.

We would have numerous short breaks for getting our breath back, a drink, a snack, a photo call or checking we were on the right route. We found that Tommy had to be hassled to drink more than he did. He was given an almost ‘free rein’ on what he could eat at snack times and we only really controlled his main meals to ensure he had a nutritious diet. We found that his appetite in the evening was first class.

We knew the miles we had to cover that day and made a conscious effort to cycle at least 50% of the required  miles before a lunch break. Accordingly, if our ride was 45 miles that day, we would aim to stop after about 30 miles.

We religiously stuck to a break of at least one hour ‘off the saddle’ at lunchtime. This meant that our destination was achievable by 5-6pm each day and on only one occasion (to Oban) was this objective breached.

Having read about the experiences of others, we decided not to have any ‘rest days’ but instead cycled on two' half' days. This worked out very well and in the case of our second half day (Carlisle to Dumfries) we decided to cycle on an extra 10 miles to lessen the length of the next day’s ride from 60 to 50 miles.

Safe Cycling

This was of paramount concern for us. As well as a helmet, Tommy’s bike was equipped with a Safety Lollipop. He was also required to wear a Hi-Viz waistcoat except when on cycle paths or on quiet minor roads.

His wet weather gear was also Hi-Viz and flashing front and rear lights were used on his bike when the weather turned dull or rainy.

On a ride of this nature it is inevitable that the riders will split up due to different cycling abilities. Nevertheless, we tried to ensure that Tommy cycled between two adults although some of the hill climbs in Scotland made this difficult! It was impressed upon Tommy that walking up a steep hill was no disgrace but this seemed to spur him on to cycle every part of the route!

Our Blog will tell you that despite their intimidating size, HGV drivers we found to be the most considerate drivers towards cyclists. The same could not be said of Coach drivers who paid scant regard to the safety of cyclists in their quest to get their tourist passengers to the next sight. This was particularly prevalent on the A82 (Fort William to Inverness road) and at Windermere where it is unavoidable to cycle on the main road due to the absence of quieter alternatives.

The Weather and Terrain

Hill climbing is tough for everyone, irrespective of where the hills are located. Unquestionably, Devon and Cornwall have far more than their fair share but no hill is insurmountable and hey! there is no shame in getting off your bike and walking for 5 or 10 minutes!

We had excellent weather in Devon and Cornwall and I think we were all secretly pleased with ourselves when we eventually left Whidden Down and cycled to the flatter lands around Taunton. I think it was at that point that we all thought that we would be able to achieve our objective and finish the ride.

In contrast Carlisle to Dumfries was an easy day on paper. It is as  flat as a pancake and just 30 miles. The weather was sunny but we had a fierce headwind that sapped everyone’s strength. Tommy will freely admit that this was his worst day of cycling and would have happily ended the tour there and then.

The second bad day was on Arran. We had a steep 200m climb over a mountain pass to reach the Lochranza YH which had to be done in a torrential downpour and headwinds which the BBC said that evening was the worst Scotland had suffered in August. The climb would have been a challenge in calm conditions but it was the weather that made the task nigh on impossible.

The purpose of this is to explain that at no time was the terrain itself to be the main inhibiting factor but the weather. If the gods are kind to you on your End to End Tour , we believe it is achievable by any reasonably fit person

Closing Remarks

We are so pleased we took up this challenge. We saw parts of the country we had never visited before and met some great characters and many other like-minded cyclists. Our countryside is exceptionally beautiful and when we were able to witness wild otters on the Caledonian Canal and salmon leaping at the Falls of Shin this all added to the fantastic adventure.

But most of all we are most proud of our 11 year old son who achieved a fantastic feat and yet left John O Groats wanting to know what all the fuss was about.

Day 23 Castletown to John O Groats

pausing outside John O Groats Youth Hostel where we spent last night

Today’s miles 15, final total 1030

Today’s tour was a short celebration . We could have finished yesterday evening but decided to do the last 15 miles into John O Groats this morning. Once again, the weather was fine this morning as we set off at 9.15am for the short trip along NCN 1 via the quiet back lanes to John O Groats.

about to set off from Castletown

3 miles to go!

The trip was taken at easy pace and we covered the last 15 miles in just under an hour and a half to arrive at the somewhat dilapidated John O Groats Hotel at 10.45. We passed on chap who had similarly just completed his Lejog that morning and two more couples arrived later that morning after us.

Great views towards the Orkney’s and light rain started around 11.00pm

the Team cross the finish line (Tommy crossed first!)

a bit of 'first and last' retail therapy in the local shop!

After the customary photos at the finish Line our adventure was over…or so we thought! We packed up the car and drove to Glasgow that afternoon staying in a hotel next to George Square to find that the northern part of the Square was being used as a film set of Philadelphia. An actor called Brad Pitt was starring, anybody ever heard of him? Dinnerthat night  was at the excellent Rogano's Restaurant in Glasgow.

Thomas Grant completed his LEJOG on 18 August 2011, aged 11 years, 3 months

Day 22 Tongue to Castletown: along the top of Britain

Dunnet Head: the most northerly point on mainland Britain with the Orkney Islands behind

 Todays miles 49, running total 1015

Everyone agreed that today was the best ride of the tour, fantastic scenery, great weather and great cycling country.

the Team having dinner at the Ben Loyal Hotel, Tongue last night

The photos below show what a great day cycling we had. The first 25 miles was the hilliest we have experienced: we think the stretch from Tongue to Melvich was as severe as anything that Devon and Cornwall could offer, but the scenery was fantastic: views of Ben Hope, Arkle, Foinaven and the other mountains in the far north of Scotland.

cycling along the Kyle of Tongue: look at the weather!

along the northern coast of Scotland

climbing up yet another hill.........

we're getting closer!!!!

After Melvich, the hills relented and we cycled past Dounreay Nuclear Power station and the northern town of Thurso. We had far reaching views of the Orkney Isles and cycled past the deserted island of Stromsa with the forlorn derelict homes clearly on view.

a welcome rest on top of one of many hills today

We eventually stopped cycling today after 49 miles with just 15 miles to go to John O Groats. We could have finished this evening, but we all felt that it would be fitting for us to cycle to ’Journey’s End’ tomorrow morning.

Tommy's Best and Worst Bits of the Tour

The best bits

·         Buying Nessie at Loch Ness YH!

·         The kind donations to charity I received from complete strangers on Arran, in Oban and Invershin

·         To come tommorrow: going through the Finish Line at John O Groats!

The worst bits

•     Nearly getting run over by a tourist coach by Loch Ness
•      Seeing my mum falling off her bike

Things we can now reveal about readers of our Blog

The blog we have set up allows us to not only see how many ‘hits’ we have had, but where the hits are coming from! Unsurprisingly, the UK is the source of the largest number of hits, but you might be surprised at the other countries!

United Kingdom

Canada

Taiwan

Germany

Spain

Alaska

United States

Day 21 Falls of Shin to Tongue (on top of Britain!)

Today’s miles 43, running total 966

The day we reached the northern coast of Britain! The day started ominously weather wise, but the light rain disappeared by midday to leave high cloud, light winds and a fantastic days cycling despite three long climbs to reach Tongue.

The cycle through what is known as the ‘Flow Country’ of northern Scotland was absolutely superb with far reaching views of empty wilderness: no cars, no villages, no sign of any human habitation, no noise and best of all….no mobile phone signal! The following pictures give a flavour of what the scenery is like:

cycling past arguably the remotest pub in Scotland: the Crask Inn

view from the Crask Inn with a Millennium post

in the Flow Country cycling towards Ben Klibreck

pausing for a break near one of numerous lochans

Just over the last climb of the day we paused above Tongue to take a picture of an important ‘milestone’ for us: our first view the northern coast of Britain. It seems a long time ago when we left the south coast of Britain (at Penzance on Day 1) some 960 miles ago.

at long last we catch a glimpse of the northern coast of Britain; the Kyle of Tongue

Tomorrow we head east along the top of Scotland towards John ‘O Groats a strenuous 65 mile cycle ride which we will probably split into two days.

Lejoggers Courteous Driver Awards

After 960 miles of cycling through the UK, we have decided to give awards to the best and least courteous drivers we have experienced as cyclists. The results might be of a surprise to you, the Blog reader:

Most Courteous Driver Award:

1.       HGV Drivers (the larger the HGV, the more courteous the driver)

2.       Motor Cyclists

Most Discourteous Driver Award

1.       Coach Drivers (especially in tourists locations: they give cyclists no room whatsoever and nearly wiped out Tommy on more than one occasion)

2.       People Carriers  ( and without being sexist, those driven by women, who are generally  unaware of cyclists on the road)

Day 20 Munlochy to Falls of Shin (north of Bonar Bridge)

Todays’s miles 47, running total 919

A super cycling day, the weather was great despite a few showers and wonderful views as we head north towards the Flow Country.

The day started with Jim finally giving up on his duff slick tyres but this meant we had a delayed start.

at long last the naff tyres get thrown away

 Despite this we make great time cycling towards Cromarty to catch the Nigg Ferry.

on the Nigg ferry out of Cromarty, oil platforms in the background (check out the 

groovy long johns!)

Tain was our lunch stop today: a pretty market town close to the coast.

Another land mark as we passed into the County of Sutherland and chalked up over 900 miles cycling: now we know we are in the far north!

cycling into Sutherland

 Tranquillity was shattered by 3 low flying jets out of Lossiemouth and since we had made good progress we decided to press on to the Falls of Shin where today’s cycling ended.

Another wildlife first for Tommy as we watched the wild salmon leaping up the Falls.

watching the wild salmon leaping at Shin Falls

 The other wildlife adventure was less endearing: getting bitten by a thousand midges on the balmy evening at the Falls!

Day 19 Loch Ness to Munlochy (north of Inverness)

Miles today 35, running total 872

The weather stayed kind for us today with sunny periods throughout the day. We met another Lejogger in the hostel last night: a girl doing it on her own but supported by her friend who is carrying her kit in the car. A nice hostel last night and Toad of Nessie Hall was there to bid us farewell.

Cycling past Urquart Castle the tourists were out in force, so we were pleased to reach the outskirts of Inverness and re- join the Caledonian Canal towpath. It was a bit bumpy in parts but traffic free.

Urquart Castle with Loch Ness behind

 We had made good progress in the morning, so we decided to extend our allocated ‘half day’ ride by another 8 miles or so to make tomorrow’s ride easier.

lunch stop below the Kessock Bridge

WE cycled over the Kessock Bridge at Inverness and into the northern region of Ross and Cromarty where today’s ride ended at the village of Munlochy on the Black Isle.

we cycle on to the Black Isle

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Pauline’s Blog Message to Chris & Mick

Hello C&M. One of my tasks is to drive on ahead and book into the accommodation for the 5 of us. The hostels are normally dormitory accommodation, but at Glen Nevis it was different. We were allocated a single room and two doubles.

The other 4 were struggling up some hill or other (don’t ask me to name it) so I had to make an executive decision how to allocate the accommodation. Should I give the single room to one of the other 4 who had cycled over 800 miles and through the rainiest weather Scotland had experienced in August? No, it was me who had to grapple with the windscreen wipers in the car, so it was me who deserved the single room.

Oh, by the way, it also had a lovely view over Loch Ness:

view from Pauline's room

This is the room I thought Alastair deserved; he has a pretty view as well, doesn’t he?

room with a view??

Day 18 Fort William to Loch Ness

Miles today 43, running total is now 837 miles

Guess what we saw today? Two Otters!!!

The weather was kind today with a tail wind with most of the cycling on forest tracks or along the towpath of the Caledonian Canal. Where we did have to travel on the main A82 the lasting memory is of completely inconsiderate coach drivers ferrying passengers to the main sights along the Great Glen.

Start of the Caledonian canal at Fort William

It was along the towpath next to lock gates that we were thrilled to see two wild otters frolicking along the towpath. They allowed us to get quite close but unfortunately not long enough to take a photo. Later along the towpath Scottish Waterways had a signboard advising that a healthy and breeding population of otters can be seen along this stretch of the canal.

Our picnic stop was at Loch Oich when Jim decided that now was the time to get his feet wet. (He tells us is not too cold, only about -20C)

Jim having a paddle on the shore of Loch Oich

The next wildlife sensation occurred at our hostel which is right on the shoreline of Loch Ness. Look who is behind Tommy on the shoreline!

Outside the hostel on the shore of Loch Ness

This prompted Jim to make an offering to Mummy Nessie of a bottle of Pinot Grigio (or it could be to cool the wine for some illicit wine drinking tonight in the hostel?)

that was a good bottle of Pinot Grigio he is sacrificing.....

Meanwhile, our mascots - Freddo and Curly Wurly - now have a new friend:

Say 'hello' to Nessie!

Day I7 Oban to Fort William

48 miles today, running total is now 794

Thankfully a better day with the weather, we only had some light rain during the last hour’s run into Fort William.

Day started really well with the staff and their friends at Oban Youth Hostel giving Tommy £30 for his charity after hearing of his exploits from Lands End. The hostel was really fantastic – more like a 4* hotel than something for weary cyclists such as ourselves. The warden at Glen Nevis Hostel (where we are now) told us that the SYHA had spent £1.25M on refurbishing Oban Hostel: it was money well spent!

We set off around 9.45 with high cloud and the Island of Mull ferry just arriving at Oban harbour.

Watching the ferry arrive from Mull

We cycled past some beautiful deserted beaches: this is not like beaches on the south coast!

The beach at Ganavan

The first 30 miles were on purpose built cycle tracks that made very pleasant and safe cycling along sea lochs toward Fort William including passing a quintessential Scottish Castle and tommy spotted some seals basking on the sea rocks.

On the cycle path: check out the castle in the background

A number of the sea lochs now have bridges over them that has cut the journey time northwards.

just cycled over Connel Bridge

 Tomorrow we cycle up the Great Glen crossing from the west coast of Scotland to the east coast to arrive at Inverness on Sunday

Day 16 Lochranza to Oban: a spot of rain or two……..

Todays mileage 62, running total 746

Yesterday’s rain was surpassed by todays, although we had some respite from around midday when the rain relented. We later learned from BBC 2 that the last two days were the wettest on record for August in Scotland!

leaving the Lochranza ferry on Kinytre

We woke with rain, crossed on the ferry to Kintyre in rain and then had a major climb and freewheel down to the pretty port of Tarbet. By the time we reached Tarbet we were soaked to the skin and had to literally change every stitch of clothing.

cycling past Lochranza Castle

We had a two hour wait at Tarbet before the weather relented and enabled us to cycle on towards Oban.

By the afternoon the rain had stopped but we had to negotiate flooded roads and swollen streams

cycling towards Oban

 before we eventually arrived at Oban Youth Hostel where Tommy was piped in by the local piper!

What a welcome at Oban SYHA!

Spending an evening with the staff at Oban SYHA drinking wine!

Day 15 Ayr to Lochranza (Isle of Arran)

Today’s miles 39, running total 684

Yesterday’s headwind was replaced by unremitting rain! From the Ayr Travelodge we had a speedy and thankfully flat 25 mile run to Ardrossan where we were booked on the 12.30 ferry to Brodick, on the Isle of Arran.

Maybe we should have flown up!

The ferry was surprisingly big (reminiscent of a trip from Dover to Calais!).

Disembarked on Arran!

 We all thought the weather at Brodick looked like improving with the sun threatening to come out, but the to no avail.

Corrie: a pretty village on Arran

However, our hostel for the night was on the other side of the island at Lochranza and involved a 200m climb in driving rain over a mountain pass.

Tommy had bought himself a Eye-Spy book on Scottish Nature at Brodick and was not disappointed when we arrived at the hostel. These are wild red deer, not tame ones!

They might be wild....but still cute!

Day 14 Auldgirth to Ayr

Today’s miles 52 miles, running total 644

Yesterday’s relentless headwind was repeated today. The weather stayed dry, however with sunny periods.

cycling through the Galloway Hills

This was a quite gruelling day caused only by the north- westerly headwind that blew for the whole day. 

'Elevenses' at the  Tolbooth at Sanquhar

Coupled with two major climbs over the Southern Uplands meant that today’s average mileage was the lowest of the tour so far.

Despite the weather conditions we had some lovely views over the Galloway Hills.

Galloway Hills

Lunch break was at New Cumnock a village immortalised by Robert Burns (Sweet Afton, etc, etc)

The fact that we were also on the saddle for longest period of the tour so far told its own story as we wearily arrived at our lodgings at Ayr at 7.15pm

Leaving the Borders Region and entering Ayrshire

Day 13 to Auldgirth (north of Dumfries) and into Bonnie Scotland!

Today’s miles 45; running total 592

A momentous day when we can report that at 10.15am Tommy was the first of  our party  to cycle across the border from England to Scotland and thus completing  the 558 mile ride from Land’s End to the Scottish Border – pretty impressive for an 11 year old!

The day started at Carlisle with still the threat of the rain we had yesterday which fortuitously did not materialise. Leaving our overnight stop at the University Halls of Residence we cycled past Carlisle Castle.

A castle to keep the Scots out of 

England

It was a short 11 mile ride to the border when the usual photos were taken:

Welcome to Scotland with Gretna's 'First and Last House'  opposite: anybody want to get married?

I am pleased to report that both Freddo and Curly Wurly got in on the act too.

All we need now is to catch a haggis and we will have a threesome of  mascots

The cycle from Gretna was, on paper, an easy day but despite the sun coming out we had a strong headwind for the whole day that sapped everybody’s energy. Tommy said this was his most exhausting day in the saddle and was completely ‘dead beat’ at the end of the day.

The day ended at the village of Auldgirth, 11 miles north of Dumfries meaning we have shortened out arduous day over the Southern Uplands tomorrow. A welcome pint in the Auldgirth Inn.

A welcome pint at the end of an exhausting day

 The two other chaps in the picture are also cycling LEJOG: indeed we met others at the border too. It looks like most cyclists we now  pass seem to be doing LEJOG or JOGLE.