Tuesday 23 June 2015

The End of my End to End JOGLE Adventure


So I cycled over 900 miles from John O'Groats to Land's End. A 1954 map, one puncture, no injuries (except for sunburn & that time I zipped my nose up in my waterproof), no cycling shorts, no support crew & I nailed every hill.



My 2015 resolution was to not take any flights and see more of the UK. I’m one of those Londoners who rarely leaves London unless it is via an airport and my national geography is embarrassingly terrible. Also, I’d never been to Scotland before so for that reason I decided to take the first leg slowly and explore. I went off route slightly to spend a couple days in Edinburgh. The Forth Road Bridge did not exist when Eileen Sheridan did her record-breaking ride.


I then made my way down to Kendal where I stayed with some friends and we took part in the Great North Swim in Lake Windermere (I think I do rest days wrong). From there I made my way to Land’s End. I followed a mixture of NCN cycle routes and A-roads using Eileen Sheridan’s 1954 map as a guide. Some parts were quite magical whereas some parts I probably wouldn’t recommend.I loved looking at the blue dot travelling south.

I made the whole trip into a holiday and didn’t worry about hitting certain mileage goals every day. If I liked the look of a place I would stop and have a look around. I pre planned accommodation until Edinburgh then until Kendal then I took each day as it came.
This little island we live on really is beautiful and incredible. It's been an adventure and I've seen some things *stares into space*...
I think this guy said it best: 
"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle."- Ernest Hemingway


Thanks for all the messages and inspirational quotes. I'm going to miss life on the road almost as much as the 6,000 calorie diet I've been on.
I will get around to doing separate posts on accommodation, packing, diet and anything else I think might be helpful to anyone else planning a similar trip. If you have any questions or blog post requests give me a shout.

Jude xxx

5 comments:

  1. Cycling over 900 miles i think you have a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing your adventure. I am also planning one with my friends hope it will be fine.
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  2. Bike with friends is really an awesome way for fun.And if the biking tour is as long as you mention in the post about 900 is really and adventure and you really had great reviews regarding your tour.

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  4. Congratulation! All the images are very nice. 900 miles cycling only one puncture!

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  5. So impressive! Looking forward to more photos and tips on cycle touring.

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