This page outlines the preliminaries.  The complete story will be published soon.

LAND'S END TO JOHN O'GROATS

PRELIMINARIES

You must be careful what thoughts enter your mind. Some are easily dismissed; others stick around like the formation of a pearl, a source of irritation that might ultimately devolve into a gem. This account is ongoing, so while the goal is a gem of an adventure, currently it is just a source of aggravation.

The ride has several acronyms, LeJog and E2E (End to End) are most frequently used and for this writing I will go with E2E. Having ridden across the United States several years ago, I felt no need to prove myself in long distance rides. But the journey proved to be such an enjoyable interlude, I left myself open to a similar vacation (hereafter, in deference to the British, I will switch to the term "holiday"). My son and daughter-in-law (Kurt and Nicola) both graduated from Edinburgh and now live in England, so Marilane and I have spent many pleasant days in Scotland and England (and a few really cold ones). It seems the stars were correctly aligned for me to go from one end of Great Britain to the other. I actually made the decision a couple of years ago; it was just a matter of getting it on the calendar and having sufficient funds.

September, 2009 fit perfectly into our plans. A brief 2008 history and further explanation: Marilane wanted a Baltic cruise to St. Petersburg and I wanted a week cycling in the Alps concurrent with the Tour de France. My holiday ended the same weekend the cruise began, so rather than fly home, I just flew to Stockholm and met her and we cruised. Having separate vacations then a joint one seemed to work well. Her travel agenda has long included Ireland and an ocean crossing (not necessarily together, just two check marks). She recently located a cruise from New York to South Hampton, England in early September and cobbled that to a one week tour of Ireland. Because my cycling friends are either not retired or not as crazy as I, my plan for E2E was a solo ride. We now begin the story. If you are not interested in the thought processes and negotiation and compromise necessary to arrive at a completed holiday, please skip to the actual ride. If you are new to planning, it is a good primer.

It seemed simple enough, fly to England, take the train to Penzance, ride the bike the ten miles to Land's End, then begin the adventure. B&B's are readily available (and youth hostels which I care nothing about staying in). There is a website with over 300 accounts of people who have traveled this route. Actually, "this route" is a misnomer because only the starting point and end point are required; everything in the middle is up to you. In my mind, the distance of 650 miles tumbled around, so my thoughts centered on ten days.
No way would Marilane let me solo in a foreign land (or anywhere, for that matter), so the plan called for me to begin my trip when she finished hers. It worked well in 2008. That gave me the opportunity to again compete in the Senior Games, usually held in early September.

In order to map my own ride, I needed a starting place. The Cyclist's Touring Club (CTC) has over 50,000 members and a great website. They even have an E2E packet with "the" route directions and tips etc. Well, the first thing that caught my attention is their routes (they have three) were in the 1,000 mile range. Oh my! Immediately, my ten day window went to fourteen. Yes, I can do multiple one hundred mile days, but see no reason to on what I wanted to be a scenic holiday.

The E2E packet is free to members, about £20 to non-members. I became a member. A day later I could download the packet, print it out and read it at my leisure, relaxed in my leather recliner. I mention the recliner because only a few minutes into reading the introduction I had to gulp, and about a half hour later I really needed to recline, so fortuitously was in the proper place.

Head spinning (figuratively, not literally), my original suppositions crumbled to nothingness.  In the space of a few minutes I learned: not all trains would take your bike and even then you couldn't just show up and throw it on the train; getting to civilization from John O'Groats could be a major challenge; the directions really were minimal, to the extent that only if you were there, seeing the roads and intersections, would they make sense. Two weeks now became a minimum. Take a deep breath. Okay, nothing here that throwing a little time and money at couldn't overcome.

Immediately I logged onto the Garmin website and researched GPS. One problem with being electronically challenged is you know too little. My friends have GPS and can call out the next turn without a problem. I figured I could get one and download the route from CTC (yes, they have it) and with a little instruction, could use that as my primary direction finder. Have you seen what a Garmin Edge 705 costs? A few more clicks and I see I could spend a few hundred more dollars to get a topo map of Great Britain. The 705 only has the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. There has to be a cheaper way to do this!!

Well, I only read one of the three hundred accounts of the trip, so considered in the next few weeks I will read more and see if they have better routes and descriptions and tips etc. Then, a eureka moment! Hidden (okay, overlooked the first time) at the end of the introduction to the packet were a few paid tours. I pulled up the first one, and that person had a run of bad karma and was no longer operating. The second one had a nicely laid out website and seemed to offer what I need.

Flexibility on holidays is the prime requirement. The offered two week tour is in August, the September tour is three weeks long. It also starts September 5, 2009. Rather than Marilane accompanying me, my vacation will be concurrent. This is good news, in that she will not have to drive a vehicle on the wrong side of the road and dither around the countryside.  And the bad news: she will be out of communication with me (but I will be in good hands and not riding by myself). Other good news: one less person to feed and house and no need to purchase a GPS or maps. Perhaps new cell phones are in our near future; ones that we can learn to text on or email (both of us detest texting). We really do need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the modern electronic era. More good news: they just posted the Senior Games for 2009 and they are in October, so I won't necessarily have to miss them.

That's where we are now: waiting for January and formal booking and downpayment for the tour. The other details, like how to get back to Evesham after the ride and will Marilane meet me in Inverness or not, will percolate a while but we are pretty much sure E2E will get done.

CHAPTER TWO

Actually, just an update.  We are at the end of January, the downpayment has been made, the flight over and back has been purchased.  These logistics are simple: Marilane will take me to the airport, I fly to London.  At the end, we meet up and fly together out of London.  You might have discerned a few things missing in between. 

Right now, the plan is for me to purchase a bike in Penzance (in advance) and have it waiting for me when I get there.  I will be a day early just in case of flight delays and to give me an afternoon to get acquainted with the new bike.  While it is not a good idea to start a 1,000 mile trip on a new bike, I will see if I can order one there and maybe find the same one here to practice on.  Otherwise, Advil will be the drug of choice for the aching joints that must get used to a different position.

Also up-in-the-air is where Marilane will meet me after I ride.  There is no time pressure on this, so it may be several months before we decide.  How I get from London to Penzance is also not resolved.  We are pretty sure it will be by train.