Category: Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 16: Accrington to Kirkby Lonsdale, 87.5k, 1065m climbed
This morning I learned that I can consider myself a true citizen of Oswaldtwistle, or Gobbiner, because I’ve spent the night ‘above the lamp’ – ie in the part of town above the Gobbin lantern that stands outside the library. Obviously. Neighbouring Accrington is famous for its ‘nori’ bricks (apparently ‘iron’ was spelled backwards in…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 15: Glazebrook to Accrington, 55.7k, 940m climbed
Today’s early hero was Dylan of Dilly’s Bike Shed in Glazebrook, who successfully extracted and replaced my sheared and frayed gear cable, so that I was on my way, with a fully functioning multi-speed bike, by 11am. It’s safe to say that his establishment didn’t bear much resemblance to our local bike shop: But the…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 14: Market Drayton to Glazebrook, 79k, 522m climbed
This morning’s coffee came with a side order of mechanical failure, which looked set to derail my plans, were it not for the intervention of a perfect stranger – in the purest sense of the phrase. The day started innocently enough, with a chilly ride through a shady avenue of broad leaf trees. For the…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 13: Bewdley to Market Drayton, 89.5k, 972m climbed
It was a cool misty start in Bewdley… But we soon warmed up with a punishing climb out of the Severn valley. Having negotiated the unremarkable outskirts of Kidderminster, we briefly enjoyed the tranquility of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. But could have done without the alarmingly rutted section of towpath in this tunnel: We…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 12: Cheltenham to Bewdley, 91.3k, 813m climbed
Today I was joined by two top quality domestiques (for those not familiar with cycling terminology, I’m not being offensive) It was nice to have company on the road… And at the pit stops. Tewkesbury Abbey was very, very old (and closed). It was a day of three rivers – we crossed the River Avon…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 11: Rest day refreshment
When a rest day happens to find you in a spa town, it seems churlish to pass up the opportunity to take the waters, metaphorically speaking. So after a suitably relaxed start, I enjoyed the best massage I’d ever had. The fact that it was also the first massage I’ve ever had should not detract…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 10: Bristol to Cheltenham, 92.8k, 632m climbed
Two historic cities bookended today’s ride, sandwiching a mostly flat, deeply rural section, dotted with dairy farms and offering views of distant hills. Unfortunately the wind had not received the memo about prevailing from the south, but on the plus side sunglasses were definitely required. The National Cycle Network continued to impress, with clear signage,…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 9: Burnham to Bristol, 52k, 351m climbed
I want to start today’s entry with a thank you to a fellow guest at my B&B, whom I’d never met until this morning. As I was loading my bike, she first asked where I was going, then whether I was fundraising, and then disappeared into her room, coming back with a £10 note. Betty…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Technical Gremlins – update
There still seems to be a random photo shuffler trapped in the coding of this website – hence the re-appearance of my trusty Truro banana, along with other photos in the wrong places. Weebly’s engineers assure me they are aware of the glitch and are trying to fix it. In the meantime, please bear with…
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Land’s End to John O’Groats 2021 – Day 8: Bury to Burnham-on-Sea, 93.1k, 679m climbed
Today I finally bade farewell to the Devon hills and their Cornish cousins, but not before they’d had the last laugh, with a rookie error involving insufficient forward momentum and feet attached to pedals. Luckily, the high earth bank beside the road (see below, assuming the right photo appears) meant I didn’t topple too far,…
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