|
LEJOG the ‘leisurely’ way
Report – Jill Wilson
David encouraged me to write a report on Graham’s and my recent Lands End to John O’Groats bike trip – which was somewhat different from Dr Sarah Ruggins’ recent record-breaking JOGLEJOG ride – in as much as we took three weeks for LEJOG only, and were on e-bikes.
Look away now if you’re a purist but if you think you might quite like to cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats – then read on.
This was quite simply the best thing I’ve ever done – over 1000 miles in the saddle over 19 days. The average distance of 55 miles a day is not really a challenge on an e-bike, even with hills and headwind. But 20 consecutive days, with one day off after day 13 does make it more of a challenge. We did nothing more than cycle, eat, eat some more (we did a lot of eating) and sleep. – tucked up in bed most nights by 9.30.
It was a supported trip for a small group of six with a cycle guide and a support vehicle – which carried our bags, stopped to provide drinks, snacks and lunch at regular intervals and offered the opportunity for a ride in the van for ‘anyone with tired legs’ – a comforting cop-out that no-one needed.
We arrived early for a few days in Penzance with amazing friends who were our top and tail logistics crew – delivering us to Penzance and collecting us from John O Groats. Good friends indeed.
After three days of depressingly torrential rain in Penzance we left Lands End on Easter Sunday in sunshine and arrived just one short rain shower later in the tropical north of Scotland on Friday 9th May. Such good fortune with the weather!
The highlights were many and varied: day 5 when we cycled up Cheddar Gorge, over the Clifton suspension bridge into Bristol and then over the old Severn Bridge to Chepstow; the leafy lanes of Herefordshire and Shropshire; wonderful village names throughout; the wildflowers and birdsong; big skies; the exquisite Trough of Bowland north of Blackburn; Westmorland; cycling through Edinburgh and over the closed road bridge; the heady scent of gorse; the Cairngorms National Park through Glenshee and Braemar, Strathnaver with its Highland clearance villages, indeed all of Scotland was spectacular. And quiet. The last leg from Bettyhill to John O’Groats was pure joy – the sun shone, there was no wind, the sea was turquoise – even Thurso looked idyllic.
Did I mention the weather? We had one short light rain shower on day two. And that was it – it was dry and mostly sunny every other day. A little bit of headwind in Scotland – but that was it. Had we had strong winds with accompanying horizontal rain I would be telling an entirely different story. Or possibly no story at all.
But this wasn’t about ‘doing Lejog’ or being congratulated for ‘achieving it’ (but thank you to everyone who did say ‘well done’)- and this dawned on me quite slowly: it was much more about experiencing the entirety of our beautiful country – and it is truly beautiful when you get away from the roads we use to actually go anywhere – at a slow enough pace to take it all in, stop and admire the view, take pictures while seeing the landscape change subtlety day by day.
I was reminded of the poem ‘Leisure’ by Williams Henry Davies which begins:
‘What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare,
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep or cows.’
I’m so glad we had the time to stand and stare. Robert Louis Stevenson said ‘to travel ….. is a better thing than to arrive’. I certainly did not want to journey to end, indeed if I had been offered the chance, I would willingly have turned around and travelled the return route.
Would I recommend it? Yes, of course – but if you do it – whether on full pedal power or with electric assistance – take your time. Stop, look and stare – you’ll be surprised at what you’ll see.
Oh and make sure you book the right weather 😉
|
