CTUK News

Cycling the length of Britain (CTUK Instructors notch up a LEJOG and a JOGLE!)

Two CTUK instructors, Jane Stables and Philip Lingard, had the same idea this summer, to cycle the length of Britain, but they approached it from different directions.

Philip, starting from John O’Groats, the northern point of Scotland and arriving at Land’s End, was on the saddle for 10 days and clocked up 1071 miles:

‘I did the route in the opposite direction to normal because I liked the idea of riding south towards Cornwall and clotted cream. A typical day was 10 hours in the saddle covering 100-110 miles. The most I cycled in a day was 127 miles in 12 hours. I wasn't going fast - but then my bike with camping stuff did weigh 36kg! It was hard work on hills, especially in Cornwall where 25% gradients are not uncommon. But with enough low gears, I never had to walk.

The whole ride was a joy. The annoying bit was finding places to stay, campsites rarely being where you want them, especially in Scotland. If there was a low point it was after meeting Jane in the Cairngorms at about 8pm with 20 miles still to ride to the next campsite, looking up at a road that seemed to go up vertically into the sky. High points were getting to the top of this road to be surrounded by a 360 degree panorama of the Cairngorms in the evening light, with the only man-made thing being the road itself; the other was swimming in Loch Naver one hot afternoon to cool off.
If you like riding bikes, ten days doing nothing but riding in beautiful countryside is close to heaven.’
Philip

Philip on the Forth Road Bridge

Jane did a LE-JOG (Land’s End - John O’Groats) in 17 days and covered 1,155 miles:

Jane planning the route

‘I crawled out of Cornwall, it was absolutely beautiful but really hard cycling; I’ve never been at the bottom of so many hills looking up! There was always a wonderful variety of wild flowers by the roadside: little pink and yellow flowers in Cornwall, honeysuckle in Devon, different types of greens as I went further North, and gorse and bracken (and best of all forests) in Scotland. The landscape and scenery rolled past, stunning and ever changing. Voices and regional accents also changed daily, but there was only one noticeable regional variation to the litter! (A prize for the correct answer…)
I put a dot on my notebook for every ‘exceptional, perfect day’. From one dot every three or four days at the beginning, my notebook was filled with daily dots towards the end of my journey.
Britain is a beautiful, safe place, where strangers treat you well. Although be warned: Saying that you’ve cycled over a thousand miles seems to give people, (men and women) the right to squeeze your thighs!’
Jane

Jane and Philip’s paths crossed for a well deserved cake in the Cairngorms