UK07: John O’Groats & The End

Cycling from Lands End to John O’Groats, Day 17

We’ve made it, we’ve done it, we’ve finished the ride. All 1,740km of it. And boy am I glad to be done.

Not because I didn’t enjoy it — it was a huge amount of fun — but because Lands End to John O’Groats is hard. Much harder than I expected. Over the past 17 days, I’ve climbed over 19,000 meters (about twice the height of Everest). In Japan over 27 days, I climbed 22,000 meters. Even though the UK is a far less mountainous country than Japan, the roads of Britain are home to a never ending series of short sharp climbs, which eat into your legs day after long day, until you are completely spent.

Our final day was a relatively short and flat one, 70km to John O’Groats and back, along the north coast of Scotland. At John O’Groats there was a bagpiper ready and waiting for a 70-year old who’d spent the last 3 years cycling LEJOG in chunks. Richard and I arrived about 20 minutes ahead of our fellow rider, and pretended the piper’s warmup was for us, a suitably Scottish farewell to the trip. Two days earlier, in Golspie, we’d bought a small bottle of 15-year old whisky at the Glenmorangie distillery to celebrate with. We headed down to the port at John O’Groats, and toasted our finish. A moment of quiet reflection, looking north to the cliffs of Orkney.

As we retrace our route on a 17-hour train back to London, I am exhausted. My attempt to keep saddle sores at bay with copious amounts of Vaseline has failed, and a completely avoidable close encounter with the tarmac with less than 1 kilometre to the finish has left me aching all over. My body is ready for a long rest, and I don’t think I’ll be back on the bike for a little while yet.

Enough whinging.

The cycle has been a triumph. We were blessed with good weather from start to finish. Besides a few scattered showers here and there, we spent a total of about four hours over a 17 day period under any kind of significant rain. Considering the route followed the typically wetter west coast of Britain, we’ve been exceptionally lucky. Had it rained for even half of those 17 days, it would have been a much colder and more miserable trip. Instead, I used up two whole bottles of sun cream, have ridiculous tan lines on both hand and legs, and out of the train window I can see newborn calves running around a sunlit field.

It is far too easy to forget that the rest of Britain exists when living in London. I’m so glad to have had these two weeks to see so much of the rest of the UK. There are many, many highlights, but the last few days through Scotland really stand out. From Glasgow all the way to Thurso, the Scottish landscape has been magnificent. Our crossing of the snow-capped mountain passes of Glencoe is up there with some of the best riding I’ve ever had, and I’d like to revisit the northeast coastline in summer, when the water is a tad warmer, and I can fully enjoy the beaches.

I am incredibly grateful all those who joined me on the ride: to Milo and Gabo for chaperoning me through Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, crucial domestiques against the wind; to my parents for accompanying me for the first day in Wales; to Misa, joining me in the Lake District and resupplying me with clean clothes; and to Richard for riding with me for the last week to John O’Groats. Going solo in Wales was fun for a couple of days, but having good company is what makes these rides so special, and so memorable. I couldn’t have done it without your support, and the support of so many others in the background.

Really, these cycles are a fantastic excuse to eat, and though I won’t pretend that the UK has quite the same depth of culinary excellence as Japan, there’ve been some really special meals: The Exmoor Forest Inn right at the beginning of the trip, Rogan &Co in Cartmel, and the one and only Pad T’Aye in Hamilton (by far the most unexpectedly delicious food of the trip). I’m sick to death of fry ups, though they are brilliant fuel.

I have filmed a huge amount of footage of the ride over the last 17 days, and plan to edit it into a doc, similar to the one I created for my Japan ride. If you’ve not seen that one, I’ve linked it below, it’s now had over 300,000 views, and I hope people will take as much interest in our journey through the UK as Japan.

Thank you for following along, until the next one!

Oscar