I have always wanted to ride the Lands End to John O’Groats route but kept putting it off as it seemed a daunting commitment. However Alan Little invited me to do just the last 3 days with him ie the 3 Scottish legs, which sounded more manageable
I joined Alan at Edinburgh along with my two friends JP and Helen to do his last 3 days of the LeJOG ride with him, riding the entire length of Scotland
Each day we rode around 100 miles, with a food stop approx every 25 miles provided by Alex in the support van
We were treated to magnificent views, awesome scenery, exhilarating descents and top-class hospitality.
Organisation was extremely well done and the entire trip ran flawlessly.
My favourite part of the route was in the Cairgorms National Park, following beautiful river valleys, old military roads, delightful forests, and even Balmoral castle.
The further North we went, the wilder, more beautiful and more remote the landscape became.
The scenery was spectacular, each day the route taking us further north alongside more magnificent lochs and quiet country lanes
A tough climb up to the Glenshee ski resort rewarded up with stunning views, and the descent from here down to Braemar was fast, exhilarating and well-earned.
Each night at the hotel we at huge amounts of food, had a couple of beers and a much-needed rest.
At every evening meal we were all chatting enthusiastically about what an awesome day we had experienced, swapping stories, viewpoints and experiences of an epic, memorable and gratifying journey.
Arriving at John O’ Groats we had covered almost 350 miles, climbed over 15,000 ft of ascent, and burned around 18,000 calories each.
I highly recommend this trip, and will certainly be booking with Cycle Britain training again, but next time I will ride the entire route!