July 13 Cheddar to Chepstow- 73.7kms
July 13 Cheddar to Chepstow- 73.7kms
A view across to Wales...
Our roadway is in the foreground
More Country Lanes...note the Hedge Trimming about halfway up!
Roads were quite generally but you need to watch for cars. If they meet head on it gets interesting
Yes...of course it looks good and was!!!
On top of the Avonmouth Bridge...
....With a view of the Avon River
On top of the Severn Bridge.
With a view of the Severn River
...another bridge in the distance...not sure of its name
Yours truly on top of the Severn Bridge with Bike
Home for the night at the Castle View Hotel
Very pleasant
With a view of the Castle of course!
This was day 5 of our ride and after a night of good rest I felt quite good despite looking at the surrounding mountains at Cheddar which needed to be crossed....another day of steep climbs loomed!
We were all quite surprised that the Cheddar Gorge was relatively easy with about 5kms of climbing at about 5% with 2 short 12% climbs to warm up the legs. The gorge was good to see as the photo's attest.
Thereafter the ride proceeded along country lanes and roads with a lot of downhills which despite being better than climbs, still provide a real test of the brakes with cars. trucks and farm tractors likely to appear at any time.
We passed through some very pretty towns such as Winford, Failand, Portbury and Easton-in Gordano on the way to the outskirts of Bristol. We had some lunch at the pub (Kings Arms) at Easton-in-Gordano. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich with a cappuccino. Quite good with the bread being made by the publican.
The next part of our ride was to cross the Avon River on the Avonmouth Bridge by navigating the Avon Cycleway....this proved to be relatively easy compared to the later route finding for the Severn Bridge!
Between the Avon Bridge and Severn Bridge the countryside was flat and with the wind behind us we were travelling at speeds near 30kph for most of the time.
BUT....navigating the Severn Bridge had its challenges....we crossed on the wrong side of the bridge which really mucked up navigation to the final ride in to Chepstow where we were staying for the night....anyway after seeking help from locals with mixed success we met with a few of our fellow riders who had GPS navigation on their Garmin to help.
Accommodation at Castle View Hotel is very comfortable.
A good day of riding with perfect temp of about 22deg and the winds behind us for most of the day.
My legs are starting to feel better and am coping with the hills now quite well
FYI....The group we have has some very interesting people who have embraced significant challenges in the past. We have one lady who has sailed across the Atlantic from UK to US 3 times solo, we have another lady who is going in the NY marathon in November after this ride. Both ladies are in mid to late 60's and are very humble at what they have done and will do...Quite remarkable really.
Also one of our leaders, John, tells us he was a senior technician in the RAF and was assigned to the Royal Flight Corps and regularly flew with the Royal Family on various trips in the UK and the rest of the world..all very interesting.
Now for the photo's....
Climbing the Cheddar Gorge...see the wild goats!
Here is Chris Climbing the Gorge!!!
Our roadway is in the foreground
More Country Lanes...note the Hedge Trimming about halfway up!
Roads were quite generally but you need to watch for cars. If they meet head on it gets interesting
Will we go in for lunch at the Kings Arms???
Yes...of course it looks good and was!!!
On top of the Avonmouth Bridge...
....With a view of the Avon River
On top of the Severn Bridge.
With a view of the Severn River
...another bridge in the distance...not sure of its name
Yours truly on top of the Severn Bridge with Bike
Home for the night at the Castle View Hotel
Very pleasant
With a view of the Castle of course!
July 12 Sampford Peverell to Cheddar- 75.2 kms
July 12 Sampford Peverell to Cheddar- 75.2 kms
Steam train leaving station at Bishops Lydeard
..and another one waiting to go!
Cothelstone Manor Front Gate...very impressive. but....
Just before the start of the 1500m climb!!!
On the way down we stopped!
To enjoy the view!
..and the flat country!
..and for Coffee and Scones ( home made)
Home for the night...very comfortable B&B
My room at the bottom
Well what a difference a day makes....
Today the weather started with a bit of drizzle and cloud but cleared in to a fine and sunny afternoon. A real chance to "dry out" and enjoy some very pleasant riding in some wonderful country.
Today there was some climbing as we moved out of Devon in to Somerset but some very pleasant flat riding through the Somerset Levels in to Cheddar
We climbed a total of 884m today which is a sharp contrast to the previous days of the ride.
It is amazing to see, smell and hear the world around when riding. The sounds and smells of dairy and sheep ( some) farming, together with cropping of corn, barley and potato's. The farmers working their tractors along the road ( even the small lanes and hedgerows!)
We had one big climb during today from Bishops Lydeard up the Quantock Hill ( not sure whether Rod Q came from this region?). The climb was about 1 mile ( 1500m) with some sections having 18% gradient. The decent through the forest to Enmore was delightful and halfway down the coffee and scone break at the Pines Café was all the better for the home made food served. The views across the hills here to Wales and Somerset was lovely. All the better as the Somerset country looked to be "FLAT".
We had a bite of lunch at Bridgewater courtesy of Sainsburys...great fresh sandwiches and fruit to "fuel up" for the afternoon ride in to Cheddar. The ride along the Somerset Levels was really quite satisfying with us travelling at 25-30kph and making good time to get in to Cheddar at about 3.30pm.
All in all a great day of riding and some great sights seen!!!
Farming with solar power farm!
Steam train leaving station at Bishops Lydeard
..and another one waiting to go!
Cothelstone Manor Front Gate...very impressive. but....
Just before the start of the 1500m climb!!!
On the way down we stopped!
To enjoy the view!
..and for Coffee and Scones ( home made)
Home for the night...very comfortable B&B
11th July 2017 Tavistock to Sampford Peverell- 91.5kms
11th July 2017 Tavistock to Sampford Peverell- 91.5kms
The cows being herded in for milking
All very well for the Cows...we were bloody cold!
...and again those cows
Note part of the manor housing in the background.
At the end of the ride...one drowned rat!!!
Home for the night...warm and dry again to fight another day
Tucking in to dinner.....Chris has his back to the camera on the right
Day 3 of the ride can be described in one word.....WET!
Yes it rained for most of the ride today and all of us were soaked through to our skin despite having waterproof jackets, overshoes and all manner of clothing to keep the rain out.
We started at about 8.30am in Tavistock which is a really lovely village situated in the valley. The first climb out of Tavistock was a 10km climb with the Garmin telling me that we had gradients of 12% for most of the way. As we climbed up towards Dartmoor the weather turned very wet and cold for the downhills (later).
The trip across the moors was interesting with sheep and horses grazing, We saw a group of soldiers who were doing a 20mile hike in the day...good luck to them!
After the moors the ride was through some undulating countryside BUT there were some short/sharp climbs out of the towns with several of them being around 18%.
We passed through a lot of dairy country which I guess is normal for Devon for the cream for Devonshire Tea. Our morning tea was at a café just out of Whiddon Down where several of the group recovered with tea and scones ( so did I) and some warmth. One of our group (Walt) spent most of his time in the gents trying to dry his riding shirt using the hand dryers...it seemed to work for him even though he had 45kms still to travel....
Chrisand I decided from this point we would "go for the finish" rather than have lunch. Resting for lunch then getting back on the bike being stiff and wet was not a good option.
We made really good progress to Sampford Peverell but were held up helping Walt's wife with a punctured tyre (in true ANZAC spirit Chris and I performed the task with distinction) and to allow a herd of cows to make their way along the road to get to the milking shed.
Along the way we saw a number of the stately homes. It was too wet and cold to take photo's sorry!
We arrived at our destination at about 4.30 pm looking like "drowned rats" but after a warm shower, some food ( lasagne) and a couple of beers I fell much better.
We climbed 1387metres which was a lot less than yesterday but it was a harder day in many respects.
Tomorrow the weather forecast is for fine sunny weather...I hope so!
Out on the Moors...
Cold and wet!!
The cows being herded in for milking
All very well for the Cows...we were bloody cold!
...and again those cows
Note part of the manor housing in the background.
At the end of the ride...one drowned rat!!!
Home for the night...warm and dry again to fight another day
Tucking in to dinner.....Chris has his back to the camera on the right
10th July- Perranporth to Tavistock- 92.3KMS
10th July- Perranporth to Tavistock- 92.3KMS
Today promised to be the hardest day of the ride and it certainly lived up to expectations!
After a "hearty" breakfast of eggs and bacon to "carbo-load" for the day ahead and our briefing from John, Chris and I set off on the ride.
Well the first hill out of Perranporth was a real "doosy" and after thinking the weather might be cool and getting our spray jackets and arm warmers on at the start of the ride, we soon "stripped off" all this additional gear for the ride ahead.
Many people have said that riding in Cornwell is as hard as it gets and I can really concur. Just to give you all an idea with all the climbs and descents of the day ( and there were many!) we climbed a total of 1950 metres during the day and many of the climbs were greater than 15% ( I reckon on average we were climbing at 8-10% during the day).
The roads we used were mainly country lanes with "hedgerows" and were extremely narrow. Often we had to stop to let cars and farming tractors go by. The English drivers in the main were very courteous and seemed to understand the need to allows us to share the road.
We passed some very pretty villages in Cornwell with most of them being at the bottom of the valleys. I presume this is so the town can get water.
Probably the pick of the towns were Belowda and St Neot.
Lunch was at Bodmin where Chris has lunched on his ride from London to Penzance. We went to the local Sainsbury store and bought rolls and ham and cheese and made our own lunch. This together with some fruit made a terrific lunch under a tree in the Sainsbury carpark. We managed to speak to a few locals who gave us some background on Bodmin as the Cornish "capital" and its rich history in having a prison which is now closed.
The afternoon ride took us through part of the Bodmin Moor near Minions and then in to Devon as we crossed the Tamar River. I left Cornwell with mixed emotions as the countryside was very pretty, the people we met have been friendly BUT there is so many hills.
The towns on the border with Devon and Cornwell have some interesting names....Bray Shop & Chip Shop....makes you wonder how this was decided!
Finally....after more than 90 kms we reached Tavistock for the night.
The hotel we are staying at seems excellent but there will be no partying as we are all pretty tired after a big day.
Interesting that we had to store our bikes on the roof deck for the night...great to climb stairs after 92kms!
Lunch at Bodmin...Great choice!!
Typical road we travelled on...narrow with hedges...quite safe really
The pub at St Neot...several of our group had lunch there.
Very pretty
The Tamar River..Goodbye to Cornwell!
Devon here we come!
Where are the Devonshire teas I wonder?
Today promised to be the hardest day of the ride and it certainly lived up to expectations!
After a "hearty" breakfast of eggs and bacon to "carbo-load" for the day ahead and our briefing from John, Chris and I set off on the ride.
Well the first hill out of Perranporth was a real "doosy" and after thinking the weather might be cool and getting our spray jackets and arm warmers on at the start of the ride, we soon "stripped off" all this additional gear for the ride ahead.
Many people have said that riding in Cornwell is as hard as it gets and I can really concur. Just to give you all an idea with all the climbs and descents of the day ( and there were many!) we climbed a total of 1950 metres during the day and many of the climbs were greater than 15% ( I reckon on average we were climbing at 8-10% during the day).
The roads we used were mainly country lanes with "hedgerows" and were extremely narrow. Often we had to stop to let cars and farming tractors go by. The English drivers in the main were very courteous and seemed to understand the need to allows us to share the road.
We passed some very pretty villages in Cornwell with most of them being at the bottom of the valleys. I presume this is so the town can get water.
Probably the pick of the towns were Belowda and St Neot.
Lunch was at Bodmin where Chris has lunched on his ride from London to Penzance. We went to the local Sainsbury store and bought rolls and ham and cheese and made our own lunch. This together with some fruit made a terrific lunch under a tree in the Sainsbury carpark. We managed to speak to a few locals who gave us some background on Bodmin as the Cornish "capital" and its rich history in having a prison which is now closed.
The afternoon ride took us through part of the Bodmin Moor near Minions and then in to Devon as we crossed the Tamar River. I left Cornwell with mixed emotions as the countryside was very pretty, the people we met have been friendly BUT there is so many hills.
The towns on the border with Devon and Cornwell have some interesting names....Bray Shop & Chip Shop....makes you wonder how this was decided!
Finally....after more than 90 kms we reached Tavistock for the night.
The hotel we are staying at seems excellent but there will be no partying as we are all pretty tired after a big day.
Interesting that we had to store our bikes on the roof deck for the night...great to climb stairs after 92kms!
Lunch at Bodmin...Great choice!!
Typical road we travelled on...narrow with hedges...quite safe really
The pub at St Neot...several of our group had lunch there.
Very pretty
The Tamar River..Goodbye to Cornwell!
Devon here we come!
Where are the Devonshire teas I wonder?
Sunday 9th July- Lands End to Perranporth- 70kms
Sunday 9th July- Lands End to Perranporth- 70kms
Yours truly at the start of the ride...sorry I forgot to rotate it!
LEJOG KE 75 at the start of the ride at Lands End
"Its Official" here we are at Lands End...off to John O'Groats!!
...and here is the official starting line!
A disused mine shaft... no wonder they stopped when the mining was done at this angle!
Hells Mouth!
Apparently a good place for suicides..urrrgh
Home for the night ( as Phil would say)
A good pub with views over the beach
After a good night of sleep at the Longboat Inn at Penzance it was up early ( 7.00pm) for breakfast and on the bus for a short trip to Lands End to start the ride.
We have a group of 24 riders mostly from the UK with 2 Aussies, 1 Kiwi and 4 from the US. we have 2 leaders rob and John who look after all our luggage transfers and ride with us to make sure we are "on course" and do not get lost.
In the mornings we have a briefing from the leader of the day who explains where we are going, wher to have morning tea, lunch etc and where the dangerous roads are. This morning the briefing was done at Lands End.
After photos to celebrate the start of the ride it was "on the road" and Chris ( the Kiwi) and I were first to get going. The roads were very good and generally not very busy, even though it was Sunday and the start of the school holidays for private schools. we passed through some wonderful country and the Cornish coastline is certainly very picturesque. This part of the UK was a mining region in the early part of the20th century but mining here is now not cost effective.
Now it is very much a farming and tourist destination based economy.
The towns here are very pretty much like you see on the Doc Martin television series with roads leading in to the towns with steep descents and reasonably big climbs out again.
We managed to get off the track a little but the directions we are given are very good. Lunch was at Hells Mouth which is a very picturesque spot and Chris and I had Cornish Sausages and Mash....
Made for a good ride for the afternoon where we struck the steeper hills ( max was 18% for a short period)
The interesting towns worth noting were St Ives, Hayle, Gwithian, Portreath, Bridge & St Agnes.
Tonight we are staying at Parranpporth which reminds me a bit of Fairhaven with sand dunes, surf beach and families sitting on the beach near what seems to be a surf club.
The weather has been perfect for riding at bout 25 degrees, slightly cloudy and very little wind ( any wind was behind us on the road)
I arrived at Perranporth at about 3.00pm and look forward to a beer or 2 to celebrate the Dees win over the Blues!!
Briefing by John at the start of the ride
Yours truly at the start of the ride...sorry I forgot to rotate it!
LEJOG KE 75 at the start of the ride at Lands End
"Its Official" here we are at Lands End...off to John O'Groats!!
...and here is the official starting line!
A disused mine shaft... no wonder they stopped when the mining was done at this angle!
Hells Mouth!
Apparently a good place for suicides..urrrgh
Home for the night ( as Phil would say)
A good pub with views over the beach
Saturday 8th July- Day Zero for Trip- 0 Kms
Saturday 8th July- Day Zero for Trip- 0 Kms
Arrived early at Paddington Station to catch the train yo Penzance. The number of people travelling by train is astounding and with the good weather in the UK it seems that most are heading for the "coast" to enjoy it!
The train was full and it was lucky I booked my seat and room for the bike ahead of the trip!
The train trip was about 5 hours with plenty of stops along the coast for people to get off for the weekend break.
Arriving at Penzance I was met by John ( haven't got his surname yet) who took me to the hotel where we are staying for the night ahead of the bus trip to Lands End in the morning to start the ride. The bike is now set for the ride.....???
I had a brief walk around Penzance and it is very pleasant village atmosphere that you see in British films complete with the "swarks" from the seagulls.
Tonight the group has dinner together in the pub to meet which is good. I have met a few so far and it seems most are around my age with similar levels of fitness....always interesting at the start of a ride to compare fitness levels!
My Bike and luggage at Paddington...ready to go!!
Home for the night
Main Street In Penzance
The best building in town....the bank of course
Hanging Baskets Everywhere!
At least they were high enough to miss my head!!
Arrived early at Paddington Station to catch the train yo Penzance. The number of people travelling by train is astounding and with the good weather in the UK it seems that most are heading for the "coast" to enjoy it!
The train was full and it was lucky I booked my seat and room for the bike ahead of the trip!
The train trip was about 5 hours with plenty of stops along the coast for people to get off for the weekend break.
Arriving at Penzance I was met by John ( haven't got his surname yet) who took me to the hotel where we are staying for the night ahead of the bus trip to Lands End in the morning to start the ride. The bike is now set for the ride.....???
I had a brief walk around Penzance and it is very pleasant village atmosphere that you see in British films complete with the "swarks" from the seagulls.
Tonight the group has dinner together in the pub to meet which is good. I have met a few so far and it seems most are around my age with similar levels of fitness....always interesting at the start of a ride to compare fitness levels!
My Bike and luggage at Paddington...ready to go!!
Home for the night
Main Street In Penzance
The best building in town....the bank of course
Hanging Baskets Everywhere!
At least they were high enough to miss my head!!
Wednesday 5th July- 3.7kms
Wednesday 5th July- 3.7kms
Arrived at the Caledonian Club in Belgravia, London at about 9.30am after the long flight from Melbourne via Abu Dhabi. Belgravia is a very wealthy part of London where many of the Consulates are located.
I spent the day organizing the "re-build" of my bike with some help from a local bike shop together with getting a local UK SIM card and getting local cash.
I managed to get a short ride back to the Club from the bike shop which was good, although I got lost a few times with one way streets.
Where I am staying is quite "old world" but convenient to most of the tourist attractions.Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey etc and I took a long walk to get acclimatized after the long trip. The weather here is very warm ( 29 degrees) which is a far cry from Melbourne where it was 14 degrees when I left.
The next few days will be me being a bit of a tourist with no riding really.
Picture of the bike in the box at home...thanks to Phil for his help
Arrived at the Caledonian Club in Belgravia, London at about 9.30am after the long flight from Melbourne via Abu Dhabi. Belgravia is a very wealthy part of London where many of the Consulates are located.
I spent the day organizing the "re-build" of my bike with some help from a local bike shop together with getting a local UK SIM card and getting local cash.
I managed to get a short ride back to the Club from the bike shop which was good, although I got lost a few times with one way streets.
Where I am staying is quite "old world" but convenient to most of the tourist attractions.Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey etc and I took a long walk to get acclimatized after the long trip. The weather here is very warm ( 29 degrees) which is a far cry from Melbourne where it was 14 degrees when I left.
The next few days will be me being a bit of a tourist with no riding really.
Picture of the bike in the box at home...thanks to Phil for his help
Picture of "assembled bike" at the bike shop...wouldn't go there again!
Leaving Melbourne
With some help from Phil I m a aged to pack the bike in the "box" I got from the bike shop.
No real problems in getting transport to the airport and booking in at the Etihad desk
I have had many good wishes for the trip and saying goodbye to the family was sad in a way
I am lucky that my wife,Robyn, has allowed me to go on this rather interesting journey
.....anyway looking forward to telling the tales of my trip on the LEJOG
Dear all,
It seems the picture did not get downloaded in my earlier post on the blog.
Here it is again and hopefully it gets posted this time!!
It seems the picture did not get downloaded in my earlier post on the blog.
Here it is again and hopefully it gets posted this time!!
LEJOG Trip in July
I will be travelling to the UK to complete ( hopefully) a 3 week ride from Lands End to John O'Groats. I am looking forward to the ride of approx. 1600 kms and seeing some great UK "country during the ride.
I am part of a riding group in Melbourne called the "wheelie binners" and we ride most Sundays together enjoying good rides with coffee at the end of the ride.
We also do various multi-day rides in country Victoria visiting some interesting parts of the State we might not see if we were driving by car.
I have attached a photo of some members of our riding group after a recent Sunday Ride.
I hope you enjoy the Blog of my trip.
Regards
Peter Harrison
I will be travelling to the UK to complete ( hopefully) a 3 week ride from Lands End to John O'Groats. I am looking forward to the ride of approx. 1600 kms and seeing some great UK "country during the ride.
I am part of a riding group in Melbourne called the "wheelie binners" and we ride most Sundays together enjoying good rides with coffee at the end of the ride.
We also do various multi-day rides in country Victoria visiting some interesting parts of the State we might not see if we were driving by car.
I have attached a photo of some members of our riding group after a recent Sunday Ride.
I hope you enjoy the Blog of my trip.
Regards
Peter Harrison