The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 0 – Nottingham to Durness

Starting an ‘end to end’ from Cape Wrath is a lot less straightforward than starting at John O’Groats. You can’t just drive there. So task number one, get to Durness to stay overnight, before crossing the Kyle of Durness to The Parph and on to Cape Wrath. Over the last week everyone has been involved …

Life Cycle 2 Training

There are just four weeks left before we set off from Cape Wrath. That’s scary, given the number of weekends available between now and August 24th. Over the last couple of months I have managed to get out on most Sunday mornings, generally with some combination of Karen, Kate and Steve; occasionally joined by Nick, …

The Way of the Roses

The cycle route which traverses England from Morecambe to Bridlington is known as ‘The Way of the Roses’. It is 170 miles and, bar for a few miles in Cumbria, entirely in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Over the weekend of May 4/5/6, ten of the Life Cycle 2 riders took it on as a training run. …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 14: Bodmin to Land’s End

1625, September 8th 2011, mission accomplished. It was an early start for me. We arrived at Bodmin late yesterday, ate late and had energy for little else but bed. So I set the alarm for 0500, to get the Day 13 blog written and posted before our departure. Conditions were miserable as we prepared to …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 13: Exeter to Bodmin

What a day, the toughest of the trip. Departure from Exeter was a bit un-coordinated. Alan was out first, having opted to go straight along the A30. He was followed on the same route by Steve and Neville (someone told Neville there were no traffic lights on the A30). The boldest choice was made by …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 12: Shepton Mallett to Exeter

I have posted an additional photo today. Some younger readers are probably wondering whether a penny farthing is a new super fast road bike, made of ultra light composites. No, it is not. In fact it is an ancestor of today’s road bikes. A photo of the very one which zipped past Chris J shows …

JoGLE Day 11: Bourton-on-the-Water to Shepton Mallett

Chris R, Alan and David W were off first. The other eight of us planned to leave together. It did not quite work out that way. We got lost in Bourton-on-the Water. If you know Bourton, you will know that takes some doing. The map enthusiasts wanted to go one way, the Garmin enthusiasts another. …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 10: Sutton Bonington to Bourton-on-the-Water

The second dire day for Scottish football on this trip; a late penalty for the Czech Republic means Scotland miss out yet again on a major tournament. Last night we ate at The Plough in Normanton and were joined by several spouses (Susan, Duncan and Nick). Although Chris J’s choice of dessert was puzzling (everyone …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 8: Thirsk to Retford

It is just amazing to think we are now into the second week of this adventure. Only last Friday we were setting off from John O’Groats. Everyone obviously has niggles and strains of one form or another, but all remain cheerful and motivated. We started with a photo shoot for the local paper at the …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 4: Blair Atholl to Dunfermline

The weather changed and we left Blair Atholl in cool but bright conditions. Our route took us on Sustrans 7 and 77, through Pitlochry to Dunkeld, staying west of Perth, through Dunning and on to Dunfermline. In all we worked our way through four Scottish counties, including the smallest in Britain, Clackmannanshire. Chris R, Alan …