# Dungeness to Durness



## mcshroom (17 Apr 2018)

Ok, I might be going a bit quiet on here for a couple weeks*, as on Saturday I catch the train down to Kent, and from Sunday I'm riding up to Durness in the North West Highlands. It's a sort of End-2-End but the other diagonal to LEJOG.

This is the map of the route: -






I can't seem to put a table on the forum, so I've put my planned days into an html page here: -
http://macnet.org.uk/routes/D2D/d2d_Route.html

I'm hoping that I'll have the energy and internet connection to put some updates on here as I go. Currently I'm flipping between excitement and fear   




*Oi! Don't all celebrate at once!


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## Fab Foodie (18 Apr 2018)

That looks great! Good to see something different to lejog. Bon chance mon ami :-)


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## Sharky (18 Apr 2018)

In case you didn't know, but you have the option of crossing the Medway using the M2 bridge. There is a service road running parallel to the motorway. Then you can drop down into Cuxton, then head for Cobham and onto Gravesend. Maybe a more pleasant journey.

Good luck
Keith


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## robjh (18 Apr 2018)

Ooh, that looks good. We want updates to know how you're getting on. It looks like you'll be riding past my front door sometime on Monday afternoon.


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## sight-pin (18 Apr 2018)

I'll give you wave as you go up the Dunton rd if i'm on my way down
Looks like you've chose some nice weather for it. Have fun


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## Ticktockmy (18 Apr 2018)

I rode the Durness to Dover Route 7 years ago, In Northern Scotland I used a lot of the Bridleways and Landrover tracks as i like to do off road. I used the Gaik pass, from Drumguish on the NCN 7 to Dalnacardoch Lodge on the A9 near to Calvine, which was a tad hairy as I had to wade the river, but it was so nice a view and lonely I think somewhere I have my GPX files. I was in the main wild camping, and B&B.


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## Drago (18 Apr 2018)

Dungeness is a fantastic place, one of my favourite places in the world. Barren, interesting, and boy does the weather whip in! A wonderful place to begin your odyssey.


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## KneesUp (18 Apr 2018)

That looks a great ride. I flipping love the north of Scotland - I'd be tempted to call in at the lovely campsite at Scourie before the equally lovely one at Sango Sands / Durness (assuming you are camping of course!) so I could go on the Handa Island ferry, just because Handa is one of my favourite places to go. Not sure if the ferry is running this time of year though.

Whatever you do, it looks like it will be amazing! Enjoy


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## Rickshaw Phil (18 Apr 2018)

I hope it goes well. Enjoy!


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## mcshroom (18 Apr 2018)

KneesUp said:


> That looks a great ride. I flipping love the north of Scotland - I'd be tempted to call in at the lovely campsite at Scourie before the equally lovely one at Sango Sands / Durness (assuming you are camping of course!) so I could go on the Handa Island ferry, just because Handa is one of my favourite places to go. Not sure if the ferry is running this time of year though.
> 
> Whatever you do, it looks like it will be amazing! Enjoy


Scourie is great, and so is Sango Sands (except when the wind picks up). I've camped at those sites before. Achmelvich Beach is another great site near Lochinver. 

This time I'm being lazy and B&B/hostelling/staying with friends though. If I was camping I'd probably head up and do a loop of the highlands


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## Dayvo (18 Apr 2018)

It sounds like a great trip, Dungeness to Durness. Hope you don't find yourself under too much duress! 

Good luck and enjoy!


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## mcshroom (18 Apr 2018)

Sharky said:


> In case you didn't know, but you have the option of crossing the Medway using the M2 bridge. There is a service road running parallel to the motorway. Then you can drop down into Cuxton, then head for Cobham and onto Gravesend. Maybe a more pleasant journey.
> 
> Good luck
> Keith


Thanks. I planned something like that to start with, and was advised that the current route might be more pleasant. I'll make a decision when I get to the M2 I think


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## mcshroom (18 Apr 2018)

Ticktockmy said:


> I rode the Durness to Dover Route 7 years ago, In Northern Scotland I used a lot of the Bridleways and Landrover tracks as i like to do off road. I used the Gaik pass, from Drumguish on the NCN 7 to Dalnacardoch Lodge on the A9 near to Calvine, which was a tad hairy as I had to wade the river, but it was so nice a view and lonely I think somewhere I have my GPX files. I was in the main wild camping, and B&B.


I've got an alternative route planned between Braemar and Tomintoul which goes via Invercauld House and Loch Builg, but I'm on a tourer with 32mm Marathons so that'll only really happen if it's been dry for a while.


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## Brains (20 Apr 2018)

Looks good
Be aware that some sections of the Pilgrims Way (day one) are tracks
OK for a wide tyred touring bike (as long as it's dry) 
But not for skinny slicks


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## mcshroom (20 Apr 2018)

Brains said:


> Looks good
> Be aware that some sections of the Pilgrims Way (day one) are tracks
> OK for a wide tyred touring bike (as long as it's dry)
> But not for skinny slicks


Cheers. @mmmmartin has also warned me about that bit. I'm on a touring bike so I should hopefully be ok. If not then I'll have to take one of the chevron roads to the top of that bank and shadow the route on road.

Currently I'm trying to solve a last minute problem in that the two most direct railway lines from Tunbridge Wells to the start are on bus replacements when I want to travel on Sunday morning.


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## mmmmartin (20 Apr 2018)

mcshroom said:


> a last minute problem in that the two most direct railway lines from Tunbridge Wells to the start are on bus replacements when I want to travel on Sunday morning.


There is _a cunning plan._


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## Crankarm (20 Apr 2018)

mmmmartin said:


> There is _a cunning plan._


Which is what exactly?


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## mcshroom (20 Apr 2018)

I'm not sure yet - @mmmartin is kindly hosting me tomorrow night so I'm sure I'll discover his cunning plan then  Otherwise, my plan is the Sevenoaks-Otford manoeuvre.

More worrying, I've just had to switch out the front brakes on my tourer. the spring just snapped on the Tektro RX6's during last minute fettling, so I've had to replace with a set of RX5s I had in a box. I could've done without that this evening! I suppose it's better for it to go now, rather than on the road.


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## mcshroom (22 Apr 2018)

Half way through day 1 - ice cream break before hitting the North Downs (which seem to do a lot of up despite the name). There's not a cloud in the sky


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## mcshroom (22 Apr 2018)

End of Day 1. After @mmmmartin went above and beyond and drove me down to Ashford, getting to the start was relatively easy. One normal train, and then one mini steam one out to the coast. 

After a false start where I almost went into the nuclear power station by mistake, I set off in the sunshine from the remote shingly weirdness of Dungeness and back into Kent proper.

The sun was shining, but a nice side wind was keeping me cool as I passed through fields of oilseed rape, wheat and dozing sheep.

Eventually the ground rose up a bit as I followed the forested lanes skirting around Ashford and the wind started to calm a bit. At just before half way I stopped for a drink and ice cream at a petrol station, and enjoying the ride.

The second half, however, was more challenging. I was trying to ride the Pilgrim's Way through the Downs, but baked hard after a wet winter, it had become a rutted, potholed mess that I was struggling with. Eventually (after almost being rear ended by a trail biker!) I gave up on the track and climbed up a steep hill onto the road along the ridge which was much better.

The afternoon sun was beating down and it was getting very warm. Eventually I swept down off the Downs towards the Medway towns on the north coast. I opted for the M2 bridge over the estuary, and then rejoined my planned route into the evening sun towards my hotel in Gravesend, where I think the shower I had was the coldest I've ever chosen to set it.

Tomorrow is the ferry to Essex, then up to Cambridge. 

https://www.strava.com/activities/1525883442/


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## Sharky (23 Apr 2018)

Good luck for day 2. Keep an eye out for Pocahontes on the way to the ferry.


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## mcshroom (23 Apr 2018)

Sharky said:


> Good luck for day 2. Keep an eye out for Pocahontes on the way to the ferry.


I've had a lot of time to find her. The ferry has broken down so I've been stuck in Gravesend all morning. The replacement should be here around 12 noon, so 75 miles in an afternoon then!


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## mcshroom (23 Apr 2018)

Now the ferry will be 1330 at the earliest. Trying to work out a contingency as Cambridge is a bit far to be setting off mid afternoon


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## Pale Rider (23 Apr 2018)

mcshroom said:


> Now the ferry will be 1330 at the earliest. Trying to work out a contingency as Cambridge is a bit far to be setting off mid afternoon



Free vehicle crossing service for bikes at the Dartford Crossing, which would get you the right side of the Thames estuary although no nearer Cambridge.

https://www.gov.uk/dartford-crossing-bike


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## mjr (23 Apr 2018)

mcshroom said:


> Now the ferry will be 1330 at the earliest. Trying to work out a contingency as Cambridge is a bit far to be setting off mid afternoon


If there is actually a ferry at 1330: then at some point, I think your route north would cross National 1 running E-W. Head west on it to Harlow (40 miles from Tilbury by bike) and then north from there. Whenever you want to stop riding, catch a train on the nearby West Anglia Line to Cambridge. I think they're still fairly long trains and fairly liberal on carrying bikes northbound once you get that far out of London, but on some of them, you may just be standing with the bike in the unused doorways and possibly shuffling side to side at stations.

Otherwise I'd take @Pale Rider's advice and head for Dartford, then it's about 35 miles via Aveley, Upminster, National 136, Navestock, Toot Hill, Moreton and National 1 to Harlow Mill station.


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## mcshroom (23 Apr 2018)

I've gone for a different option. HS1 into London and then a train from Liverpool St to Elsenham where my route crosses the line. 

Annoying I've lost nearly 2/3 of today's ride, but this should allow me to arrive at the hotel at an accptable hour.


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## Sharky (23 Apr 2018)

mcshroom said:


> I've had a lot of time to find her. The ferry has broken down so I've been stuck in Gravesend all morning. The replacement should be here around 12 noon, so 75 miles in an afternoon then!


Sorry about the ferry and hope you got to Cambridge ok. 

Good photo of the statue.
Keith


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## mcshroom (24 Apr 2018)

Day 2 report. They don't make things easy for you do they?

The day started with hearing some rumblings about the ferry having problems, so I chose to get some breakfast while this was sorted and rolled down to the pier at about 9:45 ready for a ferry just after 10. When I got there no ferry staff were around, so I checked on twitter. The boat was broken and the ferry crew had gone to get the spare. No sailings before 12!

1200 would mean a 75 mile afternoon, but without massive hills that should be just about ok, so I headed into town to wait. Gravesend was having a St George's day parade with bands, flags and even a dragon.

After the parade passed I found a bike shop and got some new gloves & nuun tablets, found Pocahontas and headed back to the pier to findout from a couple of German Cycle tourists (they were riding the North Sea cycle route over months, and had the expedition bikes/luggage to match) that the boat time had slipped twice now to 1300 and then 1330.

I started to get worried. Cambridge seemed a long way off and I wasn't sure if the boat would even turn up.

After considering options including riding to Dartford and trains to Tilbury, another potential boat passenger told me the High Speed trains from Gravesend took bikes, so I worked out a plan using trains in and out of London, meeting the route near Stansted.

Of course this meant riding from St Pancras to Liverpool St stations without any prior planning, which was an experience, including an accidental trip past the Bank of England and navigating using the maps in bus stops, but I made it and caught my train to Elsenham, where my route crossed the railway at the manually operated level crossing, so straight on to Cambridge 

The scenery had changed to timber buildings and thatch, but the traffic levels on the B road I was riding were more modern than the scenery. Approaching Cambridge the bikes started multiplying, and along the guided busway it felt like a Dutch rush hour. Cambridge itself passed in a cyclist filled blur and I rode onwards out of town to my B&B.

Today is up to Grantham and I'm looking forward to a day where there's no public transport involved


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## mjr (24 Apr 2018)

mcshroom said:


> Of course this meant riding from St Pancras to Liverpool St stations without any prior planning, which was an experience, including an accidental trip past the Bank of England and navigating using the maps in bus stops, but I made it and caught my train to Elsenham, where my route crossed the railway at the manually operated level crossing, so straight on to Cambridge


Glad you made it. There are a couple of decent routes between the two and I think one even has OK signposts for most of it ("The City" then just naked bike symbols and then "Liverpool St") but the entries to them from St Pancras are decidedly not obvious (an unsigned crossing of Euston Road from St Pancras into Belgrove Street for the signposted one) and I didn't see your train plan until long after it was irrelevant... as it still is now I guess!


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## robjh (24 Apr 2018)

mcshroom said:


> Day 2 report. They don't make things easy for you do they?
> 
> The day started with hearing some rumblings about the ferry having problems, so I chose to get some breakfast while this was sorted and rolled down to the pier at about 9:45 ready for a ferry just after 10. When I got there no ferry staff were around, so I checked on twitter. The boat was broken and the ferry crew had gone to get the spare. No sailings before 12!
> 
> ...


I see you photographed that quaint throwback that are the manually-operated level crossing gates at Elsenham. Every other crossing on this line has automatic rising barriers, and I would love to know how manual operation has clung on here, on a busy commuter line with at least 6 trains passing each hour.


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## Drago (25 Apr 2018)

You had to spend a morning in Gravesend? You may need counselling to recover.


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## mcshroom (25 Apr 2018)

Day 3.

Today there's no trains, no ferries, just actual cycling 

I started off by visiting a bike shop in Girton as my rear hub was starting to loosen. Then it was onto the Guided Busway out to St Ives. Unlike the central Cambridge section of day 2, this was a quiet stretch, with the occasional roar of a bus flying past. It started raining so I pit on my waterproof for the first time on tour, which stayed on for the rest of the day.

The black and white rudor houses were still present, but more and more there were thatched buildings dotted among their more modern neighbours. 

Riding into Huntingdon the view from the cylists bridge showed workers repairing the town's much older stone bridge. Then I had a nice walk through the town centre past a very old looking church.

After Huntingdon the hills started and the road was pretty busy until, after passing RAF Alconbury, I was released onto little country lanes through the fields and hedges.

This would have been lovely cycling country, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier. By Stilton it was so wet I hid under a bus shelter for a while and rung out my gloves.

Then I passed a memorial to French POWs from the Napoleonic wars and pucked my way through the maze of cycle ways in Peterborough, before leaving through a country park with swans and barges in a lake.

Leaving the lake it was back into the rolling hills, and still raining hard. I stopped for a late lunch at a tea shop and changed gloves. It's amazing how good a dry pair of gloves feel when you are soaking!

Back into the rain I carried on to Stamford, over another historic bridge and, after negotiating the rush hour traffic, released again into soggy countryside. By now it was becomming a case of picking your line on the bits of road above water.

About 10 km from Grantham I met some marshals for a club TT. Apparently the rain had put people off so there were only 10 entries. I was also invited to enter (er - no). Then after one soggy pathI reached the highest point of the day (only 148m), and rolled down into Grantham.

The last bit came as a surprise. After picking my way through the one way system I thought I was almost done, but I hadn't realised that the Travelodge was the other side of a steep hill. This last hill with 137km in my legs was the steepest of the day up to Great Gonerby. I had to switch to the tiny granny gear - but at least the rain stopped.

From Gonerby the road then plunged back down and I rolled into the services, booked in (confusing the receptionist by not having a licence plate for the ar park), and hung all my wet gear up to dry.

The next stop is mum and dad's. I don't think I've cycled there for about 20 years.

Day 3s route - https://www.relive.cc/view/1529731495


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## mjr (25 Apr 2018)

I did think of you yesterday as I watched the rain lash the fens from my lofty perch of 6m. Good move to stop in a bus shelter for a bit: there's precious little cover on the fens but also not many buses either now so I doubt that you were in anyone's way.

Was the busway passable to St Ives again now? Last report on https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/guided-busway-cambridgeshire.232432/ was that part was still flooded.

May today contain fewer surprises!


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## mcshroom (25 Apr 2018)

There's one stretch of the busway that's underwater, but it's not long and you can walk/cycle along the bank to get round it


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## mcshroom (26 Apr 2018)

Right. Bit of catching up. 

Day 4.

This was a short day, and I was finishing at my parents' house in Rotherham. 

I set off about 9:30, being glad that my cycling gear had dried out on its hangers in the hotel room (I'm not sure what the cleaning staff would have made of the smell). Immediately I found a road closed sign. As the only other options were to head back south or ride on the A1, I decided to ride passed the sign and carry on. Having reached the road closed sign at the other end without seeing any roadworks, I have no idea why it was clossed. Then I decided to avoid the muddy drove road on my planned route and take a parallel road back towards the A1. Unfortunately that didn't cross the A1, and I ended up running with my bike across the dual carriageway into Foston.

From Foston the excitement settled down. I rode through fields of rapeseed and young wheat before picking up an old railway cyclepath into Newark. Stopping outside the impressive town church to add my arm warmers in the cold wind.

After crossing the Trent at Newark, I then jumped onto a big rural A road, the A616 as the most direct route towards Sherwood Forest. It was actually pretty lightly trafficed for an A road; less busy than some of the B roads I'd used further south, and I quickly rode along the well surfaced road until stopping for lunch in a village called Kneesall.

From there the heavy showers started, but after a short nusy stretch of road I turned into the tranquil tracks of NCN6 through Clumber Park. 

From Clumber Park I then passed though Worksop along the canal in the sunshine, before being caught in the open a little further down the canal by a ridiculously heavy, hail/rain mixed squall. The little tree I tried to hide under didn't really help much.

Heading into Rotherham is hilly in just about any direction. I climbed from the canal up to Thorpe Salvin, before bouncing over 3 different hill ridges, and crossing the M1 and M18 before riding into a showery Rotherham at about 5pm.

This just left the final challenge. There was a reason I didn't cycle much when I was younger - we lived at the top of a hill and the roads up were steep. I can confirm they still are!

I slowly trudged up in a very low gear, but for the first time ever, I cycled back home to mum and dad's. It's only taken me 34 years!

www.relive.cc/view/1533479283

Day 5 will have to wait until tomorrow. Time for bed


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## mcshroom (28 Apr 2018)

Day 5

This was the longest day of the trip, at almost exactly 100 miles. It started off with areas I knew from growing up in Rotherham, such as riding past the edge of the Wentworth estate, but I never really cycled much when I lived there, so it was strange how everything felt slightly different. What wasn't different was that there were still hills. Nothing too tall, but short stabby hills that take you from 40 km/h to 10 km/h in a few seconds. 

What was also noticeable was that the thatched buildings had almost disappeared, being replaced by slates on yellow sandstone buildings. The names also start to change. For example I rode through three different villages with the name 'Thorpe', such as Thorpe Hesley. This is a norse word for a village or hamlet, and showed that I had entered the area of ancient Danelaw, where Vikings had settled, and had their effect on the names and the language. Everything felt a little more familiar now, for some reason the North of England, even places as far flung as Newcastle and Whitehaven, feels like my country, whereas, despite living in London and Reading for years in the past, or some reason I still feel like a visitor in the South.

Heading through South and West Yorkshire also took me through the most urban and industrial part of my trip, and the roads were bigger and busier as I cut through the northern outskirts of Barnsley, Doncaster and Pontefract. Slowly dropping down to the flat lands, eventually almost reaching sea level at the Aire & Calder Navigation. Crossing this canal I was also crossing the line of massive coal power stations dotted along the Selby coal seam. None of which appeared to be in service as I passed.

There was a strong Westerly wind, which was hard work on a small section I turned into it, but for most of the day it was helpful. What also helped was that the showers started to get less frequent as the day went on.

I was in Audax mode though (which explains the lack of pictures), needing to keep riding to make the distance. I had broken back into the countryside though, and onto roads used for many audaxes around North Yorkshire. I ploughed on through the fields, before stopping for lunch in Boroughbridge. A strange thought I had while sat in the bakers, was that I had already ridden further than yesterday, but still had 60k to go. After lunch I passed over the bridge, and either rode or shadowed the A167 all the way to Darlington, with a strengthening tailwind meaning I was feeling less tired than expected.


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## mcshroom (2 May 2018)

Day 6

After a long day on Day 5, today was the day that I was to cross the Pennines. It was also the day I got to go home and re-supply for the Scottish leg. 

I set of early from Darlington, out into the land of the Price Bishops, and headed slowly but surely uphill out towards the ridge of hills on the horizon. It was cool but dry, and the slow rise through the countryside meant I kept nice and warm. After a brief busy stretch of A road through Staindrop I turned onto the ominously named 'Moor Lane'. The houses receded again and I rode up, and up, over 300m, before a fast (cold) descent towards Middleton-in-Teesdale. Just before town the road was closed for (as the sign said) 15 minutes while workers were pulling a blue rope through underground pipes, but I was able to walk past and ride the rest of the way into town. It was time for breakfast 

After breakfast it was out onto the Yad Moss road. This crossing of the pennines between Middleton and Alston is a signature section of LEL, and as I rode up the pass I could see why. The views and sounds of Low and High Force waterfalls give welcome distraction from the climb, before the land opens out into high moorland, with farm cottages scattered amongst seemingly acres of space. The road keeps rising, past 300m, 400m, then gets stuck at this height for about a mile before smashing through the ceiling and climbing on, past 450, then 500m and all the way up over 600m before reaching a summit just inside Cumbria. This was a long, low gear slog. My initial intention of reaching Carlisle station by 4.30 seemed to recede into the expansive moorlands.

However the top came, and then it was time to tuck in and enjoy the ride as I quickly lost over 200m that I had climbed, before plunging off down a very steep hill into Garagill on the C2C route, lining up for the second climb of the day, up to Hartside. Climbing out of Garagill there was a short sharp uphill section, and I jumped out of the saddle aiming to power my way up the short bank. UNfortunately by back wheel lost traction and I jarred forwards. As I did, I felt an ache in my right achilles. I got off and walked the rest of the hill.

I also found the hill out of the Garagill valley up towards the Hartside pass road too steep and it was back to walking again. I could tell that the flatlands of the SOuth of England were well behind me now. This was hilly. Reaching the A686 the gradient relented a bit, and I could get back on the bike. Every pedal stroke I could still feel a bit of pain in my right achilles, but I eventually made it to the summit, where unfortunately the cafe had burnt down, so I had to satisfy myself with a picture in front of the sign.

As I was about to set off down the hill, I was caught by Yoav from the YACF forum, who had ridden out from Carlisle to meet me (I'm not sure he expected to get all the way up Hartside before he did so). It was great to have someone else to chat to on the road, and we rode the almost entirely downhill 30kms from Hartside summit to Carlisle (with the exception of walking over the Wetheral Viaduct footbridge, the miles flying by.

Bidding him farewell at the station, I jumped on a train back to St Bees, and climbed the hill home, which felt weird part way through a tour. 

https://www.relive.cc/view/1535439748


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## mcshroom (2 May 2018)

Day 7

Unfortunately this was the day it all fell apart, though it started with a rush to the station. Dithering over what kit I wanted to change, I left myself less time than I really should have, and ended up pushing hard on the 5.5 km back to the station. I was too late to use the road crossing, with the barrier down, so I hoisted my bike on my shoulder and went to run over the footbridge. Somehow I missed the step the first time, jarring my right leg a bit, but after regaining my balance I carried the bike quickly over the bridge and jumped onto the arriving train.

I arrived in Carlisle, picked up the tickets for my journey home from Scotland at the end of the week, got some breakfast and then set off north, past the big Kingmoor rail yard and onto the road parallel to the A74M that takes you to the border. It was obvious that something wasn't right. My right ankle hurt on any hill, and I was getting slower. I did at least rach the border - I had ridden from the SE of England to the NW corner of the country 

I sat on a bench in Gretna Green, not far from the famous Blacksmith's shop where people used to elope over the border to get hitched, took some Ibuprofen and started to consider my options. The pain in my right leg seemed to be a couple cm above my heel, and hurt at the point where I switched from pushing down to pulling up on the pedal. Before long I was going to be riding into the Borders, and a lot of hills with little in the way of public transport, and if anything the right leg felt like it was spreading.

In the end, after ringing my Dad (an ex marathon runner) who basically advised me I was probably risking further damage, I decided i would set off riding again, and hope the pain would settle down by Lockerbie. Unfortunately, not far out of Gretna Green it was obvious that the soreness/pain was getting worse, and it felt like my left achilles was starting to come out in sympathy. After standing staring up the long straight B7076 longingly, I reluctantly concluded that carrying on wasn't a good idea, and turned back south to Gretna Green, where I caught a train home. 

It's taken me a few days to feel like writing the rest of this blog. If anything I was sulking for the last couple days I was also looking up what could cause such a feeling, and I'm pretty certain I had too high a saddle, and I was ankling when climbing steep hills. My achilles tendons were becoming inflamed, and I've had them on ice and elevated trying to sort them.. Today I went out for an 8 mile ride, still with my right ankle strapped up. It didn't feel too bad, but there is still some slight soreness.

I'm intending to finish the ride. I've not decided yet whether to head back south and do the lot, or just ride the Northern section I didn't manage. I'm still annoyed with myself if it was the saddle height.


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## robjh (2 May 2018)

Sorry to hear about your leg problem. Rest up, and I look forward to reading about the rest of our trip whenever you are able to complete it.


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## ianrauk (2 May 2018)

I have really enjoyed reading your blog @mcshroom 
Hope your pains heal swift and you can do the rest of your trip.


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## Crankarm (2 May 2018)

Sounds like the saddle height was your Achilles heel.
Good blog.
GWS.


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## Rickshaw Phil (3 May 2018)

mcshroom said:


> Day 7
> 
> Unfortunately this was the day it all fell apart, though it started with a rush to the station. Dithering over what kit I wanted to change, I left myself less time than I really should have, and ended up pushing hard on the 5.5 km back to the station. I was too late to use the road crossing, with the barrier down, so I hoisted my bike on my shoulder and went to run over the footbridge. Somehow I missed the step the first time, jarring my right leg a bit, but after regaining my balance I carried the bike quickly over the bridge and jumped onto the arriving train.
> 
> ...


I'm giving a like for the write up and for the determination to complete it when you can.

Such a shame to finish the trip like this. I hope you heal quickly and look forward to hearing about the restart.


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## Ticktockmy (3 May 2018)

I think you did the right thing, when we are young we tend to ignore these incidents, but as you get older they tend to return to bite you on the arse. the way North depending which route you have planned can be a nice ride, however I was tending to pick off road routes, when I was riding south I used the B7076 (NCN74) from Abington to Carlise. I had camped at Abington and had used the C Road that the campsite was on it is on to ride south to Crawford where I rejoined the NCN74. personally I would restart the ride at Carlisle. there is NCN 7from Carlisle to Longtown with a campsite just outside of the town.


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## Pat "5mph" (4 May 2018)

@mcshroom get well soon!
I really enjoyed reading your report: well done, stuff happens, don't beat yourself up because you're injured.
When you're up to it again, I would just carry on from Carslisle along route 74, it's a nice stretch, quite flat, very quiet apart the occasional, well behaved log lorry.
You will end up in Hamilton, where @flyingfifi lives: her and I started our Lakes tour from there.
I am just 9 miles down the road, even if you're not planning to pass Glasgow, the three of us could meet briefly for a cuppa


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## mcshroom (25 Sep 2018)

I'm back! 

I set off today to complete the ride. Unfortunately it's difficult to book accommodation or get home from Durness, so my new target is Dounreay, which I should get to on Sunday.


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## mcshroom (25 Sep 2018)

Take 2 - Day 1

Today started very much as the last day of the first attempt. A train up to Carlisle and then north, over the border into Gretna. My Achilles decided not to give up this time though, so I set off into the wind up the B7076 towards Lockerbie.

If anyone has ridden LEJOG, you've probably slogged up this road. It's the old A74 which has been superseded by the motorway built next to it. It's long, rough and pretty boring, but you can make good progress.

I passed through the amusingly named Ecclefechan and on to Lockerbie, where I took a detour. In 1988 a Pan am airliner was blown up by a bomb over the border town in December 1988, killing all the people on the plane, and 11 people on the ground. About a mile outside the town is a remembrance garden to all those victims. On the memorial there was a freshly laid university scarf for the American students on the plane, and a laminated poster with pictures of the flight crew. It was obvious to see that even 1000s of miles away, the friends and relatives are still visiting and paying respects, 30 years on.

Leaving the garden, the wind turned and I rode on to Johnstonebridge where I had lunch, and saw another touring cycilst pass me on an upright trike. Then on towards Moffat and the pass to St Mary's Loch. I've ridden that road before while audaxing, but Today, with a strong tailwind, the pass was actually easier than I remembered it.

On the way up I got overflow by what looked like a Spitfire!

On round the loch, past a decorative AA box and then I got another flyover. This time a Typhoon jet that must have only been a few hundred feet up as it roared overhead.

Turning away from tyhe lochside I climbed one more pass, through hillsides that were a patchwork of logging, fully grown trees and newly planted areas, before dropping down the other side and rolling into Innerleithen earlier than expected.

I hope I get the tailwind over to Kinross tomorrow, though if it gets much stronger I might have problems with the Forth Road Bridge!


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## mmmmartin (25 Sep 2018)

Am v pleased to see you go back - very audacious. Was pleased to be at the start of all this and would like to be at the end, but circumstances.


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## mcshroom (26 Sep 2018)

Day 2

There was a little drizzle in the air as I set off from the hotel. That's not too surprising; I've climbed the hill out of Innerleithen towards Edinburgh 3 times, and been rained on each time.

Before leaving the village, I picked up 3 Glenfinnan Viaducts and a Forth bridge from an ATM. Then set out up the hill towards the low clouds.

The first climb is gentle but unrelenting. It passes through a golf course (where I almost gained an inattentive passenger) and then snaking up a twisting valley, following the stream that in prehistoric times must have carved this valley out of the hill. Occasionally a farm house appears, and as tributaries fan off to their own indentations in the hills, the valley sides come closer and closer to the edge of the road until you reach a cutting at 360m up.

After that the road drops away into the next, hanging valley, losing a good 100m or so before setting up for the next windy crawl, passing through cuttings and over large emankments built to tame the steepsided cuttings at great effort.

At a little over 400m the road finally tops out, and there's a Sustrans marker. There's also a ditch in front of it that I managed to fall into trying to set up my photo 

Then it's a quick decent towards Edinburgh, interspersed with short stabby climbs as it picks it's way through tree lined valleys towards Bonnyrigg. After that I headed into the city, past the University and through a city park full of joggers before picking up NCN1 again towards the Firth of Forth.

It was the first time I'd crossed the FRB since the new third bridge had been opened. The difference it made to the crossing was amazing. Gone is the constant noise of cars and trucks thundering past on the dual carriageway. Instead it was pleasantly quiet. The sun even came out, giving a great view of the road bridge's more famous sibling. It was still windy though, which in the middle of the bridge on a very deck was a little unnerving.

In Inverkeithing I stopped at a bakery for a custard slice and a sandwich, before the final assault on the Hill of Beath, and then north along another B road usurped by the motorway it now shadows, past the views over towards Loch Leven and on to Kinross for today's hotel.

It felt like hard work for some reason today, but that's a third of the ride down. Tomorrow I head over the highest road in Britain as I hit the Cairngorms and head for Braemar.

https://www.relive.cc/view/1867025520


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## mcshroom (27 Sep 2018)

Day 3

There's something unmistakable about an old Scottish town. The main street lined with low, stone built houses and shops, often with dormer windows instead of a full second floor seems to start in the borders and carry on throughout the country. Kinross was no exception.

I headed out past the solid sandstone buildings and on into the countryside towards Perth. Perth & Kinross council have made a lot of back roads 'walking and cycling friendly'. This seems to mean that the speed limit is dropped to 40 outside of villages, and that they put signs up informing you of this friendliness, usually at the bottom of another steep bank. I followed a number of these over a range of hills, before diving steeply down to Bridge of Earn and then one more climb allowed me to drop onto Perth.

Unlike the low-built towns, the city of Perth obviously wanted to squeeze in more stuff between the river and it's green parks, so a lot of contrasting and ornate architecture, still fashioned from the yellow local sandstone, is squeezed into the grid-like streets. I was here for the bridge and road out, however, so passed over exploring and instead struck out up and along the A94 towards Cupar Angus. 

This road passed Scone (of stone fame) and then Perth airport, where I kept up my daily flyover, this time from a small light aircraft.

After that I turned further east, into lanes lined with fields of cauliflower, potatoes and rolled hay that was lined up in long catterpillars. There were no sheep or cows here. The land between Perth and the mountains to the North is quite definitely veg country.

A weatherfront from the North found me around midday, and for the first time on tour I needed my waterproof. It passed over quickly, however and the coat was soon removed, long before I stopped for lunch at Alynth.

Soup and coffee consumed it was then time to start climbing. Up into Glenisla, through steep sided hills and following an upwards trending but undulating path through fields, now filled with sheep, big Brown cows and a surprising number of pheasants. The hills got more and more rugged, and the scenery spectacular. Then with one final dive over a stream the road deposited me onto the A93 and lined me up for today's big test, the Cairnwell past Glenshee ski centre. The road stunned up and down for what felt like ages, giving and taking 20-30 metres at a time, before finally making a concerted assault on the mountainside. I switched into my bottom gear and slowly ground my way from 350 to over 670m, before gratefully topping out at the sign at the top. Unfortunately the highest A road in Britain doesn't get a proper Col sign, just a big Aberdeenshire One, and an advert for the ski village cafe.

Now I thought this was just a simple matter of rolling the 8 miles down to Grammar, so I put on my padded jacket and full finger gloves then set off down the initial plunge. This was the time the wind got up and rain came over the mountains into my valley. I quickly stopped to put on my waterproof, but it wasn't really made to fit over the other jacket, so I ended up riding down the hill (which had more uphill than my mind decided it should, and a headwind) feeling like the Michelin man. Eventually I rolled into Braemar and the youth hostel, where I warmed up in the drying room before I felt able to make up my bed for tonight.

Tomorrow I head through another ski centre, before heading out of the Cairngorms and down to the Estuary city of Inverness. I'm half way there

Today's route - https://www.relive.cc/view/1869352103
PS: My watch is really stingy with the altitude. The Cairnwell pass is 670m according to Wikipedia, not 512m as the video shows


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## mmmmartin (27 Sep 2018)

Great stuff. Scotland is really quite big isn't it?


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## mcshroom (27 Sep 2018)

Big, high, remote - and often beautiful


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## mcshroom (28 Sep 2018)

And cold today. First two big hills down and I'm warming up in a cafe in Strathdon before taking on the Lecht. I think today's going to have a late finish

I've just noticed that today I've climbed the 6th and 8th highest roads in Scotland, and I have the 2nd and 26th highest to come.


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## mcshroom (30 Sep 2018)

I can see the sea! 

Cold and wet, but I've reached Tongue on the North coast. After lunch I've about 40 miles left to get to Thurso


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## mcshroom (30 Sep 2018)

It is accomplished 

After being battered, soaked and frozen by a north westerly wind all day; and an unexpected diversion to Tongue because of a road closure. I'm now at the end of my ride in Thurso. Just the 11 hour train ride home to worry about now


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## shirokazan (10 Mar 2019)

mcshroom said:


> ...Just the 11 hour train ride home to worry about now



Epic journey, @mcshroom ! Did you buy your tickets from Thurso back to Cumbria in advance?


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## mcshroom (10 Mar 2019)

shirokazan said:


> Epic journey, @mcshroom ! Did you buy your tickets from Thurso back to Cumbria in advance?


Hi @shirokazan, and thanks.

I did. Actually I had split tickets. One to Inverness and one south from there as it was cheaper. The trains at Thurso now have 4 spaces rather than two, but do need a bike reservation.


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## shirokazan (11 Mar 2019)

mcshroom said:


> Hi @shirokazan, and thanks.
> 
> I did. Actually I had split tickets. One to Inverness and one south from there as it was cheaper. The trains at Thurso now have 4 spaces rather than two, but do need a bike reservation.


Excellent. Last time I was up there was about 7 years ago, bike spaces at a premium. I had no difficulty though - phoned Scotrail, they confirmed bike space on the train from Lairg to Thurso and all was well a couple of hours later when the train turned up with guard expecting me (or my bike to be more precise!)

So where's your next big trek going to take you to (and from)?


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