O.O'Brien

Here’s all the cities, towns, villages and attractions I’ve cycled through in the last 12 days.

The styling of the text shows if it was raining, cloudy or sunny.

0	Thurso > Castletown > Canisbay > John O’Groats > Mey > Dunnet > Castletown > Thurso
1	Thurso > Reay > Melvich > Strathy > Bettyhill > Strathnaver > Altnaharra > Crask Inn > Lairg > Falls of Shin > Carbisdale Castle
2	Carbisdale Castle > Ardgay > Evanton > Culbokie > Munlochy > Kessock Bridge > Inverness > Dores > Inverfarigaig > Falls of Foyers > Whitebridge > Carn an t-Suidhe > Bridge of Oich > Invergarry > Laggan
3	Laggan > Commando Memorial > Gairlochy > Banavie > Neptune’s Staircase > Fort William > Onich > Ballachulish > Glencoe Village > Clachaig Inn > Pass of Glencoe > Rannoch Moor > Bridge of Orchy > Tyndrum > Crianlarich > Ardlui > Inveruglas > Tarbet > Luss > Inversnaid
4	Inversnaid > Aberfoyle > Thornhill > Doune > Bridge of Allan > Wallace Monument > Tullibody > Alloa > Dunfermline > Rosyth > Queensferry > Dalmeny > Barnton > Edinburgh > Lasswade
5	Lasswade > Temple > Fountainhill > Stow > Galashiels > Melrose > Newtown St Boswells > Jedburgh > Carter Bar > Otterburn > Elsdon > Winter’s Gibbit > Morpeth
6	Morpeth > Dinnington > Newcastle > Gateshead Millennium Bridge > Gateshead > Saltwell > Angel of the North > Ouston > Pelton > Grange Villa > Edmonsley > Sacriston > Durham > Shincliffe > Bowburn > Coxhoe > Sedgefield > Stockton > Infinity Bridge > Middlesbrough > Ormesby > Guisborough > Birk Brow > Scaling Dam > Sandsend > Whitby
7	Whitby > Hawsker > Robin Hood’s Bay > Ravenscar > Cloughton > Burniston > Scarborough > Osgodby > Cayton > Folkton > Hunmanby > Rudston > Kilham > Driffield > Walkington > Ripplingham > Welton > North Ferriby > Humber Bridge > Barton > Kirmington
8	Kirmington > Caistor > Walesby > Market Rasen > Wickenby > Stainton by Langworth > Scothern > Nettleham > Riseholme > Lincoln > Bardney > Tattershall Bridge > Holland Fen > Boston > Fosdyke Bridge > Long Sutton > Sutton Bridge > Clenchwarton > King’s Lynn > Castle Rising > Wolferton
9	Wolferton > Castle Rising > North Wootton > King’s Lynn > Watlington > Downham Market > Ten Mile Bank > Queen Adelaide > Ely > Witchford > Wilburton > Cottenham > Histon > Cambridge > Great Shelford > Sawston > Whittlesford Station
10	Whittlesford Station > Hinxton > Ickleton > Arkesden > Clavering > Stocking Pelham > Much Hadham > Widford > Hunsdon > Roydon > Lower Nazeing > Enfield Lock > Lea Valley > London

I was on my own for the final leg today – the second half of the journey from King’s Lynn to London, originally planned as a single day until headwinds and tired legs forced the split.

The start was a few miles south of Cambridge, I followed National Cycle Route 11 through various pretty Essex and Hertfordshire villages, before taking a more straight route south of Clavering, to Roydon.

The wind was still there, but it was more like a crosswind, and the rolling hills and hedgerows kept it at bay. I avoided one intense looking shower and generally stayed in the sunshine. Being on my own, with tired legs and only a short distance to do, I started very late and took it very slowly – every hill was a crawl and breaks were frequent. I suspect that without Dan and Chris’s pacing on the previous days, I would have regularly ended in the dark.

After passing Roydon (and going down Kitten Lane, which had a kitten in the road!) I joined NCR 1 for one final time – an excellent new off-road route has been laid here, it took me right down the Lea Valley, through fields ripe with wheat (and thunderflies!), up some suprising hairpins, past a novel carp feeding station, recreational cyclists and evening blackberry pickers, all the way to Victoria Park, the finish and home.

87.5km in 4h30 cycling time, 5h45 altogether, the average speed of 19.3kph being my slowest of any of the days. With the quads, knees and palms all hurting quite a bit now, I’m glad it’s all over.

Dan had found yesterday tough and fell ill overnight, so today it was just Chris and I. After an extremely comfortable stay in Wolferton (near King’s Lynn), a long breakfast, and the realisation that Dan wasn’t going to be making it, it was 11am before we set off. It would be tricky to make London before dark starting this late, but more importantly, the forecast had an ominous detail – a strong southerly wind. As we were due to travel pretty much directly south, across the open and windswept Fenland, this was not a good thing.

So it proved to be – once we entered the vast and flat area south of King’s Lynn, much of it at or below sea level, the headwind was tough to bear. Despite trying hard, our pace was around half of yesterday’s blistering performance. It was a struggle to get to Downham Market, another struggle to get to Ely (where we stopped for calzones in a restaurant with a great view of the cathedral), and a struggle to get to Cambridge – everytime the road swung south, we felt the full force of the wind and it felt like we were almost going backwards.

At Cambridge, it started to rain, and it was 6pm – not looking good. We had gone around 95km by this stage, but it felt like we had done 150km, thanks to the headwind. So we decided to call it a day – but to shorten the second part of the stage (which I’m hoping to do tomorrow) we went a further 15km south, passing the ‘DNA tiles’ sculpture that is more than a kilometre long and is quite a sight on a cycle path. Ironically, the wind died away, the rain never really got going, and I felt pretty good, with plenty of energy, but we were hurting after battling our way down, and the train into London was a welcome sight.

Today was 117.5km, in 5h43 moving time, and 3h45 breaks – an average speed of 20.5kph, which was way down on yesterday’s but still higher than I was expecting. The distance includes a “bonus” 7km home from the station in London.

Tomorrow, the final section is from near Cambridge, down through the Lea Valley and into London. As I have the whole day to do this short (80km) section, I will hopefully finish with a cycle down The Mall – unless the forecast rain has sapped all my energy and I just stop at the house!

Chris joined us for today, for the cycle south to near King’s Lynn. We started with the only climb of the day – near Caistor, at around 160m altitude, which is huge by Lincolnshire standards. After a 10% long drop (maxing out at 62kph) to Market Rasen, we followed NCR1 along various pretty – and empty – country lanes, to Lincoln.

At Lincoln, Dan discovered his back tyre had completely split apart. After calling in at a bike shop, and Lunch 1 at the bottom of Steep Hill, we headed towards Boston on the water trail, the 55km route livened up by a swaying tarmac track and varous sculptures.

At Boston, it was getting seriously hot -no rain today for the first time, so we had a long break and Lunch 2. Then it was the final 70km stint to near King’s Lynn, tough after a long hot day but we worked well as a team, taking turns at the front and averaging 33kph. After 100km of no hills whatsoever, the slight rise at Castle Rising, 180km in, was almost a relief.

There was an amazing sunset across The Wash, viewed from the house of Anna’s friend’s parents, and it was finally warm enough to relax for a long while in the garden.

181.5km today, in 7h26 moving time + 3h30 of breaks, an average of 24.4kph – the highest full day average by far. Tomorrow is London, which is 185km away. We are all very tired tonight, particularly Dan who’s done 8 days in a row now.

Nice and sunny today, I spent a good while in the middle section of the day’s ride relaxing in the sun, much to Dan’s annoyance! However, first we had the edge of the North York Moors to pass. Some proper hills, a steep descent to Robin Hood’s Bay and then a climb on a rough track to Ravenscar, before reaching the rather regal looking Scarborough.

Then it was following various lovely country lanes through the East Riding, with one nasty climb at Folkton and one heavy rain shower, before heading down to, and across, the Humber Bridge. The cycle path to the bridge crosses under it three times before arriving at the entrance.

Our B&B landlord met us at the other side for the final 10 miles to Kirmington, and we finished the day with the very generous portions at the Marrowbone and Cleaver pub (not a great pub for veggies, funnily enough)

Tomorrow, a 180km day, largely flat, to Lincoln, Boston and King’s Lynn. Chris is joining us to pace and the weather is looking promising.

Unfortunately a tendon on my left knee has flared up after the 100km mark today, if it’s still painful tomorrow it may be a rather shorter day than I’d hoped.

Today was 143.5km, cycled in 6h58 plus two hours of breaks – we had no long stops.

Back on the bike today. Nice and dry day for once, except for a heavy shower on top of the North York Moors. We stuck closely to the planned route, passing through Newcastle, over the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, past the Angel of the North sculpture, over various County Durham hills, through Durham itself, and through Sedgefield to Stockton and its brand new Infinity Bridge.

The it was a steep climb up to the North York Moors. The descent to Sandsend was terrifying but the views were spectacular.

148km in 6h46 + ~2h20 stopping time.

Whitby is absolutely lovely. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves:

I took a rest day today as I was still shattered after yesterday. Dan, and Addy (who was joining us for the day) set off at about 10am. Soon after that it started to rain, and kept raining and raining and raining…

We dropped Anna off at Edinburgh for a train back to London – she had an injured knee which unfortunately meant she wasn’t going to be cycling anywhere soon. My mum then drove me over to Morpeth. It stopped raining pretty much as soon as we went south, and we arrived around half an hour before Dan and Addy. The route went past Jedburgh and over Carter Bar – Scottish Saltire on one side, Northumberland Flag on the other. After turning off the busy A68 and climbing one more hill, it was a straight but rolling descent right down to the town.

Morpeth is a very pretty place and both our B&B and the restaurant we’ve just been to are superb. It’s also sunny outside. It might even be sunny tomorrow. Hope I can get on my bike. It’s another hilly day as we hit County Durham and the North York Moors.

Not a great day, a bit of a disaster in fact. Anna retired completely with an injury and Dan’s back wheel sheared. It also rained for much of the day. I severely ran out of energy, and morale, and almost threw in the towel. Not sure about tomorrow. 131.6km today in 6h19 moving time, 9 hours altogether, with average speed about 20.8kph. Feeling pretty rubbish, will write more about today eventually but for now here are some pics.

The forecast sounded promising for today, but we awoke to steady rain. The original plan had been to take a forest track along the west side of Loch Lochy, but the wet weather meant we instead took the A82. At the Commando Memorial, Dan and I diverted along a scenic and empty road, to Gairlochy, entering Fort William via Neptune’s Staircase. Anna meanwhile was suffering badly with her knees, so carried along the main road to Fort William, before taking a rest day.

Dan and I headed south of Fort William, down the increasingly busy A82 and through a heavy rain storm. At Glencoe Village both the weather and traffic improved considerably. We went along a rolling minor road and stopped for lunch at the famous Clachaig Inn. Stopped for over two hours actually, which was not great as we’d already started two hours late.

Then it was a gentle climb up through Glencoe, across Rannoch Moor, and back up to Tyndrum, all in sunshine but with a very strong crosswind – I got blown off the road a couple of times by passing traffic. The crosswind turned to a strong (40kph?) headwind but we still kept the pace up at around 23/24kph.

At Tyndrum we met the girls and discovered we were about to miss the last ferry of the day to Inversnaid. So we biked almost to the south end of Loch Lomond while the others drove an exhausting 250km round trip to pick us up. The unplanned 25km extra we did ourselves proved to be very tiring. We eventually arrived at the rather magical Inversnaid Bunkhouse at. Just after 10pm where a hot meal was waiting.

164.3pm in 6hr53 moving time – 23.8kph average. 10.5 hours altogether.

The first half of today involved getting to Inverness, which consisted of two sharp climbs and corresponding descents, and two stints along the A9 to cross bridges – not nice. Anna and I were struggling with the pace a little, after yesterday’s full day. At least the weather was much better – patchy sunshine and quite warm in places.

After a lunch stop in Inverness we headed along a quite road on the east side of Loch Ness. This section was very pleasant and quite flat, with great views across to Urqhuart Castle.

Things started to go wrong though as we started the biggest climb of the day. Anna and I stopped to visit the Falls of Foyers which were pretty high, and impressive after the recent days’ rain. However Dan shot ahead up the hill and we didn’t see him again. We, at a more leisurely pace, completed the gruelling climb up to 393m, in the only rain shower of the day, and then paced along the A82 to the end, stopping at the scenic Bridge of Oich.

No Dan at the end though, and no reply to his mobile. After driving back along the route, we eventually found him – he had stopped at Fort Augustus, the town at the bottom of the big hill, but we had bypassed it. Having been waiting for 90 minutes, he had given up and was on the way to Fort William to report us missing. We will formalise meet-up procedures for the remaining days…

We just made it in time to the Invergarry Hotel for dinner, having accidentally gone to the Invergarry Castle Hotel instead.

Tomorrow, Glen Coe and Loch Lomond.