The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

The Ultimate UK TOUR

June 2nd to June 25th

Ride Director: John Gradwell
Ride Co-Director: Steve Wesson
Ride Driver: Peter Burpee
Report by: Rose Hewig

Me, my husband and 18 other adventure-loving cyclists spent most of the month of June in the United Kingdom traversing the entire length of Great Britain, cycling end to end, from Land’s End to John O’Groats – a journey colloquially referred to by its acronym, “LEJOG.”  Unbeknownst to me before I embarked on this tour, the LEJOG is an epic, famous and challenging expedition embarked upon by cyclists and walkers alike.  Our 1,050-mile route, over 22 days, brought us through three national regions of Great Britain (Cornwall, Wales, and England) and Scotland.  Thanks to the planning and enthusiasm of our ride organizer, John Gladwell, we had charming accommodations, delicious meals, interesting sights to visit along the way, and a special treat at the beginning of the tour – tickets to a musical at the Minack Theatre, an outdoor seaside community theatre near Land’s End.   It was a delightfully unique experience, and a fantastic way to kick off the tour.

Although the daily mileage of the tour averaged under 50 miles, the hilly terrain – especially the first three days – was amongst some of the most challenging I’d ever encountered.  Our route started along the coastline of the Irish Sea, as we headed out of Land’s End and rode northeast toward the beach town of Perranporth.  On our second day of riding, we got our first taste of rainy U.K. weather as we headed inland to Tavistock.  We enjoyed magnificent, bucolic scenery as we rode across oftentimes steep and undulating terrain.  We rode through the majestic Cheddar Gorge as our route took us north to Chepstow (in view of the Chepstow Castle), and the to our first rest day in Woebley.  As we rested our riding legs, we took quick and easy trip on the public bus to the nearby city of Hereford, where we visited the Hereford Cathedral.  Many of the towns were rode through were quaint and amiable, which made stopping at a pub or a café for a refreshment a pleasant and convenient option.  On day 12 of the tour, we crossed into beautiful Scotland, where, incidentally, the rain continued to find us.  We rode by many lochs, Loch Luss, Loch Awe, Loch Lomond, Loch Linnhe, and even the famous Loch Ness (but no one spotted Nessie).  Our route brought us through Inveraray, home of the Inveraray Castle, the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll.  The days’ routes, with long gentle climbs, provided spectacular views of the Scottish highlands.  On the last day of our ride, our route took us back along the coast line as we headed toward our final destination – the other “end” of our “end to end” tour,  John O’Groats.     

            All in all, this was an amazing and challenging journey.  Every aspect of this tour was top-notch: the riding, the sights, the people, the local flair, the meals, the pubs and the extra-curricular activities all combined to make this trip the epic experience that it was.  The knowledge, experience and planning of our tour leader, along with the leadership and wit of our local tour guide, Steve Wesson, not to mention the support of our van driver, Peter Burpee, took this trip from good to great.  But the absolute best part of this journey was the incredible group of people with whom I shared the experience.