Land's End to John O Groats - The photos and the LEJOG song...

This last post is just for you regular readers. It will be dissected and split between the individual day blogs shortly so get reading!!

In summary, it feels odd having finished. Not sure if the last ten days have flown by or dragged on. People keep congratulating us and neither of us feel like we've done anything spectacular, I guess because we've had to break it down and concentrate on one day at a time rather than the whole thing it's not really sunk in yet.

It was pretty weird flying back from Inverness to Bristol thinking "We cycled further than this plane is going"

The LEJOG song and a few pics are below.

LEJOG Song Lyrics (to the tune of Nellie the Elephant)

Debbie and Gareth did LEJOG riding on their bicycles, Off they went from bottom to top. Top. Top. Top.

Day 1 they went through Cornwall, A30 all the way, With ups and downs, hills and dips and a starbucks on the way!

Day 2 they went through Devon, back to Portishead, With the Irish Crew and the Wooden Spoon and a takeaway before bed!

Day 3 they went through Wales, they saw lots of sheep, They ate a giant tea cake and the hills were really steep!

Day 4 took them through Cheshire, they didn't smile like the cat, because the roads were really busy and Gareth's tyre went flat!

Day 5 they went through Lancashire, all the way up Shap, 15 miles of hill climbing made them feel like CRRRRAAAAAAPPPP!

Day 6 was just a short one, only 87 miles, but the wind, the rain, the hills, the pain... Didn't leave them with many smilessssssssss!

Day 7 detoured in to Glasgow to stock up on chamois creme, without this bare essential, the chafe would make them scream!

Day 8 they went from Glen Coe all the way to Loch Ness, The views were just fantastic, the scenery the best!

Day 9 they had a support crew from Gareth's Dad and Mum, Jan's yummy home made sarnies, really filled their tums!

Day 10 they finally made it, to John O Groats from Land's End, and this my dear listener, is where this song must come to an eeeennnndd!

Debbie and Gareth did LEJOG, riding on their bicycles, off they went from bottom to top. TOP, TOP, TOP!!

Route Summary for anyone seeking opinion for their own LEJOG journey:

The "A road all the way" option worked out pretty well for us, it's a bit hairy in patches especially the A49 which, if we did it again, is the only one of the A roads I'd definitely avoid if possible. Too many lorries on a narrow, badly surfaced road. It was also where the nutter who crashed his car into a bollard next to us was.

A30 through Cornwall was fine, the road surfaces lovely and smooth made the hill climbing a dream and the hard shoulder mostly wide and clear enough to cycle in safely, we were on it in the last weekend of school holidays too so it was super busy and it was still no where near as scary as we'd heard it should be. A38 through Devon and Somerset is fairly quiet as it runs next to M5 mostly and largely flat. Also pleasant. A49 - HORRIBLE. A6 from Preston to Carlisle, A75 and A76 busy but ok and picturesque. The A82 is quieter than the other a roads and just so pretty. There are some patches of bad surfacing but mostly lovely and smooth which really helps around the Crianlarich/Glen Coe climbs. We avoided the A9 past Inverness by getting the ferry from Cromarty to Nigg (about ten mins) which was well worth it, a lovely quiet cycle way all the way from Inverness to Cromarty,we rejoined the A9 at Tain and stayed right to the A99 via Wick to the end. There are only three memorable hills on the route we did. Shap Fell for its length (though it's not steep at all really) and then the two hills outside of Helmsdale (Berriedale) - both really steep buggers and by far the hardest going of the whole trip but not impossible. Overall none of the days were as hard as some of our mendip and black mountain training rides so I was pleased.

A Selection of Pictures! (these will be removed and added to each days post shortly)

You can see the LBonB's blog here: www.lejogwithtfatblokes.blogspot.co.uk