Bike for Bibles 1998

Lands End to John O'Groats by bicycle

The 1998 trip

A twelve day trip from one end of the country to the other. You will find Glyn's report on it above, a table showing the itinery below, along with a photo album. Just click on the photo in the album to see one full size.

The cyclists had a wide range of ages, from teenagers to pensioners. They also ranged from life long cyclists to relatively new cyclists. It was an interesting mix. We also had Ian from Australia and Denis from Canada.

I could only go for the first week, but it was well worthwhile. It gives a new perspective to the country when you drive one end of the country to the other without touching the main roads. Of course nothing went wrong on the trip (we didn't take the wrong turn 100 yards into the trip - did we Rob?). Actually, it is surprising how hard it is to get maps that are accurate enough to steer you through towns. Perhaps the biggest problem is that what you see on the map isn't always what you see when you are on a road.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the journey for me was the start. I had arranged to pick up Ian Hawkins, the Australian. We had an interesting journey from London down to Land's End. On the road we stopped off to get a large pizza each. A few miles further we stopped for petrol, and found a Harry Ramsdens - which meant we had to get fish and chips for Ian. As we drove on, absolutely bloated and slightly late, we joked about how we could just see our arrival - somebody would tell us they had kept a Cornish pasty just for us. Sure enough that was just what happened. Ian told me it took him three days before he felt hungry again!

Talking of the foriegners amongst the crowd, it was interesting to see that there were simpl things we ought to have told them that we forgot. Niether of them knew what nettle looked like until they stood in them.

I spent a lot of the time driving a car up and down the route chasing the cyclists to make sure they were on the road. I also got to go and do the banana runs - picking up boxes of bananas.

It was a great trip. It's not just the cyclists or the roadies that you meet - there are people all over the place that take time to get to meet you as part of the trip. Trips like this happen on a regular basis. I'd advise anybody to put their names down for it - a really worthwhile break from normal life. People are actually nice when you meet them!

The itinerary

PHOTO ALBUM