Le-Jog ‘96
(Click on thumbnails to view image.)
Well the T-shirts have been printed and we have started a new season so none of the participants
can complain of going slow due to after effects of the ride so now I can tell the true story about the
Lancaster Cycling Club’s race from Land’s End to John O’Groats last May. None of the names have been
changed to protect the innocent.
The motley crew assembled at Land's End.
Eight of us decided that we would ride the classic long distance route for various reasons ranging
from proving that your not past it at 50 (Bob Jessop) to proving that the ‘94 ride was not a fluke (myself
and Andy Creevy). With the large group we decided to do it properly and have a back-up van driven the
first half by Neil’s dad, David, and the second half by my mate John Gilbertson. This arrangement also
meant we could travel light and fast(?) so we set ourself a target of seven and a half days to do the 903
miles. The route we had chosen was pretty much the same as that taken by Andy and me in ‘94 and
although we were on ‘A’ roads most of the way with a few exceptions we kept on the more minor ‘A’
roads. Because we planned to set off on the Saturday after driving down overnight the first day was to be a
half day just to get us going so our full route was :
Land’s end to Golant 64 miles
Golant to Cheddar 137 miles
Cheddar to Shrewsbury 128 miles
Shrewsbury to Lancaster 108 miles
Lancaster to Moffat 114 miles
Moffat to Crianlarich 109 miles
Crianlarich to inverness 120 miles
Inverness to John O’Groats 123 miles
I think we were all feeling a little jaded after the long overnight drive down from Lancaster but we
were also on a high so after breakfast in Penzance and the customary photo calls and book signing at the
Land’s End Hotel we set off en masse heading roughly east instead of north for two days.
Too early for the official sign post.
It must have been a portent of things to come but the attacks started thick and fast straight from the
end of the neutralised zone but with the aid of stops to refuel at the van etc. we kept pretty much together
until the first compulsory food stop at Truro. After a good dollop of carbohydrates it was on the bikes again
but with only a few miles left it was every man for himself to the finish of the first stage at Golant. I think
it was probably Peter Donnelly who won the first stage but I know I came in joint last with Andy after
going off course up one of the steepest hills in Cornwall.
Preparing for the off at Golant YHA.
The second stage again started uphill and continued on long drags until the start of the hills proper
at Tavistock. This second day had been planned as the hardest and longest to get the worst over with and
give us some recovery rides up the middle of the country. With Dartmoor rearing up in front of us the
bunch split with Peter, Bob J., Tim Norton and Mike and Andy Barlow up in front, me and Neil struggling
to keep contact and Andy C. bringing up the rear. The hills got shorter but steeper after Dartmoor before
finally easing off after Tiverton. We were destined to finish the stage in two groups - the leading five then
me, Andy & Neil - with a well deserved meal at Cheddar Youth Hostel. It took the last of us twelve hours
to cover the 137 hilly miles.
Food Stop at Tintern
Things got easier on the third stage to Shrewsbury but with us all feeling yesterdays miles we all had our moments of struggling and it ended up with a line out on the A49 from Hereford to Shrewsbury before
some attacks in the final miles split the bunch ready for the finish at Shrewsbury YHA.
The next days stage to Lancaster was the shortest of the tour and was definitely a recovery ride. We kept together all day with the exception of Andy C. who ploughed a lonely furrow. I had the first crash of
the trip in Warrington when the line stopped quickly and I didn’t stop quite so quickly. As usual the pace
hotted up in the final miles of the stage with a sprint going from just past the university traffic lights to the
Lancaster sign before we all regrouped at Greaves and then went our separate ways to resume battle on the ‘morrow.
Six of us and the van safely negotiated the usual Lancaster traffic jam the following morning and
continued on to Endmoor to meet the Barlows. After running repairs to Tim’s bike we continued though
Kendal and over Shap, where Peter took the prime, and down to Shap village for the compulsory stop at the
chippy. We were now in Donnelly country and he led us on an interesting diversion off the main A6 north
of Penrith to come out in the residential suburbs of Carlisle. On the run into Carlisle Andy and I dropped
back and never saw the bunch again until they caught us up approaching Lockerbie. Unbeknown to us
Peter had led the bunch into Carlisle and straight to the castle for tea and tiffin courtesy of the King’s Own.
After Lockerbie we were forced to spend some time on the A74 - the worst road so far - where in the space
of a few miles Bob J. exhausted his supplies of spare tubes and I hit some mud which sent me sprawling
across the slow (60+mph) carriageway which thankfully at that instant was devoid of traffic. Following the
usual sprint for the stage finish we quickly found our B&B, bathed, changed into civvies and went off to
search out the nightlife of Moffat, food and drink. We found the latter two in abundance but by no means the former !
We were now in Bonnie Scotland and with only three more stages of the LCC stage race left to
complete we were all sure we would make it to the end but who would win the final sprint? We had reached
an informal understanding in the peleton that, unlike lesser races like the Tour D’France, this stage race
would not be decided on General Classification but only the final sprint for the line at John O’Groats would
count. With this in mind we were testing each other with the ‘hot spot’ sprints at nearly every major town
sign, some of the minor ones and even, when we were bored, the occasional 30mph sign !
Todays stage, by the standards of what had passed in Devon & Cornwall, was another easy one and after an uneventful ride to Glasgow we started hitting open country as we left the Clyde and approached
Loch Lomond. This also signaled the major splits of the day but by the finish of the stage at Crianlarich
SYHA not many minutes split the leaders from us tailenders. Crainlarich made Moffat look like a busy
metropolis but with un-nerving accuracy we again homed in on the best eating and drinking place,
complete with arguably the friendliest waitress of the trip, for our evening refuelling.
Me, Tim & Neil at Loch Lomond
The order of the day for the penultimate stage of the race was hills, hills and more hills and it wasn’t
long before, at the instigation of Bob J., we split into two bunches of four as we approached Ranoch Moor
and then Glen Coe. The rear bunch of me, Neil, Tim and Andy C. again split by Fort William with Tim
and Neil forging ahead. At Spean Bridge I dropped Andy and caught the other two near Loch Ness and this
was the layout of the bunches to the stage finish at Inverness. Following some serious carbo loading in
Inverness we had an early night in preparation for an early start to the final stage to John O’Groats.
Attack on the climb up to Ranoch Moor
Neil at Ranoch Moor Summit
Andy C. jumped the gun at the start at the Youth Hostel gates but we caught him up before we left
the built up area when we found him sat at the side of the road reassembling his look pedal which had
disintegrated. Andy lost contact on the climb over the Black Isle and, so we thought remained, behind for
the rest of the stage. With two compulsory meal stops - breakfast at Alness and dinner at Brora - we kept
together despite a 30mph line out for the final miles before dinner. As we left the cafe Tim nipped into the
Spar next door to get a Mars Bar but, as we found out later, he had stocked up with food to enable a long
break-away in the afternoon. The seven of us set off from Brora, with Andy C. somewhere behind us,
determined to keep the pace steady to aid digestion but Peter wound up the pace on the hills approaching
the first cat. climb of Helmsdale only for Tim and Bob J. to attack on the early slopes of the climb with
Mike Barlow valiantly chasing. The other four of us, with Andy C. still behind, slowly got back together
and met up with Mike B. at the last eating place, Wick.
We managed to persuade a posh cafe to stay open long enough to serve us carbohydrates to see us
through the last 17 miles to John O’Groats where we did the gentlemanly thing and rode over the finishing
line five abreast. A further half mile down to the Harbour where we were greeted by Tim, Bob and Andy
Creevy. (who was still behind us !!) Tim and Bob had caught up Andy on the run in to John O’Groats and it
appeared he had been ahead of us all day having passed us when we were having breakfast at Alness.
Reports that his bike was the one in the back of a red Metro that went past us near Tain were complete
speculation and strongly denied. Tim, who had been planning his one and only break-away of the race
since Lancaster, if not before, had won the race with Bob Jessop second and the tortoise (Andy) beating
the hares (the rest of us) into third place.
Tim wins the final stage to John O'Groats.
Andy overcome with emotion (exhaustion) at the finish.
So there it is. All that was left was lots of drink and plenty of food at the John O’Groats Hotel and
then a long, long drive home the following day and that was it till the next time. Anyone fancy 900 miles
in six days or even 1 day 21 hours !!
Group pic at the end. Note the Kent Valley jersey hidden at the back !
Celebration drinks all round.
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