The one who falls and gets up is stronger than the one who never tried - Roy Bennett
Land's End to John O'Groats
This is brief account of my first attempt to do the End to End Challenge in 2009. It is a story of learning from failure and realising that success is still in one's grasp.
Deciding to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats was on the back of a difficult and stressful couple of years. I needed to take time out and do something for myself. I needed a challenge to focus my body and mind on. A challenge that, for me, would be a 'big thing'; something I could be proud of; something that would be a bit of an adventure. It also had to be fit into the school summer holidays!
So at the end of July with my wife's car packed and the bike on the bike rack we all set of for Cornwall. We had booked a nice hotel near Liskeard that we would stay in for three nights. After a great breakfast we still had a long drive down to Land's End where we were joined by my brother and his children. The weather was hot and sunny and the views of the headland were glorious.
The official Land's End signpost photo.
Ready to set off
After taking more photos and saying goodbye the first leg of my journey was to return to the hotel in Liskeard. Thus, my trailer was pretty much empty. I set off under a perfect blue sky and quickly settled into a steady cadence. It didn't take too long in the heat before I was sweating with my effort. I was wearing bib shorts so I decided to stop and remove my cycle jersey. I then continued and after a while my brother and his family drove by waving and quickly disappearing up the road. I really wanted them to stop because I didn't have any suncream with me. I had taken all my usual essentials out of my trailer for the day. But they were gone and so I carried on cycling east and north-east. The thing with sunburn is you can be totally oblivious to the damage as it happens. And so I ploughed on intent on keeping to a good pace and determinedly ignoring the fact my back was literally facing the sun for hour after hour. By the time I reached the hotel I had seriously burnt my back.
Daily Stats
Daily mileage 73.7 miles - 118km
Average speed 14.8mph - 24kph
Max speed 48.2mph - 77kph
Total Time Cycling 4hrs 57mins
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