The participation ride 2006 - post-ride analysis and comment

The final analysis

At last, all the details of all the stages of the trip have been posted and are available here.

There is one post per stage and each one contains:

• Title (inc start and finish location of the stage)
• A map showing the route (click to see full-size)
• A graphic showing the vertical profile of the route (click to see full-size)*
• A short narrative
• The downloadable tracklog file generated by the GPS (text format)
• A downloadable track file (Magellan MapSend format)
• Summary statistics of the stage

*All vertical profiles have the same horizontal and vertical scale to make them directly comparable.

All feedback would be gratefully received (use the comment feature).

Once again - thanks to everyone who supported me in this little project. It's been a fantastic experience.

Over and out.

All stages up to date

I have updated the information on the stage descriptions to give precise start and finish points for the day and an indication where I will be for lunch. Only a couple of the lunchtimes have been fixed (and these are indicated). If you'd like to meet up for lunch, with me and those riding with me, on any of the days please send me a text on 07932 107109 with a venue suggestion and I will let you know when I/we can get there. Normally, this will be between 12:30 and 2:30.

The updated itinerary can be accessed through the links to the left or through the summary page.

As a guide the first stage of the day will start at 8am. Lunch will be between 12:30 and 2:30 and we will finish the day when we finish!

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Accommodation / Stage Points

Here is the list of booked accommodation. These locations will define the starting point for the first stage of each day and the end point for last stage of each day.

The approximate locations for lunch are given here. These are still to be firmed up but I will edit this posting as soon as full details are available. For the days with two stages, the lunch locations will mark the end of the first sage of the day and start of the second stage.

28/5/06 - Sunday
Torre-Vene
Mrs L G G Ash
1 Lescudjack Terrace
Penzance
Cornwall
TR18 3AE
01736 364 103
£28
Bike storage in garage

29/5/06 - Monday
Treliver Farm   
Treliver Farm
St. Wenn
Bodmin
Cornwall
PL30 5PQ
01726 890 286
Secure bike storage
Evening meal booked

30/5/06 - Tuesday
Yallands Farmhouse
Staplegrove
Taunton
Somerset
TA2 6PZ
01823 278 979
£35
Secure bike storage

31/5/06 - Wednesday
Richard and Helen Combe
The Old Cowshed
Avenbury
Bromyard
Herefordshire
HR7 4LA
01885 482 384
£27-£32
Secure bike storage
8:30am departure on 1/6/06

1/6/06 - Thursday
Miss J Gregory
Ash Hall Bed and Breakfast
Ash Magna
Whitchurch
Shropshire
SY13 4DL
01948 663 151
Dad, Luke, Adrian booked
£22.50 each

2/6/06 - Friday
Ashwood Hotel
11-13 Fishergate Hill
Preston
PR1 8JB
01772 203 302
Dad, Luke, Adrian booked
£46 twin £30 single

3/6/06 - Saturday
Mr and Mrs Claymore
Claymore Lodge Bed and Breakfast
2/4 Victoria Park
Lockerbie
DG11 2AX
01576 202 357
Dad, Luke booked
£25 each
Secure bike storage
Please aim to arrive at 6pm

4/6/06 - Sunday
Fascadail Country Guest House
(Seskerdale/Tarbet?)
Shore Road
Arrochar
G83 7AB
01301 702 344
£35
Secure bike storage

5/6/06 - Monday
Mrs Barbara MacDonald
81 Alma Road
Fort William
Inverness-shire
Scotland
PH33 6HF
01397 703757
£25
Secure bike storage
10% paid in advance balance paid in cash

6/6/06 - Tuesday
Selkie Bed & Breakfast
Harbour Road
Brora
Sutherland
Scotland
KW9 6QF
01408 621717
Tourist Board    01397 703 781
£26
Secure bike storage

Anyone for lunch?

I will stopping in or near the following places for a pub lunch during the ride. Can you recommend a pub? Can you join me? Please let me know by clicking the 'Comments' link below and leaving a message.

I expect to be at these places between noon and 2pm. I will try and give more precise timings for places where people have said they will join me.

29/5/06 - Monday - REDRUTH               
30/5/06 – Tuesday - OKEHAMPTON               
31/5/06 – Wednesday - Whitminster (nr BRISTOL)   
    Whitminster by J13/M5 between 1 and 2 pm then cycling to a picnic spot       
1/6/06 – Thursday – CHURCH STRETTON
    The Mayfair Community Centre, Easthope Road, Church Stretton between 1 and 2
2/6/06 - Friday     - to be confirmed
3/6/06 – Saturday – SHAP (or Penrith)
4/6/06 – Sunday - HAMILTON
5/6/06 – Monday - THE BRIDGE OF ORCHY
6/6/06 – Tuesday – DRUMNADROCHIT
7/6/06 – Wednesday - WICK

Itinerary update and summary

I thought it would be useful to summarise the route at it now stands. For those keeping track we are on Version 4. I don’t think things will change much more now. I just need to add the details of Sections A and B of Stage 7 which I will do shortly.

DAY 1 - 29/5/06 - Monday (Bank Holiday)
Stage 1 - Land's End to St Wenn. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 2 – 30/5/06 - Tuesday
Stage 2 - St Wenn to Okehampton. Detail | Donate | Comment
Stage 3 – Okehampton to Taunton. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 3 – 31/5/06 - Wednesday
Stage 4 – Taunton to Whitminster (nr Bristol). Detail | Donate | Comment
Stage 5 – Whitminster (nr Bristol) to Bromyard. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 4 – 1/6/06 - Thursday
Stage 6 – Bromyard to Whitchurch. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 5 – 2/6/06 - Friday
Stage 7 – Whitchurch to Preston via The Wirrall

DAY 6 - 3/6/06 - Saturday
Stage 8 – Preston to Penrith (nr Shap). Detail | Donate | Comment
Stage 9 – Penrith (nr Shap) to Lockerbie. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 7 – 4/6/06 - Sunday
Stage 10 – Lockerbie to Hamilton. Detail | Donate | Comment
Stage 11 – Hamilton to Tarbet. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 8 – 5/6/06 - Monday
Stage 12 – Tarbet to The Bridge of Orchy. Detail | Donate | Comment
Stage 13 - The Bridge of Orchy to Fort William. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 9 – 6/6/06 - Tuesday
Stage 14 – Fort William to Drumnadrochit. Detail | Donate | Comment
Stage 15 – Drumnadrochit to Brora. Detail | Donate | Comment

DAY 10 - 7/6/06 - Wednesday
Stage 16 – Brora to John O'Groats. Detail | Donate | Comment

Route change to allow VIP to participate

Although there is not much commenting going on on this blog :-(, there is a lot going on in the background! A V.I.P. has agreed to participate (more on this later) and this has affected Stage 7 - WHITCHURCH to PRESTON. This will now be the first and only stage on Day 5 (2/6/06) and will go down the Wirral peninsula, along the bottom of the peninsula, cross the Mersey on the ferry and then on up the coast and into Preston (about 100 miles). I will post the exact route shortly.

This means that all subsequent stages will take place a day later and the ride will finish on 7/6/06 (not 6/6/06). This will also mean that we will be cycling through the Great Glen past Loch Ness on my birthday which will be perfect!

The latest version (Version 4) of the intinerary is here: Excel and PDF

I have updated the other posts that are affected by this change.

STOP PRESS: Complete change around

Following Dan's comments and some research in the weather section of the BBC's website, I have decided to do the trip the other way around ie from Land's End to John O'Groats. I have re-done the stage descriptions and the other entries in the blog to do with the route and itinerary so all the information should be correct. I have got over the problem that the route now looks like it's up hill by turning the map around.

950+ miles, 96 towns, 16 stages, 9 days

The plan is to depart from John O'Groats on 29/5/06 (first thing) and glide into Land's End on 7/6/06. This plan may change in some of the detail but should be firm enough for you to commit the appropriate dates in your diary. Click here to download an Excel Spreadsheet with the details of the route. There is a PDF version here.

Stage by stage details are given here. Click on the graphics on these pages to enlarge them.

I plan to stay in or near the towns in bold but hope to be able to arrange farm-based B&B through Farm Stay UK. I will post these as soon as they have been booked.

[Page amended on 7/5/06] Links to XLS and PDF files point to the latest version of the itinerary (Version 4).

Market towns on route

[Re-ordered on 23/4/06]
Here is a list of the market towns on route. The towns in CAPITALS mark the beginning/end of stages. The plan is to stay overnight in, or near, the towns in BOLD.

1 Land's End, 2 Penzance, 3 Marazion (St Michael's Mount), 4 Redruth, 5 Fidlers Green, 6 Gross, 7 St Columb Major, 8 St WENN, 9 Nanstalton, 10 Washaway, 11 St Tudy, 12 Camelford, 13 Egloskerry, 14 Launceston, 15 Lifton, 16 Lewdown, 17 Bridestow, 18 OKEHAMPTON, 19 Bow, 20 Colbrooke, 21 Crediton, 22 Silverton, 23 Cullompton, 24 Appledore, 25 Wellington, 26 TAUNTON, 27 Bridgwater, 28 East Brent, 29 Congresbury, 30 Yatton, 31 Clevedon, 32 Easton In Gordano, 33 BRISTOL, 34 Alveston, 35 Woodford, 36 Whitminster, 37 Gloucester, 38 Newent, 39 BROMYARD, 40 Ludlow, 41 Church Stretton, 42 Shrewsbury, 43 Wem, 44 WHITCHURCH, 45 - 50 [to be confirmed], 51 PRESTON, 52 Lancaster, 53 Carnforth, 54 Tebay, 55 Orton, 56 SHAP, 57 Penrith, 58 Calthwaite, 59 Carlisle, 60 Longtown, 61 Gretna, 62 Kirtle Bridge, 63 LOCKERBIE, 64 Moffat, 65 Crawford, 66 Abington, 67 Happendon, 68 Larkhall, 69 HAMILTON , 70 Glasgow (Clyde Cycle Route), 71 Dumbarton, 72 Luss, 73 TARBET, 74 Ardlui, 75 Crianlarrich, 76 Tyndrum, 77 THE BRIDGE OF ORCHY, 78 Glencoe, 79 Corran, 80 FORT WILLIAM, 81 Spean Bridge, 82 Invergarry, 83 Fort Augustus, 84 Invermorriston, 85 DRUMNADROCHIT, 86 Beauly, 87 Dingwall, 88 Invergordon, 89 Tain, 90 Golspie, 91 BRORA, 92 Helmsdale, 93 Berriedale, 94 Lybster, 95 Wick, 96 John O'Groats.

[Amended on 7/5/06 do to change in route for Stage 7 >more]