Back Home - 4th August 2017
Back Home - 4th August 2017
I am now back home in "cold and wet" Melbourne after the ride. The temperature yesterday was 9 degrees and it was a far cry from the ride conditions we had in the UK.
The trip back from John O'Groats was fairly uneventful with the bus trip back with most of the fellow riders to Inverness a celebration of a few glasses of champagne completing the ride, the handing out of certificates to record our achievements by Mike.
After a brief chat with a few in the bar at our hotel it was off to bed to get ready for the long train trip to London next morning.
At breakfast a few of us said our goodbyes to Rob and Mike ( our incredible leaders) and Steve ( from Tassie), Jane and Dave made our way to Inverness station for the trip home.....I might say Helen joined us as the "waving goodbye" party...thanks Helen for joining us ahead of your trip home...
The long trip home have me an opportunity to down load my Garmin on to a spreadsheet which summarized the statistics for my trip....see later
On arrival in London some 6 hours later it was back to the Caledonian Club where I was staying for a good night of sleep ahead on my last day in London.
Awaking early I arranged to get my bike packed for the plane flight back home and then did some shopping in Oxford st.....I hate shopping at the best of times and the crowds...YUCK!!!
After finishing shopping I did some packing then travelled by train to meet a long standing friend at his home in South Bromley. Ian and Liz Dalton gave me a wonderful meal and together with his brother ( Tim) and daughter and Tim's daughter we had a delightful night of catching up...I got back to London at about midnight...
The next morning it was an early start ( 5.30 am pickup to the airport) for the flight back home.
It was great to get home....apart from the cold.....and see the family.
Great to see my wife Robyn after a month away.
Here are the statistics of my ride....
The only other statistic is that I had one puncture and my bike performed excellently despite the old fella who peddled on it!!!
| Lands End to John O'Groats Trip July 2017 | ||||
| Stage | Distance Kms | Calories | Max Speed | Elev Gain |
| Tongue to John O'Groats | 114.56 | 10,052 | 49.5 | 1,294 |
| Bonar Bridge to Tongue | 79.23 | 6,533 | 50.2 | 610 |
| Drumnadrochit to Bonar Bridge | 80.75 | 7,223 | 59.5 | 888 |
| Fort William to Drumnadrochit | 85.12 | 6,648 | 48.5 | 462 |
| Bridge of Awe to Fort William | 89.47 | 6,693 | 47.6 | 530 |
| Arrochar to Bridge of Awe | 73.51 | 6,127 | 52.6 | 852 |
| Strathaven to Arrochar | 98.77 | 6,331 | 45.1 | 431 |
| Moffat to Strathaven | 92.53 | 7,879 | 52.9 | 1,045 |
| Armathwaite to Moffat | 95.38 | 7,595 | 49.6 | 757 |
| Dent to Armathwaite | 88.72 | 8,038 | 56.6 | 1,268 |
| Hurst Green to Dent | 63.52 | 6,485 | 44.8 | 1,499 |
| Acton Bridge to Hurst Green | 97.15 | 7,873 | 50.2 | 1,222 |
| Harmer Hill to Acton Bridge | 80.23 | 5,863 | 46.4 | 682 |
| Weobley to Harmer Hill ( Shrewsbury) | 91.28 | 7,220 | 41.6 | 973 |
| Chepstow to Weobley | 87.16 | 7,094 | 46.5 | 1,059 |
| Cheddar to Chepstow | 73.74 | 5,918 | 43.6 | 949 |
| Sampford Peverell to Cheddar | 75.22 | 5,913 | 40.9 | 884 |
| Tavistock to Sampford Peverell | 91.5 | 7,816 | 51.9 | 1,387 |
| Perranporth to Tavistok | 92.29 | 8,839 | 44.5 | 1,951 |
| Lands End to Perranporth | 69.16 | 6,125 | 52.9 | 969 |
| Totals | 1719.29 | 142,265 | 19,712 | |
| Average | 85.96 | 7113.25 | ||