Today was the final push to the end but Scotland still had a bit of a sting in the tail for us as we headed out to the end of the UK mainland. After all the good weather we’ve had, we woke to overcast skies and a forecast of showers. At Crask, the hills on…
Day 13: Inverness to Crask 113km 1000m
Wow, what a stunning day this turned out to be! Back to sunny warm weather with dramatic views, as we headed on out of Inverness, through Dingwall then Bonser Bridge and up to the Crask Inn. The start out of Inverness took us over the Kessock Bridge then along the edge of the Beauly Forth….
Day 12: Ballater to Inverness 118km 1570m
Today was forecast to be so bad that the group organisers were thinking of offering a coach transfer around the big climb of the day in the Cairngorms called the Lecht, which is up by a ski resort. However, despite a bit of a damp morning start it was fine to ride even though the…
Day 11: Kinross to Ballater 134km 1500m
This was a stunning days riding in perfect cycling weather despite a poor forecast of thunderstorms in the Cairngorms, which thankfully never materialised. Another long day with a significant climb over Glenshee past the ski centre. I was woken this morning by the sound of curlews from the nearby Loch Leven. The day started damp…
Day 10: Moffat to Kinross 129km 1208m
A day of two halves with long fast flowing roads in the morning, in dry weather, then urban Edinburgh in the rain, then over the Forth road bridge, followed by a lumpy push to Kinross at the end of the day. I didn’t take as many photos today as it’s much harder to keep getting…
Day 9: Penrith to Moffat 114 km 930m
Finally a bit of a flat day with only a few gradual climbs in it, allowing a bit of a recovery ride. And today we got into Scotland, which given some of the border rules and restrictions issued by the Scottish government over the last few months was quite an achievement! Our route of of…
Day 8: Lancaster to Penrith 98km 1,415m
This was a truly stunning day out on the bike and the best so far on this tour. Perfect weather, lots of beautiful scenery, a meet up with another Peak Tours group for lunch and brew, a catch up with the guide on the last tour who took me to hospital… and some quite steep…
Day 7: Runcorn to Lancaster 119km 1390m
Today started with quite an urban area from Runcorn and around the Warrington area, using some cycle paths I didn’t know existed around the Warrington area. Mixed use cycle/footpath are ok but they tend to slow us down with a constant stream of walkers, runners, dogs prams etc to negotiate, whilst the urban phase was…
Day 6: Clun to Runcorn 128km 1246m
Not quite half way yet but on my home territory of Cheshire for the afternoon. The day started overcast after overnight rain but brightened up considerably by lunchtime resulting in us all shedding layers of clothes into the brew van after lunch. Like most of the days, it started with a climb out of the…
Day 5: Monmouth to Clun 97km 1200m
This is the shortest day of the trip, and yet again the forecast rain didn’t materialise. Last night most of us ate in the Premier Inn where we stayed, mainly as we were all too tired to walk back into town to find somewhere, especially as most places are still bookings only. So I didn’t…
StephSmall 2021 LEJOG 