Mud Sweat and Gears

Mud, Sweat and Gears, the story of my Lejog ride is published by Summersdale





‘Ellie Bennett is funny, she can talk the rear wheel off a Dawes three-speed and she loves a decent pint. I’d tag along with her any day’ Oz Clarke

‘great fun and surprisingly informative’ Mark Beaumont, author of The Man Who Cycled the World

‘Ellie Bennett takes on the End-to-End with plentiful supplies of humour and beer' Josie Dew

Synopsis

As Ellie’s fiftieth birthday approaches and her ambitions of a steady income, a successful career and an ascent of Everest seem as far away as ever, she begins to doubt she’s capable of achieving anything at all. So when her best friend Mick suggests a gruelling cycle ride from Land’s End to John o’Groats, she takes up the challenge.

They opt for the scenic route which takes them along cycle paths, towpaths and the back roads and byways of Britain, unable to resist sampling local beers in the pubs they pass along the way. But as the pints start to stack up faster than the miles they’re putting under their tyres, Ellie wonders if they’ll ever make it to the finishing line…

Day Twenty Eight - Going Home

Well that's it. Today we head south - St Margaret's Hope,South Ronaldsay this evening for a birthday meal and tomorrow onto the mainland for the cycle ride back to Inverness and the plane home. It's been a fantastic journey. Thanks for reading, and if you are thinking of doing the Lejog yourself - go on - do it - and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Ellie. x

Day Twenty Seven – Kirkwall

Having decided we would definitely do nothing today (and after consuming rather too many beers in Helgi’s last night) I didn’t wake up until gone ten, when the shrieks from the playing field finally penetrated my alcohol-induced stupor. Mick was still giving it zeds, snoring away contentedly, so I crept out of the tent and, after some luxurious ablutions in the washblock, I wandered up to the cafe at the leisure centre next door.

Relaxing in an armchair with my third pot of tea and a newspaper, I reflected that Mick had been right to insist he was not doing anything today. My problem is I’m always worried I’ll miss something, that when we get home someone will say: ‘Oh didn’t you see such-and-such, it’s the best thing in Scotland!’ 

Stats:
Miles cycled: 0
Beers: 2
Cups of Coffee: 5
Cups of Tea: 10
Paper’s read: 4
:-)

Day Twenty Six – Round Orkney

Today was supposed to be another day of rest and recuperation – but no, I had to go and plan a 40 mile round trip of the western part of the Mainland.  The day started well, although it was noticeably colder and (key point) windier than the previous day.  We headed via Scapa village down the coast to Stromness. We had a pleasant hour after lunching in a cafe, mooching up the street.  There were plenty of blue plaques indicating houses of interest. Suddenly we realised it was gone three o’clock and we were barely a quarter the way around our planned itinerary.  We continued up the coast to Yesnaby, where magnificent cliffs plunged into the sea. But by now the wind was whipping up and it was gone five o’clock.  We were not, I realised, going to get to Scara Brae today.  Instead we headed for the Ring of Brodgar, an impressive Neolithic stone circle. 









Stats
Miles: 46
Total miles:1168
Beers: 5 (too many)

Day Twenty Five - Kirkwall

By now our clothes were in a pretty disgusting state, so we were grateful that the camp site had such good facilities, including a laundry room and washing machine.  The afternoon we devoted to sightseeing including the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral and the Highland Park distillery. 

Day Twenty Four - John O'Groats to Kirkwall

We caught the ferry from John O'Groats to Orkney.

Hoy rose to our left, it was a shame that the Old Man was hidden from view coming this way, but the view of the islands was magnificent.




The ride to Kirkwall was mainly very enjoyable though with plenty of interest on the way. We stopped at St Margaret's Hope for a coffee and some delicious cheesecake.

The Italian Chapel, a Nissen hut decorated by Italian prisoners of war was impressive, as was the wine at the Orkney Wine Shop next door.

We had a panic in Kirkwall as all the pubs looked dire. But then we found Helgis on the front by the harbour, a bar with a Nordic theme, which served a lovely pint of Scapa Special from the Highland Brewing Company. This cheered us up immensely. And when we saw how excellent the facilities were at the Pickaquoy campsite we decided to make this a base camp for a few days. Tomorrow would be a rest/washing day both of which were long overdue.

Stats
Miles: 26
Total miles: 1122
Pints of beer: 3

Day Twenty Three – Melvich to John O’ Groats

Sunshine and blue sky for our last final push across the top to JOG – fantastic.

Dounreay is now a nuclear storage facility, having been decommissioned in the nineties, and looked an eyesore on the lovely coastline.
Into Thurso which, being Sunday, was pretty much shut.  But the Pentland Hotel was open for Sunday lunch. 
We liked Thurso – wide streets and attractive buildings.  But we must get on – only eighteen miles to go. A quick glance at emails and so forth and we were off again.
At Dunnet we swung left onto the road up to the headland of Dunnet Head, the northernmost point on the British Mainland. 


Well –it was only five miles each way and it seemed a shame not to.  It was worth it – glorious views across the Pentland Firth to the Island of Stroma and beyond, Hoy and the rest of the Orkney Islands.  Stroma apparently used to have quite a large population but they have all left now and the island appears to be uninhabited. 

I perked up as we finally cycled into John O’Groats at six o’clock.  We cycled in together as we wanted to cross the line at the same time.  We crossed the line together and we gave ourselves a big pat on the back before repairing to the Seaview Hotel.

One thousand and ninety seven miles.An excellent adventure.& Tomorrow we would be heading off to Orkney for a well earned rest.

Stats

Miles: 45

Beers: Three bottles Orkney Ale