Travel Biography Photo Extravaganza - Part 9.

Introduction to the second half of our End-to-End Cycle Ride.

In last week's blog post, I mentioned the wisdom of exploring one's homeland before travelling overseas. Fortunately, in my youth, I visited various parts of the UK, either as a boy with the school, with my family, or on my own when I was a little older. However, when life was more restricted due to tighter finances, an opportunity to ride a bicycle along the whole length of Great Britain presented itself during the summer of 1990.

This was after backpacking as far as the Middle East in one direction and as far as California in the opposite direction from home. But all that was in the seventies when I was an employee with a secure income. With the start of the eighties also began a life of self-employment when income could vary between each week, including a few lean times. The years 1981 and 1982 were the best trips to Italy I had ever experienced, visiting and hiking the mountains surrounding Lake Como and, a year later, reaching as far south as Siracusa in Sicily. Other than that, travel throughout the mid-eighties was restricted to northern Europe, including France, Holland, Belgium and Cologne in Germany.

By the mid-eighties, I joined a triathlon club based in Reading - Thames Valley Triathletes - and I began to excel in this triple-discipline sport, especially in cycling, my strongest discipline (the other two were a dip and a trot.) With cycling, during the early Sunday mornings of the summer of 1992, I rose up early, around 6. o'clock, and after a quick breakfast and donning the lycra tri-suit, set off on my racing bike to crack off between 25-30 miles or 40-48 kilometres to finish at Ascot Baptist Church a short while before the start of the service, allowing me to wash, dress, and have some refreshment (with permission from the elders) in time for the service to begin. With the roads clear of all traffic (hence early Sunday mornings), I rode fast. At one Triathlon, I was the second-fastest cyclist in a field of up to 200, but both swimming and running placed me further back at the overall finish.

During the Spring Bank Holiday weekend of 1989, funds were needed to buy a minibus to transport senior citizens around the Reading area. Organised by the Reading Lions, their team of cyclists invited members of TVT for a sponsored 300-mile bicycle ride starting at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and finishing in Reading in three days. The organising of the event was already underway when I heard about it for the first time. I then asked the team leader if I could join, and I was accepted. I was one in a team of twelve consisting of eleven riders and one co-ordinator.

In 1991 and 1992, I also completed the Salisbury Century Ride and the Norwich Century Ride, both a hundred miles or 162 km of riding and a couple of the famed London-Brighton rides. All three events were organised by the same people of the day, Bike Events.

However, it was the 1989 Newcastle-to-Reading cycle ride which inspired me to face the End-to-End challenge. This was never to be competitive in any form, whether a speed time trial or otherwise. Rather, the ride was a sightseeing tour of Britain. A friend named Gareth, who was a member of Bracknell Athletic Club and a keen runner, agreed to share the End-to-End riding experience.

Last week, I posted sixty photos of the first half of the ride from John O'Groats on the most northerly coast of the Scottish Highlands to Lake Windermere in the Lake District. This week, I will continue the journey from Lake Windermere to Land's End. However, you will notice several snapshots of Lake Windermere before an image of the Blackpool Tower appears. This was due to my fascination with the National Park, having been my first visit there. Therefore, it was agreed that we spend a full day and two nights at YHA Windermere halfway through the ride. A day bike-free.

A friend I was talking to laughed when last Sunday I described the Lake District as modest in comparison with, for example, the Alpine region. England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike in the National Park, is less than a thousand metres in height as it touches a height of 978 metres above sea level. By contrast, Mont Blanc, bordering Italy with France, is over 4,805 metres high, making Scafell Pike very modest in height indeed!

But in 1990, we didn't hike Scafell Pike or any other mountain in the district except Carrock Fell, which is only 663 metres high, but with the flat plains extending to Carlisle, even the summit of this hill offers fascinating views, as posted last week.

Thus, it was my opinion that the Lake District was the highlight of the whole of the End-to-End ride. However, there was natural and historic beauty as we rode alongside River Wye, which borders on Wales, and we paused to admire the ruins of Tintern Abbey before crossing the River Severn back to England and our coming night spent at the YHA Bristol. The next day, we found that the leg between Bristol and Exeter was the most testing. Not only was the road banked by open and uninteresting fields on both sides, but we also had to push into a strong westerly headwind. There was a point where I almost threw in the towel, but a stop at a coffee bar helped save the day.

On the last day of the ride, we passed through Penzance without stopping, only to groan over the hill facing us as we rode the last few miles to Land's End. Just before arriving at the coastal village, we paused to buy a bottle of sparkly (Asti Spumante, not Champaign.) At Land's End, the wine was popped, and I was splashed with the wet stuff like at any victory celebration.

You can view all the pics of the first half of the ride, from John O'Groats to Lake Windermere, by clicking here.

For the main Biography narrative of the 1990 End-to-End cycle ride, click here for Weeks 42-45.

Photos of the second half of the End-to-End Ride from Lake Windermere to Land's End.

Starting at Lake Windermere, Lake District National Park.

Gareth poses on a jetty, Lake Windermere.

On a day off from cycling, we boarded a cruiser.

All kinds of boats ply the lake.

Gareth relaxes on board.

Views of Lake Windermere.

YHA Ambleside as seen from the cruiser.

The lake is surrounded by high ground.

One of several lakeside boat docks.

Lindeth Fell.

Lake Windermere is 10 miles long and 1 mile wide.

The next day, the Bicycle Ride resumes.

At Blackpool Pier.

Blackpool Beach is wide at low tide.

Blackpool Beach Fairground.

Yes, we went on the same ride!

The only hotel of the entire ride, Blackpool.

Chester Town Centre.

River Dee flows through Chester.

Chester High Street.

Chester Cathedral.

Roman Amphitheatre, Chester.

A Roman ruin in Chester.

At the Temple of Minerva, Chester.

At Ellesmere, Shropshire.

Swans at Lake Ellesmere.

We cross into Wales.

Back in England, Shrewsbury Town Centre.

Ludlow Town Gate, Shropshire.

River Teme, Ludlow.

Ludlow Castle.

The Medieval Bridge over the Teme, Ludlow.

Medieval Bridge over River Wye, Hereford.

The beauty of the River Wye.

We cycled southward along the River Wye.

The river continues on until...

We arrive at Tintern Abbey.

Back in Wales, we arrive at the Severn Bridge...

Back into England.

General view of the Severn Bridge.

YHA Bristol.

Exeter Cathedral.

At Dartmoor National Park, Devon.

We enter Cornwall.

River Tamar, looking into the Cornish side. 

River Fowey.

We pass St Michael's Mount, Penzance.

We're there! The Ride is over.

Land's End views.

The First and Last House, Land's End.

Land's End views.

Coastal geology.

Cliffs at Land's End.

Facing north at Land's End.

From Land's End, we return to Penzance.

Penzance Harbour.

At Penzance Esplanade.

We celebrate at a Penzance restaurant.

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Next Week: Some photos of the 1992 Lake District Hiking Trip.