London to Edinburgh 2003

Epilogue

A couple of weeks after the big return home, we are just beginning to get our acts together. Kev is the first to add an epilogue to his diary, and we had the wonderful news about Carolyn in the Race for Life. We have not yet gathered all the other stories of epic journies home, but for my part I (Richard) can say it was smooth and uneventful, thanks to BMI. Unfortunately I have been rather struck down the past couple of weeks with achilles tendon problems and some kind of chest infection from the ride. Gory details will end up in my diary!

We would all like to echo Kev's comprehensive messages of thanks in his diary, to all who helped, supported, sponsored, fixed or were just very pleasant to us during the ride.

Update: Sun 25 May 2003

With a bit more headwind, the odd shower and rather a lot of sun, Edinburgh finally saw us arrive. We might have lost one slipstreamer on the way, and nearly had another head off to Glasgow, but all in all it was a great final day of the trip. We were warmly greeted by Morgan and Veronica after we visited Carolyn and installed ourselves at the youth hostel. All the team are now Extreme Slipstreamer qualified, and want to thank everyone for their support during the trip!

By the way, we are sorry for the time it takes to download the photo pages - I used a bit of cheat while we were on the road to complete the photo pages more quickly. Now I'm back home I'll convert the thumbnails to proper small ones, which will load more quickly for you dial users in the future.

Update: Sat 24 May 2003

Generally agreed to be the longest, hardest day yet with more wind and rain. Steady progress was made in the face of considerable Hadrian's wall pfaffing and the group split to follow two different routes. All agreed that the Scottish scenery provided a real lift, though and the day ended with a very sociable (read drunken) dinner at the hotel.

Wildlife update: Deer at long last, in both England and Scotland; another barn owl (not seen by me this time); midge (inside Julie's caghoul hood); wheatears; dippers; curlews, oystercatchers; redshanks; pied & grey wagtail; red squirrel (another one); herons; goldcrest; a micro-moth (burnished bronze colour). Can't remember any more [Well he has had a couple..Ed].

Update: Fri 23 May 2003

More spectacular scenery and a couple of spectacular hills, with plenty of wildlife. Wind, rain, hail and an unusually high level of teashops! At least we saw a red squirrel and everyone survived the big downhills (maximum recorded 50mph by Mark L).

Update: Thurs 22nd May 2003

The hills are starting for real now. A busy day, even if not very long. What with the new wheel for Richard, the Theakstons brewery and all the pfaffing, this added up to a tired bunch who found they were staying in a Theakstons pub for the night (hooray!). Tomorrow looks tough in anybody's money though, so we are hoping for decent weather.

Update: Weds 21st May 2003

We're trying to cram everything into here tonight because we're all too tired to do diaries. Sorry for that. Beverley to York (Minster to Minster, both inspected and found satisfactory) gave us good weather and few hills (thanks to Kev finding the Hannibal route through the Wolds so we didn't have to go up big stuff). We clocked up one super teashop in Pocklington (which kindly donated to our cause), where a friendly local cyclist not only recommended the best route North, but also advised at least 3 teashops per day, not 2 as we were intending. Two technical pfaffs included Noelie's well-known wheel-truing skills (for Mark L's front wheel) and a mysterious unknown problem with Bernie's pedals which stopped "going round". Jokes about doing that thing with your feet to make them go round were not considered helpful. Having dawdled a bit, it seemed to take ages to end up in York and by the time we had left (the teashop) there was flat grey cloud and a steady fine rain.

So a long wet slog the 27 miles to Ripon, in decreasing light. Annie had gone ahead (missing York) and met us here. Chucking wet stuff into the B&B, we went almost straight out in search of the much talked-about Fish & Chips, only to find that these restaurants were closed because they "don't cook on Wednesdays" around here (what's all that about? Seems they go podium dancing instead). We ended up in a very nice Italian restaurant with wine and pasta - could be worse!

The team is setting a good pace together and, although there is a lot of tiredness after a long day today, there are no signs of serious problems with anyone.

Gary's Quick wildlife update: Good view of a barn owl flying (my first); a fox; Annie rescued a Lapwing chick from the side of the road; yellowhammers a-plenty; a buzzard; various unidentified bugs, including a small black one with 3 red markings on it.

Update: Tue 20th May 2003

A longer day made harder by wind, cold and rain. Finally we start to see something actually going wrong with the bikes (there has been an unnatural lack of this so far). A few hills to whet our appetites but overall the whole team is working well together and everyone is doing well (boring, I know - it's about time we voted somebody off!)

Update: Mon 19th May 2003

A "rest" day with more relaxing riding and the odd hedge-diving competition to avoid the hailstorms. Cake, coffee and an amazing evening meal saved the day. Today's special guest is Gary the naturist..err...I mean naturalist..I think..

Wildlife update. Mammals: two hares at full pelt; two voles playing dare in the road; a black squirrel? (honest - others saw it too); rabbits a-plenty; alpaca/lamma (not wild - quite calm really). Road-kill: badger, rabbit, hedgehogs (of course), squirrels - none worth eating. Birds: yellow-hammers, red-legged partridge, kestrel, tern, red-footed geese, canada geese, great crested grebe, tufted duck, cormorant, house-martins (first of the year), young big bird of prey (unidentified - buzzard as best guess); shelduck; swans (collective noun unknown); mallards (but they don't count); lap-wing; sky-larks (all aboard); goldfinch; chaffinch, greenfinch; tits a go-go; green woodpecker, great spotted woodpecker (struggling against the wind and failing), possible sparrowhawk; pheasant, peacock (probably not wild). Butterflies: orange tip (Kev not interested - so I called him an urban dwelling prole - which he heard as troll - he now lurks under bridges, proving the self fulfilling prophecy theory): small blue one & a big white one (and one with a bit of ... no perhaps not, I didn't get a good view).

Update: Sun 18th May 2003

And so to Bourne. Fen-tastically flat riding made a long day manageable. Variable weather and a minor digi disaster made for a mixed day.

Update: Sat 17 May 2003

All 10 of us made the damp and grey trip to Cambridge YHA, leaving a group partway in the pub to watch the cup final. More thrilling detail in the diaries!

By the way, if you want to mail the team or anyone on it, mail us at admin@slipstreamers.info.

Original Tour Description

After last years long haul from Land's End to John O'Groats, another trip had to be cooked up for bragging purposes. The general idea is to do Dover to Cape Wrath, but the main week is just London-Edinburgh. The gaps are to be filled in at weekends, and the route is loosely based on the CTC's Dover-Durness route, with adjustments for mortals like us.

There were a couple of reasons for choosing to cycle from London to Edinburgh. Firstly those 4 that did cycle Land's End to John O'Groats fancied completing the opposite diagonal across Britain from Dover to Cape Wrath. There will be a warmup run from Dover to London on the weekend of 26th April 2003 as part of our training schedule and we aim to complete Edinburgh to Cape Wrath sometime next year.

Secondly the distance does look possible to achieve with only one week off work, although of course this does mean no rest days - this in turn meant that more people were prepared to take part - hence the bigger group this time round. Finally by finishing in Edinburgh we -will be able to visit Carolyn there and it gives us a good focal point to aim for at the end. the ride will take place from 17-25 May.

As before, we will be seeking sponsorship for charities including the Carolyn Jones Trust and SAVI, and we'll try to provide a description of our adventures here on the site as we go along.