ideas and aims
The idea to cycle from one end of Britain to the other came to me as I was musing over the fact that I have done little travelling in Britain, and that doing some as part of my gap year would mean I could do more travelling, as I would have one less set of flights to pay for. I also wanted to do something for charity, and an end to end journey seems to fit that brief as well.
This brings me to my aim, which is to raise £5000 for the two fantastic charities that I am supporting. Obviously, I also aim to successfully complete the end to end journey, to push myself, and to have alot of fun along the way.
The challenge
The route I will be taking avoids motorways and major trunk roads when possible, so is a bit longer than the 900 or so mile car journey. It is in fact 1051 miles. I will cycle this distance in twenty days - an average of around 53 miles per day. Whats more, the terrain in the West Country and particularly the Scottish Highlands will be challenging, to say the least. Furthermore, I am undertaking the challenge unsupported, which means I will have to carry all my own kit, from clothes and a tent, to cooking facilities, puncture repair kits and spare bike parts, and deal with any issues, bike related or otherwise, alone.
If this still sounds too easy for you to want to sponsor me, allow me to point out that, at the time of deciding to do this, I did not own a bike, and had never even ridden a road bike before!
When's it happening?
Although a precise start date has not yet been set, I can tell you that it will happen at the end of May & beginning of June 2010. Before that, however, I aim to undertake a practise expedition in Wales, of approximately one week's length, and of course, I will tell you all about it on this website.
the route
Starting in Land's End, I will travel to John O'Groats in twenty days, with overnight stops in Newquay, Launceston, Tiverton, Glastonbury, Chepstow, Worcester, Codsall, Northwich, Lancaster, Long Marton, Carlisle, Innerleithen, Edinburgh, Perth, Braemar, Grantown-on-Spey, Inverness, Lairg, and Bettyhill.
My exact route is shown, in two sections, on the left - for more detail, use the pan and zoom buttons in the top left hand corner of the map.
keeping informed
The principal way to do this is by regularly checking this website for updates, which will be clearly shown on the homepage. Once the expedition is underway, I will endeavour to keep a daily blog of my progress through britain - this will also be on this website, but you will need to become a member to read them. I will also keep an online blog of my practise expedition, to see if it works.
Martin Theodorou, updated 13/01/2010
