LEJOG, The slightly long way. (LONG,PIC HEAVY POST WARNING!)

[Monkeypony]

I’ve always fancied do a ‘long’ end to end, and as I couldn’t get dates to work for Europe this year, I decided that I’d finally get off my arse and get it planned (with a little help from the good people of BCF).
16 nights, mainly camping with a couple of nights in bunk houses to give us a chance to dry gear out if the weather was poor.

Once all the wastes of space had predictably pulled out, we were left with just 3. Myself, my Dad (who has never camped in his life) and my other half, who would be riding her god awful SV650. Not the best choice of bike to tour on, even before you’ve strapped a load of camping kit to it!

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Fully loaded!

Day 1 – Aylesbury to Exeter

So the 3 of us set off on a 16 day trip with 2600 miles to cover. The planned route was this:

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The forecast looked good up and down the country for when we needed it to be and today, the weather was properly scorchio.

In honour of our trip, I decided to disguise myself as a highland cow by gluing a large piece of animal fur to my lid. Whilst it raised many smiles on our journey, I discovered today just what a disastrous effect it had on the way air flows over the lid. My neck was pretty bloody sore by the end of the day!

Traffic was a bit of a bugger once we left the dual carriageways behind. When you’ve got 3 bikes, 2 coms and only 1 sat nav, making progress is a bit of a bitch as we need to re-group for turns so as not to lose Wendy, who suffers from a complete lack of sense of direction at the best of times.

Still, after a long and sweaty day, we reached our first stop, the glorious Countess Weir Premier Inn in Exeter, where a good few pints of tribute were drunk in the pub next door.

Day 2 – Exeter to Lands End

Another slog through heavy traffic, but the route through Dartmoor provided some quieter roads and some nice views, and a bit of wildlife.

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Lands end was reached and the obligatory photos taken, but the less said about it the better, as it’s a horrible tourist trap that feels the need to pipe dance music at you as you walk between the tat stores and ice cream shops.

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First night under canvas, and had to show the old man how to put up his tent and operate his sleeping bag….

A fabulous meal was had at the Queens Arms. Can’t remember what I was drinking, but I’m fairly certain I consumed a fair amount of it.

Day 3 – Lands End to Camelford

This was planned as a pretty lazy day, just 60 miles to our next campsite where we spent the day by the (empty other than us) pool and drinking Proper Job in the evening. Lovely. To cap it all, the old man managed to get his tent up and air mattress inflated with no coaching. It seems you can teach an old dog new tricks after all!


Day 4 - Camelford to Burnham on Sea

The morning started off well, the Atlantic highway is a nice stretch to ride and the weather was still superb. Things took a slight turn for the worse when we took a little detour to go and see Hartland Abbey and Quay. An unseen hole in the car park meant Wendy ended up coming off the bike. Very low speed, but she was pretty shaken.

The bike was O.K save for a busted indicator and a bent shifter. With no way of fixing either in a car park in the middle of nowhere, we pressed on, but it mean a day of Wendy struggling to get up and down the gears.

The road from Lynmouth to Porlock was still a lot of fun though (for those of us who hadn’t fucked up our bikes)
Our end point for the day was Burnham on Sea, possible the windiest place I’ve ever been (apparently, it’s known as windy Burnham by the locals and for good reason!).

Once the tents were up, we had the shifter off the little SV and I was able to bend it back into roughly the right shape using a handy length of Box Section steel that was securing some drain covers.
Wendy affected a temporary repair on her snapped indicator

Day 5 – Burnham to Llandrindod Wells

Today found Wendy still pretty pissed off about damaging her bike, but once we got off the motorway and made our way through the Brecon Beacons, she’d pretty much stopped moaning on about it!
Another day of glorious sunshine, and a truly epic stretch of road to go and play on once the tents were up. If you’ve never ridden the A483 from Llandrindod to Newtown, I suggest you do. It’s truly, truly epic!

Wendy used the afternoon to get a more permanent repair sorted for her indicator,

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and dad used the time for something a little less productive...

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Nothing says "road trip" like falling asleep in the shade of your own motorcycle!

Day 6 – Llandrindod to Brothers Water

Up through mid-Wales with a stop in Oswestry, then a fairly tedious ride on the motorway to Kendal, then into the Lake District.
Brothers water is the other side of the Kirkstone Pass from Windermere and the ride up and over the top in the sunshine, stopping for a beer at the Kirkstone Inn was a bit of a treat (and a lot more fun than the last time I was in the lakes, when I was on a push bike)

The next day was a full day off the bikes, some of which was spent buggering about on a rowing boat on Lake Windermere. A few pints of Sneck Lifter may have featured at some point too.

Day 8 – Brothers Water to Paisley

A quick stop at Aira Force for a spot of tree hugging and a look at the waterfall, and we left the lakes behind.

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Another fairly annoying blast up the motorway to Gretna Green (if it was you getting married on Motorbikes that day, congratulations!)

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Then off to Dumfries and north towards Glasgow. Quite a nice section to ride. Empty, fast and enough twisty bits to keep your attention.

A quick stop at Dean castle, and off to our campsite just north of Paisley, memorable mainly for me managing to pour a whole pan of noodles onto the floor as I was attempting to drain them…

Day 9 – Paisley to Loch Garry

This is what I’d been looking forward to the most. The start of the highlands. I’ve up as far north as Scrabster by car before, but you just feel so much more ‘connected’ to what’s around you on a bike.
Tracking up passed Loch Lomond towards Fort William, the views just gets better and better.

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The scenery was stunning, the roads empty and once again, the weather was pretty much perfect. I quick stop in a coffee shop north of Glencoe yielded a superb homemade scone with homemade Jam, and would become the benchmark against which all other scones would be measured for the rest of the trip.

We arrived at our campsite, got the tents up and went back out to visit the well of the seven severed heads, and get some food.
Sadly, a lovely evening was pretty much ruined by our first encounter with the delightful Scottish Midge, who were present in such numbers, being out of the tent for any time at all was just a misery. I drew the short straw and stayed outside to cook, having covered myself in Skin so Soft. Of course, I forgot to cover the backs of my hands, so they got bitten to shit.

Day 10 – Loch Garry to Ullapool

More midges greeted us in the morning, so we took to taking the tents down in full bike kit and lids, probably looked ridiculous to the other campers as they sat eating breakfast wearing nets over their heads…

A quick stop for fuel (144.9!!) and we headed north into bandit country, with a stop at the Eilan dolan castle thrown in for good measure.

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I really can’t describe how awesome it was to ride these roads. If you’ve never done it, you really should make the effort. Miles and miles of empty roads snaking through the most fabulous scenery you’re ever likely to see this side of New Zealand. Another warm sunny day in the north of Scotland.

We arrived in Ullapool by mid-afternoon. I was so surprised by this place. I had no idea what to expect, but what we found was a lovely little seaside town to spend a rest day in. We also found weather that was so hot, we were applying sun tan lotion. Something I really hadn’t expected in the far flung north! Best of all, we’d seen the last of the midges for the trip, as they were barely noticeable here.
Our rest day was spent enjoying the sun, and trying as many local beers as possible.

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Ullapool harbour in the sunshine!


Day 12 – Ullapool to John O’Groats

So, this day would see the completion of the LEJOG, and sadly, the end of the truly epic riding. Next time I plan a trip, I’ll be coming back to the north, traveling light and getting the most out of the bike.

Next time Wendy comes on one of my trips, she's going to bring a clear visor!!

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A fairly uneventful day as the views flattened out, the only exception being my bike trying to high side me as the rear lost grip as I went through I corner about 10 miles out of Ullapool. A quick pit stop for fresh pants and a look at the rear tyre showed that I’d been bloody careless with the chain lube the previous day and managed to spray an inch wide strip of the left hand edge of my tyre. Not clever! Scrubbed the tyre clean with baby wipes and off we went.

Arriving at john O’Groats I was again, pleasantly surprised. Lands End is such a tourist trap shit hole, the peace and quiet of this place was a lovely contrast.

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The views from the tent weren’t too shabby, and we were treated to a spectacular sunset (once again, you’ll notice the absence of water falling from the sky!)

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Day 13 – John O’Groats to Blair Atholl

What should have been a pleasant 200 miles down the A9 to our next campsite at the bottom of the cairngorms, turned into a bit of a chore as we were treated to a 78 mile diversion due to a lorry crashing a the hairpin outside of Berriedale. At also mean 35 miles of sing track road, which should have been a pleasure, but having to compete with the HGVs that should have been on the A9 in both directions, made it a bit of a slog!

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The Spar in Helmsbridge was having a record day however, with everyone parking up for refreshments after the single track slog!

Day 14 – Blair Atholl to Wooler

Our first and only day of riding in the rain. It was dry when we packed up and left, but the rain came about 10 minutes later and didn’t stop all day

We stopped in at Rosslyn Chapel on our way south (pretty impressive), and left Scotland behind us.

Wooler, it turns out, was worth spending a rest day in, as it meant we got to eat at both the Tapas bar, and the excellent Italian restaurant opposite. A visit to Chillingham Castle was also a nice way to spend a few hours.

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There’s not much of a choice of beers to be found in the town, but black Moss and Tyneside Blonde were fairly decent pints.

Day 16 – Wooler to York

The day started with a visit to “Ladys Well”, the oldest baptism font in the country. It took a bit of locating, but was worth the effort. Proper tranquil.

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Unfortunately, I’d failed to account for just how far of the beaten track this place is, and all three bikes were totally on fumes when we finally found our way back to civilisation and a petrol station, the little SV ran out completed 30 meters from the pump!

Next came the Tyne Tunnel, where standard practice was to stay in first gear, accelerate as hard as possible up to the speed limit, then shut the throttle and see whose exhaust to make the loudest bangs on over run. Very childish.

On our way South, we detoured through the Yorkshire Moors down to Whitby, for some fish and Chips at the Magpie before heading to our final campsite.

It stayed dry long enough for us to pitch the tents, then poured with rain for a solid 8 hours. Just as well it was the last night, as all my clothes got utterly drenched.

Day 17 – York to Aylesbury

The final day and nothing to do but blast down the motorway for 185 miles to home.

So there you have it. Epic trip. Plenty of memorable moments, some very enjoyable roads, and plenty of nice things to look at whilst riding them. And only 1 day riding in the Rain, and 1 off.

TL:DR – We went round the country and enjoyed ourselves…

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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[Howling Terror]

Thanks for the write up.
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[TaeKwon125]

I enjoyed this thanks, any more tips of what's best to see around the isle of Skye/ west Scotland?

[Monkeypony]

Skye was one of the few areas that we couldn't get to on the trip, the other being Applecross, which came highly recommended.

You really can't go too far wrong in this part of the country in terms of roads, and you can go A LOT further in a day than you're used to, due to the absence of cars, roundabouts, traffic lights, left turns, right turns and T junctions, you maintain a much higher average speed without even trying.

The midges ARE an issue in the west though. Be warned!
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[pepperami]

Impressed

Next time I go up to Scottishland , I`m going to do it at a slower pace to see more.
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[TaeKwon125]

Brilliant, thanks very much!

Any tips on dealing with the mossies then?

Or is it just pull over regularly and clear the graveyard that is your visor...

[Monkeypony]

They're not so bad when you're actually riding, as they're at their worst first thing in the morning and evenings.

If you're camping for any length of time, I'd strongly recommend using mossie nets, to make being out in the open bearable.

Other than that, Avon skin so soft worked really well at keeping bites at bay for us.

As you go further east, they become much less of a problem and were barely noticeable in Ullapool and non existent at John O'Groats.
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[pepperami]

[recman]

Nice write up, good pics.
I see they've got a proper sign up again at John o'Groats, last time I was there there was only a flat sign stuck up on the harbour wall due to the renovation project.

I agree with the op about the scenery and roads up there, never been anywhere like it, one day I'll do it on a bike.

[Monkeypony]

[recman]

[Monkeypony]

In fairness, the same applies at the other end, except they don't have a 'free' option, and the whole place is more like Butlins!
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)

[Lupo]

Fantastic write up of the trip, really enjoyed it.
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A por ellos, que son pocos y cobardes.

[Mozza]

Good write up and great pics. We tend to go up there every year for a week and love it. The midges this year though were an absolute bastard...

[fatsamurai]

Great post. Thanks for the write-up. I definitely want to see some of Scotland, despite the midges.
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Hyosung GT125 [SOLD] -> Suzuki GSX 750W [SOLD] -> SV650S [Crashed] -> FZ6

[Monkeypony]

Every biker should! I'm very pleased that I took Stinkwheel and Bendys advice and changed my rout to include more of it.

One thing to remember though, once you're north of Glasgow, the 'nod' is a thing of the past. From that point on, it's a proper thumbs up or a wave.

Seemed a bit impersonal to go back to nodding as we headed south
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Current bike - 2018 H2-SX, 2004 SV1000s, 2016 Aprilia RSV4 RF, 2017 Sherco SERF 300, 2003 Suzuki DRZ400 (stolen - AY53 JUU)