Tag: michael lindsay

Iceland 2023: The Ring Road

Back in the Saddle…

When I cycled from Land’s End to John o’ Groats in August 2021, it was a targeted attempt to regain some fitness after a busy few months at work where sporting pursuits had fallen by the wayside. Since then, my main training focus has been running and the culmination of the last few years has been recent PBs in the 5K and Half Marathon of 18:37 and 1:25:40 respectively, and completing my first ever Marathon in Manchester in a time of 3:14:36. So, almost 2 years since LEJOG, I’m definitely fitter than I was, but I haven’t been doing much cycling, so it must be time for another adventure…

Last summer was largely spent working on bikes rather than cycling them, and I finally bought a new bike to replace my battle-scarred Thorn Brevet, the bike that has scaled the Atlas mountains and the Vietnamese highlands, while also rolling past the stunning Oregon coastline along the way. What is the new bike? Well, it’s another Thorn, a Club Tour, a heavier duty tourer with stronger wheels and wider tyres for exploring off the beaten track, perfect for its debut outing along the Fife Coastal Path last September.

So, when I started dreaming about where to travel next, my thoughts turned to the gravel trails of New Zealand and the dirt roads of the Carretera Austral in Chile, but, alas, I have a new job, and not enough holidays to spare, so I started to think of somewhere similar, but closer to home. An active volcanic landscape, sparsely populated, and only a two hour flight. That’ll be Iceland.

For those who have followed my previous tours, you’ll have spotted that I do like a good, old-fashioned, point to point route, they tend to look good on maps, and offer the greatest rate of change of landscape and culture. But, my second favourite is definitely a loop, and the fact that Iceland has a Ring Road that circumnavigates the whole country is almost as good! When I started to plan the trip I found statistics that suggested that the Ring Road still featured gravel stretches, and that as much as 30% of it could still be gravel. However, more recently I’ve found a more up to date source that shows that it has now been tarmacked all the way round, and now that I know that, it does make a difference to my choice of bike. And, with me being reluctant to take my new bike on a plane as of yet, the old one is being pressed into service once more.

What, then, is the plan? Well, I’ve booked my flights to Reykjavik, and I’ll stay in Reykjavik Campsite on the first night; storing my bike box there for when I return. Then, I’ll set off around the Golden Circle to Geyser and Gullfoss before joining Route 1 – the Ring Road – on the south coast, and following it anti-clockwise around the country. All in all, a distance of around 852 miles and with 16 days to complete it, it’s lucky there’s a lot of daylight…

Oh, and I leave tomorrow, so I’d best get packing!

Lejog Day 2: Ponsanooth – Liskeard

Distance: 51.4 miles

Time: 5:33

Elevation: 5244 feet

By the time I’d packed up camp this morning, my start wasn’t much earlier, and still to have breakfast, I made for the Norway Inn, waiting impatiently for my fry up to arrive. Now 10:40, I found myself on the busy A39, holding up a truck, before a cycle lane appeared just before the lengthy hill to Devoran. Thankfully, I was exiting here to rejoin the route and swept along some country lanes to King Harry Ferry, a chain ferry across the Carrick Roads.

Climbing steeply away from the slipway, I momentarily reached some higher ground, before the road plummeted again, a pattern that would continue for most of the ride. Much like yesterday, the roads were narrow, and lined with high hedges on either side, I considered the wisdom of choosing an ‘optimal’ route solely on the criteria of minimising traffic, and distance. I had other variables to throw into the mix, like avoiding going over every hilltop, and ensuring that there was occasionally something other than a hedge to look at.

I was thankful for the lack of traffic, though, and as I slogged up the first few climbs there was no one to be seen. Eventually, my luck ran out, and it became a regular occurrence that, no sooner had I started up a climb, a car would come over the brow of the hill, tuck into the verge somewhere near the top, and I’d have to spin up the hill as fast as I could to get past.

On the last few miles into St Austell, the route branched off onto a cycle path of loose gravel and stones, and instantly I regretted following it. I bailed out half a mile later, for the good of my tyres, but, it was too late, and shortly afterwards, my front wheel started to go squidgy. I hauled the bike off the road, through a patch of nettles, and set to work changing the inner tube, resolving to avoid any off road detours in future.

Eventually, I reached St Austell, but not spotting anywhere for lunch, I continued to St Blazey, popping into a shop for provisions. One more climb saw me reach the short Ferry crossing between Fowey and Bodinnick, but the climbing didn’t stop there, and where the hills had been 100 metres high before they now pushed 200.

Passing 43 miles for the day, the relentless climbing caught up with me, and after a tricky 17% descent, the road climbed steeply back up the other side, and I was defeated. 3 times I got off and walked, not ideal on a narrow country lane, but there was nothing else for it.

The miles passed ever more slowly, and I realised that I wouldn’t even make the first of my potential campsites by their check in time of 6pm. One by one, I interrogated Google Maps for alternatives, and one by one, the options disappeared. Passing through Liskeard, I strapped a fish supper to the back of my bike, and set off in the hope that the kind people of Fursdon Farm would forgive my late arrival. At just after 7, I was standing by the campsite entrance when the owners drove in. Head on in they said, and would you like a coffee?

UK 2021: Land’s End to John o’ Groats

So, what does your average globetrotting cycle-tourist do during a world pandemic I hear you ask? Unsurprisingly, look for the nearest suitable challenge not necessitating the use of an Aeroplane and get packing is the answer.

And here I am, packed. Packed off on the 9:08 train from Edinburgh Waverley and with over 12 hours to kill before I arrive in Penzance. My challenge is – of course – Land’s End to John o’ Groats. 1000 miles, from the south-western tip of the British mainland to the north-eastern one.

The route I am intending to follow is the one presented in the Cicerone LeJoG guidebook, and is described as the ‘optimal’ route by none other than the author himself. Optimal because it keeps to quiet roads without adding greatly to the overall mileage.

To this stage, my planning has been minimal. I booked a train – and accommodation for my first night in Penzance – and that’s about it! Hotels in England look expensive, so I’ve brought my tent and hope to camp most nights, but not having planned where I hope to reach each night, I’ll need to seek out my accommodation options as I go. Hopefully this isn’t complicated too much by the English school holidays or lingering Covid restrictions…

Vietnam 2020: The Ho Chi Minh Trail

Gearing Up

Since I returned from cycling the Pacific Coast Highway in June 2017, I have been asked countless times if I had any more cycling trips planned. The answer was usually, ‘no, not yet, but I’ve had a few ideas!’ It was always going to take some time before I was ready to undergo a similar trip again. For a start, successfully completing my biggest challenge yet meant that my ambitions were likely to remain higher for future endeavours, and that required me to find a long enough window with which to fit my plans.

Another problem was that, since the America trip, my touring bike had had a fairly tough time of it. In January 2018, I was out for a short cycle not far from home when I changed gear to pedal up a steep hill and there was a loud crunch from the back of the bike. The chain had broken, the rear derailleur had snapped in half and bent the derailleur mounting point on the frame in the process. Not good. In the end, it turned out an absolutely trashed small chainring, from my 2000 mile sojourn, was the root of the problem, and it was really spring 2019 before it was back up and running properly.

Then it was time to start planning something…

Opting to go in January helped narrow the range of possibilities significantly, and in the end I was trying to decide between an End to End of New Zealand or something in South-East Asia. I decided to leave New Zealand until I was feeling less adventurous, so South-East Asia it was. I’d been to Thailand, so not there. A lack of tarmacked roads and a predominance of hills did for Cambodia and Laos respectively, and eventually, it was the lure of a 1000 mile stretch of well-maintained tarmac through rural farmland and stunning karst mountains that won it. So, as of the 4th of January, I’m heading for the Ho Chi Minh Highway – between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City – in Vietnam!

Hope you can join me,

Michael

To read about my Pacific Coast trip start here:

https://pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/30/my-pacific-coast-odyssey/

To read about my Morocco trip:

https://pedaltheglobeblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/22/413-miles-and-endless-hills/