LEJOG Any keen cyclists or helpers who fancy joining us at any point along the trip - just contact the hostel below book in for the date given & we will see you there.
ACCOMMODATION PLAN
1ST Night – Saturday 22nd May 2010
Booking reference: 135-20-1210
Letcha Vean
St Just-in-Penwith
Penzance
Cornwall
TR19 7NT
Prices from:
Adult: £9.95
Under 18: £7.50
T: 0845 371 9643
E: landsend@yha.org.uk < mailto:landsend@yha.org.uk>
2nd Night – Sunday 23rd May 2010
Booking ref. 227-20-449
Tintagel
Dunderhole Point
Tintagel
Cornwall
PL34 0DW
Prices from:
Adult: £11.95
Under 18: £8.95
T: 0845 371 9145
E: tintagel@yha.org.uk
3rd Night – Monday 24th May 2010
219-20-942
The Chalet
Ivythorn Hill
Street
Somerset
BA16 0TZ
T: 0845 371 9143
E: street@yha.org.uk < mailto:street@yha.org.uk>
4th Night – Tuesday 25th May 2010 (Camping Planned)
Capel-Y-Ffin Youth Hostel Capel-y-Ffin, Abergavenny, NP7 7NP Tel: (+44) 01873 890650 Located in the remote and stunningly beautiful Llanthony Valley in the Vale of Ewyas. Excellent walking opportunities with a series of fine ridges both sides of this valley. Horse and trail riding holidays are available from this hostel (see below). Local attractions include Hay on Wye (a full days walk away) and Llanthony Priory.
capelyffin@yha.org.uk
5th Night – Wednesday 26th May 2010
Peckforton Castle
www.peckfortoncastle.co.uk
Stone House Lane
Tarporley, Nr Chester, Cheshire CW6 9TN
01829 260 930
6th Night – Thursday 27th May 2010
Booking reference: 5-20-1475
Arnside YHA
Redhills Road
Arnside
Carnforth
Lancashire
LA5 0AT
T: 0845 371 9722
E: arnside@yha.org.uk
7th Night – Friday 28th May 2010
Thank you for your booking. Your reference number is 1139719.
Newton Stewart (Minnigaff)
Address: Newton Stewart, Wigtownshire
Tel: 01671 402 211
Directions: The hostel is just across from Newton Stewart on the eastern side of the river Cree.
8th Night – Saturday 29th May 2010
Thank you for your booking. Your reference number is 1139723.
Booking Statement
Lochranza Address: Lochranza, Isle of Arran
Tel: 01770 830 631
Directions: Bus No. 324 waiting on pier at Brodick Ferry Terminal and will drop you outside the hostel. Drivers and cyclists turn right off Brodick pier. Hostel 14 miles from Brodick.
9th Night – Sunday 30th May 2010
Your booking reference number: 2092416902
Invergarry Lodge
Mandally Road, Invergarry, Highlands PH35 4HP
01809 501 412
invergarrylodge.co.uk
13 reviews
Directions Search nearbymore
Categories: Hostel, Travel - Hostels, Hostels
Public transport: Invergarry Hotel (0.2 mi) 916, …
10th Night – Monday 31st May 2010
Your reference number is 1141489.
Carbisdale Castle
Ardgay, Highlands and Islands IV24 3DP
0870 004 1109
Address: Culrain, Sutherland
Tel: 01549 421 232
Directions: Hostel 0.25 mile from Culrain train station. Bus service 4.5 miles at Ardgay. By Road - from Inverness take the A9 north to Evanton then the A836 to Ardgay. Follow signposts from the Lady Ross Hotel.
Notes: Check in from 3pm until 11pm with night porter out of hours. Meals available at Hostel (Please ring for details).
11th Night – Tuesday 1st June 2010
John O’Groats YH, Canisbay, Near Wick, KW1 4YH
Tel: 01955 611 761
Map Ref: O.S.12 (GR 348721)
Friday, 16 April 2010
The 1100 Mile Challenge
It does seem a strange way to start but I think I do need to put the record straight.
The grand plan was for Damian Bell (me), Jorrin Peereboom, Dirk Bischof, Oliver Hoare and Deuan German to cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats supported by a van and driver and in so doing raise £5K each for Project Peru. We had planned to leave on Saturday 22nd of May 2010 and planned to arrive there in the very north of Scotland on 3rd of June 2010 - 12 days later.
At our first planning meeting - it was agreed that Jorrin and Dirk would work out the route, Damian (me) would work on sponsorship for Project Peru, setup the http://www.justgiving.com/LEJOG-DamianBell, and sort out the van and a driver. I had made it quite clear that accommodation wise - I was going to stay at the Youth Hostels which are conveniently dotted all the way along the route. Jorrin talked about the camping but just one night in the Welsh countryside which I agreed to.
We had the meeting in September 2009 and it was also agreed that I would meet with Carole Hudson of Project Peru to see how they could help and what advice they could give us. I met with Carole on Sunday 27th September and on Saturday 3rd October 2009 we had our first training ride to Brighton - it was a bit of a disaster.
I was not prepared - 5 punctures between us. My rucksack was too big and too full. My bike was in a sorry state. We were joined by Ian Redding - a keen road cyclist who helped me with my bag - good lad. But eventually, I was left behind as everyone sped off on their fast road bikes. I made it to Brighton in the dark and limped off home on the train. The planning continued.
Since then - I have made huge progress - bought a new road bike from PlanetX Bikes - its excellent. I've religiously been cycling in and back to work - 32 miles a day (only the days I'm in the office 2/3 per week) and then doing a long cycle at the weekends.
The first stumbling block was the driver. I asked all my contacts. The plan was to use my company's corporate deal with Budget Car & Van Rental to rent us a van. So, the driver needed to have a clean driving licence and at least 5 years driving experience and be over 25 years old. This ruled out the students we thought we could use. After our meeting in January 2010 we advertised in gumtree.com and had a few enquires but nothing materialised.
Dirk then said that their office manager, Janine at Embrace had agreed to be the driver. Problem solved. Well, so we thought.
Unfortunately and understandably, Janine's boyfriend was then not too happy for her to travel with 5 men alone the length and breadth of Great Britain. So, the boyfriend volunteered his services as cameraman to come along and film us. As a result we needed much more space. I was informed by Dirk and Jorrin that they now needed a mini bus. I explained that my corporate deal with Budget could only source a transit van. So, they then decided to get quotes for a mini bus. This was going to be more than double the cost of the transit van and Supply Direct would not sponsor this. But I wasn't consulted.
The next stumbling block was that the time period we decided to go during, coincided with two bank holidays and as such all the accommodation was going to book up very quickly. So, we needed the route to be ready quickly so we could then book the hostels and campsites (although I would not be camping).
Time marched on. We tried to have meetings in March to sort out what needed to happen. We managed half a meeting on 26th with only Jorrin and Dirk turning up. Jorrin showed us a route on his road atlas and promised that he would translate it into a google map. We were then going to have a follow up on Sktpe - I couldn't get online and Dirk had PC problems. Jorrin and Dirk then disappeared off to Europe for 2 weeks and are still there.
At this point - having already raised over £2.5K in sponsorship and with more pledges - I now feared that the whole plan was never going to come together. So, I decided to go out on a limb and book the train and plan my own route around the Youth Hostels in England, Wales and Scotland. I informed Dirk that I was going to do this on Sunday 11th April . He begged with me not to. I said that if the van was sorted out by Wednesday then I would stick with them. However, if not then I need to book the train and then the hostels. I made a plan around the route that Jorrin had shown us. Wednesday came and no van was booked. I decided to book everything. I emailed everyone and let them know. Then it all got silly. I confess I said some silly things too. Anyway, its a great shame, but now at least I am going albeit on my own.
The others are still planning on going. Their plan is to use Ollie's car with a bike rack. Janine is going to drive. I suppose that will be Janine, Jorrin, Dirk, Ollie, Duean and boyfriend sitting in a car designed for 5 with bikes and all the kit. Or maybe Janine's boyfriend is no longer going?
They are leaving on Sunday 23rd May and will be following Jorrin's route. They will have to camp as there are almost no hostel beds left as they are all booked. We may meet up en route. Maybe Deuan might come with me. We will see. Watch this space.
Here's what I currently have on my just giving page -
Damian, Dirk, Jorrin, Deuan and Ollie are setting off on 22nd May 2010 from Lands End to John O'Groates. The objective is to raise money for Project Peru. The charity is run by a lovely couple David and Carole and a band of other fantastic volunteers - who donate all their time and energy into the charity. As it is a small charity - there are no big admin costs - so virtually all the money raised goes to Project Peru. (See http://www.projectperu.org.uk.)
We now have a driver too who will drive our support van and look after us en route. So, a big "THANK YOU" to Janine from Embrace!!!
Jorrin has created his own just giving web page http://justgiving.com/Eric-Jorrin if you'd like to donate there no probs. Dirk has also setup a blog for the ride at http://1000mileschallenge.blogspot.com/ - so watch there for updates on how the training is going.
We will be creating a blog so you can follow us through the build up with all the training we are doing and also we will keep the blog updated every day of the trip. Please watch this space for more details.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
