Land’s End to John O’Groats bike tour (September 2010)

After more than three years, the time has come again: My bike is calling, and I’ll go on a big tour again. Not quite as big as in 2007, but big enough to be looking forward to it very much already. Initially planned for summer 2008, I’ll now be able to realise the following (at least I’ll give my best to realise it): From the southwesternmost point of England (Land’s End in Cornwall) to the very north of Scotland (John O’Groats – almost the most northern point of the British mainland [I’ll obviously also make a stop at the northernmost point, “Dunnet Head”]).

Other than in 2007 during my Calgary-Anchorage bike tour, I’ll most likely not be meeting any bears on my 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) through the UK, however, I’ll have to face British weather… not sure what’s better. Furthermore, I had to realise (quite surprised, I have to admit) that I’ll total an ascent of more than 12,000 metres (approx. 16,000m when using a different method of calculating). On the first section of my Calgary-Anchorage tour across the Rockies through the Canadian west, which was pretty much the exact same distance, I’ve only had to cycle uphill an accumulated 7,000 metres (10,000m)!

In any way, I’ll set off from Munich on the 10th of September, fly into London, and start my tour at one end of Britain on the 12th of September – together with just my bike and my tent. On Sunday, 26th of September, I’ll fly back to Bavaria from Edinburgh. This leaves me with exactly 14 days on the bike.

Through this blog, I’ll try to keep you updated on the progress of my tour and to share some stories of my way up into the north, especially by uploads of GPS tracks and pictures. If I don’t manage to get online during my tour, I’ll catch up on it right after having returned back home. But I’ll certainly make information and updates available during the planning process before the tour already – beginning with details on the route.

Also, I want to raise some money for a charity (Oxfam Germany) in connection with this tour. For that, I’ll need your help, therefore please find more details on: http://www.helpedia.de/spenden-aktionen/lejog

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