LENGTH OF THE UK
Hi everyone! Just about three weeks ago we finished our bike ride across the UK. And to close this adventure we are going to make a “brief” summary and answer the most frequent questions that have been asked us along the way.
As many of you already know, this route has been the alternative to the plan we had at the beginning of March 2020. Our initial plan was to pedal through Europe for 37 weeks to make an awareness campaing for Hemiplegia in Childhood. We would take our mascot Hemily (a great idea from Jorge from Hemiweb), a crab that would be the symbol of hemiplegia. We would also collect 37 smiles from families affected by this neurological condition. And of course, we would collect donations for Hemiweb and CPotential as they do an exceptional job to improve the quality of life of these families.
We would call this little project “37 SMILES” (37SONRISAS).
The day to start our challenge arrived, but it came accompanied by the COVID-19. At first, we thought that in a few days we could start our project. But days, weeks and months passed by and everything pointed out that we were the ones who had to change our plans and accept it.
We just had to transform our plan, we understood that we did not have to give it up.
We waited for the best time to start and the desire to carry out the challenge embarked us on a new adventure that with great enthusiasm we began on 12th August, 2020.
“That's the way to travel!”
Everyone who we met on the way
New plan: we would cycle from north to south of the British Island, from John O´Groats to Lands´ End. It is a very famous route that most cyclists do in a straight line in about 2 weeks.
Our goal was not to finish as quickly as possible, nor was it to measure every gram of our luggage. We simply wanted to enjoy the journey visiting places that were on our list for a long time, letting ourselves flow and lead by the advice of the people we were meeting along the way and above all, carry out our project 37 smiles.
Of course, the adventure doesn’t start in John o´Groats, it starts from the moment you leave home. To get to the starting point, we pedaled 114km in a single day (accompained by Fliss and Steph), we took a night train in London that would take us to Inverness from where we got on another train that would take us to Wick. From here we would pedal another 40km to the northern point of the island.
We toured the north coast of Scotland, enjoying its white sand beaches with unexpected good weather and the peace and tranquility that this area transmits due to its small population. From the west coast of Scotland we jumped to the Isle of Lewis that fell in love with its spectacular sunrises and sunsets, its wild nature and the history that surrounds it.
From the Isle of Lewis we went on to the Isle of Harris where we enjoyed the great mountains that form it. We continue to the Isle of Skye which, being the closest to the peninsula, is by far the most touristy. The landscape was impressive but the contrast of traffic on the roads was abysmal. Especially in the vicinity of the bridge that connects the island to the peninsula.
15 days touring the north of Scotland, the highlands of Scotland and the islands of the West, making friends even with the midges, enjoying the wild nature to the fullest, taking our mascot Hemily for a walk … we arrived to Glasgow. It was the first time in 15 days that we slept in a bed and without worrying about the rain, storms, midges or anything else that comes to mind when you are wild camping and alone.
Glasgow gave us a good welcome. We had dinner with a group of friends we met on the north coast of Scotland, we took the opportunity to rest, dry all the equipment and wash clothes in the washing machine. We went out to explore the city but the contrast of being lost in nature for so long with the noise of the city … made us not stop long enough to visit it (barely an hour) and continue on our way to Edinburgh.
After Glasgow there was more civilization, more towns and cities, industry … we had left behind the wild nature of Scotland. Between cycle lanes and canals we arrive to Edinburgh. It was the first time we pedaled so many kilometers without slopes of 20%. No doubt … a break to my legs!
The entrance to Edinburgh surprised us with an English couple who had gone out for a ride in their electric tandem and after a pleasant conversation they sang a song that they had componed themselves while doing the Camino de Santiago mixing the two languages, Spanish and English. .
And the thing is that the journey never ceased to surprise us. The most motivating thing to continue on our way was the uncertainty of what will happen to us in the next kilometer? find out who we were going to meet and what we were going to learn from them! Something that we find super enriching.
More than one person asked us if we didn’t feel alone after so much time alone on the bike. And the truth is that we have traveled so slowly that we had time to interact with many people, animals and nature. Wonderful people along the way who stopped us and asked us, they were interested in what we were doing, sometimes they had relatives affected by hemiplegia, they offered us what they had, whether it was a banana or donations for the cause. We realized that there are still human and caring people who do not take into account your origin, social scale or gender. Without a doubt, these people made this adventure leave a huge mark on us.
We toured the east coast, famous for its beaches, dunes and castles. Accompanied by the rain we arrived to Newcastle where we were welcomed by a kind family friend of friends. We recovered our energy indoors for a night that served us to face the famous Hadrian’s Wall. A wall built by the Roman Empire under Emperor Hadrian that served as a border for about 300 years.
Unfortunately we did not see much rest of the wall, mainly because there are not many remains and the few that remained had turned them into a tourist attraction. What we liked the most was the undulating landscape we cycled and with constant headwinds we reached the Lake District. A natural setting made up of lakes and mountains, one of the highlights of this route. Not only because of the landscape but because we lost a wheel of the trailer going down a hill. What I remember is that we were going at about 52km / h, we looked like a bus. I started to smell molten metal, I looked back and Dexter was on the side … We had lost a wheel!
Again the human charity of a couple who stopped the car to ask us what we were doing in the rain walking along the road in cycling clothes. We were looking for the wheel but it did not appear … but they were our guardian angels since they took Dexter and the trailer to the closest camping area where I would pedal and we would wait 2 nights for a wheel to arrive to be able to continue with our trip.
After having cycled 3 times from coast to coast, it was time to start our way south and try to make it as straight as possible since we were going against the clock. Not because we wanted to finish as soon as possible but because the COVID-19situation was starting to get worse. We especially noticed it when we crossed Manchester that it was empty, not a person on the street.
Our legs took a breather as we cycled across West Midlands as we used the canals to move south. Although we did more kilometers around the mountains and following the canals, we got rid of a few climbs that our legs appreciated.
We passed through beautiful villages and once again we met super welcoming people. I could not name them all in less than 3 pages … but it is worth highlighting the lovely lady who invited us to eat at a Garstang market while advertising our campaign among the villagers.
Although we knew that we ran the risk of having to take a train back home due to the restrictions that were affecting the country. We did not stop enjoying at any time and we did not miss situations that will add us. This led us to meet a wonderful community at Frampton an Severn. Who welcomed us for one night, being our tour guides and with whom we could share laughter and anecdotes during dinner.
Continuing further south we arrive at Bristol. And like all large cities my plan was to cross them as quickly as possible to avoid the dangerous traffic of the cities and return to the tranquility of the countryside. But Bristol … catched us! We needed to keep an eye on the map so we stopped at a cafe in central Bristol. After talking for half an hour with a man, we realized that he was the owner of the coffee shop, the one who voluntarily wanted us to find a house to spend the night. He put an advert on his social media networks but minutes later a girl stopped us on the street and … offered us a room in her house to spend the night! We couldn’t believe how humble and charitable people were in Bristol.
Our next destination would be to get to Barnstaple and visit Dexter’s family for the first time.
Interesting reunion with Dexter’s mother and siblings. The barking of the first moments did not know if they were joy or reproach .. But later they would play together in the park and swim in the river. It was a unique experience to see so many crazy Australian Kelpie together.
We were already reaching the final stretch. We had 5 days left to finish this adventure when Steph joined us on herscooter. Now we did seem like we had escaped from a circus … a dog, a bike with too much load , a scooter and two girls …
The best team to face the last hills located in Cornwall. Hill up, hill down we moved slowly south. Here we had the steepest slope of the bike ride, 30% .. push the bike up and .. at the time of going down .. I remembered that I only had one brake! The adrenaline was rushing out of my ears!
With two nights remaining, we were able to rest and dry everything at Steph’s sister’s house. A great luxury that is infinitely appreciated after having battled the slopes of Cornwall in the rain.
We put the bike, a new brake, and a new pair of wheels for the trailer. We had already 19 worn tyres … certainly something to rethink for the next bike ride. It was an odyssey to find quality tyres along the way, so I ended up buying them online by shipping them to different points along the route.
Ready for the last push! The hills continued along our way, we could have a little truce as soon as we reached the coast that we would continue to the final point, Land’s End.
The last mile meandered along an unpaved bike path along the cliffs, from where we could see surfers in the water, people walking, caravans resting on the seashore … A million images, situations passed through my head, experiences and feelings that we had experienced during the 45 days that the route had lasted.
I couldn’t believe that we would finish in a few meters, it was the anticlimax. It was the most indecisive moment so far, something was happening that made me leave my comfort zone, what will happen when we finish?
We could see the sign that would mark the end. I didn’t know what to do or how to feel. All I wanted was to pedal backwards. I was not ready to finish.
We had found true happiness on a day-to-day basis from small actions … above all from making people smile along the way, from being the inspiration for some and from breaking mental barriers for others. All of this filled us with satisfaction and gave us a frenzied energy to keep going. We were doing an activity that we are passionate about and just sharing it made us happy.
Over 6 weeks living on our bike, we had maximized that ancestral power that distances us from modern stimulus.Achieving that true and lasting satisfaction from ancient culture. Converting fear into prudence, facing uncomfortable situations that had benefited us to grow as a person and value modern life in some aspects. Examples are living without tap water or looking for a safe corner in nature to spend the night.
A few photos and few hugs in Lands´ End would mark the end of the bike ride. We started our way back and it was then when I understood that the bike ride had ended but that … the adventure had just begun!
Our project of the 37 smiles in which we would cycle around Europe by bike in favor of Hemiplegia in Childhoodreaching the North Pole is still on. We hope to do it next Spring 2021. We may have to modify it and adapt it to the current situation. That is why we are not going to close doors but to adapt them and be able to realize our dream on this way.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone who have helped us and opened their doors along the way and on social medianetworks.
To each and everyone of you a thousand thanks!
The Obstacle is the Way
Marco Aurelio
We will leave open the challenge until we decide what to do next Spring. You can have a look on the following link 🙂
English https://www.migranodearena.org/en/cause/21085/37-sonrisas
Spanish https://www.migranodearena.org/reto/37-sonrisas
Pd: It is a Spanish fundraising page, for some reason I can update the English version. If you want to read about the updates please clic onto the Spanish version and see the section ACTUALIZACIONES. Thank you! 🙂