WHY: Land's End to John o'Groats





Why am I cycling unsupported (camping most of the way) from Land's End to John o'Groats?
There are three main reasons:
  1. Just for the hell of it! I enjoy cycling and camping, why not combine the two? It's more about the journey I will be taking than the challenge, I might not even make it the whole way...
  2. Raising awareness of hidden disabilities. In my case a stoma, which you can read about on WHAT: is a stoma/ileostomy and HOW: my stoma affects me.
  3. Raising some money for the charities that have helped me with my illness and disability: Crohn's & Colitis UK and The Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Support Group. If you want to donate please see my Virgin Money Giving page: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/martinjreed I would like to raise £1600, one pound for each kilometre cycled!
I will be attempting the journey in 15 days cycling (with one rest day and two nights in the Lake District). The rough route is shown above and in more detail at my Komoot profile https://www.komoot.com/tour/27599385. I am not taking the most direct route, rather aiming to travel through some of the best landscapes (Dartmoor, Lake District, the Highlands) and avoiding major roads.

Some approximate stats: 
  • expected climbing over whole journey is 16 km (that's like climbing Everest twice), but of course also coming down that much as well!
  • total distance is 1,600 km (averaging about 100 km per-day), about 5-7 hours cycling each day depending on the distance, hills and wind.

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Hi, I am planning a Land's End to John o'Groats cycle ride in Summer 2018 travelling mostly unsupported (camping for all but one or two nights). This is mostly just for fun, something I have wanted to do for a long time, but also to raise awareness of hidden disabilities. In 2008 I became very ill with Crohn's disease and subsequently underwent life-saving surgery to create an Ileostomy, I now wear a stoma bag. You can find out more about what a stoma (I have an ileostomy) is at  Stomawise . I will also be hoping to raise money for Crohn's & Colitis UK  and The Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Support Group . This is quite an undertaking for me, although I have done some cycle touring in the past. Here is me leaving for a 4-day tour around the coast of East Anglia in 2017 (photo is a panorama shot that went wrong in a fun kind of way!):
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