Land’s End to John O’Groats – Day 12

May 26, 2024

Ride Stats:
https://cyclemeter.com/8c43cf9d11bd7f12/Cycle-20240525-0826-43040

I was awoken by the sounds of doors opening and closing…curtesy of the family that arrived the night before, getting their morning together.
Shortly afterwards it was all about having breakfast and trying to get away as soon as possible afterwards.
As we were packing up, the campground owners came by to collect their fee…and we chatted with them awhile about their campground, and shared complements about how clean and efficient it was. We also mentioned that it would be very helpful to provide a device charging station for campers…to which they responded that they would be putting in a solar charged battery system for just that reason…cool!.
The elephant in the campground that morning, was the fact that Nigel and I would be parting ways. As mentioned, we chatted during the last couple of days that I may need leave sooner, and ride longer each day if I was to make it to John O’Groats, then back to London for my pre-booked flight home.
And so it was that we said our goodbyes. I felt really bad about it, but as I bookended myself, I had no choice if I was to finish the route…and Nigel totally understood that. I was on the road by 8:30.

Not long after leaving, I decided to check out a shortcut to Stoke-on-Trent…and what a mistake it was. It was a route called The Queensway/A500…and it was an expressway…which I didn’t realize until I was actually on it. Although it was only 3kms, it was harrowing…and I was very thankful when I got off…it was not a smart thing to do.

I followed the canal into the city, and stopped to shore up supplies mid way through town….and left as I arrived, along a canal.
Spent the early afternoon riding along lovely recreational trails with surprisingly difficult-to-get-through gates, through Brindly Ford, Biddulph and Cogleton. Stopped in Cogleton for lunch, then continued north along a combination of B and local roads and through a myriad of villages towards Manchester.
As mentioned, the goal was not to go through big cities if at all possible, but Manchester was the shortest route north, so in I went…and sure enough, I got turned around at least a half dozen times before finally getting to the north end of town. Another concern was that it just happened to be a Saturday, so campsites would be at a premium…and it was the FA Cup Final…with Manchester vs Manchester…so the concern was that after the game, the streets may get clogged with fans…
Stopped at McDonalds for dinner, then grabbed a can of local IPA before heading north. On my way out of town, I called several campgrounds and a warmshowers host in order to secure accommodation…and thankfully got a call back from the owner of the Paddock campground just outside of Stubbins.
I was surprised that that campground also did not have a place to recharge…but the owner agreed to charge my spent batteries at her home overnight.
After setting up, I met the lovely family camped beside me…and spent part of the evening chatting with them over beers.
I was very happy to have gotten in over 120km’s that day…a pace that I needed to keep up in order to finish in time…