04/10/2026
Reflections on our 7-day cycle ride from Land's End to Kendal!
Having returned home around 8pm on Friday, continuing our week-long theme of riding into the dark each day, Mike and I have now had a couple of rest days and time to process our adventure 😊
We LOVED the pattern of our days, the simplicity and joy of moving along entirely under our own steam, and some of the best food we've ever tasted (or so it felt when exercising 10 hours a day 😉).
We especially enjoyed the scenery, the 11:30am eggy brunches, every new sign saying "Welcome to [County]" and listening to the changing accents as we moved northward.
We were incredibly fortunate with the weather, which was bright and sunny all week, except for 90 rainy minutes in Devon on Sunday morning, and one brief downpour a few days later. Also, we were blessed by the mechanical gods (?!) with just one puncture all week and no other issues.
The toughest part? Cycling such long distances back-to-back for 7 days, covering 70-something miles on most days. And 94 miles on one day! Aaaand I'll spare you the details of my nappy rash… not fun.
We were amazed at the route provided by Cicerone Press, which took us along quiet roads/lanes and traffic-free paths around 85% of the time. Occasionally, after 5 minutes on a busier road, we'd breathe a sigh of relief to be steered off it and back into "Cicerone land"! The route was amazing… we weren't even aware of passing Warrington and Preston, thanks to the carefully crafted Cicerone route. We had sought out the gpx files to accompany our routebook, and loaded the files onto a navigation device, which sat on my handlebar to keep us on the correct line. A lifeline!
We were astonished at what our bodies could put up with and keep on doing day after day. For context, I regularly deliver hour-long and two-hour cycling lessons, and happily cycle shortish distances from A to B, but neither Mike nor I regularly cycle long distances! Leisure-wise I usually go for a run, and Mike usually goes diving or kayaking. Yet apparently our baseline fitness was enough to get us through 550 miles over 7 days. Not fast, just slowly and steadily (hence all the dusky/dark finishes!)
Before this trip I had only ever cycled 70+ miles once in my life: my slow-but-joyful experience of the Fred Whitton a few years ago. So if YOU cycle a bit – and enjoy it! – and can pull 30 or 40 miles out of the bag on occasion, you might already be ready to take on this kind of challenge!
We were thankful for every morsel of food, every swig of water, and every booked end-of-day destination with a warm shower and a comfy bed. Also our cycling competence, and ability to use a compact set of essential skills to handle the bikes and keep ourselves safe in all situations, such as:
✅ balancing on the bike for a few seconds at junctions, to help us move off again quickly,
✅ claiming and conceding priority,
✅ adjusting riding speed for dazzling, puddle-filled wet roads,
✅ bearing in mind that sometimes drivers ahead or behind us would be similarly dazzled or have the sun in their eyes,
✅ dodging potholes,
✅ holding our own at 25mph on busy roads,
✅ checking behind frequently for the next passing car without going into the hedge or the traffic.
✅ Etc!
It's a real privilege for me to teach others these skills through Smile Cycling. And now I'm all fired up about doing plenty more of it, to help more local folk bring this kind of adventure within their reach.
Or maybe one with lower daily mileages, so there's time to stop off and see things along the way!
