Takeaways from the LEJOG experience?
The Brits don’t eat green vegetables. Or red ones. Our trip was in some part a quest for veggies.
LEJOG was great fun, not too strenuous but with a goal that set a pace that kept the action coming. Emirates flight home was a deadline that had to be met.
UK drivers were amazingly tolerant of bewildered cyclists blocking narrow roads, standing bewildered in the middle of road junctions trying to figure out Google Maps instructions. There were exceptions of course but comparing UK drivers (often regarded as the worst in Western Europe) with the aggressive, death wish mob in Australia is a clear win in civility to the Brits.
Scotland is the most photo worthy place ever, especially the north west. It should be travelled slowly by bike or maybe better to walk it. The amount of film spent on Scottish moors and Ben’s would have kept Kodak in business.
London is a much nicer city now than in the 1900’s through to 1999. Electric taxis/cars/some trucks/busses, bicycles of all types have simultaneously got rid of the black exhaust soot that had you blowing black snot and removed much of the vehicle noise from diesel engines. In turn the quieter streets seemed to have calmed people down.
Tourist numbers have soared, the pressure on the standard attractions such as Big Ben, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, V&A and Natural History museums is enormous. Prebooked tickets required to visit seemingly everything.
The UK is expensive; London more so than everywhere else. Take Australian prices and put a £ sign instead of the $ sign gives you an idea.
UK pubs are generally pretty comfy places, Scottish ones tend to be more standoffish and on Orkeny most definitely ‘consider why you are here’ vibe.
UK real ales (swamp water as John calls them) are good, (relatively) cheap, flavoursome and endlessly varied. Take up drinking if you are going to visit.
UK supermarkets are pretty dull, generic places devoted mostly to selling sugar, fat and booze with some veggies over in aisle 7 somewhere.
Obesity seems to be the natural condition of a majority of Brits. This is true as 67% of Brits are overweight or obese. These are almost exactly the same numbers as in Australia so no win for Australia there.
Safety vests and hi-viz is becoming the national dress of England. They wear it while working outdoors, while walking the dog or gardening or just about anywhere. Also, mobility scooters are very common to the point that I wonder if the NHS is just handing them out to everyone with a heart murmer or sprained ankle.
British cardiovascular fitness is developed and maintained by climbing stairs in their tiny two or three story houses. Don’t put on too much weight though as you won’t actually fit up the older staircases. Certainly your showering experience will be limited as you won’t be able to bend over or possibly turn around in many of the bathroom showers.
Cleanliness and reasonably new fit outs were the rule in most tourist accomodation from hotels through BnB’s down to hostels and bunkhouses. Top marks for UK attention to this detail.
Brits are almost always polite and mostly friendly. The Vikings were wrong to describe the Scots as ‘violent and untrustworthy’ although this was probably related to the Vikings trying to invade the place. The Vikings were correct in saying that “the Scottish weather is vile” and you shouldn’t bother going there (without a goretex raincoat).
These are my main impressions of our 2150 km LEJOG epic bicycle journey.
Good friends, friendly locals, good scenery, good accomodations, some good weather and lots of hills.
