End to Enders: Land's End to John O'Groats, 27th - 30th July 2007
After a series of events which began by meeting Charley Boorman at Squires Cafe on 15th February and then going on to meet Ewan McGregor & Russ Malkin at Ted Simon's book signing in Aces Cafe in London on the 9th of March, Sean Jones decided to organise a sponsored bike ride from Lands End to John O'Groats. The aim was to tie in with Ewan & Charley reaching Cape Town - as they finished their journey, Sean and the bikers would arrive at their start point, John O'Groats.
When Sean first started organising this, a good number of people expressed an interest in taking part but, at the start of the ride, there were only three - Sean, his eldest son James, and Jim Mitchell, whom Sean "met" on the Long Way Down members chat board.
It was an early departure as the team had approximately twelve hours of riding ahead of them. As it this was likely to be the longest day, they only stopped for fuel and one meal break, and didn't take many photos on the way.
When they arrived at Edinburgh Castle, they had a slight hiccup; it was closed! Sean sweet-talked the lady guard on the gate to let them in and allow them take a couple of photos after he explained that they were doing this bike ride for charity. She kindly gave them five minutes to pop in and take a couple of pictures.
As the Castle grounds were closed to traffic, the team waited round the corner and watched to see if any bikes arrived to join them, as a couple of people said that they might be able to join in for the trip up to John O'Groats. Unfortunately, no extra bikes or riders arrived.
The morning weather was glorious and the team enjoyed a lovely ride over the Forth bridge and further into Scotland. The further north they went, the more impressive the scenery became - lovely clear skies and rolling countryside and, what's more, the weather was like that all the way to John O'Groats.
The road from Aberdeen to John O'Groats was fantastic; a real bikers road, lovely twisty bits, sweepers, and a few straights to blast down (keeping to the speed limit, of course!)
They arrived in John O'Groats at about 3:30pm, just in time to catch the end of their Harbour Day extravaganza.
938 miles later, the three of them were in John O'Groats, tired but still smiling and all were now End to Enders.
Because of work commitments Jim had to ride home that night, so that made three days of around 600 miles a day riding for him!
James and Sean stayed in the Seaview Hotel for the night and enjoyed an evening meal and a celebratory drink or three. Whilst they were there, they discovered that nearly everyone staying there was an End to Ender, including a couple who had walked 1185 miles in 93 days and still had three more days of walking to get to their destination. There was also a group of Harley riders from the Eagle Riders who had just completed their "Iron Butt" challenge, where they have to complete the ride in less than 24 hours!
Total miles covered: Jim - 1779 miles, Sean - 1853 miles, James - 2103 miles.
Money raised: (approximately) £1850 for UNICEF.
More photos
After a series of events which began by meeting Charley Boorman at Squires Cafe on 15th February and then going on to meet Ewan McGregor & Russ Malkin at Ted Simon's book signing in Aces Cafe in London on the 9th of March, Sean Jones decided to organise a sponsored bike ride from Lands End to John O'Groats. The aim was to tie in with Ewan & Charley reaching Cape Town - as they finished their journey, Sean and the bikers would arrive at their start point, John O'Groats.
When Sean first started organising this, a good number of people expressed an interest in taking part but, at the start of the ride, there were only three - Sean, his eldest son James, and Jim Mitchell, whom Sean "met" on the Long Way Down members chat board.
It was an early departure as the team had approximately twelve hours of riding ahead of them. As it this was likely to be the longest day, they only stopped for fuel and one meal break, and didn't take many photos on the way.
Land's End
When they arrived at Edinburgh Castle, they had a slight hiccup; it was closed! Sean sweet-talked the lady guard on the gate to let them in and allow them take a couple of photos after he explained that they were doing this bike ride for charity. She kindly gave them five minutes to pop in and take a couple of pictures.
As the Castle grounds were closed to traffic, the team waited round the corner and watched to see if any bikes arrived to join them, as a couple of people said that they might be able to join in for the trip up to John O'Groats. Unfortunately, no extra bikes or riders arrived.
The morning weather was glorious and the team enjoyed a lovely ride over the Forth bridge and further into Scotland. The further north they went, the more impressive the scenery became - lovely clear skies and rolling countryside and, what's more, the weather was like that all the way to John O'Groats.
The road from Aberdeen to John O'Groats was fantastic; a real bikers road, lovely twisty bits, sweepers, and a few straights to blast down (keeping to the speed limit, of course!)
They arrived in John O'Groats at about 3:30pm, just in time to catch the end of their Harbour Day extravaganza.
938 miles later, the three of them were in John O'Groats, tired but still smiling and all were now End to Enders.
John O'Groats
Because of work commitments Jim had to ride home that night, so that made three days of around 600 miles a day riding for him!
James and Sean stayed in the Seaview Hotel for the night and enjoyed an evening meal and a celebratory drink or three. Whilst they were there, they discovered that nearly everyone staying there was an End to Ender, including a couple who had walked 1185 miles in 93 days and still had three more days of walking to get to their destination. There was also a group of Harley riders from the Eagle Riders who had just completed their "Iron Butt" challenge, where they have to complete the ride in less than 24 hours!
Total miles covered: Jim - 1779 miles, Sean - 1853 miles, James - 2103 miles.
Money raised: (approximately) £1850 for UNICEF.
More photos
Sponsors
"Another Way Around" is a non-profit-making group; all proceeds go to charity.
Participants in fund-raising activities pay their own expenses and some costs are covered by sponsors. We are very grateful to them.
Contact Jim Mitchell or Ian Mitchell for more information.
