Resources

We’re planning on reaching Scotland in late June or early July, so we probably won’t need to consult Transport Scotland’s Trunk Road Gritter Tracker. However, I’m not quite willing to leave this to chance, so I’m saving the link here.

Many of the gritters have been assigned names by schoolchildren, and the tracker allows you to search for these. Select “Vehicle Name” from the drop-down, and find such favorites as Sir Salter Scott and Gritty Gritty Bang Bang.

As inventive as Scotland’s schoolchildren are, they weren’t quite a match for the residents of Doncaster, a bit to the south:

We are DELIGHTED to be able to confirm what our new gritters will be called, following the #DoncasterGrittingWorldCup final!

They will be called:

Gritsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Slip Machiney

And

David Plowie

— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) November 17, 2017

Friend Lee shares two resources for crowd-sourcing hospitality:

• Couch Surfing

  It’s not a niche (cycling) crowd, and I found I put more time into considering which people NOT to send requests to. But hosts are all ages, so one simply rapidly gets better at identifying hosts you’d imagine being comfortable around.

  But when a profile says ‘Join for a beer now’ and you’ve just finished 90 miles on the bike in a day, you’ll be damn happy to meet them, whoever they are.

  Often the Couchsurfing mentality is that a host will be super happy to show you local stuff — sights, eats, drinks — like the classic middle eastern hosting tradition. It’s a great way in, and an instant connection.

• Warm Showers

  Everywhere you go, you can find / meet / stay with people who have done cycle touring 😉

  You can see the active members by count once logged in.

  I had all great experiences through finding a dozen or more hosts …

Caitlin Giddings of Bicycling shares the wealth of experience gained from a US coast-to-coast ride: 9 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Riding Across the Country.

We’re going to have to work out the logistics of getting our bodies and bikes to Land’s End and then back home from John o’Groats. (Given enough time, of course, we could cycle it … ) Friend Lee helpfully points out the Caledonian Sleeper as an overnight ride home from Inverness to London.

• The Caledonian Sleeper

There are a lot of commercial resources for lejog, ranging from route map books to fully guided tours.

• Cycle: End-to-End
• Cycling Land’s End to John o’Groats? Get the End to End pack
• Land’s End to John O’Groats Cycling Holidays
• End to End / LEJOG
• End to End Cycle Route – A Safer Way
• B&B Reviews