Planning for the trip started in January.  For a management consultant the first step was to draw up a project plan.  This covered all activities associated with the trip including the associated publicity and fundraising activities.

The route was planned using Ordnance Survey Landranger maps.  A rough route was drawn on the map and then this was divided into suitable distances for each day.  We booked our accommodation in advance to ensure that we would always find somewhere to put the tandem.

The Bike

The trip was made on a pretty much standard Orbit Routier Supplied by Walton Street Cycles in Oxford.  The only additions were a set of Altura Skye panniers and some bar ends to allow more hand positions.

Go to After to find out how it held up.

Publicity

The trip was publicised through....

• Local press in Oxford
• E-mail circulars among colleagues and friends
• Local news programmes in Oxford

Click on Publicity to see our press coverage.

Travel to the start point and back home afterwards is a tricky problem with a tandem.  We considered and rejected the following options...

• Take the tandem on the trains:  no longer an option as the train companies in question would not take a tandem (or wouldn't agree to in advance, and we couldn't take the chance)
• Hire vans on a 'one way rental' basis:  Expensive, very long drives (especially home again) and the nearest rental company to John O'Groats which offers a one way option is in Inverness.
• Flying: Prohibitively expensive

In the end, we decided to do the following...

• Send the bike to our local bike shop for a final service before the trip, and then have them box it up and despatch it to a b&b in Penzance using their usual despatch company (and therefore benefiting from a trade rate)
• We travel down by train unencumbered, pick the bike up and do the ride
• At the end, we drop the bike at the bike shop in Thurso who box it up and send it back to us at home.  We, again, travel by train.

See After to find out how it went.