This article was written for 'The Ranger', the Sustrans Volunteer Rangers Newsletter, and an edited version was published in the Autumn 2007 edition.
I first cycled from Land's End to John o' Groats in May/June 2006. I was pleased I'd done it but left the saddle vowing never to do it again. But then all sorts of forces began to work on me:
I met and was inspired by John Grimshaw when he gave the keynote speech at the ruralnet|uk conference. We talked about many things including the signage on the NCN.
This got me thinking. In 2006, I'd taken a GPS unit with me: it recorded the route and gave me lots of data to play with when I got back. All this data was published for other would-be end-to-enders on the trip's blog: ruralnet.typepad.com/endtoend I was also aware that this gadget could be used to plan routes in advance.
Soon after, on signing up as a Sustrans supporter I heard about Sustrans' 30th anniversary