Stephen Shrubsall shares this month's cycling story – his recent conquest of LeJog, the definitive British cycling trip
I recently completed the definitive British cycling trip, from Land’s End to John O’ Groats — or LeJog, as it’s often known.
For a fortnight I ploughed a furrow through an ever-changing terrain. Cornwall and Devon boasted gorgeous scenery and a mottling of spiteful ascents; Wales was rolling and speckled with picture-perfect villages; the Lake District a challenge for the legs, but easy on the eye. As for the Scottish Highlands, a more dramatic setting one could not desire.
Yet we in the Home Counties have our own slice of cycling paradise nary a stone’s throw from the M25: the Surrey Hills, with the iconic Box Hill and Leith Hill climbs and postcard lanes. Meanwhile the Downs Link, which cuts a straight, even path from Guildford to the coast at Shoreham, is custom-designed to keep the whole brood a-wheel with nary an engine to be heard.
Saddle up, Surrey! We’ve been blessed with the best.
