Participation Bike Ride from Lands End to John O’Groats.

The entire 1,230 mile trip has been plotted turn-by-turn by Simon, using the National Cycle Network – the first time this has been attempted. What’s more, he’s doing it in just 12 days.

The route consists of 2030 turns in fact and took months to put together and publish; and Simon has made the 48 stages available here. Visitors can browse the Google maps of each of the 48 stages and download GPS route and waypoint files at no charge.
Not entirely alone in this endeavour, Simon has recruited nine other willing participants to join him through his blog website. Like last year, Simon will be blogging from the saddle - last year’s blog received more than 21,000 hits! This account is described by Ian Clare of the ‘The Ultimate Links List of Land’s End to John o’ Groats Cycle Trips‘ as “possibly the most detailed account ever”. To support the group and follow their progress, go to http://ruralnet.typepad.com/pride2007/.

Simon will be raising money for ruralnet|uk’s Participation Fund which will enable rural communities to access online support and grant-finding information for a year and to attend ruralnet|uk’s 2-day conference; this year is taking place at The Belfry, West Midlands on the theme of ‘Rural Futures – Who cares?’ - click here to find out more about our conference.
To sponsor Simon, please visit http://ruralnet.typepad.com/pride2007/ and donate through the Just Giving link.

Editors notes:

1. ruralnet|uk is a rural development charity (no 1089238). For more information click here.

2. The National Cycle Network project is co-ordinated by Sustrans, the UK’s leading sustainable transport charity. The National Cycle Network now passes within one mile of half the population. The routes are free to use and open to all.

3. Additional information about Simon and the ride:

http://www.gpscycle.com- these are the GPB maps for the 48 stages of the route with Google Earth files also the map of the National Cycle Network etc
http://ruralnet.typepad.com/pride2007 - this is for information on the Participation Ride - and shows the detail for every section and where he will be when and how to join in http://www.ruralnet.org.uk/~s.berry for information on Simon himself
This year’s blog is here: http://blog.gpscycle.com
Last year’s blog is here: http://ruralnet.typepad.com/endtoend/