Trip Stats – update – early Sept

I am now with my family in the beautiful country of Slovenia, in the middle of what I expect to be my last major break from cycling before the end of the whole trip. Since I am currently still not quite through the first half of the 204 maps, you will see that the next 6 weeks are likely to be quite different in nature from what has come before!

I will reflect on that later; but first here are the latest trip stats, as of my arrival in Whitby, in map 94, at the end of the latest coast to coast journey.

Number of OS Landranger 1:50,000 maps visited so far in sequence: 94 (of 204)

Number of separate trains ridden with my bike: 50

Number of separate ferry or boat journeys made: 63

Number of official miles cycled on OS Landranger maps in sequence: 3,400

Number of additional miles cycled out of sequence (eg. to get to a westerly starting point): 799

Total number of miles cycled early May to end of August: 4,199

Number of coast to coast journeys completed (map 8 onwards): 13 (of 26)

From the above I am concluding the following:

1. My estimate of 7,000 official miles over 204 maps of cycling looks like a pretty decent guess
2. As expected, Scotland was a fiddly place to work through, especially on account of all the islands and ferry journeys on the west coast. That is now all behind me.
3. I can still complete this challenge by my original target of the end of October… but only just!
4. To do so, I first need to complete 4 more coast to coasts in September, taking me as far as map 122. I have a plan for that, which I will publish before I set out again on 14th Sept. I can look forward to some company along the way and a few nights in my own bed!
5. That leaves 9 coast to coasts, over 82 maps, including all of Wales, to complete in 31 days of October. A challenge within a challenge! I have sketched it out, and it is possible, at an average of one coast to coast every 3 days, plus some travel time. Or, put very simply, just under 3 maps a day. I don’t mind taking an extra couple of days if I need to. It was always going to be tight. But I would like to see this through before the days get short and the weather gets bad. I said I wanted a big challenge and there it is! The devil will be in the detail, I’m sure. So watch this space.