Sam’s Better Transport Adventure
This is a guest blog by Sam Allwood, who cycled from Glasgow to London, raising money for us during our Better Transport Week.
Not famed for my bright ideas, I was looking for something to occupy myself in summer 2024 and having followed Campaign for Better Transport for a few years, I thought Better Transport Week could give me something to break up a summer of dissertation writing. How about a sustainable cycle ride from Glasgow to London, running up the tallest mountains in England and Scotland and fundraising as I went? The plan was hatched and soon I was off.
Day 1: The Ben
My train left Glasgow at 5:48am. A scenic train ride brought me to Fort William standing with my bike in beaming sunshine and admiring a steam train warming up. With no time to dawdle, I managed to make it to the summit of Ben Nevis through snow and ice in one hour 19 minutes. A quick selfie and a jog back down arriving two hours 15 minutes after I’d set off and back on the long road back to Glasgow. The 178km ride passed relatively smoothly, though Scottish roads are definitely not built for bikes. Cycling through Glen Coe was phenomenally beautiful, and I soon found myself on the canal back into Glasgow, to make it home for 7:59pm.
On the way up Ben Nevis
Day 2: Carlisle
The first 50km out of Glasgow was on busy suburban roads without much cycle infrastructure, and I found myself in Cairn Lodge service station with still over 100km to go, at nearly 3pm. Things weren’t looking good and if I kept the same pace I’d possibly miss dinner; a disaster on a trip like this. Fortunately, I used an old service road which cars don’t typically use (they’re all on the motorway) so I was able to make it to the guest house in Carlisle by 7:30pm. England were playing and I was the only person in Carlisle looking for somewhere not showing the game!
Day 3: Lake District
Rolling into the lakes was an uphill battle. But the countryside soon provided views of mountains to keep me going. After following a wonderful rolling road into Wasdale I got my running shoes back on to climb Scafell Pike; I was at the summit in an hour and back at the pub 45 minutes later. The mountains were climbed, it was now just the small matter of 500km to London.
Summit of Scafell Pike
Day 4: Hardknott’s Pass
Day four started with the toughest climb I’ve ever seen. I thought my bike computer was mistaken in telling me the climb was 2.2km with average gradient 13 per cent. Turns out it was worse. I made it to the top for a brief cry whilst being held up by my bike. A look at Strava informed me that almost 30,000 people have made it over Hardknott’s pass on a bike, the fastest of whom had done it in half of my time-just incredible. There were a few more ‘lumps’ coming out of the Lake District, and it seemed like it was famous for aggression towards cyclists, seems like we’re all frustrated by the lack of any cycling infrastructure. An enormous lunch in Ambleside to celebrate and rolled the rest of the 140km to Longride to stay with an old friend. More great food and a trip to the local pub for a celebratory pint.
Winding road of Hardknott’s pass
Day 5: Manchester
Set off early to meet Eugenia from the Campaign for Better Transport team in St. Peter’s Square where we admired the trams. Other than a few trains on the West Coast mainline, this was the first sustainable transport I’d come across on the trip. Then on my way out of Manchester was the first cycling infrastructure I’d come across; just 600km into the trip. Day five ended with some friends for an impromptu roast dinner and feeling extremely fortunate to know so many generous people.
With Eugenia in Manchester
Day 6: Long
Staying with friends in North Stoke and wanting to get to Thame meant that day six was going to be the big one. I started early and made sure to factor in plenty of refuelling and resting stops. The first of which, in a place called Hill Ridwell, was a community coffee morning where the ladies were more than enthusiastic to tell me about their new/restarted bus service to Cannock! Some very rare praise for our bus network but shows the power it can have when brought back (or brought to) communities. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, until 210km into the ride HS2 construction works meant my satnav failed me, I wound up lost in a field on a road bike: not ideal. Eventually arrived at another friend’s house for my final night.
Cycling essentials
Day 7: Grand Finale
Today’s plan was meet Sarah from Campaign for Better Transport and cycle together into London. I’d been hoping all the way that the cycling infrastructure in London would be exemplary of urban cycle networks, but alas, the route we took (admittedly, I chose it!) was a busy dual carriageway with limited intermittent cycle lanes resemblant of the rest of the country. But we negotiated our way through steadily increasing traffic, past Marble Arch and along Oxford Street to King’s College at the Strand to a warm reception and shower before joining the Better Transport Conference.
This has been an epic adventure; six days, one hour 30 minutes, 1050km and 12,000m of ascent (more than Mount Everest) and I’ve raised some money for a cause very dear to my heart. We urgently need a greater choice of sustainable transport across the UK, and Campaign for Better Transport is the charity that’s campaigning hard for all communities to have access to high-quality sustainable transport that meets their needs.
Arriving into London
Sam raised an amazing £1,792 for Campaign for Better Transport via his bike ride! If Sam’s challenge has sparked your imagination and you would like to fundraise for Campaign for Better Transport we would be incredibly grateful! We can help you with things like setting up a Just Giving page and give advice on fundraising, email sarah@bettertransport.org.uk
