Books and guides

I consulted a few guide books before I left but found that there wasn't one that covered the ride as I wanted to do it.

Lands End to John O'Groats Official Cyclist's Challenge Guide by Brian Smailes covers the shortest cycling route by road (910 miles). This was used as a base for my route planning and helped with one or two places to stay. It was a bit outdated for my liking.

Lands End to John O'Groats Cycle Guide – a Cicerone Guide by Simon Brown provides some useful tourist information about the destinations en route – but it isn't great.

The Complete Book of Long-Distance Cycling by Edmund R Burke and Ed Pavelka was the most useful for training. Its chapters on stretching, recovery and how to deal with aches and pains were particularly useful.

The best book I read was Mark Beaumont's The Man Who Cycled Around The World. I read this during my final weeks of training and during the rides itself. It helped put my nine days of 100 miles into perspective.