Congratulations to Kenneth Lamont for setting a new WUCA Unsupported Scotland N-S record in the following categories: Unsupported, Male 18-49, Standard Upright Bike. This is also a new Guinness Record as certified by WUCA.
Rider’s Narrative Summary
Record Attempt: Unsupported Scotland North–South (Male)
Rider: Kenneth Lamont
Start: 04:46, May 24th
Start Location: John o’ Groats
End: 12:08, May 26th
End Location: Mull of Galloway Lighthouse
Motivation
This ride was the second of four WUCA world record attempts I’ve planned for 2025, forming part of my preparation for the Transcontinental Race later this year. I also used the opportunity to raise funds for a Down Syndrome charity, a cause very close to my heart as my brother has Down Syndrome.
Preparation
I flew from London to Kirkwall, assembled my bike, and took the passenger ferry to Gills Bay before riding to the starting point at John o’ Groats.
Preparation wasn’t ideal. The night before leaving London, I took out my Di2 charger cable intending to charge the groupset overnight—but forgot to and left the cable behind. The day before the attempt was spent desperately calling bike shops across northern Scotland, but none had the newer version of the Di2 cable I needed. The best I could do was a shop in Inverness—nearly 200 km away—that agreed to let me charge the system if I got there before 5 pm the next day. With the battery already in the red, I rode most of the way to Inverness in a single gear.
I had a train booked back to London and a return to work looming, so delaying wasn’t an option. I decided to go ahead regardless. I stayed in a B&B in John o’ Groats, visited the famous signpost for some pre-ride photos, and got the proprietor to sign and stamp my witness sheet. I picked up some supplies for breakfast and tried to focus on the task ahead.
Route Decisions
Initially, my route planner directed me west via Thurso, but I noticed previous LEJOG record holders went east via Wick and down the coast. I remained undecided until the night before, when the B&B proprietor recommended the Wick route—so I went with that.
I followed the A9 down to Perth. It’s a fast but notoriously dangerous road, with frequent “Tiredness Kills” signs as a stark reminder. After Perth, I opted for smaller roads as the A9 becomes even busier closer to populated areas. While safer, these roads slowed my pace.
The second major routing choice came after Ayr—whether to stay coastal or go inland. My planner suggested inland, but I spoke to a cyclist from Ayr on the ferry from Orkney who recommended the coastal road, used heavily by Stranraer ferry traffic. It was faster and relatively flat, so I changed plans again and began on the coast.
Leg 1
I started just before what would have been sunrise -if there’d been any sun. The weather was awful: cold, wet, and windy. At 4:46 a.m., the far north of Scotland was silent – no witnesses, no traffic. My first real stop was much further south in Brora, where I grabbed a scone and a large vanilla milkshake. The waitress kindly signed my witness log.
The climbs en route to Inverness, particularly Berrydale, were punishing – especially stuck in a single gear on the large cog.
I made it to Inverness where a bike shop let me charge the Di2 while I ate at a nearby Starbucks. The mechanic joked I should just go for the fixed-gear record too.
After charging, the rear derailleur worked again—but the front mech didn’t. That meant I rode 200 km in one gear and the rest of the ride on a single chainring. Not ideal.
From Inverness, the route cut through the mountainous heart of Scotland—stunning, but it was dark and raining heavily. The rain managed to get into my mobile phone charging port, stopping charging attempts until I got to perth. When I reached Perth, I couldn’t find my hotel—my phone (used for navigation) was out of battery. Eventually, I stopped at a chain hotel on the A9 where they kindly let me take my bike to the room.
Leg 2
I got about four hours of sleep before setting off again. Riding 375 km on one chainring had taken its toll, and my average pace dropped noticeably on Day 2.
I avoided the southern stretches of the A9 during daylight hours, taking smaller, quieter roads instead. Conditions were grim: relentless rain and headwinds. One long bike path north of Glasgow, along a canal, was especially exposed. I made it through Glasgow without incident and continued towards Kilmarnock and Ayr.
After Ayr, the exhaustion really kicked in. I was close to falling asleep on the bike. With no hotels in sight, I tried sleeping in a bus shelter to get out of the wind and rain, but couldn’t find a comfortable position (I think this is by design). Eventually, I found a field and managed a few minutes of sleep there.
The headwinds on the coastal route were brutal, so I turned inland—but the trade-off was worse roads and more elevation. Near Stranraer, my bike computer died. It doesn’t show battery life on the main screen, so it caught me off guard. I switched to Komoot on my phone, which routed me along a gravel track before I rejoined a proper road south.
The final stretch to the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse felt never-ending, and I was delighted to reach my goal
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