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Thur 18th January 2018

A Grandma’s JOGLE from End to End by Susan Hausberger

It’s a long way from John o’ Groats to Land’s End(JOGLE)and most people are terribly proud if they have beento both places, even if not in the course of one trip. Fancy then doing the journey in one go, and by bike on top of that – and as a proud (and terribly fit) grandmother of four!

Undaunted, this is exactly the adventure Susan Hausberger set out on in 2017 – she pedalled from the north easternmost tip of mainland Scotland, John o’ Groats, to the furthest point in the South West, known under the significant name of Land’s End: a distance of no less than 1,673km or 1,039 miles.

Looking at the map, you would think she wasgoing ‘down’; but in fact it was going uphill as much as the other way so that in the end Susan found she had ascended veritable mountains. What was worse, the wind tended to blow into her face. Maybe, she reflected, it might have been better going ‘up’. All the same, she completed her tour in just under three weeks.

We learned about all this when Susan gave her talk to the Austro-British Society on 18th January 2018. She also showed us her pictures – stunningly beautiful vistas of the sea and of green hills. Finding the way was rather tricky, though, as the satnav did not quite fulfil its promises. There are cycle routes of course, but they are fragmentary and sharing the road with lorries was not such an exhilarating experience. However, Susan found that most people she had to deal with were extremely friendly and some would go out of their way to lend a helping hand.

Susan reached Land’s End ahead of schedule. Judging from her pictures, the place was sunny and warm – as it should be: just the right setting for celebrating the completion of an extraordinary journey.

Heinz Payr

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