ICELAND 2000 - Crossing of the Sprengisandur route

Iceland. My route is marked on faintly in orange. (double click on the map to enlarge)

Wild camping the whole way




Gullfoss, largest waterfall in Europe.


Sprengisander - road across the interior of Iceland

Godalfoss waterfall

This is a good indication of the fine weather and the road conditions.

Iceland was a long standing dream dating back about 15 years. My trip was over three weeks, straddling July and August, in the year 2000. I took a flight from Glasgow with Icelandair. I shared the flight with some Icelandic golf fans who had been over to watch the Open in Scotland.

There are not many people about in Iceland and sometimes I felt quite wretched with loneliness. But now, in reflection, it was a classic journey of which I am proud. I am steeled for such things now.

The best part was the crossing of the Sprengisandur road which crosses the centre of Iceland, through a glacial desert. I had to carry enough food to keep me going for upto six days. On the road there was a major river crossing. I had some old trainers with me to use in the rivers, so I could keep my normal trainers dry. The torrent was knee deep and strong flowing.

Amazingly for Iceland the weather was ideal for nearly all the trip. I only experienced a heavy drenching on the ride to the airport for my return flight.

The tent I used was a Dale Trekker Sombrero. I bought the tent in about 1980 for £30 and used it for over 20 years before the flysheet finally perished in 2004 on a trip to Kiev. For most of the time I just used the fly and a sheet of polthene on the ground to save weight. Fancy expensive tents are not necessary.

'Ourtown' magazine - what to expect

'Ourtown' is a relatively new local based free monthly magazine about Northwich life. Above is the front cover of the magazine with a couple of examples of the kind of stories used. It is planned that my cycle touring biographical article will be featured in July's issue and then my Lawrence article will appear in the August issue. (double click on the articles to enlarge for reading).

Scotland cycle tour photos - June 1987

This was my first visit to Scotland, at the grand age of 25. It was my third cycle tour of any significance, coming after my London ride and a Lakeland tour. I took the train to Glasgow then cycled to Inverary and onto Oban. I took the ferry to Mull and visited the fabled village of Tobermory, made famous by the Wombles childrens TV programme. I then rode the ferry from Tobermory back to the mainland to the tiny settlement of Kilchoan. Truely beautiful and heavenly in the fine weather. Skye was the objective. I also visited Raasay island before making my way back south to eventually pick up the train at Carlisle. I cycled about 500 miles in total. Above is a small collection of my photos.

The cycle used is my Dawes Galaxy. The panniers used were Karrimor Iberian rear and Karrimor Universal front. Accomodation SYHA hostels.

London & Manchester road marathons

London marathon 1997

London and Manchester medals

I've only done two road marathons in my time. London in 1997 and Manchester in 1998. London was fantastic and amazing. Participants in London deserve their medal just for getting to the start line. The cheering crowds are a great spur to flagging legs. I completed in six and half hours. I have no interest in times or racing, just the challenge to finish. Manchester marathon was tougher and I took over seven hours to complete. It was so punishing on the feet that I pledged to myself never to do another road marathon. So far I have stuck to that.

Cycling photo shoot at Pickmere -3rd June 2010

I had these photos taken at the request of the editor of 'Ourtown'. One of the photos may appear in July's issue of the magazine. The bike in the first photo is the trusty Dawes Galaxy which is an old friend, and the other four show me with the new Dawes Karakum, still untested on tour.

The Ascent of Mont Blanc - August 1994

Above: The Grand Moulet route and Bosson glacier. If you enlarge this photo you can identify the tiny specks of climbers descending the route and crossing the glacier.

Mont Blanc summit crowds

AW on the summit of Mont Blanc

The ridge to the summit


Dome du Gouter


Couloir crossing

Reaching the Tete Rouse hut

Approaching the climb to the Gouter hut

THE ASCENT OF MONT BLANC – Aug 1994
By Andrew Wright

It was the summer of 1994 when I was in the Alps. At the end of a trip walking the trails in the Chamonix valley, there was some time to go and have a look at the Mont Blanc route. The weather forecast was good. I had been up to the Bosson glacier some days earlier. Looking across the jagged and angular jumble of blue ice ribs I saw the tiny specks of parties descending the Grand Moulet and then inching their way along the far side of the glacier. I had gone onto the edge of the ice and practised hacking with my new and untested ice axe....much to the amusement of the day tourists there, and my own embarrassment.

I am not a serious mountaineer; I always seem to feel like an outsider, an amateur with dreams. Mountaineering was something other people did with like minded friends, climbing partners. I don’t have any. Entering the world of serious mountains and dangerous situations was the fearful void.

Two days later I lived one of the best days of my life when I reached the summit of Mont Blanc and descended the fearsome Grand Moulet and crossed the Bosson glacier, jumping across crevasses, blissfully ignorant of the possibility of the crevasse edges crumbling. On that summit, on that day, those tourists who had laughed at me were not present. I had entered a different world from theirs. The fearful void had been entered and crossed. The summit day was 17 hours long. The whole expedition was three days long.

There was a down side to the triumph though. After the exhausting, chest crushing, snow plod up to the Dome du Gouter, I was at the limit of my physical resources, I was gasping for breath in the thin air. I rested, hunched over my axe trying to gain control of my breathing and find the strength to continue against the urging voice that said it was too much to go on. It was then that I saw the Scotsman whom he had met at the Gouter hut the evening before. The Scotsman offered encouraging words and advice to take deeper breaths to regain control of my breathing and ease the gasping. It was then that the Scotsman said to me “the Matterhorn is only one grade more difficult”. On hearing these words the seed of an ambition was sown into my mind. I would have to go to the Matterhorn, just to look, you understand.

The fearful void only existed because it was the unknown. To enter it is like a leap of faith. This was the case on Mont Blanc when I had taken the first steps up the steep snow banking up from behind the Gouter hut. The Matterhorn is similar. The Matterhorn is a rock mountain with steep falls and places of heart-stopping exposure to the possibility of a horrible and lonely death. It is the quintessential mountain, immortalised in a million postcards and tourist brochures.

Travel to Chamonix was by the Eurolines bus from London Victoria Coach Station. I took my Mountain Technology ice axe (65cms), a 10 m length of rope, a couple of slings and karabiners and I bought Simond articulated crampons in Chamonix. Accomodation was campsites and wild camping. I suffered sever facial sunburn due to the strong snow glare. I set out from the Gouter hut at about 3 am and reached the summit at about 11:30 am.

Le Raid Pyrenean photos - June 2009

I undertook 'Le Raid Pyrenean' cycling challenge in the summer of 2009. I wrote the small article above and it was published in the Cyclist Touring Club magazine Oct/Nov issue 2009. (double click on article to enlarge for reading).

T. E. Lawrence Society

I have been a member of the T. E. Lawrence Society since 2007. The life of 'Lawrence of Arabia' is a fascinating topic for study of a serious or casual nature. There are so many aspects to look into.

I hope to visit once more the Dorset sites associated with the life of Lawrence, when I pass through on my JOG-LE cycle ride in July. Clouds Hill cottage and the grave at Moreton. In September I will be attending the bi-annual T. E. Lawrence Society Symposium at St John's College in Oxford. It is a pleasure to be a member of the Society. The sketch above is the classic portrait by Augustus John. Also see above details about the work of the Society (double click for enlarged view).

Some photos from my Middle East Lawrence trip (March - April 2010):

This photo is a view of the Desert Highway in Jordan.
The Jerusalem skyline, a view from my hotel roof.


Crak des Chevalier Crusader castle in Syria. A view from my tent door.

AW at the Treasury in Petra

My bike on the Phosphate railway, southern Jordan

JOG-LE cycle ride

My next little adventure will be JOG-LE. John O'Groats to Lands End beginning on 14th June 2010. It will be almost a thousand miles of cycling over about 30 days. I will take the train to JOG and then cycle across the top of Scotland before travelling down the west coast visiting Mull and Arran islands. Then on to Dumfries and Galloway before taking the Stranraer ferry to Larne in Northern Ireland. I will return to the mainland on the Belfast to Birkenhead ferry before continuing south via Shropshire, Oxfordshire and Dorset.

I will be doing the trip in the hope of raising some donations to the Mid Cheshire College charity 'African Support & Assistance Project'. This project aims to build and equip a new school in Lesotho in southern Africa. See leaflet adjacent (double click to enlarge for reading. My fund raising webpage is: www.justgiving.com/JOG-LE-cycling-exped

Hundred certificate

This is my prize for taking part in the 100. I am officially certified.

Heart of Scotland 100 result

Got back from Scotland 100 exped yesteday evening, Monday 31st May 2010. The result was that I retired at the 76 mile checkpoint after 34 and 3/4 hours of walking. I feel it was my best effort. At 76 miles I was very tired and my feet were sore, blistered and throbbing. I reached the checkpoint with only 10 minutes remaining before it closed. Not enough time to feed properly and recover for the next leg.

The countryside was spendid. The most memorable section was an eight mile leg which involved 2,200 ft of ascent and a yomp over rough moor land, with thick heather and marshy bogs, to reach a small bothy where there was a checkpoint with water and Mars bars.

I saw again Alan Stewart (right on photo), whom I met last year on the Wessex 100. Alan went on to finish again this time.

Next year the event will be called the Houseman 100 and will take place in the county of Shropshire. Just an hour or two down the road from me. After doing over 50 miles in Scotland I am now qualified (or certified) to enter Shropshire event.