In the arcane language of British cycling, and possibly amongst normal Brits as well, a trip and more particularly a record attempt from Land's End to John O'Groats, which aren't quite the furthest north and south you can get on the British mainland (that would be the Lizard to Dunnet Head) but are sort of traditional starting and finishing points, anyway. Record attempts almost universally run south to north to take advantage of the prevailing winds.

The shortest (840 mile) cycling route taken by record breakers and other masochists who like riding on dull main roads (current version - new roads and bridges have changed it considerably since the first records were set) is broadly as follows:

The even more masochistically inclined occasionally then add on another 160 miles of riding in and around Caithness in order to attempt the 1000 mile record.

Current records:

These records for conventional cycles (i.e. no recumbents, no fairings) have been controlled and ratified by the Road Records Association since the late 19th century; early attempts were paced by teams of riders, but since the era of the safety bicycle they have been run alone and unpaced. The first record was set by G.P. Mills in 1886 on a High Ordinary, who completed the then 900 mile route in five days, one hour and 45 minutes.

  • Bicycle, Women: Lynne Taylor (1-3 October 2002) 2 days, 4:45:11
  • Bicycle, Men: Gethin Butler (27-29 September 2001) 1 day, 20:04:19
  • Tricycle, Men: Ralph Dadswell (1992) 2 days, 5:29:00
  • Tandem bicycle, men: P.M. Swinden & W.J. Withers (1966) 2 days 2:14:25
  • Tandem bicycle, mixed: Andy Wilkinson & Lynne Taylor (2000) 2 days, 3:19:23
  • Tandem tricycle, men: Albert Crimes & John Arnold (1954) 2 days 4:26

The 1954 tandem trike record was a hell of a good ride - at the time the fastest on any form of machine and, although it is admittedly not likely to attract many takers, has withstood several more recent attempts. Standard times have been set for the women's tandem records, but nobody has ever attempted them. Since the last successful attempt, Taylor's ride in 2002, unsuccessful attempts have been made on the men's tandem trike record (Dadswell and Dave Johnson in 2007) and the mixed tandem (Olympic medallists James Cracknell and Rebecca Romero in 2009).

Andy Wilkinson has also set a record on a recumbent trike of 1 day, 17:04:22 under otherwise similar conditions to those applied by the RRA.

In the parlance of graffiti writers, an end to end is a piece which covers an entire train car from one end to the other. This was first accomplished in the NYC subway system in the '70s, and is currently popular in the North American freight scene, as well as Europe's many commuter trains. Boxcars, hoppers and the odd holy roller are often used for end to end pieces, since they provide a relatively unbroken canvas along their entire length.

An end to end car may take many hours to complete, and any combination of paint rollers or spray paint can be used. The completion of these gigantic pieces (up to 70 feet long) is an indication of superior skill and dedication to the craft. Different varieties of end to end include top to bottom (in which case you actually have a whole car, no mean feat), and window-down (on passenger cars, which often have their windows buffed). Alternatively, a car lined end to end with pieces by several different writers in collaboration may also fall under this title.

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