As an alternative to following my new ‘Safer Way’ route from Land’s End to John O’Groats how about a completely car and lorry free route?
If you invest in the new Schiller X1 ( $6,495, or about £4,000) you could make the entire ride traffic free: you can go by sea!
Pedal-powered watercraft are nothing new but with a cruising speed of about 9mph, this Schiller X1 is quite nippy. My average speed on a number of sections on my last two cycles across the country was only 10mph.
The Schiller X1 uses twin oscillating propellors so there’s no need for a rudder, and has a Gates Carbon drive belt to avoid the obvious problems of running a chain in wet conditions. It can even go in reverse.
Company founder Judah Schiller says the X1 can be assembled and dismantled in ten minutes and packs down small enough to fit in the boot of a car, though being he’s from Marin County, California, he may be thinking of the trunk of a Lincoln Continental and not the boot of a Smart car.
Here it is in action:
