The Final Push

After 14 days cycling the end was finally in sight. Everyone was expecting this last day to be a bit of a doddle. Only around 60 miles of cycling plus the excitement of finishing. Nobody had counted on the strong headwinds or the steep hill to start the day. This was proving to be a very difficult day.
To our left we passed Dounreay. This is now being decommissioned, but it is going to take several years to finish. Apparently they haven't yet decided whether to get rid of the ball shaped fast breeder reactor. The whole place appears to be a massive failed experiment. This is quite an interesting read http://tinyurl.com/dounreay

Most of us stopped in Thurso for lunch and we were quite lucky because there was a big downpour, only the second time I had seen rain during the day during the 2 week trip. As we left Thurso, the sun was coming out and the wind had dropped and we then had less than 20 miles to go in quite nice conditions.

Everyone faced challenges in completing the trip. Pictured here is Ruth who rode a Brompton folding bike. She impressed everyone with her cheery attitude and determination. It is believed she is the first female to complete Lejog on a Brompton. Riding with Ruth are Steve and Jo from Bedfordshire.

This is me (sporting my new Tesco helmet) riding with Welsh Mike. We are smiling because we are nearly there.

We took a detour to go and see the most Northerly point in the UK mainland, Dunnet Head. Pictured (l to r) are Stu, Mike, Alan, Phil and myself. The weather had really improved and our spirits were soaring.

A few more miles and we had finally arived. After all the training and 15 days of continuous cycling it was all over. I had clocked up 1,072 miles and climbed more than the height of Everest. It was a great trip. Bike Adventures http://www.bikeadventures.co.uk/ had done us proud, with the most fantastic routes, food and support and it was a real pleasure to meet so many nice people along the way.

I have raised around £4,000 for my two chosen charities of Help for Heroes and Ellenor Lions Hospice. Thanks to all those generous people who have sponsored me.

Will I do it again? Not sure, but my son Scott has expressed an interest in doing it with me, so you never know.

Leaping Uphill

Today I started late as I had to go and buy another cycle helmet. Fortunately there was a Tesco Superstore in Dingwall and for the princley sum of £8.99 I was back on the road. The road of course was uphill, but the payback were the great views. This is looking over the Dornoch Firth towards Bonar Bridge.

I haven't seen one of these for a long time. Apparently there are only 20 or so left in the country. http://www.breakdowncover.org/aa/aa-call-boxes

We had been recommended to stop at Shin Falls, because of the homemade Bannoffee pie, which was delicious. This tourist attraction is owned by the Phoney Pharaoh himself. I was so lucky to be able to get my photo taken with him!

Despite the tackiness of the statue it is actually a really nice place and it was a real treat to see salmon leaping up the falls. I was quite chuffed to have managed to catch a picture of one.


After leaving Shin we had a long ride over some very desolate moorland. With 975 miles on the clock I had my first puncture, but I was very fortunate that the support van came along just as I was removing my rear wheel. I am pictured here with Geoff, who then answered his phone and left Tony the picture taker to help me (thanks Tony). After a few minutes I was back on the road only to get another puncture about 6 miles later. After my fall yesterday I figured that this third incident was my last bit of bad luck

After stopping briefly at the Crask Inn, which must be one of the most remote pubs in the UK, I realised that I was due to complete 1,000 miles. Dave, one of my fellow riders had ridden with me for the last few miles so he could take this picture as I crossed the line

Our final destination for the day was Bettyhill on the North Scottish coast. You can see the lovely sandy beach on the left. You can also also see that the sun was coming out as we rode into the campsite.

Almost there.

I am now 50 miles away from John O Groats and we should finish at lunchtime tomorrow. I will post some pictures and stories of the last two days when I get home. Thanks for your support.

Saved by the Bell

Today's ride from Fort William was 80 miles long and included one of the worst 3 climbs of the whole trip.

Shortly after starting the ride we ended up on a forest track. Fantastic scenery.

The only disadvantage was the attack of the midges if you stopped in the wrong place. I stopped to help Nigel and Simon http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331412446821&ref=ts fix a puncture. Fortunately I had put some Avon Skin So Soft on beforehand so wasn't too affected. However Simon was on the verge of madness. You can read more about midges and this product here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/outdoors/articles/midge/

Later on we moved onto a section of Canal Path. I was going very slowly and my wheel go caught in a rut. I couldn't get off my bike quickly enough and fell off. I cut my leg, but not too badly, but I also fell backwards onto my head. I dread to think what would have happened if I hadn't been wearing my helmet. ( made by Bell)

No lasting damage done, although I will need a new helmet. Decide for yourself if it is worth wearing one.

The sun came out as we finished the ride. I loved this shot of a lone angler.

Only 2 days left to do.

The search for the Holy Grail

Luxury, we got to sleep in a bed for the first time in 10 days at Inverary Youth Hostel. This was also a a good opportunity to get away from the midges that had come out in force.

We also had a porridge for breakfast. Perfect fuel for the 7 mile climb out of Inverary. Although we started in light rain, it soon dried up, although the sun didn't come ou.

The greatest thing about today's ride was that finally we had the wind behind us all the way. Everyone was making record time. One couple, Antony and Jo left Inverary at 6.30am and arrived around noon. They just wanted to make sure they were in time for the England game.

There was some spectacular scenery today as always. This is the Pap of Glencoe. A proper mountain, the sort a kid would draw

with some fast downhill stretches. I broke my speed record topping 41 mph. It might seem slow in a car, but it is scary fast on a bike. Someone has even managed 47mph.

As always there was refreshment along the way. This is Phil the Younger, (There are two other Phils. American Phil, who is from the USA, and Mansion Tent Phil, on account of him having a tent 6 times larger than anyone else's.

Some great castles to see as well. This is Castle Stalker that famously featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail as Castle Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh. Where the immortal lines of ""Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" were uttered.
I got back to the campsite, showered and changed, then jumped in a cab to watch the second half of the England Game. We even got to have a curry after. A perfect end to the day.

It's a long long way to Inverary

I decided that I needed to get up early today and miss the healthy organic muesli based breakfast. We were in Glasgow the cultural capital of fried food and I wasn't going to miss out.
Surprisingly the ride along the Glasgow cycle way was really nice, following the River Clyde. It was nice to see that shipbuilding has not entirely died out on the Clyde. This is HMS Duncan which is being built by BAE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Duncan_(D37)


I spotted a likely spot for breakfast from the Cycle Path and what a breakfast it was. Sat opposite me was Betty who has lived in a tenement building opposite all her life (82 years). She was having a bacon roll for breakfast and assured me that my breakfast was the best in Glasgow.

Powered on by such magnificent food I was soon on the Bonny banks of Loch Lomond. The view is just as good as billed.

After another 20 miles I needed some more sustenance. Quite pleased to get a picture with the Scottish Flag.

I had teamed up with Nigel and Simon today. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331412446821&ref=ts Nigel was also in the REME, the part of the Army that keeps all the equipment working. It was nice to swap some war stories.

They ride really hard all day. Here they are charging up the Rest and Be Thankful Pass, with the Cobbler ( a famous mountain) in the background.

I didn't get a photo of Inverary, but it is a delightful town. I am writing this from the George Hotel which has a magnficent Whisky collection. Not sure how tomorrow's ride is going to be. Although just for once we are sleeping in beds as there are no campsites anywhere near.

We spoke too soon

Today was going to be our first full day in Scotland and yet again the weather was fantastic. When in Rome.....or to be precise Moffat, you have to have a local delicacy, so after 20 miles or so I had a short break and a Scotch Pie. It was fantastic.
Shortly after leaving Moffat, I was riding with Stuart ( the tall one) and Welsh Mike, when we noticed that Mikes wheel was looking very buckled. We pulled over to investigate and it was in a very bad way, with 5 spokes not even attached to the wheel. Whilst waiting for help to arrive, a very very kind lady bought us out a cup of tea along with penguin biscuites and kit kats. (you can see the tray on the right of the photo. Fortunately Stuart and I were able to get the wheel fixed to a reasonable level and when the support van arrived a bit of further tweaking from Kevin, and we were able to get going again.

We then had a seven mile climb up the A701 towards Edinburgh. Here I am pictured at the top. The fantastic reward for this, was a 14 mile downhill stretch!

As we got nearer to Glasgow I was astounded at the number of wind turbines. Quite a majestic sight, but possibly a little annoying if you live next door to them.
We got a little bit lost near Dumbarton and ended up riding on the M74, for a short while. Not only illegal but very dangerous, so we had to climb over the fence.


Finally we reached our destination of Strathclyde country park. Despite being very close to the centre of Glasgow it was very pleasant. Although we didn't leave the bikes unattended!

Trampolining Dogs and killer birds

Today was a 73 mile ride and finally we were going to be entering Scotland. Yet another sunny day and the forecast for the next few days is equally good, hard to believe my luck really.
First stop was Appleby in Westmoreland. As we crossed the bridge some local lads were fishing and there was a lot of commotion as they had hooked one. The trout was dispatched very swiftly and was clearly going to make a very nice meal.

A lovely trout

At one point we had to go on a cycle path along an old railway which went past a scrap metal dealers. I spotted a Bedford truck, which caught my eye as I used to drive one in my Army days. What was more interesting were the rocket parts which were lying next to it.

Scrap metal

As we passed a churchyard in I spotted a military grave. So stopped to take a look. This was a reminder of part of the reason I was doing this trip. It would be interesting to know the story behind this as he died in 1919, after the Great War.

Private Irvine.

The route we are following uses very quiet lanes, so the road into Scotland didn’t even have a proper side. Fortunately one had been erected by Bike Adventures.



Trampolining Dogs and killer birds

Of course you were wondering what the title of this entry was all about. Well I have no idea but the News and Star certainly has the most interesting headlines.

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/

Into the wind

One of the shortest days today, only 55 miles. However the compensation for this was the 6,800 feet of climb (more than the combined height of Snowdon and Scafell Pike) made even worse by the incredibly high winds that we were cycling into all day.

The route was lovely up over the Forest of Bowland and into the North Yorks Moors. It would have been even nicer to drive it in this Ferrari, which I spotted in Clitheroe
Ferrari

This was a typical downhill section, although at times it felt like you were going uphill because of the wind.
Downhill all the way

Here I am entering North Yorkshire, with Ingleborough, one of the highest hills in Yorkshire in the background.


The scenery was stunning

After lunch in the beautiful village of Dent, we then climbed up to Dent Station, the highest railway station in the UK at over 1100 feet. The road was one of the steepest we had climbed, made worse as it had just been resurfaced with loose stone. Several riders reported having to walk this bit, but I managed to ride it. I saw an old guy at the top and he asked me if I had ridden all the way, when I said yes, he said “you want your head walloping”

Dent Station

We then descended into Cumbria and had an easier ride into the campsite. The sheep are braver in Cumbria and this one decided to face off with me.

A Brave Sheep

Some other blogs
A number of other people on the ride are also competing blogs. Some even have fancy GPS tracking to show exactly where they are

Richie’s GPS tracker
http://tiny.cc/y92u3

Simon and Nigel’s facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331412446821&ref=ts

Alan and Jenny’s blog
http://alan-jenny-lejog2010.blogspot.com

Mad for It

Today we had to cycle from Cheshire all the way past Manchester and into Lancashire proper. I really felt like I was in the North now. Accents had changed and so had the weather and we also had our first rain.



Every morning we have a great breakfast at the campsite, but you sometimes you can need more than muesli, fruit and toast. So today I decided I needed to have a real breakfast. I left the campsite an hour earlier than normal and pushed along as fast I could in search of a 'full english'


I was starting to run out of puff when finally I found Willowpool garden centre www.willowpool.co.uk/ Great service and just what I needed. This was also where I spotted the ancient bike mentioned in my previous post.

A great breakfast

Shortly after I thought I was hallucinating when I saw these enormous sheep. Turned out they were llamas.

The next challenge was getting through the Greater Manchester area.

I bravely left my bike unlocked whilst taking this picture as we went through Wigan.

We had about 15 miles of urban riding, lots of traffic and annoyed drivers. The great news was finally we left this behind and ended up in Rivington, where we stopped in the tea rooms. This was like something out of Heartbeat. http://rivingtontearooms.co.uk/

Tonight was the England match against Algeria. I suspect this decoration may get taken down soon. But it was nice to see so many houses decorated.

Shortly after this I had an opportunity to try and break the law. A lovely swooping downhill section in a 30 mph area. I think I went through at 32, but the camera didn't flash.

Tea at the campsite is always served at 4pm, so I raced the last 10 miles to try and get there on time and I just made it and even did a skid stop in front of all the others who had got there before me and were already drinking tea.

Tonight's campsite was on the outside of Clitheroe. Most other people had been trying to get there early so they could go out an watch England play. I decided to do an extra 10 miles to find a McDonalds with free wifi. It was nice to ride on completely empty roads for once. As I later found out, I was probably the only person in England not watching an very boring game. Result!!

Avoiding Saddle Sores

Lots of people said to me before I set off make sure you get a nice soft saddle. As it turns out this is poor advice. Luckily my new bike cames with a Brooks Saddle, which is as hard as a rock! http://www.brookssaddles.com/ This has proven to be the most comfortable saddle I have ever had. Some experienced cyclists say that you have to do at least 500 miles before it is worn in, but I have found mine to be comfortable from the beginning. It has now nicely moulded itself to fit by backside perfectly. Not bad for something that was invented in 1866.

A bit different to this saddle which is probably over 80 years old, which I saw on an old bike made in Ashford, Kent. This was in a Garden Centre in Cheshire, where I stopped for Brekkie

A little bit of history of Norman Bikes here www.normancycles.co.uk

LeJoG meets Jogle

Billed as an easier day, today we were travelling through Shropshire and into Cheshire. Very soon we started to see hundreds of cyclists going in the opposite directions. Turns out these were from the Deloitte Ride across Britains, http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/ and they are riding from John O Groats to Land's End (JOGLE). It certainly didn't look as much fun as our trip. I couldn't see any of these guys stopping for cakes and sampling beers and ciders from across the country!

I also passed through Tiverton, whose more famous namesake we went through about 250 miles before.

This was a nice fast ride and despite stopping at a cafe in Malpas with the worst service in the world I still got back to the campsite at Acton Bridge before 4pm. As we shared afternoon tea we all swapped stories of how long we had waited for the simplest of food orders.

One of the nicest things about Bike Adventures http://www.bikeadventures.co.uk/ is the afternoon tea and cakes when we finish. The cakes are homebaked by manager Kevin's mum.

The campsite was a bit crowded, fortunately there were no children on the site wanting to use the slide.