Day 12 - End to End - Done & dusted!

What can I say - in a whirlwind 12 days Alan, Steve & I have cycled the whole length of the British Isles.... I can't quite believe it but there it is 963 miles done & dusted!

1st pit stop today o/s another pub - we didn't actually go in this time!

We were promised fine weather for our last day by the BBC but as usual that was rubbish! The cloud was so low that as we headed up the very large hill out of Wadebridge we were actually in the clouds & all the cars had headlights on..... the A39 was pretty busy and one local lorry got pretty close to me, not very nice being buffeted by an artic in the wind & wet on a dual carriageway. Obviously a lorry driver who's not keen on cyclists because as it was a dual carriageway there was no excuse for getting so close. Choice words and gesticulations followed him on his way. We pounded on, with only a planned 56 miles we were expecting quite an easy ride but the poor weather, busy roads and Cornish hills soon had us re-thinking that one!

As we got to the top of one hill about 20-30 people in the lay-by started clapping and cheering us on - as King of the Hills I got there first and it was a great feeling to be cheered on, Tour De France style! Turned out they were a another group of End to Enders who were supporting Kidney Cancer charities as one of them had been diagnosed last year & had a kidney removed. He & his friends had decided on the challenge that ended a year after his diagnosis. Hats off to him & his 6 friends who completed the challenge in 10 days!

Some of the small roads were as challenging as the main roads, traffic had to keep stopping for us and round the bottom of one hill Steve was leading.... luckily we weren't going too fast because a rather large grey mare was in the middle of the road. Steve & his bike suprised her a bit and she reared up, we thought Steve was a goner but the lady rider brought the horse back under control and we cycled on!

We met up with a friend of Dads, Duncan, in Hayle for a chat & a Cornish pastie and we were soon off again - 25 miles left to Lands End. My gears were still giving me problems so on all the hills I just had to keep the momentum up some how and grind on through. Lots of standing up in the saddle & some strain on the thighs but I certainly got to the tops quick! On reaching Penzance there were a few diversions as a big festival was in full swing..... all the pubs were packed with revellers in pirate costume and the pubs were certainly enticing - fumes of hog roast & burgers filled the air but we only had one thing on our mind - the finish line.

Unfortunately, before Lands End were some massive (at this point they seemed massive anyway) hills out of Penzance and I was not looking forward to them given my gear situation. I tried to change down to the bottom cog but nothing happened.... I stood up in the saddle resigned to a long hard climb & suddenly the chain shifted down. A nice bit of luck as they were hard hills & I think I would have had to stop & change down manually at some point!

We rolled into Lands End fast with our supporters out front taking pics - Pete Long had travelled down from Bodmin to cheer us in & took some great shots - Thanks Pete!

We went straight past Sandra, Sarah, Jamie, Emma & Pete.... at speed through the columns ahead, we weren't stopping until we'd seen the sign at the end of road! When we got to the end we finally met up with the Plymouth lads! They had started half an hour before us 12 days ago and finished half an hour before us so we there to cheer us at the end!

Jamie showered us with Champagne Formula 1 style and we even managed to drink some of it. We were elated and still right now I can't believe we did it. It was a fantastic experience, something I'll remember & look back on with an enormous sense of pride.

Thanks for all of your messages of support. We all appreciated every one of them. Thanks to Alan for roping me in, thanks to teve for cycling his little legs off, thanks to Sandra for being the best support driver, thanks to ruby for being the best behaved dog to do Jogle!

Stats for the day - 57 miles, top speed 31mph, average speed 12.8mph - very hilly day again but great to roll into Lands End. End to End - done & dusted - who knows what will come next...............

Day 11 - The End in Sight (almost)!

The Three Cycleteers....... Lots of Devonshire Ale & cider consumed at The Lamb, Sandford. Great little 16th Century pub in the middle of nowhere but fine ale, food & ambiance........................ ah the ambiance! We were very happy at this point and went to bed shortly after 10.30 .... I remember hearing the noises from the bar below for about 30 seconds before falling into the deepest sleep!

Day 11 started brightly.... Steve Kings influence in the copious drinking stakes notwithstanding we were about to make it out onto the road by nine when Sarah Ferg & the clan arrived!

Alan & Steve racing past as Emma takes a few photos!

Looking a little fresher we set off down narrow Devonshire country roads, apart from the rare car & more common road kill there was nothing to impede our journey. The road surfaces were excellent and the countryside beautiful. Devon is definitely up hill & down dale but we soldiered on.... today was only 65 miles - easy stuff for us. The long days in the middle are now paying a dividend as we're having shorter days & more time to recover (drink beer)!

We had seven clinbs today & the first few weren't too bad but just outside Launceston we hit St. Stephens Hill. What a nasty piece of work that one was, not overly long but very steep and busy with traffic coming out of the town. The cars were having enough problems getting up it, let alone us. We all made it up though and by now we were looking for a place to stop for lunch. We found the Wilsey Inn at Hollsworthy and thanks to Sandra & Sarah pre-ordering we were in time to eat!

After that it was 15 miles, mostly downhill into Wadebridge. The only issue was the weather, a cold front had come in & the rain had started, undetered we got into Wadebridge about 4.30pm. A good friend & colleague Pete Long & his wife Jan arrived shortly after to toast our ride, hence the blog not going out until now.

Stats for the day, 4hrs 50 mins in the saddle, 64 miles, top speed 37mph, average speed 13mph, again, not bad considering the hills. Thanks to Steve King for his company...... one more day to go! JOGLE on!

Day 10 - Axbridge to Crediton - Into Devon at last!

Ready for the off - Day 10

Day 10 we were four again with Steve King, another friend of Alans. He joined us yesterday and will ride down as far as Wadebridge with us. Today started off quite bright with a forecast of sunshine & showers as we headed off down the A38 towards Tiverton. The first 20 odd miles were flat over the Somerset Levels and a bit uninspiring with overcast skies and a head wind. Our average over those miles was kicking on 15mph but we did slow down a little later on as we hit the Devonshire hills.

After lunch of Burger King & Costa Coffee we got onto some smaller, nicer roads still towards Tiverton & Credition. Unfortunately as it was getting hilly I had a gear malfunction.... my front shifter failed after a dodgy gear change & I was stuck on the hardest 9 of 18 gears. Luckily we were only 5 miles short of Tiverton where I hoped we'd find a bike shop to help me out. We did and after a bit of a play about the gears were fixed, albeit temporarily. They also found I had a slight wobble on the rear wheel so straightened that up for me.

Off we went again, gears working well - we were now in the heart of Devon, the red soil of Devon on the roads, cycling down very small country lanes & through picturesque thatched villages and some very tempting pubs. We didn't stop though because our destination was The Lamb at Sandford near Crediton and we were only 15 miles off!

As we arrived at Sandford my shifter failed again...... looks like it has a weakness now and might continue to fail if the gear changes aren't smooth - could cause some problems over the Devon & Cornwall hills! One good point of this afternoon was that we managed to dodge all the showers that were about. It seemed it chucked it down ahead and to our sides but never down on us! Someone was smiling on us from that point of view. Anyway, the gear changes are tomorrows problem and I will very soon be in the snug with a bevvie!

Stats for the day..... 67 miles, at an average of 14mph, time in the saddle just under 5 hours. Pretty easy day in cycling terms. Tomorrow is another 65 miler but many more hills and looks like it might be a bit wet on the forecast. The last day we have another hilly day but at only 56 miles we aren't too worried! At over 830 miles in the bag, the real hard work is done - time to enjoy now!

Day 9 - Hereford to Axbridge - Crossing the Rubicon!

Great night at the B&B at Lugwardine & another very nice breakfast set us up for the ride today. Unfortunately alans map told us we had hills from the off, today was our Alpine day - 8 hills worthy of a category - bloody hilly basically!

B&B - The Steppes, Lugwardine, Hereford

Todays stats........ Only 76 miles....... average speed 12.5mph......... hours in the saddle 6hrs ....... top speed 41.4mph! What does that tell you? There were a lot of long slow uphills and a few very quick downhills! It was fantastic scenery through the Herefordshire hills and the Wye Valley, we stopped for a short while in Monmouth and then headed on towards Chepstow via Tintern. The hill between Tintern & Chepstow was one of the longest & hardest but there were plenty more to come!

Soon after we'd started we found a beautiful field full of poppies, we stopped to take some photos & then started downhill....... a few minutes later I realised my sunglasses were not on my face.... I'd dropped them in the poppy field at the top of the hill. I was so annoyed I got back up the hill on anger and adrenelin & retrieved them. Not happy! Bristol didn't disappoint, lots more hills

Where are my sunglasses!

My sunglasses incident was soon overtaken by Steves. As we finished our lunch in Chepstow Alan looked on the floor & saw a sunglasses lens..... "Anyone lost a sunglasses lens?" We looked at Steve and he was wearing his sunglasses with one lens in & one out..... instead of just saying "me!" he put his finger up to his sunglasses and nearly poked his eye out! Should have gone to Specsavers!!!
After Chepstow we crossed over the old Severn Bridge and on to Bristol . We crossed the Clifton suspension Bridge which was an experience in itself. We then met up with Steve King, another mate of Alans who will be joining us for the next two days ride. After another up & down 15 miles we arrived in Axbridge, a lovely Georgian village & our pub for the night, The Oak House & very nice it is too!

Day 8 - Nantwich to Hereford

Its a beautiful evening here in Lugwardine, Herefordshire - we made it in about 6.30pm, a long day down through Shropshire & Herefordshire. Total of 87 miles but only an average speed of 13.2mph. The reason for that was down to the small roads we took, the big hills in the way, a nasty head wind for most of the day and I guess the cumulative effect of a week on the road.

We headed out from the Crown Hotel, Nantwich at 9.15am and set off down our course. We got greeted by Diversion signs & a closed road but decided to plough on regardless.... luckily we made it, even the ripped up road was better than the track Steve sent us down in Scotland!!

I arranged to meet my brother Guy en-route & we stopped off at Shawbury to see him. There were a lot of helicopters going round & round in circles around there & I thought another nutter with a gun might be on the loose. Thankfully Guy let us know it was just the helicopter training school at RAF Shawbury where both Wills & harry learnt to fly!

Some of the small roads we took we extremely narrow & the uphills were severe, it took its toll on my companions, they were relieved at the top of one climb but little did they know there were another four or five to come!

Today we had our first puncture, Alans rear tyre went....... took us a while to fix it hence the long time it took us to get to Lugwardine..... It had to happen at some point but we got back on the road and headed off to Ludlow, a very nice town. We stopped for a little coffee in Ludlow & frankly we almost fell asleep in the sun! Unfortunately we still had 25 miles to go!

Practically asleep in the sun but 25 miles still to go!

Day 7 - Engerland!

So far we have conquered a wet & windy Scotland, gone over the pass at Shap - just a small Lake District climb and now completed three consecutive 90 mile days. What does that tell you? We are knackered.

Last night we had a great meal at The Longlands Hotel, probably drank a little too much as we had a guest with us but still were up at breakfast at 7.30am on the dot. Chris (Roota) had decided to carry on with us until Preston. He runs a care home there & supplied us with tea & bacon butties to help us on our way............ Thanks Roota, you played a blinder!

Todays stats are 95 miles completed at an average speed of 15mph (our fastest yet), 6.30ish in the saddle, no idea of height climb as Steves Garmin is rubbish & he can't access the internet tonight for some reason - technophobe!

The truth of the matter is that its gone 10pm, and we have now travelled over 600 of the 960 miles. I think, my maths is terrible after a few red wines and 95 miles! Our next real milestone will be crossing into Wales, day after tomorrow & the over the Severn Bridge the next day....... one mile at a time we are getting there. Another shout out to The Longlands Hotel because they too donated to our charities as did Chris. I think all our targets have been met but eveyones help, support & generosity has been amazing!

No complaints about the weather today but one unforseen consequence was how dirty we got! We put sun cream on before departure - sensible right? Only every bit of dirt, oil & general crap from the roads stuck to us like glue. Will take a photo next time it happens - gross - two baths sorted it. Hi to Steves familt, Sally, Penny & Alex who came to dinner tonight - great to see you!

Take care all - a sore & tired Marky signing off. Tomorrow takes us down by Hereford - cider country begins - happy days!   

Day 6 - Biggest Day Yet!

Firstly I have to give a big shout out to Una at our B&B in Largs - she sorted out our wet clothes, great hospitality, great breakfast and also donated to our charities. Her hubby Sandy even gave us tips on the route. 16 Charles Street, Largs, great B&B for any End to Enders!

Last night we stayed at the Auldgirth Inn, just north of Dumfries. It was a santuary for monks travelling between Abbeys and you can see the religious connection today from the shape of the windows & the cross on the chimney stack. They said it was haunted but no ghost was gonna wake me last night!

After breakfast we headed out in the drizzle, yep Scotland was 3 dry days & 3 wet starts! We put a big start in down the A75, luckily as it was a Sunday morning the road was quiet, smooth & fast. By the time we rolled into Carlisle we had covered 41 miles at an avaerage of 15.7mph - not bad eh!

In Carlisle we met Chris & Mandy who made us a great brunch. We were then joined by some of Als mates, Chris from the brunch fame, Andy & Simon for the next part of the ride as far as Penrith. Chris stayed on for the next 40 miles & the other lads headed back, it was great to have some extra company - pace makers....!

We still had 40 miles to go though and part of that was to cross the pass at Shap. Not having been on the route before I thought, as we sailed through Shap village, that the hill they'd all been talking about wasn't too bad. Little did I know we still had 5 miles of climb to go with numerous false tops. I wouldn't like to brag but I WAS KING OF THE MOUNTAIN!!!! I did wait for the others at the top...

Today was a great day, a big day - I won't even mention the weather - who cares, we did 102 miles at an average speed of 14.6, Shap alone is 1400Ft above sea level and we ended up it a village called Tewitsfield in Lancashire that served great food & copious amounts of ale & wine. Happy days, signing off, half way through the End to End. Thanks again to all.....................

Day 5 - Largs to Auldgirth

Great day today folks, Day 5, but first morning I've woken up & thought, "Do I really have to get back on that bike again today." I guess it was because yesterday was so wet but you know, we got on the bikes this morning and off we went, no problems. We headed down the west coast towards Troon & Ayr and stayed on the A78 for about 20 miles. The road was mostly dual carriageway but at one point we thought we were on a motorway when it went to 3 lanes. Luckily it was early Saturday morning so the traffic was quite light.The surface was good though so that equalled good speed!

The rain held off until just after our first pit-stop at 33 miles to the south of Ayr. We got there at an average speed of 15.2mph - fast roads, faster average! Sandra fed us with bananas, energy bars & plenty of Lucozade Sports and we were on our way quite quickly trying to dodge the heavy rain showers. We cycled through drizzle until we hit some bad roads & rain together in a God awful town called Dalmellington at the bottom of a long climb........ Once at the top the rain started teeming down but we knew we were only 5 miles from lunch when Sandra came back towards us, took our orders & headed back to place them. We arrived at The Carrick, about 52 miles into the day. The Carick is little Post Office/shop cum Cafe at Carsphairn, a small village in the middle of the Forest of Galloway. The food was great, just what the doctor ordered & the Cafe boasted a signed photo of the Hairy Bikers who had visited. Just as we were leaving, guess who turned up...... the boys from Plymouth. You can follow their story at http://www.ukendtoend.co.uk/ great bunch of lads doing it in a great cause so have a quick look!

No pictures today I'm afraid. The scenery would have been stunning at some points but it was a drab grey day whilst it was dry and a drab grey, very wet day when it rained!

Anyway we made it to The Auldgirth Inn by 4pm. The stats for today were 82 miles, 5hrs 30 minutes in the saddle, 3300ft climbed at an average of 14.7mph. As I said a great day all round, could only have been bettered by sunny weather - let's hope we get a few sunny days soon!

Tomorrow is our biggest day, 102 miles via Carlisle, Penrith, Kendall & Carnforth where we end up for the night. Cheers everyone, thanks for all your support.

By the way, I have now changed the settings on this blog so if you'd like to comment you should be able to do it now, no registration or anything!

Day 4 - It's about about the surface........

I'm writing this blog from a nice B&B in Largs on the west coast of Scotland. Today we left Connel and The Oyster Inn after a very hearty breakfast. The sunset last night was amazing & I would recomend the pub/B&B to everyone - top class!

Today we headed south through Inveraray, around Loch Fyne, through the Forest of Argyll to the ferry across the Clyde at Dunoon and then onwards to Largs. Every single mile was wet, without exception. I lie, the first 3 miles were only threatening rain.

Yesterday I said I was enjoying it, feeling fine and "bring it on", well the heavens opened and bring it on became reality. Wind, rain, cold all great descriptions of today, oh & did I mention the hills & the lorries & the rain some more? The only good thing about the rain - it kept the midges in doors, apparently around Loch Fyne they can be a bugger!

The rain came down!

Anyway, back to the title of todays blog.... surfaces......a friend of Alan's told him you can deal with anything but the most important thing is the surface...... well today has taught me that is absolutely true. Even with the rain pouring down, if the tarmac is smooth & new we flew along. As soon as you hit an old pitted bit of road, the speed comes down & you feel every vibration. If all roads were new, chaffing might be a thing of the past. In fact, you look ahead and if you see the road surface change colour it can be heaven or hell, pitted or smooth......

Lorries, rain & pitted roads, my version of hell!

Anyway, todays stats are, 84.25 miles at an average speed of 14.1mph, one change of clothes at lunch, plastics bags of wet clothes at the end, a very clean bike, lots of Ft climbed. I learnt a lesson, I am shallow - who cares whats underneath! Its all about the surface!!!! Tomorrow we head for Dumfries before heading into England on Sunday! Still smiling through it......... take care :)

Day 3 - Highland Lochs & knocks!

Hey, todays stats peeps - 92 & a bit miles (my longest ever ride, again!), 4400Ft climbed, 6hrs 30 minutes in the saddle at an average speed of 13.9mph........... the low speed was mainly due to Steve!

Sailing down Loch Ness

We set off from the Polmailly Hotel, Drumnadrochit, just before 9am and headed down the side of Loch Ness, the road was quite busy with coaches, logging lorries & camper vans (not your VWs either!) but we got a head of speed on - no worries. After that we crossed the Bridge of Oich by the Caledonian Canal & on towards Loch Lochie. The weather had picked up, the sun was shining and the Loch was stunning, unfortunately the road we took wasn't.  In fact, road is not a good description! Alan & I were talked into taking what was described as a forest trail..... "it saves us 5 miles, the CTC web site says its fine...." blah, blah, blah Steve, never again will we go off road unless it is tarmaced!!!!!


 The trail was beautiful, the scenery fantastic but frankly if you don't have a mountain bike - DO NOT USE THIS TRAIL!!!!! How the hell none of us got a puncture I do not know, 10 miles of rock, mud, sand and hardcore, not sure my "ROAD" bike is talking to me after that little episode! We stopped in Fort William, attended our bellies with a spot of lunch & then attended our bikes, cleaning them down, de-greasing (more like de-sanding!) and oiling them back up....... not that I'm bitter!

In the afternoon we sped down the A828, passing the medival Castle Stalker at Portnacroish, you've all seen it in the ads for Bonnie Scotland, over Loch Oscair and down to Connel. Considering it was my longest ever ride I feel pretty good, the chaffing is being kept to a minimum, Sudocreme applied (self) each night, chaff cream in the morning (basically expensive vaseline) and plenty of hard graft gets you through the day. You would not believe how much I am enjoying this challenge - I know it hasn't chucked it down with rain yet but.... so glad I've seen The Highlands & The north of Scotland at just about it's best. nine more days to go, two days until we cross the border, tomorrow night Largs - bring it on!!!!

Stalker Castle







Day 2 - Tender but determined!

So day 1 went well, 84 miles, 6,500Ft climbed, average speed kept down to 11.8mph by that headwind. Time in the saddle 6hrs 50 minutes.......... What would Day 2 bring us after a night in "the cottage"!

Breakfast was first, the landlord, brought us porridge the like of which we never seen before. It was more a soup than a porridge & quite salty, even as a person who likes salt in their porridge. Still, when in Rome..... as we were getting through our full Scottish the lads from Altnaharra sailed by..... they must have been up at the crack of dawn, we were still at the Crask! We didn't see them again until after lunch but see them we did. The weather was ok, just a few spots of rain in the air but much less windy as we headed down towards Lairg & Bona Bridge. We stopped off at Shin Falls between the two for a quick drink, meeting up with Sandra again. After Bona Bridge we turned off the main road to head over The Struie, at 1218 metres, a Catergory 3 hill....... that means quite steep & quite long for the uninitiated!

Steve coming up Struie behind me, Alan in the background! 

After Struie it was up hill & down dale to Dingwall, Sandra had found a nice little place tucked behind the Tescos & Lidl....... Scotch pie, chips & beans! Glad to see the back of Dingwall frankly we headed out towards Beauly and our last final climb. Before that we met the lads again, they are carrying all their gear in panniers so were quite jealous of our light bikes. They were also jealous of our route over Struie, they had missed the turning and carried on adding an extra 12kms to their route. Steve then had a slight issue with an old woman who nearly wiped him out.... Steve was leading and a car just pulled out right in front of him, he fortunately came to a halt without crashing into her but gave her boot a bit of a slam with his arm.... Road rage Numero Uno. After that he sped off for a couple of miles, was it to get away from the cops!

Sandra & I atop of Struie!

We finally arrived at the Polmaily hotel just after four in the afternoon. We had survived another day, 73 miles, 5000ft climbed, an average speed of 13.8mph and 5hrs 30 minutes in the saddle.

Day 1 - Full steam ahead!

Well, sorry there was no blog yesterday but where we stayed was the dead centre of Scotland...... especially when it came to internet access, I'm sure the Landlord said, "Whats that?"

Anyway, on the first morning we woke to a few clouds & some sunshine but as soon as we stepped out we found the wind was directly against us at about a Force 10!!! As we were getting our photos done at the start we met another group of four lads doing the same journey, they headed off before us & we thought we'd probably not see them again - they were younger & leaner than us. The first 20 miles to Thurso was pretty flat and we took it in turns to do a mile at the front. Those miles seemed to come round pretty quick, front man is not the best place to be! FromThurso we kept westwards to Bettyhill up a few fairly long steep hills but sometimes it was just better going up a steep hill, at least you were in the lee of the wind! As we had lunch the lads rolled in & we found out they'd been held up by a couple of punctures, thankfully we are puncture free so far. Turns out they are doing the journey in 12 days as well so our paths keep crossing as you will read.

We all left Bettyhill together, a short sharp climb and we were soon on the road towards Altnaharra. You may have heard of Altnaharra as its always comes up each winter on weather forecasts, notoriously the coldest place in Britain. Thankfully it wasn't and we rode along the banks of the river Naver and then the Loch Naver all seven of us. The scenery was fantastic........

That shows how windy it was at the start & it didn't get any better until we started to head south!

The three amigos struggling uphill towards lunch at Bettyhill & on the banks of Loch Naver in the sun...

The group of lads left us just before we met up with Sandra & Ruby to have some photos taken, they were off to Altnaharra as they were staying there...... we had another 10 miles up hill after Altnaharra to stay at The Crask Inn in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a beautiful moor. I have to say those extra 10 miles seemed like a bad idea as the lads waved and jeered from the terrace of their B&B.....!

The Crask Inn was a sight to behold as we rolled down a part of that 10 mile hill towards it, Sandra was there to greet us but we soon found out she wasn't exactly enamoured with the place. We were staying in "the cottage" but you can forget roses and pretty curtains, it was pretty rough & ready. The place slept 12 but we had hired the whole building....... beds & mattresses were everywhere, the toilet was filled with peat water and those cleaning women off the tele would have had kittens. We settled in & trooped over to the pub for dinner and a few pints - its just got to be done! By the way it doesn't get dark up here until after 11pm  and the curtains in our "cottage" were about as useful as a chocolate teapot, Sandra didn't get much sleep but as soon as my head hit the pillow..............

This calf was born at The Crask on the day we rode in, the Landlord took great pleasure in telling us over dinner that he bought the heffer not knowing, until he stuck his hand up her that she was pregnant, a great 2 for 1 offer. Just what you need to know when he's telling you about the homemade rhubarb crumble you could have for desert...Alan actually said, "Hope you washed your hands after!"

We are here - it's cold, it's wet & it's windy!

We've arrived in JOG, it only took us 10 hours from Manchester..... Can't believe we will be back there (or there abouts) in 6 days. Have to say it's not that inviting because the headline says it all! Wet, windy, cold! Hopefully tomorrow, start of the epic, will be better.....

The team is all together, 3 bikers, Sandra the super support driver & Ruby the guard dog - nothing can stop us now!

Currently we are consuming fuel.... Having a lovely meal in the Northern Sands Hotel/bar/restaurant.... Plus having a bit of Bowtime. Very nice food & helpful, they are letting us use their business wifi to do the blog. Not sure we'll get this help all along the way. Tomorrow we are staying at the remotest pub in Scotland so the chances of the blog getting published are pretty thin. Anyway, tomorrow we head along the coast, west towards Thurso & Bettyhill before turning south and heading for Crask. The last 15 miles are all uphill but with a pub as the target we should fly!

Soon off to bed, short sleep & back down into John O'Groats for the kick off! All down hill from here...... ish! Thanks for all the messages of support on Facebook & via text, it means a lot and will help spur us on. Cheers all, see you all soon......

Extracts from our latest emails.......

From Steve....

"Just done my first 80 miler on the flats of Cheshire and did around 30 miles of our route - all doable but we'll be doing 102 miles that day and even on the flat that will take some focus. We'll need an early start to take the pressure off a bit.That's my training done and I now weigh less than I did 26 years ago."

From Alan....

"Good ride Steve well done. I did the Richmond 60 yesterday and my legs feel a bit tired today, bit disappointing that. Not sure if this is relevant but you were a bit portly 26 years ago!!"

From me.......

"Nice one - getting packed as we speak, seems a lot of stuff to take....! See you Sunday morning. Alcohol last weekend - too much, work this week - too much, training miles this week - nil! What am I doing!!!!!"

It's coming up soon...........!

Hi folks, been a busy few weeks since my last post what with training, work & a couple of very nice social gatherings. Had a day out at Polo at the Hurlingam Club (Sandra won the tickets to that through Facebook & took me along! Great day out in the sunshine, those boys can ride & all the ladies were looking pretty good too!) in Fulham & a mate organised a get together for a few work colleagues at Lords on Saturday for England vs Sri Lanka! Both put a bit of a dent in my training regime but I'm at the point of thinking, "If I ain't ready now, I never will be!"

Today I have been catching up on many thank you emails to friends who have donated to my pages. It's been great to see the support online and for my sponsor forms. I'd like to especially thank all the people from work who I have railroaded into supporting the causes. To date I have managed to raise just over £2000 for the charities I am supporting so that's fantastic.

Yesterday I was on the Gatwick Express heading up to work when I noticed Patrick Kielty, the comedian & compere, sitting in First Class. As there weren't too many people around & I knew he'd completed the same journey in aid of Sports Relief, I introduced myself and we chatted about the experience for about 15 minutes or so. Very nice chap he was too. His major piece of advice was to slap on the Chamois Cream! It's fair to say that before about 3 months ago I would have had no idea what he was talking about! For the uninitiated amongst you Chamois Cream is the long distance cyclists patron saint. It guards against the evils of chaffing, chapping, infection and boils. I was looking through the internet today in order to purchase a load more. I then spoke to Alan who said he'd already bought more than enough for us all. I really hope that's true! If you thought Sudocream was just for babies you also be wrong - I am advised that it should be applied nightly, again to ward off infection & to aid recovery. Is this all getting too much....... I have to say that I have my own supply of sudocream following our little jaunt to the Cotswold Hills and must agree, it did aid recovery, very soothing!

Up 'til now I have no divulged our route other than we are going end to end the wrong way. IE North to south, against the prevailing winds. Patrick had the excuse that the TV cameras wanted a nice picture of the sunset at lands end to finish their piece on, we have Alan to thank, his reasoning being that John O'Groats is so far away, no-one would be able to come & see us finish! Have to say he is absolutely right and we should be greeted by a few welcoming faces at Lands end on the 25th, we will be very grateful. The other reason was so we wouldn't get all the comments like, "Oh, wouldn't have gone that way! Have you seen that hill...mountain....all those trucks etc. There is no changing the route now, the accommodation is booked and we are set. Here it is then......

Day 1 - 14th June - John O'Groats to Lairg
Day 2 - 15th June - Laig to Drumnadrochit
Day 3 - 16th June - Drumnadrochit to Connel
Day 4 - 17th June - Connel to Largs
Day 5 - 18th June - Largs to Auldgirth (still in Scotland - its quite large is Scotland)
Day 6 - 19th June - Auldgirth to Carnforth
Day 7 - 20th June - Carnforth to Nantwich
Day 8 - 21st June - Nantwich to Hereford
Day 9 - 22nd June - Hereford to Axbridge
Day 10 - 23rd June - Axbridge to Crediton
Day 11 - 24th June - Crediton to Wadebridge
Day 12 - 25th June - Wadebridge to Lands End

We have some friends joining for the Auldgirth to Carnforth ride & another is thinking of doing the last three days but feel free to contact us if you'd like to join any of our sections, the more the merrier & we'll even let you go up front!

So, this will be about the last post before the big day, thanks for reading & thanks for your support!

Less than 2 weeks to go.... Arghhhh!

Well, I haven’t blogged since coming back from the Cotswolds, can’t imagine why a sore posterior and too many hills should have put me off but there you are. It’s now less than 2 weeks to the big kick off….. am I looking forward to it, absolutely, do I hope that Scotland has better weather than it has the last 3 weeks, absolutely! The rain in western Scotland – yep, we chose the western route, has been non-stop with winds to match. If it’s like that all the way, the first 4 days will be pure hell. Anyway, that’s enough of me & my fears – now I want to answer the last couple of questions from my 3^rd blog.

4. Have you donated to my justgiving page yet?

5. Can I do this all again tomorrow, and the day after, for 12 days?

The answer – if you haven’t already guessed is yes…… well, definitely yes for the question 5. Whatever it takes, we will get back on those bikes and ride – have no fear, however sore, however tired, there is only one goal and that’s Lands End by lunchtime on the 25^th June!

As for question 4 I have to tell you that the support has been fantastic. I have so far raised £980 for Cancer Research Uk & £195 for the Starlight Childrens Foundation.

Both are great causes but obviously cancer touches nearly everyone at some point so has raised more. Even so I want to say a big thank you to all that have so far supported me. Just so anyone else who wishes to contribute can the Just giving pages are…….

www.justgiving.com/Mark-R-Taylor for Cancer Research &

www.justgiving.com/Mark-R-Taylor2 for Starlight Childrens Foundation

To know more about the charities please see their websites

www.cancerresearchuk.org & www.starlight.org.uk

To date I have cycled about 600 miles in training and yes it does get easier the more you do. Muscle memory is a fantastic thing so I hope my muscles will remember to keep pumping those wheels round and will forget the pain and cramps in the evening and stiffness the following morning! I have now been up Ditchling Beacon four or five times & each trip gets progressively easier. It’s never going to be easy but I am breathing out of my mouth and nose when I reach the top these days……..

Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting and if you haven’t yet donated to the causes please take some time to give what you can. 12 days & counting…………

Answers to the hilly question......

So....... are the Cotswolds quite hilly? Again, the short answer, for me at least, is YES!

Yesterday we set off at about 9.15am. The weather was pretty gloomy, dark clouds skidding across the sky and a very chill wind assisting them on their way but we didn't feel too bad considering the previous days exploits. "Don't worry lads, it's pretty flat today." shouted Steve as we headed off, greatly reassured. The day before we'd climbed out of a little village called Weston Subedge up Dover's Hill. That had been a tough climb of about 230 metres almost straight up. As we sailed by the turning we'd taken yesterday I smiled, "not going up that one today" I thought! A few miles later though we did turn left and we started to climb, same hill, just a bit further along and not quite so steep. The height was certainly the same though! We then continued to climb, descend, climb, descend, climb ad nauseum! Still we weren't feeling the cold anymore!

We climbed on and got to the top..... actually, a top, there were plenty more to come. Definitely enjoyed the downhill from this one though. Maximum speed recorded on the CatsEye, 38.6mph, we were flying!

We carried on from there to Chipping Norton, where, after about 27 miles and who knows how many feet climbed we stopped for a well earned break. A steaming hot chocolate and a banana for me before we headed off again. We didn't take a map again but we'd written down the route and looked at a large map before we set out. Things were going pretty well & even Steves' Garmin seemed to be happy with our progress. The weather had warmed up and a few more hills were encountered before a pub lunch in Burford. I have to say the Cotswolds are beautiful, we passed thatchers up in the roofs and stone masons building the dry stone walls that abound. Some of the houses are just fantastic, must be a lovely place to live. Out of Burford we were again assured it must be downhill from there. Unfortunately that was just wishful thinking. We started off following a very minor road along the delightful banks of the River  Windrush, we were lulled into thinking there were no more hills but soon we started to climb again. Steve was calling out our height above our starting position, the Garmin was good at that! 230 metres, 240 metres....... 290 metres and we only had about 10 miles to go. As he shouted out 300, we could see why, we came to the edge of an escarpment, the downhill should have been fun but ended up being a bit dodgy. We set off quickly as you might imagine, rounded a couple of corners & fortunately braked a bit because around the next corner, about 20 metres away, the road was gated. No signs, no warnings, just a 5 bar gate..... we all simultaneously braked hard and started sliding towards the battered gate. Luckily we came to a stop just short of the gate but others before obviously hadn't, there were dents all over it! After opening up the gate we continued down, as we were nearing the foot of the hill we had to quickly apply the brakes again...... a herd of cows had decided to congregate around and in front of the cattle grid that marked the end of the downhill. Not sure who were more concerned, us or the cows! Throughout the day we also had a running commentary of our pain, posteriors were beginning to feel the worse for wear! Literally....... Of course, its not your bum that hurts its the area between........ perhaps that's a blog too far! So, you have your answer to questions 2 & 3. All questions to date, most certainly in the affirmative!

Stats for the day, 5hrs 44mins in the saddle, 72.6 miles at an average speed of only 12.6mph. 5500ft climbed, fastest speed 38.6mph.

Titles for upcoming posts or just answers to the important questions in life?

1. Garmin, is it the worst £400 ever spent?

2. The Cotswolds, are they quite hilly?

3. Do you get a bit of a sore arse after cycling 70 miles?

4. Have you donated to my justgiving page yet?

5. Can I do this all again tomorrow, and the day after, for 12 days?

The answer to Question 1.

Well, today we relied on Steve's Garmin instead of a map. The short answer is that we had a bit of a nightmare. Now for the long answer. We turned left out of the B&B, 50 yards later Steve shouts, "We're off route." We turned around, and cycled back, just past the B&B he shouts, "I think we should have turned left...." we turned around and turned down the road indicated. Shortly after, Steve shouts, "We're off route again!" Both Alan & I were muttering expletives already! "Don't worry," says Steve, "we'll get back on route a bit further on..." We were basically off route for the majority of the day, occasionally turning onto the route, with Steve shouting, "We're back on, just passed a way point." Bloody way point my arse! The best bit was heading down a country road at some speed to hear Steve shout from behind, "We should have turned right there..." I looked behind and saw Steve & Alan by a closed gate to what looked suspiciously like some rich buggers driveway. Hey presto & the gate opened so off trotted Steve and Alan up the driveway. I had to follow but knew I shouldn't have...... Steve had already regaled story of him heading down a small road in Lime park, Lancashire and after following the bloody Garmin finding a small bridge barred by sturdy gates at each end covered in barbed wire. It was obvious no-one had been over the bridge for a hundred years. This didn't deter Steve though, with the help of a couple of ramblers Steve managed to climb around the gates & barbed wire, getting them to hand his bike around the posts!! Anyway, back to the rich persons driveway.... we kept on, it was a long drive, "It must be a public right of way, the gate opened." shouted Steve.... past a few cows, lots of sheep & lambs, all very pretty.... passed a very nice tennis court, passed a few barns and right into the rich persons courtyard! Oh dear, now back past all those pretty things & back onto the bloody road we were on! That wasn't the last detour either, there must have been another five or six at least. A few went like this, busy road, we're not supposed to be on busy roads, quick, turn right (across the traffic, articulated lorries etc....) down a little country lane, up another hill, turn left & back onto the same busy road 300 yards further on..... Spitting blood I was, forget the bloody Garmin, do yourself a favour, get a map - foolproof! at least it might be, tomorrow we are using the map, I'll let you know how we got on!!

Stats for the day - 70.61 miles @ an average of 13.4 mph, top speed 37.4mph, 5 hours cycling and twenty three wrong turns - happy days! Off to the pub soon, blog with you later!

Cotswolds here we come......,

I'm off to work to do a little night shift, hopefully it will go quickly and not be too hectic but in this line of work you never know! Tomorrow after a quick sleep it'll be a case of packing, putting on the bike rack, making sure I've got everything and heading off for the 3 hour drive. Bound to forget something, especially after a night shift your not exactly with it when you first wake up! We've (well Steve actually) have planned two 70 milers, the weather looks ok but we'll probably get a few showers. We've been so lucky with the weather during our training I don't know how we'll react to a bit of a wet one. Over 15 yeas ago I completed my only other foray into long distance cycling. I did a bike ride for the National Deaf Children's Society. We flew out to Jordan and rode from the capital Amman to the Red Sea port of Aqaba. It was a fantastic experience riding on and off road through the deserts of Lawrence of Arabia, seeing the Nabetean city of Petra and meeting some fantastic people. The reason I bring that up now is that I went out to the Jordanian desert expecting a hot sunny experience but we were confronted by all sorts of weather, wind, rain and even snow so, even though we've had great training weather so far, 'm sure we'll encounter all sorts on the 12 days we come down the British Isles and I'm ready for anything - Bert..... I need to borrow those waterproof cycling shoes sharpish!!!! More tomorrow.... Work calls!

John O'Groats to Lands End - Gearing up......

This is the first post on this blog. Alan, a good friend for years recently retired but, still being youngish.... decided he wanted to do something epic. He decided on a bike ride from John O'Groats to Lands End and soon roped in his best friend Steve and someone he knew has a problem saying "No" - me!

The idea formed before Christmas 2010 and June of 2011 was decided upon. We thought about doing the Deloitte version but they do the 1000 miles in 10 days so decided upon a slightly more sedate version of 12 days. This will hopefully enable us to take in a bit more of the scenery & enjoy it. Throughout the last few months we have each bought bikes and started to do some training. We got together for a weekend in early April, completed a couple of 60 mile rides back to back & roughed out a route. That weekend went well and the after effects on our bodies weren't too bad, in fact we were quite pleased with ourselves. Right now though, the trip is less than 6 weeks away & although the training is going well I still have a few concerns about doing between 60 & 100 miles a day for 12 straight days. I know its going to be fun but I also know there will be some tough days, tough weather & pain.