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...............