16 Days on the road had clearly taken its toll on some of the group

Highlights:-
Lands End, 1st Day, Sun shining across the waters to the silly Isles, and that feeling of anticipation.
Cycling past St Michaels Mount early morning
Corn walls abandoned Tin Mines
Flat ride along Great Western Canal after the killer hills of Cornwall & Devon.
Cycling up and through Cheddar Gorge and across Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Tin tern Abbey in the Wye Valley.
Best Days cycling from England into Scotlands southern Uplands, beautiful Eskdalemuir.
Rest day at Peebles Hydro Hotel and full Body Massage.
Realising that Scotland's Hills are not too hard, compared to Devon.
Finishing downhill with a tailwind to John O'Groats.

To top it all was the warmth and generousity of the People we met along the Way,Lesley of Prospect Cottage, Ros of Brosely House, and all the landlady's and Landlords of the B&B's.

Would we do it again? I would, can't wait to be back on my Bike!! Joe

Day 16 & 17 The end of Le Jog !!!!!

Cromarty to Lybster, Friday 24th June

We caught the ferry from Cromarty to Nigg, a 5 minute crossing before heading north to join the A9.
We had decided to take a more direct route so changed our accommodation - A nice easy day (That makes a change ) with fantastic views over the North Sea. We had all four seasons in one day and must have changed in and out of the waterproofs at least 20 times.

Day 17, Saturday 25th June, Lybster to John o Groats

31 miles to go, our last day. Hard to believe but the end really is in sight now ! Woop Woop

We set off with a tail wind behind us which made us positively fly to the end of our ride. We were greeted with a friendly welcome by the official photographer who told us to hurry up taking our own pictures. We chose to ignore him.

It will be strange to get back to normality next week- no more head down keeping your legs moving, rushing in for a quick shower before heading to the pub for last orders, before hitting the pillow. " You've got to keep going "

Relieved, proud, tired, amazed, satisfied, so pleased and chuffed to bits with ourselves. We did it !!!

Thanks to everyone for their support and donations.  Along the way we have collected £105 from complete strangers. We have been amazed how kind and generous people have been.

Any one fancy a bike ride when we get home ? You know where you can stick that bl**dy bike !!!

Its wild up here !

June 23rd yet another really tough day. Cycling for 11 hours and our bums are nearly used it (If that is possible) 84 miles ridden today. It was a great morning cycling through forests and quiet roads. We managed to see most of Scotland's wildlife including deer, kestrels, rabbits, pretty birds flying in and out of the hedges as we peddled along.

We had to change in and out of our waterproofs about 12 times !(something else we are getting used to doing) No sooner did the sun come out then the bloody wind and rain would hit us. Then you would feel like one of those boil in the bag ready meals! Speaking of ready meals lunch was courtesy of Tescos in a very attractive (Dry) bus shelter. The nice picnic bench was abandoned in another downpour.

At 4 o clock, 30 miles still left to go (All up hill of course) the heavens really opened.
Arrived at the B&B at 6.30pm looking like drowned rats - again. This is becoming a regular thing now. Awful finish to the day cold, wet, hungry, exhuasted, etc, etc.

5 minutes to get to the restaurant before last orders. No shower and off out the door, but a nice meal and we start to feel human again.

The route for tomorrow is now being re calculated, so by Friday we will only be about 35 miles short of John o Groats - hoorah. Friday will be tough, but Saturday nice and easy and then a celebration I think.
Its so close now we can almost smell the sea air. 

Lost in the contraflow - Oh bollards !

June 22nd Perth - Newtonmore

We've been lucky today the weather that was forecast didn't arrive. It was overcast, but no rain. Left Perth at 9 am, got lost as we headed down towards the M9 ! We knew something wasn't right as the 30 ton lorries went hurtling past !! No sooner did we get back on track than we got lost again!
In three hours we had travelled twenty five miles, but we were still only five miles from our hotel. Not the best start to the day.

By 3 o'clock we still had 40 miles to cycle, and a 1500 foot climb! We managed 15 mile climb to Drumochter summit expecting an easy 15 mile ride down, but as we approached the A9 the road had been shut off. Not to be  put off by this minor problem we ventured down the newly tarmacked road for about a mile. We then found our way back onto the cycle track which was littered with diggers and all sorts of heavy building equipment not to mention all the workmen who were giving us some very strange looks! We ploughed on regardless, but had to dismount as the path became completely impassable.

We were startled by an Irish accent "You can't go down there its unsafe" We then had to go all the way back to the beginning of the junction, and be collected by a recovery truck to transport us through the roadworks!

We did of course ask ourselves if this was cheating, but soon justified our actions by saying if we had to cross the water we would have caught a ferry. We couldn't use the road (despite our best efforts) so the recovery truck option was taken.

Finally we arrived at Newtonmore at 8.30 pm 81 miles from our original destination, exhausted, but with more funny stories to re live.

Only three days cycling left. It doesn't seem possible.

Back tomorrow for more adventures.

Day 12 - Tuesday 21st June Peebles to Perth 74 miles left at 8:40am Arrived at 5:55pm
we left peebles in the rain which continued throughout the day. We made good progress but we had difficulty finding the cycle path which would take us across the forth of firth bridge. After cycling round for about an hr we came across a lady claire who cyled with us for the next 5 miles and took us to the foot of the bridge. We climbed up on to the bridge and made away across in poor visibility and the wind blowing in to us. We all got really soaked and cold today - our second worse day. Joe was seen running ahead with his bike as his feet had gone completely numb!! He looked so funny!!! We are off to Aviemore tomorrow in the cairgorn mountains should be an easy morning with a hard afternoon in store. The weather forecast tomorrow is bad! 25 mile an hr headwind. 4 days to go with the last 3 days forecast dry! We seem to start off strong in the morning with the last 10 miles taking forever. We are all feeling absolutely knacked but john o groats is getting nearer - we know we can do it!

Day 11
Rest day at the Hydo Spa Hotel in Peebles, Scotland
Have had a lovely day off but still quite busy. Up at 07.30 didn't sleep well as so hot in our room and couldn't open the window!!! Nice breakfast, followed by a a welcomed massage, a trip to the wash room to do a load of washing and a walk around the town. Tried out the jaccuzzi was nice but could have done with being a touch warmer. All ready to watch the Murray match at five, can you believe it... The TV signal for the whole town went down!!!! Looks like a few extra hours sleep instead!! Dinner at seven tonight followed by an early night. Cyclying to Perth tomorrow heavy rain expected for the day, we are all dreading a repeat performance of our day across Dartmoor, surely it can't be any worse....suppose we could always add the wind to the equation!

Day 10
from Brampton, Cumbria to Peebles Scotland
left 07.45 - 17.15
76 miles
Best day yet!

Left Brampton in Cumbria sharp at 0745 this morning ready for a hard days cycling. Arrived in Scotland an hour later at 09.30, what an achievement.... We cycled through spectacular landscapes, green fields, mountains, forests and there was loads and loads of fresh air. It was almost traffic free lots of climbing

 but miles of down hills, my favorite! Managed to catch three hours of rain.Stopped off at a tibeten monestary in the mountains, for hot chocolate, marsh mallows and flake plus a hot water. We were thrown out after five mintues, as it was a special day, it their leaders 900th birthday!!! we were cycling through the middle of no where when a runner came running towards us holding a flamed torch we thought it was the olympic torch, turns out it was for the World Harmony run. All in all a lovely day. Arrived at the hydro spa hotel in pebbles at 17.15, massage booked for tomorrow followed by a steam, swim jacuzzi and then an afternoon watching Wimbledon or sleeping or shopping anything but cycling, can't wait. Two hours til dinner, I can't believe it. Looking forward to taking our time and not rushing, heaven:-). Have a nice evening. Deb & Paul

Day 9 - 18th June Lancaster to Brampton, Cumbria 74 miles. Left at 8:30am arrived at 6:15pm
A good day - we are all getting physically and mentally stronger and are all feeling very positive in reaching the end. After leaving Lancaster we cycled in to Kendal and stopped at a bike shop opposite Peter Blands! after leaving Kendal we steadily climbed 11 miles up and over the Shap to Penrith pass - amazing! Don't think we could have managed it last week. We later stopped for lunch only to find a team of End to Enders that we had previously met in Devon a few days back. We had lunch with them and shared stories of our experiences along the way. Phil, Eddie and Chris were raising funds for the British Heart foundation and They made us laugh by telling us how they stripped off to there pants after stopping off at a local launderette when we got soaked in Dartmoor. The launderette washed and dried all their clothes for nothing as they were riding for charity. We got wet on the last hr today and have been really lucky with the weather so far. Off to peebles tomorrow 90 miles ahead of us, so an early start in the morning. We are so looking forward to our pampering day off on Monday - a full body massage booked - truly deserved! We've established that the slowest speed that you can do on a bike without falling off is 2 miles per hr - currently held by Debra! We are now off to bed as we need an early night.

Day 6 - 15th June St Brievals to Ironbridge
Left at 9:06am- arrived at 20:45 hrs - 85 miles an emotional day!
we started the day with a three mile climb out of the Wye Valley before hitting Ross On Wye for a tea and cake stop, which was just in time before the rain came down - a lucky escape as we didn't get rained on this day. We stopped high in the valley for lunch eating our sandwiches overlooking the Herefordshire countryside. A hard day with undulating terrain. We soon headed north in to Herefordshire, before reaching our B&B at Ironbridge. Our B&B was superb, Ros our landlady couldn't do enough to help, she even got up extra early at 6am to dry our washing - a lovely lady and we will certainly be back, but not on the bikes!!

Deb needed assistance for her tried and tested shoes to be shipped, as her new shoes were causing blisters. Thanks to Carol for organising this and sending the old shoes on to our next B&B in Cheshire

Day 7 - 16th June Ironbridge to Cheshire - 77 miles
Left at 8:40 - arrived at 6:30pm
A good day today as the terrain flatterned out as we moved from Shropshire in to Cheshire. We met the Sky ride on route coming the other way! 600 cyclists going the opposite way to Lands End. They were on day 5 covering 100 miles a day with full back up and caring no luggage. As the flew past us in the opposite direction we yelled out to each other and gave high fives as. Past each other- our spirits were lifted for many miles as we watched them go past us and gave each other encouragement.


Day 8 - 17th June. Cheshire to Lancaster 74 miles
The best day yet! We made good progress covering 20 miles in the first hour. The wind was behind us and we followed the main A6 - a good straight road that we could pick up pace. We have seen the most pot holes over the last few days after leaving Bristol.
We popped in to Morrisons to pick up a good selection of sandwiches for luck, before having a pick nick at the side of the road. we have been very lucky today as we kept dry all day and dodged the rain showers.

top speed so far on the trip is 42 miles an hour, currently held by Debra!

Our kind land lady Sally has offered to do our washing tonight by hand - what a sweetie

We met Richard and Lisa for dinner tonight (Debra's nephew who lives nearby) which was really nice.

Thanks to everybody who has kindly made a donation to our chosen charities - we really appreciate your support.

SOS - if anybody out there fancies a nice week on the east coast of Scotland next week please contact Debra on 07802 569646 by text as we need some help carrying our luggage through Scotland.

Day 6 A nice Suprise

Today we left Iron bridge, Shropshire and headed to Cheshire. 50 miles completed before lunch, and no rain, so good news. This meant we arrived at a reasonable hour for a change,

As we pulled into the lane where our B&B was it was 6.15pm the earliest we had arrived anywhere on the trip. A big surprise was in store. Mikey was parked up outside and was there to welcome us in. We couldn't believe it, and Jayne thought she was seeing things and was in a state of shock.
"What are you doing here?" everybody asked.
Mike had been at a meeting in Chester so took a De tour and waited. around for 4 hours until we arrived 

It was tempting to jump in the car with all the bags, but we have come this far and not giving up now that's for sure. Friday night in Lancaster will be halfway and we have now covered over 450 miles since leaving Cornwall.
After a bath and washing our hair it was out on the town for beer and pizzas - perfect.

Mike was going to drive back, but we talked him into staying, so we had a great night and said our farewells Friday morning then it was northward to Lancaster

Tuesday 14th June Moreton Hampstead to Bridgewater - 61.85 miles cycling for 6 hrs 43 minutes arriving at our destination at 10:10 pm
A best day so far with perfect weather conditions and good terrain. We enjoyed the pretty Devon villages and Great Western canal that we followed 9 miles - the hottest day so far. We did have a few incidents with a major blow out to Paul,s inner tube that went off like a gun as it exploded! Poor Paulie also suffered with a fly in the eye that has caused it to be blood shot for the last few days. We stayed on a stud farm this night in a deep valley just outside Bridgewater. Although the farm that we stayed was nice the see through glass shower was an issue in the shared accommodation!

Wednesday 15th June
Day 6 St. Bridgewater - St. Briavels, lower Wye valley
82 miles -left at 8:30am arrived at St Brevals at 9:15pm
As we left the farm we had a long down hill for many miles which got us off to a good start to the day. We were all starting to feel a bit tired and achey with sore feet, arms legs in fact most parts of our bodies started to ache.
Today we Travelled Up through the Cheddar Gourge all making it to the top. Our accommodation that night was superb - the best yet. We are finding that we get to 5 pm and it seems to hit us as we normally have another 20 miles to do.

up through the Cheddar Gourge

Sunday 12th June
Having got to bed at 11pm the night before listening to the sound of rain, it didn't let up all day on Sunday and we were literally soaked within a few minutes after leaving Par Sands- so much for the water proof clothing! Our kind landlady donated £20 dowager our chosen charities

We soon headed off north towards Dartmoor and soon decided that after 20 miles we needed to find somewhere warm and dry, so we stopped off Crediton at the Fat Frog for hot chocolates and to dry the map out under the hand dryer - we've certainly tried out most hand dryers in Cornwall. The Fat frog cafe gave us warm towels to help dryout, which were most needed.

After a few more hours we headed aross Dartmoor - the rain didn't let up all day and it was difficult to cycle with so much surface water and poor visibility. We finally got to out B&B at 8pm to find that the pubs had stopped serving food !

Monday 13th June
We climbed out of the valley for a few miles to start the day, before heading down the most steepest hill - we soon needed to divert to The Big Shed to replace and stock up on brake blocks at a town in Devon

we'-ve now cycled over 270 miles through Cornwall, Devon, somerset and are now in Wales heading to iron bridge tomorrow night

After an early start leaving Joe's house from Wansted at 7:30am we cycled along the Regents canal and Victoria Pk reaching Paddington Station in good time for our journey down to Penzance.
The train was rammed and we had difficulty finding a seat, so Joe and Paul sat in the gap between the carriages,much to the annoyance of the other passengers seated in the quiet carriage with Deb and I, as they heard the whole life story of Joe's cycling history. Opposite Jayne sat a women with her fingers permanently stuck in her ears to block out his dulcet tones! One elderly women sitting at the far end of the carriage tried to slam the door to drown out his voice. Finally arriving 5 hrs later in Penzance to glorious sunshine after a wet journey down. We dropped our bags off at the B&B and soon headed down to Lands End to sign the official End to Enders book.

Had a good nights sleep, before setting off at 7:30, which turned in to 8:30 before we left! Good weather all day with no wind but plenty of Hills - we soon lost count how many times we had to climb another hill - it was challenging to say the least. The first casualty of the trip was Paulie who fell off, grazing his arms and legs, but nothp too serious. We stopped on a bridge to admire the disused tin mine at Nancey Gollem When Eric Bray called out " are you holiday?" "no" we replied, we are cycling Letjog "fantastic - let me give you some money if you are cycling for a charity" Eric soon ran up the road with a fiver - Thanks Eric he even offered us refreshments and the use of his facilities.

We continued on to have a wonderful lunch, before joining the King Harry ferry across the Falmouth estuary - unfortunately Joe and Paul didn't make it in time so the girls crossed the river without them we met another two groups doing the same journey, which we overtook and beat both teams on the distance today - hopefully we shall meet them later in the trip.

We reached our B@B at 6pm, 58 miles, 2597 calories each burnt off, taking 5 hrs 49 minutes greeted by a cream tea

We hope to update you tomorrow with more details of what the day brings, providing wifi available

Good luck for tomorrow Andy - love Deb!!

With only a few hours to go until we all set off down to Penzance on the 10:06 train out of Paddington tomorrow morning for our mammoth cycle ride.  We may not have done enough training between us, but there is no going back now!

Keep updated with our Blog each day by clicking on the link.

DAY	DATE	MILEAGE	ACCOMMODATION	TELEPHONE	Landlord
1	Friday 10th June	20	Catch the 10:06 Train from Paddington to Penzance Harbourview Guest Hse, 22 Fore Street, Newlyn, Penzance	01736 331315	Joy Collinson
2	Saturday 11th June	46	Great Pelean Farm, Tywardreath, Par Sands, Cornwall PL24 2RX	01726 812106	Jane
3	Sunday 12th June	55	Cookshayes Guest Hse, 33 Court St, Moreton Hampstead, Devon, TQ13 8LG	01647 440374	Kate
4	Monday 13th June	60	Manor Farm, Waterpitts, Broomfield, Bridgewater, Somerset, TA5 1AT	01823 451266	Sue Honeyball
5	Tuesday 14th June	70	Prospect Cottage, St Briavels, Lower Wye Valley Rd, Bigswier, GL15 6RR     (includes evening meal, which has been ordered).	01594 530566	Lesley Farmer
6	Wednesday 15th June	78	Brosely Hse, The Square, Nr. Ironbridge, Shropshire, TF12 5EW	01952 882043
7	Thursday 16th June	74	Trafford House Farm, Beswick Lane, Row of Trees, Alderly Edge, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 7SN	01625 582160	Ann
8	Friday 17th June	70	Shakespeare B&B, 96 St Leonards Gate, Lancaster, LA1 1NN	01524 841041	Sally
9	Saturday 18th June	70	The Sands, Brampton, Cumbria, CA8 1UG	01697 730585	Bill & Valerie
10	Sunday 19th June	72	Peebles Hotel Hydro, Innerleithen Rd, Peebles, Scotland, EH45 8LX	01721 720602	Jenny Gray
11	Monday 20th June	No cycling today !!	Peebles Hotel Hydro, Innerleithen Rd, Peebles, Scotland, EH45 8LX	01721 720602	Jenny Gray
12	Tuesday 21st June	69	New County Hotel, 22 - 30 Countyplace, Perth, PH2 8EE	01738 623355
13	Wednesday 22nd June	70	Glen Hotel, Main St, Newtonmore, Inverness, PH20 1DD	01540 673203
14	Thursday 23rd June	67	Cromarty, Gisbourne B&B, Marine Terrace, Cromarty, Rosshire, IV11 8yn	01381 600376
15	Friday 24th June	76	Bungalow A836 Strathy, next to Strathy Inn	01641 541361	Sheila Warwick
16	Saturday 25th June	50	John O’Groat’s  -  Hamnavoe. Short walk from Harbour? 01955 611776 07876784847	01955 611776 07876784847	Gordon Asher
17	Sunday 26th June	No cycling today !!	Fly Home from Inverness to Gatwick Flight 764, Departs 16:20 Arrives 17:55

Please sponsor us

Dear blog readers.

We would love it if you could cough up a few pence to our sponsor us for our monster trip.
There are two links, two charities, Bosom Pals and St Lukes Hospice.

Thanks

www.justgiving.com/deb-saund0

http://www.justgiving.com/Jayne-Hayward1

www.justgiving.com/joe-rood

 

No more excuses - bring it on !

Wow. Its the 1st of June already. That is scary it means were off in 9 days ! Arrrgggghh

Well Jayne's new bike has arrived ahead of schedule, so all the gang now have shiny new bikes, so the excuse of the bike being rubbish has gone out of the window.

Thanks to the team at Condor Cycles in London for their fantastic customer service and encouragement. If you read this guys how about a sponsorship deal ? Mike says he would love a new custom built racer, but as he is not coming - tough !

The manager of the shop asked us how much training we had done. "Oh we've done a couple of 65 mile rides" we said  "Oh that's great, you'll have no problem then" He said  "How long did that take?"   "Errr about 7 hours" Oh he replied, should take you a couple of months then, but we've only got 16 days !
Don't panic !!!! Its all about mental toughness and we must be mental, so no problem then. 

There will be lots of nice new pictures coming soon featuring Condor Cycles around the UK so watch this space.

Lands End To Jon o Groats Cycle 17 Days to go !

17 days to go until the start of our epic ride/ journey/ holiday ? Hmm not sure about the later ? but we shall see.

Last Sunday was another training ride through the leafy lanes of Essex, 64 miles completed in a gale force wind. It was tough, but the cream tea at Wilkins Tiptree Jam Factory made up for it and helped us survive the last hour or so.