Epilogue 0f Random Thoughts and Stats!

It is Monday evening, I have been back at work today and enjoyed telling people about my adventure.  I got presented with a yellow jersey with Bradley Wiggins (with my face) pinned to it, thank you work buddies for doing that.

I came home and washed and polished Ruby, she is now sparkling clean and ready for another ride.

I missed being on the bike today and missed the company of the group.  I will most definitely do something like this again, and if anyone who did this trip wants to join in, even better.

Work was ok, it was so busy I hardly got time to think and if I start feeling stressed by work I will sit down, take a deep breath and think about our trip.  I will also make myself laugh because Rachel reckons if you pretend to laugh eventually you will actually really laugh.  However, I will only need to think of our evening in the Street Youth Hostel and that will make me laugh a lot!

I have added up a few numbers for your perusal...

Distance ridden - 998.56 miles
Total ascent - 19,994 metres (about 2.3 x Mt Everest)
Calories burned - 71,681 kcal wow!
Time in the saddle - 79 hrs 18 mins 44 seconds
Packs of Tangfastics consumed - 12 (oops!)
New facebook friends - 8 (at the moment)
Amount of money spent on WiFi - £17 - come on peeps, free WiFi is the way to go (especially the Holiday Inn!!)
Number of funny moments - too many to count, but every one of them brilliant
Number of times I cried - 3 (twice when I fell off and at the end!)
Favourite names of towns - Wormelow, Longdown and see photo below!

I will finish this blog with a quote that sums up the last two weeks

It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle. ~ Ernest Hemingway

Thank you for reading, I will finish here and hopefully start a new blog with a new adventure next year!
Janet x

Day 14 Crask to John o' Groats 84 miles

Well, this is it, the final day.  Rachel and I awoke with a lot of strange feelings about this being the final day, excited to finish and to know that we have done it...but sad that it will soon be all over and we will become normal human beings again rather than long distance cyclists.

We had a lovely breakfast around the big table again, and got ready to head out into the sun.  The midges were pretty vicious, but once we started cycling they weren't a bother.  I worked out that if you stop you have a 30 second time window to take a photo before the biting creatures attacked again!!

It was such a lovely day that we stopped for several brief photo stops, the scenery was stunning in a barren and remote sense, we loved it.


As we continued our journey the skies started to darken in that ominous way...and yes, the heavens opened.  The rain continued until Bettyhill, which I arrived in a top speed as I knew there was a brew stop at the top of the hill (Betty's I presume!).  After two comfort cherry bakewells we set off again, and the sun started to come out.  We had a good few climbs along the north coast, but amazing views of Dunnet Head appearing in the distance.  There were also many free roaming sheep on the roads and moorland which I always love to see, however with free roaming sheep come cattle grids, and cattle grids when wet are the arch enemy of the cyclist. I crossed one on an uphill section and felt my rear wheel spinning on the smooth metal, before I had chance to warn Rachel how slippy it was she was on the grid and then the bike slipped away from underneath her and she came crashing to the ground half in the road half on the grid, but in the middle of the road.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the first car that didn't even slow down and shot past rachel as she was lying tangled in her bike in the middle of the road...arse!!  But I would genuinly like to thank the next 2 cars that did stop and asked if there was anything they could do.  Rachel is fine, cut and bruised but nothing too serious.

We stopped for lunch at Melvich and Rachel got her cuts and bashes cleaned up, and then we set off for our final afternoon.  We had a lot af great cycling in the afternoon, big long descents on wide and quiet roads.  We approached Castle of Mey where we were regrouping for our arrival at John o' Groats, and also where we were adorning our helmets with a mass buy of yellow marigolds in order to be kind of chicken like!

As we left Mey, it happened again, the heavens opened...there was rain coming out of the sky on a scale I don't think I have ever seen before...it was actually hilarious.  The roads became rivers, nobody's brakes were working...I couldn't have been wetter if I had been in the sea.  But it was brilliant, it was memorable and we all felt great as part of a team and a big bunch of new friends!  As we dexcended into John o' Groats the rain stopped, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared (this is no word of a lie) it was absolutely amazing.  We had done it! 1000 miles of cycling over 14 days.

We had all the photos done and there were loads of tourists snapping photos of us too, it was a bit like being a celebrity.  The Peak Tours guys had champagne for us, it was perfect.

There will be final entry to this blog tomorrow, but I am now back at home, I am tired and have to think about going back to work!!

Day 13 Inverness to Crask 66 miles

It was pouring down with rain this morning in Inverness, not our favourite start to the day but miles have to be covered whatever the weather.  We started off over the Kessock Bridge where dodging waves from the cars going through puddles at high speed was the main aim. After the bridge there was a lot of cycle path until we got towards Conan Bridge…a distant memory of a pub called the Drouthy Duck entered my mind as we cycled past there!!

The view towards Bonar Bridge...starting to appear out of the rain and mist!

We then headed to Bonar Bridge and our lunch stop.  It was an oasis of heat at the Bridge Hotel with an open fire roaring and more pieces of cycle clothing than in your average shop, drying by the fire.  Most of us were fairly reluctant to leave after lunch, but the rain had stopped so we made a move.

We headed over the back road past the Falls of Shin and then headed for Lairg.  It was starting to get a bit warmer and the sun was trying to appear.  The quietness and remoteness of Sutherland was stunning, and the cycling along these single track roads was beautiful.  The obligatory Highland cow was out for a photo stop which everyone appreciated.

After some more lovely cycling we descended through the moorland to the Crask Inn, our destination for the night.  Mike and Kai, the owners, welcoming us into their home like friends.  If you have never been to the Crask it is worth a visit for its welcome alone (but take midgey repellant!)

The Crask

Our evening meal was in the small dining room round one table.  Kai had cooked a fabulous venison stew with dumplings.  It was like a big family meal, sharing stories and telling jokes, we had a great evening.

Dinner time

Today's stats

Number of pairs of gloves beside the fire in the Bridge Hotel - 20

Number of cyclists you can squeeze into a small place beside an open fire - around 10, but with others trying to barge in!!

Number of pints of the Crask's Organic Lager drunk altogether by a group of thirsty cyclists - I'll hazard a guess here - 30! 

Day 12 Glencoe to Inverness 83 miles

Two words...rain and midges!  Holy moly, we couldn't get going quick enough this morning!! These are the two main reasons I now live on the north east coast of Scotland and not the west, not much rain and no midges!

The Pap of Glencoe

Anyway, after stocking up with Tangfastics at the Glencoe supermarket we got our journey underway to Inverness, it was a bit of a soggy morning with a lot of low cloud so it was heads down and get some speed up time!  We arrived in Fort William in about 50 minutes just as the sun came out and multiple rainbows started to appear.  Our little peloton however needed a loo stop, so as Morrisons came into view it looked like a good idea. (See additional footnote).

The Morrisons sign was a bit high up!

Ben Nevis

We carried on through Fort William stopping to look at what we could see of Ben Nevis, then took a back road which ran alongside the Caledonian Canal round to the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge. 

We rejoined the A82 there and continued towards Fort Augustus.  Nigel (Peak Tours) had a lovely layby tea stop for us at around 35 miles which was well appreciated.  As we got down to the business of getting to lunch, Rachel and me started practising our time trialling techniques and got some very fast miles under our belt as we rode into Fort Augustus.

And here is where Nessie joined Ruby and myself for the rest of the journey.  Ruby is now adorned with chicken feathers, a seagull feather, heather and now Nessie.

Uphill time trial time! The Peak Tour guys mentioned yesterday that the climb out of Fort Augustus was long and tough and they often used it as a friendly King of the Mountains, the idea being that we timed it ourselves and were totally honest.  So we did...Rachel got 34 mins (K of the M) I got 40 mins, the standing female record was 42 mins...happy much!

We had a great descent and then started to make our way round to Loch Ness on the upper road. When we topped the hill over looking the north end of the loch it was incredible, the view was out of this world.  This was also when I discovered the easy panorama button on my camera!

After a good stop for photos we descended into Inverness stopping for a Scottish Half Pint before finding our B and B's

Enjoying some apres...

One of the best days for stunning views definitely helped by the sun and blue skies.  A fanatstic day's riding!

Weather - rain, drizzle, rain, downpour, drizzle, sun, rain, sun, sun and more sun (west coast weather at its best!)

Random toilet stops - Morrisons supermarket (today), In the Garden Hilton in Glasgow (yesterday)  Abington M-way services (2 days ago), In a field that a bus drove through (last week)

Chicken - coping ok, but cut even more holes in his suit as it was soooo hot today!

Day 11 Loch Lomond to Glencoe 67 miles

After an amazing night in the Loch Lomond Youth Hostel Castle’s enormous bedroom we got organised to leave.  Unfortunately though, Helen had her phone stolen while it was charging in the TV room, this made us all really angry and upset for Helen, things like this shouldn’t happen.  However Helen was being really positive about the whole thing.

Loch Lomond in the early morning sun

 

We set off for the day from Duck Bay along the West Lomond Cycle Path which kept us off the main road until Tarbet.  The route was lovely with incredible views across the loch.  The sun was shining but it was really, really windy.  We had lots of photo stops along the way.  We then got on the road to Crianlarich which was into the strongest headwind I have ever ridden in.  What a long slog that was.  Eventually after turning towards Tyndrum it was a side and tailwind.

We arrived in Tyndrum and Mum and Douglas were there waiting at the lunch stop, it was great to see them.  We had lunch together and then they headed home and we continued on towards Glencoe. The route is a really busy one, but a road with amazing views.  It was so windy however that it was a bit scary at times as I was being blown towards the side of the road by cross winds.  As we summited the hills and entered the highlands Rannoch Moor opened up in front of us, it always amazes me how beautiful this place is…and then over the top to the stunning mountains that waymark Glencoe. Buachaille Etive Mor was encased in low cloud and looked as haunting as it always does, and the Aonach Eagach Ridge stood out against the greying skies.  Not a day to be ridge walking today, that’s for sure.

Glencoe looming

As we descended through the valley the wind eased ever so slightly, but it was still strong enough to give us a fright when it caught us with a cross-gust.   We arrived at the turn off and stopped at the Clachaig Inn for a bravery half pint (well, a pint to be honest) before making our way to the Youth Hostel.

Roadkill – nearly a few cyclists, but not a lot apart from that!

Mechanicals – I have a squeak and a rattle but Graham sorted it out at lunchtime.

Weather – muggy, sunny, cloudy and force 25 gales!!

Chicken – lost many of his remaining feathers in the wind and had to dismantle his charity box from his frame as it kept catching the wind!

Day 10 Moffat to Loch Lomond - 86 miles

To re title this day…A day of Contrasts and Comedy

We left Moffat nice and early today as it was an 86 miler and began with the obligatory morning climb which was a long but steady climb with some lovely views.  Obviously, after the climb was a ,agic descent and then  we rejoined the B7076.  To say this road is monotonous is actually a compliment, however it served its purpose and delivered some swift miles.  We had a couple of photo stops at wind farms, but then basically time trialled to the Avonbridge for lunch.  I headed the peloton for around 20 miles up til the stop, my legs were feeling really strong and I had my team Garmin top on so was pretending I was David Millar!

After lunch was the route through Glasgow with some mega complicated route notes.  We started off well and even managed a motorway service station stop for the loo, quite a novel experience on a bike!!  Then we had the first time-eater, poor Sharon had a rear wheel puncture. Da Dave Ron Ron Ron helped her sort it and we were on the road again.  We carried on towards Cambuslang as the route notes directed but totally missed a right turn until our mileage didn’t recky up and we had to do a u turn and cycle about 3 miles back. A bit of a comedy moment when you see a bunch of people watching a 10 strong peloton go one way, and then seeing them, 5 minutes later travelling the other way!!

Eventually we found the NCN 75and started our traffic free route in to Glasgow.  I have to say, the Clydeside route was amazing.  When we arrived in the city centre we were able to admire structures such as the Science Centre, the Glasgow Auditorium etc with no traffic breathing down our asses!!  We meandered along the Clyde for a few miles seeing such a variety of buildings and structures, a real difference from all the countryside we have seen, and one that I enjoyed a lot.  Heading out of Glasgow eventually towards Loch Lomond brought us upon the Bankie Bike Statue next to the canal.  Much fun was had on this and lots of photos taken and then we continued along the canal path cycle route.

Loch Lomond Youth Hostel

We eventually started heading for Balloch and arrived there in beautiful evening sunshine enough to help navigate to the Lomond Youth Hostel…a beautiful castle.  I cannot believe that I took the cheapest option yet get to sleep in the most amazing  building I have ever seen in my life (apart from Buck Palace).

Today’s group – Me, Rach, Sharon, Sue, Frances, Helen, Nick, and Da Dave Ron Ron

Roadkill- 1 x hare and some other things!

Chicken update – he has been making catapults with Charley out of inner tubes and firing stones all over the place.

Mechanicals – 1 x puncture (Sharon), one rear wheel issue sorted by the brilliant Graham (Peak Tours)

What a day, sun and rain but an incredible ride.  Thank you Sustrans for city car-free cycle routes!!

Day 9 – Keswick to Moffat 71 miles

 Looking out of the window of the Youth Hostel this morning we expected the worse in regard to the weather, however it was not as bad as forecast, and after a good YHA brekkie we set off for Moffat.  Our first 10-15 miles were mostly climbing but with great views behind us of the lakes and the moody misty mountains.  We arrived on a moorland plateau where there was a long straight with the wind behind; it was a great bit of road.  The two most random road signs that made me laugh today were “Cats Eyes Removed” (ouch!) and “Cows Drive Slowly” (get a mooooove on then!)

We stopped a few times for photos and Ron kindly took one of me with a Lakeland view in the background, only I didn’t seem to be in it, we will have camera lessons tomorrow…

At the very top of the climb the van was waiting for the brew stop, which was well needed.  We then descended into Carlisle…looking for a “big dixon’s chimney” which was in our route notes!  We didn’t really know what a dixon’s chimney was, however there was a massive one as a waymarker in Carlisle!

After getting through the city it was on the road to Gretna, and of course Scotland.  We arrived at the sign and spent a lot of time mucking around and taking photographs.  It feels strange but amazing that we have made it all this way so far.

The afternoon was spent slogging to Moffat along what used to be the trunk road through D and G before the M74, not the most exciting of routes but a necessity!  We spiced it up by taking a wrong turn through Lockerbie and having to use sat nav on our phones to find the route again!!

With 10 miles to go Scotland welcomed us in the way only Scotland can do…the heavens opened, so with our heads down we motored towards our destination as fast as we could.

Anne and Toby came to visit me in Moffat tonight which was brilliant, although Toby couldn’t work out why I wasn’t in my house and kept asking where Uncle Steve was. 

Roadkill – loads of hedgehogs and a couple of rabbits

Chicken update – he has learned about drafting and used this to good effect today

Weather – decent start, windy on the tops but a tail wind, rainy in Scotland

Day 8 - Slaidburn to Keswick 68 miles

According to Peak Tours, this is "a great day in the saddle".  For the first few miles I was out of my saddle more than I was in it so the day may have to be re-described!!

Chicken and Charley reach the top of the climb

Our first ascent was a good long one up to the Cross of Greet at a height of 400m, it was a good steady ride up and my cycling in the Alps always comes in handy on long climbs.  Once again we chose to ride as a big group of 12 today, it is a lot of fun that way, chatting to different people and getting to know them better. On the descent we saw a huge erratic boulder with stairs carved into it, and many strange breeds of sheep.  The descent was fast and straight to start with and then some undulating riding where we passed the halfway stage of 500 miles before the lunch stop suddenly appeared.




Rachel and me at Kendal


Crooklands Hotel was lunch today, it was a bit emotional for me as this was somewhere Dad loved and I had been with him and mum many years ago to a New Years celebration here, I admit to shedding tears when I cycled into the car park.

After lunch there was a fair amount of upping and downing until we reached Windermere.  At this point we were on a cycle path beside the road, much more pleasureable than being bashed by wing mirrors!!

We have ridden 500 miles and we will ride 500 more!

We stopped to take a photograph when a man came and asked about Chicken and then invited us all to his garden for tea and coffee, very random but very kind.  Continuing along the road after this coffee stop we passed through Ambleside and then had a long but steady climb before a great downhill to our turn off around the Thirlmere Reservoir which got us off the main A591 for a few miles.  This road was stunning, so quiet and with lovely views of the reservoir.

The arrival into Keswick was another fantastic descent and we soon found the Youth Hostel on the banks of the river.

A hilly but very scenic and rewarding days cycling in lovely weather again.  We cross into Scotland tomorrow, I can't believe its here already!

Roadkill - I have given up counting!!

Chicken update - looking scraggy but still getting people clapping and shouting!

Weather - misty start then hot sun!

Day 7 - Runcorn to Slaidburn 62 miles

This was Urban-Day!  There are going to be days when large urban areas have to be navigated and this was one.  The route notes however got us through…30 miles across the Manchester-Liverpool conurbation.  With only a couple of comedy wrong turns and random u-turns to sort them out we started to head into the countryside of the West Pennine Moors with a series of long, but not too steep climbs.  There was a pretty big group of us cycling together today which was fun.  Chicken was part of it and it was funny to see some of the looks on faces as we passed.  I think everyone else’s bike is adorned with yellow feathers somewhere or other now which is brilliant.

Lunch was at a pub called The Black Dog in Belmont, again the weather was lovely so we ate outside.  We have only had to eat inside once in the 7 days we have cycled so far!

Urban cycling was too much for Charley Farley!

After lunch we continued over the moors on lovely rolling roads with reservoirs on the right hand side, one of them called the Dingle & Springs Reservoir.  These miles went on for a while until we descended into the town of Blackburn, an industrial town with a highly multi-cultural population. 

Within the space of 5 minutes we witnessed a comparison of cultures which made us laugh…we were all cycling in a long line about 12 of us, we passed 3 Indian children on bikes who started shouting after us “Hey, the Olympics have come, the Olympics…yeah” and clapped.  About 4 minutes later we cycled passed  3 youngish English scallies (as I would call them) who shouted after us “Oi…Dickhead, that chicken has a knob on his head!”  You’ve got to laugh!

Thankfully we left Blackburn unscathed, all with our bikes intact and headed into the Forest of Bowland and some lovely scenery and rolling hills.  There were some mega descents which had us racing for top speeds, I think I got 43mph…but I have not beaten my 48mph from Dartmoor yet!!

After climbing and descending for a few miles we had our final descent into Slaidburn and to our Youth Hostel, which once again is a lovely place to stay and just across the road from the pub!

The Pub!

A great days cycling even with the urban crossing, fantastic company and lots of laughs in the sun.  The peloton today was: Me, Rachel, Sue, Sharon, Frances, Helen, Chicken, Charley, Toshi and Nick…we were joined for the last few miles by Ron and Dave, 2 “more experienced” members of our group shall I say.

Roadkill – disappointingly hardly any today apart from a couple of hedgehogs and a putrid mash of rabbit or hare!

Mechanicals – None!!

Chicken feathers – not many left to come off to be honest.

Halfway Stats

Distance over 7 days - 476 miles,

Top overall speed – 48mph

Ferry Crossings- 3

Counties crossed – Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire,  Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Cheshire, Lancashire.

Day 6 – Clun to Runcorn – 80 miles

After a lovely breakfast in the sun in Clun, we headed on our 80 miler.  It was billed as a moderate 80, and our average speed and large group cycling backed that up.  We cruised through the morning for the first 25 miles until we entered Shrewsbury.  What a beautiful town, and the birthplace of Charles Darwin, but a town with a driver of a silver Vauxhall Astra who obviously is blind and cannot see cyclists. After her wing mirror touched my elbow she then drove me so close to the kerb I had to un-cleat and put my foot down, she was so close I bashed on her window but was ignored.  Luckily, it was slow moving traffic through the town, but it still made my heartrate rise quite substantially!!

Shrewsbury and Darwin's Quantam Leap Sculpture

After Shrewsbury we headed to the lunch stop at a pub called the Burlton Inn where we had an enormous but very tasty lunch.

Lunch stop

The afternoon’s cycling was sweet, cruising along country lanes, the wind at our backs just ticking off the miles.  We passed over the lovely Shropshire Union Canal and admired the scenery along the route.  The van was stopped at about 64 miles should we need any water or coffee or biscuits etc, so we stopped to fill our bottles.  We parked our bikes along a horse fence and were highly amused to see one of the horses with it's head over the fence starting chewing on handlebars and bar bags…I shared my apple with him, better that than someones braking system!

We rode on towards our destination and I saw a sign for Manchester, which made me realise just how far we had come since Land’s End.  As we were cruising along the A56 towards Frodsham I suddenly felt my steering not working, a flipping puncture with only 5 miles to go!  Sharon’s hubby, who had joined in the ride briefly as they live in the area, very kindly did the inner tube change for me, good man!

After a photo stop at the Mansell office (Steve my hubby works for Mansell in Aberdeen, and Sharon works for Mansell in Frodsham) we headed to the Holiday Inn, our destination for the night.

An amazing day with a lot of speedy cruising, sunshine and blue skies-brilliant!

Roadkill – 2 x wood pigeons, 1 x stoat, another flaming stinky badger! 1 x teeny mouse and several hedgehogs

Mechanicals – 1 x Puncture (me!)

Weather – have a look at my shoulders and you will know!

Chicken update – The suit now has air vents and short sleeves – who let Josh have scissors?

Day 5 – Monmouth to Clun 54 miles.

This is the shortest cycle on the trip and it was probably what we all needed.  Rachel and I started late today as we waited for the bike shop to open in order to buy new cleats.  We were speaking to one of the locals while waiting for the shop to open, and she said she had seen an article in the paper about Chicken, so we went to buy the paper to give to him later.  A half page spread in the Monmouth Gazette!!

We got our cleats and eventually left Monmouth on an undulating road, entering England again after a few miles, it was a beautiful morning, sun out and nice and warm.  The first photo stop today was a quick pose at the sign of the most unusually named Wormelow...those who know me also know my great fear of worms, so I felt I was being brave just touching the sign!

We met the tea stop van just before we entered Hereford for a welcome cuppa and some tangerines and then headed for Hereford.  We caught up With Chicken’s group (Charley, Toshi, Frances and Helen) and continued with them… managing to get pretty lost through the Hereford streets.  However, being the great navigators we all are, we eventually stumbled across the right street and were on our way to lunch.  The day was getting warmer and warmer and much water was being drunk, we were taking our time today and enjoying the beautiful landscape, arriving at our lunch stop at around 1.30.

 At lunch we encountered a lovely chicken, a real one, who was taking great interest in any dropped crumbs.

Lunchtime chicken!

Urgh! Worms!!

After lunch we only had around 20 miles to finish the day, with one very steep hill –in two stages- to contend with.

However, nature interfered.  We stopped in a passing place to let a 4x4 through in the opposite direction and there was a field gate where we stopped, lying on the other side of a gate was a sheep that was fitting and really ill, Helen and I climbed the gate and tried to help, I gave it some water out of a bidon, but it was obviously near  the end of its life  We were all really upset, and found a farmer in a tractor and told him, it wasn’t one of his sheep, but he said he would go and deal with it.  We cycled on towards the hill, all feeling really sad about the sheep. 

The hill arrived, and yes, it was everything it said on the tin, steep as a very steep thing, but we were rewarded at the top with the support van and some lovely views.  After that it was a couple of downhill miles to Clun, where the last obstacle was a forded river crossing.  Most people cycled across successfully, but a couple ended up face down in the river…obviously we shouldn’t laugh, but boy how we did!!

Our Youth Hostel in Clun was beautiful, an old mill with amazing beams and other period features.  I washed Ruby as she was feeling a little neglected and then we went to the pub for some well-earned food and beer.

Clun Youth Hostel - highly recommended by us!

A great day, great weather conditions and beautiful countryside, with a tinge of sadness for helpless sheep.

Roadkill – so much I forgot  to count

Mechanicals – I had a couple of chain drops but Graham looked at my gears at lunchtime and things improved

Ford swims - Sue and Gareth (I think)

Weather – sun!

Chicken feathers – I picked up around 8 feathers in the hotel first thing, and then gave some away on the ride, the Chicken was struggling with the heat and feeling unwell, poor chickadee!

Day 4 Glastonbury to Monmouth – 70 miles

This was billed as a slightly easier day than the past three although the weather was looking like it may spoil it a bit.  My knee felt ok this morning, but I strapped it up just in case.  The start of the route was through a quite muddy cycle path which was messy as…. But lots of fun.  We then had a few very steep climbs to tackle before the road started to even out a bit towards Bristol.  Our route took us through the Long Aston Estate which was in the process of setting up for the Bristol Balloon Festival.  The road through the park was lovely, passing a herd of fallow deer.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

We then headed for Clifton and over the Clifton Suspension Bridge which was absolutely stunning and made a great photo stop.  Afterwards we headed for the lunchstop at the Plough Inn where the sun had come out so it was an al fresco affair.

Our next major point of interest was the Severn Bridge as we headed into Wales, cycling over it was fantastic, there was a really warm breeze blowing across and the sights and smells were amazing, and then we emerged in Wales.

Me on the Severn Bridge

 Our final destination was Monmouth so we headed in that direction, passing Chepstow Racecourse, which was massive and heading up the Wye Valley with beautiful scenery.  After a fantastic descent we arrived at Tintern Abbey where we decided to stop for ice cream, a very good ice cream indeed.  We think Nick inhaled his as it disappeared so quickly.  We then cycled the final 10 miles to Monmouth, the road felt strange at this point, like there were downhill-ups, and uphill-downs, or maybe we were all tired and delirious!!

On arrival in Monmouth the whole group was split between 2 Inns for the accommodation, Rachel and I were sharing in the Punch House Inn which was excellent, and where I got the first WiFi of the trip!



Tintern Abbey



 Another amazing day, the weather improved as the day progressed.

Roadkill – 2 x deer, 3 x hedgehogs

Mechanicals – Nil

Ice creams – 5 (one each in our group!) not just for me.

Day 3 - Moreton Hampstead to Glastonbury 70 miles

Once again the day started with hills, I would prefer a warm up first, but short of cycling round the postbox a few times that wasn’t going to happen.  However, after a mile and a half of up I was  rewarded with a fantastic down just to get my adrenaline going. We then navigated through Exeter which also kept the adrenaline going as it was pretty busy!

The morning continued with ups and downs, and ups and downs…and then eased off slightly before lunch, however as the road eased out, the rain started falling and before long we were absolutely soaked to the skin. Me, Rachel, Sue and Sharon were cycling together and making good time. We cycled through some lovely villages...think thatched cottages.

Just before lunch, at the side of the road we spotted a big cardboard sight welcoming Chicken to their village, with a donation in a plastic wallet...no idea how they knew he was going to be riding through their village but it was brilliant!  Lunch was at a pub called The Drewe Arms, Honiton and was the friendliest place ever, especially as we were dripping litres of rainwater over their beautiful wooden flooring.  And the chili...amazing, thank you it was very much needed!

We set off again for the afternoon, having put back on soggy gloves, jackets etc to head for Street near Glastonbury.  We had a ridiculous climb after lunch which was steep and long, the chili wasn't so welcome at that point. However, after that we reached a lovely flat plateau for some easy miles...and the jackets came off as the rain had stopped.

With about 10 miles to go, my right knee started really hurting on any climbs and I fell back from the group a bit, however I made it to the Youth Hostel, glad to be at the end of the ride.

The Youth Hostel was interesting and without a bar so we phoned Graham in the support van begging him to stop at an off license for beer and wine.  Graham is so obliging and the Youth Hostel crowd love him very much for tending to the alcohol needs!!

Chicken's welcome sign

Roadkill by size – 1 x deer, 2 x badgers, 2 x hedgehogs, 1 x bit of carpet, 2 x squirrels and 1 x bird.

Roadkill by putridness – 1 x badger

Punctures – none

Mechanicals – One broken spoke for Ron

Weather – rain, not rain, rain, not rain…

Chicken feathers – what chicken?

Day 2 - Golant to Moreton Hampstead - 64 miles

Ferry number 2 started today, from Fowey (pronounced “Foy” or the locals spit in your drink! ) across the river to a long uphill,  the funny thing about ferries is you cruise downhill to them in your big ring gear…then inevitably have to stand on the ferry with your back wheel in the air, manually changing gear in order to get off the ferry, up the slipway and the hill that follows!



The Harbour at Fowey



We had a great morning’s ride, lots of hills and descents and amazing scenery, and the legs felt ok.  Ruby struggled a bit with being dirty as it had rained through the night and a fair amount of grit and muck was being thrown up from the road…I will wash her at the next Youth hostel tomorrow night!  We stopped for lunch after about 30 miles just outside Plymouth, another lovely buffet with loads of carbs.

Our journey continued with another ferry crossing where Chicken managed to get photographed  and was rewarded with a few donations from some of the car drivers. 



Chicken collecting donations on the ferry!



 We then had to navigate through Plymouth which wasn’t an easy task, taking it in turns to trailblaze and lead the group.  Charley, our resident comedian but all round great guy, dashed off trying to prove his prowess on a mountain bike, up the wrong road…we sent Nick, our youngest group member at 16 off up the hill after him!  When we re-grouped we successfully navigated the maze that is Plymouth, picking up another smaller lost goup from our tour at the same time.  For a while we all rode as a big group, around 15 of us, but as the hills of Dartmoor started to kick in, the peloton began to separate. 

As we ascended Dartmoor the sun popped out now and again from behind the clouds, the scenery was stunning.  Some beautiful wild ponies made their appearance to have a drink from a watering hole, as we were stopped at the support  van for a well needed cuppa (and biscuit) before our final 16 miles.





Dartmoor Ponies

The descents of Dartmoor were amazing, my confidence in descending has improved greatly , and max speed today from Ruby and me was 48mph…Go Ruby Go!!

Rachel and Me were making our way towards Moreton Hampstead having many laughs on the way down pretending we were in the Tour De France and commentating at the same time…well, we laughed!

I found my B & B for the night “B & B Plus”, 20 Pound Lane, Moretonhampstead, highly recommended by me…showered, then went to the Union Pub to meet the others for tea.

 An amazing day’s riding, Dartmoor is stunning.

Weather –warm, cloudy with sunny intervals

Major Roadkil – 4 x rabbits, 1 x squished football, 1 x golf ball, 1 x sock (whitish grey!) and Rachel lying on the verge after a 300m 22% climb!! (ok, she’s still alive)

 Punctures – 1 from Graham ( one of our support crew) which went with a sound like a .22 rifle shot!

Mechanicals – none that were with us…

Lost chicken feathers – I have stopped counting!

Wild Dartmoor Ponies – Around 25

Sheep – zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….night night x

Day 1 - Pics

Me!



Most of the group!



Day 1 - Land's End to Golant/Fowey - 70 miles

…and so it starts! After an early breakfast at the St Just Youth Hostel the 9 of us staying there got our bikes ready with what we needed, packed our bags into the van and set off for the short cycle down to Land’s End.

Land’s End, what can I say? It is not quite what I expected, a little bit theme parky to be honest, but I guess it gets a lot of visitors. We met with the rest of the group (24 of us in total) and did our Land’s End Photos. We have a young guy Josh, cycling with us dressed as a chicken which made the photoshoot very funny, both to us and onlookers! We then headed for Penzance and Marazion where we stopped for a cuppa out of the support van, then into the very hilly Cornish countryside towards Perranwell where our lunch stop was at The Royal Oak pub. The Chicken had many hilarious comments thrown at him, along with a bit of money for his charity and a few feathers that had fallen off his suit!

After lunch we set off again up some crackingly steep climbs and then down to the King Harry Chain Ferry across the River Fall, a 5 minute crossing. After a few more very steep Cornish climbs we arrived in St Austell at what appeared to be rush hour…until we remembered it was Sunday! Up until this point the smallish group that was cycling together had had no mishaps…and then I managed to do the obligatory fall over at traffic lights in front of a great line of traffic, and then couldn’t unattach the bike from my foot! We arrived at our Youth Hostel at around 4.30pm, a great day in the saddle, hot and sunny conditions and plenty of hills, and then we found out Andy Murray had won gold at the Olympics which topped it off nicely…time for a beer!!

Major Roadkill – 1 x Smelly Badger, 1 x Squelchy Rat (now partially adorning Rachel’s wheel) 2 x rabbits, 1 x crow and a shoe!
Punctures – nil
Chain drops – Rachel 2, Janet 1
Lost chicken feathers – too many, he’ll be plucked by Wednesday!

The Prologue

We are a group of 24 people cycling from Land’s End To John O Groats, fully supported through a company called Peak Tours. For the tour you can choose whether to stay in a mixture of Youth Hostels and B & B (the least expensive), or all B&B’s. I chose the Hostel and B&B option, and knew nobody else (apart from my cyber friend Rachel who I hadn’t met until 4th August.) The hostel group is Me, Rachel, Frances, Helen, Sue, Sharon, Josh (Chicken), Charley, Toshi from Japan and the 3 tour crew, Graham, Nigel and Steve.

The 0820 Aberdeen - Penzance

You know its going to be a long journey when the stations called at take up 3 screens in Aberdeen Railway Station. However, the train was great, admittedly I paid an extra £30 to travel in First, but it was worth every penny. Ruby was 4 carriages away, so I ensured a couple of visits to check up on her. The first check found her partying with 5 young lager drinking lads...they asked if it was Chris Hoy's bike, I told them he was my brother!! Anyway, 13+ hours later, I am now in a comfy bed in The Hotel Penzance looking forward to exploring the area a bit tomorrow. If anyone fancies a scenic train journey, I would highly recommend the 0820...

Excited or Nervous

Today is Wednesday...I leave on Friday.  My packing is almost finished and I have managed to avoid packing 25 tops!!  I have been in touch via facebook with another girl who is doing the same tour, we have become virtual cycle buddies over the past few weeks and the closer the start gets the more we discuss.  So far we have discussed gearing, tyres, bar bags with map holding facilities, dietary requirements, gels and powders, clothing, shoes and of course Tangfastics.  I am looking forward to meeting Rachel on Saturday in Penzance.

The bike is just about ready, I am meant to be cycling today so it will need a wash, but everything else is set.  The Edinburgh Bike Co-operative is about to release its profits for the year and I feel responsible for at least half of these, I am sure they are about to reserve me a space in their funny little car park entitled "best customer"!!

Steve spent about three hours last night transferring route notes onto maps and has taken these to work today to print off for me, he reckons I'll get lost and never find my way back...I can always use blue arrow on my phone if things go wrong!!



I navigated La Marmotte Successfully!

 My above ramblings indicate butterflies in my tummy, I am excited and nervous all at the same time.  Cycling around 70 miles every day for 14 days will be tough...but I am so excited about seeing the country from south to north under my own power.  Bring it on!