Pistols at dawn

Bettyhill to John O'Groats: 59 Miles

Over the past couple of weeks there has been growing discontent in the group of the tour leader, Mike (who works for the company that organises the trip - the general idea being that he is there to support us through the trip), mainly as the general feeling is that he's really only interested in chasing 18 year old waitresses (he's in his 50's) rather than supporting a bike trip. Discontent spilled over into open mutiny this morning when John finally snapped - John to explain is one of the kindest most thoughtful considerate individuals you are likely to meet, he's also 64 to boot - he does however not suffer fools gladly and he spoke for the group as a whole this morning when after a brief exchange of words he said to Mike that he should "just fuck off". I was most impressed! Apparently Mike blacklists anyone (from future rides) who annoy him, so I guess that will be eight names in the blacklist book then... shame really as he's not just letting himself down but the company as well.

So anyway, fracas over we set off on our ride and the weather decided to throw a spanner in the works for what could have otherwise been a lovely day. It started off with lovely sunshine but as the day wore on a headwind picked up and just kept getting stronger and stronger, turning the last 30 miles into a real energy sapping battle against the wind.

Pat our resident American amused me today - I cycled past a roadsign and on it someone had put a sticker proclaiming "vote Kerry / Edwards for a stronger America" which I think dated from 2000 (?). Pat being a big pro Bush supporter (apparently we've all been brainwashed by the newspapers into thinking Bush is a total idiot...) was not at all amused and stopped and painstakingly removed the sticker from the roadsign!

Swung by Dunnet Head en route - the most northerly point on the mainland. The wind up the top was brisk to say the least, a real struggle to walk - and then we had to get back on our bikes in a still increasing wind - I was almost blown off my bike a couple of times down off of Dunnet Head. Then a hard 12 mile slog, directly into a strong headwind to John O'Groats. All in all today was the second or third hardest day, a really draining slog.

John O'Groats is thankfully nowhere near as much of a tourist crap-hole as Lands End is - though I was not overly amused to have cycled just under 1,100 miles to arrive at John O'Groats and be greeted by.... a Costa Coffee concession...!

So this is it, my last post. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this blog and I hope you've enjoyed following it. Time to rest my weary legs for a short while (well, until sometime next week anyway...). I've never done anything like this before and it's been really really fantastic, it's a lovely way to see the country, meet loads of different people en route and have a lot of fun. I will definitely do something like this again, though three weeks is a very long time to keep going, the fatigue really sets in. So, my lovely understanding wife permitting maybe next year you'll find me climbing up some of the alps for a week or two...


Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hrs 49 mins
Average: 12.3 mph
Max: 42mph
Total distance cycled 1,075 miles

Stats for the trip:
Total time spent cycling: 86 hours
Overall average: 12.5 mph
Max: 44mph
Punctures: 2
Photos taken: 875
Phrase on route sheet most disliked: "road descends, cross river and climbs steeply..."


Bob, Richard & Daniel on top of Dunnet Head, struggling to stay upright















Next stop the Alps?














The obligatory team photo.

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Bonar Bridge to Bettyhill: 56 Miles

A really lovely ride out into the wilds of Scotland. The place we stayed in last night at Bonar Bridge was a complete dump so very happy to be getting out of there this morning and onto the bike. All the rain has cleared up as well, leaving a chilly but bright start to the day. After a few miles we started climbing up (for several miles) onto typical Scottish highland moors with very little about except sheep, birds of prey, deer and lots of landscape. At one point we passed a village of two houses, one of which was a pub, and the nearest other form of life was several miles in either direction. Believe it or not we were on an A road (the A836) - and this was a single lane road with passing places!

















Ran out of water on top of the moors and came across a small caravan site, filled up my water bottle from the tap - a dark brown substance flowed out of the tap - decided to perhaps give that one a miss.

Had a lovely blast down the other side of the moor, cruising for somewhere around 25 miles along the valley before arriving in Bettyhill. I would tell you where Bettyhill is near, but I don't think it's near anywhere. It's on the coast somewhere, I know that because I can see the sea from my window, the first time we've seen the sea since we left lands end nearly 3 weeks ago.









Bettyhill is a very pretty village, largely / wholly unspoilt / untouched by tourism. It even has sheep wandering down the high street!









Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 3hrs 52 mins
Average 14.4mph
Max 40mph
Days to go: One!

First signpost we've seen with John O'Groats on it. Our route tomorrw is slightly less direct, around 60 miles.

A bit on the soggy side

Drumnadrochit to Bonar Bridge: 51 Miles

The rain in Spain part 3...

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain
but the rain in Drumnadrochit, there's nowt that can stop it

I could have been a poet
But you really wouldn't know it.

Summary of the day: Rain

Set off from Drumnadrochit in light rain - sort of poofy southern rain really. Being a poofy southerner myself I don't like getting wet so went out in full raingear. The start of the ride was a bit of a rude awakening after the last two pretty flat days - just two miles down the road we had a 1 in 7 climb for just under a mile. Unfortunately the downside of raingear is that it doesn't vent out heat very well so got to the top of the climb steaming like a kettle and promptly stripped off back to normal cycle kit again.

Southern rain continued for most of the morning and cleared up at lunchtime, only to come back with a vengeance in the afternoon as proper wet northern rain. Climbed up onto the moors again after lunch and the rain got worse and worse, at one point the combination of rain and mist took visibility down to about 30 metres. Still, the climb onto the moors was worth it, for on reaching the top there was a viewpoint over the Firth of Dornoch. Took a picture to show you all. Nice eh?










Arrived at bonar bridge somewhat damp, hopefully the rain will clear up later so I can go out for a stroll around the firth of dornoch, it looks like it would be lovely in the dry...

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hrs 2 minute
Of which in the rain: 4hrs 1 minute
Average: 12.6mph
Max: 37.5mph
Miles to go: 115

Nessie says Hi

Fort William to Drumnadrochit (top of loch ness): 53 Miles

A much nicer days riding today than yesterday, mainly as most of the ride was away from the busy roads. Yesterday was a day for head down pushing along all day long dodging the traffic, today we were able to look around at the scenery which was nice. However in places we were somewhat too far away from anything that resembled a road - after an hour or so the route took us down what should have been a gravel track through a forest - however come the autumn time the track repair people move in with their earthmovers - so parts of the track resembled a ploughed field (see picture). The remainder of the track was a little better but much more suited to my mountain bike than a road bike. The track was several miles long and just before the end I whacked a large stone which resulted in my second puncture of the tour. The track was pretty hard work as the surface was a softish sand sludge, so cycling through that for 45 minutes was pretty tiring.

Then back onto the main road for a bit, then off again for a 5 mile zip alongside the Caledonian canal on the towpath, having lunch at Fort Augustus at the bottom of Loch Ness.

Back onto the main road after lunch all the way up Loch Ness, past the very pretty Urquhart Castle. Stopped by the castle to have a chat with nessie - she's quite a shy little monster and asked not to have her photo taken - but she did ask me to say Hi to everyone. Not sure if anyone else would have seen her today as she was obviously in one of her timid moods.

Poor bike is sounding a bit on the rough side, lots of things rattling and clicking / scraping that should not be - not helped I'm sure by the several miles of crud track we went down today. Think it should last till the end OK, it's just in need of a good service. Most of the components (except consumables such as tyres, brakes etc) are original from when I got the bike 5 years ago and it's done nearly 9,000 miles since then, the equivalent of London to Singapore so it's not doing too bad I guess.

Just three days to go now, so far the weather gods have been really kind to us with nice weather - not to hot, just a couple of rainy morning and a tailwind for most of the way - fingers crossed that this continues for the last push home.

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 3hrs 51 mins
Average speed: 13.7mph
Max 33.5mph
Times I swore at the tour oganiser whilst down a forest track: 34
More suitable for a quad bike than a racing bike
















Great views from the top of the track







The sun is out, the sky is blue, there's a lovely tailwind and only 3 days to go. smiles all round (except John who doesn't like his photo being taken it seems...)
































Urquart castle, on the shore of loch ness

Oh look, another Loch

Dalmally to Fort William: 59 miles

Directions for the day: leave B&B, cycle alongside Loch A, turn right by Loch B and left by Loch C, cycle alongside Loch X, arrive at destination by Loch Y - so in summary we've seen lots of Lochs today. The route is now on slightly busier roads, mainly as there just aren't the country roads up here that you find in (e.g.) Devon, so spent most of the day getting buzzed by coaches and the occasional lorry, so not the best days riding ever, but not too bad as the scenery made up for it, so long as you like Lochs... The route was almost totally flat today which meant we were all able to zip along at a reasonable pace.

Had lunch at a bizarre place, Holly Tree hotel. The food was nice but the woman running the place was unbelievable. We thought it was just us (as some people are a little anti-cyclists) but when I left the only other person having lunch in there came up to me and said "was it just me or was she the most miserable old cow you've ever met" which I think was a pretty accurate summation. Entered into Scottish Highlands just before lunch. Seems odd that there is still another 4 days and 200 miles to go before we reach the top - even though we've done 850 miles already there is still the equivalent of London to York left to do.

Staying in B&B on outskirts of Fort William, a tatty run down little town which seems to (just about) survive on the Ben Nevis tourist trade.

I would have attached a picture of a Loch but frankly once you've seen one you've pretty much seen them all...

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 3hrs 41mins
Average: 15.8 mph (highest so far)
Max 40mph
Lochs seen: ZZzzz

Seal or no Seal?

Luss to Dalmally (near Loch Awe): 48 miles

Comic moment of the day - cycling alongside Loch Lomond I spy 3 brown objects bobbing about in the Loch. Seals I thought, definitely worth a picture, so I stop, put on the zoom lense (I carry my camera plus normal and zoom lenses in my carry case on the back of the bike, along with wet weather clothes, a few basic bike tools and a couple of energy bars), zoom in on the Seals and was just about to press the shutter when.....

...off they flew with a quack. Ho hum.

A relatively easy ride today, the first 12 miles flat, alongside Loch Lomond, then a bit of a tiring 5 mile climb onto the moors and into the rain / drizzle clouds. Coming down the other side was lovely, a 5 mile long 30 to 40mph blast all the way down. Then a similar 10 mile flat stretch along Loch Fyne, past the famous Loch Fyne oyster bar and then a wind assisted 7 mile climb up out again, before again having another 7 mile long 30 to 40mph blast back down the other side to Loch Awe. Here in time for lunch, had some lovely Gaelic Moules followed by a BLT, washed down with a couple of pints.

Seem to have largely fought off the cold I was coming down with, a bit sniffly today with swollen glands but otherwise feeling fine.

The days are definitely getting distinctly cooler as we progress northwards, I had my cycling jacket on for most of the day. I'm glad I packed my thermal cycling shirt, I have a feeling it may be needed before the trip is finished. It seems that all the inhabitants here need something nice and thick to keep them warm:









Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 3hrs 27 mins
Average: 14.0mph
Max 42mph
Miles done so far: 800
Miles to go: 275
Seals spotted: a big fat Zero.

Love to all.

PSSSHHH PSSHH Psshh psh psh psh psh

Yup, that's the sound a inner tube makes when it's just been skewered by a broken bottle whilst going through an underpass.

Strathaven to Luss (by Loch Lomond): 53 Miles

We rode as a group for virtually all of today, mainly for safety in numbers - the route taking us primarily on cycle paths / canal towpaths / old railway lines etc through Glasgow, Clydebank and Dumbarton and close to some of less salubrious parts of town (see top of photo). As it was on narrow and bumpy paths we were generally just pootling along for the first 40 odd miles and it was whilst pootling through a Glasgow underpass that I got my first puncture of the trip.

Not a very inspiring days ride all in all, just cruising past lots of built up areas - it's the only route up unfortunately, barring a major detour. I was surprised at how regenerated the Clyde is, I was expecting it to be a lot bleaker than it was. Still a small amount of shipwork going on and some derelict areas as you head out of town but much of the riverside is now exhibition halls, hotels etc. Had lunch at Scotland's "finest fish and chip shop" (actually an old ship, moored on the river) before heading back out of the populated areas and part the way up the side of Loch Lomond to Luss, a pretty little village spoiled by the nuisance of jet skis buzzing about in the Loch.

Am trying my best (and failing) to fend off a cold, so early night tonight and see what tomorrow brings.

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hrs 44mins
Average speed: A pootling 11.1 mph
Max 31mph
Number of broken bottles dodged: 453
Number of broken bottles not dodged: 1

Love to all

A pain in the butt

Moffat to Strathaven: 57 miles

A lovely sunny day with gentle tailwinds, perfect cycling weather. The start of the route looked a little troublesome - an 8 mile climb out of the valley - it turned out however to be a long and gentle climb. Coming down the other side was lovely, a 15 mile gradual descent, all done in top gear, cruising at 25 to 30mph down the valley, crossing into South Lanarkshire at the end of the descent.

The afternoon was noticeable for the crap roads, really rattling both bike and occupant for miles and miles. It literally rattled Dans bike to bits - with his gear changer falling to bits during the afternoon. This evening I have two sore wrists (from the vibrations coming up through the front forks) and one sore butt.

Went through the village of Boghead towards the end. Couldn't resist taking a photo of the village sign. Not sure which village name I like the most of the villages we've passed through - Boghead or Chipshop - which was in Devon.

Couldn't resist taking a photo of the "personal bath mat" (i.e. to step onto when stepping out of the bath) that is in the B&B room - basically just a piece of thick paper as they are too stingy to buy a proper one - the narrative on the bottom of it tickled me.
















Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hr 13 mins
Average Speed: 13.3mph
Max: 37.5mph
Potholes rattled across: 16,212

Love to all

The sound of silence

Our one and only rest day today so naturally I decided I should do a 20 mile round trip on the bike to go and see Grey Mares Tail, a waterfall. The waterfall itself was OK, basically just a small bit of water falling from quite a height. Decided to trek up into what looked to me like a mountain, but to the locals I'm sure was just a small hillock. After climbing for an hour I had my second wow moment of the tour on finding the source of the waterfall - a large elevated (probably 1,000 ft or so up) loch, surrounded on all sides by large almost vertical hills. There are not many places that you can truly hear the sound of silence - but this is one of them. Well it was anyway until half way down when I was blasted by two RAF jets ripping through the valley below me - quite odd to be looking down from above on a jet twisting and turning through the contours of the valley.

Went into Moffat in the afternoon and had a massage on shoulders (shoulders absorb the vibrations that come up through the bike forks) and legs - really lovely.

Got back to my room to find a rather strong pong and discovered that my cycling shoes - that have had a couple of soakings in the last couple of days - are now rather pungent. Lovely...

A couple of shots from up the hill - one looking upwards and another downwards

A day of Ups and Downs

Armathwaite to Moffat: 61 Miles

Today was billed by the trip organiser as "a relatively easy day". Unfortunately it turned out not to be the case....

We stayed in a lovely B&B last night, the owners had only taken it over 4 weeks ago. Alas since taking it over they had two rooms roofs collapse due to a water leak - not a great start for their business. Every day the food is getting better and better, and cheaper and cheaper. We eat some fantastic freshly prepared food last night, including drink, all for £12 a head. Everyone very tired and fatigued last night after the tough days ride.

After the two previous wet mornings everyone awoke this morning and immediately looked out of the curtains - thankfully today's forecast was wrong - it was a lovely crisp sunny morning. There was also alas a brisk energy sapping headwind which battered us all day long. Continued north, part Carlyle airport and after 25 miles crossing into Scotland. Today was a day of mile after mile of baron landscape, barely a person, car or house all day long. There was thankfully a tea shop after 30 miles that we were heading for for lunch, so at least there would be somewhere that we could stop and refuel....

...alas I got there at lunchtime - it was closed for a refurbishment - nightmare, the next nearest place was a further 20 miles down the road. At this point the going got really baron, just up and down, up and down over hill after hill, all against the headwind, a real struggle. It was beautiful scenery, with absolute silence apart from birds calling overhead. Saw several birds of prey flying around, sitting on telegraph poles, shrieking overhead etc, really stunning.

Finally arrived at the 50 mile refuelling stop really hungry and quite drained to find it - ARGH - closed! The place was no bigger than a small sitting room, just a tiny shop serving the local community. I was just about to leave when I saw a sign on the outside "ring bell for attention". Rung bell and 2 minutes later a lady comes out of her house down the road and opens the shop up for me! No fresh food in sight - but they had "freezer to microwave" baguettes at 79p each in the freezer, which duly became lunch. Never has a 79p sludge filled baguette tasted so good.

Struggled the last 10 miles to Moffat, feeling really drained. Arrived at the B&B to find the owners were not there so found a cushion and fell fast asleep on her front lawn.

Our one and only rest day tomorrow, well deserved and much needed.

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: A tiring 5 hrs, 9 minutes
Average: 11.9mph
Max: 35mph
Birds of prey spotted: 4
Number of times buzzed by low level RAF jets: 6
Fatigue rating 9.5 / 10

Show me the way to Armathwaite....

Dent to Armathwaite (near Penrith). Official distance 55 miles. My distance 59 miles...

Another really wet morning with everyone lingering over their breakfast. Finally plucked the courage up to go outdoors and drenched within 2 minutes by torrential rain. It was looking like a really tough start to the morning, with a very steep climb just a couple of miles down the road. I was a little concerned that I wouldn't have had sufficient chance to warm up properly before the climb, which is why my psyche obviously decided it was going to help me by taking me on a 4 mile detour.... arrived back at my starting place 20 minutes later, totally soaked (but warm).

The climb was by far the hardest of the route so far and apparently was the last big one we are doing. It started with a one mile stiff climb up what I think was varying between a 1 in 4 and a 1 in 6, then a less stiff 3 mile slog to the top. Very quickly we were up into the clouds and it was what one might call downright miserable. Passed the two Johns on top of the steep section changing a puncture in a stiff wind and torrential rain, neither of them looked terribly amused with the conditions. John G would like me to let his friends who are reading this blog know how rough it was out there today - up onto the moor in particular one could say it was not exactly fun struggling up the hill. Mind you John G, it must have been a little easier walking up, surely?...

Once up and over the moor the route flattened out a bit and generally followed the Carlyle to Settle railway for much of the day, crossing into Cumbria early on. Thankfully the rain lifted by lunchtime and we dried out a little as the afternoon wore on. Arrived in Armathwaite pretty weary and had a lovely hot bath, feeling much happier now. Well, happier for the moment anyway until John G comes and slaps me for broadcasting that he walked up the hill...

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hr 53 mins
Average: 12.1 mph
Max: 41 mph
Bucketloads of water fallen on head today: 12,389

Love to all.

Soggy Cyclists

After a wet morning across the moors:

Richard, who seems to always look perfectly coiffured no matter what the weather throws at him and Dan, looking rather bedraggled.










Me (a little blurry), similarly bedraggled















The view from the top of the moor. It was just miserable up there, cycling in the clouds with rivers of water running down the road (and down my nose, ears, neck...)

A day in the wilds

Clayton-le-dale to Dent: 45 miles

The rain in Spain may fall mainly on the plain
But the rain in Dent it did finally relent

We are familiar now that when the distance for the day is relatively short it usually means one thing - most of it is uphill and today very much confirmed that view. Started off a wet day with everyone lingering over their breakfast, not really all that keen to go out in the rain and face the hills. A break in the rain got us all out onto our bikes and of course within 5 minutes the downpour started again.

Climbed up out of the Ribble Valley and onto the moors in torrential rain, a pretty tough climb (circa 5 miles) was made even harder by the weather. Once up onto the moors one can only describe the weather as pretty wild, rain was blowing in sidewards and before too long even the Gore-Tex was beginning to seep water in. Everyone pretty soggy before too long. Apparently the scenery was great but all I saw was mist and rain. Had to slow right down going downhill as rain was stinging my face so badly, it still hurts now, several hours later.

Stopped after 1.5 hours feeling pretty chilly and wet for a nice hot chocolate and cake at a tea shop and thankfully the rain eased and within another hour the sun came out. Another climb after the tea stop, a 6.5 mile climb up onto the north york moors again. After climbing for an hour we reached the summit and the saw the view down the other side, it was so incredible that it bought me out in goosebumps all over, really achingly beautiful.

Well, what goes up must come down and after taking an hour to climb the moor it took 5 minutes to descend it again. Barely saw a car or another person all afternoon, just mile upon mile of baron landscape. Stopped for lunch and then the third and final climb of the day, another hour long 6 mile slog up onto the moors again. Didn't see a single car all the time, crossing the moors on very rarely used gated roads. Zipped down the other side and arrived in Dent, a "Hovis Advert" village, complete with cobbled streets, very pretty.

A tough day, feeling pretty tired by the end.

Stats for the day:
Time spent cycling 4hrs 2 mins
Average speed:11.0 mph
Max speed: 44mph (Weeee......)
Cattle grids crossed: 12
Sheep spotted roaming wild: Millions
Brake blocks shot to pieces on the descent: 2
Miles done so far: 525
Miles to go: 550, almost half way there.

Love to all.

Humiliated

The cycling team took part in a pub quiz last night. On the face of it one would think we had a reasonable chance, we had a team of 9 people ranging from 16yrs to 65 and a wide range of backgrounds. Just as a Joker card we also had Pat, an American. The quiz was split into 3 parts with a prize for each part. Part 1 was general knowledge, Part 2 was music and Part 3 was a written quiz that you do when answering Part 1 and 2.

Our scores: Part 1: 12 points. Part 2: 11 points. Part 3: 8 points. Alas, the quizzes were out of 30, 25 and 20 respectfully with the winning teams romping home with 24, 22 and 18. We left with our tails between our legs having been put firmly in our places.

Acton Bridge to Clayton-Le-Dale (circa 5 miles north of Blackburn): 55 Miles

The day started off nicely with a continuation of yesterdays ride - tail wind and flat open roads. Flew along for the first 15 miles. Alas we flew right onto the outskirts of Manchester and spent the next 15 miles in Manchunian Suburbia, visiting boroughs such as Wigan, Warrington and Bolton. Unfortunately there is no way around it, other than a massive detour. The ride was not all that bad, just quite busy roads and pretty run down surroundings. One can definitely say that we did not visit the part of Cheshire where the Wives and Girlfriends live.

Popped out the other end and up and over some moors with a couple of toughish 2 mile climbs before skirting through the edge of Blackburn, staying in the ribble valley. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day with a 5 mile and 8 mile climb up over the moors. We can see them from where we are staying - picture herewith.








Stats for day:

Time spent cycling: 4hrs 18 mins
Average speed: 12.6mph
Max speed: 39.5 mph
Miles of Manchester cycled through that could possibly have spawned the expression "it's grim up north": Several.

Group pictures

From left:
Dan - 16yrs, just about to do A levels
Bob - 60's, retired, cycled all over the world
Mike - tour organiser
John F - 58, retired. Only started cycling 2 weeks before the trip but done marathons, throttling etc many times
Pat, 60's, cycled across America, 4,000 miles in 9 weeks
Vicky, 31, physiotherapist.
Missing from shot is Richard, Dans father, mid 40's, in social services, specialist in disabled children.




Also missing from above is John, left. 65, retired media buyer. Cycled around much of europe.













A happy way to start the day!

One of the group had to fix a puncture before breakfast so we turned his melon round to make a sad face. Oh how we laughed...

Zipping through Cheshire

Bomere Heath to Acton Bridge (near Runcorn) 49 Miles.

Stayed at a great little place last night, though maybe the owners were a little too houseproud. On arriving we were ordered to stay in the ante room and strip off all our clothes, putting them in a pile on the floor. They said they would wash and dry them for us. All seemed a bit odd, and I was also a bit concerned that they would shrink them all (being lycra, Gore-Tex etc). I suggested they didn't need to worry, I'd just rinse them out in the sink (like we had being doing the previous 7 nights), which was met with disdain "oh no, the sinks are strictly for washing hands and faces only". Turns out they had fitted out all the rooms of their £35 a night B&B with antique furniture, they didn't want any scruffy visitors getting grubby marks on them. Fair enough I suppose but all a bit bizarre. They served us the most fantastic meal in the evening, three courses with wine, £15 a head - can't beat it really, just fantastic home cooked grub, all plates left empty and polished.

Woke up this morning to a stiff tail wind and had a blast through Cheshire, stopping just briefly for drinks en-route and arriving at our destination before lunch. Spend the morning bobbling in and out of Wales, but obviously now approaching north Wales as more of the signs now have Welsh first, English second.

For the past week we have been having fairly light lunches as there was cycling afterwards but with today being a slightly shorter day with a stiff tailwind I thought I'd push on and get here for lunch. Had been dreaming all the way here of having a really nice Sunday roast, couple of pints etc etc. When ones order arrives within 4 minutes of being placed you generally know you're in trouble - it can hardly be freshly prepared. The roast was beyond recognition (the waitress said it was beef, when it was actually lamb, it was that far gone beyond anything edible) and the vegetables were boiled sometime last week and kept simmering I think. On going for a stroll later there was a sign outside the pub "full time chef required" which I think just about said it all. Quite the worst meal I've had in years, really poor. Never mind though, life goes on etc.

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling 3hrs 7 minutes (by far the shortest day so far)
Average Speed: 15.5mph (by far the quickest, thanks to tail wind)
Max speed: 35.5mph
Distance done: 420 miles
Distance to do: 600 miles
Crappy sunday lunches eaten: 1

Pictures at last!

OK, finally got it sorted out, sorry. Only 5 so far as I stopped taking them as I didn't think I could fix it remotely.

I was so god damn bored on the train on the way to Penzance that I took a picture of this train nerd i.e. I took a picture of him taking a picture of our train.


















The obligatory signpost shot. 874 miles by the shortest route, ours is around 1000 miles. Cracking route so far, they organisers have done brilliantly, very little traffic and fantastic scenery
















A rather sobering reminder that this thing that we call a sport is not without its risks



















John (on left, aged 65) and John (on right aged 58) after a day out in the rain. They are not best pleased with what the weather threw at them today.











Picture doesn't really do it justice - I was trying to capture the horizontal rain we had today.

It's a bit Marty Pellow out there

Anyone get my poor joke? Tried it on one of my fellow cyclists and they looked like me like I was from planet zog.

Woebely to Bomere Heath (near Shrewsbury): 60 miles

For 4 days now the weather forecast has been saying it will rain today and alas they were right. Now, does anyone still not get my joke?

Breakfast was a slightly bizarre affair, the owner of the hotel was a top London surgeon, he spends 2 days a week in London and the rest of the week running the hotel. He was also the breakfast chef. Alas he prepared for breakfast in the same way as he prepares for open heart surgery - meticulously.... he was only able to cook one meticulous dish at a time, thus with 4 of us sitting round the table each of us had actually finished our breakfast before the next persons arrived! Nice guy but dear god, learn to cook more than one slice of bacon at a time please.

I was not too averse to running late this morning as it was teaming down with rain but as it didn't look like it was going to stop there was nothing for it other than head out into the abyss, fully clad in wet weather kit. The kit held up OK, but with the route being on country lanes there was a large amount of dirt and liquid organic animal matter being spun up off the tyres so god knows what I looked like when I walked into the pub at lunchtime, a bit of a rat that hat just been pulled out the sewer I expect.

Rain cleared up after lunch and then a strong wind picked up and blew us all the way to the hotel. Feeling a bit weary after lunch so glad of the helping hand.

Not an overly tough days cycle (albeit quite long) with just a few steep hills - it would have been a lovely ride had it not been so wet wet wet (now come on, surely you must have got the joke now...).

What else is new - well I think I've fixed my phone, the memory card was not formatted properly, I reformatted it and it is now saving pictures properly - so I should be able to pop the card into my laptop and upload them - will try later. I stopped taking them the last few days so now it's fixed I'll take some more.

One other thing I was thinking about on the way around today - alcohol, and the increase in consumption of it. First night before the first days ride everyone was like "oh, just half a shandy please", next night it was a pint, next night two pints. By last night it was two or three pints before dinner, wine on the table over dinner and then desert wine to follow. God knows what we'll be up to by Scotland. Still, it's all being burned off the next day.

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hrs 44 mins
Average speed 12.3mph
Max speed 33mph
Cattle grids crossed: 2
Sheep spotted at side of road: 12

Love to all

A day in Wales

Chepstow to Woebley 52.1 miles

Day started off in typical Welsh fashion - raining - but it soon cleared and the rest of the day was lovely sunshine. We were given a choice of routes for the morning - along the main road but pretty flat or off the main road but pretty hilly. Being a nutter and also not really liking traffic noise spoiling my tranquillity I opted for the hilly route, which turned out to be a 45 minute, 5 mile slog, then down the other side, then another 45 minute 5 mile slog up again. Was beginning to regret my choice of route...

Felt pretty good today, a lof ofthe tiredness seems to have gone away, just like they said it would by day 6. Constantly weary though.

Day turned out to be quite similar to the last two days with lots of hills to slog up in the morning, then pretty flat (that's Welsh flat, not East Anglia flat...) in the afternoon. Very scenic route today with very little traffic seen all day.

Crossed over back into England towards the end of the day. Of course we are far to darn lazy to signify the border in any way - the only way of knowing was that two houses on either side of the road were flying George Cross flags. I thought "what on earth are people doing flying English flags in Wales, they'll get their houses burnt down", before sussing out it was their way of saying we were crossing the border.

Ended up in Woeblay which is a very very pretty village somewhere near Hay-on-Wye. Not quite sure where as too small for streetmap.com.

Sorry for lack of photos by the way, am having a problem with the memory card on my phone. Have taken hundreds of photos with the film camera - took 20 films with me and used most of them already.

Stats for the day:

Time cycling: 4hrs 23 mins
Average speed 11.7mph (darn hills)
Max speed 34.5mph
Total done so far: 310 miles
Left to do: 700 miles

Love to all

Chris gets (1) over enthusiastic and (2) lost.

Cheddar to Chepstow. Official mileage 45.7 miles. My mileage 46.6 miles...

A similar sort of day today as we had yesterday, with the morning spent in hills, picking our way down lanes covered in dark green animal matter and the afternoon on flatlands.

Felt very weary last night, really struggled up the stairs to my room but woke up this morning feeling quite racy and energised. Decided to have a bit of a blast and see how I got on, significantly increasing the work rate and pace from the off. Normally I can keep it up on a one-off ride for 30 miles or so. Started off well, blasting up the cheddar gorge and climbing hard for 3 miles. Shot past the 3 older chaps going at near race pace whilst they were going pretty slowly - I guess they must have thought "idiot". Got my comeuppance about 10 miles down the road when I ran out of juice and then spent the next 10 miles feeling crap. Had an energy bar which had no effect. Finally found a shop and downed 2 bottles of lucozade, that had the desired effect!

The scenery though was pretty dull and not many places worthy of stopping for a photo. Didn't enjoy the afternoon much as it was making our way over into Wales - crossing both the avonmouth and old severn bridges, spending several miles in the grim outskirts of Bristol and generally spending 2 hours on cycle paths alongside busy / noisy roads, not really my idea of fun.

Finished in Chepstow right by the castle. Chepstow seems really nice.

Comedy moment of the day - the route into Chepstow took us down a narrow back lane, which was a one way street (and not our way). Now, to explain, you have to follow the guide notes - they are notes, not a map - so if you deviate from them you will never get back on route - and it said "go down the one way street - careful, you are going the wrong way down" - so down I went. Got to the bottom and stopped. A lady calls out:

Lady "excuse me, do you realise that is a one way street"?
Me "yes, thanks"
Lady "well it's not very good is it, what would have happened if you would have been hit by a car?"
Me "ah, that's very sweet of you to be concerned, thanks very much, I'm touched"
Lady walks off...

And they say that cyclists have a bad image...?

Managed to take my first wee detour today. I would love to say that the route notes were wrong but actually it was all my fault - and Heather will love to hear me say that as I NEVER (EVER) get lost. I was alas cycling along reading a text message one of my fellow cyclists had sent me and flew past the left hand turn I needed. Alas I did not realise until I had then climbed 1/2 a mile up a 1 in 6 hill. That will teach me...

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 3hrs 54 mins
Average speed: stubbornly refusing to rise from 11.9mph
Max speed 39.5 mph
welsh ladies annoyed: 1

Love to all

Cheese = smile?

Just been into have a wander around Cheddar. One piece of advice to anyone thinking of coming here - don't - what a shite hole. Bumped into one of my fellow cyclists whilst wandering around - he put it best "how to take an area of outstanding natural beauty and completely fuck it up".

Nuff said.

Pugh spies his homeland

Tiverton to Cheddar: 53.4 Miles

A reasonable morning, starting easy and then ending with a tough climb up and over the Quantock Hills. Legs feeling very tired and weary on all climbs - just plodded up every hill in granny gear, tried a few times to power climb up some of the hills, got about 20 yards and gave up. Apparently it is commonplace on days 4 and 5 to feel weary as the body is protesting at the recent continual overtraining, and then by day 6 or 7 it has adjusted. Passed into Somerset so that's two counties done now. Sat in a cafe on top of the Quantocks and asked the owner what the land was that I could see in the distance - it was Wales.

After lunch was pretty easy, a 30 mile cruise keeping the Bristol Channel on our near left most the time. Apparently we cross it tomorrow over the old Severn Bridge.

A little info on the other people doing the ride - eight in all. 6 guys, 3 of whom are late 50's / early 60's. Two of them regular cycle tourists, having toured many countries both in Europe and further afield. All of them are struggling up the hills somewhat, but nonetheless very impressive, I really hope I am able to do something like they are doing when I'm 30 years older. All of them were pretty depressed last night, the cumulative exertions of the previous few days catching up with them I guess. I'm sure they'll all be fine, they've done this sort of thing so many times before.

The other three are myself and a father and 16yr old son, the three of us keep roughly the same pace. The son is impressive to have the stamina to do 1,000 miles at 16 years old as at that age one generally has speed but not stamina (ones muscles change over the years). He's also doing it on a touring bike which is probably 15% or so less efficient than a racing bike. None of the three of us have "cracked" yet - we've made it up every hill without stopping. OK, only just - all three of us thought about it and got close to stopping - like when you've been climbing solidly for 20 minutes and are pretty knackered, you turn a sharp corner and all it does is get steeper - that's when you think "oh sod this", but we all just about made it up somehow.

The two girls - one is early 30's and the other is an American lady in (I believe) her early 60's, she's recently completed the cross america ride - 4,000 miles over 9 weeks, very impressive at any age, let alone at 60. She's here just for this trip and is using it as a chance to see the country.

What else is interesting - diet I guess. When I'm at home I'll usually skip breakfast, have a sandwich for lunch and then pasta or something for dinner. Not sure quite how many calories we've been consuming over the last few brutal days but by way of contrast yesterday I had porridge, followed by full english breakfast. Then stopped for elevenses - a large slice of chocolate cake and a packet of fudge. Then stopped for lunch - baked potato. Stopped mid afternoon for an energy bar and then went our for a Thai in the evening and polished off 3 courses. All washed down during the course of the day with 3 cans of flat full fat coke and a couple of cans of flat lucozade. And when I went to bed - I was still hungry...

Stats for the day:

Time spent cycling: 4hrs 10 mins

Average speed 12.8mph (highest so far, wahey)

Max speed: 39.5mph

Lowest speed: 2.8mph (lowest so far, up the Quantocks).