Day #10 : John O'Groats!

Ride Video

So that is the end of it.

Spent the preparatory night in a hotel in Lairg - where the proprietor told us off for 'arriving during dinner service' (in spite of having been warned by phone 3 hours earlier).

They sort of made up for it by leaving out packed lunches for us and we hit the road at 7am for the final 100 miles to John O'Groats.

The first half of the ride - up toward the northern coastline - was nice, dry and with some impressive mountains to our right and a couple of fast downhills.

The first and only accident of the trip occurred today at zero miles per hour when I dropped my bike trying to turn it and failing to get a cleat out in time. No damage and Tim did an impressive job of feigning concern and managing not to laugh.

Stopped off to eat sandwiches at a caravan park where we had a quick chat to a farrier from Suffolk whom Tim (hailing also from the flat-lands) immediately engaged in conversation about local things (oddly they looked kind of similar).

After riding past Dounreay power plant (which has a genuine look of dirty-work being done out of sight) in came the weather.

We rode our last 2.5 hours in the grey driving rain. It felt like Scotland was saying it was time to go.

We arrived in John O'Groats about 16:30 - got the sign photo and then drank a pint and a Laguvullin.

Having stuck on some dry clothes we took a bike transfer van to inverness to a nice hotel and had dinner at a good place called Rocpool (recommended for any one going to Inverness).

Time to box up the bikes and get back to the families..

Day #9 - Into Lairg

Beautiful weather today - after hearing last night in the Ellis Brigham store in Fort William they have actually recorded a solid 8 months of days with rainfall - that we have now had 2 sunny, dry days makes me feel like we've been lucky with Scotland so far.

Rode along Loch Ness through Fort Augustus along some canal towpaths and saw the mist clear around Ben Nevis first thing.

Had an interesting chat with a guy, cool old-timer who used to build the oil rigs - he pointed out a load of them being stored in one of the Lochs; waiting until the crude price goes up sufficiently to support recommissioning them. Apparently it costs $250k a WEEK to store a single rig there. He looked dewy eyed when taking about the boom oil years. He was drinking red wine out of a miniature measure bottle though.

Final push to John O'Groats tomorrow - really looking forward to getting underway.

Day #8 : Into Fort William

Ride video - part 1 | Ride video - part 2

 Woke up at 5:45am to the sound of rain..

It had stopped by 7 and we left the Arrochar stop slightly bemused and pissed off that, seemingly, someone stole my knackered and grubby water bottles off the pub garden wall the night before.

Soon forgot about this after riding along the Loch shores in continuously improving weather and getting the best of the local scenery. I think we have been seriously lucky with the weather - I was in short sleeves the afternoon.

Probably the most enjoyable day of riding of the trip yet.

Most of the second 40 mile leg was along dedicated routes that tracked the shores of the Lochs that allowed for a bit of stopping off and snapping photos - have posted the better ones below.

Pulled into Fort William where we are staying in a slightly odd B and B / youth hostel type place where they sculpt the towels into the shape of Swans and display a 'no Marijuana' sign up in the front window.

The town itself has a good vibe; a bit more active than other places we've stayed - I think it's a staging post for climbing, kayaking and other outdoor stuff along with distillery tours - a lot of different nationalities around.

After our dinner we managed one shot of a single malt in a bar before turning tail at 8:45 pm to get ready for bed and the remaining 2 days of the tour..

Day #7 : into Arrochar

65 miles of riding today having taken a more direct route out of Moffat to Larkhall station and taking a train that removed the 35 miles or so circling Glasgow.

The 40 mile ride out of Moffat was quite scenic to begin with, with a hefty climb at the start but then we were on a straight B road for about 2.5 hours past the Clyde wind farm (and into a headwind) which was totally featureless and a bit trying.

Banter exhausted, we went to audio books. Am listening to 'Digging up Mother' - an autobiographical effort by the US comic Doug Stanhope. Not for the faint hearted but it's working for me. I think Tim was on Alan Patridge which I listened to for a short while last night - forgot how funny it was. I must watch Paul and Pauline Calf again soon..

We comfortably made our midday train connection which after just over an hour dropped us West of Glasgow for a great 25 mile leg up the Western shore of Loch Lomond - entirely on a dedicated cycle way. Weather was dry and, remarkably,  at times warm and sunny.

We were overtaken by a convoy of what I took to be die-hard Scottish Mods on Vespa scooters with varying degrees of customisation. My personal favourite was a bright orange one with Trojan records and Northern Soul livery and a good dose of extra chrome mirrors. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about I'm sorry (and you should check out a movie called Quadrophenia if you feel like broadening your cultural horizons).

Very annoyingly my Garmin dropped the 25 mile Loch Lomond leg by crashing when I clicked 'Save' - so no Strava or cool Relive video of that (unless I can rip it out of ViewRanger which does have it logged - if only Dave Reid was here - he would find a way).

We are staying at a hotel in Arrochar right by the shores of the Loch - just 3 more days, a bigger one tomorrow with quite a bit of climbing before lunch.

Ride video - part 1 | View ranger track - part 2

the Loch this evening 

scooter mods - originals vs revivalists going on the average age

Loch Lomond cycle way

our digs  

Day #6 : Into Moffat

Beautiful dry morning riding out (and UP) from Dent into the Eden valley, an unspoiled and at times quite wild place.

Also a trip down memory lane for Tim who spent many of his childhood holidays there hiking and climbing (according to him his parents didn't like the idea of their kids hanging around with the masses 'eating lollipops' in Lake Windermere). Odd as I have always thought him a man of the people.

Being Saturday saw several groups of weekend cyclists - a reminder that cycling looks quite enjoyable when you haven't a an agenda to stick to and 15 kilos of extra kit attached to your bike.

Winds were continuing to blow from the north pushing our average speed down to under 10mph so to prevent an 11 hour day, around lunchtime we elected on another railway 'hack' to cut our ride down to 65 miles in total. We got into Moffat around 4pm - in time to see local lads staggering out of the pub singing Oasis, another reminder that the weekend was upon us.

Got out for a decent Italian meal and back to bed at 9pm..

Ride video - part 1 | Ride video - part 2

Day #5 : Into Dent

After getting into Tarporley on Thursday the 4 x 100 mile days had taken their toll and another 105 through Liverpool and Manchester with unfavourable wind seemed (from the comfort of my own home) too much to bite off on another consecutive day.

So, on the Friday we called a rest day and cut it back to a shorter ride (sorry no Strava for this one; lost on a big Garmin clickcident) from the Lake District up into Dent - a really pretty town in the borders. This got us back onto our accommodation schedule.

Got to Dent about 2 pm and fell asleep for two hours - woke up in time to eat and then slept again. Legs starting to recharge..

Dent : Reminiscent of the Hovis ads - riding on cobbles is not quaint though - it's painful! 

Day #4 - Fowler's Bench

Had a good night at an Inn in Weobley and got going feeling recharged and excited about seeing the family.

Route was quite flat and some lovely Shropshire and Cheshire scenery - all made slightly less appealing by a bit of a pig of a headwind that we had to push into for most of the day

Had some fun hacking down small farm lanes and got some quite decent random fish and chips

Drawing closer to home en route to Tarporley we were intercepted by a cool silver Mercedes near Malpas; piloted by Captain David Reid who must have been tracking us..

Receiving the Jelly babies he had was a great way to be welcomed back to the hood!

It got even better when we got to the Swan in Tarporley where not only did we find Caroline, Gara and the kids but also my Dad (over secretly from Ireland - to do the coast to coast ride) - annoyingly we missed Aunty Alex by a whisker..

So - the day ends overnighting at home with day 5 beginning after the school run!

Ride video

Day #3 arrival : Weobley

Left Cheddar about 7:45 am after getting hardly any sleep, in a drizzle and climbed out of the gorge which was quite impressive but I was cold and didn't stop to take any photos - which I already regret.

Rode out toward Bristol on a route which, until we crossed the Severn, was largely off road; via the Avon cycle way - which whilst free of traffic made for very slow going, again.

Lots of evidence of high winds the night before with fallen trees and branches and lanes littered with acorns and horse chestnuts freshly shaken down.

We had some pork scratchings from a Co-Op near Bristol which were bob on.

Thereafter, crossing the Severn estuary into a headwind as a rain storm passed in the opposite direction was fairly the opposite of what I enjoy most about cycling (eg. descending down the mountains in Mallorca into warmer air).

So - morale had taken a big hit before lunch but was partially restored around the arrival of the sunshine and a hot sandwich for lunch at Tintern - followed by a stunning section to Monmouth (somewhere I have resolved to revisit) along the Wye valley.

Weather stayed great all afternoon and I feel like I have seen some of the best of the English and Welsh countryside.

Staying in a nice old inn in Weobley - looking forward to seeing the family tomorrow

Ride video

these also keep you going

welcome to Wales

Day #2 Arrival - Cheddar

Much nicer ride today - got our stopping / eating thing balanced out a bit better and the weather was very good right until the last hour or so. All felt easier than yesterday.

The weather for the remainder of the trip is starting to become a concern though; storm Eileen is on its way according to Gara who always knows (and sometimes, is even right). 

First thing tomorrow is a long climb out of Cheddar gorge which looks quite tough - moreover as I think it'll rain all day. I am wondering how we'll cope with a solid day of foul weather..

Time to get some sleep..

Ride video

Early onto Dartmoor

These keep you going

Bikes - a bit wet and minging

Day #1 Arrival - Tavistock

Pretty challenging first day.. After riding out further for the photo at Land's End - which actually has its own, not so fancy, theme park - 100 miles of continuously rolling terrain meant the miles ticked down very slow - going up and down ad infinitum - 9.5 hours later we got into Tavistock to much relief

Glad to be out of Cornwall - shower and a curry fixed things up 😀

Ride video

Day #1

It just got real

Day #0; positioning

Fly Manchester to Exeter, train Totnes to Penzance ride 10 miles Penzance to Seenan

Really windy ride here - hoping what was a headwind this afternoo will be our tail wind tomorrow

Cosy pub for dinner, lots of holiday makers still down here despite pretty grim weather

The Cornish roads seem tough and undulating - apprehensive about 100 miles tomorow..

https://www.strava.com/activities/1177900324/shareable_images/map_based?hl=en-US&v=1505064178

Cove @ Seenan - wild this evening - there's a surf school there..

Food; looked good, took ages..

Tim

I hope you get to the top of Scotland

Well wishes from the little Akasts

Packed up

10 days worth of stuff.. the familiar feeling of having forgotten something is acute now

Leaving on Monday..

Tim and I will be leaving on Monday morning (11 September 2017)  to attempt to travel the Land's End to John O'Groats 'end to end' ride covering the length of the UK on our bicycles in 10 days. 

We're not raising money and we're not dedicating our 'journey' to anyone; best to be honest, it's a selfish box-ticking exercise, with lots of stopping in pubs.

If anyone wants to donate - offer Caroline and Laura a hand over the next couple of weeks - they deserve the credit for letting us go. Thank you Laura and Caroline X

If anyone fancies joining any of the days - give us a shout!