Monday 25th July; Lands End to Golant

Statistics
65.76 miles
6hrs 42mins
9.81 mph average speed
45.24 mph maximum speed

We were collected from home at 2.15 in the morning by Phil and Anna Dadswell and driven to Lands End arriving at 8 am. After having our photo taken at the signpost we started our journey at 10 am. The weather was overcast but not cold. We stopped for a fry up in Penzance at 11 am. We passed St Michaels Mount and stopped to take some photos.
Our maximum speed for the day was achieved as we descended the hill to the King Harry Ferry (not far from Trelissick Gardens)
We continued until about 5pm when we stopped at a small coffee shop in an old water mill for lemonade and a slice of quiche (it was the end of the day and the lady hadn’t got a lot left!)
After a few hours cycling I noticed that my front tyre was slightly flat, I stopped to put more air into the tyre and snapped the valve! This wasn’t too much of a problem as I had come prepared and got my spare inner tube out of my panniers. One problem – it was the wrong size!! But it had to do as it was that or walk, so we puckered it in to fit the tyre!! This lasted a few more miles till we stopped at a garage at Ruan High Lanes, when it deflated all of its own accord!! Where the tube was folded it had worn through.
Now we needed a big patch and some ingenuity! Ben tried to mend the tube by cutting the split section out and repairing it! This failed to work and was a bit of a bodge! The garage was a family run affair. The owner was still working (it was about 7pm by this time). We asked him if he had any spare inner tubes; no he hadn’t but his son, James was there and offered to give us the inner tube from his own bike. This we tried and realised that the hole for the valve was not big enough!! So out came the drill and the owner made the hole big enough!
After many thanks and two decent inner tubes we were off, to the nearest Halfords. This was in St Austell; they closed at 8pm so Ben left me plodding along and he sped off to get to St Austell before closing! He made it and we continued to the MacDonald’s. We were not allowed through the drive through (we did try!) so after queuing up inside we eventually got our Mcchicken Burger and fries!
We still hadn’t got to our final destination, so after Ben could finally drag himself off the phone to Naomi we were back on the road. By this time it had started to get dark. We cycled onto Golant YHA. Just when we thought we had arrived at the youth hostel, we found the drive to be about ¾ of a mile long! We arrived at a quarter past 10.


Tuesday 26th July; Golant to Princetown (Dartmoor)

Statistics
52.86 miles
5hrs 48mins
9.09 mph average speed
35.43 maximum speed

We left Golant youth hostel by about 10pm after a good YHA fried breakfast with lots of toast! We had to catch another ferry today, the Bodinnick ferry from Fowey to Bodinnick (across the river Fowey estuary). All went well until the directions said turn left at the next t-junction; unfortunately we did not find the t-junction! We did rather a large circle and nearly ended up back at the river. We retraced our steps and got back on route. We continued on to Torpoint where we caught a ferry across to Plymouth. From Plymouth we headed for Dartmoor, (I wasn’t looking forward to this as I knew it was going to be hard!). We stopped at Yelverton, (this is on the edge of Dartmoor) for a Mullerice! We also bought a disposable BBQ and some sausages hoping it would stay dry enough to cook outside- it didn’t! As we started to climb up over Dartmoor the clouds descended and it became very misty with drizzly rain. By this time I was shattered and all I wanted to do was crash into bed! I struggled on while Ben stopped fairly regularly so I could catch up with him. We got as far as Princetown (this is where the prison is). I was delighted to see a bunk house in the village next to a pub! (We had by this time, discovered that the YHA at Steps Bridge was fully booked.) After enquiring if they had any beds for the night, and paying the massive sum of £6.25 each for the night, I had a shower and cooked the sausages in the grill! – It was not really BBQ weather!! The beds in the bunk house were basic, to say the least. I spoke to my cousin Simon (the editor of our website) and he had updated it with the escapade of the previous day (today was not nearly so exciting!) Ben plotted the route for the next few days. By this time I had definitely got a sore backside and decided that I would need more cream the next day!!


Wednesday 27th July; Princetown to Cheddar

Statistics
90 miles
(Lost other stats as speedo went on the blink again)

I was woken up at half past seven by my alarm and we packed and left as quietly as we could. The morning was damp and overcast; typical Dartmoor weather I think! We stopped at the first shop we came to which was opposite the clapper bridge. Here we had a hot pastie and lucozade for breakfast! After sending a postcard home we were off once more.
We had booked a bed at cheddar YHA as the hostel that we really wanted- at Street- was fully booked. Cheddar was 17 miles further north; this explains the high mileage we did that day.
We pedalled on through the Devonshire lanes, lovely and quiet but the signposts were rubbish. Then it started to rain and rain it did! We got soaked; the water was squelching in my shoes! I think we stopped at Talaton for lunch (not exactly sure if that’s right?). Lunch consisted of what we could eat without a knife and fork! The rain was still falling, the shop keeper allowed us to sit in his car to eat our lunch, which we were very grateful for. After lunch we headed back towards the A30. This is not a very nice road hence we had been riding parallel to it, on country lanes since leaving Exeter. It was just after lunch I realised I had left my gloves in the shop keepers’ car! It was too far to go back for them, so I rode on without!
As we passed through the lanes there was all sorts of smells hanging in the air- some nicer than others! This is something you don’t get in a car; on a bike you can ride by a house and tell what they have cooked for dinner!
We followed the A30 through Honiton, then lanes through Broadway, Shepton Beauchamp, West Lambrook, Long Sutton, Street, Glastonbury, Wells and finally on to Cheddar. We arrived wet, tired and hungry at five past 10 in the evening! I don’t really know how I did the last 20 miles. I was so tired my whole body was screaming at me to stop, but my mind was saying “I have to get to Cheddar!” And get to Cheddar we did.
The lady on reception kindly made us some tuna sandwiches which we soon polished off!
After having filled our stomachs it was time for a shower. The drying room was a very small room and it was by this time of night already full of wet, newspaper stuffed, smelly shoes, damp maps and wet backpacks! There was just room for our wet gear; although come the morning, because of lack of ventilation some stuff was still damp! There were only 3 of us in our room, but it still looked like a bomb had hit it!



Thursday 28th July; Cheddar to St Briavels

Statistics
54.67 miles
5hrs 14mins
10.44 mph average speed
35.92 maximum speed

After another hearty YHA breakfast we left the hostel at 10 past 10. The first road we had to take went right up through the gorge at Cheddar, this proved to be a long slow climb. Looking at the map now, it looks about 5 miles, over the Mendip hills. Took minor lanes nearly all the way to Bristol; we met a couple of men on bikes, they weren’t doing the end to end, they were just out for a short ride! We came past Chew Valley Lake. Into Bristol we passed over the Clifton Suspension Bridge. The weather was not too bad; grey skies, but we saw the sun a few times. We stopped at a Texaco garage for what was to become a fairly normal lunch. It consisted of sandwiches, a packet of crisps, Muller fruit corner yoghurt, followed by a selection of chocolate or cake washed down with a milkshake or lucozade! Back on the road out of Bristol we headed for the Severn Bridge, the wind blew us nearly all the way over.
We got to the other side and met a man who had stayed at Cheddar YHA the night before. After falling off his bike (he was also doing the end to end), he discovered that one of the bolts had fallen out of his SPD’s (these are the special shoes that cyclists wear; you are physically attached to the pedals by a clip on the bottom of the shoe). Ben had a spare so gave it to him, and he was soon on his way. Just after this we passed into Wales, then on into Chepstow. We enquired and found a bike shop; here I bought a replacement pair of gloves and some energy powder to dilute in our drinking water. We passed Chepstow race course. Not far from the YHA we stopped at a village shop and bought our tea. ‘Tea’ consisted of garlic bread and pizza, with apple turnovers, followed by the inevitable fruit corner yoghurt! This we managed to squash into our panniers. After asking how far it was to St Briavels Castle; and being cheered immensely by the answer ‘thas a long climb up ther’ we continued!
A mile and a half from the YHA Ben got a puncture! Ben soon changed the inner tube (this is quicker than trying to repair it in evening light!), and we climbed (or walked in my case) up hill to the YHA, arriving at approximately 7pm.
Cooked our pizza and garlic bread, and ate with a Spanish family, staying at the YHA. So now I can say good night in Spanish! (Beuno nwato)
The man who we had seen by the Severn Bridge (the one with the lost bolt) somehow managed to beat us to the YHA!

Friday 29th July; St Briavels to Clun

Statistics
73.72 miles
6hrs 4mins
12.13 mph average speed
40.90 maximum speed

By this time we had had enough of full English YHA breakfasts, so Ben opted for a vegetarian breakfast (was the same except you get those manufactured sausage things instead of real ones!), and I had a continental breakfast, which consisted of warm croissants and fruit. It made a nice change.
We left the HYA at 10am and followed signs for Ross on Wye. Here I phoned Mr Roe (the pastor of the chapel at Birkenhead) and asked him if we could stay in the chapel house for Sunday. He agreed and told us to collect the keys from the Miss Cooke’s, now known to us as ‘The Birkenhead Aunties’! We then found a bike shop and changed the brake pads on my bike and the guy in the bike shop had a look at my bottom bracket (the bit that the pedals are attached to). He said that it had not been done very well and a cheap part had been used but he re greased it and said it should get me to John O’ Groats (thankfully it did). We lunched in Greggs for £3 each; warm sausage rolls and cream cakes! After having satisfied our appetites we cycled on to Clun. The first part of the afternoon we followed the river Wye. This was very nice the road being narrow but level. The roads for the remainder of the afternoon were pretty good. At one point one of the roads got narrower and narrower; there was moss growing along the middle of the road and the hedges were leaning over as if to reach each other, we thought we were going to come out in a farmyard! The road did eventually come back to civilisation! We also passed some enormous strawberry fields somewhere en-route and a Cadbury factory. Some time into the afternoon Ben had a phone call from his dad. Mr Wilkinson had been contacted by an old school friend, Ray; Ray had invited us to dinner with him and his wife Madeline that night. We agreed that yes we would love to go. A little while later Ray himself phoned so say he would collect us from Clun YHA and drop us back again. He also asked if we liked salmon; this gave us something to look forward to! We arrived at Clun at about half past seven. After quick showers Ray arrived to take us to dinner. We soon arrived there and were served with a lovely dinner of salmon with vegetables and salad with Ice cream for desert! Ray and Madeline were very good to us; they also packed up rolls for lunch the next day. Ray dropped us back to the YHA at about 10.30pm. I was very tired and didn’t ring Simon that night; I was glad to get into bed.

Saturday 30th July; Clun to Chester (onto Birkenhead by train)

Statistics
77 miles approx
(Speedo got reset again!)

Got up at about 7ish and packed up ready to leave. Whilst packing I discovered that the doughnut I had not eaten for my lunch the day before, had been attacked! By a mouse! It had eaten through the wrapper and nibbled a hole in it! I saw someone else inspecting some food and they too discovered that mice had eaten their breakfast! We had the rolls for breakfast, which Ray had made the previous night. Just before we left we spoke to some other cyclists who we discovered were also were doing the ‘end to end’. They had a rest day on the previous day hence we had caught up with them. They were following the same route as us.
It wasn’t long before we started to feel peckish. We soon found the inevitable village shop, where ‘Dora’ was in charge. Here we breakfasted on yoghurt, banana and chocolate biscuits!
We followed the route on over The Long Mynd. Again it was hard work getting to the top but it was always worth it. We got to the top and we could see for miles around us and there was still the best to come- the downhill bit! Without my glasses I could hardly see a thing! The wind in my face, my eyes watered and to add to the pleasure -I swallowed a fly!
We stopped for lunch in Ellesmere, today it was from Spar! I also bought a new tie for Sunday as mine had got ruined in the rain! A gentleman approached us and asked us if we were doing the end to end. We had a chat to him and he sponsored us.
After lunch we carried on and met with the couple we had seen earlier (at Clun). We also came across a couple scratching their heads outside a village shop. The guy’s bike was upside down on the pavement. We stopped to ask if they were ok. No they weren’t his rear axle had snapped! We were sorry we could not help them and continued. About half a mile later, Ben noticed that one of his brake pads had been rubbing on his tyre and had nearly worn through. About turn, back to the couple outside the village shop. They had mentioned getting a taxi to Chester, where they lived. We thought perhaps we could get a lift with them to share the cost. In the end we decided we would take a detour through Wrexham and pay a visit to Halfords! This was in the hope that Bens wheel would get us to Wrexham, thankfully it did. A new tyre from Halfords soon solved the problem. Then it was out of Wrexham back onto the route and onto Chester. This we did without further ado. We stopped once (at Holt I think) to buy a ready meal for our tea! We rode on into Chester and found the train station. We got the train to Birkenhead (Rock Ferry). From here we rode off into the (by now) setting sun to find the residence of the ‘Birkenhead Aunties’. They had the keys for the chapel house. We soon found the chapel house and made ourselves at home. After putting our dinner in the oven I went and had a bath, it was lovely!! I had my spaghetti Bolognese and Ben had lasagne. After attempting to wash some of our clothes in the sink we hung them up to dry! Went to bed at about 9pm and had a good 11 hours sleep!

Sunday 31st July

Today was spent with the congregation at Birkenhead, Mary Cousins cooked us a lovely dinner. We had tea with the ‘Birkenhead Aunties’.

Monday 1st August Chester to Slaidburn (only got to Chorley)

Statistics
58.83 miles
4hrs 25mins
13.29 mph average speed
29.52 maximum speed

Today was not a very good day! I can’t remember exactly what happened in the morning as the events of the afternoon seem to have eclipsed them some what! We left the ‘Birkenhead Aunties’ at about 10am and caught the train from Birkenhead to Chester.
We got as far as Chorley. Bens back wheel went twang; a spoke had snapped. It needed a repair and it wasn’t going to be easy. Ben rode my bike and took his back wheel, to find (the inevitable) Halfords! He soon returned to say they could not help him as they did not keep any racing spares in stock. Ben thought it best not to go any further on the wheel as it was. By this time I was looking forward to a night under a hedge! This had happened right outside the Stagecoach bus depot. Ben said ‘do you think they would let us sleep in a bus for the night?’ (Better than under a hedge I thought!). He went inside to ask, he was soon back saying that the staff couldn’t find the manager – John. He was the person we needed to ask. By this time it was getting a bit cold so we stepped inside the depot (it was a huge building where all the safety checks are carried out and the buses refuelled and washed for the following day). John soon found us and we repeated our plight to him, he explained (in a broad Lancashire accent!) that we couldn’t sleep in a bus for the night because of health and safety reasons. But we were more than welcome to lock our bikes up in the depot for the night. A couple of the staff were obviously concerned about what we going to do for the night and one rang his wife, to see if she would put us up. Another rang a friend; but neither option was possible. We wandered off in the direction of the town to find something to eat. One of the bus depot staff had given us a voucher to use at Burger King, but we couldn’t find Burger King so we settled for a KFC. We ordered a family bucket meal and managed most of it! Once our stomachs were full, it was time to find a place to sleep.
From the bus depot we had seen some hills that looked like they might offer us some protection. We walked down a lane and over the Leeds and Liverpool canal then over the M61. We then went over a stile and cut across the fields. I said to Ben ‘we had better stay out of the way of the farmhouse in case the owners see us’. Soon after having said this we decided that perhaps it would be better to ask the owners if we could sleep in their fields. So very bravely Ben went to the front door followed by the barking of the farm dog! The door was opened before he reached it, by Ann Strange (the farmers’ wife). We once again explained our situation to her. She said she would ask her husband, Thomas. She returned with her husband and the poor chap stood there scratching his head, not quite sure what to make of us! Here were two cyclists who said they were cycling the end to end, that they had a problem with their bikes and wanted to sleep in the fields for the night, but ……they had no bikes with them!! After more head scratching and questions he said ‘come and sleep in the front room’. This was what we were hoping but never really expected! I had braced myself to spend a night under the stars.
We followed Ann into the farmhouse and she showed us the front room were we could sleep on the floor. She then offered us a ‘bun and a brew’ (a cup of tea and a cake!), which we kindly accepted. She then proceeded to offer us the use of their shower and facilities. By the time I was out the shower Ann had phoned a friend, Chris, who knew something about bikes and the way they work! He would be along in the morning at quarter to nine to pick us and our bikes up, and take us to the bike shop to get Bens bike repaired.

Tuesday 2nd August Chorley to Slaidburn

Statistics
29.85 miles
2hrs 31mins
11.80 mph average speed
35.25 maximum speed

We slept well and woke to the sounds of a busy dairy farm in action! Ann laid on a superb breakfast of cereals with fresh milk and piles of homemade toast and marmalade. She also packed us a lunch for the day. Chris and his son Leo arrived at about 9am and we bundled our stuff in the back of his Landover. Thomas and Ann and their daughter came to wave us off, and sponsored us! Ann kissed us both and we left realising that there are some lovely people in the world.
Chris drove us to the bike shop on the other side of Chorley. The bike shop is owned and run by its founder Bill Nickson (www.billnicksoncycles.co.uk). Bill was very helpful, he tried to repair the spoke in Ben’s wheel but it was not easy. Chris took us to Tescos just over the road where we had another ‘bun and a brew’. On our return to the bike shop, Bill had come to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be for Ben to buy a new wheel. Ben agreed and Bill said he would repair the other wheel and send it back home. We also decided that there was some stuff we were carrying that we didn’t really need so repacked our bags and sent some of our stuff home. We then loaded the bikes back onto the trailer and Chris drove us to a spot on the route not far from where we had left off the day before.
By this time it was nearly lunchtime and I was getting hungry again. We cycled 2 miles I think before stopping for lunch; cheese and tomato rolls made by Ann!
We followed the route through Whalley, Great Mitton, Bashall Eaves, Dunsop Bridge, Newton and on to Slaidburn. We stopped at Dunsop Bridge and had a paddle in the river! This was a fairly easy day, and the weather was nice, but by now we were of course a day behind schedule! We arrived at the YHA at about 4.30pm and bought an ice cream and our dinner from the village shop. The YHA opened at 5pm. It is run by volunteers. The volunteer didn’t have too much of an idea! We were to pay £28 for the night’s accommodation. Somehow the volunteer managed to charge £28,000.00 to Bens debit card! We thought it was hilarious, more so because he had to ring for authorisation of the amount and the bank authorised it! The poor chap got in a right flap and wouldn’t take a card payment from anyone else that evening! It then turned out that he didn’t know how to do a refund.
In the mean time we decide we had to have our tea! This was fish fingers with a tin of veg and bread and butter! The volunteer was constantly on the phone while we ate our tea; we could hear him explaining first to one person then someone else, all we could do was laugh!! A refund involved using a supervisor swipe card; this was located at the nearest YHA – 17 miles away!! So Ben went for a ride with the volunteer to the next YHA, the volunteer armed with the card machine, and Ben with his debit card. He was back by about 9.15pm. Slaidburn was right out in the middle of nowhere, there was no reception for mobile phones, so had to use a payphone to ring Simon and recount the day’s hilarities.

Wednesday 3rd August Slaidburn to Carlisle

Statistics
88.57 miles
7hrs 35mins
11.65 mph average speed
39.19 maximum speed

We slept well and had breakfast at the hostel. We left at about 10.15am. The first part of the days’ route took us over Great Harlow. This was a very long climb, but there was some fantastic scenery. As soon as we got to the top, it started to rain and it rained till we got to the bottom! We stopped in Oxenholme for lunch. Ben took apart his bottom bracket and re-greased it to stop the squeaks- it seemed to work! Continued on trying not to think about the Kirkstone Pass not to far ahead of me! We didn’t see much of the Lake District. We briefly saw Windermere before starting to climb over the Kirkstone Pass. I managed most of it but had to get off and walk the last bit to the Kirkstone Pass Inn. Here we stopped for a cuppa, before hurtling down the other side at nearly 40 mph, overtaking a car in the process!! The route took us up past Brothers Water round the end of Ullswater (it was here that a car passed us that I recognised, as one of my customers, although they did not recognise us!). We cycled on through Matterdale End, Greystoke, Great Blencow, Hutton End low Braithwaite and Durdur. The last bit of road was very straight and flat which made the ride a pleasure. This road took us straight into Carlisle. We stopped to ask a couple where the YHA was located and they were staying there too! They gave us directions and we soon found it. The hostel was in fact university halls of residence. We had a flat with our own room each. Ben didn’t like the idea of leaving the bikes in the bike shed so we carried them up the stairs to our rooms. By this time my stomach was beginning to grumble. We walked back into the town and found a fish and chip shop, and we ran all the way back (Carlisle is not a very nice place!). I phoned Mum and Dad, had a bath and went to bed at bout 11pm.

Thursday 4th August Carlisle to Wanlockhead

Statistics
71.25 miles
5hrs 52mins
12.14 mph average speed
26.25 maximum speed

We left Carlisle at about 10am and headed for the end of England and the beginning of Scotland. We crossed the border at Gretna Green and asked a passer by to take our photo next to the Scotland and the England signs! We stopped for lunch just outside Dumfries. We stopped later at Thornhill to buy our tea. Then we turned off the main road and headed through the Mennock Pass. This was ok to start with. The hills were towering up around us just us and a few sheep. Then the road started to climb and it went up and up and up right up into the clouds and mist, and we had to stop and put our jackets on. (This was our first real taste of Scotland.) It went right up to Wanlockhead- the highest village in Scotland. It was like a ghost village when we arrived at dusk. We and a French couple were the only ones in the hostel that night so it was nice and quiet (according to the manager, a South African lady, at the hostel; the night before and the next night were fully booked- most of the hostellers were ‘end to enders’). Had a tea of Macaroni, a tin of Irish stew and a tin of veg- it was yummy!
We asked the manager to book the following night’s beds for us at Loch Lomond, but Loch Lomond was fully booked. This meant we had to go onto Crianlarich the next day; an extra 30 miles!! I had a look at the route for the following day and took the advice of the manager and didn’t use the suggested route but made up my own. We had showers and went to bed.

Friday 5th August Wanlockhead to Crianlarich

Statistics
113.96 miles
8hrs 43mins
13.05 mph average speed
29.96 maximum speed

We left the hostel at about 8.15am after a breakfast of cheese and marmalade rolls! Route was fairly easy. By this time of course I was a lot fitter, as long as I had a good nights sleep and plenty of food I was ok! The route I had planned took us around the north of Glasgow rather than the south. It was mainly main roads but there wasn’t too much traffic, and they tend to be more direct than using smaller roads. One problem we did have today was the wind. It was in our faces for a good part of the day. We stopped for our lunch at a garage just north of Glasgow.
The scenery around Loch Lomond was beautiful. (We cycled along a road I don’t think I will ever forget. The A82. We started cycling along it today and were still on it when we got to Inverness the following Monday evening!) We were getting quite hungry by the time we got to the top of Loch Lomond, so we stopped in a restaurant called Weavers for a meal. It cost us £21.40 for a two course meal! I was really tired by the time we got to the hostel. And the midges had also found us! It’s not funny trying to ride a bike and wipe the midges off your arms and legs at the same time!! The hostel at Crianlarich was a big one and it was full. (Having since looked at the map I can see why it was such a busy hostel; it is right on the West Highland Way!) There were all sorts of different smells coming from the kitchen when we arrived at 21.45hrs. The manager seemed to have lost the key for the bike shed (not to encouraging!) so we locked our bikes up in the reception area. After a shower, I got onto the internet and found contact details for the Free Presbyterian Church at Fort William. This is where we were hoping to go on Sunday.

Saturday 6th August Crianlarich to Fort William

Statistics
54.61 miles
4hrs 28mins
12.22 mph average speed
28.93 maximum speed

I awoke to the disgusting smell of sweaty bodies! There were 6 people in our room of different nationalities and odours! We left Crianlarich at about 9.30am after a rather strange breakfast bought at the village shop! (Namely Muller crunch corner!) We stopped at Tyndrum to phone the number we had for the Free Presbyterian church. Ben spoke to a lady from Glasgow who gave us another number for Mr and Mrs Smith, an American couple and their family staying in the manse at Fort William. It was then my turn to make the phone call! I spoke to Mrs Smith and explained that we were cycling the ‘end to end’ and the Youth Hostel we had hoped to stay at was fully booked and we were looking for beds for the weekend. She promptly replied ‘you can come and stay here in the manse with us, ring me when you get to Fort William and I will give you directions’. This I was very thankful for. We then cycled on our way. It was not long before we met Stevie. Stevie had a diving accident and is paralysed from the chest down. He was hoping to complete the ‘end to end’ in his electric wheelchair. We stopped and had a chat to them, exchanged some tips! He was supported by two vehicles and a friend on a bike. We left them and headed off towards the Bridge of Orchy. We stopped at the top of the next hill, as there was a man in full Scottish costume playing the bagpipes. I could hear ‘the sound of the pipes’ as we cycled up the hill, it was lovely. Stevie and co followed us up the hill. His friend was cycling in jeans, not the most comfortable thing to wear when cycling 1000 miles!! To ease his suffering I gave him a spare pair of cycling shorts I had with me. He was chuffed and it made his girlfriend laugh! Back in the saddle once again and we passed into the Highlands of Scotland, onto Rannoch Moor. This was particularly windy and we had to stop and put our coats on as it began to rain. From Rannoch Moor we went through the Glen Coe Pass; here they were doing major road works on a bridge. The wind was in our faces all they way down! We went slightly off our route into Glen Coe village and had a massive lunch from the local Spar shop; in fact we ate a bit too much! We struggled back into our saddles and headed for Fort William. Here we phoned Mrs Smith and she gave us her address. We struggled to find it but asked at the tourist information desk and they showed us exactly were it was. The road that heads up to Fort William was full of foreign cars and there were hundreds of tourists! I learnt later from Nathaniel (one of Mr and Mrs Smiths children), that there were more beds in Fort William than there are people. Nearly every house is a B&B!
The road up to the Manse in Fort William was extremely steep but the view when we got to the top was fantastic. We could see right over Loch Linnie from the front of the house and Ben Nevis loomed up behind the house.
Mr and Mrs Smith and their family made us feel most welcome in their home.
Mrs Smith cooked us dinner and we went to bed at about 10pm.

Sunday 7th August

Today was a day of rest. We went to the Free Presbyterian church in Fort William with the Smith Family.

Monday 8th August Fort William to Inverness

Statistics
69.94 miles
4hrs 51mins
14.30 mph average speed
21.08 maximum speed

After good breakfast and packing our best clothes and a lot of other things beside into a bin liner, we headed for the post office in Fort William. Ben bought a roll of parcel tape from Woolworths and we wrapped our parcel in tape! (One or two passer-by’s thought it was a bomb!) After posting this back to Sussex, we pedalled back onto the A82. Today was rather uneventful day. I heard from Mum and Dad; they had phoned to say they had left to pick us up from John o’ Groats! At one point we overtook about a dozen cyclists at top speed (we were quite fit by this time!), no sooner had we done this we realised they were catching up with us. So we pedalled like crazy for about 10 minutes to put some distance between us- we didn’t see them again! We had to stop twice for swing bridges on the Caledonian Canal; we also passed the Commando Memorial. Ben and I had noticed that there seemed to be more than the normal amount of Citroen 2CV’s on the road. We decided to count them whilst cycling (we had to do something to keep us occupied!) We saw 8 in all today! Before we left Fort William Mrs Smith had given us the number of a lady by the name of Miss Grant in Inverness, with whom we could stay on Monday night. We phoned her and yes she was more than willing to put us up. We arrived at her house at about 6pm, and she gave us tea. She asked if porridge would be ok for breakfast, we said it would. We went to bed at 1015pm. Mum and Dad had got as far as Stirling and slept in the car for the night!

Tuesday 9th August Inverness to Wick

Statistics
105.53miles
7hrs 29mins
14.08 mph average speed
37.94 maximum speed

We slept well and woke at 8am in time for a real scotch breakfast of oatcakes and porridge. (A word of warning here- the Scots put salt in their porridge!) Grandpa phoned me to say he had been studying the map and it would be quicker for us to take the A9 along the east coast of Scotland, rather than the A836 which heads north, straight up to the coast, then along the top of Scotland to John O’ Groats. This we decided to do; by this time we wanted to finish as soon as possible! We left Miss Grant at 10am and headed for the A9. The first sign we saw read ‘JOHN O’ GROATS 120 MILES’, this filled me with dread! Any way I thought, “I’ve got this far I can’t stop now!” I struggled on up hill, and down dale. We hadn’t gone far when Mum and Dad came by me. Mum shouted MAAAATTT out the window as they drove by. Mum said the look on my face changed from one of ‘intense weariness’ to ‘yippee here is my lift’!! They pulled up just in front of me. It was hugs all round. I dumped my panniers in the back of the car and cycled on feeling a bit better!! We caught up with Mum and Dad in Tain where they bought us lunch. We then continued onto Wick. Not far down the road (about 2 miles) Ben got a puncture! This was soon repaired and we were on our way. The weather was not very nice and we spent most of the afternoon in the clouds. Ben was some distance ahead of me, so I just plodded along at my own pace. By the time we got to Wick Mum and Dad had found a B&B- brilliant! One problem there was only one double room available. Mum and Dad were having that of course! But the owner kindly offered us her shed to sleep in! So we had shed and Breakfast instead! We slept on a double blow- up bed, and laughed ourselves to sleep!!

Wednesday 10th August Wick to John O’ Groats

Statistics
17miles
(I forgot to write the rest down!)

We had a huge breakfast and cycled the last 17 miles very leisurely. Mum and Dad where there to wave us in. I tried to film the last little bit but my camera ran out of memory just before we finished. We had our photo taken by the signpost just to prove we had done it! We then wandered round the gift shops before loading the bikes onto the back of the car and starting the long drive back to Sussex.
It took us 15 days to complete; we cycled a total of 1016 miles got through 1 pair of break blocks, 4 inner tubes and lots of Muller Crunch Corners!


Just to say…..

I felt relieved when we had finished, but strangely enough it didn’t feel like I had cycled the whole length of the country. I still look at the map now and think, did I really cycle all that way!? When we first started out from Lands End I couldn’t believe we where actually doing it (after all the months of planning) and now I have finished I still think did I really do it!?
I have a lot to be thankful for. It was amazing we were provided for on so many occasions, in different ways, also that we were given the strength to complete the ride without any injury to either of us.

Another note I would like to add is about Stevie who we met in Scotland. Unfortunately he had an accident not long after we saw him he fell out of his wheelchair and broke his arm. He had to give up his ‘end to end’ challenge for this year but hopes to try again next year.

I would like to thank everybody who has sponsored us, looked after us on the route or just encouraged us in what we were doing. And I also would like to thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We managed to raise £6000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity. THANK YOU.

Organised from Forest Hill, London SE23. Please contact by e-mail