My 2nd challenge has been completed and I have to say it was brilliant. If anyone wants to go cycling in the highlands, all 4 of us would recommend it! The views were fantastic, the company excellent and the weather stayed dry for most of it. We had an interesting start as the bike trailor which had our bikes on was driven into. So we began with a buckled wheel and a harrassed Pete who was supposed to be looking after the bikes. Luckily it wasn't mine that was hit (very selfish of me I know)! A quick rejigging of the bike wheels and brakes in Morrisons car park and we were off. 

We did not realise that Scotland was less hilly than Devon so the first 2 days were a joy to ride with a mix of roads, forests and cycle paths as we made our way up to Aviemore. 

Aviemore was a lovely concrete jungle!! Full of tourists (not including our group). Day 3 saw us head of up into the wilderness and our most testing day. We suffered a broken chain, puncture,  a misread of the map and first aid in the middle of nowhere for a cut eye. We faced gusts of 60-70mph which blew Angela off her bike, giving her a lovely gash on her forehead!! We were still smiling just as we got to out hotel at 7pm!!

Day 4 and 5 we cycled all of road and hardly met a soul, except 4 blokes on their bikes who we cycled with on day 4, which was a welcome change of banter. Look out for us in the next issue of MBT magazine if it is on your reading matter! (that's a mountain bike Magazine in case you didn't know!)

Day 5 we scaled Mount Keen one of the Munroes. We cycled, pushed, hauled, carried and dragged our bikes up 3100ft. No real path and an awful lot of swearing we made it too the top and installed our bikes round the trig point just to prove a point. It wasn't worth the descent!!!

Day 6 was a small bike ride into Montrose for champagne and rest. Nothing spectacular on this day just road and a feeling of acheivement. Pete just thought we were machines and a huge thank you to Pete for transporting all our bags and putting up with 4 old bags. I don't think we were difficult at all!!!

Roll on challenge 3. I have about 10 days to put in as much running as possible and learn how to use a compass or extra miles will be done!!!!

25.6.10

For those of you who are visiting my just giving page for the first time you can see the events I am doing below.

 My first event is fast approaching only 2 days to go and it looks like it is going to be a hot and humid day. No worries about midges here, just heat exhaustion and back ache. Needless to say I have done some training but probably not enough. I and the girls have spent just a few hours staring at the tarmac as we try to increase our mileage. I will be chomping on energy bars and drinking all sorts of nasty concoctions to keep me going throughout the day!

I will let you know how I have got on.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Some have said I am having a mid life crisis! I like to think I am just entering my 21st year..... again!

As a result I have decided that during my 40th year I would do a challenge to raise money in memory of my brother (Simon) who sadly died from Diabetes in January 2008.

What was a challenge has turned into 3 challenges as I couldn't decide and I thought 3 would be more fun! I have also managed to rope in another 3 willing volunteers!

The Challenges

Simon would have loved these.

For a starter I am doing a 100k Road Race on a very uncomfortable roadbike (June 27th).

Then as a main course we are cycling across Scotland from East to West all off road (July 1st), Sore bum here we come. A round trip of about 250 miles over 5 days.

And for pudding we are doing a Mountain Marathon over 2 days (July 24th/25th).

I know times are hard and that we all receive requests for donations and I would be very grateful if you could spare something for this good cause, to prevent others dying unnecessarily from Diabetes.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.