Dan joined 599 other hardy souls travelling from John O'Groats to Land's End by pedal power alone. They are aiming to raise £1 million for The British Paralympic Association, who work to prepare and support our paralympic athletes for London 2012.

Although the journey is over now, it's not too late to make a contribution. 

Thank you all for your support - it really did make a massive difference.

The journey so far...

Sunday, 20/6

Final stage completed, Launceston to Land's End - 95 miles. It's all over!! 1000 miles, 82 hours in the saddle over 9 days. Phew!

Saturday, 19/6

Stage 8 completed, Cheddar to Launceston - 116 miles. Hard going, but very nearly there now.

Friday, 18/6

Stage 7 completed, Ludlow to Cheddar - 110 miles. Mostly a pleasant day's ride, apart from irritating encounters with van drivers in Bristol. The end is in sight...

Thursday, 17/6

Stage 6 completed, Manchester to Ludlow - 106 miles. In his determination not to get off the bike during the ascent of The Long Mynd, Dan managed to fall off into a patch of nettles... only to look up and see James Cracknell walking his bike up the hill!

Wednesday, 16/6

Stage 5 completed, Ullswater to Manchester - 114 miles. Some stunning scenery through the Lakes; cycling through Bolton at the end of the day's ride significantly less pleasant. Over halfway there now.

Tuesday, 15/6

Stage 4 completed, East Renfrewshire to Ullswater - another 130 miles. The first three hours were tough going due to condition of the chosen roads, but the ride into the Lakes made up for it.

Monday, 14/6

Stage 3 completed, Loch Linnhe to East Renfrewshire (just south of Glasgow) - 130 miles, approx 11 hours (although this did include one hour-long pit stop to repair the bike as the back wheel needed replacing...). Some sunshine, at last, and some stunning scenery.

Sunday, 13/6

Stage 2 completed, Kyle of Sutherland to Loch Linnhe (Ben Nevis) - 99 miles, approx 8 hours (including regular stops for stretching). Lower back really hurting him - the physio is his new best friend!

Saturday, 12/6

Stage 1 completed, John O'Groats to Kyle of Sutherland - 104 miles, approx 8.5 hours (including 2 pit stops and several pauses to stretch); legs fine, but lower back suffering. Very grateful for on-site medics.

Friday, 11/6

Not the best conditions for a good night's sleep before the ride: rain, gale-force winds, and biting cold. Things can only get better, right?!

Thursday, 10/6

He's off! Well, nearly. Dan left home at the crack of dawn this morning to make the long journey up to John O'Groats. He has arrived safely and spent the evening watching the first base camp of the ride be assembled in readiness for tomorrow (see photo). The actual cycling starts bright and early on Saturday morning.

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Training diary

Sunday, 6/6
45 miles with Icknield CC, a very friendly cycling club. They all wished me luck for the trip, which was a nice send off. Afterwards packed the bike and sent it to John O'Groats via European Bike Express. Hope it gets there in one piece!

Saturday, 5/6
10 times up Sundon Hill.

Monday, 31/5
10 times up Sundon Hill (15% incline). Legs hurt a bit the next day but amazingly the knee still holding up.

Sunday, 30/5
Icknield CC - 40 miles. Windy.

Saturday, 29/5
Out with Luton CC again. Either they went faster today or cycling after a curry the night before is hard work.

Saturday, 22/5
Went for a spin with Luton CC. 30 miles or so at an average speed of 18mph. Nice day for it.

Sunday, 16/5
Etape du Dales. Race Day. Shocker!
I made the most amateurish start in the world, clocking in before I'd even got on the bike, then panicked and raced off without starting my stop-watch or putting on my gloves. But worst of all, I started in only a lycra T-shirt where absolutely everyone else had waterproofs and layers. At the first checkpoint, a marshall took pity on my frozen arms and gave me - yes, gave me - his windcheater. However, by the second checkpoint I was a cold, wet mess and had to call in the rescue vehicle. Annoyingly, I had done the worst of the climbs by then.

Friday, 14/5
Yorkshire - practiced the first 20 miles of the Etape du Dales. Comfortable.

Thursday, 13/5

After a week in Romania, I tried the session below again. I broke the saddle after 7 goes at the hill - does not bode well for the Etape du Dales in 2 days.

Friday, 7/5
Thought I'd do some hill sessions before work - 10 times up Heart Attack Hill. See my heart rate as one of the pictures.

Wednesday, 21/4
If I seem to have got lazy and only cycle Wednesdays, that is because I have exams. Two so far this week, so it was good to get on the bike again. No time because I have lost my Garmin GPS charger.

Wednesday, 14/4
2:37. I do wish that the good technicians at Evans would listen to their customers. Took the bike in for a gear adjustment, and they also replaced the cassette - which I did not ask them to! Gone are my granny gears for going up hills and instead I have the tiny little gears from Chris Hoy's track bike. Which means I now don't have the recommended minimum gear ratio for the Etape du Dales in less than a month. Still, I'll be fast going downhill..

Wednesday, 7/4
Raised the saddle by 1cm and ditched the jacket. Result? 43.1 miles in 2:35hours! I expect Ride Across Britain will want to do a doping test but the only supplement I've taken is Marcus's Easter eggs. Sorry mum.

Wednesday, 24/3
A bit of an improvement on last week - 43 miles to work in 2:55. Gear are slipping, chain keeps falling off, this wasn't fun at all.

Wednesday, 17/3
Cycling to work with a cold was hard work but had to get back on the bike after the Milkfloatgate [see below]. 2:59hours.

Friday, 26/2
99 days to go! Took off the mudguards to set yet another new record: 42.7miles to work in 2:48hours. This despite coming off the bike on an icy bend and almost being run over by the milk float I had just overtaken. Quite shaken.

Wednesday, 24/2
2:56hours to get into London, this time taking the detour around the Oxford Street works.

Friday, 19/2
Another new record: 2:51hours to get into London including a law-abiding walk through Oxford Street road works.

Wednesday, 17/2
New record: 2:56hours to get into London, but naughtily cycled on  pavement through Oxford Street road works.

Tuesday, 2/2
Commuted in again - felt like hard work. Looking at my bike afterwards, the front brakes were not centred on the rim so they were rubbing the entire way!

Friday, 22/1
After a few weeks' break due to the snow, finally got back in the saddle this week. Survived the horizontal rain and strong winds to commute to work both on Wednesday and today. No funny noises to report this time - maybe I just need to keep the bike clean...

Saturday, 2/1
Commuted to work and back - 94 miles! Happier with the set up but the whole bike squeaks and the back wheel now makes a funny noise. Should go back to Halfords soon.

Sunday, 27/12
Easy 30 miles after time off due to snow, trying to get the racer adjusted

Wednesday, 16/12
Despite sub-zero temperatures, another commute by bike today. Water bottle froze solid before the half-way point. Hmmm. Have identified another piece of essential kit - a balaclava.

Sunday, 13/12,
55 miles with Bedfordshire Cycling Club. My bottom is like the Japanese flag.

Saturday, 12/12
An easy 15 miles to try out the new bike (see picture). Lovely bike, lovely day.

Thursday, 10/12
Kept my promise to cycle to work - set off at 4:20am and arrived at 7:40am having covered the 43 miles to London. Hard work on the hybrid. The road bike has arrived, but it is far too pretty to ride yet!

Sunday, 6/12
Still no road bike so took the hybrid (which I bought for Marcus and the Hamax in July) for a first proper ride (25 miles). Amazing, bright morning and came back to the village just as the church bells were ringing. For future rides need proper attire: gloves and something other than jeans, which kept catching in the chainset. Also, mudguards might prevent a cold, wet bum.

Saturday, 5/12
Got my training guide from Ride Across Britain - should be doing a 4 hour ride today. Thought I'd take Marcus out for a bit but it started raining. Just 20 minutes, then.