DAILY UPDATE
Day 1 - Lands End to Torrington in Devon - approx 110 miles - beautiful sunny day AND windy! Wind was against me which made going very hard. In addition due to having no sense of direction I spent a good couple of hours wandering in circles around the lanes of central Cornwall which altogether meant I finished the day eventually at 7.00 pm and wondered if I would have the stamina to set off on Friday. Dist travelled 110m
Day 2 - Curse the rolling hills of Devon - they are huge! Another beautiful day and hot. Scenery was fantastic. I thought I was enjoying the aromas of summer flowers until I figured out it was my sun tan cream. Travelled from Torrington along the side of Exmoor via Bampton to Taunton and over the Quantock Hills to Bridgewater, Cheddar Gorge and ended the day again at 7.00 pm at Chew Magna near Bath. Dist travelled 105m
Day 3 - Another great weather day and yet again proved to myself how bloody useless I am at navigating. Cycled for an hour and a half and ended up back in Bath! Then figured out how to get the Severn Bridge and made my way up the Wye Valley. Over confidence got the better of me and I decided to take the scenic route from Ross on Wye to Hereford - a 9 mile route at 4.00 pm ended up taking me 1 and 1/2 hours due to getting lost again! Eventually arrived at Ludlow at 7.45 having done approx 110m.
Day 4 - Early start to do the 30 mile sprint to Shrewsbury where I met a cycling companion Craig at 10.00 am. Craig was a fantastic help and set a pace for me to follow so that we racked up the miles and arrived at Preston at 6.00 pm having covered 117 miles
Day 7 - A quick update - now in Kinross Scotland north of Edinburgh. Yesterday was wet wet wet wet! 8 hours of rain but very quiet roads. 1 car per hour. Still managed 115 miles and feeling ok this am. Off to Aviemore today and it is still b....y raining.
Day 8 - Aviemore to Brora - should have been 86 miles but I managed to clock up 99 due to taking the scenic route! Weather started grey, light rain and misty and improved hour by hour. Cycled through moors and mountains to Inverness and the Cromarty Firth and then along the East Coast. Scenery was different by the hour and unremittingly beautiful.
Day 9 - Brora to John O'Groats - stayed last night at the Sutherland Inn in Brora which is famous for its stock of more than 140 individual whiskies. I also met a guest - John from Leyland who is a connoisseur and helped me try them. I made an interesting discovery this morning - whisky and cycling do not mix! Despite having legs of lead and a mouth as dry as sandpaper I headed off spurred on by this being the home run. Arrived at Wick for lunch which is the greyest drabbest town seen so far. The main feature was a huge sign in the harbour proclaimimg "CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS" - it should have been replaced by "Wick died for our sins"! After a haggis and neaps lunch I pushed the final 20 miles. Arriving at John O'Groats I realised I was early. The dancing girls and the welcome party hadn't arrived. It was too cold to hang around and wait for them so I headed off to Thurso for the start of the journey home.
It has been a great trip and wonderful to have had the generosity of the numerous sponsors to spur me on. Thank you all.
I am funding and supporting this challenge myself so please give generously:
As the ride is approximately 1,000 miles one way to support is to sponsor me by the mile:
1p per mile would be - £10
5p per mile would be - £50
10p per mile would be - £100
£1 per mile would be - £1,000
Thank you for your support. A daily progress report and photos will be loaded each day so you can follow my challenge.
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