We'll be doing this in order to raise as much as we can for Macmillan Cancer Support. Macmillan provides all kinds of much needed support for cancer suffers and their families from specialist nurses to emotional and financial advice. We know from personal experience, as will many of you unfortunately, that cancer is a devastating and life changing condition for everyone concerned. Losing people close to us at the hands of cancer has taught us that life is not easy, however, neither is this cycle so with your support we can help Macmillan continue their invaluable work and provide further help to cancer patients and their families, however big or small.
So please dig deep to help this great cause!
Mark & Jamie
Blog
Day 1
Start: John O’Groats
Finish: Ardgay
Distance: 170km
First day completed and so far, so good. After a nightmare day travelling up to Thurso on Friday (getting stuck in traffic when passing any major city and having to take a detour to a bike shop because someone forgot their shoes, Jamie!) we finally arrived at the hotel at 2.00am.
After a bit of a lie in and a full Scottish breakfast we set off from John O’Groats at about in 11.15. Weather was mostly cloudy and dry but it was seriously windy. The first 75km was along the north coast to a place called Bettyhill and was supposed to be scenic but we spent 4 hours losing the will to live - cycling into the wind, getting no further south and at an average speed of less than 20kph! Not a good start. We got some respite following a tractor midway through but unfortunately that only lasted for a couple of kilometres. I think that might be the only time that we’d ever wanted to be stuck behind a tractor for longer!
Once we headed further inland I’m pleased to say the wind was less of a problem and we finished the final 95k in less than 4 hours despite being attacked by midges when passing Loch Naver and Loch Shin.
One down eight to go…
Day 2
Start: Ardgay
Finish: Somewhere near Ballater
Distance: 160km
Whoever said that doing this the other way around obviously knew what they were talking about…
After leaving the hotel a bit earlier today we made a good start and hit (roughly 62km away) in just over two hours. Unfortunately following that we were due to head further South and towards the and the Cairngorms.
Looking at the map of the route there were several arrow symbols on the roads which when looking at the key didn’t seem to mean anything but later we found out. The closer to we got to the Cairngorms the more exposed the roads became and the more we were buffeted by the wind and yet again they were in completely the wrong direction. After several hours battling against the headwind and the tough terrain at average speeds of around 15km/h we came to where the first arrow symbol was on the map, where we were greeted by a sign showing a 20% gradient!! The first one of these was in a relatively sheltered area and was relatively short so we sucked it up and took it slowly. Unfortunately the following one was in a very exposed area with strong headwinds and was about 1km long. We attempted the first stage and after being literally stopped in our tracks by the wind we decided to call in the cavalry to drive in front and provide some protection. We carried on slowly up the hill and reached the top as they arrived at which point the heavens opened with hail and rain combined with the existing strong winds. We carried down the other side but when we reached the bottom we decided enough was enough and after being out for 10 hours and with 17km left, the temptation to get in the car became too much. So another 17km onto tomorrows trip but we are reliably informed the weather would improve.
Day 3
Start: Somewhere near Ballater
Finish:
Distance: 160km
Today we said goodbye to the Cairngorms!
After an early start at the bottom of another 20% gradient we were very appreciative of the improved weather conditions. We even stopped to admire the views at one point. Another plus was that looking at the map on the previous day we managed to find a route which cut a corner off our already scenic route.
There was one big climb remaining but boy was it long and by this time the wind had picked up again. Thankfully our support crew, who were on their way to the next checkpoint, were passing so offered some shelter as we slowly made our way up the climb and out of the Cairngorms!
The rest of the day went far more smoothly and started with a long decent down the other side of the hill we had just climbed where Jamie managed to hit 70kph before hitting a bump and chickening out!
Day 4
Start:
Finish:
Distance: 160km
Today was supposed to be an easier day with less hills and less wind however my body is now starting to resist all this exercise. I woke up with shooting pains in my knees and my palms have now blistered from spending all day leaning on the handle bars. Even “Ironman” Jamie mentioned he had a slight calf strain.
We got a lift back to our checkpoint and headed across the and after a while the pain seemed to subside slightly. We went through then headed for the Scottish borders where we were greeted by more hills and more wind but thankfully not to the scale of the Cairngorms. The wind made some of the more open areas quite tiring and slow but it wasn’t long before we got into the forest and were able to pick up the pace.
We got to the hotel at about 7 when it was time for a long bath!
Day 5
Start:
Finish:
Distance: 150km
When we woke up today we were in severe need of motivation. The weather forecast predicted heavy rain and “unseasonably strong winds” and my legs felt like lead weights. Fortunately the support crew were on hand to help and sent us on our way into the rain and towards the District where there were more hills and exposed areas to look forward too.
My legs were in pain and I could feel them burning even when climbing slight hills so I was quite happy to have a break when Jamie got a puncture. That was until, after the second inner tube, he realised it was his tyre that was the problem. He put some tape inside the tyre and reinflated it but we didn’t get very far before that tube went too. We limped to the next village where neither of us had mobile reception so looked for a payphone to call the support but no payphone either. Jamie was informed by a friendly old lady that BT had removed it despite there still being signs directing people to where it used to be. Kindly she offered to let him use her phone and we called the support crew for a tyre delivery.
Whilst we were waiting, taking shelter from the rain under an umbrella in the village pub which was of course closed, we thought of other ways to fix his tyre and came up with blister pads. Amazingly, with this and our final inner tube we got back on the road but by now we had lost a lot of time so we had a lot of work to do. We stopped for a quick lunch then charged through the taking the most direct route we could. Some of it might actually have been quite nice if it wasn’t raining and windy!
We got to at just after 8 and were headed for the hotel but just to top off the day, Jamie’s other tyre went. With no tubes left and no more will power we decided we’d had enough and called the support crew for a lift back.
Hopefully tomorrow will be less frustrating and less painful but at least we’re over half way now!
Day 6
Start:
Finish:
Distance: 150km
Another slow start today. Jamie’s parents kindly got him some new tyres yesterday which he fitted this morning. Unfortunately, a couple of miles down the road he discovered that they were actually warped so not perfectly circular which is not helpful when you pick up speed going down hill. As a result we had to call his parents again for a new delivery. By the time we got going again it was after 12.00 so we were chasing time again. At least we weren’t in the middle of nowhere in the wind and rain this time though.
Once we got on our way progress was slow, picking our way through Preston and stopping to read the map and negotiating traffic. Just as we were about to get out of these two lovely places a girl decided it would be a good idea to cross the road looking the other way between a lorry and a car and walked right out in front of me! Thankfully I was travelling fairly slowly as there was quite a lot of traffic so I managed to miss hitting her head on and just clipped her, bouncing off and ending up in a heap on the floor! She was very apologetic and wasn’t injured and thankfully the only injuries I had were a slightly grazed knee and a bruise to go with the blisters on my palm. Northerners eh?!
Once we got out of Wigan we decided not to stop and to go straight through which was painful but nowhere near as bad as given the lack of hills and wind. The legs actually didn’t feel too bad surprisingly but we have a long day tomorrow so that’s definitely a good thing. We managed to make up some good time and got to the hotel (which is the best one yet) at just after 7.00.
Only 3 days left now!
Day 7 Start: Finish: Sedbury Distance: 205km Over 200km of beautiful countryside and rolling hills. Sounds nice eh? It might have been if it weren’t for the cycling. Basically it went like this: See a hill, fry your legs and try and kill yourself going up it then recover as much as possible going down the other side. Then repeat. And again. And again. For approximately 10 hours! It was tough, really tough. To make things worse, the light faded before we had time to reach our checkpoint which means more distance tomorrow. And to top things off, I dropped my iPhone on the floor whilst waiting to be picked up and now the screen is cracked – not happy! But at least we had no more bike issues. Day 8
Start: Falfield
Finish: GreatDistance: 205km
We decided to make an early start today to make sure that we didn’t have to add any extra distance to the already long final day which meant we were on the road by 8.00. We also decided that instead of going back to the other side of the bridge, we would make up the distance this side of the bridge so started further North in a place called Falfield.
We bypassed and went down Cheddar Gorge which was actually quite fun but then we had to head out into the country and to more hills. Even worse hills than yesterday and on really poor road surfaces too. The run in to Great Torrington was something not to forget though: after 190km when we were supposed to be winding down, we were faced with a 20% gradient which was really steep and painful but following that was even worse, a 25% gradient! I thought my heart was going to explode and my legs were on fire. Still we made it, just about, after being out for 12 hours and now only have one day left!
Now it’s definitely time for an early night!
Day 9
Start: GreatFinish:
Distance: 197.6kmTotal Distance: 1,557.6km
Today was the earliest start yet. We were out of the hotel and on our bikes by 7.00 to make certain we would be able to cover the distance before it got dark.
The route started as it had finished the following day with more steep hills. Every time we went down an incline we dreaded what we would be greeted by at the bottom and more often than not it was a sign warning of impending steep gradients. Needless to say, the progress was slow, and 3 hours in we had only covered 40km (at that rate it would take us nearly 15 hours to cover the required distance). To make matters worse, I was still suffering from the day before and had felt sick from about 30 mins in! We decided to stop and refuel in the hope that it would make us, but mainly me, feel a bit better.
Thankfully this break, the terrain starting to flatten and also the thought of how close we were, kept me going through the pain. I think that had I felt this bad earlier in the week we would have been in a lot of trouble!
We kept going targeting towns where we could refill our drinks and chocolate bar supplies with Wadebridge followed by followed by Redruth.
The final stint from Redruth to seemed to take an age with more hills and thick mist but at approximately 6.15pm after 9 days of cycling, around 100 chocolate bars, over 60 litres of sports and fizzy drinks and some serious pain we finally made it!
The relief was unbelievable. For the last 9 days all we had been doing was cycling or thinking about cycling, wondering whether we would make it and now finally we were there. Unfortunately though it was 15 minutes after they had taken the infamous sign post away for the evening - typical!
Thanks to the support teams for helping us through this, we definitely couldn’t have done it with out you and also thanks to everyone for their generous donations. It’s been a great experience but I’m not sure I’ll be rushing to sign up for anything like this again in the near future!!