Well, we didn't exactly have the best of weather, but at least we had a lot of it...one sunny day (the 1st day), then we had every kind of rain you can imagine, 60mph winds that literally blew us off the bikes and the bikes off the roads, flooding, debris on roads and so forth.

Sadly, these weather 'features' meant we had to cut back on some of the scenic routes we planned and instead had to opt for more direct routes, though we got in all of the biggest climbs we planned on, and the bits we were most keen to see (mainly in Scotland). So we took about 90 miles off the total ride, and finished in the end just over 900 miles.

Our backsides, and suprisingly, achilles tendons are a little worse for wear, and three of our four knees are pretty sore...but nothing too major and certainly well worth it. We had an amazing time.

Thank you so much to all of you for your donations to The Calvert Trust

peter and natalie

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Dear All,

My wife Natalie and I are attempting a >1,000 mile / 1,600 km ride from the northeast tip of Scotland (John O'Groats) to the soutwest tip of England (Land's End)...Affectionately known as JOGLE, the 'end to end' bit will be 989 miles, with another >50 miles added on the beginning and end, and in getting to B&Bs along the way.

For Natalie, this is an attempt to see show that 4 knee surgeries are really aren't that limiting, keeping in mind the Calvert Trust's motto: 'It's not what you can't do, but what you can that counts'.

For Peter, it's one last chance to kick the proverbial tires / tyres of this island he loves so much before becoming a citizen in January, and to delude himself into thinking that he's not getting older.

And for  the geographically challenged, some perspectives of just how far 1,000 miles / 1,600 km is. Point-to-point, it is the same as:

- Manhattan to Missouri

- Los Angeles to Seattle / Vancouver Island

- France to Kiev (Ukraine)

- Perth to Ayers Rock

(Try GoogleEarth to check)

Hopefully, our collective six surgeries on our combined four legs won't stop us, nor will rather sore backsides from so much time in the saddle.

Our sincere thanks for all of the encouragement and of course, any contribution you can make...all donations will go directly to The Calvert Trust ( http://www.calvert-trust.org.uk )

See you in a few weeks!

Peter and Natalie

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