Well I travel to Land's end on 8/5/06 and we leave the next day at about 10am after obligatory photos next to the Land's end sign and signing our names in the register at the Post Office.I will update this website as I go with a taste of what we have encountered so far-as long as I can find a computer so please log on from time to time to check on our progress.

 

 

 

If you want to text me at any time over the next 12 days I would love to hear from you.

 

 

 

07770970700

 

 

 

DIARY

 

 

 

DAY 1 -Land's End to Liskeard  -76 miles,    This part of Cornwall is very hilly and I really felt tired towards the end.The hills go on for miles at a time.Punctures in quick sucession around St Austell was a bore but gave me some time to rest my legs.Now enjoying a cool pint of lager in the bar.Tomorrow will probably be our worst day.The morning is spent negotiating Dartmoor and the hills there are legendary.....Just taken 400 mg Ibuprofen,arnica and cali phos(thank you Wendy) and a litre of Rego recovery which Simon tells me is marvelous from his previous trips.So until tomorrow...

DAY 2-Liskeard to Taunton  -  73 miles   A tough day.Suprisingly few aches and pains but then a cocktail of arnica, ibuprofen and a couple of cool pints of larger probably helps. After negotiating Tavistock we ascended on to Dartmoor and were immediately impressed by the severity and length of the hills.The weather was fine and sunny but progress was slow - only covering 35 miles by 2.oopm .The scenery was stuning but those hills kept coming.We finally got into Exeter at about 4.30 pm and went through all 17 of us in a pellion.The last 20 miles were hard on achy legs .We eventually arrived in Sanford Peverill at 6.30 pm. Another cocktail and i'm set for tomorrow.

 

 

 

DAY 3-Taunton to Tintern Abbey    92 miles, A long day in the saddle with an increasingly sore backside. In glorious sunshine we rode across the Somerset Levels and negotiated the Mendips at Shipham Hill.After a few wrong turns we found the Avon cycle path and followed it through Portishead and Avonmouth.Eventually we crossed the Severn Bridge to reach Chepstow.Our arrival in Wales was rewarded by the beautiful views of the lush Wye Valley.Finally we descended to our night stop in the pretty village of Tintern Abby.A particularly grubby day today. I had not realised just how much grime can be collected on a body.A good layer of suncream probably helped.When I finished I looked like a black and white minstrel. A good soak, a few pints of beer, a little more of my special cocktail and I'm hoping I'll feel like a new man tomorrow and my backside will be ready to sit on. 

 

 

 

DAY 4-Tintern Abbey to Shrewsbury      89 miles (total 329)    An over- night puncture (thats no 5 now) and I was grimey before we even started today. We spent the first hour meandering along beside the river Wye and enjoying the tranquility of the country side. However, we were lulled into a false sense of security. Moving on we travelled through a number of counties, Monmouthshire, Gloucetershire and Herefordshire.We stopped for lunch in the old town of Leint Wardine and had enough time to enjoy a paddle in the river and explore under the ancient bridge. We cycled on through Hereford . With the last 30 miles ahead of us we watched the skys darken and before we knew it we were being lashed with rain. By now we had gained a lot of height and were very exposed.  We had to brave it through thunder storms and lightening attacks. Not too soon we dropped into the Severn Vallley and peddled on to Shrewsbury for our overnight stop and most importantly my cocktail, beer and ibuprofen! For those who are keeping track my backside faired quite well today.

 

 

 

 DAY 5-Shrewsbury to Preston    86 miles.   Today we cycled mostly on main roads. The weather was cold, overcast and drizzly.  The initial enthusiasm and adrenaline drive  has truly worn off now. I'm completely exhausted tonight and feeling every ache and pain, and that's after an hours' soak in the bath.

 

 

 

 DAY 6-Preston to Longtown  106 miles (521 total)   Off by 7.45am as a long day ahead. A6 to Lancaster then on to Kendall . Forcast rain in  afternoon. Made good time through with slight tail wind. Managed Shap hill  a long gentle climb for  5 miles  to reach  up to 16 hundred ft  and stopped for lunch at Shap. Last 43 miles cycled in pouring rain that penetrated everywhere despite sexy overshoes. Legs and backside faired well today and I'm feeling pretty good. Half way exactly and only 2 miles away from . Forecast is rain for next few days.Longtown is a real dive and no plans to ever come here again.The bar in our hotel was full of some very strange characters all speaking a very odd language.We were not very welcome here by the locals.

 

 

 

DAY 7-Longtown to Kilmarnock   96 miles   - and as predicted it rained all day. Having studiously dried all my kit including my shoes I was soaked from the waist down by the time we reached Gretna Green . The rest of the day was spent in wet cycle shorts. Fortunately I was able to keep warm and the terrain was flat. It was a case of head down and pushing on North. Lunch was in a Scottish cafe, coffee and sandwiches. More of the same iin the afternoon.I had a lovely relaxing bath in the evening, a thorough examination of any tender parts and a good cream up. Dinner table banter revolved around the merits and qualities of different backside creams. Assoss seemed to come out a favorite so I've put my order in. I'll try anything at this stage and am looking forward to saying goodbye to the Vaseline.  However my saddle has taken on a high sheen , even the rain rolls off  it.    

 

 

 

DAY 8 Kilmarnock to Inverary  78 miles (total 695)      Not sad to leave kilmarnock.In fact most of the towns we have passed through in the North-West since Shrewsbury have been pretty uninspiring and makes me very glad to live in Dorset.Expected rain but although overcast it never rained and we made good time to the coast.The isles of Arran and Bute could be seen across the Firth of Clyde.We followed the coast road to Gourock where we took a ferry across the Clyde to Dunoon.We saw porpoise,seals and Eider ducks on the brief crossing. Now we are in rural Scotland and the roads are quiet .We cycled along the shore of Loch Eck and through forest.At Loch Fyne,famous for its oysters we had a stiff climb and could see Inverary on the other side barely 400 yds away,unfortunately we had to cycle 20 miles around the Loch to get to our hotel.Backside sore but otherwise well.Everyone in good spirits this evening. Forecast for tomorrow is awfull....Inverary is lovely spot and well worth another visit in different circumstances.

 

 

 

DAY 9  Inverary to Loch Lochy-95 miles (790 total)             Despite the awfull forcast it was dry all day and we even had a few glimpses of sunshine to warm our weary bones.Even the really fit chaps are getting tired now and have slowed their pace a little so we have more company at the back of the pack.We started with a long climb out of Inverary and began to really feel that we were in the Highlands.We reached the shores of Loch Awe,cycling around the top of it and stopped to admire the ruins of Castle Kilchurn.We crossed the iron bridge at Connel with great views of Loch Etive and the isle of Mull.We followed the coast road with stunning views of desolate beaches,hilly islands and peninsulas across the water.We stopped for lunch at Ballachulish,some of our group took the Oban road my mistake and ended up cycling an extra 10 miles.After lunch we crossed Loch Leven and cycled along the banks of Loch Linnhe to Fort William where Ben Nevis soared above us.We were now only 15 miles from our night stop.the youth hostel in Laggan.Great showers but 10 of us sharing one dormitory! Haggis,nips and tatties for supper.No TV here so will listen to the footie on the radio-Come on Arsenal!.Body parts only need to last another 3 days. 

DAY 10-Loch Lochy  to Bonar Bridge- 80 miles ( 870 total)        I must say the Haggis with whisky sauce was quite a pleasant surprise. We caught the last half of the football in the Great Glen Water Park Bar. Upset by the defeat I returned to the dorm where there were already a few in full snore .It rained over night so a wet start. The day was very windy. The south westerly helped us on our way but the squalls and gusts were rather unpleasant, buffeting us half way across the road at times.  We followed the Caledonian Canal to Port Augustus where the rain started to ease and it cleared as we cycled past U rquhart Castle on Loch Ness ( no monsters sighted ). At Drumnadrochit we headed north again up a steep hill - 1 in 4 in places. Passing the Cromarty Firth we viewed baby seals basking on the rocks. We then ascended onto high moorland. We stopped to help a Lurcher dog which had caught its leg in barbed wire whilst chasing rabbits. His thanks was to give our Yorkshire Farmer Chris a hefty bite on his hand when we had freed him. We called for the first aid kit, patched him up and continued on our way. Amazing views of Dornoch Firth as we came over the hill towards Bonar Bridge . The hotel we are staying in is still being rebuilt following a recent arson attack! We are all very tired tonight.

DAY 11-Bonar Bridge to Bettyhill - 56 miles (926 total)   We set out cycling against a north wind which battled against us all day. Our route  took us through Lairg and past Loch Shin. We have now left the highlands and the landscape is bleak and unhospitable with rich peaty moorlands and slow flowing rivers. Our road soon became single carriageway which was standard for the rest of the day. This is the least populated area of Northern Europe . We reached the north coast with its deserted sandy beaches at about 4 pm but felt physically much more tired than usual because of the head wind. I’ve developed pain in my Achilles tendon to add to my now painful knees. I’m hoping these will settle over night . Only 52 miles to go. We should  cross the line at about 2 pm  tomorrow all being well. The plan then is to bus to Inverness for an evening of celebrations. We fly home on Sunday.

DAY 12-Bettyhill to John O'Groats -52 miles (978 total) 

Fortunately my legs felt pretty good again today,which was just as well as the coastal hills between each bay we passed were both long and fairly steep.By 15 miles we had passed the worst and on to flatter terrain.Although it continued to be pretty windy the sun came out at times and it was quite warm.Interestingly as we got closer to the end the scenery became more like Cornwall and there were sheep and cattle grazing again,something we had not seen for a few days.We reached John O'Groats about 2 pm and assembled together for the short ride to the finish line.Lots of Champagne and obligatory photos later we boarded a coach for Inverness.That evening we all got together for a celebratory curry and on to a Karaoke bar .My friend Simon managed to almost empty the bar with his rendition of "The house of the rising sun" but Bill singing Louis Armstrong's "What a wonderful world" was truely memorable.Fortunately(for everyone else) the bar closed before I had a chance to perform.

Slightly jaded the next morning we all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.Quite apart from the cycling I had a wonderful time and made some really good friends.

Many thanks to Rob and Stuart,the staff from Discover Adventure who organised everything and helped us when our bikes needed fixing.A special mention to Chris and Mandy who cycled with me all the way and also to Simon who talked me into it in the first place. The rather odd bunch of people who assembled on that first day in Penzance strangely got on rather well and enjoyed each others company.

Until we meet again.....(but it will not be on a cycling trip!)

Bruce

ps  Does anyone want to buy a bike?

The Air Ambulance is mainly funded by charitable donations and is expensive to run,however their impact on survival rates from road accidents and medical emergencies is impressive and I have called them in on several occasions where time was of the essence,fortunately always with favorable outcomes.Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online.

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Many thanks again for your support.

 

 

 

Bruce

 

 

 

Onwards and Upwards!