18th May Woke up to the sound of the wind howling outside and the rain beating on the windows. Oh good. Set off into the stiff headwind heading for Thurso. During the next 30 miles the rain eased and then stopped but the wind was relentless.... arrived in Thurso exhausted, but after a hearty meal of freshly caught haddock, we were ready for the final push to John O'Groats. 20 grueling miles later and we were there! Thanks to everyone who has been following this blog and especially those of you kind enough to make a donation. This site will be here for a little while longer so its not too late to donate if you wish to. Thanks for all your emails of support and encouragement for the last three weeks! The End.

17th May Lovely ride today from Bonar Bridge up into the highlands. stopped in at the Crask Inn which was interesting to say the least. you'll have to in there yourself to find out why. The afternoon was a very hard 30 mile slog into a very strong headwind all the way to Bettyhill .... and just before we finally made it the heavens opened and gave up a good soaking for good measure! One more day to go!

16th May The weather was kind to us today....no rain and mainly sunshine. Lovely ride through the southern uplands from Inverness to Bonar Bridge....good coastal scenes including oil ship in for refit in the Chromarty Firth. 55 miles today.

15th May Long long day today. Set off from Spean Bridge at about 9am, and headed straight down to loch lochie, tide a short canal section to loch oich, where we elected to follow the great glen way. big mistake! terrible surface for bikes and very hard on hands and bum! Then to fort Augustus at the start of loch Ness where we then ascended 1200 ft up the east coast of the loch in order to avoid the heavy traffic on the other side. The descent down was fast and fun....but 63 miles and a total of 9,000 ft ascended took it out of us! Now in a very cheap hostel in Inverness. The end is now in sight!

14th May great ride from Connell to spean bridge. 50 miles again. Soaked just the two times in heavy showers. Tomorrow we'll be going up the great glen fault to Inverness - 55 miles including a 1200 foot ascent....

14th May great ride from Connell to spean bridge. 50 miles again. Soaked just the two times in heavy showers. Tomorrow we'll be going up the great glen fault to Inverness - 55 miles including a 1200 foot ascent....

13th May up early to get to the bike shop to get Gordon's bike fixed (again) and an hour later and in a much better mood we set off for oban. 50 miles of beautiful scenery along loch awe punctuated by heavy rain, hail and brilliant sunshine. 20 knot tail wind for most of the way really helped too. arrived in Connel around 5pm fans but happy. Then out for a pizza with some of Gordon's friends that he met in Peru recently. Then back to the hotel for a well earned rest.

12th May Complete failure to complete the planned triathlon! Goat fell disappeared overnight and was not seen again. Constant rain put pay to any ambitions for climbing it. Made our way soggily to lochranza where we checked into the very smart youth hostel. a pleasant night there and then caught the ferry over to the top end of the mull of kintyre and onwards to Lochgilphead...in the pouring rain. Gordon's back wheel then decided to disintegrate. Limped to the hotel with me carrying all four panniers on my bike to reduce the load on the wheel. bike shop is open tomorrow morning so we'll see what can be done!!

10th May After a very pleasant stay with Jennie and Malcolm at Rigg Farm,we set off for Kilmarnock in wet and windy conditions. found a great bike shop and cafe there where I had my headset fixed as the steering was becoming a bit iffy! Then on to Ardrosan where we caught the ferry over to Arran. 50 miles today.

10th May Left Sanquhar in fine but windy conditions...which soon deteriorated into wet and windy headwinds. On to Kilmarnock on busy A roads, then onto route 73 to Irvine and on to ardrosan where a ferry was just about to depart for Arran. managed to get on board in time to make the one hour crossing. It was a pleasant journey over - calm seas and rain showers. Found the accommodation easily enough in Brodick...as the rain started again with a vengeance!

9th May Left Gretna at 8am after a fine breakfast at the Gretna hall hotel. incidentally this stay cost less than the place in Stourport where we had to make our own breakfast! We got a great plast with strong tail winds...but gradually the rain caught up up and have up the first true soaking of the trip so far. Arrived at the farm in Sanquhar early....warm welcome from the hosts and now warning up again in front of a log fire. marvellous!!

8th May continued... Dropped the bikes off at a very friendly bike shop in Penrith so that Gordon's bike could get repaired. Then taxi to dufton where we were booked into the youth hostel. Had a lovely evening with friends Leslie and Pete who drove up from Kendal. Next morning we took a taxi back to Penrith to pick up the now repaired bike and headed for Gretna. Arrived here early due to a strong tail wind. So we are now in Scotland!

8th May continued.... So to Penrith to drop the bike off at a very friendly and helpful bike shop. Then taxi to dufton where we were booked into the youth hostel. Met up with Leslie and Pete who drove up from Kendal. Fun evening! Next day (today) we took a taxi back to Penrith and continued north. Made it to Gretna very quickly - with a strong tail wind. So now we are in Scotland!

8th May Continued on from Preston up to my place at Wray where the village scarecrow festival was at its peak. Had a quick resupply and a look around the wonderful scarecrows, then up into the dales through dent on to Sedbergh. Then thing. took a turn for the worse...the slightly annoying ticking noise from Gordon's bike became louder and more ominous. So we diverted to Penrith....

6th May Official rest day....well half day. Had a welcome lie in in the morning, then 33 miles to the premier inn in Preston.

5th may Arrived in Manchester at Gordon's house. 58 miles...

4th May: Left Stafford early at 7.30 sharp. Breakfast in a layby shed...sausages are keeping me going!! lunch at McDonald's in stoke. First junk food of the trip!! Then the last leg with a strong headwind to Gordon's place in Manchester. 55 miles today. Morning off tomorrow!! woop woop!

3rd May Started out sunny from Stourport, winding our way out through the Wyre forest up to Bridgnorth. Lunch there followed by a long road section up to Stafford. Weather began to cloud over and the wind picked up, mercifully it was then behind us giving a great push for the rest of the way. Another 60 mile day done!

2nd May update: Stourport is surreal. we're staying at a pub. That doesn't serve food even though there are several signs outside to the contrary. walked into town to another pub with food signs outside. we go in, are given a table. are told we cant have anything off the menu because its 'Greek night'. we ask for the Greek night menu. we are told there isn't one. just one starter and two main courses. we elect to leave. go to am Indian restaurant....splendid food and great service. go back to place we are staying. enquire when we can have the breakfast we have already paid for. we are informed by the landlady that if we insist on having breakfast at an ungodly hour (8.00 am) we will have to make it ourselves!! so after a tour me the kitchen I have retired to bed to write this all up. if I don't they tomorrow morning I will think it was all a dream! the pub is called the angel in Stourport. don't go there!!!

2nd May Woke to another lovely sunny day! Can't believe our luck with the weather....not been rained on once yet. This can't last can it? Off to Stourport today which will be around 60 miles again.

1st May Now we're in Frampton on Severn. On schedule so far. hot and sunny today with a bit of a headwind. 62 miles today the longest day yet. Gordon is complaining of sunburn on his head and chafing in the gentleman's parts....and is applying cream to the shiny bits of the affected areas. I had to look away. This is the sort of I have read about on expeditions like this that can leave one mentally scarred!

April 29th glorious sunny day coming over exmoor....bike touring at its best! Only 6,700 feet total ascent! This should be the last of the hilly days for a while now....time for the legs and knees to recover!

28th April: the last couple of days we have ended up in internet black spots so hence on updates. the good news is that we are still on schedule. we stayed in golant, and then tintagel last night in a fantastic youth hostel right on the cliff tops overlooking the sea. Met up with some old friends - Nicky and Simon. needless to say there were rose heads in the morning. We are increasing the mileage now - today was 51 miles. Now we are in westward ho!......!

25th April: First day completed with no incidents. Tried a genuine Cornish pasty....very excellent!!! Now on the north coast of Cornwall.

23rd. April Reached land's end in good time to start the ride tomorrow morning....

21st April 2013: All packed and ready to go!

Update 19th April 2013: just found out that I will have to drive all the way to land's end as my chum Gordon appears to have misappropriated his driving license. So not only will I be cycling the length of this fair country of ours, I will be driving it 1.5 times too!!!

First step completed-drive car to Wick and leave there. fly back to Lancashire. We'll use the car to bring the bikes back at end of the trip. We're committed now!!

First step completed. Drive to Wick, leave car there, fly back to Lancashire. We will pick up the car at the end of the trip and drive home with the bikes on the roof. We're committed now!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I will be cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats starting on 23rd of April with the long drive down to Penzance and on to Land's End. I will be going with my old friend Gordon who has been foolish enough to agree to do the ride with me.

I will be posting photos and messages along the way so that anyone interested can see our progress or lack of it on any given day. We are planning to follow the SUSTRANS routes wherever possible, so we are not going to be doing this as a speed trial! We have a side trip planned through Arran where we will take a break to do a TRIATHLON!! ...erm... well... we will walk up Goat Fell, cycle from Brodick to Lochranza (18 miles) and go for a swim in the sea :-).

We expect the whole trip will take just under a month.

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