The trip was conceived in a moment of madness late last year, when we decided that the most relaxing way to spend our annual summer holiday was battling Scottish midges, saddle sores and the best of British weather....never mind the small matter of cycling an average of 70 miles a day for a fortnight. We started training in January, surviving the London rush hour commute and building up the weekend miles, before finally setting off on May 28th on a route that measured just over 1000 miles.

We started on a grey blustery day but with a nice tailwind, so the first few days felt pretty comfortable, despite being the hilliest, and we particularly enjoyed the stunning scenery on Dartmoor. On day 3 we entered Martin's home county of Somerset and enjoyed a very warm welcome from his family that evening. Day 4 was tough (we didn't get our eating right), but we were rewarded with a lovely ride up the Wye valley and were very impressed with Tintern Abbey.

The next few days were flatter but longer; we really enjoyed the peaceful cycling through the Cheshire backroads and Vicky managed to see her family on the way through.

Things got a bit tougher as we entered the Lake District. Having decided to take the scenic B roads, we found ourselves confronted with 20% gradients at the end of a long hot day in the saddle which was quite a challenge!  However we were rewarded with fish and chips and a pint on the shores of Lake Windermere when we arrived at Ambleside.

We made it to the Scottish border at the end of day 8, and then enjoyed easy cycling through the Lowlands to stay in some fantastic youth hostels in New Lanark and Loch Lomond.

Despite getting absolutely soaked, the highlight of the trip was day 11, riding up the shores of Loch Lomond, over Rannoch Moor and into Glencoe. Fantastic scenery, but we needed a lot of warming up when we finally arrived at the Clachaig Inn.

The ride up to The Crask Inn on day 13 was wonderful and remote, and we enjoyed great food and a lovely evening in this very friendly pub.

Our final day was a day of two halves: in the morning we were greeted with blue skies and enjoyed an easy 30 miles downhill to the north coast, however that afternoon met a relentless headwind and the final 50 miles were slow, tough and the only bit of the trip that wasn't enjoyable.

When we finally reached John O'Groats at about 8pm we were tired and hungry, but most of all, glad to be there!