Eric and Sandy LEJoG 2010

Start and Finish - the official photos

2010-07-25T21:15:00.000+01:00

Scan of official photo taken at the start.

Scan of official photo taken at the end. Multiple layers of clothing required!

A link to other LEJoG and JoGLE blogs and sites

2010-07-14T21:07:00.000+01:00

Alan Pewsey maintains a list of links to lots of LEJoG and JoGLE sites. We used his route through Cornwall and Devon as the basis of our own - although we took in The Lizard along the way. He has kindly added this blog to his list.

You can find it at http://www.pewseys.co.uk/

Track logs and profile

2010-06-27T10:49:00.000+01:00

These are pictures of the whole route we ended up taking and the overall profile. I've edited out some of our wrong turns and detours to accommodation etc. The numbers on the profile graph aren't too accurate - the Garmin shortens track logs a bit - and I didn't recalibrate the barometer at any point on the trip - although it showed within 2 feet of the actual height of Drumochter when we were there. That said, it may have been using GPS data for the recorded heights. You may need to click on the images to see them properly.

If you would like to download a GPX file of our whole route with a few bits straightened out, right click on the link below and save the target on your computer.

Right click on this link and save target to download GPX file

You can contact me at "eric at ericpercival.co.uk" if you would like gdb or gpx files of the planned route (which differs a little from the above) or if you have any questions on what we did and why.

The daily statistics

2010-06-26T13:41:00.000+01:00

Eric's stats are a combination of cycle computer and GPS. For distance they agreed within 1%. Height is from the altimeter built into the GPS which can be a bit variable, although the height on the top of Drumochter was spot on. I never reset the barometer throughout the trip.

Sandy's stats are off his computer and GPS. He was working in kilometres and was reading slightly higher than me. His moving times are a bit less cos he was going quicker than me most of the time :-).

Day 0 - 4th June - Edinburgh to Sennen
Distance	12 miles
Comments	Home to station and Penzance to Sennen

Day 0.5 - 5th June - Sennen to Land's End
Distance	2 miles
Comments	Steep climb out of Sennen!

Day 1 - 5th June - Land's End to Veryan	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	72.2 miles	123.9 km
Climbing	5500 feet	1533 metres
Moving time	7 Hours	7 hours 4 mins
Average speed	10.3 mph	17.5 kph
Max speed	35 mph	56.8 kph
Comments	Last 15 miles with a broken rear mech	Sandy did some extra miles looking for rear mech hanger

Day 2 - 6th June - Veryan to Okehampton	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	74.5 miles	121 km
Climbing	12700 feet (cumulative)	2071 metres
Moving time	7 Hours 48 mins	7 hrs 35 mins
Average speed	9.5 mph	15.9 kph
Max speed	33.3 mph	57.9 kph
Comments	First 15 miles with a broken rear mech

Day 3 - 7th June - Okehampton to Mark	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	88.6 miles	144 km
Climbing	17000 feet	1072 metres
Moving time	8 hrs	7 hrs 54 mins
Average speed	11 mph	18.2 kph
Max speed	28.7 mph	49.9 kph
Comments

Day 4 - 8th June - Mark to Ross on Wye	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	71.9 miles	116 km
Climbing	didn't record	1038 metres
Moving time	6 Hours 17 mins	6 hrs 4 mins
Average speed	11.4 mph	19.2 kph
Max speed	33.1 mph	58.9 kph
Comments

Day 5 - 9th June - Ross on Wye to Ironbridge	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	66.7 miles	106.9 km
Climbing	27125	1498 metres
Moving time	5 Hours 53 mins	5 hrs 51 mins
Average speed	10.4 mph	18.5 kph
Max speed	45.3 mph	73.5 kph
Comments

Day 6 - 10th June - Ironbridge to Standish	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	85.3 miles	138 km
Climbing	31325	1032 metres
Moving time	7 Hours 44 mins	7 hrs 34 mins
Average speed	11.0 mph	18.3 kph
Max speed	28.6 mph	48.4 kph
Comments

Day 7- 11th June - Standish to Kendal	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	62.5 miles	102 km
Climbing		630 metres
Moving time	5 Hours 30 mins	5 hrs 27 mins
Average speed	11.3 mph	18.7 kph
Max speed	29.5 mph	43.4 kph
Comments	Shortest full day

Day 8 12th June - Kendal to Langholm	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	66 miles	107.5 km
Climbing		973 metres
Moving time	5 Hours 33 mins	5 hrs 29 mins
Average speed	11.8 mph	19.6 kph
Max speed	33.2 mph	54.7 kph
Comments

Day 9 - 13th June - Langholm to Edinburgh/Dunfermline	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	73.7 miles	148 km
Climbing	42560 feet	1636 metres
Moving time	5 Hours 55 mins	7 hrs 12 mins
Average speed	12.4 mph	20.6 kph
Max speed	34.0 mph	56.1 kph
Comments	Eric went to Edinburgh	Sandy went to Dunfermline

Day 10 - 14th June - Edinburgh/Dunfermline to Blair Atholl	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	85 miles	110 km
Climbing	46780 feet	821 metres
Moving time	7 Hours 6 mins	5 hrs 20 mins
Average speed	11.9 mph	20.6 kph
Max speed	33.8 mph	56.2 kph
Comments	Eric started in Edinburgh	Sandy started in Dunfermline

Day 11 - 15th June - Blair Atholl to Balloch	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	86.95 miles	141 km
Climbing	48980 feet	1068 metres
Moving time	6 Hours 49 mins	6 hrs 38 mins
Average speed	12.7 mph	21.2 kph
Max speed	31.9 mph	68.0 kph
Comments

Day 12 - 16th June - Balloch to Crask	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	67.35 miles	109 km
Climbing	52300 feet	901 metres
Moving time	5 Hours 37 mins	5 hrs 23 mins
Average speed	11.9 mph	20.3 kph
Max speed	29.9 mph	51.4 kph
Comments

Day 13 - 17th June - Crask to Castletown	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	69.8 miles	113 km
Climbing	56110 feet	1020 metres
Moving time	4 hrs 58 mins	4 hrs 47 mins
Average speed	14.0 mph	23.6 kph
Max speed	36.5 mph	73 kph
Comments

Day 14 - 18th June - Castletown to John O'Groats	Eric (imperial)	Sandy (metric)
Distance	24.5 miles	40 km
Climbing	57280 feet	329 metres
Moving time	1 hr 57 mins	1 hr 54 mins
Average speed	12.3 mph	20.8 kph
Max speed		48.6 kph
Comments

Day 14.5 - 18th June - Back to Thurso	Eric (imperial)
Distance	20 miles
Comments	Stopped at Dunnet churchyard on the way back

Total distance - 995.7 miles

Photos from the last 5 days

2010-06-25T21:04:00.000+01:00

Some photos from the last few days - formatting is a bit messed up for some reason.

Tame blackbird nicking bits of scone

Sandy having tea at The Blair Atholl Arms

The guest house in Blair Atholl

Loch Garry on the way up to Drumochter summit.

Drumochter summit

Dalwhinnie Distillery

View towards the Kessick Bridge on the way into Inverness

On the Kessick Bridge next morning.

On the way down into Ardgay and Bonar Bridge

Crask and the Crask Inn. This is all there is there.

The Back of beyond.

Sandy's sleeping quarters

Sustrans marker at Crask.

The bar at Crask - some of the Black Isle Brewery beers are in rather short supply!

The top row - we didn't sample these :-).

Sunset at Crask - 10 p.m.

The final county!

Flagstones in Castletown. It used to be a major industry here.

Flagstones from here are found all over the world.

Harbour at Castletown where the above flagstones were shipped from.

My Gtx4 Grandparents' grave in Dunnet churchyard

Dunnet Head - most Northerly point.

Lighthouse at Dunnet Head

John O'Groats - we made it.

The train home - early Saturday morning.

Some final reflections...

2010-06-24T13:23:00.000+01:00

Having had a few days to contemplate the journey I thought I would pen a few final thoughts. I have still to add the statistics, some more photos and the actual route followed (with some of the wrong turns edited out :-)).

Overall it was a great experience and something I feel a sense of achievement for having done. It's the first time I've done multiple days of long distances on a bike and carrying that amount of weight in panniers. I can see why people get addicted to the idea - and it increases my respect for someone like Mark Beaumont immensely. The idea of 195 days doing about 100 miles a day with a lot more weight than we were carrying beggars belief!

In the first 9 days I lost no weight at all. In the last 5 I lost a few pounds - probably due to fewer cake shops :-).

We raised about 2800 pounds for RP- Fighting Blindness along the way - thanks to everyone who contributed, particularly those we met along the way including the "Bettyhill Babes" who paid some of our coffee and cake bill when we realised we had insufficient cash! It's hard to pick the top cake shops - the one in Carrbridge scores highly for having a table with cakes laid out and you picked your own :-). The most unusual cake award goes to lumpy bumpy cake in Kinross.

The best lunch remains the one with John and Frieda in Chepstow - very welcome after a long morning skirting Bristol on some pretty busy roads to reach the Severn Bridge.

People were really friendly and helpful throughout. The folks at the Elerkey guest house who even volunteered to let us cannibalise their son's bicycle to sort my broken rear mech hanger, the "Lord Mayor of Mark" and friends who we met in the Pack Horse Inn in Mark (the wettest day of the trip,) the B&B owners in Mark who took us in despite (or perhaps because of) our bedraggled state, the B&B owners in Langholm (Wauchope Cottage) who have previously done the end to end thing, where they even had bike racks and a map to show the way to the pub (and yes, I do really know the difference between a suspension bridge and a stone bridge,) the B&B in Blair Atholl where we were mobbed by tame blackbirds, Robbie for putting us up for a night in Inverness, Mike and Kai at the Crask Inn (best unplanned experience of the whole trip) who let Sandy sleep in the summer house and the lady at the B&B in Thurso who let us take Sandy's bike apart in her back garden and gave us the best sandwiches, made with home made bread, to eat on the train home.

Most places we stayed were really good - the top award probably goes to The Crask Inn - mainly for the novelty of the experience - with a tie between Wauchope Cottage in Langhom and Dalgreine Guest House in Blair Atholl, closely followed by The Elerkey Guest House in Veryan and Kingsley Farm in Mark.

The weather was fairly kind to us. There was only one day where we ended the day wet - we had one other fairly wet day and the odd shower. Temperature was fairly good for cycling - although it was cold the day we went over Shap and absolutely baltic on the last day. The wind was northerly throughout, although for the most part it was light enough not to notice - the exceptions being going over Shap and the last day.

We pushed up a few hills on the first couple of days - not helped by loss of drive on my bike - and some more on the 5th day. I think we pushed up one short one in the whole of Scotland, which must mean that Scotland is basically flat(?).

The scenery throughout was for the most part great - great variation across the length of the country. One of the odd things is that Britain on a bicycle somehow seems smaller than Britain done by car or train. Even though it takes longer to get places, every day we got to somewhere distinctly different - different scenery, accents, beer....whereas travelling by car it seems to take ages to get to the next major place down a busy motorway. We were on back roads for the majority of the trip - even the A roads we were on were pretty much like back roads a lot of the way. For the most part we avoided towns and cities - but when we did have to traverse them they were rather hard work - Exeter, Telford, Warrington, Wigan, Lancaster, Penrith and Carlisle coming to mind in particular. The one way systems had a habit of taking you a long way round - which could easily be done more directly on a bicycle.

Of the major points along the way, The Lizard was probably the most spectacular. Dunnet Head was rugged - but it was so cold and windy we didn't really get to appreciate it. Land's End was ok - good views and it was sunny - but John O'Groats had little to recommend it.

The train home was perhaps the least exciting part of the whole trip - I was certainly glad to get home that afternoon after the air conditioning in the carriage we were in failed.

So we did it - we have plenty of memories - many but not all of them recorded in this blog. Thanks to everyone who supported us and a personal thanks to Sandy for accompanying me on this journey.

Some hints and tips for future LEJoggers

2010-06-22T13:22:00.000+01:00

I thought I would jot down a few notes about things I would suggest anyone thinking of doing this should consider. This is from the point of view of an unsupported trip.

Getting to your start point - the easiest way is to travel by train - but book as far ahead as you can (12 weeks is the current maximum.) That way you can get an Advance ticket which depending on where you're travelling from can be a LOT cheaper than the standard fare. Since you have to travel on the same train as your bikes and you need to make a bike reservation at the same time this is the obvious thing to do.

One decision to make is whether to get to somewhere near Land's End (or John O'Groats) the night before or do the extra miles in the morning. If you choose the latter then allow for the extra miles in your first day's plan. Personally I would recommend the former - there are quite a few B&B's near John O'Groats and also a fair bit of accommodation near Land's End (although booking ahead is important.)

Getting home from your destination - This can be a bit tricky! If you are certain you can stick to a schedule then you can book a train and reserve bike spaces - but obviously there is rather more uncertainty. The big problem is the limited bike spaces available on trains - and in the case of Thurso and Wick, there is a very limited number of trains available - 4 per weekday/Saturday and 1 on Sunday. I made the mistake of trying to organise our return travel on a Sunday evening and ended up talking to somebody useless in a call centre. All the train companies seem to use the same call centre. I then tried booking online through the the East Coast Railways website and despite thinking I had a bike reservation, I didn't.

There are a couple of other options - it is possible to post your bike home. The bike shop in Thurso will sell you a box (15 pounds - a bit cheeky since other places will pretty much pay you to take them away...but supply and demand and all that) and help you dismantle and pack your bike. You then take it to the post office about a quarter mile away and simply mail it. It cost me less than 20 pounds including insurance. The bike beat me home! You can also try dismantling your bike and putting it in bags/boxes and putting them on the train. Sandy did this and it worked perfectly for him. Obviously it depends how small your bike will go. With these options it matters a lot less if you miss a train connection (assuming you have an Anytime rather than an Advance ticket.)

It is also possible to catch the Orkney bus to Inverness from either John O'Groats or Wick. The leaflet says they will carry bikes for free - but I suspect it is likely down to how much space they have. Some websites say they don't take bikes - but the photographer at John O'Groats recommended this option to us. That would save pedalling back to Wick or Thurso (about 20 miles) to catch a train. It seems to go twice a day.

Another option would be to cadge a lift from a supported group - we didn't try this one either - but it's quite possible you could get a lift back a good chunk of the way if your arrival timed nicely with a group with a minibus and big enough bike trailer.

Accommodation - Some people choose to camp - this is obviously the cheapest and most flexible option - but it can be quite a lot of extra weight to carry. We met quite a few people taking this option, but personally it's not for me.

Bed and Breakfast - the main question is how far ahead to book. We booked the first two nights' accommodation - the one before we set off in Sennen and the first night of the trip proper in Veryan. Despite booking three months ahead this was much harder than anticipated. The B&B's I tried in Sennen were all booked and we ended up staying in The Old Success Inn in Sennen Cove. This was fine - except it was at the bottom of a very steep hill. The first night proper I had been aiming for Tregony, but again they were all fully booked 12 weeks ahead, so we switched to Veryan - which as it turned out was a good choice.

For the most part we didn't book ahead - although if staying somewhere busy like Kendal I would recommend doing so. I would also recommend it for the quieter or more remote places. We phoned ahead to Langholm and got into the 3rd place out of the 4 showing on the web. The stretch between Lairg and Bettyhill (or Tongue) is also very sparsely populated and other than Crask and Altnaharra there is absolutely nothing in terms of accommodation. The Altnaharra hotel is also expensive so beware.

Money - Lots of B&B's don't take credit cards, so carrying some cash is quite important. Also, lots of places in the north of Scotland don't take plastic either.

Daily Distances - Obviously your mileage will vary - we planned on doing 55 to 80 miles a day with the exception of the last day. We nearly always ended up doing a few more than planned - in one case almost 20 more - but that did allow us a shorter day later on. Most of the deviation was down to the difference in joining dots on the GPS versus actual wiggles and ups and downs. Some deviation was down to varying the route to avoid traffic or similar. Our shortest day bar the last one was 62 miles - the longest 88 (or for Sandy, 92). We had plans to do a bit more sightseeing along the way, but after the Eden project we didn't do a whole lot. Our focus became getting a decent number of miles done early on and not finishing the day too late, particularly if we didn't have accommodation booked. If I did it again I would a) take a different route (the one we did was fine - just a bit of variation) and b) aim to do fewer miles each day and do more of the sight-seeing thing.

What to carry - We started off with three sets of cycling gear, some tools, lights, waterproofs and some gear to wear in the evenings. This didn't seem like a whole lot, but it's amazing how the weight and bulk builds up. We also had a book each and I brought along a decent camera. Sandy used the camera on his phone. We reduced the load slightly in Edinburgh/Dunfermline, but not a whole lot. If you can wash stuff along the way and get it dry in time, then that helps keep the volume of stuff down. We didn't carry any maps - relying on the GPS the whole way. That worked ok, although the maps on the GPS itself were sometimes a problem - although not a serious one.

Journey home - part 2

2010-06-19T15:06:00.001+01:00

Home again home again joggy lejog - or really that should be LETLDHJOG for Land's End, The Lizard, Dunnet Head, John O'Groats - but that doesn't really scan, although it might mean something in Welsh :-).

The train guards swapped over somewhere down the line - the second guy was a lot more pleasant - no jack boots or swastikas in sight.

As we got to Dingwall the conductor announced over the tannoy that there would be a three minute stop in case anyone needed a quick cigarette - first time I've heard that particular announcement.

The train got into Inverness on time and we switched trains for the journey to Kirkcaldy/Edinburgh. A lot of the seats were reserved - although it looked like the tickets had been randomly distributed around the carriage. As is often the case, either the people didn't turn up or sat elsewhere. All except a large American girl who proceeded to clamber over Sandy to get to her seat - she managed to wedge herself in - although I was a bit worried that we'd need a couple of crowbars and a pound or two of lard to get her out again - tyre levers just wouldn't have been able to do the job!

The only other incident of note was Sandy exploding in fits of laughter at a particular point in his book, "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. For those that have read it it's the part where Bryson comes back from trying to buy insect repellent. He had to leave the carriage for a few minutes to recover.

Somewhere along the way the air conditioning in our carriage ceased to function and it all got a bit hot. The guard opened the window after Kirkcaldy, which is where Sandy got off to catch the train to Inverkeithing.

I got home to discover that my bike had made it back to Edinburgh before me - well done Royal Mail - although I'll have to go and collect it from the local post office - they said they couldn't carry it up the stairs - which I don't want them to do anyway because it lives in the garage!

So the big adventure is over. I'll add some photos and final thoughts later.

.....I'm just a bad conductor....

2010-06-19T10:28:00.000+01:00

Final punchline, and NOT a reflextion on this photo of a very kind & happy conductor. Sandy.

The journey home - part 1

2010-06-19T07:32:00.001+01:00

Up early to catch the train. The lady of the house gave us some sandwiches made with home made bread - which were definitely the best sandwiches of the trip.

We carted our stuff including Sandy's bags of bike bits up to the station in plenty of time.

There was a lady heading back to Dumfries and a few other folk arrived while we were waiting, one with a bike. It looked like we could probably have gotten one if not both bikes on - but there were 4 on the train in total.

After the train set off we got the Spanish Inquisition from the guard - "Are you the guy who put a bike on in Thurso?" No. "Are you sure?" I even pointed out who it was. "I've asked everyone on the train" he said. 5 minutes later he had it figured out (the bike was booked, but needed to be put on the other rack so's the tea trolley could get through.) After that he was all smiles again.

The train crosses the most desolate landscape on its way south. On a grey day like today the sense of isolation is emphasised. It stops at a few tiny communities - some of them request stops. I wonder if people stand on the platform with their arm out?

That's my bike that is....

2010-06-18T20:33:00.000+01:00

Bike in bits covered in green garden bags, wheels in one bag, everything else in the other ready for the train home.
Sandy

Beer blog, the final frontier...

2010-06-18T20:13:00.000+01:00

Thurso is a good beer free zone. Much like last night the anticipation of finding some of the Orkney beers was left wanting. All they have here is some fizzy export, although an unusual McEwans 60 was some minor consolation. It's hard to find, but it would never make it into the beer blog lejog top 10.
So to the results. In time honoured tradition, I shall annouce the rewards in reverse order.

In 3rd place, nothing (you will see why after I announce 2nd place), however IF I were to fill that place it would go to Deuchars IPA which we had in Langholm.

In joint 2nd, we have Shropshire Gold, and Crask Inn's Wednesday nights bottled Black Isle Yellowhammer IPA. Really smooth, and not too gassy for a bottled beer. I just could not choose between them.

And you already knew the winner. Head shoulders and some other measures above all the others is HPA. Beautiful, smooth, clear, loved it.

Best cider is Sams, although we didn't get to try too many before we left the cider west country.

All told a great oddysey and lots of fun conducting such vital refreshment research,

Sandy

Day 14 - Castletown to John O'Groats

2010-06-18T19:49:00.001+01:00

Up at 8 for breakfast and on the road for a little after 8.30. We cycled the couple of miles to Dunnet village and decided not to look for the churchyard on the way but do it on the way back - just as well as it turned out because we had gone past it. It was a strong cold north,north westerly wind which was in our faces as we climbed the 3 miles up to Dunnet Head. A very different kettle of fish to The Lizard with all its touristy bits and restaurants and gifty shops. We climbed up to the viewpoint and took some photos then wandered down to the lighthouse. It is well over 20 years since I was last here - not a lot seems to have changed.

From there it was straightforward to John O'Groats. The wind was unrelenting but other than that we made decent progress. We arrived just before 10.45 a.m. and immediately made for the shelter of the coffee shop. It has to be said that John O'Groats is still a dump with little or nothing to recommend it.

All in all a slightly anti-climatic moment - what are we going to do after riding bikes for 6 or 7 hours a day for the last two weeks? "It is better to travel hopefully than arrive."

We put on some extra layers of clothing and posed for the official souvenir photos then set off back towards Thurso. We called in at Dunnet village as I wanted to see the grave of one of my set of gtx4 grandparents. I already had a photo that someone had sent me but it was nice to see it for myself. I spent some of last night looking around Olrig cemetery and the ruins of the old church there.

Anyway, we got to Dunnet and just as I was about to cycle up the road I spotted the church. Whew. Saved myself a couple of extra miles :-).

After taking photos we headed back into Thurso for lunch. On the way we met the guy we had last seen in Ross on Wye. He had stayed in Tongue last night. His mishaps had continued. He had hit a pothole and buckled his frame. We chatted for a few minutes and then continued on our way.

Given the challenges of getting bikes on trains I decided to post my bike back to Edinburgh. There was a bike shop close to where we had lunch so I went to ask their advice. He was prepared to sell me a bike box that meant I could post the bike home. Good enough so that's what I did. He apparently did 59 of those last year. It seems whether or not you get extra bikes on the train is down to the guard. Some are helpful and some aren't. The owner also said that it was down to the council as to what kind of service Scotrail provide!

We then went and found the b&b we had called in at yesterday, had a quick shower and went up to the station to observe the 4.30 train. We met some more end to enders waiting to catch it. One guy had done it in 9 days.
The good news is that the luggage racks are certainly big enough to take Sandy's bike if dismantled, so that was the next project. We will therefore catch the 6.48 a.m. train tomorrow and get home in reasonable time.
I think I will go and tout my cycle reservation for the 4.30 tomorrow :-). It must be worth a few quid to someone.

Now in a bar for tea. Thurso doesn't have a whole lot to recommend it on that front!

anti-climax over......happy again!

2010-06-18T18:46:00.000+01:00

Finishing was a huge anti-climax. Getting to JOG was a big dissapointment, completely unlike the excitement at LE. No fanfares, no jubilant handshakes (just did that when we got back to Thurso).
I'll not do full accurate stats, I'm sure Eric will, his numbers are a little differnt to mine, mainly because of my 7 miles detour to look for a new mech hanger on the 1st day!
My total was 1621km in 84hr 12mins, just over 1000 miles approx. Total climbing was approx 15622 metres with two big days in Cornwall, one in Shropshire, one in the borders, which was also my longest day at 92.5m (148km), that was also my favourite day. Best place to stay was Crask, the wendy house view that morning was amazing. Roads were great with generally excellent surfaces, the only exception was Edinburgh, obviously all the money is in the trams.
Best (only) icecream was in Milnthorpe
Best (only) whiskey was on the Dalwhinnie tour.
Biggest hill was Drumochter 462m, hardest hill into the wind was Shap, although the borders day with 6 times over 300m was great.
Beer blog not yet completed. Update later.
Zero punctures
Only breakdown was Erics hanger
Cakes eaten - incalculable
Lance Armstrong might have to ride a bit faster than us, but not carrying all those cakes and having to write a beer blog. Lance - must do better.
Sandy

fin

2010-06-18T11:09:00.000+01:00

Did dunnet and jog, had the coffee, ready to bike back to Thurso. Sandy

Celebratory coffee and scones/biscuits.

2010-06-18T11:04:00.003+01:00

Limited phone coverage so this may take a while to upload.

Made it!

2010-06-18T11:04:00.001+01:00

10.45 a.m.

995.7 miles total

Moving time - 87 hours 40 minutes

Photos etc to follow. It's cold so we've holed up in the coffee shop

The final leg

2010-06-18T08:36:00.001+01:00

Setting off shortly for Dunnet and then JoG. 20 miles or so to go.

Beer blog update - shock changes.

2010-06-17T19:39:00.000+01:00

There is a change to the leaderboard, but in the traditions of all good competitions, I'm going to keep you in suspenders until we finish our "research" on Fri night. For now you will have to be content with a picture of several possible condenders courtesy of the Crask Inn.

Tonight there will definately be no contenders, I might have to resort to a mini lager competition to keep us focused. Hopefully tomorrow night back in Thurso, we can find the final few condenders, maybe one or two of the Orkney ales.

Update on the wendy house from last night was that it was FREE. Just had to cough up for dinner and breakie. The tent totting Dutch lads we met last night mentioed that the Scottish midges dont sleep. One of them had to get out of the tent for a pee in the middle of the night and didn't bother putting anything on. It took him a while to itch them off before he could get back to sleep. He didn't state how undressed he was at the time.

Random punchline inspired by passing at least 1000 passing places (I do not exagerate). ...... Can't get the toilet seat down......

Todays scenery staggering, Mclovin it. Sandy

Day 13 - Crask to Castletown

2010-06-17T19:27:00.002+01:00

We left after breakfast at about 8.45 a.m. having just about cleaned out our cash reserves paying the bill. If it wasn't that they didn't charge Sandy for staying in the summer house we would have been toiling. We bought a couple of book tokens with paintings on them that show remote a place Crask is!
The other end to enders from London who were planning on completing the journey today had only just shown up for breakfast as we were leaving. They were aiming to do over 100 miles. We gave them the tip as to which was the best road to take to Bettyhill.

We made good time to Altnaharra - downhill most of the 7 miles where we caught up with the Dutch pair heading for Orkney. They had stopped for coffee and had just gotten back on the road. We chatted for a few minutes before leaving them behind as we pedalled up beside the loch. It was a great ride up to Bettyhill. Hardly any traffic. Almost flat with little ups and downs. We saw the RAF practising their low flying although not as low as the other day. We also stopped at MacLeod's Gloomy Monument which had information about the highland clearances.

We stopped for coffee at Bettyhill at the tourist information place. It hadn't struck us that they wouldn't take plastic and we thought we were going to have to pedal back up a steep hill to get some cash. Fortunately some other customers came to our rescue - we will add what they subbed us to the donations. They were a couple of ladies - who Sandy christened the Bettyhill babes :-). They have retired here from Manchester - about as far away as you can get from the rat-race they said and they are never going back. They then proceeded to tell us where they lived and that nobody up here locks their doors.

Re-fuelled we continued on towards Thurso. It was a bit hilly in places - fairly long climbs followed by some decent fast descents. Some of the scenery was simply stunning.

We made it into Thurso and headed for the train station to confirm our bookings for Saturday. Ha ha! As I had suspected, despite ticking the boxes on the website we didn't have a bike space reservation.

We considered the options and decided to get a later train - but that doesn't quite work because in the time we were considering one of the bike spaces from Inverness to Edinburgh disappeared. We decided we will take the bikes to bits and get them on that way. It's only a 2 carriage train and I don't imagine it will be too busy at 6.40 in the morning. Rules and regulations will be the problem. I asked the girl at the counter why they didn't put more bike spaces on and got a story about the number of passengers not justifying more than two carriages. Like go figure! Maybe you need a different kind of carriage.

After that aggravation we went to look for a b&b for Friday night - we found a place near the station that said no vacancies but we rang the doorbell on the chance there would be space tomorrow night.
The woman said she hadn't been doing b&b for a while but she would put us up if we were quiet.

We then went back down to the tourist information place to see about accommodation in Castletown. I phoned the only listed place - the Castletown Hotel. Result, so we pedalled the 5 miles and arrived in good time.

We have done about 70 miles today, leaving just over 20 for tomorrow including Dunnet Head. We had a very high average speed today - around 15 mph.

After checking in we went for a wander down to the harbour and the flagstone trail. Flagstones used to be quarried here and shipped all over the world. I haven't confirmed it, but I suspect that one of my ancestors who was listed in the census as a stonemason probably worked there.

Now, following tea in the bar, it's time to watch the football, although I willgo see if I can find some network coverage first.

Castletown

2010-06-17T19:27:00.001+01:00

Guess what - no mobile coverage again.

We have come on 5 miles from Thurso to Castletown where some of my ancestors come from and are staying in The Castletown Hotel. The train hassle has put a slight dampener on things. We have booked a b&b in Thurso for tomorrow night and will have a go at getting the bikes onto the very early train in bits.

TV coverage is broken - the digital switchover is happening and at the moment there seems to be neither analog or digital available.

Spot the difference !

2010-06-17T19:26:00.000+01:00

Not a difficult competition for all you blog readers.....sandy

8 days a week?

2010-06-17T17:37:00.000+01:00

Marketing spin from the shop @ Bettyhill. Does that mean 6 days work or a 3 day weekend? Sandy.

Grief with trains

2010-06-17T15:45:00.001+01:00

Lots of hassle with the supposed cycle reservations. Now booked on the 4.30 p.m. on Saturday which gets us to Inverness but only one onward reservation. May try and leave bike in Inverness.

Cake at Bettyhill

2010-06-17T12:12:00.010+01:00

Not many more cake shops between here and JoG

Bettyhill

2010-06-17T12:12:00.007+01:00

No phone coverage again, but no matter.

Set off at 8.45 in warm sunshine and made good time down to Altnaharra - averaged better than 16 mph. Beautiful scenery, then alongside the loch and the river - almost flat until we got to Bettyhill.

The Crask Inn - later

2010-06-17T12:12:00.005+01:00

Well that has to be the best evening we've spent on this trip by a remote country 8 miles (the distance to the next habitation).

Dinner in the bar with a bunch of other cyclists. 3 of them doing the end to end thing, a Welsh couple who had been on Orkney and Shetland and a couple of Dutch blokes who were heading towards Orkney and Shetland.

Angus from Kirkcaldy who comes up here for weeks at a time played the accordion.

We got through most of the Black Isle beers.

A beautiful sunset topped it off.

Sandy has retired to his Wendy house for the night.

Mike and Kai have been running this place for the last 13 years. Electricity comes from a generator. It couldn't be described as luxurious but it's comfortable and homely. No TV or the like, but there is no need for it. Given at one point today we thought we might be sleeping in a field I would have to say we have lucked out big time. This is one of those things we'll remember for a very long time.

The Crask Inn

2010-06-17T12:12:00.003+01:00

This is turning into the most bizarre experience of the whole trip.

We are sitting at the bar. People keep turning up. A party of 10 just showed up from the lake district for a 30th birthday party. An Australian/French couple showed up for dinner - squeezed in. There are some Dutch people camping outside in the front garden.

We are working our way through the Black Isle Brewery beers. I think we may be zig zagging up the road tomorrow. Angus is next door practising his accordion.

A group of 3 more cyclists are showing up shortly - one is here already.

Dinner is at 7.30 - Venison.

This is just pure dead brilliant :-)

Day 12 - Inverness to Crask

2010-06-17T12:12:00.001+01:00

No phone coverage again, so this will appear tomorrow I imagine.

Last night we went into Inverness for an Indian, then returned to sample the Dalwhinnie whisky we had brought up the road with us.

We took our leave after breakfast at about 8.30 and headed over the Kessick bridge. Getting onto it was fairly straightforward although crossing the road wasn't so easy. The only "help" being a sign saying "High speed dual carriageway - cross with care" - like we hadn't noticed!

The cycle path left the side of the A9 after a while which was a relief. We saw a sign for The Black Isle Brewery, but we couldn't tell how far off the route it was and also whether or not it would be open so decided to give it a miss.

We continued on until we got to a junction where the A9 took a direct route to the bridge across the Cromarty Firth but the cycle route took a massive detour via Conon Bridge. We opted for the A9 - no cycle protection which for a relatively new road is ridiculous. The bridge was much the same - although there was at least a bumpy pavement - which just stopped at the other end.

We regained the cycle route shortly after and then turned onto a B road towards Bonar Bridge.
We got some splendid views across the Dornoch Firth as we approached. Not too surprisingly there was nowhere selling coffee. I suspect the Food Safety Act has put anyone doing it on a casual basis out of business.

We got to Ardgay - one shop that sold coffee and no cakes, so pressed on to Bonar Bridge - just another mile up the road where we found a cafe and filled our faces. We tried phoning a couple of places in Altnaharra for accommodation. Both were fully booked - which was a bit concerning because there is almost nothing between there and the North coast, another 30 miles or so.

We decided to go onto Lairg - another 10 miles up the road - with the option of staying there if we couldn't find anywhere further on. We found the tourist information - which showed a place called Crask, which has an Inn. Sandy called them - initially they said they were full, but offered us the summer house. Sounded good enough to us so we set off the 12 miles or so, which would leave us only 8 miles short of our target.

The wind was in our faces on a single track A road that just climbed and climbed. Surely it must go down after the next bend? We passed the 900 mile mark and then came around the corner to see a farmhouse and The Crask Inn in the middle of nowhere. It reminds me of the Tan Hill Inn in Yorkshire.

We were welcomed by the proprietors and given a welcome cup of tea. Sandy is sleeping in the summerhouse and I am in a single room in the main building.

An excellent and unexpected find.

View from my bed.....

2010-06-17T07:13:00.000+01:00

This is the view at 7am just after my alarm went off FROM MY BED. The picture does not tell the whole story though.

You cannot hear the distant cuckoos or squabbling swallows darting around and a slight background drone of honey bees.

What I cannot hear is traffic or human noise of ANY kind.

I was awake briefly in the night, and found the birds still singing, probably because it didn't actually get dark, and therefore no dawn chorus either.

Wierd and wonderful
Sandy

Over 900 miles, might not make 1000 ! Shock horror....

2010-06-16T16:28:00.000+01:00

Arrived in Crask with just over 900 miles on the speedo's (no not the swimming trunks).

For those of you who do not know where Crask is, I'm not surprised. It is 250m up on an isolated moor and consists of an Inn. Yup, this is it. The Inn however is full, Eric got the owners son's room, the son Tom is sleeping in a caravan, while I volunteered for the summer house - see pics.

It's a realhome from home with a gas lamp, a one bar electric heater, 3 chairs and a bed. I love it and the view out my front door is staggering.
Eric mentioned in an earlier blog that we were in the middle of no-where, but we were mistaken, THIS is the middle of a beautiful, isolated, no-where.

First punchline with no pictures...... 36, yes thought that would get you laughing, if you hadn't heard it before.

Battled headwinds all day, one rain
shower, 67miles or so, no real hassles.
Big thanks to the folks at the Crask Inn for looking after us. The alternative was another 30 miles to Tongue and a VERY short day tomorrow. Eric has no cell coverage.... Again.
Sandy

Bonar Bridge

2010-06-16T13:14:00.001+01:00

A ride across a fairly bleak set of hills this morning. Nothing between Alness and Ardgay. Serious lack of coffee and cake outlets!

Now eating lunch in a wee cafe before heading up the road.

I can fly !

2010-06-16T12:05:00.000+01:00

Flying wheely bins, whatever next? Sandy

Looking down the Dornoch Firth

2010-06-16T11:52:00.001+01:00

34 miles so far today. Around 40 to go.

Tho giant hairy millipedes go head to head on hillside.

2010-06-16T11:48:00.000+01:00

on a hill overlooking the Dornoch firth.....Sandy

Cromarty Firth

2010-06-16T10:02:00.001+01:00

On the road for an hour and a half. Just about to cross the Cromarty Firth

tide's out, mud everywhere.

2010-06-16T10:00:00.000+01:00

Cromarty bridge already, some hills up ahead. Heading back into "Eric's phone blackout country", so blog could be sporadic. Sandy

Day 11 - Blair Atholl to Inverness

2010-06-15T18:31:00.001+01:00

We got away about 8.30 a.m. after breakfast of porridge and smoked salmon with scrambled eggs. That has been a family favourite since discovering it in Norway many years ago.

The first 10 miles seemed fairly flat, but we were actually climbing pretty much from the off. The route was close to the A9 for most of the day - either on the path beside it or on a nearby road. We followed cycle route 7 until the last 5 or 6 miles - and in fact we could have stayed on it until the last mile.

We climbed over Drumochter just as the sun disappeared. Some splendid views over the loch near the top.

We carried on into Dalwhinnie where we paused to visit the distillery. We took the tour and did the tasting. After that we bashed on towards Newtonmore, stopping for coffee and toasties and a non home made cake at Rialla. The path was very well sign posted as far as Kingussie. After that they must have run out of stickers.

We paused briefly to survey the ruins of Ruthven barracks before bashing on, now quite a way from the main road, towards Aviemore. From there it was onto Carrbridge where we stopped at a small cofffee shop that said cyclists welcome. There was a whole table of homemade cakes. We were told to help ourselves - so we did :-). Two pieces of cake, a cup of coffee and a milkshake each later we were feeling suitably revived for the last 25 miles. Up over Slochd summit and then along the back roads to Balloch, which to all intents and purposes is Inverness - at least it is in my book.

We saw quite a few curlews today and a dead deer beside the A9. Yesterday we saw a live one near Dalguise.

Various quality of surfaces from excellent to diabolical.

A long day in the saddle but a good average speed of almost 13 mph.

Today's new game for bike geeks is gear gambling. As you approach a hill how high a gear are you prepared to go up it in? I'll raise you a chain ring...if you make it up in the higher gear you win :-).

Inverness is still here.....

2010-06-15T18:00:00.002+01:00

Arrived. Excellent tree carving by the side of the cycle track near culloden house. Well worth a look.
Check out the graffiti-esque sign for the cycle path at Dalwhinnie, and the old car got me thinkink about a bonus punchline........ No officer he had a Cortina.....!

Sandy

Made it to Inverness

2010-06-15T18:00:00.001+01:00

Well, Balloch really as Sandy pointed out :-)

Now lying on what I hope is Robbie's front lawn awaiting his return from work.

87 miles today. Definitely fewer tomorrow.

More later.

Inverness

2010-06-15T17:28:00.003+01:00

Carrbridge

2010-06-15T17:28:00.001+01:00

Still 25 miles to go to Inverness.

Now in Carrbridge doing the cake and coffee and milkshake thing again.

.....shurely shome mishtake......

2010-06-15T15:59:00.000+01:00

Shome Conn Shaunery inshpired shpelling inshident.......

Been through Newtonmore, Kingussie (in the background behind the barracks), Aviemore, currently having more cake in Carrbridge, 25m to go until Inverness. Earlier blog was from Drumochter, not Slochd, cos that is just ahead...
Sandy

Dalwhinnie

2010-06-15T14:53:00.001+01:00

We got away sharp about 8.30 and headed off up the road. Over Drumochter - long climb but not steep. Got buzzed by a low flying jet. Sustrans marketing department have done a good job calling something more akin to a cart track in places a cycle path.
About to take the distillery tour - but this won't get posted until later as there is no t-mobile coverage, just for a change. I shall not be renewing this particular contract!

...... It'll just be the two of us....!

2010-06-15T10:58:00.000+01:00

Leaving Blair Atholl, great weather, on to the top of slochd? Spelling might be wonky, but it's a big hill just before Dalwhinnie, where there may be a distillery tour waiting.
Sandy

Day 10 - Edinburgh/Dunfermline to Blair Atholl

2010-06-14T20:28:00.001+01:00

After a night in our own beds it was time to hit the road again. Sandy got a lie in since I had to make my way to Dunfermline - a mere 17.5 miles. It was beautifully sunny first thing as I set off shortly after 8 a.m. It was a strange feeling cycling the route I have taken many hundreds of times on the way to work at Agilent. I stopped briefly to take a photo as I passed. The site will be vacated at the end of July.

On to the Forth Bridge. Believe it or not I have never cycled over it before. I have cycled on the other side of it but not over it. I didn't realise that the East side cycle/walkway was closed so because of the route I had taken I had to cart my bike down the steps and under the subway to the other side. Not impressed.

From there it was a straightforward run through Inverkeithing and to the edge of Dunfermline to Sandy's house. Time for a quick cup of coffee (no cake :-)) and a bit of adjustment to the rear gears before setting off again using Sandy's local knowledge to pick the best route. At one point he did offer hills or distance - I chose hills on the theory that if you have an up eventually you get a down. In fact there were four ups before we arrived in Kelty.

We stopped for coffee, toasties and cake in Kinross where the proprietor recommended a b&b in Blair Atholl. He also recommended a place to eat. We mentally filed the information for later. We pushed on - Bridge of Earn and then Perth, recognisable territory from our trips around The Tay a few years ago.

From Perth we looked for the cycle route up by the A9. It was not well signed (big understatement.) We followed a cycle route towards Luncarty which was heading in the right direction, but we didn't pick up route 7 or 77. In retrospect I should have dug out the map I have of The Salmon Run since that covers the Pitlochry to Perth section.

The upshot was that we eventually ended up on the A9 with no alternatives. Not a pleasant option. We did a few hundred metres with the high speed traffic before we managed to turn off. The back road added a few miles, but still preferable to the main road. In the process we found the cycle route we had been seeking and followed it from here to Blair Atholl.

The route was fairly uneventful up to Dunkeld. It got fairly overcast and cold for a while although the sun did come out again later. We tracked the A9 up the Tay Valley - when we got to Birnam/Dunkeld we looked for a tea shop. My energy levels were getting low but there was nothing obvious so we pressed on towards Pitlochry. The route out of Dunkeld was ridiculous. The proper route is signed through the grounds of some stately home/health farm. The alternative route went by the road. It started off ok - along tarmac, then as we got close to the house it started to degenerate and the next section was slow going along a track more suited to mountain bikes. When we re-emerged on the A9 we had to make our way in the wrong direction before getting back onto the backroads again.

The ride into Pitlochry was uneventful. We passed the PGL centre at Dalguise along the way. My legs were getting weary by the time we found the cake and coffee shop on the way into town. We took the opportunity to phone the b&b we had been recommended. They had space so we booked it and set off.

We arrived to be greeted with scones and tea in the garden. Fantastic and very welcome. As I said earlier we had to fight off the blackbirds - one of which almost got away with a scone. Another great b&b.

We showered and headed down to The Atholl Arms for tea. Sandy knows this place well having been here on holiday a number of times in his youth.
I phoned Robbie in Inverness who we are staying with tomorrow night.

Now watching Italy vs Paraguay.

We are hoping to be away about 8.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Covered 85 miles today - tomorrow is our last big day at around 80 plus miles.

Beer blog update

2010-06-14T19:14:00.000+01:00

After an almost beer free day at home last night, the quest continues. Find the best been between LE and JOG. Well no change unfortunately. We recalibrated our taste buds with a fine Deuchars IPA in langholm, only to find it remained in 3rd place for the tour behind shropshire gold in 2nd, and the wonderful, almost perfect HPA in 1st. Neither of todays entrants made it to the overall shortlist, but the Moulin Light (Pitlochry) was pretty quaffable . Still not resorting to lager or export.
Sandy

Where's ma dinner.......

2010-06-14T18:53:00.000+01:00

Blair Atholl in the sunshine, Eric waiting for the pheasant burger - no kidding!
Fine easy ride, sunshine, flat-ish, some big hill tomorrow before Inverness, 4 days to go. Running out of punchlines, has anyone guessed any of the jokes?
Sandy

Yet more tea and scones

2010-06-14T17:29:00.001+01:00

Just arrived at Dalgreine guest house in Blair Atholl to be welcomed with tea and scones. We are having to fight off the blackbirds who are very tame!

You must be joking!

2010-06-14T16:21:00.003+01:00

Seen in a shop in Kinross! Not the cake shop I hasten to add.

Pitlochry - coffee and cheesecake

2010-06-14T16:21:00.002+01:00

78 miles so far today. A few more to Blair Atholl

Kinross - Yet more coffee and cakes :-)

2010-06-14T11:39:00.001+01:00

Well it is 4 hours and 30 miles since breakfast after all so time for a cheese toastie and a piece of lumpy bumpy cake.

Sandy took us along the narrowest, bumpiest, grassiest path so far - think I will call it Sandy's revenge - but it did save us about half a mile. Who needs tarmac!

...... The other two are meat substitues....!

2010-06-14T11:33:00.000+01:00

Kinross already. When was the last time you saw proper big chunks of meat as opposed to family sized neatly packaged in plastic. Smelled good too, I'm obviously not going to convert to vegi-ism just yet. Sandy

Coffee at Sandy's house

2010-06-14T10:19:00.001+01:00

About to leave Sandy's house after a welcome cup of coffee.

I used to work here...

2010-06-14T09:12:00.001+01:00

Agilent in South Queensferry. Sandy still does.
Beautiful sunny morning. On my way to meet Sandy in Dunfermline.

2010-06-13T22:53:00.000+01:00

Some photos from the first 9 days. These are off my proper camera as opposed to my or Sandy's phone, so there may be a few duplicates.

Waiting for train in Edinburgh.

View from Sennen in the direction of Land's End.

Old Success Inn where we stayed the night before we started
at the bottom of a very steep hill. We helped one of the teams doing the pub quiz with answers like Dot Matrix printer and Stephen King.

At the start - ready to roll.

We paid for the official photo which allowed us into the inner sanctum next to the signpost - and the photographer then offered to take photos with our own cameras.

View from The Lizard - most southerly point in the UK.

The King Harry ferry.

We rigged up a sort of single speed option before catching this for the short ride to the other side.

The Elerkey Guest House in Veryan where we stayed the first proper night - we were pleased to see this after 15 miles of limping along with a broken bike - coasting the downhills, gentle pedalling on the flat and pushing the uphills - of which there were plenty.

Even better - it was just across the road from the pub and we made it before they stopped serving food :-).

Sandy doing the beer blog in Ross on Wye

Bailey the dog who lives at The White Lion pub in Ross on Wye. There are signs around the bar introducing him but also pointing out that he gets fed twice a day despite the "They never feed me big brown eyes." He tried it on with us as well. He is what I would describe as "well built". A very friendly dog.

A dragon fly. I was trying to catch one in flight but they wouldn't cooperate so this will have to do. It started to rain for a few minutes which probably discouraged them as well.

People paddling on the rather muddy looking river Severn in Ironbridge.

Yes, it's a flock of black sheep - wonder who the white sheep in the family might be?

The Anderton boat lift that moves boats between the River Weaver (long way down) and The Trent and Mersey canal. No boats being transported as we were going through but seems to be a popular attraction judging by the size of the car park.

A very low tunnel under the railway on the cycle path into Preston. This is only about 6 foot high if that - there is no warning sign saying dismount on the other side. That said, the path is excellent otherwise.

Swan with cygnets on the Lancaster Canal.

On top of Shap. The memorial stone is for those who have helped stranded travellers and kept the way open in days gone by.

Day 9 - Langholm to Home (Edinburgh/Dunfermline)

2010-06-13T22:14:00.001+01:00

The other entries for the day pretty much sum it all up.

I did a whisker short of 74 miles for the day and I think Sandy did about 92 - I get to do the extra tomorrow.
Average speed for the day was pretty high at around 12.4 mph - largely helped by the long downhill sections.
I am up to 662 miles - Sandy about 20 more than that.

We left Langholm at about 10 to 8 - thanks to our hosts for getting up to feed us breakfast at 7. We got a few miles in before the rain started. The most bizarre part of the day was the Tibetan centre about 15 miles up the road. It was well defended by vicious attack midges, so we didn't pause for too long!

In the entire distance of 45 miles from Langholm to Innerleithen we saw no more than 30 cars on the road - and only 2 (and a fox) in the first hour. This qualifies it as the quietest stretch of road so far.

It was great to meet up with Bill, Pete and Sid in Langholm. Bill and mutual friend Ray did LEJoG last year and Pete and I joined them for the section from Innerleithen to Edinburgh. That was a lovely sunny day and I was on my road bike - a much quicker riding experience.

I didn't get to watch any football tonight - having hummed and hawed a bit I decided to fix the bike - of course things are never quite as straightforward as they should be. The new hanger is certainly the right part but there has obviously been a slight tweak in the frame and I can only fit one of the two bolts that hold it in place. It seems to be secure though, so I've fitted the new rear mech and now I've got a full range of gears again. Tyres are blown up as well, so ready to roll first thing in the morning.

I shall take the emergency replacement rear mech hanger that I bought in Halfords in St Austell with me just in case :-).

No beer blog tonight - unless a glass of Rose wine counts? No, I didn't think so :-).

The broken bit

.......use the forks luke, use the forks.

2010-06-13T19:10:00.000+01:00

Classic punchline for today, but I nearly wet myself thinking of the other star wars joke about Darth trying to distract Luke when they were fighting with their light sabres.
Darth: I know what you've got for Christmas
Luke; dont be ridiculous, how could you know that?
Darth: I've felt your presents.

Anyhoo, big day getting home, 92m, and a huge 1600m of climbing, but it felt good. The bike will get a full service overnight by the bike repair fairies, although they usually leave the tyre pressures and chain lube to me.
Great to see loads of folks out supporting the ride home. Bill rode all the way from Innerleithen to Dunfermline, Pete rode from Edi to Inners and back with us, Sid met us for lunch and my sis Anne, Steve, Erin and Beth met us in Bonnyrigg for photos. Thanks to everyone else for the texts and emails, the support has been amazing. Only 5 more days to go.

Sandy

2010-06-13T16:57:00.001+01:00

Home - for me at least. Sandy should be in Dunfermline shortly.

One of Sandy's friends, Sid met us in Innerleithen most unexpectedly and we retired to the Whistle Stop Cafe for lunch. We had made good time and got there shortly after 11.30 where we waited for Bill and Pete who were going to accompany us back over the hills towards Edinburgh. Bill turned up shortly afterwards - Pete was still a bit away so we decided to meet him on the way up the road. It was great to have the company. The rain had pretty much stopped by this point as well.

This is the section of road where Pete and I met the naked rambler a few years ago. He was on his way to John O'Groats - although it took him a bit longer than we are planning. Partly because he spent so much time in the cells along the way. I should think he got a bit cold if the wind were anything like we experienced coming over Shap.

A couple more steady climbs and descents and we were on the mostly downhill stretch into Bonnyrigg on route 1. There we were met by Sandy's sister and family. We chatted with them for a few minutes. At this point Pete took his leave since he lives just up the road from here and the three of us continued on into Edinburgh, arriving at my house just after 3.30. I dumped my paniers and guided Bill and Sandy the first section towards the cycle path and then came home to see the family and try and book the train back from the North of Scotland next Saturday. We had delayed doing this because of not being certain what day we would make it.

This turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Finding phone numbers on websites was the first challenge - got through to a foreign sounding gentleman who was less than helpful - when I spelled Thurso he thought I meant Thirsk. Hmmm....Tried a different train company and got through to the same guy. Then tried booking directly on East Coast trains site where it seems you can book bike spaces on line. Only availability appeared to be Thurso at 06:48 a.m. Sandy is going to hate me for that - but needs must. Confirmation email has no mention of any bike booking - so if there is any problem there is going to be some major aggravation at Thurso station early next Saturday morning.

Now it's bath, washing, food, bike fixing and maybe football watching time.

Does the Dalai Lama come here on holiday?

2010-06-13T16:46:00.000+01:00

Tibetan tea rooms in the middle of nowhere - if nowhere had a middle (very Zen).

(On the road from Langholm to Innerleithen - 45 miles on breakfast and one snickers bar)

Innerleithen

2010-06-13T11:59:00.000+01:00

A fairly early start after an excellent breakfast. A bit of a climb to start which got the heart rate going before the rain started. Then some long climbs followed by some really good descents. Miles at a time. Best road surface by far for about 20 miles thanks to the timber industry. We are now in the Whistlestop cafe with Sid awaiting Bill and Pete who are going to cycle the next stretch with us.

Day 8 - Kendal to Langholm

2010-06-12T17:10:00.001+01:00

66 Miles and what must be the best b&b so far by miles.

The high point of the day was literally Shap which came at about 10 miles. Not big girlie Shap that you cross on the M6 just off to the East but proper men's Shap on the A6 with a strong north wind in your face.

The rest of the day was downhill all the way with a few little bumps. The cycling was largely uneventful. We did at least an extra half mile because of the one way system in Penrith. Rubbish cycle paths through Carlisle - 6 inches wide if that and dug up and bumpy.

We took the A6 as far as Carlisle and the A7 to Langholm. They were not too busy although the traffic was pretty quick, but not many trucks. We stopped to take the obligatory photo as we crossed the border.

We arrived at the b&b at about 4.15 p.m. it is owned by a couple who did the end to end a few years ago. Talk about being spoiled. Chocolate buns, our own sitting room, breakfast at a time of our asking (7 a.m. since it is a long day for Sandy tomorrow.) We talked cycle paths and the like with the owner for a while before retiring for a shower. Now about to head over to the Douglas Hotel for tea.

Easy day

2010-06-12T16:40:00.000+01:00

The big lump early on today is Shap, after that it was all downhill, albeit with a headwind. Sandy

Ingerlund, Ingerlund.................. NOT!

2010-06-12T15:27:00.000+01:00

Back in Scotland again.....
Sandy

Cake in Shap

2010-06-12T11:10:00.001+01:00

A brief stop for more coffee and cake after the long climb over Shap in a cold northerly wind. Onwards to Penrith and Carlisle.

Top of Shap

2010-06-12T10:31:00.000+01:00

N miles of solid uphill, took more than an hour, and climbed mre than 400m, nearly two thirds of yesterdays total climbing. All dowhill drom here eh!
Sandy

......do you think I'm some kind of weirdo......?

2010-06-12T08:57:00.000+01:00

Ducks on the lancaster canal yesterday........
Sandy

A brief review of the first week

2010-06-12T07:34:00.001+01:00

One week in and the days have already blurred into each other. It's a strange feeling where one feels like one has been going for ages, but at the same time it has been going past very quickly.

Other than the first day there have been no mechanical incidents of note and the weather has been pretty kind to us.

We have had 3 hard days in terms of hills - the first two through Cornwall which we expected and the one up to Ironbridge which we probably weren't, although we are just taking each mile as it comes. A lot of the rest of the terrain has been pretty flat. Curiously our average speed on the flat bits isn't all that much higher than on the hills.

We have done fairly well at sticking to the back roads where we have seen very few cars - the penalty sometimes but not always being a bit more up and down.

Accommodation has perhaps been harder to find than expected. We haven't failed yet, but day 3 was a struggle as we pushed on in the wet and it got later and later - at least it was fairly flat.

Today we head for Langholm and the day after we should get a night in our own beds. The forecast for Sunday isn't great but if anyone wants to join us we expect to be in Innerleithen around midday. We will take the B709 from Langholm to Innerleithen and the same B709 towards Edinburgh.

Day 7 - Standish to Kendall

2010-06-11T17:58:00.001+01:00

An early start this morning. Breakfast at 7 and on the road by 8. The weather was sunny when we were having breakfast but clouded over as we set off. No rain though. The sun came out later on in the day and by the time we got to Kendall it was pretty warm.

Most of the day was spent on the A6. We were about a mile off at the start of the day and stayed on it until we we got to Lancaster. A fairly straight and boring road but with cycle lanes for large sections which helped. Traffic wasn't too bad once we got North of the M51. We paused for coffee and cake at a large garden centre sort of place which sold all sorts of stuff near Barton. I was feeling fairly weary after the long distance yesterday and the early start - so I took it fairly easy and let Sandy disappear into the distance.

We got to Lancaster in reasonable time - the only concern was a sharp twinge in my left knee as we approached - the right knee I can understand after two cartilage ops but I have never had any trouble with the left. It seemed to clear a little after we left Lancaster so fingers crossed.

On the way out of Lancaster we spotted cycle path 6 towards Kendal and decided to take it. Well, I decided and since I have got the route Sandy followed. It was a rather circuitous route out of Lancaster - but it took us to the Lancaster canal just as the 500 miles came up. We stopped to take a few photos and then followed the canal for the next 5 miles. It was a nice break from the main road and we took photos of ducks and swans along the way. The canal was beside the A6 so it was perfect. As we left it we decided to rejoin the A6 rather than take route 6 along the back roads.

We got to Milnethorpe about 1.30 and stopped for an ice cream. As we were about to set off again the road seemed to get really busy, so I decided to take route 6 again. This was fine - really quiet back roads, but with some steepish hills which we walked up rather than tire our legs more.

We arrived in Kendal some 9 miles later at around 3 p.m. and set about finding somewhere to stay. After a couple of phone calls with no luck we retired to the tourist info office who found us one of the last remaining rooms just along the road. Big relief. We had been a little concerned about finding somewhere on the Friday and Saturday night so have booked ahead for tomorrow in Langholm.

We showered and then watched the second half of RSA vs Mexico.

Family member has collected the bike part from the shop so hopefully it will fit ok.

Shap, Penrith and Carlisle tomorrow. Beer and football tonight.

Ingerlund, ingerlund.....

2010-06-11T17:52:00.000+01:00

Ok, there are hundreds of car all over with the st g's x flags, some with one, some 2, some several, all those with none, I presume have just fallen off given thw number at the roadside. BUT, this pub in Kendal (the new inn) takes the biscuit. The seats have st g's backs, there are flags all over including outside, and even the lightshades are Ingerlund footballs...........
Then, we move bars to get a different brew and ALL the guest real ales are from elsewhere. NOTHING local. Dissaster, so we tried the sharpes, cos neither of us had had it before. Ok, but no winner.

Sandy

Pancakes

2010-06-11T16:14:00.000+01:00

Only 600m climbing today, and we feel almost cheated that there wasn't more of a challenge. Dead pancake flat almost all day, definitely the easiest so far ahead of probably the 4 likely hardest days. Sandy

Kendal

2010-06-11T15:20:00.001+01:00

Now looking for somewhere to stay.

Oh I would bike 500 miles

2010-06-11T12:31:00.001+01:00

Oh I would bike 500 more...

With apologies to the Proclaimers.

A symbolic around about halfway point next to the Lancaster Canal.

...... No yer right it's a pavlova.

2010-06-11T12:30:00.000+01:00

And a very old joke to end the first week with. Cakes and coffee are fuelling large sections of this trip, and a lot of stops are at garden centres. I mean the old folks are hardly going to nick the bikes are they?
Sandy

Lancaster

2010-06-11T12:02:00.001+01:00

498 miles on the clock. We'll take a photo in a couple of miles.

Almost half way

2010-06-11T10:27:00.001+01:00

Up at 7 for breakfast and on the road by 8. Now stopped for coffee at a garden centre near Barton, about 15 miles from Lancaster. Mostly flat and mostly on the A6 although we picked up a good cycle path on the way into Preston. I forgot to attach the tow rope to Sandy's bike again :-)

Day 6 - Ironbridge to Standish

2010-06-10T23:12:00.001+01:00

Up for breakfast at 8 - which was nothing special. Poorest breakfast of the trip so far by far. Neither of us really ate enough so we had to stop a couple of additional times during the day.

The forecast said it would be dry all day but as we got ready to leave and looked out the window it was drizzling. It stopped before we set off though and did indeed stay dry all day. It was grey and overcast with a cold northerly wind which was in our faces most of the day. The whole point of starting at Land's End is to get a tail wind!

We had a bit of hassle negotiating our way out of Ironbridge and Telford. We started by taking a slightly circuitous route out of Ironbridge in order to avoid a long climb. That was reasonably successful - we had a short push - but we missed a turn so it was slightly more circuitous than intended by about a mile. Oops.
Telford has a lot of busy roads with cycle paths beside many of them but unless you know where they all go it's not very helpful. A few times we saw one on the wrong side of the road or crossed the road to get on one to discover it finished after just a few yards.

We added another couple of extra miles as a result - then the GPS batteries went flat. I had spares but it added to the frustration. At last we got onto the back roads and the pace picked up. The terrain was much easier today being virtually flat after the initial climb out of Ironbridge Gorge. We made good time - stopping to admire a herd of black sheep. They must have been dipped in the Black Sea or something. (When I was very small I had a book called Eric's Journey. He fell in the Black Sea and his mother had to wash him and hang him on the line to dry.)

We continued on to Market Drayton where we paused for coffee and cakes - very good. I phoned Edinburgh Bikes to see if they had a rear mech hanger. Fortunately they did, so I asked them to put it aside and hopefully one of the family will go and collect it.

We continued from Market Drayton again along back roads another 15 miles to Nantwich where more coffee and food were required - this time in the bookshop!. Both pretty market towns. Leaving Nantwich we got onto a road that wasn't on the map so some minor adjustment to the route was required.

The next several miles were fairy uneventful other than a road that was marked as a dead end. We did quite a distance on this one (Grange Road). The GPS map insisted it went through and indeed for bikes it did. It got pretty rough and muddy at points - but we did eventually hit proper roads again.

There were lots of canals in today's route - The Shropshire Union, The Trent and Mersey and The Manchester Ship Canal to name 3. We also did a stretch near The River Weaver. I had investigated whether any of that might be cycleable, but it seemed not as was confirmed when we got there.

On the way towards Warrington we passed through Hartford and Northwich where an old university friend used to live. The last time I came this way by car many years ago and called in by chance she was out.

As we continued on we saw signs for the Anderton Boat Lift so paused to investigate. I took a photo with my proper camera which I will upload at a later date. This piece of Victorian heritage used to lift boats between the River Weaver and the Trent and Mersey canal. Nothing much was happening when we there but it is a very impressive structure. (We have Andertons in our family tree but no connection as far as I know.)

We made the rest of the journey into Warrington without incident arriving just after 5 p.m. - about 8 hours after setting off. We had already decided to push on for a bit longer if possible to shorten the day to Kendal. Warrington surprised us. It looks like quiter a bit of money has been spent on regeneration. We made our way slowly north to the far side - where we spotted a pizza hut. Eating now seemed like a good plan. It turned out to be happy hour so we got a decent amount of food and drink for a fiver each. Definitely a good move.

The pizza completely rejuvenated Sandy. He disappeared off into the distance. I hardly saw him again until we got to Wigan. The places north of Warrington haven't had anything like the amount of money spent on them. I eventually found Sandy again on the way into Wigan. It was now nearly 8 p.m. and time to find somewhere to stay. We phoned a premier inn who had space - slightly off route but predictable.
We set off in that direction. I was beginning to feel tired.

As we made our way there Sandy spotted another place - The Beeches Hotel in Standish which was both cheaper, closer and a whole lot nicer.

We covered just over 85 miles today, although at a slightly slower average speed than yesterday despite the lack of hills. We have now done about 460 miles.

Tomorrow we are planning an earlyish start so now it is time for bed (said Zebedee).

Beer blog update

2010-06-10T22:03:00.000+01:00

Dishwater in lancashire. Of course we could not possibly sample all the possible Lancashirian ales, but the beer they have in tonights hotel is ordinary. Last night however we found a wee gem. A close second to the HPA perhaps?
Shropshire brewery "Gold". Really smooth, quaffable.....
Sandy

......but there's nothin I can do for Acker Bilk

2010-06-10T21:44:00.000+01:00

...... This was one of the best bath's I've ever had, AND while I had a cuppa as well. ..... That day to Ironbridge was HARD, not like today's wimpy 85m of flat easy cruisin.
Sandy

Another day done

2010-06-10T20:25:00.001+01:00

Finished in Standish nort of Wigan. That's almost 86 miles today and a bonus of 15 that we don't have to do tomorrow so we will be able to watch football in Kendal with a bit of luck.
Now time for shower, beer, blog, book and bed followed by breakfast. B&b&b&b&b.

Warrington - Pizza Hut

2010-06-10T18:01:00.001+01:00

Made it to Warrington a little after 5. We've stopped for pizza before bashing on up the road for perhaps another hour or so to get a few in the bank. Up to just over 70 miles for the day so far.

Nantwich

2010-06-10T13:53:00.001+01:00

15 miles further on and time for more coffee and food. Toasties and Paninis this time :-).

It's a chilly wind although Sandy claims not to be feeling it.

Big contrast in terrain from yesterday. Almost flat. Much easier going!

Forgot to mention the weather

2010-06-09T22:16:00.001+01:00

The forecast for today looked pretty dire. A severe weather warning with possible thunder, lightning and hail. Other than the persistent rain on day 3 we have been lucky.

We had an hour or so of rain just before the Avon bridge yesterday. Today we seemed to be following behind some heavy showers - finding wet roads - but we didn't get rained on until we were about 10 miles from Ironbridge - and that only lasted about 15 minutes. The rain set in for a while about 10 minutes after we arrived - but guess what - we didn't care :-).

Day 5 - Ross on Wye to Ironbridge

2010-06-09T22:04:00.001+01:00

As the previous blog entry describes we made good and steady progress to start with.

After stopping for lunch of coffee and cake things started to get a bit harder! The road became considerably more undulating and the undulations got bigger...and bigger...and steeper. It was hard going.

On the plus side we were on back roads a lot of the way through some beautiful Worcester scenery.

Yesterday we saw lots of signs to Offa's Dyke. Today we picked up a part of The Mercian Way. We also pedalled through The Faraway Forest. (Yesterday we skirted part of The Forest of Dean.) We didn't meet Shrek or any of his friends, although Sandy did a fair impression of donkey asking "are we there yet?"

We encountered a couple of 1 in 8 downhills. I got over 40 mph and Sandy was edging towards 50. Unfortunately on one of them we were supposed to turn off part way down so had to climb back up the hill. Not good - but there was no way I was taking my eyes off the road to look at the GPS at that sort of speed.

We continued on across country to Bridgnorth where we saw a steam train operating on The Severn Valley Railway. At this point I think I won at least a half muppet award for directing us up a steep hill by mistake. I don't think Sandy was very impressed :-).

The route from Bridgwater to Ironbridge continued to be hard work with lots of climbing. To compound it the road signs suggested it was about a mile closer than the GPS said. Needless to say the GPS was right. Personally I was glad to arrive - it turned out to be a much harder day than I was anticipating. We covered about 66.5 miles - about 6 more than planned. We were glad to have the extra miles in the bank. Despite that we still averaged almost 11.5 mph in a little under 6 hours cycling. Considering the amount of climbing and pushing up steep bits we were quite pleased with our efforts.

When we got checked into the B&B we parcelled up our dirty washing and took a taxi to a laundrette in nearby Madeley. We now have a pile of semi-wet gear spread around the room - which should last us to Edinburgh.

Following that we headed out for something to eat - finding an Indian at the top of the road which was just perfect. Afterwards we wandered back to The Swan to consider our options for tomorrow over a beer. We think we will try and get away sharpish. It looks like we will have a few more hills at least early on before we get to Warrington and if we could get a few miles closer to Kendal where we hope to be in a pub watching football that would be just fine.

......if it dries it dries.....

2010-06-09T21:23:00.000+01:00

Bonus punchline after a trip to the laundrette while in Ironbridge. We now have clean socks, although one of mine went missing. Remember that missing socks go through the same rip in the space time continuum but in the opposite direction to brake dust, hence maintaining some law or other. You might just have to take my word for it, but how else can you explain where brake dust comes from and where the socks go?
Sandy

....... It's absolutely chucking it down out there.....!

2010-06-09T18:40:00.000+01:00

Ok, punchline toned down for the young folks out there. Yesterday was quite dry really, but the 5m spent on the pedestrian part of the m5 bridge wasn't....!
Sandy

Ironbridge

2010-06-09T17:02:00.001+01:00

The Swan where we are staying. Just arrived after 66.5 miles. A hard day with lots of hills but beautiful countryside. More later.

Coffee and cake in Bromyard

2010-06-09T12:17:00.001+01:00

Steady riding this morning with a few hills to go up and down. We detoured back into Ross first thing to avoid the worst of the A40 - although I almost lost Sandy at the first roundabout. A quick phone call and we were soon reunited. We got on the A449 to Ledbury which was quieter than a B road we were on in Devon.

A road in Ledbury was closed while work was going on to shore up the front of a Tudor style house that appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

From there some more ups and downs until we got here where it is time for coffee and cake.

Day 4 part 2

2010-06-08T23:25:00.001+01:00

Sorry - finger trouble - hit send by mistake on part 1!

Having taken our leave of John and Frieda and made our way back through the hedge onto the cycle route we headed for Coleford. A long climb of over a mile although it wasn't too hard going. We paused near the top to apply various creams to various body parts.

We were caught up by another cyclist doing the end to end thing. We chatted for a while before he pedalled on ahead of us.

We got to Coleford around 5 p.m. and decided to preserve the extra miles we had in the bank by pushing on to Ross on Wye. The road signs wanted to take us a different way from the planned route but we stuck with the GPS - and encountered a 1 in 5 downhill that descended for the best part of a mile. Sandy went for it and got up to nearly 40 mph. I was a bit more cautious and only hit about 35! I am glad we hit this going down and not up! It wold have been a long walk. We lost all the height that we had gained in one go.

The rest of the route into Ross was uneventful. It started to rain as we got close but we sheltered for a few minutes and it soon cleared. As we got into town the cyclist we met earlier reappeared. He had gone looking for a youth hostel but not found it. Interesting because we saw the signs for it. He started the same day as us but chose to go over Dartmoor which we had skirted. He had also gotten a puncture that he couldn't fix in the rain and wrecked a tyre as a result. Then he got lost in Bristol which we also avoided.

We went looking for a b&b - again not very straightforward but a lot less difficult than last night.
The first place we tried was shut - the second and third were full, but the owner of the second was in the third (a pub) and phoned another close by which it turned out had a free family room. Good enough for us so we headed for The White Lion.

The photo at the top is taken from the beer garden at the back. We decided to phone ahead and book accommodation for tomorrow in Ironbridge. We need to do some washing as well so Sandy sussed out some laundrettes in Telford. That done we headed downstairs for something to eat and drink and sat in the beer garden right next to the river. We watched the swans and ducks along with the Swifts/Swallows. A heron landed on the opposite side of the river where it fished for a while.

We covered just under 72 miles today bringing the total up to 307. Tomorrow should be a few miles shorter as long as we don't take any wrong turns.

We should get to one third distance tomorrow and also halfway back to Edinburgh.

All in all a satisfactory day. The terrain wasn't quite as easy as yesterday but we managed a slightly better average of 11.5 mph in a little over 6 hours of cycling. Actually Sandy was a little bit quicker but my excuses are a combination of being careful with gears and also being careful not to stress my knee any more than I can help :-).

Day 4 - Mark to Ross-On-Wye

2010-06-08T22:41:00.001+01:00

Our first relatively straightforward day!

Up for breakfast at 8 and off by 9. The b&b was the cheapest we have stayed at - and we were given a discount to add to the cause.

The weather was dry when we set off and stayed that way for a couple of hours as we meandered cross country towards the Severn Bridge. The forecast had threatened lots of heavy showers. In the event we only had a couple which weren't very long lasting.

Today's route was fairly straightforward. We had a moment of doubt when we realised that our path across the River Avon seemed to be along the M5 on the Avon Bridge - if we weren't able to use that bridge the trek back inland to The Clifton Suspension Bridge would be a few extra miles. As it turned out we didn't need to worry. Although we had to follow a winding route to get onto it all was fine. It was raining at this point and there was a lot of spray off the traffic.

The section from here up to the Severn Bridge was a mixture of back and main roads. The A403 was certainly less than fun until we eventually picked up the no 4 cycle route. We also had a bit of to'ing and fro'ing getting onto the Severn Bridge - we had been advised to cross on the East side, although as it turned out it was easy to get across on the other side so we should have just .

The big bonus was lunch at an old school friend's parents, John and Frieda in Chepstow, just a few hundred yards from the end of the bridge. I haven't seen them for about 30 years since they left Edinburgh, although Ken and I meet up for a beer about once a year, which is really rubbish considering we both live in Edinburgh :-). We were made really welcome and we had lots of conversation on a variety of topics including family history. Frieda comes from Caithness and I have ancestors from that part of the world. We left Chepstow well stuffed after the best lunch we've eaten by far.

......nah, I was hit by a car while sitting in the middle of the road.

2010-06-08T21:27:00.000+01:00

A bonus punchline, courtesy of meeting "Baillie" the dug from the White Lion in Ross on Wye. Could also have used, "because it can" or "if you speak to him nicely maybe he'll let you" lol
Sandy

The best pale ale in the world (so far)

2010-06-08T21:18:00.000+01:00

It's official. After going through most of the south west, I may have stumbled accross Herefordshires best kept secret. HPA, or Hereford Pale Ale.
Just like a Deuchars IPA, but at least twice as good - no I'm not kidding.
It could be that I was mega thirsty, but it was immense. Yummy.
Brill day, sunny & warm, not much rain and maybe THE best roadbike descent. nearly a mile, including a half mile of 1:5. It was a bit too narrow for mega speed (still managed 60kph), but the brakes were smokin at the bottom.
Still 10m ahead of target, but we'll do a short day tomorrow and get back on track.
Sandy

Ross-On-Wye

2010-06-08T19:30:00.001+01:00

We have made it to Ross-On-Wye and are staying in The White Lion. I will write a fuller account later.

Chepstow

2010-06-08T19:10:00.001+01:00

Now in Chepstow having a late lunch with an old school friend's parents. Brilliant.

......I thought you said this place would be busy.

2010-06-08T09:45:00.000+01:00

This was yesterdays punchline, but I couldn't get it to send. Nothing for miles around......a main road with no cars and if you look very closely in the far distance you might see Eric.
Sandy

.......Moo, daisy the interupting koo.

2010-06-08T09:38:00.000+01:00

Miles from anywhere half an hour ago, and this was the only sign of life.

Are we there yet, are we there yet?
Sandy

Day 3 - Okehampton to Mark

2010-06-08T09:37:00.001+01:00

No mobile coverage again tonight - T-Mobile is simply rubbish - guess that's what happens with a GSM 1800 MHz network combined with W-CDMA.

An interesting kind of a day.
We started off a little after 9 a.m. and climbed up the long but not too severe hill out of Okehampton.

A moment of concern when Sandy's free-wheel jammed - there has been a bit of clanking since we started - but fortunately it started working again. We skirted the North edge of Dartmoor - a slightly busy B road running parallel with the very very busy A38 combined with some back roads with virtually no traffic at all. The terrain has really flattened out. We only had one push today and that was pretty short.

It started raining about 45 minutes after we set off - not hard but wet enough to put rain tops and overshoes on. It rained the rest of the day but we didn't really notice other than when it got a bit heavier for a while.

We made good time to Exeter where we spent a bit of time finding the bike shop I had identified. When we got there it was shut for 20 minutes, so we went and had a coffee next door which was appreciated. The bike shop was a waste of time despite supposedly being a Ridgeback supplier. Exeter was a very busy place. We found another bike shop on the way out but still no joy.

The terrain was so much easier than the previous two days. The down side was that the roads were a lot busier. We had to do a short stretch on the A38 at one point and another stretch on the way into Taunton where we took to the pavement as much as possible. Not a good road for cycling. From Taunton we took the no 3 cycle route alongside the canal to Bridgwater. Really easy cycling despite the less than perfect surface in places. We saw a heron and a pair of swans guarding their cygnets.

In due course we got to Bridgwater. What a disappointment after Taunton. We were supposed to stop there, but decided to carry on and find somewhere a bit nicer to stay. Well that turned out to be not as easy as expected - we followed a sign to a place that was shut - then asked in each place we got to - the recurring theme was "a mile down the road there are plenty". Obviously some kind of local joke - either there were none or they were full. Mostly there were none. We eventually found a place in a village called Mark who weren't looking to take people in but I think took pity on us. Brilliant. A quick shower and then over the road to the pub for something to eat and drink.

We covered 88 miles today - that's about 20 more than planned - although we took a few detours in our accommodation search. That said so much of the route was flat or easy gradient that it really wasn't too tiring.

It's still raining 22:12. This will hopefully get posted tomorrow when we have some phone coverage.

day 2, 3

2010-06-07T22:21:00.000+01:00

Aim for the 2nd day was to get to oakhampton, and we made it, but we only got here @ 9pm, after a MONSTER day of climbing, see the pic!. The difficulty is not the big hills, but the constant up and down mainly 1:6.

Over 2000m of climbing for the day over 120 ish km.

Day 3 was almost downhill with a following wind, only 1000 climbing total, and lots of gentle canal towpath riding. BUT, we decided to keep going through 8ridgewater, and ended up in Mark. A tiny wee place with a farm b&b and a pub.

Now in the pub having dinner and a well deserved beer or 3

Sandy

The Cider Baffa's

2010-06-07T22:20:00.000+01:00

And the winner of the 2010 baffa (british association of fruit fermenters awards) is.................

Sams Cyder.

Cloudy rattler was my favourite cloudy/scrumpy, zomerzets - tonights - only entry was Thatchers gold, but last nights Sams Cider was amazing. Very dry, cool crisp, sharp. As we are leaving the sw tomorrow, there is absolutely no doubt' that the lejog 2010 baffa goes to Sams.

We might have to split the best beer award into regional events since we are having so many. Eric has been "making sure" of his favourite by having more than one of some of them, but so far I have managed a new flavour with every glass.
Lovin it!
Sandy

nearly @ bridgewater

2010-06-07T17:33:00.000+01:00

Canal pic, dead flat for last 10m since Taunton. Sandy