Bettyhill to John O’ Groats - just over 50 miles along the top of Scotland to our final destination and the end of our adventure. The thought of the finish wasn’t quite enough to soothe the aches and pains away, but we certainly pedalled away from the hotel with an extra bit of bounce in our pedals.

Not least because there was five of us on the road. Ollie, having managed half a day in the saddle yesterday, was back for more despite a few creaks from his ribs and chest (he had to stop and walk over every cattle grid yesterday), while we were also joined by James’ mate Colin Hopkins, who had raised sponsorship cash of his own to join us on the last leg.

But just because it was our last day didn’t mean we were cut any slack on the road. We’d been informed that the road from Bettyhill to Thurso was fairly flat - Wrong! It dips in and out of coves as it twists along the coast - beautiful but hilly.

For the first ten miles we cycled under the threat of leaden skies, before the heavens finally opened and rain accompanied us for much of the rest of the ride. The irony was that John O’ Groats was in blazing sunshine and for much of our route clear skies were only a mile or so out of reach.

We had plenty of support though. Penny and the Fun Bus popped up after almost every corner videoing us as we went and as we got further east other cars full of supporters arrived on the scene: Georgie’s sister Annabel and boyfriend Mike, James’ Dad Mike and Shona, and four generations of the Marriage’s shoe-horned into a rented Renault Espace. All would turn up at various points to cheer and take pictures.

We all met up together for a coffee stop in Thurso, just 20 miles out from JOG. We didn’t waste too much time because we had another appointment to keep - the 1,000-mile mark beckoned. Colin took the picture below which shows the four of us lined up on the exact spot Tom’s speedo hit four figures - just eight miles out from JOG. By this stage Colin, seated on his mountain bike, was beginning to feel the pace, but spirits were high and the sky was clearing - we even managed to take our rain jackets off for the last few miles. In fact the sun and heat made the road steam - which looked quite eerie as we pedalled through it.

It was an emotional last few miles. None of us really wanted it to end, Ollie wanted to turn the clock back 12 days, Tom joked about pedalling south, James thoughts turned to his Mum (he’s convinced she sorted out the good weather at the finish). Only Colin, who had enjoyed and helping hand from James (quite literally) was relieved when the end came in sight.

The pictures give you a much better idea off what came next as we rolled over the finish line (surprisingly tricky to find actually!) Champagne was sprayed, pictures taken, silly hats worn by the most senior members of the party, forms filled in. It took a couple of hours.

Of course that wasn’t quite the end - we then drove back south to Dornoch Castle hotel for a party. Naturally it took no more than a couple of drinks for the cyclists to start wobbling as they reminisced about stages, hills, B&Bs and events en route, but there was plenty of banter, good food and whisky to keep the party going into the early hours. Special mention should go to Reckitt Benckiser, the company Tom works for, for laying on half a dozen bottles of champagne - a really kind and personal gesture. Especially since Hugh then produced Cycle4Charity mugs for us to drink from…

Tom and James were proud of the fact they were last to bed at about 3am. Let’s just hope they weren’t drawing up plans to do it all again next year…

PS: We’ll be posting a final thoughts blog in the next few days.

Breakfast was done by the cleaner – that’s a further little snippet of information that tells you all you need to know about the Bonar Bridge hotel.

But at least the weather was good – for the first two miles. Then the heavens opened and we were treated to the first downpour of the day. At least it didn’t upset the navigation too much – today was properly simple on the map front. Head north through Lairg and hang a right at Altnaharra.

First port of call and meet up with the Fun Bus was the Falls of Shin. Cracking playground and apparently a great place to watch the salmon leap – not that we saw any. Did see plenty of fly fishing going on today, though – lots of cars with rods on the roofs and the like.

Back in the saddle we had to put up with some dull moors and heaths - which got a bit relentless. There’s no relief to the scenery – it’s on an epic scale and fairly featureless and takes time to pedal through using our weary limbs.

Luckily the monotony was broken up by the Crask Inn. Literally a pub and one house in the middle of the moorland, it served up a mean hot chocolate for the cyclists and Sasha and Luke before the final few miles to Altnaharra for lunch. We also met Jamie and Laura – two psychologists doing LE-JOG on a tandam. Now there’s something you could write a book about.

The Fun Bus went ahead to the lunchstop and found a playground in the village next to the primary school. A girl came out to play with Sasha and Luke on the swings and slide – the only pupil at the school! It wasn’t a very big place…

But it did have a fuel pump – although you had to go and ask the barman at the hotel if you wanted to use it. The hotel itself was a revelation – smart, comfortable and served up a cracking lunch in front of a roaring log fire.

But the best news of all was that today was the day Ollie got back on his bike! With his wounds healing well and ribs loosening up nicely he joined us for the ride up from Altnaharra to Bettyhill – a 24-mile roll through some of the most stunning scenery we’ve seen so far.

We pedalled right along the shores of Loch Naver then up the river that links it to the sea - it was spectacular and so good to be riding as a four again. Oddly, adding one person changed the group dynamic completely, and it felt like there was a lot more of us.

We were buzzed by RAF Tornados, Penny added another feather to her cap by turning into a one-man film crew and stopping on these deserted roads to video us and we all pedalled along in a relaxed and very contented way. Ten miles from home with Georgie’s sister and Tom and Ollie’s parents and Tom’s wife Alex and son Nicko in cars heading to meet us, it felt like we’d cracked it.

Big mistake. No, we weren’t let down by Ollie’s ribs, James knee or Georgie’s sore heel, but Tom’s tyre. First he had a puncture, than a couple of miles further on, the mesh gave up the ghost and bubbled the rubber. So there we sat, in a farmyard entrance, pondering what to do, when up rumbled Mike and Annabel (Georgie’s sister and her boyfriend) in Mike’s Aston Martin. An incongruous sight on these roads, but by this time we had at least formulated a plan.

At quarter to five we’d got hold of the nearest bike shop - in Thurso some 45 miles away and since we wouldn’t make it there by close of play, he said he’d leave the tyre next door – in Robin’s chip shop! In the meantime a quicker solution was for James and Georgie to pedal to Bettyhill, then for Mike to run James’ bike tyre back to Tom.

At least he and Ollie didn’t have to just sit on the verge. Their family were soon on the scene and they were able to relax in a Renault Espace.

Then it was just a matter of cycling the remaining five miles to Bettyhill. The elation everyone felt on seeing the sea off the north coast of Scotland was hard to describe – although we still have over 50 miles to pedal tomorrow.

Nevertheless, tonight we got to enjoy dinner with family and friends and stunning views out over wild beaches, coves and cliffs from the Bettyhill Hotel.

Highlights:

Ollie being back on his bike

Lunch at Altnaharra

The views over mountains and lochs

Getting to the sea!

Low Points:

None to speak of – big shower outside Bonar Bridge is about all.

Stage Stats:

Today’s mileage: 57.18

Total mileage: 956.67

Average speed: 14.3

Max speed: 34.1

After the trials and tribulations of the previous day, today was a breeze – and the first day of our ride with no rain.

And what a way to set off. The Dunallan Guesthouse in Grantown on Spey did us proud – one of the few places we’d be happy to recommend you to go and stay. Run by lovely people who also happen to be able to throw together a mega breakfast. All the boys tucked into smoked salmon and scrambled egg and for once Tom didn’t get a look-in on the leftovers!

And then we were off – across stunning moorland, heading north pursued, as ever, by the Fun Bus crew. They’d had trials of their own to deal with. Ollie had been determined to blog up the last two days, so found a computer shop in Grantown called the PC Shack – quite literally a 16×10 timber shed run by a big fat chap who did little more than talk computer games strategy for the best part of an hour.

Anyway, having crossed over the very pretty Dulsie Bridge and passed near Cawdor Castle (home of Macbeth) we did lunch at Culloden Battlefield not far from Inverness. Basically another open moorland with a few signposts and clusters of stone dotted around. But the Scots won for once, so it’s clearly something they need to celebrate – isn’t that right James?

We all settled down to a (pricey) plate of venison stovies – a stodgy potatoes and meat mix. Sasha and Luke tucked in with enthusiasm and all was going well right up to the point Sasha threw up all across the table… She and Luke still hovered down a double chocolate muffin without letting Uncle Tom have a look-in, though.

Then, with tummies heavy with stovies, it was time to get back into the swing of urban life – tackling Inverness and the busy A9. To get some mileage done we sat on the dual carriageway – which Tom hated and didn’t mind who heard it. The cycle paths were useless, too – full of glass, old road signs and generally unusable and we so very nearly got taken out by a lorry pulling a static caravan.

We zipped across the Firths of Moray and Cromarty, and then turned inland on B-roads, heading straight for Bonar Bridge. Into the last 20 miles and the scenery got better and better – stunning views down over Dornoch Firth that had James leaping with excitement and then the last few miles into Bonar.

Bonar Bridge itself looked OK, but our hotel wasn’t the last word in luxury. In fact to point no finer point on it, it was a dive. Lights not working, springs poking through mattresses, headboards pulling away – you name it, we suffered from it. Recommended by the German Biker’s Federation, don’t you know!

However, despite that we had a real sense of relief of getting to Bonar. We’d covered 74 relatively easy miles in good weather and lined ourselves up a relaxed last two days in the saddle.

Highlights:

NO RAIN!!

Low points:

Culloden pretty dull

The A9 dual carriageway

Getting to the Bonar Bridge Hotel…

Stage Stats:

Today’s mileage: 74.57

Total mileage: 899.49

Average speed: 13.9

Puncture tally: Georgie 4, Tom 2, James 0

Today I was quite glad I fell off. This is Ollie speaking of course, and since my accident on day one it’s fair to say I’ve had my fair share of low moments. But today - Monday - I can safely say I was glad I wasn’t riding a bike…

I may write for a living, but words simply can’t describe how proud Penny and I are of ‘our’ cyclists. They have been through hell today. The pictures don’t do it justice, my words can only scratch the surface of what they went through, even the video we shot is inadequate. To understand, you simply had to be there. And no, I’m really not exaggerating for dramatic effect…

The day started promisingly. For the first time since our departure from Land’s End, the sun greeted us at breakfast and weakly managed to accompany Tom, James and Georgie as they made their way out of Blairgowrie aiming for their first major destination – the Spittle of Glenshee.

That’s right, Glenshee, as in the ski resort of Glenshee. Because today was the day they had to conquer the Cairngorms. I’d urge you to grab a map at this point to have a look at the climbs they had to do, and then imagine the conditions they had to endure.

It was just as well Georgie’s folks came along today to reinforce the moral support offered by us in the Fun Bus – it was much needed. Both cars shadowed the cyclists all day, but neither could offer the protection needed.

So why all the build up? Well, in the Cairngorms there’s no protection from the elements. There are no trees, barely even a bush and the wind is funnelled up exposed, barren valleys, driving the rain horizontally into whatever lies in its path.

Usually that’s a sheep, some heather and the occasional derelict building. Today it was our intrepid pedallers and the wind was in a bad mood. As they crested the top of Glenshee it was blowing at around 40mph and gusting much faster. Enough to rock the Fun Bus and blow people across the car park, anyway.

And there was no escape – even the uphills weren’t sheltered from head-on gusts and the downhills were no fun either – Tom stopped pedalling on a slope he’d normally expect to roll down at around 25-28mph, and found himself doing 11.9mph. He didn’t really want to be going any faster, either, because more speed just means the icy raindrops hit you harder.

In fact, I’ve forgotten to mention the temperature so far. It was six degrees at the Lecht this afternoon – and that’s before any windchill is taken into account. And this is June, don’t forget.

Lunch at Braemar was a welcome respite for the team, and throughout the afternoon Georgie’s parents and the Fun Bus shadowed the riders closely. By this stage they were well behind schedule and we’d underestimated the distances involved. We thought this would be a 65-mile day – but it ended up at over 80 miles.

Although we’d booked a B&B in Grantown on Spey it was looking like they’d get no further than Tomintoul. Peter and Mandy (Georgie’s parents) went so far as sorting somewhere for them to stay and I phoned the place we were meant to be staying to tell them we might not make it.

The chief reason was the Lecht ski area and the climb up to it. We plied them with hot chocolate at the bottom before they could see what they were in for – James already knew because he’d raced on these roads years ago, but for Tom the 20 per cent incline for over a mile, that then dipped slightly before climbing again at over 10 per cent for a couple more miles was a new experience. And not one they’ll want to repeat in a hurry.

For the last couple of days Tom has said how determined he is to ride LE-JOG without getting off and pushing. Getting to the top of the Lecht was a remarkable effort. Especially since there wasn’t much reward to getting there. It was after 5.30, the massive ski building was shut and the only other reward was the surreal sight of seeing piste bashers, snow-making machines and draglifts…

The building provided shelter at least, but we didn’t hang around for long. The Fun Bus headed for Tomintoul, tempted by the promise of a legendary fish and chip van (it was truly awesome), and the cyclists nosed into town a little later. By now 7pm was fast approaching, but the decision was made to press on for Grantown – another 15 miles away.

It was definitely the right decision – the Dunallan B&B was superb and the tired trio finally arrived a little before 8pm, unsurprisingly exhausted. And yet, now, sitting safe in a lovely guesthouse in the warm glow of achievement, none of them would change a single thing about today. Well, except the weather…

Special mention should go to Sasha and Luke today for being so well behaved when for much off the day it was too windy and wet for them to be taken out of the Fun Bus. They’ve been as good as gold which has made Ollie and Penny’s life much easier!

So a long blog from today – but necessary to try and convey what’s been going on. Tom, James and Georgie have been battered by relentless wind, blown to a near standstill on climbs - and descents, too, and grit and determination were all that saw them through. How bad was it? Well, they’re talking about greasing their faces for tomorrow in order to reduce windburn!

This should have been the best leg of the trip with stunning scenery all around, but as Tom put it: “I didn’t see more than the rain dripping off the peak of my helmet”

Highlights:
Not nearly enough of them…
Every time we stopped and were able to get warm

Low points:
The weather – apparently there’s been widespread flooding in the Midlands
The climbs (who said Cornwall was worse than Scotland? They were wrong!)

Stage Stats:
Today’s mileage: 81.04
Total mileage: 824.92
Average speed: 11.9
Max speed: 35.2 (and that despite really steep descents)

Cold, wet and windy this was depressingly like cycling in February. 3 miles after leaving Peebles the rain jackets went on and they didn’t come off all day.

26 miles from Peebles to Edinburgh may be a marathon distance, but for us it should have been a walk in the park. It wasn’t. By the time James, Tom and I reached Prince’s Street in the centre of Edinburgh we were soaked to the skin.

Nevertheless, that wasn’t enough to dampen our spirits. Hardly being able to see Edinburgh Castle due to rain and low cloud, encountering cobbles for the first time and taking our coffee break at Burger King did demoralise us slightly, though!

But pedalling through the centre of the city, past all the landmarks and locations was a real highlight. It was Tom’s suggestion that we do it rather than skirt the edges and it certainly helped to brighten a dull day. I think you’ll agree he even managed to strike a good camp pose!

The Fun Bus crew weren’t far behind, They detoured into Edinburgh so Ollie could buy some replacement shoes and trousers – a sure sign that he’s serious about trying to get back on the bike in the next few days.

We were surprised how far it was out to the Forth Road Bridge, We dropped down to Queensferry between the two bridges over the Firth of Forth and this was Tom’s high point. No not because of the views, but because the rain stopped!

But with bagpipes playing, and loads of friendly cyclists out and about we rode up onto the bridge feeling pretty good. Stopped for the obligatory pictures, then rode on.

Like flicking a switch, as soon as we dropped off the bridge, God turned the taps on again and for good measure decided to aim the heavenly hairdryer in our faces, too. These were miserable miles up to Kinross, stinging rain driven into our cheeks by 20mph headwinds as we grinded on through dreary housing estates. Tom described Kilty as “the armpit of the world” and James’ knee started giving him jip.

Luckily the ever-reliable Fun Bus had found us a café on the shores of the loch, so we chowed down on jacket potatoes. None of us wanted to get back on the bikes afterwards, though. Somehow we made good time to Perth – still into the rain and wind, of course.

Once there we found a great coffee shop near the art gallery. The waiting staff even handed out black binliners for us to put over the upmarket chairs so we didn’t get them wet. How thoughtful. Of course when we got up to leave there was a big puddle under each of our seats – but the staff were quite literally standing by with mops at the ready!

From there we rolled reasonable easily up to Blairgowrie. James’ knee got better, the rain finally stopped and when we arrived at our Guest House (yet another Fawlty Towers copycat) we were greeted by the sight of Ollie kitted up and ready to pedal! It was really great to see him and Tom set off for an gentle three mile trial, but when they came back Ollie still reported too much rib pain to put in the exertion needed to join us for a day.

We drowned our sorrows (or rather filled our empty tummies) at the Yan Kee Chinese. Tom led the way, inexplicably drawn to it by the “all you can eat for £10” sign outside. A bit of light relief after a depressingly poor day.

Highlights:
Seeing Ollie back on his bike
Bottoms less sore and hurty than normal due to extreme sogginess (believe us, that really is a highlight)
Edinburgh and the Forth Road Bridge

Low Points:
James’ knee niggles – his worst day of all
The headwind
Will this rain ever stop?…

Stage Stats
Today’s mileage: 86.32
Total mileage: 743.88
Average speed: 14.6mph
Max speed: 36.3mph
Average daily mileage so far: 92.99 miles

Seven Days In The Saddle:

You’ve read the daily updates, now we thought we’d bring you a round up of what it’s been like for the past seven days – a behind the scenes blog. So, in no particular order, let’s have a look at some pics and the stories that go behind them…

For some reason Sasha and Luke are fascinated by men’s bits at the moment. So James and Tom having a wee on an Exmoor gate was too much for Luke – he went to investigate. So, a few seconds after this picture was taken, did Sasha, who promptly dropped her jacket in the bush Tom had just finished watering…

Pen has been an absolutely invaluable member of the team. Not only driving the Fun Bus, but also able to give the riders medical help and exercises to relieve aches and pains. Here Georgie tries out some pilates moves to relieve back ache.


Keeping Sasha and Luke entertained while on the move is a challenge – unless there’s a river and a ready supply of stones. Sasha makes arty piles and shapes, Luke just chucks them in the water. In VAST numbers. About 200 in 15 minutes. Enough to build a dam if he threw them all in the same place! Amazing he’s only hit Sasha in the face once… However every time we take him away he has a huge strop, finishing up by sobbing his favourite phrase: “stay here all night”


Nicko obviously wasn’t that upset at saying goodbye to his Daddy at the MRF in Thornbury. His parting shot? A massive wee that soaked his trousers. Lucky Alex!


The Fun Bus has been utterly fantastic – even though Ollie, Penny, Sasha and Luke have only slept in it for two nights. Here it is at Clitheroe. More impressive than the space on offer inside is the pace it achieves with ‘Rally Penny’ at the helm. It’s safe to say the UK doesn’t have a faster camper van. Ollie has lost count of the number of sports cars(complete with gobsmacked drivers) that have been seen off by the charging Fun Bus.


Tom and James have been true to their word, downing Guinness whenever the opportunity presents itself. They’re both cheap dates, too. After 100 miles in the saddle two pints has them wobbling up the road like a pair of skittles.


Spot the veterinary nurse. Georgie’s training came in very handy just after we crossed into Scotland. She spotted a sheep on its back in a field, roped in James to help and they turned it over, saving its life. Heroes, the pair of them.


This is Ollie’s shoe after the accident, and a mashed up buckle which made it very tricky to get the shoe off in the immediate aftermath. Mind you, it did a good job of protecting his foot – although the pic below was taken almost a week later and look how swollen his foot still is.



Speaking of his injuries, they haven’t prevented Ollie getting back on the bike – if only briefly for a ride round the Clitheroe campsite…



Ollie can more often be found like this:


With his foot up (as per Penny’s instructions) in a teashop writing up the daily blogs. But that’s not what you want to see – you want to see gore, right?



Well, this is all he’s prepared to show you – his scraped left thigh. This was taken on day 3 and the dressings had stuck to the flesh. It took Penny an hour to take them off. Ollie’s language during the process doesn’t bear repeating…
The leg’s actually been healing well, although he has to sit on a disposable baby change mat wherever he goes to stop the wound seeping through the bandages into the chair/bed. but the ribs are another matter – breathing still hurts and laughing and coughing are very painful.

And Finally: Internet Access. We thought it would be easy in this day and age. It’s been a nightmare. As I write this I’m sitting in the manager’s office of a hotel in Braemar - the only place I could get on-line. There is a public access computer in town - just one mind you - and it even has wi-fi! But the lady there doesn’t know the password, her husband is out of mobile phone reception somewhere in the mountains and the USB drives don’t work… Computers with no USB drives, internet access that doesn’t exist, people not prepared to let us use their own computers at B&B’s - you name it, we’ve had it…

And all in seven short days…

 The Penrith weather forecast made for grim viewing – but then with every single day of our ride so far bringing rain, why should day seven be any different? The headwinds were a new and very unwelcome addition, though.
 
We had a morning coffee stop in Brampton which brought a bit of light relief: as we sat there munching on delicious carrot cake Rawhide played on the radio and our bottoms hummed along in sympathy.
 
What really raised the spirits was the thought of crossing into Scotland - which we did soon after midday, 597 miles after leaving Land’s End. In fact it came up on us sooner than we expected – but there was no escaping the fact we’d made it.
 

The Fun Bus was parked up with the awning out, signs hanging everywhere (including from the Scotland Welcomes You sign!), a table laden with goodies and Penny, Ollie, Sasha and Luke cheering us on. It was a great sight and really lifted our spirits. Stopped to fuel up and take some snaps and then we pressed on to Langholm for lunch.
 

Lovely café for lunch, topped up with supplies from the Fun Bus, watched the last few cars of the Thistle Rally blast through town and then headed up the B709. Oh WOW! This is the sort of cycling Scotland is all about. Stunning views, no traffic, riding alongside babbling brooks (yes, the Fun Bus crew did have to stop so Luke could throw stones in the river!) and undulating countryside with few major climbs as we followed the valley floor – Bliss.
 

Even the weather held – but there were problems. After a week and over 600 miles in the saddle, James’ right knee started giving him stabbing pains and at the 98-mile mark (just four from home) Tom’s energy levels dropped suddenly. Amazingly he hadn’t troughed enough at lunchtime, but a quick Lucozade Gel gave him the instant energy hit needed to get to James’ Dad’s new house in Peebles.
 

Staying there was a blessed relief – Mike and Shona made us feel so welcome we relaxed instantly, got washing done, planned the next few days and even hopped on the scales to find out how much weight we’d lost having burned around 6,000-7,000 calories a day. Somewhat alarmingly James had dropped 11 pounds! Georgie had dropped a few, too. And Tom? Well, he’s put on half a stone. Nosebag indeed…
 
Highlights:
Carrot Cake at Brampton coffee stop
The seemingly endless descent from St Mary’s Loch.
 
Low points:
No low for Georgie today!
Rain 3 miles from the end
Cattle grids on the B709 – very painful on the arms. James took to bunny hopping over them. Flash git.
 
Stage Stats:
Today’s mileage: 102.6
Total mileage: 657.56
Average speed: 14.5
Max speed: 44.8
 
 

A shorter day today to give us a ‘rest’. Just the 73 miles through the Forest of Bowland and Lake District – only a few little hills to deal with. We decided to have a lie in and a late start from our B&B at Knowle Green a few miles west of Clitheroe.

James’ Dad had been acting as support crew on day five, but today he swapped back over with the Fun Bus, which had been camping nearby. Speaking of which Penny has made Ollie a member of the Camping and Caravanning Club and he’s seriously not happy about it…

Anyway, with Penrith as the target we headed off – and immediately uphill on tired legs, aiming for High Bentham across the Forest of Bowland. The pretty village of Slaidburn was the last chance to refuel before the long stretch across the tops and as we were feasting outside the post office, James and I unfolded the map to check progress and at the precise moment we did, bird poo landed on it. Of course we took a picture…

The about twenty seconds later the Fun Bus drove into town – the first time we’d seen them since lunch in Ludlow the day before yesterday. They then followed us for the next few miles as we climbed up to nearly 500metres, surrounded by gorgeous scenery which managed to take much of the pain out of the climb. It was so pretty that Penny and Ollie actually stopped by a river to have a picnic lunch – which mainly consisted of building dams, playing pooh sticks and throwing stones with the children. Trouble was on one occasion Luke forgot to let go and was following his stone into the water. Ollie managed to grab him, but in the process wrenched his ribs – which until now had been getting steadily better…

Anyway, back on the bikes, James, Georgie and I were enjoying an epic descent as we crossed from Lancashire into North Yorkshire to a lunch stop in Kirkby Lonsdale and then on into the Lake District.

But it wasn’t the hills that were grabbing our attention – it was the MONSTER rain cloud up ahead. Luckily we never caught up with it, but the Fun Bus reported monsoon conditions from up ahead and we soon found the aftermath – check out the pic below.

Although we haven’t covered many miles, today has been very tough. We’ve all been feeling the pace and Georgie has been amazing, showing true grit and determination.

We arrived in Clifton, just south of Penrith to be greeted by a very relieved Fun Bus crew – happy because we’d missed most of the appalling weather (there were still piles of hailstones on the ground at our Guest House) and also boosted because Ollie had just been to his fourth hospital to have his dressings changed and yet again the nurse had called for another nurse to come and have a look at his wounds because – apparently – she wanted a second opinion. It’s happened three times out of four, now and we reckon the nurses just want some young fresh meat to ogle – and Ollie is raw and tenderised in most places!

Highlights:
The scenery – the best views we’ve had so far
Riding through floods!

Low Points:
Relentless climbing…
Yet more rubbish weather

Stage Stats:
Today’s mileage: 72.82
Total mileage: 554.96
Average speed: 13.1
Maximum speed: 46.7
Medical staff who have seen Ollie naked: 8

Our night at my Uncle and Aunt (Derek & Cath) was superb and really, really appreciated given our short notice!

Day 5 beckoned as we aimed to do 100miles… having filled our bellies with breakfast we returned to our stop point from day 4 at Newport and hit the road once again. The roads were certainly kind to us sweeping us along at an average of 20-25mph for the first 40miles. Only minor disruptions of some cows broke our strong progress.

We are also learning to watch the wind and cloud movement to better judge our stops and ensure we miss the worst of the downpours – we have been lucky so far and sat in pockets of GOOD sunshine and sat in coffee shops when it’s peeing down.

However, the tough part was yet to come as we had to navigate our way around greater Manchester and then onto Blackburn. Needless to say it was tough as we stopped and started our way through main roads and traffic lights during rush hour. Our average speed soon dropped and we were thankful to time a pub stop as the heavens opened.

We also noticed how dirty we got too, here’s a picture of Toms fine lower legs that were not hidden away behind lycra!

Eventually we rolled upto Blackburn only to get slightly lost and encounter our first punctures of the event. Tom was first to go with some glass and then only 2 miles later Georgie found a thorn and all within the last 5 miles – bugger! Good job mechanic Jamesie was on the case and we rolled on once again.

Our final destination was also challenged as accommodation was difficult to source, but all came together at the last minute as we arrived in New Row which was south west of Clitherow.

The day was finished off with a quick trip to the local food establishment (the pub) to refuel before crashing out for the night…

Total mileage = 102.25

Georgie’s high point – saying hello to all the horses enroute

Georgie’s low point – last hill and last 2 miles!

Toms high point - 25 mph, bowling along, wind behind & sunny

Toms low point – wet & grimy

James high point – coordinated coffee stop with dad & Shona

James low point – fixing punctures

We pedallers were on the road at about 9am, but today was tough from the off. Three long days in the saddle means energy levels were low and legs were heavy. Factor in the previous night’s storms and the psychological battle of so many miles still ahead of us and today was a touch bleak in places.

There were good times, though. From Monmouth our route took us on small country lanes and with the wind at our backs and the sun peeping in and out lifted our spirits every so often – we even found a river to cycle down!

We rolled through the countryside, but the clouds closed in and rain jackets came into play (again). I thought this was meant to be June, my pre-trip thoughts of rolling through Britain’s beautiful countryside in the glorious sunshine, only stopping to slap on another layer of suncream seem a long way off……

We headed for lunch at Ludlow, where we liaised with the camper van crew and had a great pub lunch to keep the calorie intake high. Ollie and Pen had had a fun morning themselves – visiting yet another hospital. Monmouth this time and another excuse for Ollie to strip naked in front of some nurses. Best news is that none of his wounds are infected, so they patched him up and sent him on his way.

At lunch we also met a couple of other folks riding ‘end to end’ but they were on day 6 and aimed to complete in 16 days - lightweights.

After Ludlow we had a bit of a navigational issue around Ironbridge (we’ve got by surprisingly well relying on torn up road atlases kept in freezer bags to protect them from the elements), and ended up on a road that went under the one we wanted to be on. Rather than turn round and cycle back, we simply hauled bikes up the embankment and carried on our way.

Towards the end of the day we jumped on more major roads and headed for Newport (Shropshire) for the rendezvous with James’ family – we were staying with his Uncle and Aunt near Eccleshall, and his Dad was there, too which was a great incentive to finish teh day’s pedalling.

All in all a reasonable day – the excitement of the early days is gone and we’re not really looking forward to tomorrow which takes us through Manchester and loads of busy urban areas. But in the meantime we were rewarded with a big dinner and comfortable bed.

Highlights:
Ludlow was a lovely town
James and Georgie meeting up with family

Lowlights:
Realistation that Land’s End to John O’ Groats isn’t a walk in the park

Stage Stats:
Today’s mileage: 94.81
Total mileage: 376.37
Average speed: 15.1mph
Saddle time: 6hrs 16mins
Medical people who have seen Ollie naked: 6