Epilogue; back to normality

It's hard to be home; I really miss getting up and having nothing more to do than eat a good breakfast and then get on my bike and cycle with 23 great people who have one goal in mind.. It has been a truly amazing holiday (it really was a holiday!!) and amazing experience. This has been a great way to see our beautiful country at a pace that allows you to enjoy the scenery. We've experienced all the weather that a typcial British summer can throw at us - the most memorable being the absolute downpour followed by boiling hot sunshine as we arrived at John o'Groats.. The lovely guys from Peak Tours (Steve, Graham and Nigel) made the trip what it was and I can't wait to sign up for another holiday with them soon.

I'd finally like to thank in person all the people who made this holiday great; in no particular order:

Roy and Sheila - great cups of tea Sheila!
Gareth and Linda - for the great jokes at the Crask Inn on the last night!
Nigel (Watchman) for his interest in lager and not beer...
Lawrence and Wayne for their personal battles and amazing achievement...
Janet (Crystal Tips) for the laughs and joining in with the farting...
Rachel for everything totally ridiculous...
Frances for her route-note reading and leadership at a pace that made it look easy...
Helen for cheerfulness in the face of adversity....
Sharon for putting up with me and my nocturnal noises, and my incessant blogging and need for free Wi-Fi...
Helen and Chris for not laughing (to my knowledge) when I fell in the ford…
Mark for his helmet hair and ability to put up with midge bites…
Nick for being such an amazing and well-rounded youngster who is a great role model for today’s youth...
Da da dave for his companionship and looking out for the girls (us that is)
Ron Ron for the sprint finishes and riding tips…
Toshi for his amazing ability to take photos while riding along…
Chicken (Josh) for being the chicken…
Charley for entertaining us incessantly despite his pain…
Andrea for being Welsh…
Malcolm for the amazing Cherry Bakewells…

Nigel (Peak Tours) for his excellent taste in bottled beers...
Graham (Peak Tours) for his ability to fix ANYTHING (Rachel's flip flop included) and for wanting to be on his bike all the time...
And finally to Steve (Peak Tours) for making everyone's dream come true...


How do you finish off a blog of such a memorable and amazing experience?  No idea, but I’ve enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it…

Sue

Day 14. The Crask to John O'Groats!! We've arrived!

84 miles yesterday and a grand total of 1008 miles. WE DID IT!!!

Left the Crask in glorious sunshine but plagued by midges. Our getaway was fast...  Once moving they didn't bother us.  We'd covered ourselves in insect repellent (didn't work) and had also tried Avon Skin So Soft (apparently good against midges; the advert is "smidge that midge") but all we succeeded in doing was providing them with a greasy surface to adhere themselves to... (pic).

The road to Altnaharra was undulating and generally downhill which meant we had a beautiful morning's cycling in what was hot sunshine - until the rain started! It poured, and we got soaked, so by the time we arrived to the brew van at Bettyhill we were subdued.  Our last morning's tea stop was really welcome, and refreshed we moved on to lunch.  About 500 yards up the road the sun came out and the 'jacket on/jacket off' dance started.

After Bettyhill we cycled along the coast all the way to John O'Groats, stopping for lunch at Melvich. Our last lunch stop of the trip! (the lunches have been great by the way - with soup and sandwiches or pub buffets, and on a couple of occasions a full pub lunch!)

After lunch cycled through Thurso with the LAST brew van stop shortly after. Then we all regrouped at a pub in Mey about 7 miles from JOG. We were all in celebratory mood already so a few beers were consumed..  and this was where we blew up the Marigold's and attached them to our helmets as chicken combs to show our support for Chicken (Josh Blanchard) on the final miles of his LEJOG ride.

As a group we set off to JOG and shortly after the heavens opened.  And I mean it - it was biblical in proportions....  We were soaked, but so happy at finally about to achieve our goal that no one wanted to stop to put on waterproofs (we also had the team tops on so didn't want to cover them up).  We were getting tooted and beeped at by passing cars and lots of people were waving at us; it felt amazing.  At one point a group of us started to sing - no prizes for guessing which song...

2 miles to go and we regrouped again as we'd got separated in the torrential rain.  Now all together we cycled to JOG to whoops and cheers from the waiting lovelies (Steve and Nigel and the lovely Graham who was cycling with us).  Steve also had champagne waiting for us and we spent an age congratulating each other and taking photos. Then of course the celebrations in the evening, which is the reason for the delayed blog entry.. as well as not having a signal (or any free WiFi!)

So, we did it - we made it - we cycled from Land's End to John O'Groats under our own steam.  Didn't walk a single step of the route, not even up the hilliest of the hills...  What an amazing holiday and experience this has been. We have made loads of new friends and had loads of laughs. Thanks to Peak Tours for helping us reach our goal, and making it so easy for us. We could not have asked for better support, bike maintenance, brew stops, encouragement, route notes, good laughs, and lots lots more... 

I'll post an epilogue in a day or two before finally putting this blog to bed.... 

Day 13. Inverness to The Crask.

67 miles, total 924. One day left and 82 miles. Which means we will have passed the 1000 mile mark shortly before we arrive at John O'Groats....

A WET morning!  But as has been happening a lot on our trip the sun came out in the afternoon and the wet weather gear got put away (to keep it on or take it off was a question we asked ourselves frequently on this trip). An 'easy' day in cycling terms... The hills weren't painful (or we are much fitter) and the mileage was low. The rain chilled us all and we were pretty miserable by the time we arrived at Bonar Bridge Hotel. A roaring fire greeted us and soon the room was full of steam.

Cycling up to the Crask this afternoon was almost desolate but stunning at the same time. Miles of nothing but pine trees, interspersed with empty spaces where the trees had been felled for logs, not to mention the logging lorries lumbering by drowning us as they drove through puddles and almost knocking us off our bikes with the wall of wind they created...

Arrived at the Crask in glorious sunshine. This is a stunning location. We're really privileged to stay in such an unspoiled location. A place to visit again and marvel at the fact that we cycled here from Land's End.. The millennium cycle post outside tells us we are only 90 miles from our goal. Not that we wanted to stand outside for long because of the midges!

Had an amazing meal (I've used that adjective a lot on this blog haven't I?) here at the Crask inn and such a good laugh too. The group has gelled together so well that it's going to be really hard to say goodbye on Sunday.

Many thanks to all of you who have posted comments to our blog. We have been inspired and moved to tears by words of encouragement and praise. Many thanks also to our recent sponsors Ian Fletcher and Taryn Carthy, your donations are really appreciated!

The Crask

Arrived at the Crask. One day and 86 miles to go.... more later although signal is poor..

Day 12. Glencoe to Inverness.

A spectacular day's cycling of 87 miles. 859 down, and 148 to go over the next two days. Which means our grand total will be 1007 miles in 14 days. Amazing. And all under our own steam... already it feels like a fantastic achievement and we're not there yet. This has been an amazing holiday. Great laughs, loads of new friends, and lots of our country seen in a new way and at a new pace. Enough of that romantic drivel... Back to today....

Left Glencoe in the drizzle and being eaten alive by midges. Yes midges. Heard a lot about scottish midges but never experienced them.. till today... have lots of itchy little bites all over us, despite wearing insect repellant. Think they must like the stuff...

Those lovely boys worked us hard today. We almost didn't get a brew stop this morning as Nigel thought he'd missed us and had moved on. Eventually found him after about 37 miles... Not long after that I came off my bike when I clipped Sharon's back wheel as we were going uphill in a tight line. Nothing to worry about but I've a nice wound on my knee. A mere flesh wound but another dent in my pride... second time in a week. Fell off the other side of the bike so I'm all square now.  Lunch stop was at 50 miles so like I said the boys worked us hard today. And threw in a competitive challenge after lunch. More about that shortly...

The morning's cycling was superb through Fort William, and then more or less flat alongside the Caledonian canal. Some large luxury vessels and lots of yachts in Neptune's staircase of locks. Lunch at Fort Augustus followed immediately by an uphill challenge... a climb of 5 miles and a time to beat. Fastest lady record was 38 minutes. Our queen of the mountain was Rachel who beat that by a couple of minutes to claim the crown. I did it in a respectable 43 minutes. By now the sun was shining and the scenery getting better and better with every metre of climb. A fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable climb; I almost wanted to go back down and do it again!

Euphoria at the top, think we were all high on endorphins, followed by a lovely descent to Loch Ness. Then into Inverness for the night via a pub for a swift pint. B&B luxury tonight. No more YHA's this trip - think the 'girls' will miss that! Does it sound like we're enjoying ourselves too much and that this really is a holiday?  True.....

We've set a task for Steve tomorrow. 13 pairs of marigolds and some yellow nail varnish to buy.. on the last day of the trip we're supporting chicken....

Day 11. Loch Lomond to Glencoe

Amazing day. Scenery superb. Took some panorama shots. Cycled along A82 most of the day and despite traffic it wasn't too bad. Cycled alongside Loch Lomond this morning before stopping for lunch.

Very gusty in places this afternoon as we cycled up towards the highlands and some huge lorries also threatened to blow us off our bikes but no one did get blown off so all is well. No rain although it threatened rain during the day. Sunshine quite a lot of the day and no problems with midges (yet?).

67 miles today, total 772. Lots of easy cycling today. Road surfaces still give me pins and needles in my hands but it's been amazing cycling today.

Got to Glencoe in good time (before the hostel opened so that's good for us...) so stopped for a pint at the Clachaig Inn. Superb pint of Raven ale....

Day 10. Moffatt to Loch Lomond.

86 miles, total 705.

Set off early as we had a hard day ahead. According to route notes today was hard with elevation gain of 2900 ft and 82 miles to cycle. We got lost on the way to Carlisle so that's the reason our mileage is higher...

A fast morning; we averaged almost 15 mph and were at the lunch stop before the food had been put out! We then got into sightseeing mode in the afternoon and eventually got to the hostel at 6:30 pm.. i.e. dawdling along...

Sharon had a puncture after lunch today and DDdave Ron Ron fixed it for her... Sharon did insist as she is quite capable and even practised in the matter but it did speed things up a bit.. That's another reason for our slow progress this afternoon..

Hill start this morning, Steve joined us for the first 5 miles, his first cycle of this hol. Was great to cycle alongside him for a while.

Road to Glasgow quite dull with a rubbish road surface that jarred the arms, but through Glasgow we followed Sustrans route 75 which was a cycle path alongside the Clyde and was an excellent way of avoiding the city traffic but seeing the sights too.

This afternoon's cycling was stunning alongside the Clyde and the canal to Loch Lomond. Stopped at Bankies bike statue for pics, another reason for delayed arrival at YHA ...

Arrived Loch Lomond YHA at 6:30. Ate here (cooked by the lovely Chris) and washed down with some Scottish ales brought up by Nigel. Thanks Nigel - you have excellent taste!