Day 12 - Helmsdale to John O 'Groats (65 miles)

Apologies to any dedicated blog subscribers out there, we had no internet for the last couple of days so couldn't upload the last one. Here she is...

It was the last day, the final hurdle and the last chance for something to go wrong! Even though it was a relatively short one, we decided to head off early to leave ourselves with plenty of time!

Following our morning ritual of coffee, porridge and the all important 'downstairs cream' we were set. The support team were on form as always and dropped us at our start point at 9.30am sharpish.



I did have a slight bother in my mind...Nick had mentioned earlier in the week how the last day should be a sprint to the finish line, to which i simply ignored and hoped he was joking! For those who don't know, Nick's actually quite a bit fitter than I am due to the ridiculous amount of rowing he did at uni, so a sprint for him meant certain death for me! As we set off i soon realised Nick wasn't joking so just gritted my teeth and tried to keep up!



Without realising, we actually had an extra member joining us today! About 5 minutes after we started I spotted out of the corner of my eye the team mascot (our dog Sadie) sprinting alongside! Considering we were averaging about 18mph I was very impressed...i wonder if there's a dog Olympics?! We then spotted the support team haring towards us, obviously in hot pursuit of the escapee. Not to worry, she was soon returned safely to the motor home and we were back on our way.



The road today was one of the best so far (both of us and our groins have learned to appreciate smooth roads!) with stunning views and only the odd car or two. Even though I had to focus on pedalling at the speed of light I still managed to grab a few snaps along the way...









The support team caught us up at the 25 mile mark so we had a quick pit stop and refuel. I hinted to Nick that he was going a touch too fast to which he replied 'are you a man or what?' so that ended that one!

Soon after our second leg had begun we hit the north coast and were on the final straight to John O'Groats! Time seemed to slow down the closer we got?! I think it had something to do with the excitement and realisation that we were nearly there! The coastal wind really started to pick up and unfortunately it wasn't the tail wind we were used to...it was blowing sideways and almost knocked us off a couple of times! Still, we battled on, there was no stopping us!

With about 10 miles to go Nick's Knees started to play up, he said it was pretty painful! All i could think about was trying to stay on the bike and not get blown in to the sea! The last 5 miles was probably the slowest countdown I've ever experienced, each mile seemed to take forever! With just 1 to go we could see John O'Groats in the distance and it was an amazing feeling! We sailed down the hill into the town where the support team were waiting.







We did it! What an awesome feeling and an amazing achievement! I shook Nick's hand and gave mum a hug, then let it sink in for a minute or two. Cracked open the champers and the rest was history!









I think a few thank yous need to be made...firstly to the support team who probably worked just as hard (if not harder) than us to feed, clean and house Nick and I for 2 weeks, you did a good job guys! Secondly to Dad, Gwen, Sue, Nanny and Jo for helping to fund the trip, we really appreciate the support, probably wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise! Finally to all the people that sponsored us along the way...we managed to raise over £2500 for the British Lung Foundation which is amazing! My grampi would have been proud!



Anyways, in the words of Vinnie Jones...'it's been emotional'

Ian

Day 11 - Inverness to Helmsdale (70 miles)

As Nick mentioned yesterday, we're both still in complete shock from hearing about our good friend Todd passing away on Saturday. He was an absolutely fantastic guy who everyone loved and its such a tragedy that this could happen to someone so young and so full of life! He'll be missed greatly and our thoughts are with all his family and friends right now.

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Today was...how can i put it...wet? I think that pretty much sums it up. Up until today, we've actually been pretty lucky weather wise, haven't had too much to complain about...sadly I think it finally all caught up with us! I attempted to prevent the water getting in before we left by wearing my high tech, top of the range shoe covers..



..and gortex "waterproof" coat, none of which worked! We got completely drenched from head to toe, no bodily parts were spared! The combination of the rain, cold, hills and the busy A9 didn't leave much for a fun cycle!



We stopped in a cafe at the 25 mile mark for THE best hot chocolate ever to warm us up! Leaving the lovely warm cafe and stepping out into the icy cold rain was not the easiest of tasks! It's actually the first time on the whole trip that we really didn't want to get back on the bikes! Still, we struggled back into our wet "waterproofs" and got on with it, cycling as fast as we could to get ourselves warm!

The next port of call at the 50 mile mark was a rendezvous with the support team who kindly had tea & biscuits at the ready!



Again, I've never enjoyed a hot drink so much! We lapped up the warmth of the caravan for as long as we could, siked ourselves up and got back outside onto the bikes.



I'm not sure how but it felt even colder than it did earlier on, I'm surprised it wasn't snowing! Still, we ignored the arctic conditions and pressed on along the A9 for the final 20 miles.



Didn't really see much scenery, I spent most of the time concentrating on keeping the wheels turning with my head down staring at nicks behind...not ideal!

Thankfully we turned off the A9 for the last 10 miles or so, managing to escape the rain and got back to the highlands!







Played a quick game of 'dodge the sheep' who had handily scattered themselves all over the road!





Took a few snaps with our new found friends and were glad to finish up the day, leaving ourselves with only 65 miles for the final stretch!

I can't believe we're nearly there! One day to go! Weather looks promising, lets hope it's a clear run to the finish line!

Ian

Day 10 - Onich to Inverness (85 miles)

We received some very sad news last night. A good friend of both of ours from uni, Todd Burrows, passed away on Saturday. It is such a shock that someone so young, bright, popular and athletic can suddenly be gone. I rowed with Todd and Ian played football with him at Cardiff and he was always the life of the party. Easily one of THE nicest and most genuine blokes I have ever had the pleasure to spend time with. A lot of people are going to miss him very much. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

The cycle today went quickly but you have a lot of time to think while pedalling along so most of my, and I’m sure Ian’s thoughts, were concerning Todd. We cycled along Loch Ness up to Inverness spending most of the day ahead of Martin, Val and Sadie.

Apparently they had to rush around Morrissons and hurtle down the Highlands roads in order to meet us for lunch at Fort Augustus.

Legs and arse had a good day today, think they’re getting used to it.The support team very kindly bought us a copy of FIFA07 for the XBOX so that will probably keep our minds occupied for the rest of the evening!1 ½ days to go!

Nick

Day 9 - Loch Long to Onich (60 miles)

Kicked off the day with breakfast on Loch Long which was lovely.



Faffed about for a bit then drove to where we finished yesterday. Took a few snaps next to Loch Lomond with our British Lung Foundation shirts on



and then we were off...almost. Nick broke his inner tube just as we were about to leave so had to put another one in!



Fannied about for another 30 mins and finally got on the road by midday, waved off by the support team!

About 15 minutes in the saddle we passed another group of cyclists also doing the Land's End JOG cycle, apparently not as quickly as us. Nick then decided he hadn't slowed us up enough and his speedo fell off whilst whizzing down a hill. Luckily he found it in the road before anyone had a chance to run over it!

As we were about to get back on the bikes we were overtaken by the other group...the race was on! Nick and I pulled our socks up, downed some of the magic 'high5' energy drink and were off like Michael Jackson chasing kids. The pursuit didn't last long as we soon saw the other racers in the distance. Still high on adrenaline (and accompanied by some strange sense of racing in the Tour of Britain??) we hurtled passed them with no looking back. Soon after we passed them we realised how ridiculously fast we were going and slowed back down to a sensible pace.

Following a quick lunch and rendezvous with the support team, we pressed on towards Fort William.

Cycled down THE best hill I've ever been down! It must have gone on for at least 10 minutes with an average speed well over 30mph!

The whole of the cycle was basically stunning view after stunning view, I can't get over how beautiful the landscape is, at some points it was hard to keep our eyes on the road! I think I've got more pictures from today than from all the other days combined!

Overall a pretty easy one today. To be honest we needed it following our mammoth 200 miles over the previous 2 days! Tomorrow looks like more awesome scenery but not such awesome weather...could be a wet one!

Ciao

Ian

Day 8 Beattock - Loch Long (105 miles)

Woohoo! Hit the magic 100! We had an early start leaving from Moffat to get the first 30 miles under our belts so we could watch a leg of the Tour of Britain. We stopped off in the wee village of Douglas and got hassled by 2 scottish kids who wouldn’t stop asking us questions in broad Scottish accents , so we had no idea what they were talking about half the time :

‘How fast can you go?’

‘Are you in the tour?’

‘How fast can you go?’

‘Who’s your team?’

‘How fast can you go?’

After convincing them we were in the tour, and so far ahead we were taking a break Ian explained to them what we were actually doing and they lost interest and walked off while Ian was in mid sentence to chase a man in a hat.

They later asked where we were staying and I explained we were sleeping in a motorhome to which they said ‘What? Together? Are yous twos gay?!’. When we turned the question back around on them they rapidly said with disgust and embarrassment ‘No, No way’ which was hilarious, maybe you had to be there.

The tour raced through but it’s not the greatest spectator sport. There was a massive police presence, probably to keep those kids out of trouble...

...and the cyclists wooshed by with about 3 minutes difference between the leading group of 8 and the rest of the ‘peleton’.

As much as I love Scotland they need a lesson in road maintenance as the road to Glasgow was terrible which wasn’t good for my already tender behind. Cycled through Glasgow and got very wet. Cycling through cities isn’t much fun. As Ian was behind my back wheel (without a mudguard) his face got very muddy which provided a few laughs.

Various people, including Ian, have gone on and on to me about getting a debit card; ‘What you mean you haven’t got a debit card? How do you pay for stuff? How old are you?’ so before the trip I spent hours in the bank making sure I got one only to find that NO shops, including several today, take it unless you give them over £10! I only want some lucozade.

Cycled past Loch Lomond but it was so grey and wet and misty that couldn’t really appreciate it. Val, Martin and Sadie drove past us and gave us a penguin bar at about 90 miles down..

..they really have been brilliant, waiting on us 24/7, cooking, washing, driving. Can’t thank them enough. It was very tempting to get out of the cold and into the van but we churned out the last 15 miles.

At one point it looked as if we were going downhill and I looked at my speedo to see I was only doing 13mph! It felt like a hippo had jumped on the back wheel. Maybe a sign that my legs are started to get a bit fatigued.

The camp site was right bang on Loch Long though so we had some cool views as we tucked into a whole rugby team’s size portion of chilli and apple pie.

Nick