Day 13 - the end is in sight

Having left our bags with Marc's mum after meeting her in inverness Marc and i woke at 6 with the thought that john o'groats was only 125 miles away. The Cromarty ferry is interesting with space for 2 cars which almost removed their bumpers reversing off the other side. We caught up with the others at Tain for breakfast just as they were leaving and then proceeded to leap frog each other towards wick. Shortly after helmsdale we were informed by some cyclists heading south that we had a big hill ahead. We laughed and mentioned devon. We were definitely heading in the right direction with a long gentle climb followed by exhilarating 40 mph (freewheeling) decents. After a quick cup of delicious vanilla tea, fresh strawberries and shortbread courtesy of marc's mum in wick we all decided to finish the last 17 miles. The views as we were running out of scotland were stunning. After a gentle climb the last mile was a lovely roll downhill which marc and i raced at 30 miles an hour. The finish was a bit of a tip with the line hidden near the tumble down hotel and the sign packed away for the night. Over 120 miles is now the furtherst i have cycled in one day, quite a jump from a fortnight ago when it was 56!

The achievement is still sinking in after the rush to get bikes on the car roof and find dinner. Marc led the punctures with 2 proving skinny 23 mm road tyres are not great for touring. We are all in the car now with massive thanks to Marc's mum for driving all the way up to collect us. We will post loads of photos somewhere soon enough.

day 12 - where's nessy

Today was something of a revelation. The only day of the trip without any rain at all. Once again mark and chris set off a little early and marc and i had a lie in. We soon caught them up as a slow puncture which had been with mark for 2 days finally sped up and required fixing. Fort William provided a quick breakfast although i did have a little trouble with the owners local accent until i realised he was an aussie. The days cycling from here was beautiful along the lochs and made all the better by a little sun. We all had a laugh at the imaginatively named loch lochy. There was a nice path along the caledonian canal into Fort augustus for lunch which actually proved to be smoother than the road back out. We had little chance to look for nessy as the road is a little away from the edge of loch ness. Marc and i then had fun with the one way system in inverness trying to find the youth hostel which was on an industrial scale compared to some others recently. Mark and chris pushed on a little to find a campsite making another 100 mile day.

Day 11 - the sky fell on our heads

After a very nice nights sleep in a b&b Marc and I set off with plans of catching Mark and Chris by Inverary. They had about an hour of drying out in a tea room before we arrived for a tasty second breakfast. The rain held off for about 30 minutes while we were inside. We set off in 2 groups again as this is actually turns out being faster for all with less faff. Once again the rain stopped while Marc and I had tea and cake. Despite the weather today has had some of the most amazing scenery and thankfully we are all in a nice warm hostel in glen coe tonight. I definately need it after 105 miles with some big hills. We will be heading coast to coast tomorrow for a night in inverness. Closing in on the end now and i am not sure if i am looking forward to that or want it to carry on at the moment. The weather tomorrow may decide for me.

Lost in lancashire

Marc enjoys mead from the giant bottle in Keswick

Mark and chris' campsite (day 10)

Tweed

Chris sports some Lancashire tweed

Day 10 - to the ferry

Given chris' 'gammy' leg we decided to take a two tiered approach
today. Chris and I were cycling before 7am with the idea that tom and
marc would catch up later.

Team slow had quite an uneventful day as we crossed galoway and
Ayrshire admiring beatifully bleak surroundings. We made good time and
met the others just before we reached the ferry from gourock to dunoon.

Team fast weren't so lucky, an early puncture for marc was topped by
toms rack falling off after around 70 miles (snapped bolt). After
borrowing some tools from a friendly scotish builder they were on
their way again. Team fast opted for a bed and break fast in Dunoon
and feasted on venison and red wine. 86 miles covered.

It was time for team slow to try some wild camping... We camped on the
shore of loch fyne with views of invarerey in gales and rain and woke
up with dampened spirits and sleeping bags. Bivy fail! 110 miles
covered.

Tomorrow on to the real highlands :)

Day 9 the road to the highlands...

After discovering the irony of the youth hostels 'dry' room, we donned
our wet clothes and set off out of keswick amist reasonable weather
and spectacular scenery. as we bid farewell to the hills of the lakes
we welcomed the flat roads to carisle. We tried hard to locate tea and
food but we forgot it was the sabbeth and we had to dive into a
costapacket (nice moccachino). Marc once again wore the yellow jersey
and crossed the border into Scotland and the delightful town of
gretnor, where sadley all the chapels shut; so we could not marry as
one. At this point my (chris) 'gammy' leg started its act and I had to
take it easy whist the team carried some of my burden. Marc and tom
hacked to the campsite so we could set Up before it was too late
whilsat me and mark had a leasurely cycle through the bleak and
Beautiful galloway with the now routine showers.
Chris

Day 8. A day of rest

We are staying in the lakes today and have moved to the Derwant water yha with amazing views. There is plenty of laundry, shopping and bike faff to be getting on with before pushing into scotland tomorrow. We will update the blog again when we next have that magic combination of phone battery and signal!

Day 7

This morning was a little more leisurely as we only have 45 miles planned though it is up into the lakes. Mark has stopped complaining about the wet night and is instead moaning about Chris kicking him in the head. It is a 1.5 person tent after all! We could not wait to leave the grotty campsite and managed to find a hearty breakfast and some tweed jackets to try on in Bob's discount clothing store. Photo's will follow. We enjoyed a leisurely pedal to lunch in Ambleside before our climb for the day over the pass to keswick. That was hard work with some of the roughest road surfaces we have ever ridden on but the views made up for it and the descent into town reminded me why I enjoy cycling. A night of comfort in Catbells camping barn and a decent lie in in the morning are amazing.

Day 6

Wet once again describes today. The night was wild with wind and rain from every direction. Mark has now sworn to never sleep in Marc's home made tent again. Apparently it has its own micro climate and is wet whatever the weather. The morning's riding was a real low point for all. My thumb was agony after the previous days crash which did have the dubious advantage of making the lovely towns of warrington and wigan pass in a blur of pain. Just before lunch we finally found an open bike shop and some waterproof overshoes and gloves cheered me up. My feet may still be wet but warm beats freezing. The day brightened somewhat with lunch in preston. Chris and Mark can be seen below shopping for doughnuts! The scenery improved as we went north and Lancaster was a breath of fresh air for cyclists with sensible cycle routes which were actually signposted! The campsite was a little less inspiring and the sky promised more rain. Mark threw his plastic survival bag at Marc and dived into Chris's dry tent.

Day 5 with details.

Just a quick note from me to add to Mark's wordy account of today. We
did actually have a nice morning's cycling once the obligatory bike
faff was complete. A lovely breakfast in Ludlow and then our fastest
section of riding so far to shrewsbury made up some time. After lunch
I went in search of some overshoes. Alas the only open bike shop had
more bmx than you could wish for but no clothing. It was only as we
were finishing lunch and leaving shrewsbury that the sky started
falling on our heads but fall it has. As in deed have I! The first and
hopefully only crash of the trip was remarkably spectacular seeing as
we were going up hill at the time. Managed to take out Marc as well
and luckily the cars behind were paying attention and stopped as we
spread out over the road. luckily nothing broken and just a little
road rash. Over all it has been a fairly easy day's cycling with no
major hills but 91 miles is still a long way and the overbearing
memory will be of rain. Tom

Day 5

Painful - 92 miles in rain. Now in the scouse end of Cheshire hoping
we don't get mugged.

Day 4 - England, Wales, England, Wales...

An early start this morning - made a bee line for Bristol only slowed
by chris' panniers repeatedly falling off his bike, repairing with
mainly cable ties we went on to cross the Clifton suspension bridge
before breakfast (designed and built by Barry clifton). After eating
1000 kcals of pure fat from a cafe we continued on to the Severn
bridge (picture below), cycled across singing the rocky theme to
motivate against the high winds.

Tom and marc did their cav impressions by sprinting to the welsh
border, marc won and was awarded the blue jersey which by a fluke was
the same colour as the one he was wearing so nobody had to get
changed... He also was the first among us to soil the welsh land,
which for sone reason made him very proud.

After following the welsh border for a few hours we lunched in
Monmouth. The terrain was hilly and the weather rainy...

Later we re-entered england where the terrain was hilly and the
weather rainy. We managed to hit herreford in rush hour in a
torrential downpour - lovely, I don't think any of us will be going
back.

After 86 miles we finally arrived in Leominster, herrefordshire and
collapssed into cozy yha beds.

Day 3

Today started with a leisurely pedal along the tarka trail into
Barnstaple for a sub for breakfast. We then had a pretty nasty slog
down and indeed up the A361. Though overtaking cars up hills is very
satisfying. We finished with a speedy 50 miles along a canal and then
up to weston super-mare. Around 90 miles and the first visit from the
puncture fairy!

Day 2 - the hills

Gosh cornwall and Devon are hilly! 40mph 'brown pant' downhills
followed by 'can't even push my bike up' uphills - rinse and repeat.
I'm not sure whether our legs or brake pads took the worse battering.

Luckily our day was constantly brightened by marc and tom's yellow and
orange (respectively) hi-vis waterproof jackets. Of course this meant
only one thing - rain... Lots and lots of rain. At least, as tom
remarked 'the sheet rain was going in the same direction we were'.

Rain and hills - that sums today up.

Tonight we're staying at marc's brother and sister in law's house in
Barnstaple (thanks to them for a warm house, boxed wine and a big
welcome, it's exactly what we needed!).

Bed time for now, sommerset tomorrow...

This is us setting off on Saturday morning after practically no sleep
on the stupidly named sleeper train to Penzance on friday night.
Reclining seats that don't move and lighting brighter than the sun =
grumpy lejoggers. A big thanks to tom's parents for dropping us in LE
and bringing our bikes :)

After a couple of hours bike/packing faff we made it as far as the
entrance to the lands end theme park before the first mechanical by,
as predicted, chris 'the tip bike' SD. After a quick fix including
much piss taking from me, karma caught up with me 10 metres later when
my bling bling bike decided to break down :( that'll learn me...

Hard day 1. 61 miles.

Made it to first stop. Tents up! In pub by 9pm having food. Will update when we can :) #

Under way

On the train now with some classy crystal camel tinned G&T. A "treat" from mark.

View Larger Map

This is just an overview of the route we will be taking. There are a few variations from this but google maps does not like ferries. We are actually avoiding Glasgow and heading a little more westerly getting the ferry from Gourock to Dunoon.

What and Why

Chris, Mark, Tom and Marc

The challenge of cycling from one end of Britain to the other is one that many people undertake every year. This is something that some of us started talking about when drunk towards the end of last year. I heard of these plans sometime around January but quickly realised that the original idea of going in April was a little optimistic for me. This would not prove to be an issue as with our spectacular planning the date has drifted back and back and the numbers have dwindled.

Now we find a crack team of 4, Tom, Marc, Mark and Chris rapidly trying to pack bags and finalise routes ready to catch the sleeper to Lands end ready to depart on what will undoubtedly be a busy bank holiday Saturday morning. As long as Mark's iPhone does not iFail we will attempt to update this little blog as we go.

The first question asked when we mention it is always one of, "Are you mad?" or "Are you doing it for Charity?" The answer to the first is almost certainly yes and I imagine we will find this out somewhere in the hills of Cornwall. As for the second, this is primarily something we are all undertaking for fun, a holiday and above all a massive personal challenge. If our endeavours do inspire you to donate a little, (or a lot) of money to charity Chris is raising for the Oakhaven Hospice Trust. They provide free of charge palliative care for the terminally ill and provided a lot of help and support for one of his colleagues at work.

http://www.justgiving.com/Christopher-Smith-Duque