Please support my fund-raising journey

Just made it back after a gruelling 13.5 days in the saddle. The trip was eventful at times as you will see if you take time out to read the following blog entries that cover each day of my 920 mile journey. My objective was to raise funds for some worthy causes and improve my fitness. I was expecting some others to join me on route, but in the end I completed the journey on my own with the help of my iPhone and Google Maps!

If you've already donated to one of my chosen charities, I'd like to thank you for your kind support. If not, and you'd like to do so, please click on one of the following links to my Just Giving pages where you can donate on line:
Help for Heroes, The Army Benevolent Fund or Prostate Cancer Charity.
Any level of donation will be gratefully received.

Each of my daily destinations are marked on the map below.

Travelling to the start (A) John O'Groats

Getting to the start was a lengthy journey in itself. I left by train from Slough Station on Wednesday 11th August at 07:20 and arrive in Wick at 22:30. By this time it was dark and I still had to cycle 20 miles to my first B&B at John O'Groats where I finally arrived at 00:30. After safely securing my bike I crashed out on my bed to get a good sleep before setting out on my solitary adventure!

Day 1 (B) Hemsdale

Woke up to a full cooked breakfast, then carefully packed the panniers on my bike. First I had to cycle the last 800 yards to the John O'Groats Cafe where the End to End Travellers book is kept. After signing I set off on my way. Thank God for the good weather. If I'd had rain for the first day it could of put a real dampener on the trip. However, after stopping for a lazy lunch I realised I wasn't making the progress I hoped for on day one. I pressed on and made it to Hemersly, where I was able to find a B&B, along with the well renowned La Mirage Fish and Chippy, where I managed to get a "double portions" meal followed by a good night's sleep hoping to make better progress the next day.

Day 2 (C) Inverness

Today I had some serious distance to cover (70 miles) to Inverness. I was lucky again with the weather at the start of the day, but there were some serious climbs ahead of me. Even so you've still got to love the scenery in the highlands and the castles that seem to be everywhere, like this one at ???:

I managed to find a really nice restaurant/pub overlooking the sea where I ate a much needed lunch of soup and lasagne. However, the joys of Scottish rain fall then decided to pay me a visit. The first of many wet days I was to experience on route! I eventually got into Inverness at 20:00, thanks to the Sherlock Holmes audio books on my iPod, which passed away the time! Being Scotland I had a very hearty Mac Donald's dinner, then settled into the worst night sleep of the entire trip, thanks to the luxuries of Inverness's youth hostel dorm and their supposed 'top quality facilities'.

Day 3 (D) Ballachulish

This was my biggest challenge so far cycling 80 miles to Ballachulisch mostly along the banks of Loch Ness. The day started fine with another glorious Scottish day. The first few miles of mains roads leaving Inverness behind behind me were not very inspiring but as soon as I hit Loch Ness everything changed:

Loch Ness was beautiful so I made an early stop for lunch at the Loch Ness Hotel and Visitor Centre to try and take it all in:

After a very hearty steak and ale pie I pushed on. Although Loch Ness was beautiful it was by no means flat! This has to be up there as one of the toughest days, which was not helped by the fact my muscles hadn't properly acclimatised to cycling all day every day.

Before I got to my final destination for the day I passed through Fort William. By this time I was exhausted and it was raining again so I managed to squeeze into a Subway before it closed. And, with a chicken teryiaki sub and a cookie I managed to get a second wind and flew the last 15 miles to the B&B. By the time I got there I was so stiff, that a seriously hot bath and Deep Heat were needed to recover my legs from premature rigamortis!

Day 4 (E) Doune

I was sad to leave the Loch behind. However, I was now to be treated to some of the real beauty of Scotland where the roads proved a real challenge. With every steep climb came some incredible views and some serious down hills!

I finally made the 75 miles to Doune and found my hotel. I hadn't realised how fierce the welcome sun had been and managed to get slightly sun burnt. After checking in went straight down for what I thought was going to be a nice well earned dinner (a decision I'd regret tomorrow...)

Day 5 (F) Dalkeith

Today I was meant to be heading to Galashiels. However, thanks to a dodgy prawn cocktail I'd had the night before I had a nasty case of food poisoning to deal with! I was clearly not going to be able to manage the monster trip across the mountains to Galashiels so I hand to shorten today's journey to Dalkeith, which was only 52 miles. Still a long way though with food poisoning and no handy loos along the way! All in all it was a pretty rough day cycling through Stirling and Falkirk:

 

By the time I got to Edinburgh things had firmed up but I still felt I'd run a Marathon! However, cycling past the Rifles Barracks reminded me why I was putting myself through this challenge, so I pressed on to Dalkeith where I found a comfortable hotel for the night to recover.

Day 6 (G) Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway

I was feeling a lot better today after a good nights sleep, and a hearty 'Full Scottish' cooked breakfast. I had about 74 miles to cover all over the Lowlands and the Boarders:

It was a pretty non plus day. The scenery was lovely and the sun was out. Lunch was solid but it was probably the least eventful day of the trip (all was to change tomorrow...). However, I did have one of the nicest B&B's of the whole trip. Although I slept in Scotland I ate dinner just over the boarder at the March Bank Hotel, which was truly first class! I then headed back to bed for a good night's sleep before tackling the Lake District the next day.

Day 7 (H) Kendal

Today was a big day for me for several reason. Firstly I was having to conquer the Lake District but I also had to get to Kendal by 6.30 to get to Evans Cycles to pic up some supplies (I would need more than I originally thought when I got there!!). I set off towards Carlisle and then on to Penrith where I stopped for lunch to prepare for what I thought would be one of the toughest sections of the trip.

The Lake District was truly spectacular! However, as soon as I left Penrith my chain broke so I had to shorten it in order to carry on. All seemed to be working OK. But, when I got into the Lake District it broke again, so I had to shorten it again. This time it was so short I ended up only being able to use the bottom hill climbing gear. This meant I was able to get no more speed than gravity could give me on the down hills, and it made the uphill climbs a lot less fun...! At 454m the Kirkstone road is the highest pass in the Lake District that is open to traffic. The gradient is 1 in 4 in places, and with one gear it was pretty soul destroying!! However after Kirkstone came Lake Windermere:

Windermere was spectacular! Unfortunately I had no time to enjoy it as I had to get to Kendal by 6.30 so I pressed on through. I went hell for leather along the A591 and litterally just got to Evans as they were closing. I managed to get a new chain, along with chain spares, a new grip, some new base layers and some other essentials. I then had only short up hill cycle to the B&B.

Day 8 (I) Acton Bridge, Northwich

Today was a very bad day! Leaving Kendal everything was fine. I stopped for lunch in Camforth, then pressed on to Lancaster. Just south of Lancaster I heard an enormous bang! My rear tyre had actually exploded. I flipped the bike over to take a look and there was a huge tear in the tyre wall and a massive hole in the inner tube. As luck would have it I was very near Scorton, where there is an incredible bike shop called Bowland Cycling (part of the Priory Hotel). The owner was very helpful and was able to sort me out with five inner tubes and two new tyres (just to be on the safe side). This was clearly good forward thinking because as soon as I left the shop I got a puncture in my front tyre! Then another 10 miles down the road my rear tyre got another puncture!! And then to cap it all as soon as I'd fixed this puncture the rain arrived.

All in all this turned out to be one of the most depressing days cycling as my journey also took me through  Preston and Warrington. Nothing worth photographing here! After refueling at a local Pizza Hut I got to Acton Bridge, and the B&B which turned out to be a converted Barn with great accommodation and the most incredible breakfast, which helped to lift my spirits the next morning.

Day 9 (J) Hartlebury, Worcestershire

Day nine turned out to be a pleasant contrast to yesterday with a beautiful day's cycling through the Cheshire countryside. The sun was shining, the breeze cool, and it was a lovely day. Passing a long tailback of punters cuing in their cars for the V festival made me glad to be on my bike. Even though it was a long journey at 80 miles, the scenery was amazing:

However once I got to Bridgnorth my old friend the rain arrived, which put a bit of a dampener on the rest of the day. Thankfully when I got to the B&B I was very pleasantly surprised. It was a stunning old farm house set in 5 acres and run by a lovely old couple. I was also lucky enough to be the only guest there that night, so I was well looked after. There was a great pub just down the road from the B&B so after a huge meal there I retired to bed.

Day 10 (K) Bath

This was going to be a long and tough day, knowing how hilly the terrain around Bath and Bristol is. However, to compensate there was some beautiful country side around Gloucester and Worcester:

The hills were epic! but lunch in Gloucester was amazing at a very quaint little coffee shop. Just before Bath I had a ridiculously steep hill to climb. Being the end of the day I was already getting tired and the strong winds and heavy rain finally beat me halfway up and I had to get off and push. When I eventually got to the top of the hill I was completely soaked. A passing 4x4 with a group of young guys thought they'd make my day by throwing water all over me! If I hadn't already been soaked I might of missed the funny side of it. However, on the plus side when I got to Bath it was all down hill to my B&B. And, after a greasy but filling Chinese and I wound down by watching 'Have I Got News For You' and then I settled in for the night.

Day 11 (L) Exeter

Tonight was to be my first night of seeing a friendly face, getting to stay with my mate Frenchie in Exeter. I thought I had finally broken the back of the trip. With the idyllic towns of Wells, Glastonbury and Wellington to look forward to I set off with an optimistic outlook on the day. However the climb out of Bath was serious hard work! Having made it out of Bath the terrain became more manageable and the day became very enjoyable.

First up was Wells which was a very picturesque city. Then onto Glastonbury where I had lunch at a little place called 100 Monkeys on the High Street. It had been recommended by a lady in a little village shop 15 miles outside of Glastonbury. I ended up sitting right by the counter where I got talking to the owner. He was a really decent chap and a real cycling enthusiast! He got talking to me about my trip and the Tour de France. I ended up getting the whole meal for only £10 and must of been at least £25! The food was good and healthy, and the coffee so needed.

After this enjoyable interlude I pressed on back into the countryside on my way to Exeter. The scenery was spectacular as expected and I had by now developed a good rhythm. Unfortunately the weather began to turn again 10 miles outside of Exeter, which encouraged me to press on harder As it finally got to the outskirts of Exeter the rain started to came down really heavy. Even so I got to Frenchie's as predicted at 20:00 where I finally got to wash some of my clothes (first time since I started out!), relax, get some decent grub and catch up with an old school friend.

Day 12 (M) Callington (otherwise known as the day of the Moor!!)

I set off from Exeter expecting this to be the penultimate day that would just be a 70 mile breeze with pleasant stretch across Dartmoor, but I was very very wrong! I also found out the hard way why most people avoid cycling across the moor.

Straight from Frenchie's house it was pretty much an up hill climb all the way on to the moor which was several miles. I had to stop in Moreton Hampstead for lunch to refuel! There was a fantastic cafe there and with 'Shinedown' blaring I set off. Unfortunately the respite I was expecting crossing Dartmoor just didn't happen. After all the stress of the earlier climbs I hit the most horrific head winds when at best my top speed was 9 mph on the down hills! I eventually hit Tavistock in the late afternoon. Realising I wasn't going to be able to manage the additional planned 35 miles to St. Austell, after a quick refuel of Cornish pastie, I pushed on as best as I could. I managed to get to Callington, which set me up for almost 80 miles left to Lands End. Unfortunately I hadn't fully appreciated the hills and head winds of Cornwall at this point, or accounted for the torrential rain that was to come!!

Day 13 (N) Camborne

I had hoped for this to be the my last day. The sun was out and I was feeling confident! However I made my first mistake of the day very early. Instead of sticking to the main roads I followed the walkers route trying to avoid heavy traffic. This was a mistake as the walkers route turned out to be farm tracks, which were very steep and windy, so not safe to pick up speed on on the down hills. I realised my mistake after about an hour of tough terrain and moved back on the the main roads. The hills were still steep and the head winds were very strong, but I battled on as best I could.

Fortunately for me Mum and Dad were taking a short holiday break nearby at St. Mawes and they had booked me into a B&B close to them. They had planned to meet me at Lands End, drive me to the B&B, and then take me out for a celebration meal. However, I'd only reached Camborne at 19:00 with still 25 miles left to go. Rather than finishing very late, I decided to stop for the day and return tomorrow morning to finish the last 25 miles at a leisurely pace and then head home. Little did I know what was ahead of me!

Day 14 (O) Land's End (The last 25 miles)

This was meant to be the easiest day of the whole trip. However, what I didn't count on was the worst torrential rain I have ever experienced!! The rain had already started when I set off (see video clip below) and after a mile and a half I was soaked to the skin! At least I didn't have the extra weight of my panniers that I'd had to ride with for the previous 900 miles! The lighter weight of the bike and the heavy rain motivated me to get finished asap. After 50 minutes I'd already covered 12 miles. I stopped to grab a chocolate milkshake at McDonald's to refuel then hammered out the last 13 miles! At 12.30, soaked to the skin and exhausted, I arrived at the Land's End visitors center where I finally completed my very memorable journey. I signed the end to end visitors book and then headed for home in the luxury of a dry, warm vehicle with four wheels. I was physically and mentally exhausted but my God did it feel good!!

A very wet last stretch!