LEJOG - Day 13 - Melvich to John O'Groats (via Dunnet Head)

Miles - 45.40
Cycle Time - 3hrs 22mins
Total Time - 4hrs 17mins
Average Speed - 13.49mph

So after 12 days of graft the cyclists set off on the final leg just 40 or so miles to dust off before lunch a gentle warm up for these fit athletes. Mother nature didn't want the riders having it all their own way though and so on leaving the hotel the riders were rained on and I started to wonder if the 10 mile detour to Dunnet Head was going to happen as planned.

Thankfully after 5 miles the rain eased off and the sun came out. The pace was high with everyone knowing that tommorrow they would wake up and the bike wouldn't need riding and so nothing had to be left in the tank. Joe, Pete and Luke went off ahead and practised their no handed cycling ready for the celebrations. Whilst me and Dad took it easy and chatted happily about the two weeks and what it had brought. The overwhelming feeling was one of happiness and satisfaction of a job well done.

We met up with the girls for some food and resupply, agreeing to meet up with them again at Dunnet Head and headed off with everyone all smiles the miles rolling by so easily. Unfortunately the same could not be said of the 10 miles to Dunnet Head and back, the hills meant that the riders had to put in one last effort before they rolled into John O'Groats. As well as this we had to contend with our final puncture of the trip, with Joe being the unlucky victim. Having seen all that Dunnet Head had to offer (not alot) and taken plenty of photos to mark the occcasion we hopped back on the bikes and rolled down the hills that we had struggled up and headed to the finish.

The guys pulled over one final time to take off their jackets and allow them to show off their Livestrong at the finish. Unfortunately my jacket was too big to stuff in the pockets of my jersey, and so Luke shoved it underneath the jersey making me look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame for the final few miles. The five of us finished as we had started smiling and as one, the girls greeted us with red, white and blue flags and loud cheers adding some much needed fanfare to a rather drab looking John O'Groats. The finish not quite doing justice to the incredible achievement that is 1000 + miles in 13 days.

Hugs, Handshakes and Champagne followed and the adventure was complete. The bikes were put on the car and all 8 of the LEJOG gang along with Jane and Dave got into cars for the 2 hour trip back to Evanton for the celebratory BBQ. Mission accomplished!

LEJOG - Day 12 - Evanton to Melvich

Miles - 91.20
Cycle Time - 7hrs 27mins
Total Time - 9hrs 18mins
Average Speed - 12.24mph

As we left early from Evanton ready for our last full day cycling we were met by yet another midgie invasion. The Scotland we have seen has been stunning, but the midgies really do put you off staying.

The wind seemed to have really picked up today, and the route was exposed and so the riders were getting little shelter from the winds buffeting. Combined with the undulating terrain the riders knew they were going to be in for a tough day.

The riders were rewarded for their struggles with 'the million dollar view' at the top of a hill looking down on the Loch and forests. The riders didn't stop to admire the views though and continued on their way to Bonar Bridge and met the girls shortly afterwards for their final Bacon Sarnie stop of the trip. With plenty of miles still to go before their final destination the cyclists soon headed off looking to make good early progress.

With LEJOG nearly at an end, talk began to turn to the next challenge. I had already muted the possibility of LEJOG in 7 days in a couple of years and Luke and Pete had shown interest, but today the idea of a 24hour cycling challenge was put on the table. I really liked it and will definitely be looking at doing it soon, there is a 10 mile loop that I do round mine which goes through Eastwood, Rochford, Hockley and back through Rayleigh. The route passes close to my parents house and so would let me stop off at theirs for resupply. Pete thinks I should set off about 6pm Saturday and ride through the night and ride on through to 6pm Sunday. Estimates over the distance I would cover ranged from 200-240 miles. Look for a blog on my success or not sometime soon.

So back to the challenge at hand, which was still quite considerable with 100 miles still to go to John O'Groats. This was more challeging for some members of the group than others, Joe in particular was having struggles with his bike slipping in and out of gear leading to a sequence of collisions between a man's delicate bits and the frame of a bike.

I was struggling for motivation today, yesterday there was the goal of Evanton to look forward to and tomorrow would be the chequered flag and John O'Groats. Today was 90 miles in the most remote parts of Scotland, with few landmarks or people to break up the journey and the wind knocking the riders around. I think the other riders felt elements of this, everyone that is apart from Dad who was thoroughly enjoying the isolation from the world. Just us and our bikes, and I could definitely understand his thinking, this was what he saw as LEJOG not the busy roads of Paisley.

After 65 miles of hard slog the boys were met by the support team and took everything they had, keen to get re-energised for the final 25 miles through Betty Hill to Melvich. So the support team went on ahead to scout out our new digs whilst the riders took on the final 25 miles of the day.

The final 25 miles was a real struggle, on leaving the isolated one track road exposed to the elements we were met by the hills of Betty Hill and my weary body just didn't want to play. Our first look at the North coast of Scotland was a big boost in a tough day, but the hills of Betty Hill meant that the joy was short lived. With 5 miles to go to the Hotel my Garmin rang out of battery and the Edge was playing up so for the first time on the trip I had no sense of speed or distance, very disconcerting for a guy like me that loves my numbers.

We eventually made it to Melvich and our very nice hotel, and we arrived at a reasonable hour given the mileage covered. Under two hours of stops today with no maintenance issues and with such tough conditions nobody wanted to stop for too long on our breaks. The group enjoyed a very posh meal and went to bed knowing that tomorrow marked the end of the journey.

LEJOG - Day 11 - Invergarry to Evanton

Miles - 57.81
Cycle Time - 4hrs 35mins
Total Time - 6hrs 7mins
Average Speed - 12.61mph

Today was an intentionally short one, with Joe having planned the route to give us a short day to Evanton to give us maximum time at Jane and Dave's our Aunt and Uncle's house. The riders set off in sun happy at the reduced mileage and excited by Drumnadrochit the hill from John and Tim's first LEJOG effort a decade earlier that still leaves Dad having sleepless nights.

Luke and I were feeling fresh, and so decided to have a little race. Our choice of race track wasn't the best because as we went wheel to wheel side by side the road curved sharply to the left and so I tucked in behind Luke and that was enough because he then created a gap and held it to the finish. Luke added insult to injury by telling me he had done it all without the use of his big ring as his gears weren't changing up.

The morning in the lead up to Drumnadrochit was filled with races. The trip has been filled with examples of us getting overtaken by some less than impressive cyclists, the woman in purple jean shorts with a basket on the front, the guy in jeans on his mountain bike. So today when a couple laden with panniers overtook us on one of our breaks we couldn't have that and so jumped back on our bikes and chased them down. Our tactic of 7.5 mile breaks was the polar opposite of these two pannier laden plodders who just kept on pedalling, and the yoyo taking over occurred for sometime to the amusement of both sets of cyclists.

Next me and Luke saw a lycra clad pro chasing down Pete, Dad and Joe and we decided that we weren't going to let that happen to us and so rocketed off the front at speed. Travelling at something like 20 mph for a couple of miles and keeping the club rider trailing in the distance we decided to pull over to let the group join back together. Before the other 3 joined us the speedster went pass me and Luke in the layby none the wiser that he had just been involved in a race.

A little worried that I had now overdone it with all this racing before the big climb of the day I decided to take it easy for the remainder of the morning. Before we tackled Drumnadrochit we met up with the girls for our traditional energy boost of bacon sarnies. With spirits high we left the girls and headed for Drumnadrochit.

Unlike Glen Coe the start of Drumnadrochit was very obvious with the climb steep from the base of the climb. Pete had told me I was cheating with my Granny gear and so made me promise I wouldn't use it on the hill. This was proving difficult at the speeds we were going, and so I set off in my higher than ideal gear by myself. The climb was lung busting and the thighs burned but I made it to the girls just shy of the summit intact. Unsure of where the top really was, and keen not to stop and be told I had chickened out before reaching the top I kept on pedalling. The summit was duely crested and I then enjoyed miles of fast flowing descent back down to the flat where I found a stop to pull over and wait for the others.

The support team arrived soon followed by the other cyclists. They were all buzzing from their tackling of Drumnadrochit without stopping and that really showed how much stronger Dad had got from those dark days in Dartmoor. The cyclists left the girls who were heading on to Evanton just 30 miles away. After that hill all the terrain seemed flat in comparison. The miles flew by and smiles were plastered all over the riders faces, we tackled the two miles up the country lane to Jane and Dave's house on the hill, avoiding the building vehicles on our ascent and finished by 3pm, a half day for the battle hardened cyclists.

A lovely evening was had by all, I managed to tarnish it some what when I let a swamn of midges into mine and Pete's room as I stuck my head out of our window desperate for some phone reception so I could speak to wifey. I felt awful but Becky's idea of hoovering up the little pests seemed to do the trick and Pete and I managed to sleep without being eaten alive. 2 more days left!

LEJOG - Day 10 - Arrochar to Invergarry

Miles - 96.84
Cycle Time - 7hrs 53mins
Total Time - 11hrs 50mins
Average Speed - 12.28mph

Today's cycle was the definition of a ride of two halves. The first half was magnificent, Loch's, Mountains, Lakes, beauty all around and a better advert for Scotland you will not find. The second half was torturous heavy traffic, arsehole drivers, slow, grinding progress, the reason you sack it all in and decided that LEJOG just isn't worth it.

So back to that fantastic first half, we started early and traffic was light as we cycled alongside Loch Lomond. There were no navigational hassles today just up the A82 for nearly 100 miles. I really made an effort to enjoy the views today and there was ample opportunity to take it all in. After 30 very pleasant miles we met up with the girls for some Bacon Sarnies, but had to move out of the shade and into the sun to escape the swarm of midges, a summer treat that Scotland offers up to it's tourists. So although we were sad to leave the girls, we were very happy to leave the Midge invasion in our wake.

From the break we were heading to Glen Coe, a fearsome but beautiful mountain. The riders tackled the climbing with relish. I had begun to explore the Garmin Edge and was captivated today by the info it was spewing out on the ascent and current elevation. I began to chuck the data out to anyone that would listen, I think Luke quite enjoyed the new numbers but I think the data may have filled Dad with dread. We topped out agonisingly close to a 1000ft our maximum elevation being 998ft above sea level. There was still a feeling amongst the group that we hadn't yet hit the real mountain though, with signs saying 10 miles to Glen Coe, and after the climb we enjoyed some long fast descents.

As I had counted us up the mountain I now reeled off the descent to Joe as we rocketed down towards sea level. Joe remained steadfastly convinced that a mountain of epic proportions awaited us on the other side, but as we rolled into Glen Coe we realised the 1000ft max was in fact it. Instead of relief I felt a little disappointed that there wasn't more climbing to challenge us.

As the cyclists sprawled out on the grass, the sun shining bright, mountains all around enjoying their lunch, Pete and Joe headed into town to get Pete's front wheel fixed which had lost a spoke on the way up the mountain. The repair took longer than expected and I began to get very comfy and was angling for a space in the support car for the second half. The boys returned with Pete sporting a fancy new front tyre with a yellow racing stripe, Pete's spokes were of an unusual length and so they couldn't replace it and a new wheel was the order of the day.

Reluctantly the cyclists climbed aboard their trusty or not so trusty steads as it had proved thus far and got pedalling away from the idyllic Glen Coe. The A82 that had been so picturesque now turned crowded and nasty. Pete had been warned that we would need to pull over to allow traffic to pass, the road was a windy one lane road and so passing opportunities were limited. It was hellish, the constant stopping made finding a rhythm impossible and my heart rate was going sky high and it wasn't because of the physical exertion but the stress of it all.

Joe's pulse was on a similar upward trajectory, and so when a white van man totally unreasonably beeped at us after passing us, Joe told him in his wonderful manner that drivers the length of Britain have come to enjoy over the past 10 days that he felt that the beep was uncalled for. Cue a reaction, he slammed on his brakes, and I think we were ready for our first fisty cuffs of the trip. But he was just teasing, and to the relief of Joe and the other cyclists the van raced off into the distance. The best way I can describe the stretch of the A82 from Glen Coe to Fort William is Shitty with a little bit of crappy.

Having got through the worst of the A82 the cyclists still managed to encounter more problems. I got abit ahead of the rest of the group at some rolling roadworks, cue bedlam. Joe got a puncture halfway through the rolling roadworks, the spare inner tube he had was infact an old one with a hole in it leaving me in a layby on my lonesome with the only working inner tube. O and my phone was off to conserve battery as I was using Pete's spare phone and we didn't have the charger for it. I rang Joe to find out where they were, he said he had got a puncture and they were fixing it. I hung up and turned it off happy they would be with me soon. 10 minutes later nothing, and then Luke ran up the hill saying I had to come back and they needed my inner tube. I headed back down the hill to find a very frustrated group of cyclists, I gave up my inner tube and another 10 minutes later we were heading off and back through the rolling roadworks and towards Invergarry.

The exhausted group finally made it to the hostel nearly 12 hours after leaving Arrochar and 3 miles short of the satisfaction of another century. But the relief in the group was obvious, the stress filled second half had left the beautiful climbs of the first half as a distant memory. A hot shower and the girls Spag Bol soon had a smile back on the cyclists faces and the prospect of a short day tomorrow further lifted the mood as we headed for bed.

LEJOG - Day 9 - Muirkirk to Arrochar

Miles - 73.69
Cycle Time - 5hrs 39mins
Total Time - 7hrs 34mins (Record fast time)
Average Speed - 12.89mph

The riders set off on Day number 9, each energised after a hearty breakfast from the unusual Husband and Wife B&B team. They were excited at Joe's promise of trimming 15miles off the route after looking at a reroute the night before. We had orginally looked at heading way out to the west of Glasgow before coming back inland to cross the Erskine Bridge. Joe decided that we could brave the outskirts of Glasgow aiming for Paisley to the west of Glasgow and thus save ourselves an hour or so.

Almost immediately Joe went away from the Garmin's route and was on his own for much of the day, just him and his maps. I enjoyed the break from having to assist with the navigating and so just got my head down and got pedalling. The day began in beautiful surroundings with lakes and forests providing an attractive backdrop for those who had sufficent energy to get their heads up from the 6ft of tarmac in front of them. But after this picturesque beginning, the promised built up area and crowded roads reared their ugly heads. The highlight for me being a particuarly grotty looking Indian called the New Turban which looked more tired than it's name would suggest.

Dad hadn't been enthralled at the prospect of tackling Paisley and the roundabouts, traffic lights and smog certainly helped support his less than enthuastic response to the route change. But the mood in the camp was pretty good and everyone was keen to just slog it out and get through Paisley and over the Erskine Bridge. There weren't many opportunites to pull over for rest or toilet breaks but we did find a bus layby to pull into, but soon vacated it when a rather strange looking chap with a screwdriver in his hand asked us if we'd like to come in for a glass of water. The chaps politely declined, happy that we would receive our glass of water, but fearful that on leaving we would be met with the sight of all of our expensive bikes gone!

Another downside of Paisley was the poor road surface, and on one busy stretch of road I narrowly avoided losing myself or my bike down an uncovered manhole. The riders made it safely through and intact, Joe's navigation of the busy highways and byways was flawless and the reward at the other end was the Erskine Bridge. The views were fantastic and shortly afterwards the weary cyclists were met by the support team for lunch.

The girls had a similar struggle to us in finding a good stopping point and so now just 20 miles from Arrochar they had to settle for a farmers field. The tired cyclists were happy just to rest their backsides and to get some well earnt lunch inside them. The tranquile setting was soon shattered, when the farmer on his tractor came down the lane and so Joe tell's us he wagged his finger in a no you shouldn't be here kind of manner. Being the well mannered family we are the troops scattered in a mad attempt to pack up camp and move onto somewhere more welcoming. But having packed things away and with no immediate shotgun being aimed in our direction we decided to hang on. 10 minutes later the farmer returned on his tractor and so Luke would have you believe he waved and smiled. Amber was fearful that the smile was a ruse and that the manure he was transporting would soon be dropped on her head head but thankfully he was on his way with no other action to report. Phew! Crisis averted, but the relaxed mood was gone and so the cyclists were soon on the road again.

The 20 miles into Arrochar were a dream, first flat reminding me of a more pretty version of Southend Seafront, then the terrain turned to more rolling, but the view of Loch Long remained with us throughout. With 7.5 miles to go we stopped for the final time, and I took the opportunity to do some bike maintenance. Removing my socks and using them as rags to wipe the muck that had accumulated on my chain since Kirkby Stephen when the mechanic had put lube ontop of my dirty chain. So barefoot inside my cycling shoes we headed onwards to our B&B by the Loch.

It didn't disappoint and the cyclists were greeted by the nutrionally poor but very much welcome Can of Fosters each. This was then followed by a pub meal sat beside the Loch with the sun shining bright. A lovely end to the day, and only 4 more remain.

LEJOG - Day 8 - Gretna to Muirkirk

Miles - 68.44
Cycle Time - 5hrs 27mins.
Total Time - 7hrs 52mins.
Average Speed - 12.56mph

After back to back big mileage days the cyclists were excited at the prospect of a sub 70 mile day. The mood was further improved when the riders were greeted with bright sunshine and not much wind, just a pleasant Sunday spin on the bike. Sunday is traditionally the day of rest, and I was going to stick to that and so took it easy at the back of the line and treated it as a recovery ride.

The girls greeted us with Bacon sarnies from the Gretna B&B afer 28miles and with the short day that was almost half way. The roads were quiet with it being a Sunday morning and bikes definately seemed to out number cars. We did see one Moped, but he was pushing it along like a skateboard down the hill, I'm not sure if his motor was broken or if he was on some fuel economy drive.

I did feel abit guilty chilling at the back, so did a stint at the front. I was much more disciplined than usual and the group stayed together. I felt fresh and when we pulled over for our next stop the guys told me we had been going uphill, but it felt pretty flat to me.

We met up with the girls just before 50 miles and everyone was buzzing at the prospect of an early finish, perhaps a record early finish. So fed and watered we headed up a good climb straight after lunch. The news coming through from the girls who had driven ahead of the riders was that there was a road closure. The B&B in Murkirk had warned us of a road closure, and Joe had felt he had understood the message and rerouted us, but the roadworks weren't where we expected and the only way to avoid them was to take a 40 mile loop diversion.

The riders were unimpressed to put it mildly, and as we went past the road closure sign the pace slowed significantly, nobody wanting to know what lay round the next corner. The miles kept ticking by with no blue flashing lights telling us to go no further and the troops started to fantasie that the workers had gone home it being a Sunday. This seemed unlikely when a guy in a soft top mercedes who had passed us earlier headed back towards us a smug grin on his face. He had obviously been turned away further up the road and wasn't keen on telling the cyclists what lay in store for them.

Finally after 3 miles our nightmare became a reality another road closure sign loomed large, this time maintenance vehicles and maintenance men blocked the path. The cyclists discussed options, looking at fields, rivers, paths for another way to get through. Pete was keen to point out whatever we got up to the bikes had to come with us, making wadding through cold rivers with a bike held above our heads even less appealing. Thankfully the girls had charmed our Scottish Maintenance Workers and sorted us out an escort, we had to wait 20 minutes for them to come back but it beat the hell out of a 4 hour diversion.

So off the riders went an excited mood in the camp at what they had avoided. The convey was travelling at 5mph, unfortunately a small change of direction from Luke lead to Dad's front wheel meeting Luke's back wheel and down Dad went. I was behind the incident and so got a front row view and was helpless as Dad headed roadwards. Cue expletives, showing me that Dad was infact alive if in no small amount of pain. Joe gave Dad's bike the all clear and Mum gave Dad the medical all clear and thankfully the Maintenance convey let us carry on the 3 miles to the other end of the roadworks.

We waved the maintenance men off and made the short journey to the Old Church B&B which was a beautiful place. We were met by our attentive host who showed us round the attractive converted Church. The only downside being there was only the one shower to go around our group of 8, 5 of which were stinky cyclists. On the plus side the shower did have about 5 showerheads, some of which sprayed water into some rather interesting places. Finally showered and presentable we went downstairs to enjoy our Chicken stuffed with Haggis followed by a Chocolate dessert. Then to bed early in readiness for another day in the saddle.

LEJOG - Day 7 - Settle to Gretna

Miles - 92.35
Cycle Time - 7hrs 39mins.
Total Time - 11hrs 5mins.
Average Speed - 12.07mph

Today marked the end of the first week and by it's end would see us just over the border into Gretna and the start of Scotland. After the struggles of yesterday's century and the showers for the final 20 miles the troops were hoping for a gentle start to ease into another big mileage day, unfortunately Settle was in the middle of the dales and so there was plenty of rolling hills to get through from the off.

After the frantic finish to yesterday's stage, the troops didn't quite have their bearings so asked a passerby the way to the next village. She answered that she was a local, but didn't drive and wasn't very good at directions. So the troops headed up the hill we expected was the right direction, where we duely saw signs for the next village. How she found her way home at night I really couldn't tell you!

We eased into our day and enjoyed the lack of rain, even if conditions overhead were a little overcast. Becky had promised us no rain for the day 100% guranteed. At our first 7.5 mile stop me and Luke watched as some lycra clad speedsters flashed past us, we contemplated why some peope are fast and some people are slow on the bike. Our conclusion was the speedsters Hammer up the hills, and Smash it down the hills. Where as we were struggling up the hills and rolling down them.

The terrain was tough initially but the lack of rain and beautiful surroundings balanced it out. We succeeded in one of party tricks before the second break, namely crashing in spectacular style. Dad's chain fell off and he said not to worry and to keep going which I did, Pete went to help but inadvertantly hit Luke's back wheel and so Pete was on the grass and Luke's wheel decided to lock up after he took a hit. But everyone dusted themselves off, and all 3 bikes were still in reasonable working order and so we carried on our way.

The riders were then rewarded for their slogging up the hill with some rapid descents. So excited were we by the descents that we missed our turning, but Joe soon put us right. The wind had been fairly kind thus far but after a couple of hours there was a 5 mile section straight into the wind which sapped the speed and the morale of the tired troops. Luke was also now stuck in top gear and so we were once again on the hunt for a cycle shop. I was also still running with just my back brakes which was proving rather scary on some of the fast downhills.

The dales are beautiful but very isolated and so bike shops were very thin on the ground. The girls did a great job though and found one in Kirkby Stephen after about 35 miles. The Car Garage come Cycle Shop got to work on Lukes Gears, my front brake pads and also took a look at Dad's gears. We had got there just in time because no sooner had they fixed the last bike then the garage closed as they were only working a half day on a Saturday. Off we went with our repaired bikes, but having gone no further than 50 yards Luke's gears played up again. The guy that had repaired the bike came strolling by on his way home and gave it a quick adjustment and assured us that all was well, before sneaking down the nearest alleyway seemingly desperate to get home for his tea.

The morning's cycling had been slow going a combination of fatigue from the previous days long cycle, the rolling nature of the dales and the headwind in places. But with 3 smoothly working machines and keen to make swift progress we rode well and covered 15 miles in no time, stopping for lunch just outside of Penrith. My energy levels and enthuaism seemed to ebb and flow as much as the hills of the dales, no sooner had I enjoyed the good patch after the bike shop then I started to flag post lunch, I suffered a puncture just outside of Carlisle, at which stage Dad was flaked out on the grass ready for a nap.

Joe was really starting to enjoy his role as lead navigator and was sneaking glances at the map at every opportunity whether he was cycling or not. The fancy Garmin Edge on my stem was now meerly acting as confirmation for Joe's directional nose rather than leading the way. There was one little misdirection on the way into Gretna, the road we cycled in on was new and neither the paper map nore the Garmin were sufficently up to date, but a quick about turn and we were rolling into Gretna Green the Vegas of Scotland.

92 miles completed and just over 11 hours since we left Settle early this morning. Joe has promised us 69 miles tommorow and that will come as a relief after 7 hard days of cycling through England.