Day 13 LEJOG – Bettyhill to John O’Groats!

We have done it!!

It’s been a hilly, windy and very wet 59 mile day today, but none of that mattered as we cruised into John O’Groats.

We made an 8 mile detour to go to Dunnets head, which is the most Northerly point in the UK mainland!

From there we were counting down the miles until the big finish! It was emotional as we were heading to the sign post with joy and elation!

We were met by our starting crew to provide us with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate!

This had been one of the most rewarding, challenging and memorable journeys. We are over the moon we have been able to do it together! This is something that we will never ever forget. We would not change one single thing about the journey!

Finishing stats
Miles : 1011
Feet climbed : 43,130 ft
Hours on the saddle : 73.5 hours
Number of leg revolutions : 353,000
Number of moans about the derrière : 184729362936998292

Heather was laughing at size of David’s muscles from Brussels!

It was a touching and fitting end when sitting in the cafe at John O’Groats wearing our prostate cancer tops when someone came over to us and ask us what we have done, then announcing at the end he had had prostate cancer and he got quite emotional talking about it. There were other lovely people who also heard what we have done and donated at the end in the cafe.

Prostate Cancer is something that affects one in eight men and that does not include endless family and friends! There are so many people out there fighting this awful cancer and any bit of money would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.justgiving.com/WilliamsLeJog2014/

One last thank you to everyone for all your support and best wishes! It really helped us get through the rough days! It was a pleasure raising money for such a good cause

Day 12 LEJOG – Invershin to Bettyhill

A few mechanical problems meant we got off to a later start, but we were in no rush today as it was 58 miles of cycling heaven, but very hilly to say the least.

Today was probably the best day cycling we have ever had. The scenery and roads were out of this world. It seemed like a fitting ending for a unforgettable journey. Only one last day tomorrow until we end, I am sure it will be a happy and sad feeling!

We made plenty of tourist stops on the way and wanted to stop for photos every 100 meters!

First stop was shin falls before we headed into the official wilderness in the UK mainland!

From reading so many blogs before we left a must stop off point was Crask Inn. This is a little pub in the middle of nowhere with very kwirky owners!

The ride over wilderness was breathtaking and every corner was new experience. The photos really don’t do it justice how incredible highlands Scotland are!

We arrived at Bettyhill around 3.30 and could not resist going for a paddle in the sea. Surprisingly not as cold as the North Sea!

Looking forward to our final day tomorrow where we will be met by Mum and Heather!

Stats to date
Miles : 952
Feet climbed : 39,650 ft
Hours on the saddle : 69 hours

Day 11 LEJOG – Fort Augustust to Invershin

After a great nights sleep and making our own breakfasts, we got off to a flying start

(Thanks again to Neil for the photo)

We were going so well in fact, the Scottish highways had to send out a convey escort for us

We had a much better day today with 76 miles while sampling a few of the highlands hills. In truth the hill out of Dromendorick was probably the steepest we have encountered.

We certainly know we are in the highlands as the midgies are starting to bite, which means we cycle faster to avoid them!

We arrived at the Invershin hotel and were greeted with a lovely welcome of tea and biscuits and freshly cooked haddock and chips for tea!

Tomorrow is the penultimate day with a 20 miles of climbing to start!

Day 10 LEJOG – Oban to Fort Augustus

We made the most of the £2 youth hostel breakfast this morning after a fairly poor nights sleep.

On the road for 8am in the pouring rain! The weather only brightened just as we were finishing, so a pretty wet dull day.

We did a total of 76 miles today and probably due to the lack of sleep and weather, the 10 days of cycling started to get to us. Everything seemed to hurt and especially the saddle sores!

The ride itself was lovely along the lochs and Caledonian canal. It seemed strange passing Nevis Range with snow still in the gullies. It sunk in how far apart this was from Lands End.

We are staying in a bunk house hostel in Fort Augustus, which is a lovely village which connects Loch Ness with the Caledonian canal. We decided to cook in the hostel for a change which involved a kg of pasta washed down with some local beers.

http://prostatecanceruk.org/information/prostate-cancer/signs-and-symptoms

I think we may struggle with signal to update the blog over the next few days as we are starting to get into the back end of beyond!

Day 9 LEJOG – Lochranza to Oban

After a well deserved lie in, today started with a quick dash to the ferry to get back onto the mainland. The weather was not as good as yesterday, but it certainly did not spoil the views!

It’s was only short day today with 61 miles up to Oban, with an average speed of 15.4 mph!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/511495683

We are staying in the backpackers hostel tonight in Oban and we had a good laugh at the name of Geoff’s bunk …. That name is defiantly going to stick for while!

We have been for a lovely evening meal at an restaurant overlooking the bay and watched the paddle steamer dock.

Stats to date
Miles : 743
Feet climbed : 29,206 ft
Hours on the saddle : 54 hours … Ouch

We have also reached another milestone today … To date we have cycled the equivalent height of Everest (29,028ft)! I think that deserves a celebratory dram of whisky!

https://www.justgiving.com/WilliamsLeJog2014/

Also just wanted to share a photo of the sunset of Arran last night

Over and out from Butthead

Day 7 Carlisle to Ayr

Another 7am start and breakfast en route meant that we crossed the Scottish border by 7.45! This felt like a big milestone that we have now conquered England, but slightly daunting that Scotland takes up half of our milage! To mark this occasions we stopped at Dumfries for a full Scottish breakfast after 36 miles.

By pure chance we met up with another LEJOG cyclist who we last met at Lands End as we were starting our journey. Well done to Pete Jackson for your big ride North and solo effort with a really well loaded bike!

From Dumfries the road over the hills to Ayr must be one of the best cycling routes. This felt so rewarding traveling over the beautiful roads compared to the slog through the busy North West Days when the weather is nice and views as good as any, makes the miles float by! With only flocks of sheep to contend with, David looked like Nell the sheepdog rounding them up!

As the days go on we are starting to get fitter and fitter; getting into a good routine. This meant that today we managed to average 15.4 mph over the whole 93 miles including the lumpy bits. With the heavy panniers on that is not bad effort!

The only downfall today was the state of some of the roads. At times it felt like cobble stones and there was a few ‘testical shocking’ moments! Thank goodness for the cyclocross bikes!

We did not stop for lunch and carried on straight to Ayr which meant we arrived by 2.30pm. This gave us a good chance to get our clothes washed and turned around after the long 90+ mile days.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/510025113

Talk about a small world, arriving back to the hotel after a refuel we bumped into Fred the butcher from Greenside who was sat in the bar, so a good catch up was had swooping tour trip notes.

Geoff T shirt seems to be getting more and more appropriate:
EAT… SLEEP … CYCLE!
He reckons according to his Garmin calorie counter he has burnt 34800, which is rubbish. The amount we have to eat seems like that amount sometimes.

Tomorrow we are off sharp to catch the ferry across to Arran and with the weather looking good we are excited to get a full loop around the beautiful island!

Here is a link to some facts and figures about Prostate Cancer. Which is very scary, please have a read and share if you can:
http://prostatecanceruk.org/information/prostate-cancer-facts-and-figures

Also a big thank you for all your encouragement and reading of our blog. It is so nice that so many friends and family are interested and routing us on!

https://www.justgiving.com/WilliamsLeJog2014/