LEJOG Day 9

Total Miles Today - 82

Dornoch - Golspie - Brora - Helmsdale - Wick - JOHN O'GROATS!!!!!!!!

Beautiful morning today. Watched sunrise over the sands at Dornoch, then set out early, determined to make it most of the way to Wick before lunch. Slightly anxious about today - not just because we've ridden for 8 days without a break - but we've met several people on the site who've shaken their heads & warned us about the hills we've yet to do. Coastal roads are making us think of Day 1! Weather was perfect, blue sky & sunshine, light headwind. Made really good progress up to Helmsdale despite several hills, then began a 4 mile continual climb up over the biggest peak. Finally made it to the top to be greeted by a great steep descent back down the other side (50 MPH +), but then were confronted with yet another climb of 1 in 6 for 1.5 miles up a series of switchbacks that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Alps! Having run out of water en route, and discovered that there are NO shops between Dornoch & Wick, salvation came at Lathay at the museum & Tea rooms. Massive thanks to the ladies there who filled our bottles for free. Further thanks to all those on the Shearings Coach Trip who very kindly donated to our charity, having followed our progress up those hills! Scenery incredible all day - bright blue & flat calm sea, rolling hills covered in heather, sheer cliffs, isolated sandy beaches.We pushed on more quickly than expected, and arrived in Wick with our support crew still behind - they had been given the morning off to have coffee & explore Dornoch! Rather than stop for lunch, we decided to push on to the end, and took our last right turn with the signs telling us only 13 miles to go! This challenge doesn't make it easy, with the last 4 miles consisting of another steep sustained climb for 2 miles over the very last hill, then the joy of a 2 mile descent all the way to the finish line. Our support crew had overtaken us with around 6 miles to go, and were installed with cameras waiting for us to cross the line arm-in-arm! Such an incredible sense of achievement to have made it - with today's miles done in less than 6 hours of riding despite the climbs! So, at last, after 8 1/2 days of pedalling, we've reached our goal. Really glad we're finishing here rather than the tacky theme park that's Land's End! We drove up to the lighthouse, and with a stunning view of the top corner of the British Isles & the Orkneys beyond, cracked open the champagne & enjoyed the sunshine! Camping in Wick tonight, then off to Inverness tomorrow. Please keep reading / commenting as we'll be doing a summary & updating each day with our photos over the next few days!

LEJOG Day 8

Total Miles Today - 100

Gairlochy - Fort Augustus - Drumnadrochit - Inverness - Alness - Tain - Dornoch

Amazing start to the day. Sun rising over the hills lighting up Ben Nevis watched from the commando memorial statue just outside Gairlochy. Beautiful ride along the entire length of the Caledonian Canal - Loch Lochy, Loch Oich & Loch Ness. Coffee break in Drumnadrochit. Great views of the lochs with cloud & mist on the water for the first hour. Flat calm water on Loch Ness with a single boat on it which we managed to out-run from one end to the other! Lunch stop on The Black Isle just north of Inverness at very scenic truckstop (not), then over the various bridges to head out onto the east coast. Obligatory stop-off at the Glenmorangie Distillery, then one final crossing before a short run out to Dornoch overlooking the beach & the sea. Feels great to be this far, with only one day to go. Looking at the road map, we're onto the last page! Really sinking in what we've achieved when we look at the UK map on two pages together! Planning on an early start tomorrow, trying to get somewhere near Wick for a late lunch, then the final 17 miles to the finish line & long-awaited champagne!!

LEJOG Day 7

LEJOG Miles today 97

Balloch - Tarbet - Crianlarich - Tyndrum - Bridge Of Orchy - Glencoe - Ballachulish - Fort William - Gairlochy

Firstly a massive thank you to those of you have posted comments - great to read & really makes us smile! Fantastic day today. Early start found us heading out from Balloch on the West Lomond Cycle Path. This runs the entire length of the Loch, metres away from the water, with the most incredible views all the way up. Lack of signs made it a little tricky to stay on the right track, but we made it in good time, and continued through Crianlarich to head up onto the Highlands with a snack stop at Tyndrum where we touched base with our support crew. What was to follow was amazing - blue sky, no wind, long climbs up into the most incredible scenery, lovely sunshine. The peaks were a stunning backdrop, along with the mountain lakes, and we climbed for another two hours over this region until lunch at the very top. A 7 mile descent took minutes to complete, then fast flat roads and some more descents all the way to the coast. As we came over the tops, we were treated to some low-level passes by an old WWII P-51 Mustang, followed about 1/2 an hour later by a pair of F-18 Hornets going supersonic! Watched the yachts come through the flight of 5 locks at Banavie, then 10 final miles along the Caledonian Canal up to Gairlochy, where we arrived at 5.15 PM - before the support crew again who had got caught up in the traffic in Fort William - although they had a fantastic day including a coffee stop overlooking the peaks and a walk in the Highlands after lunch. By 6 PM, camp was set and we all relaxed in the sun with Pimms watching sunset on Ben Nevis above us - roughing it or what! Really feels that the end is in sight now - averaged nearly 14 MPH today which is great considering the terrain - amazing what some rays & no wind can do! Tomorrow we head along the length of the Caledonian Canal and then over to the east coast to Dornoch.

LEJOG Day 6

LEJOG Miles Today - 90

Auldgirth - Cumnock - Kilmarnock - Glasgow - Dumbarton - Balloch (South end Loch Lomond)

Woke this morning to frost on the ground, but cloud-free blue sky, sunshine & NO WIND!!!!! After a hearty breakfast of porridge & banana, we headed out onto the roads. Great riding conditions meant we made great time up to Kilmarnock through stunning scenery to meet our loyal support crew just outside the city for lunch at 47 miles. A climb of 5 miles out of the city brought us to the start of the M77 where we peeled off (after a near miss with a king-size bulldozer on a low-loader in single-lane coned-off roadworks - took us a while to figure out the English version of "it's gunnay f$@kin' hit ye if ye dinna muv" from the escort van). At this point, when we thought the day couldn't possibly get any better, we discovered what must be the UK's longest cycle track. When you see a sign on a cycle track saying "Glasgow 19 miles", you know you're onto a winner. The 'track' was 4 metres wide of glass-smooth tarmac separated from the road by a grass verge & kerbs, and ran across amazing views for the next 11 miles. The final 8 miles was a continuous descent down the road into Glasgow centre, with a dedicated cycle lane virtually the whole way. We crossed the bridge over the Clyde, then headed west out of the city - which took us an hour to cross in total - towards Dumbarton. We arrived at Balloch at the same time as our support crew and loaded the bikes into the caravan to arrive at the campsite together. FINALLY - a day where the plan came together! Tent pitched & caravan set up with the four of us showered & changed sat in the sun with drinks by 6 PM. It's only taken us six days to get to this......
Tomorrow looks like being a tough day, with some big climbs up through the Highlands across to Fort William, but the forecast is good, so the views of Ben Nevis close-up should ease the pain! looking forward to an easy start along the Loch Lomond cycle track.

LEJOG Day 5

LEJOG Miles Today - 110

Bolton Le Sands - Kendal - Shap - Penrith - Carlisle - Longtown - Gretna Green - Dumfries - Auldgirth

Apologies to our followers no blog until today - no signal at our previous campsite and too tired to go anywhere else. PLEASE post us some comments - it's great to hear from you all & keeps us going!

Day of mixed fortunes today. Didn't start too well as Sarah & I had been awake since 2 AM due to the howling gale blowing in off the bay threatening to turn our tent into a 2-man parachute all night! We rolled out of bed in the same winds & heavy rain, and eventually decided that we'd carry on - based on the fact that however far we got we would be preferable to another night where we were! Amazingly, 20 minutes down the road, the wind dropped & the rain stopped and we even had some sunshine! Lovely long climb up the A6 onto the summit of Shap where we met Kit & Linda (Steve's Aunt & Uncle #1) for coffe. AND WE"D REACHED HALFWAY!!!!!! Fantastic views over the lakes & looking forward to the downhill run to Penrith. Sadly, we were introduced to the misery of having to pedal DOWNHILL, due to the 40 MPH headwind we encountered as soon as we left the summit. This was to stay with us for the rest of the day - joy! Short break by the roadside to meet Bill & Mary (Steve's Aunt & Uncle #2) and then on to Carlisle where we met Steve's parents, brother, niece & nephew for lunch. Really draining having to pedal down the hills aswell as up them & sapped what little energy we had left all the way to the end. Fuelled by jelly babies & Diana's fruitcake we finally reached our target at Auldgirth. Gorgeous little campsite in a small glen. Time to catch up on sleep serenaded by the local owl!!

LEJOG Day 4

Today's Miles - 115
Shrewsbury - Whitchurch - Warrington - Wigan - Preston - Lancaster - Bolton Le Sands

Another big day today. Weather been pretty good apart from a few big showers. Only been on two roads today - A49, followed by A6. Both really smooth, only a few big climbs. Sarah's new gears making rattling noise despite multiple attempts to fine tune them & adjust everything we could adjust. As is often the way, a fresh pair of eyes is the answer - we called into Halfords in Warrington where Fran (who doesn't own or ride bikes but is awesome at fixing them) diagnosed that the chain had been threaded through the rear mech incorrectly! 5 mins later we were on our way again with the sound of silence from the gears - finally!! Following lunch at Standish, we headed into Preston to be confronted by gridlock traffic - no trouble for those of us on two wheels, but we phoned our support crew to advise them to head north on the M6. Five minutes later, we found out from the lady in the garage we'd stopped at that the M6 had been closed due to an accident - too late! Support crew sent into this by mistake! As a result, we became the first LEJOG team to outrun their support crew, and we arrived about 10 minutes in front of them at our final stop! A6 great for cyclists with cycle lane most of the way to Lancaster & beyond - shame the queuing traffic wanted to share it with us at every opportunity! Camped overlooking Morecambe Bay, with a Becks in hand & having just wolfed down double helpings of Diana's famous chicken & broccoli. Tomorrow morning we'll reach our halfway point, and by the end of the day we'll be sleeping in Scotland!

LEJOG Day 3

Miles Today - 102 miles
Total LEJOG Miles -
Climbs Today -
Total LEJOG Climbs

Bristol - Chepstow - Monmouth - Hereford - Leominister - Ludlow - Shrewsbury

Day 3 started well - lovely sunny weather as we headed out of Bristol. High winds across the Severn Crossing, but sheltered once we hit the Wye Valley. The A466 up to Monmouth is one of our favourite routes - especially as after the one long climb, you get a fantastic downhill run at 40 + MPH down smooth and twisty corners to arrive at Tintern Abbey. All was going far too well, as a few mile short of Monmouth, there was a loud bang from Sarah's rear mech which decided to fall apart. Following a makeshift repair at the roadside we made it into Monmouth, and were pointed in the direction of the only bike shop courtesy of Matt & Chris - two fellow lunatics doing LEJOG - who had an iPhone. By amazing coincidence, the only shop for miles around had the part we needed - Sarah very happy it's actually an upgrade aswell, so no excuses on the hills now - and after losing around 1 1/2 hours (and £100) we were on our way again. Following a fab lunch with our trusty support crew, we were left with 60 miles to Shrewsbury, and found the A49 was a dream route for cyclists - only one long hill climb over about 4 miles just north of Hereford, and then another fantastic descent, followed by smooth tarmac all the way to Shrewsbury! We had around 20 mins of light rain but arrived at our campsite in blazing sunshine to find the kettle on & our tent already pitched - top marks yet again to Tony & Diana. Dinner of spag bol with some red wine rounded of another good day. Just over a third distance now. Tomorrow sees us heading up to Warrington & Wigan and then onwards to end up just north of Lancaster.

LEJOG Day 2

Miles today - 85
Total LEJOG miles - 215
Climbs today- 2,342 ft
Total LEJOG Climbs - 9,798 ft
Exeter - Cullompton - Wellington - Taunton - Bridgewater - Axbridge - BRISTOL!!!

Slightly later start today - needed a rest after yesterday's pain & suffering in the Cornish monsoon! Dropped off at yesterday's finish point in Exeter, and began our ride in hazy sunshine & cloud. Didn't take long for the rain to arrive again though! Fortunately, it was light and nothing compared to yesterday! Really enjoyed riding today - few big climbs, but long stretches of rolling flats that we could really make good progress on. Can highly recommend the A38 to anybody who tries LEJOG. Rain got heavier through the day, but never to the stage of being a problem. Steve had slight problems today after having over-used the brakes too much trying to keep under control down dark & wet descents yesterday- as a result, brake fade would have been an understatement! We headed into Bristol via Barrow Gurney then up through the Deer Park in Ashton Court before the fantastic experience of cycling in over the Clifton Suspension Bridge - 24 hours ago, we didn't think we had a prayer of making it to Exeter, let alone back to Bristol! After a quick stop at Bike UK for some new brake blocks and some waterproof foot-covers, we had an appointment with BBC Bristol, with a live slot with Ben Prater. This was a great opportunity to promote our ride for GWAA, and hopefully will get us even closer to our total! Looking forward to a ride over the Severn Bridge and up the Wye Valley tomorrow on our way up to Shrewsbury - especially as the weather man's promised us some sunshine!

LEJOG Day 1

Total Miles - 130
Total climbs - 7, 456 ft.
Lands End - Penzance - Truro - St Austell - Liskeard - Tavistock - Dartmoor - Exeter
Top Tip For The Day - DON"T cycle through Cornwall & Devon
Quote of the day - "Have you got sun cream?"

Apologies to all that we didn't blog this yesterday. We knew day 1 was going to be tough - the greatest distance coupled with over a quarter of the total climbs on our first day. We headed down to Lands End to take pictures yesterday evening to save a bit of time today - gorgeous sunset. Sadly, Mother Nature & the Devon & Cornwall tourist boards conspired to complicate matters with torrential rain that started at 2AM and continued throughout the day. Along with high winds. Reports claim over 60mm fell at most locations along our route. Ferries were cancelled, along with planes grounded, roads were closed due to flooding. The upshot of this was the most difficult physical & mental challenge we've ever undertaken. One constant hill after another in driving rain & a headwind is every cyclist's nightmare. Matters got worse as we reached Dartmoor at 91 miles and began our biggest climb. Visibility got down to 20 yards due to mist, fog & rain. Massive thanks to Tony & Diana - our support crew - without whom we would probably be curled up under a rock somewhere on the Devon moors. The dry clothes, encouragement, food, cups of tea and even following us at 4 MPH with headlights on to light our way! Truly above & beyond! As a result, we rolled into Exeter at around 9.30 PM, were picked up at our Day 2 start point after around 11 hours of cycling in the most horrendous conditions and ferried to our campsite.We then pitched the tent in the rain, ate & slept, and the blog had to wait until today. Having technical problems with the memory card in the camera so watch this space to see exactly what we went through!

The Wait Is Over

Ok- last training ride done (reassuringly 18 mins quicker over 32 miles than we were when we started), two more days (and a night) at work then off to the start in Cornwall with our support crew ready to make a start on Wednesday. Loaded up with Sarah's homemade muesli bars (amazing!!!), electrolyte tablets, energy gels, jelly babies and enough dried fruit to put Sainsbury's home baking section to shame! Nervous & excited about getting started. Starting to watch the weather, but know that whatever it does we've got to pedal!

The End At The End !

Clearly after 1000 miles we'll be fit for nothing & will need a bed and several beers. A big thank you to William Miller at the Wick Caravan Site - http://www.wickcaravansite.co.uk - for his support & a lovely spot by the river to collapse at when we finish. Located only 1/2 an hour (by car!) or 17 miles from JOG it looks the perfect place to finish your adventure if you decide to attempt LEJOG!

Camping End-to-End

Lots of options exist for a place to rest your aching bones whilst doing the E2E - we've opted for the cheapest option, which is camping. We'd like to thank all of our future overnight hosts below for their support. If you're in their areas, we recommend you give them a try!

Cardinney Caravan & Camping, Nr. Penzance - www.cardinney-camping-park.co.uk/
Luccombes Fishery, Exminster - www.luccombes-fishery.co.uk/
Springlea Fishery, Nr. Shrewsbury - www.springleafishery.co.uk/
Bayview Holiday Park, Bolton Le Sands - www.holgates.co.uk/bay-view/home
Glenmidge Smithy, Auldgirth - 01387 740328
Lagganbeg Holiday Park, Gartocharn, Nr. Loch Lomond - www.lagganbeg.co.uk/
Gairlochy Holiday Park, Spean Bridge, Nr. Loch Ness - www.theghp.co.uk/
Dornoch Caravan Park, Dornoch - www.dornochcaravans.co.uk/

Fundraising Party at Bar Humbug

A huge thank you to all our friends and family (and unsuspecting regular customers) who joined us for our charity raffle/auction. An even bigger thank you to all those local businesses who donated the prizes, and to Andy Stephens for providing the venue, bubbles & nibbles! After some furious bidding for our three star prizes, and a competitive prize draw, we raised over £1300 from the event, which gets our total to nearly £5000 before we've even left, which is just fantastic!

Route Planning

The route has finally been confirmed! Just ringing round campsites to make sure we have a pitch to rest our sore bits on each night.

Lands End - Exeter - Bristol - Shrewsbury - Lancaster - Dumfries - Alexandria - Spean Bridge - Dornoch - John O'Groats - yeah!!!!

Randomly looked at the climbs we have to do - works out at around 27,000 feet in total. To put this in perspective :-

Mount Everest 29,028 feet
K2 28,251 feet
Lhotse 27,840 feet
Mount McKinley 20,320 feet
Mount Kilimanjaro 19,340 feet
Mont Blanc 15,782 feet
Matterhorn 14,700 feet
The Eiger 13,025 feet

More raffle goodies

Now added to the raffle are a goodie bag from Bristol Audi, a round of golf for four, and two sets of British Lions replica tour bags/fleeces with child's rugby shirt

Please Visit Our Sponsors

Our charity fundraiser - and the ride itself - wouldn't be possible without the generous help of our sponsors. Please visit their websites or call into their premises - make sure you mention our event when you visit!

The biggest thanks go to our main sponsors, TalkTalk, who have donated £3000 to the charity, provided the dongle to let us blog en route, and our cycling jerseys. The Spire Hospital Bristol have supplied 2 fantastic prizes to be auctioned, fueled the support vehicle, provided super padded cycling shorts and donated directly to GWAA!

http://www.monmotorsaudi.co.uk - Based at Pioneer Park, Brislington. Thanks to Steve Smith
http://www.bristolguild.co.uk - Thanks to Mike Cannings & Kenneth Stradling
http://www.tr-bristol.co.uk/index - Thanks to Julia
http://www.mymoti.com/bristol - Thanks to Shaun Lancaster
http://www.john-sheppard.co.uk - Thanks to Richard Sheppard
http://www.colstonyard-butcombe.com - Thanks to Johnny
http://www.mikeburton.com - Thanks to Ellie
http://www.nuffieldhealth.com/Individuals/Healthclubs/B/bristol/ - Thanks to Russell
http://www.barhumbug.co.uk - Thanks to Andy Stephens for the fundraiser venue
http://www.thecowshedbristol.com - Thanks to Mickael
http://www.howies.co.uk

Big thank you to my friend & colleague Nnamdi Obi for getting us the signed Biarritz rugby shirt to raffle - even though he wanted to keep it!

Pleading & Begging (sponsors & fundraising)

Time to learn another new skill - the art of persuading people to part with their money in aid of your chosen cause. We approached several companies, with varying results! TalkTalk have been a massive supporter - donating a huge £3000 to GWAA, providing us with branded tops, and most importantly providing a dongle to allow us to update our blog as our ride takes place, showcasing the end-to-end coverage of their recently-launched mobile broadband.
The Spire Bristol have been equally fantastic, also donating to GWAA, supplying us with the essential gel-padded shorts, donating top raffle prizes for our fundraiser, and helping us with publicity
Having knocked on many doors, and called in many favours, we also managed to get hold of some other great prizes for our fundraising party from Bristol Audi, The Marriott Royal Hotel, Bristol Guild, John Sheppard Catering Butchers, Howies, The Cowshed, Moti, The Treatment Rooms - and a big thank you to Andy Stephens at Bar Humbug for providing the venue!

In the beginning....

Why would two (relatively) sane healthcare professionals decide to cycle 1000 miles in 9 days, having never owned bikes with skinny slick tyres that won't go down a mountainside? As usual, such ideas are born over a few beers and Sunday lunch in a pub with friends. Having agreed to undertake such an adventure, we thought that we could ensure that others benefited from our madness and look into raising money for a charity.
My (Steve) work as an orthopaedic surgeon specialising in trauma means I'm regularly involved in the care of severely injured patients who have often needed rapid transfer to hospital to survive. The Great Western Air Ambulance is our local provider of this vital service. Sarah's hospital, The Spire, Bristol, coincidentally has GWAA as its chosen charity to support.
And so, following the expert assistance of Simon at our local bike shop, in February we shakily took to the roads!