day 11

Day 11

Strava details day 11This was the last big day, 87 miles from Tain to Thurso.  Weather forecast was for dry but windy.  We set off along the A9 from Tain which wasn't as bad as expected and drivers on the road were courteous. After a toilet stop in Golspie we headed up the hill to Helmsdale. There we turned left on to a narrow toad which we were to follow for the next 39 miles. It would its way up onto moorland and we stopped for lunch " in the middle of nowhere". After lunch the next 20 miles was an easy sweep down the other side of the valley down toward the main Ullapool to Thurso road.  Soon we past through the village of Reay, where my friends Frank and Dorris were married and pats the nuclear power station at DounReay. At this point there were a couple of digs and the speed rose while we all dove into the town of Thurso. The weather was good and the south westerly wind helped us today.  BPF 6.    Tomorrow we complete at JOG which is about 30 miles from here. I can't quite believe we have nearly reached our destination.

Day 10

Day 10,

After a night on the hostel where we all had to do cooking and stuff I am feeling quite domesticated ( don't worry Netty, I'm sure I'll be back to normal as soon as I get home) . Bacon roll for breakfast and we set off together along the road to Fort Augustus and then up the side of Loch Ness to Drumnadrochit for morning break. Just beside castle Urquhart Castle I noticed my gears slipping and jumping a bit. At break I had a look but couldn't see anything. I cleaned the gears a bit and it looked ok. We then set off towards Beauly and up a step 15 % hill, after about 100 yards the chain broke and I had to call for rescue.( that's why I like supported trips). I told others to go on and eventually I got chain changed and began up the steep climb again. There was then a long fast decent towards Beauly and a bit of a drag up to Dingwall for lunch. 51 miles in at lunch and only 27 to go to Tain.  The road to Tain started with another long hill and my catch up exploits in the morning were taking their toll. As we reached. Tain there was a stiff tail wind which meant a big tight group speeding along at 28 mph. By the time we reached the hotel the others were buzzing as few had experienced riding in a fast group like that.  Early back in Tain at the Royal hotel ( 2 nd floor with no lift and a back that weighs at least four tonnes is not fun). I'm off for a showers and a wander round the town, last big day tomorrow.    Day 10 Strava stuff

Day 9

Day 9 started poorly. Overnight the lever must have been switched on and my DI 2 was dead. Changed battery and everything ok again. Alex and I left Inveraray about half an hour after the others. The climb out of town wasn't too bad and soon we were speeding our way to the first stop at Connell. There to greet us was Annette's parents friend Jill. It was great to see Jill out for support.  From Connell we pushed on for lunch near Fort William. Out of Fort William we passed Jason's memorial which reminded me about how vulnerable we are on the bike. Eventually we reached our last stop at the commando me memorial at Spean Bridge. By this time the weather had turned and it was cold and damp so we fairly belted down towards the hostel at Loch Lochy. At this stage we had done 96 miles so it seemed rude not to do a few more miles to get the ton up. BPF 7 ( ibruprofen seems to be working at dulling pain)

PS, yesterday's faller, Grant started and finished today's run. It's 10 years to the day he was told he wouldn't walk again.

Day 8

The day was bright and sunny but quite cold when we left Kilmarnock and headed for the coast. We made good time and stopped for a photo shoot at  Ardrossan We then sped along the coastline to Largs.just before we got to Largs, Grant decided to take a corner too sharply and clipped a traffic cone. He went down quite heavily but landed in another cone which broke his fall a bit. An ambulance was called and Grant was carted off. This obviously put a real dampner on the morning which even an ice cream in Largs didn't brighten up. We cruised up to Gourock and took the ferry over the Clyde to Dunoon. The afternoon was spent cycling up to Inveraray after a short stop for a quick pint in a beer garden. Scotland managed to do itself proud today with fantastic weather and spectacular scenery. Grant turned up in the van a little bruised and sheepish. He has had a bad mountain bike crash previously, when he broke his back and still suffers from the previous injuries. At time of writing I'm bit sure if he is going to carry on.  Cracking hotel in Inveraray. I'm just away to have a quick swim before dinner.  BPF 7
Day 8 data

12th May - Day 7

Day 7

Left Carlisle at 8 and we soon arrived at the border at Gretna. A huge dig from Allanach took the sprint at the line for the border crossing. After the obligatory photos we headed north again to Dumfries and then along the A74 to Kilmarnock. This was quite a busy road and although undulating was not too hard to cycle except for the road surfaces in places where every lump and bump sent red hot spikes into my sit bones.  Lunch was served in a barn which was interesting and even the leaky roof was welcome as it was hammering down with rain again. We stopped for a nice cuppa at a cafe just outside Kilmarnock. Unfortunately it was three minutes past four and they shut at four. I wasn't overly impressed by their hospitality.  So we pressed on to complete the ride and stayed in the Park Inn which is attached to Rugby park which is the home of Kilmarnock FC. 97 miles all in today.  The southern members of our group had never heard of Red Hot Chilly Pipers. They know all about them now having been subjected to their entire repertoire during the evening meal.😀    BPF 8 today, and that was with double shorts.  Next time if I do this again Ill be using bigger tyres to soften the impact on the posterior.

Day 6

11th May. Day 6

Set off from Preston in the rain with our organisers warnings of severe gales and very wet weather over Shap hill.  We pressed on up the A9 which was quite quiet and through Kendal. The rain had mostly stayed off and luckily we managed to beat the severe storm while we tackled the eight mile climb up To Shap ( tour of Britain go over this ). After lunch at Shap we detoured off the A9 and took the back roads to Penrith and onwards towards Carlisle.  As per normal the heavens opened just at 10 miles to go and we were soaked on our decent.  Staying at a Premier Inn which is basic and difficult to clean and dry stuff.  BPF 6 today as I doubled up on padded shorts😄 91 miles today, 503 miles so far this week and 26,000 ft of climbing.  This was our last full day in England. Cross the border and through Gretna and up to sunny Kilmarnock tomorrow.

Strava route details day 6

Day 5

Saturday 10th May

A flatish ride from Chepstow to Preston.  Most of the run was on fairly main roads so no real chance to see any beautiful scenery. The weather forecast was for cloudy but dry in the morning and rain in the afternoon. Alex and I deceived in a game plan where we would ride bit and bit till lunch and have a short break and head up to Preston so we could try and beat the rain.The run to Warrington was fine and we actually stopped to take a few photos of barges on canals and whatnot. At Warrington the traffic got horrendous and we had to weave our way through jams to get out of the city.  All through the morning it was jacket on and jacket off as showers and sunshine swapped control of the sky. The afternoon turned wet and son the deluge started. As we cycled through Preston my bottom bracket started creaking badly. Once back at the hotel investigation showed bearings were gone. Luckily an Evans shop was just down the road and the mechanics there were fantastic at pulling the bearings and replacing them.      87 miles in and job done today to get to next hotel and rest up for more climbing tomorrow.

Day 5 strava stats