LAND’S END TO JOHN O’GROATS TAKING IN THE LOCH NESS MARATHON EN ROUTE – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2010

When Graham and I entered the Loch Ness Marathon late in 2009 I briefly thought about cycling to Inverness and taking part in the marathon – then I dismissed it as a silly idea. But the seed was sown and I started looking into various routes which would get me from Lands End to Inverness in seven days.

There are so many people who have cycled LEJOG that the internet was swamped with many routes – both direct and scenic. I was looking for something that was a mixture of both. The shortest route I found was 730 miles to Inverness and I was looking to do about 100 miles a day. This was posted on the internet by a couple of unicyclists who were averaging over 100 miles a day, so I thought that if they could do it then so could I. I passed the route to Don Hutchison and he suggested a couple of alternative routes in Cornwall/Devon and in Scotland to bypass the A30 and A9 respectively.

So I started copying my route onto A4 sheets which I would be able to fold in half and place in my map holder on the bike. I ended up copying 47 pages to John O’Groats with an additional seven pages for the alternative routes suggested by Don. I marked the main route in pink with the alternative marked in orange and then numbered the pages. I then took a complete copy so that Graham, who was going to act as my back-up, knew where I should be at any time and that if we missed one another I could call him up and say what page I was on and we could meet up.

As the day of departure came nearer, Ian Matthews was the voice to doom – “Do you know what you’re taking on? Can you do 100 miles a day? It’s a long way to Scotland. Hope you’ve got a comfy saddle.” And so on. If I wasn’t so sure that it was possible, then Ian’s constant pessimism would put anyone off!

Graham and I packed two plastic boxes each and one bag. Everything had to fit into these otherwise we wouldn’t have enough room. The amount of cycling gear I stuffed into these boxes was unbelievable as I wasn’t sure what the weather was going to be like – shorts, short-sleeved and long-sleeved cycling tops, waterproof jackets, gloves – long- and short-fingered, socks, leggings, thermals, sunglasses, glasses for poor vision, helmet, lights, cycling computer, bike lock. We also had to think about the Loch Ness Marathon and make sure that we had all our running kit with us as well.

We were also taking our four collie-crosses with us and so room was going to be very limited as we also had to take a 15kg sack of dog food and all their bedding with us.

As well as the bike which I intended to ride every day I also took a spare just in case something major happened to my main bike. At least it was there on the bike rack if I needed it.

And so Friday, 24 September 2010 loomed. I intended to start from Lands End at 8am, cycle to work at the quarry at the top of Ludgvan, do a days work and then start cycling towards John O’Groats and wait for Graham to catch me up once he had finished work at 6pm, gone home and picked up the motorhome. I thought he would be with me at about 8pm but, as they say, the best laid plans…….

DAY 1 – Friday, 24 September 2010
13.57 miles – Lands End to Castle Quarry
Graham gave me a lift down to Lands End and Radio Cornwall were there, but he said he wasn’t there for me! Graham got out his super-duper camera and started taking pictures, well I thought he was taking pictures, as it happened he took two!! I didn’t find this out until later – he said we could always go back when we got home and take some more. I tried to explain to him that that wasn’t the point. Men!!!!

The night before it had rained heavily and so the roads were wet. There was a strong wind when I started, but luckily it was a tail wind (which actually seemed to stay with me for the entire journey up to John O’Groats).

En route to work I saw Jeremy Marston and Pete Le Grice. Both of whom waved (I think). The Radio Cornwall van passed me and tooted.

When I got to the narrow bends in Gulval on the Penzance to St Ives road I nearly got knocked off (the first of the daily number of near misses) by a silver Fiesta (part of registration JAF) on its way to Gulval School. It overtook me whilst I was going up the hill through the narrow bends whilst a car was coming down, it cut in so close I banged on the rear panel with my fist and caused it to swerve out from me. The kids in the car were jumping around on the back seat looking at me – I thought they were meant to be strapped in child seats!

51.48 miles – Castle Quarry to Bodmin
(65.05 miles – Lands End to Bodmin)
After work I started cycling down to the A30 and through Hayle. I had to take the old A30 to Chiverton Cross due to the roadworks. Whilst I was cycling through Connor Downs I met a couple of cyclists – one knew me, and I know his face, but for the life of me I can’t remember his name. He asked me where I was going, so I told him Inverness. The look on his face, I think he thought that he had misheard me! Him and his mate wished me luck as they turned off to Barripper.

At Chiverton Cross I decided to take the A3075 to Goonhavern as the single-carriageway A30 had roadworks on it and wasn’t very appealing. When I got to Goonhavern I tried to phone Graham but there was no phone signal. Whilst standing there a van pulled up, and who got out, none other than Tri Logic’s Tony Rowell. He saw me standing on the roadside with my phone and thought I had a problem and turned round and stopped to help. How sweet!

At about 7.30pm I finally managed to phone Graham. He was still at home! It was decided that I would cycle along the A30 until he caught up with me. And so I cycled, and cycled, and it was getting darker and darker. Luckily I had my halogen lights with me and so I could see where I was going, although I had to swerve occasionally for the dead animals on the hard shoulder.

I felt like Forest Gump, I just kept going not knowing when Graham was going to reach me. I cycled up Hamburger Hill (there’s a portaloo at the bottom of the hill which I needed to use, and it was clean!), I kept cycling until I got past the Bodmin turning and then tried to call Graham again, but it just went to anwerphone, and so I carried on cycling. It was at this point that he actually caught up with me and so I told him to turn off at the next junction and wait for me. We knew this junction well as it was where the motorhome had overheated on a previous occasion and so we decided to stop there the night – right next to the cattle grid. This proved to be a bad move as all through the night every car that went past rumbled over this cattle grid.

I had cycled 65 miles today – 35 more than I had planned to do. At least this meant I had the miles in reserve for any bad days ahead (which were needed!)

DAY 2 – 110.22 miles – Bodmin to Bridgwater
(175.27 miles – Lands End to Bridgwater)
We decided that I would cycle along the A30 to Okehampton and then take the route to Sampford Peverall to pick up the A38. This proved to be a good move as, as the day went on, the A30 got very busy – I should have taken Don’s advice and taken the old A30 from Lifton to Okehampton, but didn’t, as this would have been a quieter route.

As I was to find out all towns are busy and have traffic lights whatever their size and Okehampton was no exception. I cycled through some pretty villages and others, like Bow, had potential to be pretty due to the number of thatched cottages, but it just had a feeling of gloom and in a state of disrepair.

When I got to Crediton I took the A3072 towards Tiverton. This just seemed to go up hill for five miles and every signpost I came to said “Tiverton 6 miles”. I thought I would never get there.

I had a break at Tiverton for dinner. During this time Gozo, one of the dogs, decides to try and eat a wasp and gets stung by it (no surprise there!). But in getting stung he wets himself and his bedding, this leaves a very nasty smell in the motorhome and Graham has to go off to Morrisons to buy some upholstery cleaner and air freshener.

When we got to Wellington they were setting up for their annual carnival, which is a big affair locally. The main road was closed and so I asked about a diversion and it was only an extra quarter of a mile and I was back on the main road again. Graham didn’t ask and took a very scenic route to Taunton.

Weather was good today – sunny with some cloud cover.

The idea was that I wouldn’t cycle past 7pm each evening. This meant that Graham had to find a place to park the motorhome overnight which was easier said than done. On this evening I cycled past an ideal place with a woodland walk for the dogs, but Graham hadn’t seen it and had driven off into the distance. I kept cycling through Bridgwater until I saw him standing on a roundabout at Highbridge. He’d found a parking spot in front of some gates which said about building plots for sale, so it seemed an ideal place to stop as it was off the road and in a fairly quiet location.

DAY 3 – 95.16 miles – Bridgwater to Leominster
(270.43 miles – Lands End to Leominster)
At 4.30am we were woken by people talking outside who then knocked on the door and said that a boot fair was taking place and that we were parked across the main gates! They kindly gave us a nice parking spot in the field well away from all the boot fair pitches which was very quiet and we went back to sleep again. We awoke to beautiful clear blue skies.

I started cycling at 8am. This seemed to be the time I started most days. It left time for Graham to walk the dogs and tidy up the motorhome before setting out to catch up with me, which usually took about two hours.

I had my daily near miss with a foreign coach at the first roundabout I came to. I must have been in his blind spot as he had to do an emergency stop to avoid me. I was also taking avoidance action at this point, but I think I may have come off worst if he had hit me!

I was quite tired this morning and had to contend with Red Hill in the Mendips on the way to Bristol. This was a killer of a hill, especially with the way my legs were feeling. I think the 110 miles yesterday had something to do with it as this was the furthest I had ever cycled in my life in one go.

Bristol was brilliant. It had a decent cycle path from the A38/A4 junction to the Severn Bridge. I didn’t have to cycle on the road and contend with the traffic once, apart from a small section through the industrial estate, which was quiet today due to it being a Sunday. I was very impressed. It was a very scenic route, especially going under the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

I’d arranged to meet Graham in the services just before the Severn Bridge to make sure that we were still together. He then went off over the main bridge and I took the cycle/footpath to the side of it.

Seeing it was a Sunday, I said to Graham to stop at a pub so that we could have a Sunday lunch. A few miles over the bridge there is the beautiful Tintern Abbey with pubs, cafes, etc in the village – an ideal place for dinner, except that Graham drove straight through it and pulled into a lay-by a few miles further on!

Just before Monmouth, Graham tried to park at Redbrook at a pub but there wasn’t enough room so I said to park in the public car park just down the road, he drove past that and so I thought he was going on to Monmouth and so I carried on cycling. When I was through Monmouth and I still hadn’t seen him I thought I better phone him. He was back in the pub in Redbrook! He’d gone up a side turning to turn around and I hadn’t seen him.

So I carried on cycling up the A466. I got to the junction with the A49 and he still hadn’t passed me. I called him and he said that he was nearly at Leominster – I hadn’t seen him and he hadn’t seen me. What we think may have happen is that I went off the road for 30 seconds to buy some free range eggs from a farm shop (but they didn’t have any) and he went by in that time. Ten miles to see me, and he goes by in those 30 seconds – sods law! We finally caught up in Hereford.

It was time again to find a spot for the night. Graham found a nice lay-by screened from the road. The only disadvantage of this lay-by was that tractors were pulling in to let the cars go by behind them and then pulling out again.

There was a beautiful sunset this evening.

DAY 4 – 100.42 miles – Leominster to Warrington
(370.85 miles – Lands End to Warrington)
When we awoke in the morning it was raining. I kitted myself out in waterproofs and put all the bike lights on as it was a very dreary day. The A49 was very busy.

I was starting to have problems with gear changing on the bike, the big front ring to the little ring was having problems. Luckily most of the route to Warrington was flat and so I didn’t need to change gears that often. No major hills.

During the day the weather improved. The day, up to that point, was fairly uneventful except for the number of artics on the road.

We hit Warrington at about 6pm and it was manic. It was about this stage when the motorhome decided that it was overheating and Graham had stopped on the pavement and opened the bonnet. There was no signs of overheating except that the gauge and red light were telling us that it was. I told Graham to top up the water and carry on, which he done, and we never had a problem again for the rest of the journey.

Warrington is a big sprawling town with a retail park about the size of Truro, or so it seemed. It just went on forever. When I finally emerged from there the daylight was going and it was time to stop for the night. I kept looking for Graham and finally found him at the entrance to a landfill site at Newton-le-Willows. There was a nice little lay-by off the main drive and so we camped there for the night.

DAY 5 – 101.84 mile – Warrington to Penrith
(472.69 miles – Lands End to Penrith)
During the night one of the dogs, Bob, had an upset stomach and so I had to get up at 4am to let him out. We think this may have been due to where we filled up with water the previous day and so it was Graham’s task to go and buy bottled water for the dogs, we couldn’t have all four of them with the runs!

In the morning, at about 6am, we heard the gates of the landfill site being opened but no-one came and said that we couldn’t park there, so they must have been happy about it, or thought “bloody cheek”.

Once I’d started cycling it became apparent that my gears were not going to last the day. Every town and village I cycled through I was looking for a bike shop, even Halfords would have done! It was just before Preston when I asked a man pushing a bike across a zebra crossing where the nearest bike shop was. He said in a strong Preston accent “Turn right at roundabout and go to next village and it’s on the corner opposite the derelict pub, but I don’t think he’s open yet”. This was at about 9.45am. It took about five minutes to cycle to this shop and yes, he was right, it didn’t open until 10am. I phoned Graham to say what had happened and gave him directions to meet me there. Graham had been held up in Wigan. He’d hit it at the wrong time and got held up in the rush hour and road works and so was quite a bit behind me.

The bike shop owner, Martin, turned up just before 10am. I explained the problems I was having with the gears and, after opening his shop up, taking down the grills on the windows, putting a selection of bikes outside with a heavy chain through them and padlocking them, he looked at my bike. He had a right go at me about buying a bike from Wiggle, saying that if everyone done that there would be no local bike shops to be on hand to do repairs like this – he has a point! He quickly saw what the problem was, my derailer was bent! He said something about the chain catching in the middle of the two rings as it was not compatible with the rear gear cartridge. He done a brilliant repair which held all the way to John O’Groats and only charged me £5! I also bought a pair of cycle shorts from him and some anti-chaffing cream. I wish I had this cream from the start as any soreness just disappeared and I had a comfy ride for the rest of the journey. So if you’re near Preston go to Wallis Cycles in Higher Walton – he specialises in Scott bikes (www.walliscycles.com).

And so I carried on cycling up the A6 to Kendall, the roads were pretty flat up to that point but I knew that Shap was coming up. Most of the roads past Wigan had been pretty quiet but Preston and Kendall were busy.

At Kendall we decided to go to Morrisons for a late lunch. It’s amazing the regional variations in their menu! I turned right out of Morrisons and virtually immediately the terrain changed from open fields, trees, etc to hills – lots of them! From Kendall to Shap is approximately ten miles and it was ten miles of hills, not severe hills just long ones. On the longest hill the drain covers were numbered and I just counted these going up 1 to 60! I sat in the saddle all the way up and just slogged it out, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. The downhill the other side was great – long, sweeping bends, you could see for miles!

And then I saw Graham, about two miles from Shap, stopped on the roadside. There was an injured young deer in the road and he had stopped to help. Another woman also stopped, who turned out to be local, and said that there was an animal sanctuary in Shap and that she would take it there. The deer had to be wrapped in a blanket and put in her car. During that time I walked up the road with my bike and was trying to slow down the traffic before they hit the back of the motorhome. They come very fast along there!

By the time we got to Penrith it was getting dark and time to stop again. I got lost in Penrith as it was so badly sign-posted. All the signs went to the town centre and nowhere else! I called Graham and he told me directions as he had made his way through. There was a diversion within the town due to road works but I managed to cycle through these – I just went through the barriers.

We finally found a dead-end road just beyond Penrith to stay for the night. It was on a very busy corner and quite noisy for most of the night.

DAY 6 – 86.17 miles – Penrith to Innerleithen
(558.86 miles – Lands End to Innerleithen)
The next day we realised why the road was so busy, it was just down the road from the main junction with the M6 – all the heavy traffic was going from Penrith to this junction!

I held off starting at my normal time due to heavy rain. We could see bright skies in the distance and waited for it to move in our direction. I had a dry journey from Penrith to Carlisle.

We crossed the border into Scotland – and it started to rain!! A sign of things to come….

I took the A7 to Langholm in the pouring rain, where a passer-by said to me “Not really the weather for it” as I cycled past him. This is where one of Don’s alternative routes came into play. Instead of staying on the A7, which took most of the traffic to Edinburgh, I decided to take the B709, and what a pretty route – except for the timber lorries! The B709 was beautiful – glens, pine forests, gradual inclines, long sweeping downhills – it was a gorgeous route, and most of it was newly tarmaced. Due to the weather we had an enforced long lunch just before Eskdalemuir to enable me to change my clothes as I was absolutely drenched. I wasn’t cold, just wet.

The noticeable thing about this part of the route was the suicide pheasants and grouse. They just sit on the fence until a car or lorry comes along and then jump out in front of them. The road was littered with dead birds!

I carried on cycling and the weather did improve. The timber lorries are like double-length artics – you didn’t get in their way! The B709 is a single track road but these artics use it as if it is a motorway! A couple of times I jumped onto the grass verge – and the drivers just waved as they thundered by.

We found a lay-by just outside Innerleithen to stop for the night, just buried amongst the hills. Mileage was down today due to the weather.

DAY 7 – 101.27 miles – Innerleithen to Pitlochry
(660.13 miles – Lands End to Pitlochry)
On leaving Innerleithen we noticed that the road was busier than the one coming into it the previous day. We put that down to the fact that most people that live here must work in Edinburgh and this was the main road in.

The hills were gradual and before you knew it there was a long downhill. The roads were still fairly quiet but that was all about to change as I approached Edinburgh.

Edinburgh is not cyclist friendly!! We had thought that I could cycle around Edinburgh on the by-pass but there were big signs saying “No cyclists or pedestrians”. I then had to find another way to get to the Forth Road Bridge. I decided to go down to the sea and along the harbour. It was foggy and damp and I couldn’t see a lot. Apparently HMY Britannia is there but I didn’t see it, or any signs to it. I carried on cycling around the seafront, not pretty as it’s through an industrial area, and finally got back on the A90 towards the Forth Road Bridge where there was another sign saying “No cyclists or pedestrians”. I came off at that junction thinking that there would be a signed alternative, but no. There are no signs for cyclists at that point on how to get to the Forth Road Bridge. I was totally at a loss as to how to get there. I phoned Graham and he was already in a lay-by on the other side waiting for me and had been for ages! I started cycling and saw a cyclist coming the other way all in lycra. So I flagged him down and asked him. He had a broad Scottish accent and he kindly gave me directions and said that it was a contentious issue their closing the A90 to cyclists and had been for the past three years since they done it.

Cycling over the Forth Road Bridge I kept stopping to take photos, as I did on the Severn Bridge also, but boy, does that bridge shake due to the traffic. It was a lot worse than the Severn Bridge. It felt like it was going to collapse at any time! There were signs up about a Kilathon (26.2 km run) that was taking place there on the following Sunday. Apparently the race takes you over the bridge. I hate to think of all the vibration from the runners going across as well as the traffic!

Once over the bridge I met another cyclist, the first I had met going my way. We cycled together for a while and he said that I would hear the motor racing circuit at Knockhill long before I got there, and he was right. They were racing that day and it sounded like being at Brands Hatch, when I used to live near there. He left me when I saw Graham parked on the roadside waiting for me, with a horse sticking his head through the window looking at the dogs!

At Perth was another of Don’s alternative routes up the A93 and A939 past Balmoral. It was tempting but I knew I wouldn’t make Inverness in time as it was a further 30 or 40 miles plus there were a lot of hills in it according to the map. (We drove that way back and it went through the skiing area – big hills!!) The good thing along these smaller roads is that there are a lot of passing bays for both traffic coming towards you to let pass and also for faster vehicles coming from behind you to overtake.

As I approached Perth I had my first taste of the A9. I stuck to it for about four miles before taking a turning and coming off as soon as I could. All the traffic on it was going to the M90 and I felt I was taking my life in my own hands cycling on it, even though it was dual carriageway! I arranged with Graham to meet me in a little village called Waterloo and I would take the country lanes whilst he took the A9. There was still a bit of daylight left so I decided to carry on cycling and see if we could find somewhere to stay a bit further up. I went back on the A9 at this point and it appeared quieter.

We ended up stopping in Ballinluig, which is just south of Pitlochry. It is a small village which has turned itself into a local services stop. The main lorry park was busy and so we asked a local where we could stay and she suggested the village hall car park. We went down there and asked the people in there and they said no problem as there was not a lot on that evening, except line dancing! We went to the local pub/hotel for dinner, met the hotel’s black labrador and had a lovely meal. When we returned to the motorhome the music was still coming from the hall and did so until 10pm!

DAY 8 – 85.69 miles – Pitlochry to Auchnahillin, (near Inverness)
(745.82 miles – Lands End to Auchnahillin)
This was the worst day of the entire trip.

The day started off okay – weather was fine, A9 traffic was light and the road was dual carriageway so plenty of passing space. Had quite a pleasant ride until the rain and wind started. The rain just got heavier and heavier and the wind stronger and stronger. Luckily it was a tail wind but there were times when it was hitting me side on. By the time I got to the Highlands I’d had enough. Oncoming lorries were just buffeting me with their spray and I was being knocked sideways. Road conditions were treacherous – spray, wind, rain, artics!

I took a side turning and just stopped at Newtonmore, I should have come off earlier at the junction with the A889. I called Graham and arranged to meet him at Kingussie. By this time I was already on my second change of clothing. I had two waterproof jackets on plus a thermal top, thermal leggings and shorts, and I was still freezing cold. The amount of gloves I got through because I could just wring them out was unbelievable!

From there on I took the road that ran alongside the A9 and it was quite pleasant as the weather had eased up by this stage and it was sheltered from the wind by trees. My camera battery ran out at this stage and so I couldn’t take any more photos.

I cycled through Aviemore which was just heaving with people. I carried on until Carrbridge when the weather took a turn for the worse and I needed another change of clothes. I was getting cold again by this stage.

A week before the trip started I contacted some camp sites, one of which was just outside Inverness at Auchnahillin. She sent me an email saying no need to book, just turn up. This is what we done as it was on the route I was taking. It was a very good move as it meant that I could wash and dry all the clothing, dry out the motorhome and dogs, empty the portaloo and get a decent shower! Also it meant we could recharge the batteries of our cameras, phones, lights, etc.

DAY 9 – 11.83 miles – Auchnahillin to Loch Ness Marathon registration
(757.65 miles – Lands End to Inverness)
The previous evening another cyclist had arrived at the camp site at the same time as us. I spoke to him and he was cycling from John O’Groats to Cape Town, South Africa. He thought it would take him about a year!!

Registration for the event didn’t start until 12.30pm and so we stayed at the camp site for a leisurely morning. It was only a short cycle into Inverness. I was looking out for Graham but cycled right past him. I was just about to phone him when I saw him running across the field towards me.

Graham had found somewhere to park outside the Leisure Centre and we made our way to the registration tent, bought a few bits from the Run and Become Stand and redeemed our pasta party tickets. At the pasta party a man came and sat next to me and produced a laminated double-side ordnance survey map of Loch Ness showing every water and Lucozade station on it! Why!! He had a whole marquee where he could sit and he sat next to me!!

At the Lucozade stand Graham told the woman manning the stand what I had done and that I intended to cycle to John O’Groats after the marathon, she just looked at me in amazement and jumped in the back of her van and produced a handful of energy drink sachets and told me to use them!

We treated ourselves to chicken and chips that evening and then moved the motorhome to a more secluded location within the Leisure Centre’s car park. We stayed there for two days!

DAY 10 – 26.2 miles – Ran/Walked the Loch Ness Marathon
I think every single- and double-decker bus in Inverness was hired to transport nearly 4,000 runners to the start line at 8am. A procession of buses headed towards the start along narrow lanes – it took over an hour to get there. It was 9°C and raining when we arrived.

I was sitting next to a fourth year veterinary student studying at Edinburgh Veterinary College. She told me about her work experience in Africa with rhino earlier this year, where she was asked about how many rhinos there were in Scotland!

On the start line I met Jackie Redfern from Hayle Runners. She was the only Cornish runner that I could see.

The race started bang on 10am. Due to the cold and wet start runners had put on extra clothing and bin liners which were duly discarded along the route.

To start with my legs felt okay, got up the hills at miles five and six okay. And then they started to complain. I got slower and slower. At mile 18 there is a long, steep hill which the girl I was running with from the Isle of Wight, dubbed as Nessie’s Neck. For two miles it just went up and up with a couple of slight downs. Mile 20 was my slowest mile – 14:18 – I felt like giving up. But no, I kept going.

Along the route I met up with a Scottish Water manager doing his first marathon. His boss had promised him £5,000 for the charity of his choice if he could complete the course. It was the only reason he was doing it as he had hardly done any training.

The sting in the tail on this course is at mile 25 – you can hear the commentary and see the finish line, but it’s on the other side of the river. You have to run into town and across the bridge before you can run across the finish line – It was a grateful sight! I completed the course in 4:51:00 – an hour longer than I usually take. Graham finished in a very respectable time of 3:43:58 and was waiting for me at the finish.

The Loch Ness Marathon is a beautiful and scenic course. It was a shame about the rain and cold at the start but the weather did improve and we finished in glorious sunshine.

There was a decent goody bag for everyone including medal, t-shirt and tin of Baxter’s soup plus a food voucher.

After the race we had a massage which was wonderful. The masseur called me a nutter as Graham told her what I had done and what I was going to do the next day. I then had a shower and put on compression leggings. The dogs then needed walking as they had been in the motorhome since 7.45am and most likely were crossing their legs. Graham undertook this task as I could hardly move my legs let alone walk.

We then had a very gentle walk without the dogs to the finish line. By this time it was nearly eight hours since the start of the race. We saw two girls cross the line having played “shinty” all the way around and setting a new world record in so doing. We also saw the last two runners cross the line at just under eight hours.

DAY 11 – 93.28 miles – Inverness to Bruan (near Wick)
(850.93 miles – Lands End to Bruan)
I woke up and my legs had returned – hurrah!! I ached a little bit but not as much as I thought I was going to do. I jumped on the bike and started cycling. I crossed three bridges that morning across Beauly Firth, Cromarty Firth and Dornoch Firth. On the last bridge there were road works and all the workers were saying hello and waving to me as I passed.

At Alness I nearly got hit by a taxi coming out of a junction. First I knew of it was when I heard a screech of tyres behind me and his bumper a couple of inches away from by back tyre! I don’t think he saw me till the last minute.

From Ousdale to Berriedale there were big hills. And out of Berriedale an even bigger hill – 20% I think it said on the sign. This was one of the few occasions where I had to get out of the saddle and stand up on the pedals. (Phil Sanger said that this was where Sam had left the rear brake on the tandem when trying to cycle up this hill!)

There were high winds today – luckily I had a tail wind for most of it.

One thing that was noticeable was the lack of parking bays. This was a problem when it came to trying to find somewhere to stop for the night. I was getting very tired as the marathon the previous day had caught up with me, and still no sign of Graham. I tried calling him but there was no phone signal. I kept cycling and then finally found him parked outside a disused church just off the main road at Bruan, just outside Wick. A welcome sight.

DAY 12 – 25.38 miles – Bruan to John O’Groats
(876.31 miles – Lands End to John O’Groats)
Arrived at John O’Groats!! The signpost wasn’t out so didn’t get a picture.

Sky was amazing – blue one side and a band of cloud the other. It was like a straight line was drawn down the middle of the sky.

John O’Groats is a bit of a let down. The hotel there is derelict and boarded up with fencing all around it. It has the same owners as Lands End hotel but because the locals won’t let them develop it into a theme park they have just let it go to waste.

The view across to Stroma and the Orkneys is amazing. It was well worth the journey just for this.

Another box ticked – now for the next challenge – the journey home!