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Epilogue

Three weeks ago we set off on our journey from Lands End, not knowing exactly what lay ahead of us.  Looking back, we now know - 20 days of cycling in a range of different weather conditions across a wide range of terrain, covering 1,019 miles in all.  This was a far tougher ride than the north to the south of France four years ago, and more difficult than I had expected.  I found the hills of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset; the mountains of Scotland; and the remnants of hurricane Katya all very challenging.  But we were blessed with a safe journey overall; some fantastic views; 7 completely dry days; and the company of many fine people along the way.

And, for me, all this made the journey worthwhile - life is not always sunny and easy; sometimes it is tough, and the sad news last week that Steve's young son Chris had lost his fight against cancer brought to mind the importance of the work that Suzette and others like her do in supporting families with life-limited children.  So I am proud to be able to wear the Cherished Memories shirt and to ask people to sponsor us.

There are many memories I shall cherish from the last three weeks - the trek up and across Exmoor (the lady in the Post Office stores said "You'll be climbing then" - and boy was she right); the birds hedge-hopping alongside us as we rode by the mouth of the River Severn, looking over to Wales; the views of the mountains of Scotland - here particularly the contrast between leaning into the wind to stay upright in the wild weather of the southern uplands, cycling through low cloud as we made our way over the Grampians and the Cairngorms, and the delight of the sunny clear day as we climbed through the Spittal of Glenshee with its fabulous views.  I shall also remember the ride along the top of Scotland from Bettyhill to John O'Groats - and the absolutely delightful views of that northern coast.

My final blog would not be complete without some "thank you"s.

A very big thank you to my two cycling companions, Pete and Ken to whom I owe a great debt - for their resilience, encouragement, good humour; for helping me along during the harder times of the ride; and for the brilliant bonhomie that made 20 days of physical exertion enjoyable.

Thanks also to Malcolm, DB, Lynds and Louise who came out to meet us along the way, to Simon and Sarah, and Dave and Jude who opened their homes to put us up, and to all those others who so generously supported Cherished Memories through the Just Giving web site and those we met en route - Frank at Great Torrington, Katie at Bishops Lydeard, the Parker family and Judy at Ross-on-Wye, and Malcolm at Chorley.

And thank you to all blog followers who have encouraged me to make this record of the ride and whose support has helped me along.

And finally I thank God for keeping us safe and giving us a fantastic experience, that I shall never forget!

PS. If you feel moved to give or even to give more to the work of Cherished Memories, the just giving web site is still open for a while at www.justgiving.com/teams/lejog 


Now, what's next on my bucket list ...

Our final day's ride

Craig and Heather were wonderful hosts at the Strathy Inn. We had a great dinner last eve, a good nights sleep, and a fabulous breakfast this morning. Heather's porridge was the best we had for breakfast - maybe just pipped at the post by the Edinburgh garden centre!
We set off with only 40 miles or so to go to the finish. We were blessed with a wonderful sunny day, and the beach at Strathy looked clean and fresh as the sea rolled in.
After a couple of steep hills the terrain flattened out and we were treated to sunshine, gently undulating roads and terrific views as we made our way along the northern shores.
We stopped for lunch at Thurso, sitting outside a bakery. Shortly after lunch we clocked up 1,000 miles from Lands End as we headed out along the coast again. As we were making good time, we decided to visit Dunnett Point, which is the northernmost point on the mainland. The views across to the Orkney Isles were astounding!
With only about 15 miles to go we headed off to John o'Groats and arrived at the Sea View Hotel at about 3:30pm. After registering that we had completed the ride, we headed down to the village for a picture or two, before finally returning to the hotel and enjoying a celebratory drink or few in the hotel bar - 1,019 miles in total.
We are now showering and putting on our Cherished Memories shirts ready for photos this evening. It looks as though through everyone's generosity we have raised around £3,000 plus gift aid for the charity taking into account internet and other donations. That has made it very worthwhile.
Tomorrow we are being picked up by taxi (with a trailer for the bikes) at 9am to take us to Inverness Airport, where we will pick up a van which we will then drive home.
There won't be a blog tomorrow, but I'll be blogging an Epilogue by Wednesday evening. C.

We do like to be beside the seaside

We left Ambleside after a very nice breakfast, saying cherio to Tom and Janet. From Lairg we headed north to Altnaharra for lunch stopping for coffee at Crask Inn. We had lovely views of Loch Shin. Then after lunch we took a B road (single track with passing places) towards Betty Hill cycling along the shores of Loch Naver, enjoying more views. When we reached Betty Hill we had a terrific view of the sea. We had reached the top of the Country!
Ten miles on we reached Strathy where we booked in at the Strathy Inn, our rest for the night. 973 miles completed and only about 40 to go to reach John O'Groats tomorrow.

Saturday 17th September (Day 17)

Terry and Sian really looked after us well and after a good breakfast we set out. We started with 4 miles off road cycle gymnastics, as we took a wrong turning, but it did give us some fabulous views (see picture). We eventually found our way back to the A9 cycle path and were able to make better progress. It started raining and by the time we arrived at Inverness for lunch, we were soaked through. It took us some time to find the Bridge over the Moray Firth as we were following National Cycle route 1, which does virtually everything it can to avoid traffic, including sending us round in a circle at one point! Eventually we came to the bridge - the cycle path was right next to a 100 foot drop into the estuary - with a not-very-high fence keeping us from going over. I had to concentrate hard on not looking down and my hands were shaking - although not as big as the Severn Bridge or the Forth Road Bridge, for me it was the most scary!
From there we continued on, crossing Cromarty Firth and then climbing over the mountains once more to Bonar Bridge and then on to Lairg - our stop for the night.
It was dark, cold, and pouring with rain when we arrived so we dumped our bags and headed out for something to eat (pasta) and drink (McEwans 80/-). Having cycled over 80 miles with all our belongings in panniers we were absolutely exhausted.
We have just 2 days to go now. Tomorrow will be 55 miles taking us up to Strathy on the Northern Coast, and then Monday will be about 40 miles along the Northern Coast to John O'Groats! Many thanks to all those who are supporting us in your thoughts and prayers and in your messages of encouragement.
C

Friday's blog

Absolutely fantasmagorical! What a day!
We left Ballater this morning after mending a puncture in Pete's rear tyre and then climbed into the Grampians and on into the Highlands. This was the part of the journey I was looking forward to most. It was very tiring - we had three ascents where we had to push our bikes for a mile or so. Our first mountain provided spectacular views once we reached the top and cycled along near the ridge; the second climb took us to a ski centre up in the clouds - it was damp and views were restricted; and the third climb gave us the most fabulous views across the Highlands. These were the views I had looked forward to- and they were breathtaking.
We arrived at our destination - Carr-Bridge after completing about 48 miles. A fantastic day - topped off by a warm welcome by Terry at our B&B and a good meal at the pub next door.

Thursday 15th September

Today we cycled through the Cairngorm National Park - and it was a fabulous day!
Last evening, Ruth was a star as she had all our wet clothes dried and this morning she cooked us a fine breakfast to set us up for the day. We stopped at the local Co-op to pick up some water, tomatoes and bananas (very much our staple diet on the road) and were surprised to see a peacock outside the shop.
We climbed out of Blairgowrie and continued to climb, with brief respites, up to and then through the Spittal of Glenshee. It was glorious weather and fantastic scenery -the ideal combination to lift our hearts. We climbed quite hard for the final part of the mountain, and were rewarded with breathtaking views from the top. Unfortunately, as we descended on the northern side my rear brakes started to make a dreadful noise - the had worn down to the metal! We continued to Braemar, where we asked at an outdoor centre, who said the nearest bike shop was 17 miles away at Ballater (our destination for the night). So off we went, arriving at Cyclehighlands, the bike shop, just after 4:30pm. Here, James was brilliant, fitting new brake blocks front and back and adjusting my gears (which had become a bit cranky). We left there at 5:30pm and booked into the Glenernan B&B having completed nearly 800 miles.