THE FINISH :
Mark, Neil and I completed our 903 mile cycle ride on Friday evening at 8:15pm after 9 hard days of cycling and in to a strong head wind for the most part. I personally found it tough going but at the same time very rewarding knowing that you've pushed your body beyond its limits to achieve something that many people would love to do but don't ever get the opportunity.
So Mark, Neil and I would like to say thank you very much to you all for giving us this opportunity to do something special and raise some good money for some very worthy causes, we couldn't have done this in this way without your support and every time we cycled past fellow cyclists doing the same journey carrying all their spares, clothing and camping equipment I breathed a sigh of relief and realised that it could actually be worse if I did have all that extra weight on my bike as well.
Day 1
70 Miles John o’Groats to Golspie
Dan suffered from dehydration and drank everyone else’s water besides his own.
Day 2
119 Miles Golspie to Fort William
Camped at Glen Nevis at the foot of Ben Nevis, cycled along Loch Ness.
Day 3
97 Miles Fort William to Erskine Bridge in Glasgow
Cycled over Glen Coe, 10 mile uphill climb in to the wind and then along Loch Lommond.
Day 4
101 Miles Erskine Bridge to just beyond Dumfries (14 miles from Gretna)
Neil got the first puncture of the ride.
Day 5
101 Miles Dumfries to Garstang near Preston
Had the steepest climb of all along the A6 at Kendal another 10 mile climb in to the wind with a 7 mile descent.
Day 6
97 Miles Garstang to Shrewsbury
Stopped off for a lunchtime BBQ with Luke & Mel in Chester, managed to notch up a 13 mile unnecessary detour due to a lack of sign posts. Dan’s gear cable snapped inside the gear lever and required some emergency repairs the following morning.
Day 7
99 Miles Shrewsbury to Chepstow
Went along the A466 through the Wye valley through the Forest of Dean, managed to overcome a detour due to a fallen tree on the road. Neil popped a spoke out (nothing to do with his weight, honest!) Stopped the night in Monmouth.
Day 8
104 Miles Chepstow to Crediton
Went over the river Severn alongside the M4, managed to notch up another unnecessary 10 miles in Chepstow due to more fantastic sign posts. Camped in Tiverton, Neil came off his bike doing 35 mph after a blowout, only 2 miles from the end of his journey and only scrapped his backside on the road before ending up in the grass verge.
Day 9
115 Miles Crediton to Lands End
Once we got to Okehampton it was A30 all the way and this was the first day where we had glorious sunshine and for most of the way the wind behind us as well. Mark got the second puncture of the trip and Dan managed to top 49.8mph coming down the rolling hills on the A30. The last 10 miles from Penzance to Lands End seemed to go on forever but we finally reached Lands End at 8:15pm as we crossed the finish line together.
903 Miles in 9 Days
Neil and Mark both managed to shed half a stone each and Dan managed to lose a stone.
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