Brian's big bike run

The last day

2009-10-08T13:44:00.001-07:00

I’ve finished. What elation, what an achievement, what a disappointment John O’Groats is.
Early breakfast and away from the hotel turning left (away from the braes of Berriedale) and up the finest 45 miles of single track in Scotland. Gentle climbing, smooth downhills and beautiful scenery.
Two small showers of rain did not dampen our spirits and a free coffee from the very nice lady at the Forsinaid Hotel helped us on our way. The wind was slightly in our faces as we headed north but was not strong enough to hold us back and when we turned right at the top of the glen the wind was then behind us.
Loads of scenery and wild life to be seen along the way and once we topped the country there were fantastic views of the Orkneys and the cliffs of Yesnabey.
We finally made John O’Groats at 4:30 (after dumping bags in the Thurso hotel) and tackier place I could not have imagined.
Linda and Callum arrived very shortly after us and as soon as we could get the bikes loaded we left.
Celebratory diner at the Pentland hotel was enjoyed by all and Callum presented me with an engraved glass plaque to commemorate my journey.
This has been the best bike ride I have ever done and I would like to thank everyone for their support and assistance especially Linda for letting me go.
Until the next time.....

The penultimate day

2009-10-07T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Kirsty for a huge meal last night, it fair set us up for the day.
The penultimate day. Starting from Ron and Kirsty’s with some company for the first time on the trip. Liam and Martin were up bright and early and the bikes were all prepared. The weather was looking good although the temperature was definitely lower than yesterday.
We set off at a good pace through Beauly, Muir of Ord and on to Dingwall where I managed to replace my broken mirror and bike lock that I left at Oban youth hostel. Back on the road again and we headed north again taking the Struy road over the hill. The traffic was much quieter as we climbed the hill but as we did the rain began. It was a lot colder than any of the rain I have experienced so far and very luckily it was only a shower.
We took a single track road from the top of the Struy towards Tain and the Dornoch bridge.
Lunch at the Tall Pines restaurant was a welcome recharge for everyone and we were soon on the road again with a great improvement in the weather. The scenery did not disappoint, and with the afternoon sunlight shining off the sea there were some stunning views.
Taking a short breather before Doll we met up with Ron and Kirsty. After that we had a short run (11 miles) to Helmsdale and a welcome coffee at the Timescan museum and Gallery.

Short hop to Ron's

2009-10-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

For once the BBC got the weather forecast spot on and I hope they are right for the rest of the week as they have predicted.
I awoke this morning having had an extra half hour in bed, to a nice leisurely breakfast and then set out at a very sedate pace knowing that I only had to cover 33 miles to get to Ron’s.
Continuing on from yesterday I carried on up the Great Glen. As I cycled, the sun began to break through and then the clouds slowly disappeared. There is a slight breeze picking up now but as I am inside Ron’s house I am not too concerned.
Last night, due to the “Lock Inn” being really busy, I shared a table with a young French woman who was touring Scotland for five days. We talked for about an hour and she seemed a very interesting person. She lives in Paris but used to stay in Arcachon where we were on our summer holidays. Turns out she works for “The laughing cow” and puts on sponsored events and sailing competitions. Anyway, this morning I stopped at Urqhuart Castle to take a picture and I bumped into her again, I think she was so please to meet someone she knew in a foreign land.
Turning left at Drumnadrochit and then up the hill, and what a hill it is. I have to admit to pushing the last part. But, once at the top the road over to Kiltarlity is a really nice cycle. For those of you that said I was doing this in the wrong direction (i.e. uphill) then I have to tell you that you are wrong. In this direction the scenery just gets better every day. I can’t believe I only have two days left to go. I’m beginning to wish that Scotland was just a wee bit longer.
Martin is on his way up from Brechin and Liam will be home from school shortly so we can then look at our route for tomorrow. It will be nice to have some company for the last two days.
Speak to you again tomorrow.

Pictures for day 11

2009-10-06T07:05:00.001-07:00

Oban to Fort Augustus

2009-10-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Another dry day! When I woke at 7 o’clock it was raining steady, but by the time I had packed and had some breakfast it had stopped. Although it was overcast all day it was dry and a fine day for cycling.
78.04 miles of fairly easy cycling, not too many hills, mostly along the edges of the sea lochs or the Great Glen canals and lochs. I even managed 4 miles of off road long side the start of the Caledonian canal. This was the same route that we took when taking part in “Maggies Monster Bash”. I had thought the that the bike would be okay for this stage as it is a well surfaced track however after short distance I realised it would be easier and more comfortable back on the road so that is what I did.
There were a number of tarred cycle tracks around Ballahuilish which were very nice and very smooth.
On the approach to Laggan I was passed by over a million pounds worth of super cars, DB9, Porche, Labourgini, Masserati, Atara, Lotus they were in three groups and appeared to be from all over Europe.
I have to admit that I cracked at the end of the day and decided that a B&B would be so much better than the hostel. So for n extra £5 I have my own room in a lovely house. Bliss
Just seen the forecast and apart from some showers tomorrow morning the rest of the week should be dry and sunny for the North of Scotland. Yahoo.

Day ten photo's

2009-10-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

These should have added with the other blog but didn't

The road to Oban

2009-10-04T13:50:00.001-07:00

Probably the nicest road cycle route in Britain, Arran to Oban. The weather was excellent although there were one or two showers but most importantly there was no wind.

The views are astounding, both along the road and out to sea. I did not take too many photos.

There are really cool houses all along the coast, some of them look as though they are out of Kevin McLeod’s “Grand designs”.

Anyway, tonight is my last ever night in a youth hostel. Last night in a small hotel I had my own room, a double bed, coffee and biscuits in the room and a full cooked breakfast, free WIFI access and all for £25. Tonight I am in a dorm with 4 bunk beds which look like they got them from an NHS mental hospital in the sixties and sharing with a canoeist who I think has been let out for the weekend. There are no electrical points in the room at all and no bunk lights. All for a saving of £4. Tomorrow I’m off to an independent hostel and if it is anything like the one in Chester then I will be looking for a B&B.

75 miles planned for tomorrow and hopefully the scenery will be just as enthralling heading up the coast to Fort William and then the Great Glen to Fort Augustus.

Windy day in Greendale

2009-10-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Windy is just too short a word for it, there were bits where I was only just managing to get the pedals round.

I set off from St Johns town of Dalry in the pouring rain and ridiculous head wind but soldiered on for about 15 miles before turning slightly more North when I managed to pick up bit of speed. Unfortunately to get to Ardrossan I had to turn west again and the last 15 miles was really hard. I reached the ferry terminal with 15 minutes to spare and could not believe that they were still running the ferry. I was making alternative plans and routes in case the ferry was cancelled but thankfully I did not have to use them.

Once on Arran I still had another 15 miles to go including the big climb over the Corrie pass to Lochranza, the wind was so strong that even going down hill I was struggling to get up to 10 mph.

Even with the weather it is still living up to my expectations as this is the part of the journey that I have been looking forward to the most.

Up slightly later tomorrow as the hotel does not start breakfast until 08;30, then it is off to catch the 09:30 ferry and up to Oban. The forecast is reasonable so should be a good day.

Oh well off to bed.. until tomorrow,

Brian

The Long good Friday

2009-10-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a day late but there was a glitch with internet connections in Dalry.

Hello, well today was not better than the last but it did have its good points. Record so far, 91.98 miles covered with a full 7 and a quarter hours in the saddle.

When I got up this morning it was raining and it stayed that way for the first two hours of cycling, after that it did dry up a bit but not enough to take the waterproofs off.

The road from Alston was mostly downhill which surprised me as I thought I had to climb out of the valley. From then on it was fairly flat and uneventful. Busy A roads with lots of lorries so not much fun. The last part of the journey was not as steep as I had thought and was nice and quiet so apart from the rain coming on again it was a nice finish to the day.

I must admit it is nice to be back in Scotland.

The forecast for tomorrow is very windy; hopefully it will be side on or even slightly behind me but my main worry is that it may cause some of the ferries to be cancelled.

Plan for tomorrow is to make it to Ardrossan then over to Arran. I have arranged to meet a couple of folk in Ardrossan before catching the ferry.

I meant to say, a few days ago I saw a sign for “The world hedge planting championships”, and I thought I needed to get out more!

Thanks to everyone for their texts so far, especially Barbara who sends one very morning. Keep them coming.

Speak again tomorrow, Brian.

The half way mark

2009-10-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

Each day just gets better and better. Hopefully the weather over the next two days will not hamper me too much.

I set off from Slaidburn with the sun cracking the sky and apart from being colder than before it was a great day for cycling. Came through some fine parts of the country which I have only ever been in when in the car on the motorway. But this time I was on a single track road on the other side of the valley to the M6. I even had the Virgin air balloon overhead at one point.

Stopped in Kirkby Lonsdale for a coffee and found the nicest tea room so far. Big log fire and excellent food, must start using it instead of the motorway cafes as it is only a couple of miles off the M6.

The cycling went well today, but as it was colder it seamed take much longer to get the muscles working and everytime I found decent downhill I had to get warmed up all over again.

The best part of the day was after 70 miles I reached the climb to Alston over a route known locally as Hartside. It is about three miles of climbing and reaches a height of 1903ft which I managed without stopping. The down hill on the other side is pretty spectacular as well.

The guy that runs Alston YH is into cross country biking so there is a full tool kit and bike stand available and wshing facilities which I have made use of and the bike is ready for the second half of the journey.

Well I must get away to bed as there is the longest day planned for tomorrow and looks like I might have a head wind.

Back in Scotland by lunchtime...

Brian

Wednesday's Blog (no tinternet int moors)

2009-10-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

Hi there, not one of the best days. I had planned to head from Chester to Birkenhead and catch the ferry over the Mersey, however I managed to get totally lost coming out of Chester and at one point ended up on the M53. It took me 4 hours to cover the first 28 miles and then catch the ferry.

The final leg of the day was not as bad as I had been advised. I was told that there was a bi climb to Slaidburn but it was reasonably gentle, unfortunately I did get my first rain of the trip but it was not too uncomfortable.

Slaidburn hostel is nice. Very quiet with no TV, internet or mobile phone signals so it is a meal in the pub and an early bed for me.

Big day tomorrow, 80 miles or so and very hilly. Climbing over Shap beside the M6 and then up into the hills to Alston. The forecast for tomorrow is very good with bad weather coming on Friday.

It was really nice to meet up with the group from Strathdon last night and I have arranged to meet them on their last day as we will be heading west from Thurso as they are coming along the coast heading for John O’Groats.

Callum phoned me this morning to tell me that the tooth fairy had visited him during the night and taken way his first tooth. Hopefully a replacement will come soon.

Oh well until tomorrow...

Brian

Long run to Chester

2009-09-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a real mixed bag. I set off from Kington and just had no energy in my legs at all. It took until about three o’clock before I began to set a decent pace, but saying that I covered my biggest distance so far with 87.04 miles from Kington to Chester. The weather was once again fantastic, clear blue sky in the morning getting slightly overcast in the afternoon. Forecast is for change in the next few days.

I only took one picture today as I was just too tired to stop but I did pass through some lovely countryside and villages. Some places that John and I have been to for the Polaris and some on holiday (I passed over the Llangollen canal and Owestry)

Last night I stayed in a very typical youth hostel but there were only three people staying there, tonight is totally different. I’m in an independent backpackers and although very friendly, it is overcrowded and filthy. I will not be using this place again.

On the bright side, there is a group from Strathdon who are cycling as a sponsored group with support van. They kindly invited me to join them for a meal tonight and we had a good chat. One of the women in the group is from the Black Isle and has been in Tony’s gallery and knows of Kirsty’s paintings. A small world.

Not too sure of my route for tomorrow as I may go over the Mersey on the ferry but that takes me into the centre of Liverpool which I don’t know if that is a good idea.

Almost had a major catastrophe, came bombing down a huge hill and hit pothole. The impact threw my Ipod out and it bounced down the road at about thirty mile an hour. Luckily the scratch case took the impact and the ipod is fine. Only real damage was to pull the plug off the head phones.

The one photo I did take is of a tree sculpture, so if you were wondering what to do with that burned out twenty foot tree stump in your garden then...

Speak again tomorrow.. Brian

To Wales and back again

2009-09-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

Bristol is not as easy to get out of as it is to get into. It took me the bets part of an hour to escape and almost two hours to get over the Severn Bridge. It started quite interestingly with a cycle long the Avon river nd under the Clifton suspention bridge but ended with a six mile cycle through an industril area before the Severn bridge.

Over the bridge and into Wales and up to Monmouth, Nice roads and the odd abbey. The bike has developed a creak in the cranks and I went into Bridges Cycles to see if it could be sorted. He did not manage to fix my cranks but he tuned my front gears and did not charge so thanks to Bridge Cycles.

The route from Monmouth to Kington was lovely, followed the “Golden Velley”. It is all small lanes with hedges and beatiful, and very English, views.

It was quite a long day starting at ten past eight and getting to the youth hostel at quarter to five. The legs are holding out well, slightly sore but okay. Once again the weather was great although during the afternoon there was a slight headwind which was enough to nock the edge off my top speed.

Eighty five miles planned for tomorrow and I should end up in Chester, heading through Owestry where we were on holiday last year, so some familiar roads an sights. Here’s hoping it is not too hilly.

Speak again tomorrow.

Brian

Sorry no photo's as they will not upload for some reason..

Sore legs to Bristol

2009-09-27T12:04:00.000-07:00

The day didn’t start too well. It was misty on the top of Exmoor and not very warm. Straight out of the hostel a right onto a twenty minute climb up to the ridge of the moor. I had thought that my legs would have been really sore on day two but apparently they had a delayed reaction as the were agony on the first climb. Over breakfast I had spoken to two guys who gave me hints about the routes I had picked and it seemed this one went up and down the whole lenght of Exmoor. So, I changed plans and headed down from Exmoor towards Minehead and took the cost road which was a lot flatter and easier on the legs.

Stopped in a little village of Dunston to call Barbara and Callum and there was a really cool market building dating from 1609.

I just kept ploddin on and stopping when I felt I needed to and before I new it I had covered over 50 miles and the day had turned really hot with blue skies.

Not to be outdone today finished with two hefty climbs, one over the Quantocks (just West of Chedder Gorge) and another as you approach Bristol by the Airport.

Bristol is a pretty cool town, very vibrant, lots of old stuff mixed with new modern things.

Tomorrow looks like being a fair old hike as it is 81 miles planned but I seem to be adding extra miles on each day so will probably end up at about 85 miles.

Today I crossed to my third county and tomorrow should make it into Wales. I am beginning to think I am actually going to make this happen.

Spoke to Martin today and he is hopeful of joining me for the last day or two. That would be great as I am hoping Liam is going to join then as well. Any other takers?

Oh well time to go, speak to you all again tomorrow

Cheers Brian

Tintagel to Exford

2009-09-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Another cracking day. 85.2 miles covered and finished off with a monster climb up to Exmoor.

I'm now sitting in the pub and cant understand a work the guys at the bar are saying, it's like another langauge.

The route was pretty uneventful with little photo opportunities although I did pass through some lovely little villages. Bosgrove, just north of Tintagel is very nice with lots of cosy looking hotels. Other than that there were just lots of fields and hedges.

Weather was great again, slightly overcast in the morning and bursts of roasting hot sun in the afternoon. More importantly it was another dry day.

No reception for phones in Exford.

Tomorrow I’m off to Bristol which hopefully should be an easier day, only 65 miles and the last 30+ miles should be relatively flat (I hope).

Try to get some better pictures for tomorrow. Today’s photos are the hostel and where I am sitting typing this up. (not very exciting)

More tomorrow. Bye

Brian

King Arthur land

2009-09-25T11:09:00.001-07:00

Well I’m kind of glad I shortened today’s cycle by 20 miles as I was a wee bit tired by the time I got here. But it was a lovely day for cycling and I came through some really nice places. Amazing beaches with loads of people out surfing.

Total of 71.87 miles covered today and I arrived in Tintagel at about quarter to four only to find that the Youth hostel is 1 ½ miles down a dirt track and perched on the edge of a cliff, what a place to stay. Unfortunately it is self catering so once I got showered and washed my clothes I had a nice walk into the village in search of a meal (and a pint). I’m sitting now watching the sun set over the coastline. It was worth the cycle just for the views at the end.

Tomorrow I’m off to Exford, which is just south of Minehead and is another 71 mile run.

No phone reception at the hostel but that is quite nice as well, it adds to the seclusion.

Hope you like the views and keep the texts coming.

Brian

Beyond here there be drgons

2009-09-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

What a day! Glorious sunshine, I’ve just spent weeks looking for wet weather gear and I forgot to get any sunblock.

Anyway I’m not even on day one and I have changed the route already. Tomorrow was to be a big day with a twelve mile cycle just to get to the start then up to Tintagel which was going to make it bout 90 miles of very hilly roads.

So I decided to start today nd cycled through to Land’s end once I had dropped the car off. This shoul make tomorrow a more managable 60 odd miles.

Met some nice people, I’m rooming with guy from Aberdeen who is just bout to finnish tomorrow and the guy who I asked to take the photo of me was stationed at Montreithmont forest during the war. (Say’s he remembers you Barbara).

Stopped off in Bristol on the way down, found the Hostel which I am booked into, and found an ace bike shop(Mud Dock) with a very trendy cafe. I bought a mirror and fitted it for this afternoons run. What a great idea, doesn’t look great but is a big help to keep an eye on what is coming behind.

Anyway, I am off to sample some cornish beers, theres even one called “the happy hosteller”

Speak to you tomorrow and keep the texts coming.. Brian

First travel day

2009-09-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

Well today did not go as well as I had planned. Set off for Dundee into a twenty mile an hour head wind. Twenty seven miles over reasonably hilly route and I don’t mind saying, I was feeling it by the time I got to Dundee.

It’s just as well I decided to have this trial run as my right pedal started to make a sqeecking sound. To solve this before setting off for a 1000 mile cycle, I popped into Bikeworx in Dundee where John and Stephan sorted me out with a new set of pedals and a wee tune up of my gears (messed up when I put on my new handlebar grips). Thanks guys.

Up early tomorrow for the final leg of the drive. Speak to you again tomorrow

Brian

Setting off

2009-09-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Thats me ready to go. Cycling through to Dundee to collect the hire car and give my legs a wee stretch.

I'll add some more later.

Brian

Getting ready to go

2009-09-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

Hi,
I have created this blog to keep track of my wee adventure and let anyone who is interested see where I have been.
The idea is for me to give a brief rundown of the days cycling, things I have come across and any photo's I have taken on the way.
I don't imagine it will be terribly exciting and as this is the first time I have ever blogged, I don't imaging I will become the next Bill Bryson, but I will give it a go. Feel free to reply to the blog and if you know of anything interesting in the area that I am heading through then please let me know.

My plan is to set off from Brechin on Wednesday the 23rd to travel to Penzance then start the cycle run on Friday the 25th of September.

Brian