Job Done - The Day After

Wow and bloody hell! That was one amazing journey and experience! Hard to believe it's over, but it's great to be back home and I'm looking forward to getting back to normality.

The trip had a very special end when I got on the plane at Inverness and the captain announced that we had a special passenger on board - then read out my name!! The passengers then cheered and applauded. Next I was invited to address the other passengers from the front on the intercom, so I minced up in best air steward style and got more applause & cheers! (for the ride, not the mincing!) I also collected another £60 for Parkinsons and had a chat with the captain who thought I'd broken some kind of record (sadly not). What a way to end the trip of a lifetime - thanks Nigel in air traffic control for pulling that one off.

Well, now it's over there are so many people to thank and thoughts to reflect on. The list of thankyou's is very long and I've really been taken aback by the level of interest and support people have shown, from friends, work colleagues and total strangers.

Massive thanks go to Penny for keeping family life running smoothly whilst I've been off training and away for 2 weeks on the ride, keeping up an excellent blog and generally putting up with my obsession for quite a few months now. Big thanks also to Nigel, Howie and Ade who rode with me for various sections and really helped to 'pull me along' and keep the momentum going. Huge thanks also to Mum & Dad who were 'volunteered' for an impromtu holiday in Scotland. It was fantastic to see them at regular intervals along the route for the last few days, and to jettison the bags from the bike which really eased the workload on the final hills.

Thanks also for the very friendly accomodation, hospitality and support (washing, drying and great food) along the way - Pat & Jenny Worman (& Nick, Carolyn, Laura & Josh) [Truro], Sue, Mark & Thomas (and a 2 mile escorted ride out of town!) [Cheddar], Helen [Westhoughton], John & Julie [Cumbria] and Hugh, Allison & Fiona [Glasgow]. Also to all the B&Bs, who in the main were very friendly and couldn't do enough to help (and who also made generous donations to Parkinsons) - the best were Linda & Glyn at Nanterrow Farm, Cornwall, Jenny at The Old Rectory, Ewyas Harold (nr Hereford), Fred & Sally at the Shakespeare, Lancaster, Frances at Newark, Sanquhar, Margaret at Newton Croft (near Dingwall) and Alistair & Sheena at John O'Groats Guest House (15 year old whiskey on the house!). I would highly recommend these and I'll put their details elsewhere on the blog for anyone interested.

Whoever controls the weather also needs a special mention - nothing short of miraculous!!

Then there's so many of you who have sent messages of encouragement and support with cards, texts, emails, blog comments and sponsorship which have really bowled me over and helped to keep me peddaling on - thanks a million all of you. Thanks also to the great British public - complete strangers who came up to me for a chat and kept giving me money (I could get used to that!) - approx £200 was collected en route.

The total raised for Parkinson's is now approaching £2,700(if you haven't quite got round to making a donation, there's still time on my justgiving page!)

Anyway, that's it for now, I'm going for a lie down!

Richard xx

Day 16: Final run

55 miles today for the last section, again incredible weather (especially considering floods down south!), though a cool north breeze. Couldn't see the countryside in better weather. A beautiful trip, hugging the coastline, blue sea and skies, perfect, and more oil rigs. Nether Ade or Richard had any idea how beautiful Scotland could be...and John and Val also enjoyed their trip touring around, in comfort though.

So, finally JOhn O' Groats, a total of 1025 miles in 16 days. Amazing! And over £2300 raised, and still other money and promises to go on.

Not a great deal at JOhn O' Groats apparently, so the photos and getting the log checked off. 15 minutes after they arrived the stalkers from Cheddar arrived, an extraordinary coincidence, considering they were camping, and also they came across the north coast.

A great B & B, with lovely hosts Alasdair and Sheena, who broke out the 14 year old single malt (to add to the champagned that JOhn and Val had brought). From the window, they can see the Old Man of Hoy (remember your Geography O levels folks), and across to the Orkneys.

Richard reflects that he cannot believe how it has gone to plan exactly...and no punctures, no broken chains, or other problems, or health issues. He also cannot believe he won't have to get on the bike tomorrow! He never felt he would never make it, though the really wet day coming in to Glasgow was pretty grim, though thankfully the warm welcome at Hugh's enabled him to recover and salvage things.

Huge thanks again to all the texts and messages today, and along the way, which he hopes he has replied to. They really have helped lift flagging spirits and tired legs.

Keep checking the blog for a bit as we'll try and upload more pics or maybe fathom out an online photo album..which has been a step too far for me. I look forward to seeing 200 photos tomorrow of Richard and miscellaneous signposts.

Flying back from Inverness at 6ish tomorrow, which means I have approx 23 hours to get the house tidy!

So glad that everyone has enjoyed tracking the blog and thanks for all the nice messages about it too. I doubt a blog of everyday Wallington life would have quite the same level of interest!

We are really looking forward to having Richard back, but I imagine it will be quite difficult to readjust to normality again. We are very proud of him, a real inspiration that any one of us can, and should, have an ambition, and should have the guts to "just do it".


3.50 Just had a call to say they've finished! Elated but cold. Photos and signing the book done;
will get a full report later.

2.15pm: text received; they have 10 miles to go!
Weather sounds much better than here but into a strong wind, which isn't good.

Watch this space!

Day 15--Penultimate!

Once again Richard and Ade were blessed with good weather while we got cold and wet down here!

Now on the east coast, first stop today was Dingwall, with a nice trip along the back roads to Tain, another lovely little town. Continuing up the coast, crossing the Dornoch Firth on a big bridge. They saw their first sign to JOhn O' Groats, a mere 85 miles!

Getting more desolate and remote now; I remember visiting scottish stores with Woolworths, and being berated by the Manager for Head Quarter's centralised stock allocation system which sends them tree pruners, when there aren't trees!

They passed Skelbo Castle where Madge got married, on Loch Fleet, and they could see oil rigs at sea.

Staying tonight at Helmsdale, a lovely fishing village. Last night to wake up and have to get back on a bike!

R's mobile for tomorrow is 0785 4920395 for messages; I'll post/ text as soon as they get to J OG, which will probably be around 4pm. (It's his Dad's mobile which will be handed back on Saturday!).

Richard wants to say a huge thanks for all the blog comments, texts, and phone calls, which have been really brilliant along a very very long cycle ride!

Day 14

Another fantastic day; mainly sunny and warm; incredibly lucky to have seen the best of glens and peaks in the best sunshine. A tougher day though, 72 miles, 4000' feet climb, mainly towards the end of the day too which was harsh (but expected).

From Fort William, they went to the Speen Bridge Commando Memorial, then onto
Fort Augustus, a little town on edge Loch Ness.
Anorak corner: an interesting flight of 5 wide locks on the Caledonian Canal...connecting one side of Scotland to the other. Views of Ben Nevis, which had cloud on top.
They then cycled two third length of Loch Ness, including the classy visitors centre, but no sign of any wee beastie. Then onto Drumnadrochit and a steep climb to Dingwall.

Staying in an excellent B & B near there, with a highly hospitable landlady who also made a generous donation.

The scenery has now changed and is quite flat, apparently with very fertile soil, so they saw fields of wheat and corn, compared to spartan moors with stubby grass.

Ade is concerned with Richard's mental health as he is obsessed with road signs. He has to stop and take photos every time, which is ok in the back of beyond, but Ade fears what will happen back down south.

Not so far tomorrow...and only 2 days to go!

Day 13

A perfect day with stunning mountain scenery under a sunny sky (mainly). Richard has never been to Scotland before on holiday, so today he was able to see it at its very best beauty.

From Tyndrum, they rode up on to Rannoch Moor, about 700 feet, which R described as like being on top of the world, though desolate. Then down the pass of Glencoe, with stunning views round every corner. At Glencoe they stopped to check out the visitors centre and the memorial of the massacre. From there along Loch Leven, where they watched fishing boats coming in from the sea, with a tang of salt air. Then on to Loch Linnhie, more amazing views, then on to Fort William, a lovely little town, for the night.

Both of them were knocked out by what they saw today, and the miles vanished as they just admired the views. You really experience so much more than sealed up inside a car.

Midges had a bit of an attack at just one place where they stopped, dive bombing bare skin within seconds of stopping: today John and Val had the paniers in the car, and of course, the Avon skin so soft patent midge repellent was in those! So they legged it!

I was appalled to hear that Richard had opted , in his bid to save weight in the paniers, to not carry deodorant...now the weight of the paniers has been removed, he felt he could now treat himself to one. Bet Adrian is relieved.

They met today two students who are walking the end to end; they have been walking for 8 weeks and have two to go...carrying camping gear! They were amazed by the distances that the cyclists covered in a day.

Fingers crossed for another fine day tomorrow...

Day 12

Short but sweet today due to various technical gremlins.

Less rain than yesterday but mainly dull, however Richard and Ade able to appreciate the beauty of the HIghlands, including cycling alongside Loch Lomond ....whether it was the high road, or the low road taken, I'm not sure...but I believe the banks were bonnie.

JOhn and Val (Richard's parents) arrived this afternoon, conned into the holiday in Scotland that they'd talked about, to coincide with carrying bike paniers and eventually transporting bikes home! All staying at Strathfillian House B & B, Tyndrum.

Fun tonight as I received a call from our credit card fraud dept, while at Nirvana..so a phone call standing outside in the carpark in my dressing gown and flip flops to try and resolve it. Looks like something weird has been going on and the cards cancelled...which explains why the local pub tonight declined the card when Richard tried to pay. Hey, good old bank of Mum and Dad...

So haven't managed to have an in depth chat tonight beyond "did you spend £165 last night in an unknown town?"; I'll complete the story of today's travels when Ispeak tomorrow. (his mobile was working but has gone on strike again tonight, which doesn't help either!).

A weird little story...Tim, Richard's brother who lives in the US, was on business in Paris this week; he reckons that he flew over north Wales one day, and yesterday over southern Scotland, so was musing that he could well have flown over a little speck on a bike far below. Probably nowhere near, but nice to imagine.

Thanks hugely to everyone for their lovely messages and comments and texts; I am relaying them to Richard who has not been able to access the web as much as he had imagined.

Day 11 Wash out

65 miles today, not too strenuous, but rain pretty much all the way, so obscuring any nice views. What was thought to be a water proof pocket that his mobile was in...wasn't and the mobile was found to be dead in a pool of water. So apologies if you texted today and didn't get reply. Spare mobile being sorted for tomorrow, will pass on number when I've checked it.

Interesting ride through depressed, ex mining communities, now experiencing high unemployment. Rode over moors, sadly in pouring rain, on approach to Glasgow.

Richard is staying tonight with Hugh, a work colleague from the Scottish office..and I believe his clothes and kit are strewn all over trying to dry it out. A nice image to conjure. Thanks to Hugh and family for a good meal and warmth!

Day 10 Over the border

Leaving the five star welcome at JOhn and Julie's early, ready for 100 mile challenge. Richard has enjoyed meeting and staying with friends, and making new friends, but he feels he has also had to say a lot of goodbyes too, which is sad.

100 miles clocked up today, taking the total to around 600 miles, approx two thirds of the way and crossing into Scotland. His last full day cycling on his own tomorrow, with Adrian flying up to meet him tomorrow night in Glasgow.

A lovely day's riding, mainly through quiet lanes in lovely countryside; lots of interesting wildlife, like big birds of prey (circling for cyclists fallen by the wayside), deer and other bird life.

Highlights included Gretna where he managed to rock up as a wedding party with a bagpiper were in full swing. Welcome to Scotland! Cycing along the Solway Firth was lovely too, even though the tide was out, and he enjoyed the estate of Drumlanrig Castle, home of the Duke of Buccluech. The river Nith was also pretty, and peaty brown.
The highlight of going through Carlisle was the castle which is at the end of Hadrian's Wall (he resisted the temptation to detour along the whole wall).

Staying in a nice B &B tonight in Sanquhar, a fair sized village. Richard heading out...on the bike...to the chippy, to bring back to the b & B. The landlady made a donation and also persuaded other guests to part with cash too!

I am getting a lot of questions about how his backside to coping! You will be pleased to hear that legs and backside are coping well, though the legs obviously tired. The neck which he had been worried about, following the whiplash injury last year, so far, fingers crossed, so good. The only niggle is some numbness in his hands inmthe position of riding, the weight of the body is thrown forward on to the hands.

Sophie returned from her travels at 6.30 this morning so 3 out of 4 Wallingtons home now! She kept saying on the way back how green and clean everything was here. Trying to keep her awake at the moment as Delhi is 5 hours ahead. She has lots of stories and great memories, and amazing photos; I don't think it has quite sunk in what she has done.

Day 9

Since Penny is off enjoying herself in the West End today I get to complete my own blog entry tonight! Today was a fantastic run, from Lancaster (nice city) to Windemere via lots of backroads (a bit hilly but very picturesque), and then on through the lakes to Grasmere, Thirlmere, Keswick and finishing at Bothel.

67 miles today and quite a few hills, but the Lakes more than compensates. This is one of my favourite areas anywhere.The weather continues to hold - quite grey, but no rain to speak of - long may it continue. I managed to resist the lure of the pencil museum at Keswick and pushed on to Bothel where John & Julie have given me a royal welcome and are looking after me in fine style.

I only managed to collect £4 today, I must be losing my touch! People continue to approach me and discuss the challenge and offer words of encouragement - this has been a recurring theme. There are lots of great people out there, many of whom are prepared to donate money to a complete stranger (I know - they don't come much stranger!) Fantastic.

The body is holding out, and I'm over halfway now, with the Scottish border tomorrow (but there's still a long way to go - 1 day at a time). Tomorrow is a big one - 94 miles which will be a toughie.

Thanks to so many of you who have been reading the blog, posting comments and sending me texts - keep them coming, they really do help. I'll post some pics when I'm able.

DAY 8 Half Way

A relatively light day, with just 55 miles, to bring him to 499 miles, which is exactly half way, wow!

The first part from Westhoughton to Preston was pretty uninspiring, and not designed for bikes. Richard commented that it would be a tough call between where Sophie is today...the Taj Mahal, or being in Preston! Once north of Preston though, it started to become more rural and pleasant again. An interesting place along the way was Glasson Dock, formerly a bustling port. A £2 donation from a 70 year old at Glasson Dock who had plans to do the "end to end" one day!

Staying tonight at a nice B & B just off the town centre of Lancaster, another town that Richard was quite taken with.

Tomorrow it will start getting tougher heading in to the Lakes, for 65 miles, with a nice bed, company and a lot of teddy bears beckoning with John and Julie at Wishing Well Cottage.

Day 7

Moving from the rural idylls of the welsh borders to the delights of Lancashire., 88 miles in total. Possibly the lull before the storm, as there weren't too many hills, but the Lake District isn't too far away now!
The paniers on the bike continue to attract attention: Howard came out of the Co-Op in Malpas to find Richard in conversation, and being made a donation. At Ellesmere they got talking to a man who is responsible for the upkeep of the cycle routes who gave Richard £10, as his Dad has Parkinsons.

Howard spent most of the day with Richard but had to catch a train home at Runcorn. He described how some kind elderly cyclists gave advice on getting onto the Runcorn bridge, which was his last view of Richard weaving in and out of traffic. Richard describes this town as a C**phole! A double downer for him really, as he has a few days on his own now until Ade meets him in Glasgow; he has enjoyed riding with company and sharing debates about navigation. So texts will be particularly welcome but he can't always reply immediately.

NB The photo looks like he is about to go on the PepsiMax at Blackpool...that would be worth a few quid for charity, but it is the aforementioned Runcorn Bridge!

Sounds like the last stretch was a bit of a trial, and the rain started just to add insult to injury.

Richard is staying tonight in Westhoughton (near Bolton) with Helen, one of my flatmates from final year at Birmingham Uni. We haven't seen her for a few years so there'll be lots to catch up on!

Day 6

An idyllic day, zig zagging backwards and forward, in and out of Wales, following close to Offa's Dyke. Grey skies but no rain, again thankfully. Staying tonight at Criggion...to the west of Shrewsbury, just inside Wales. Hopefully all our welsh friends haven' t got together to wreak some evil trick while Richard and Howard are outnumbered...

Although 80 miles was covered today, it was enjoyable cycling as the back roads travelled didn't cut through many towns, very rural and little traffic. I didn't ask how many sheep. Richard was particularly struck by Golden Valley, full of cider apple orchards, west of Hereford. He also admired the small town of Bishops Castle. It was also fairly flat, except for a short cut that Richard suggested to save 5 miles; once they were beyond the point of no return, they came across a 25% gradiant hill. Richard can join Tracy in the bright ideas for short cuts corner.

The last 12 miles, it was quite flat so they managed to get a good speed up...about 23-25mph, as there was little traffic too.

Installed now in a B & B, and heading off, on foot, to village pub the Admiral Rodney. Word had spread from the B & B about the cyclists, so at the pub, they found themselves the centre of attention, including free drinks!

Day 5

A riding committee of Sue, Mark and little Thomas escorted Richard as far as Axbridge before he headed off into the grey! They cycled on the Strawberry Line, a disused railway line that is now for walkers and cyclists.

A tough day, 74 miles. Navigating Bristol/ Avonmouth docks area wasn't too pleasant by accounts but cycling across the old Severn Bridge was spectacular.

He met up with Howard Garland at Aust Services so good to have cycling company again. Having Howard alongside is particularly special: Howard's wife Angela, who lost her battle with cancer was an inspiration, saying "don't just talk about it, do it, I don't want to hear excuses." I'm sure she'd be so happy to see them both cycling along together.

Richard liked Monmouth in particular.

In a lovely b & b The Old Rectory tonight at Ewyas Harold (Herefordshire), a lovely place and a b & b that he describes as stepping into a Jane Austen novel (though I believe Mr Darcy didn't wear lycra shorts). These B & Bs look so rough, poor things.

The rest of the travelling Wallingtons: Jake has now returned home after 2 weeks afloat off Turkey. We had an email from Sophie who sadly had to come down from the mountain after developing headaches, between base camp and the summit around 5000m; to put it in context, Mont Blanc is 4800m and Kilimanjaro 4500, so we are pretty proud of her. She sounds very very happy and excited about the trip, and above all is well.

Day 4

Cooked breakfast to set us up for the day and a couple of residents gave Richard a tenner towards the fundraising!

We then separated, me in comfort and Richard not! Thankfully skies were blue and we arranged to meet up in Wellington. More hills, so at least I was able to load the paniers into the car to help slightly. Roxy and I went to Kilvington Hall National Trust stately home, where we got tutted at for being in the wrong part of the gardens; beautiful grounds though.

Wellington was quite a sweet little town; we had a picnic lunch on the sports ground; the dog filched half the BLTs.

Next meet up was at Glastonbury; we got there an hour and a half before Richard so I mooched around the witchy shops, and then hauled the dog (or did she haul me?) up the Tor to hug a tree or two. When R arrived, we indulged in a cream tea at the Somerset Museum, where we resisted the draw of the cheese making history, and a very strange little man who looked like a pixie was demonstrating braiding to kids wearing birkenstocks (the kids, not the man who was wearing a weird pointed woolly hat and wooly sleeves not attached to a matching jumper)! Maybe we should have bought some magic legs spells!

The Devon hills ended, being replaced by a nice flat run towards Glasto, which made him feel he was flying along.

Richard came across two more "end to enders" who had spotted him in Padstow and remembered him (sound like stalkers to me...); they have compared notes and have similar routes planned so he may well see them along the way. Or they are really stalkers...

It was strange saying goodbye for 2 weeks then as R headed off to Cheddar where he is staying with Ade's sister Sue and her family. Should have checked out the cheese history.

Day 3

The luxury of a car trip started the day as Nick brought Richard back to Wadebridge. He stopped off at the Post Office to get a stamp on his "official" Lands End to JOG form; you have to get 6 "proper" stamps from places along the way to prove you're not cheating. Signatures don't count but Richard has collected a couple of those too.

This was a tough day, with even more hills; Richard admired Launceston and Okehampton as he passed through. I drove down to meet up with him but sadly the M5 was a car park and the diversion off it that I took didn't help much so sadly I didn't get to catch him along the way, a particular shame as by mid afternoon, the hills were proving hard work physically and mentally.

A couple of amusing stories...he got stuck down a country lane with a farmer herding sheep; how rustic! Anyway as they walked behind the flock they got talking and the farmer gave him all the money he had on him...£1.20...for Parkinsons (though he did invite Richard back to the farm house to pick up more, but that was about 3 miles in the wrong direction so he declined!).

Richard also bumped into his first " end to ender" (someone else doing the trip); this poor chap was camping and had tons of gear to cart along. He asked Richard to sign his map as a souvenir, and he did the same to Richard's, quite a nice touch.

The B & B at Crediton was interesting! Independently SAT NAV and Multi map took us both separately into the depths of a council estate on the top of a hill...rather confusing when it was meant to be a farm house. To add insult to injury it also started to rain. Richard finally got there first (I had taken the dog on to Dartmoor for a quick walk on the moor) and rang and rang at the door, no answer. Eventually it was opened slowly in an Adams Family kind of way! The poor dog was very confused when Richard came down the stairs when we got there.

Excellent pub meal at the Rose and Sceptre, Newton St Cyres.

Day 2

Blue skies and sunshine all the way today, passing through 54 miles of lovely scenery, albeit with hilly hills which were fairly challenging.The coastline along by Newquay was beautiful and craggy, though Newquay, I am advised by Richard, was downmarket and horrible.
At Newquay, Nigel peeled off to pick up the train back, after his part in the adventure.

Richard then carried on to Wadebridge, where Nick picked up him and bike and drove back to his parents Jenny and Pat at Truro for the night, where Caroyn, Nick and the kids Josh and Laura were staying on holiday. Jenny has had Parkinsons she was 40. Richard needed no better reminder why he is trying to raise money for this charity.

He will be returned to the exact spot tomorrow morning so no cheating!

Day 1

The day dawned...after quite a sleepless night! Richard left at 7.00 to pick up Nigel and they headed off for the easy bit..train to Penzance! I was able to text Sophie's GCSE results to Richard on the way. Auspicious to send him on his way with good news.

Apparently the weather got worse and worse on the journey but thankfully once the ride from the station to Land's End started (about 12 miles) they were in the dry. Land's End was a bit of a theme park; in true RW tradition Richard refused to stump up cash to have his name put on the signpost to John O'Groats...but had pics taken near it!!!

Hopefully he may be able to download pics tomorrow. Going to the Land's End hotel was interesting where you sign a book and get a stamp to prove where you started. There were 5 or 6 people setting off today, on foot, bike and motor bike (easy life). Lots of emotional messages about people's motivations too. Richard has the Parkinsons logos on his paniers and people were coming up and saying "well done" and asking questions.

The first stage of the ride was hilly, as expected...very hilly, but thankfully still no rain, and interesting stuff on the way included disused tin mines.

Now ensconsed at Nanterrow Farm B & B at Hayle near St Ives on a working farm; Linda, the landlady greeted them with tea and cake and has given them a lift from to and from the pub! Thanks Linda & Glyn!

Richard commented that it was all quite surreal, like when you go somewhere famous for the first time, that's it's as you expect. He had planned this...train ,then to Lands End then off, and it was just as expected. I think that's good! By the way, very limited bike spaces on a great big Great Western train that had to be pre-booked months ahead; well done to GW for joined up transport solutions..NOT.

Anyway, having never blogged before, bear with me; I may have got the hang of this by the end of the trip!
21/8/08

Countdown

It's now 36 hours until Richard leaves; final checks on the bike and trying to get the paniers packed. For information the paniers weigh about 10 kilos so Richard has been having to train with fully loaded bags in preparation. Fundraising is now up to £2000 which is amazing, but the more he can raise the better to combat Parkinsons. I have my list of instructions and b & bs already booked along the way.

The only slight problem is route planning, as you can see in the pic.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

I'll try and keep the blog updated so you can track his progress.

The Route

Many people have asked me about the route I'm taking, so here are the details:

Thurs 21st August - train from Reading to Penzance. Cycle from Penzance to Lands End 12 miles, then Lands End to Cambourne (near St Ives) 29 miles. 41 miles and 2,250 ft of ascent in total.

Fri 22nd August - Cambourne to Wadebridge. 45 miles and 3,900ft of ascent.

Sat 23rd August - Wadebridge to Crediton. 66 miles and 4,600ft of ascent.

Sun 24th August - Crediton to Cheddar. 70 miles and 3,200ft of ascent.

Mon 25th August - Cheddar to Ewyas Harold (nr Hereford). 72 miles, 3,550ft ascent.

Tues 26th August - Ewyas Harold to Criggion (Shrewsbury). 84 miles, 3,800ft ascent.

Weds 27th August - Criggion (Shrewsbury) to Newton-le-Willows. 75 miles, 2,000ft ascent.

Thurs 28th August - Newton-le-Willows to Lancaster. 60 miles, 2,000ft ascent.

Fri 29th August - Lancaster to Bothel (north of Keswick). 66 miles, 3,900ft ascent.

Sat 30th August - Bothel to Sanquhar (Scotland!). 94 miles, 3,250ft ascent.

Sun 31st August - Sanquhar to Paisley. 62 miles, 2,900ft ascent.

Mon 1st Sept - Paisley to Tyndrum. 65 miles, 2,800ft ascent.

Tues 2nd Sept - Tyndrum to Fort William. 47 miles, 2,200ft ascent.

Weds 3rd Sept - Fort William to Dingwall. 73 miles, 4,000ft ascent.

Thurs 4th Sept - Dingwall to Helmsdale. 65 miles, 2,400ft ascent.

Fri 5th Sept - Helmsdale to John O'Groats. 53 miles, 2,900ft ascent.

- The End! -

Total anticipated mileage 1,037 miles, total acsent 50,500ft (!!)