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.