The final day is here this past week and a half seem to have gone so slow, I think that traveling North to South its fair to say that the first 5 days were far more difficult than the second five. I do realize that the weather has not helped at times with strong winds and rain, in the early parts of our trip.

Today ride was relatively short in comparison to some of our days a mere 46 miles very similar to my usual road rides.

It took us from Newquay to Red Ruth and then of to Hale for our 11 O,clocks where  Mark and Kevan met up with their wives who had made the trip from shropshire leaving home at 4.30am thats commitment to see these two numpty’s finish!!!

After leaving Hale we had the short 20 mile trip to Lands End it seemed to pass quite easily we were at Lands End just after 2pm ready for a well earned pint and  to reminisce about our ride.

It has been a great experience I have really enjoyed the riding although their have been times when I felt like giving up. I can go away and cross it off my list and be proud to say I have cycled End to end of the British Isle’s

Mark Beaumont has nothing on me!!!!!

After a really comfortable night in falty towers, we set out for Newquay, as soon as we left we ran into one of the steepest hills in the whole trip it was not that long just really steep. Nice to get the heart rate right up there from the off set. That was the theme set for the rest of the day with abrupt inclines into rolling descents.Our road took us through Okehampton, where we stopped for our 11 o,clock’s at the Victorian pantry scones and Victoria sponge all around.Thanks to the lady at the Victorian pantry for her £10.00 donation.

Although the going was fairly difficult and hard to keep up a descent average speed up in comparison to previous days! The cornish country side was truly spectacular.

After the most expensive lunch of the trip in Camelford, all the more amusing as Mark Pritchard stumped the bill for it!!! £5.00 for a toastie with no salad a little steep!!!

We arrived in Newquay  mid afternoon after a leisurely day compared to others earlier in the trip South!! It was quite comical this afternoon Keith Jones and Kevan Sherry Formed a partnership trying to breakaway from the group,even better was that they did it on a downhill right before a big up hill. I don’t think it went as planned ha ha!!

All of us are really glad to be here in Newquay knowing that we are so close to lands end!!!

Its almost over 50 miles to go.

I got off to a slow start this morning I honestly wanted no part in doing a road ride today especially doing another 75 miles!!Last night we stayed close to Bristol airport breakfast being shit did not help my inspiration.

We finally hit the road about at 10 and put in a good couple of hours getting to Taunton just before 12, it was time for some proper breakfast (brunch) full english all round apart from Mike jones who had a ham salad bap!!! Lame!!! I think he paid for it the afternoon not having a good meal on board.Thanks to the friendly guy at cafe Lisa.

Fully recharged and ready for the short 30 mile afternoon the sun came out for us it was a really nice day although the road was fairly bland and un eventful.We have been struggling with city centre all trip and today was the same!! I think our GPS looses the plot when in the city’s.

An early finish today we got into our b&b at 3.30 time for some tuning up on Keith’s back wheel. Now we are off for tea in Exeter and a couple of beers.

More tomorrow ready for the last big day of our trip and the challenge of Exmoor

After recharging our batteries in our own beds for one night we set off again. This morning we were a man down after Mike Young had fell ill over night with suspected apendicitis, our regards go out to him and hope he is back on the bike soon.

The first part of the journey this morning brought us straight down the A49 passing through Ludlow then on to Leominster, we had got off to a great start ,we had averaging 20mph so far.We then had one of the biggest climbs of the day Dinmore hill mid morning  came time for a stop for tea and scones at Kenchester water Gardens.

After our mid morning snack we headed through Hereford and then on to Monmouth, the road had changed it started to undulate along the 17 miles to Monmouth.

We stopped in Monmouth for lunch and headed on for Chepstow from there we had to cross the Severn estuary on the cycle track. It was late afternoon by this time and the worst was to come the challenge of getting through Bristol.It was really busy and we soon got lost taking some time to work out where we had gone wrong, back on the right track and heading for our hotel.

We made it in at 5.30pm another long day but a enjoyable one , 88 miles covered only 3 more day to go.

Today was a really enjoyable day we made a prompt start in Standish and were up and going ready to battle through the rush hour traffic!!!

Weaving through the Warrington traffic in a group is for sure good fun we were definitely bending the highway code at times!!

Once we had crossed the M56 on to a more familiar section of the A49 I think everyone had  upped their game with the thought of staying in their own bed!! The A49 is a really busy and dangerous road luckily for us we had a smooth trip today no abusive drivers and in most cases quite courteous.

Mike Young was on top form today his speed has really come on in the last week another gutsy ride from him today well done mate.

Our group soon passed Whitchurch and stopped for a well earned lunch in Wem a nice little cafe on the high street and some eye candy to keep us entertained while we refueled ready for the last leg home.

We had planned to arrive in Craven Arms around 5 but we were way ahead of schedule passing Shrewsbury at around 3pm  eventually arriving in our home town just before 4pm to a standing ovation of local friends and family members. It was really nice boost of confidence for us knowing that the local community is supporting us 100%  Thank you to all who came out to greet us.

Also thanks to Jan at the Craven Arms for the round of drinks on the house!! Cheers

Today was our longest day out of the ten day trip 110 miles, I was not really relishing the fact of getting back on the bike after the difficult day before.

We got off to a slightly later start than planned leaving around 9.45, after leaving we soon ran into trouble after only covering 11 miles Mike Young’s crank fell off!!! although it sounds quite amusing, with so much ground still to cover this could not have happend on a worse day!! Anyway Mike and Ron (Mike and Keith’s Dad) went ahead to get help from the local bike shop in Penrith. The rest of us continued on trying to make up time, the day got worse, we had a small accident Keith and Mark collided luckily no one went down and the only out come was two buckled wheels which Ron set about fixing during lunch at the Greyhound pub in Shap.

The afternoon went well we covered good ground in the Lake District it was a beautiful afternoon, with some amazing scenery, there was some great climbs and descents.

We had made up some good time apart from a small blip in Preston  we got into our hotel just after dark.

Tomorrow we make the trip home to Craven Arms to stay over for the night.

Today was another long day, although I will add that the longer mileage days seem to pass fairly easily, as we get further in to our trek south. I guess you seem to go into auto pilot as the days go on, forgetting about your sore arse and tired legs.

First job today was to navigate through Edinburgh at rush hour, not the best time to be going through the city!! I must admit I quite enjoyed it and it seemed to go smoothly without any problems.

From there we passed the Rosslyn Chapel (Da Vinci Code) heading towards Peebles on the A703. After a call in to Glentress for a mid morning snack and a coffee,we continued on to Selkirk and then headed South towards Gretna.

Today ‘s ride went really well apart from a horrid head wind between Hawick and Langholm .One of todays highlight was getting abused by HGV drivers I’m not sure why they are so impatient and I have never seen truckers in such a rush, never the less it kept us entertained for a little while. Maybe I should get a air horn on my bike so I can peep back??

My friend Kevan had his Birthday today so we have been out for some good pub food and a few pints of Guinness to celebrate.

Many happy Returns more tomorrow,

Marc

We  awoke to a blustery  rainy morning, it would be fair to say that we all had aches and pains from the previous two days. The deep heat had been out in force, and the team made a reluctant start.

Today we had a shorter day, only 75 miles, luckily the weather cleared up soon after we left. We decided to try and avoid the busy A9 that we had spent most of yesterday on, passing through the village of Dunkeld, where I have raced many SDA Downhill races over the years .

From there on we passed through Perth, Kinross and then my highlight of the day was crossing the Forth Bridge. There are some amazing views from up there.

Just after crossing the estuary Mike Jones who was directing us from his Garmin GPS, had a small problem the battery went flat!! Causing us to revert to Mike Young’s trusty Iphone.It made finding the bnb a little more difficult but we got there in the end.

More tomorrow;