Day 14 "We made it"

SO having covered off some extra miles yesterday we only had 47 miles to do today, so a lie in until 07:30 and we were off! Motivation was high, bikes were prepped and today was the day!
We knew the first hour was going to be hard as we went down a 13% gradient and then back up another one. We managed to get off to a flying start (45 mph) and I can tell you 45 mph feels like your bike is about to fall apart, but this soon stopped as we went uphill, 1st gear selected and a long struggle up the hill. The next 20 miles were fairly easy and flattish and we caught up with Barry.
The weather today was perfect, lovely clear skies, wind blowing the right way and we could really enjoy the Scottish scenery. We were amazed at the number of other cyclists on the roads, and one can only presume they are cycling End2End as well!
With a quick fill up of energy levels we set off for John O'Groats only 21.7 miles to go! The roads were simple until about 5 miles from John O'Groats.
There was a huge hill, I said to Frank this must be the last one, kept in a low gear and drove our way up the hill, thinking this is it! As we turned the corner there was another one! that went on for ages! Eventually we had to move up to top gear and cruise up the hill!
Once we eventually got up the hill (and overtook 2 cyclists) we finally saw John O'Groats, and the next 2 miles were all downhill. We decided to go for it, pressed down and flew into John O'Groats at 22mph! Finally we had done it! and what a trip!
We found the famous sign and convinced the man to let us have a photo!
Just when we thought we had finished we sat in the van getting organised and a man ran over, "are you here for Caithness Candles?" I think we kindly of looked at him blankly, he asked again! Suddenly we clicked on, "are you waiting for a windscreen to be fitted?" "yes" was the response. Now we could of fitted screen if we had the glass, but instead we rang the local branch, got an ETA and another satisfied customer!

So this is it, the 14 days is complete and we have cycled End2End. I big thank you to everyone for their supportive comments, texts, e-mails and phone calls. At times they really encouraged us to carry on, as well as the drive to complete this for the 3 charities! So I guess we have done our part, money is still coming in and we will keep updating the blog as we feel relevant, but now is the time to really dig deep! It will take months for our bodies to fully recover (especially Yoda's!) but they will be ready for the London Triathlon! This has been a fantastic trip, and for any End2Enders who like more information please do not hesitate to contact us at agend2end@gmail.com

Next up, Knaresborough Bed Race!!!

Thank you

Frank, Tim and Yoda Aka Barry

Day 13 "

Another Early start, we had a lot of miles to cover today! Being in Inverness we started the day by heading over to the Autoglass Branch in Inverness to see Ian and his team! A wonderful reception and a great cup of coffee! Thanks Ian. Time seemed to fly and soon it was 11:00 and we hadn't left the branch!! Time to play catch up! We left Inverness on the A9 and over the longest bridge I had ever seen. Weather was dry and we had to press on!
We arranged to meet Barry at Alness, which meant we had to cross 2 bridges! They were a mile long each! and windy. We covered this relatively quickly, while we were doing this, we sent Barry to get a new battery for his new camera (he hasn't taken out the box for 8 months!) There was no wind to contend with and by 13:00 we were at Alness. We soon filled up on bananas, jelly babies and last night pizza!
Next we met Barry at Evelix, again a beautiful ride along the lochs, and lots of bridges to contend with, but we now began to deal with some hills again! They where coming thick and fast! A quick pit stop and we were off!
We wanted to try and cover some off tomorrows miles today, so we can head off from John O'Groats and try to miss the traffic, we arrived in Helmsdale (where we were due to stop) at 18:15 and decided to press on and cover a few more miles! WOW what a mistake! As soon as we left Helmsdale the big mountains started, the first couple of mile were all uphill, with the shortest of downhill sections at the end, then another long uphill section. To be honest after a few miles, we tried to ring Yoda to ask him to pick us up, but we had no reception, so we had to carry on! Thighs were burning, feet were cold, but we had to carry on, eventually after 2 more big hills we saw the marvelous sight of Yoda and his van! within minutes we were loaded and ready to leave. It was at this point the 2nd good samaritan deed took place. 2 days ago as we went from Glasgow to Fort William, we met a young lad on a bike who's chain had got caught in his cogs, Frank helped him remove his chain, and then we lent him our spanner should it happen again, but today a car had overheated so we sacrificed our own water to get their car going again!!
By doing this we hope that the hills people talk about between here and John O'Groats will vanish over night! Unlikely, either way tomorrow is our last day! A good nights sleep tonight and we should be finished by lunch time tomorrow!!

Day 12 "

Having had a poor day yesterday morale was low this morning, we were up at 08:00 (Barry was first) as Frank and I slept off the wine! This proved to be worthwhile see further down!
A full Scottish breakfast (which seemed the same as a full English!) and we reluctantly got back in the van and headed 28 miles in the wrong direction to make up from yesterday! Barry dropped us off at the point we finished yesterday and arranged to meet us again in Fort William. We were confident this would be fairly easy as it was mainly downhill, which is fine unless you have the wind against you! Guess which way the wind blew! straight into us! we were at a stand still! After 2 hours of hard cycling we got back into Fort William, back to the hotel we started at!
Barry had been shopping in Fort William and pointed out that there was a subway on the high street, within seconds we were there ordering our footlong subs! As we got back to the van the weather began to turn, here was the rain again! and technically we hadn't even started, we had 68 miles to do!! We couldn't sit around we had to go!
Off we rode into the mist, following the A82 alongside Loch Ness, after a few miles the rain began to drop off, and just a slight mist instead off rain, the sun began to come out, and WOW what a view! The A82 ran alongside Loch Ness all the way, and the road was fantastic. With little wind, and fairly good weather we took in the scenery and soon clocked up the miles! By 16:00 we were half way along Loch Ness, legs were tired but OK and we had to press on. A very quick stop and we were off again next stop Inverness.

At 19:30 this evening we made it into Inverness, how? we are not sure, but we did! 96 miles of riding, and we are back on track! A long day, but the scenery was amazing! With no major issues, and nothing to dry today was pretty darn good. Now Frank and I decided to "drown" our sorrows with wine last night, and it seemed to work, so currently I type this with a full large glass of Sauvignon Blanc and let's see if it works tomorrow!!

Miles: 96 - Total just working it out!
Incidents:
None, apart from random sun tans across my body!

Tomorrow:
We head up to Helmsdale, and hopefully a bit further! Only 2 days to go!!

Day 11 "After 2 bottles of wine..."

So as per usual up at 08:00 and on the road for 09:30, the first 20 miles were all on the A82, although the weather was very wet we made up good time, and we were soon half way along Loch Loghan. However the A82 soon turned from a wide single carriage way, to a narrow single carriage away. As is this wasn't enought it was also under resurfacing, so it was VERY bumpy! After 90 minutes riding we caught up with Barry, did a full kit change, let the shoes dry on the blowers and we were off again! This time heading for Bridge Orchy, the weather was wet, and the wind was against us, after a lot of hard work we caught up with Barry and stopped at supposedly the best fish and chip shop in Scotland.
It was at this point we found out the Barry had been caught by the police AGAIN! for parking in a turning point rather than a layby! I am sure there is a wanted posted for him in Scotland!
Frank and I carried on having covered 40 miles the next 40 should be fairly easy! as we cycled along the highlands, we realised this wouldn't be that easy! Within seconds of leaving the van we were soaked, the highland winds meant we were freezing and the low light levels meant visibility was low! We struggled on for 20 miles before sensibility took over. We were far too cold, light levels were too low, and it was far too dangerous to continue. The call was made to Barry and the Yodamobile took ages to turn up! Eventually we saw Barry come round the corner, we had to do a quick full kit change, our of our wet clothes and into dry clothes! Unforunately a few cars saw us and we had a few bibs and dexi horns as we were fully naked in the highlands changing our clothes but never mind! Into dry clean clothes we had finished 20 miles short of our destination, (and we will have to make this up tomorrow.) The good news is that the 20 miles look downhill so should be made up within the hour!

Tomorrow we head for Inverness, today really hit motivation but with good weather we should make this back!

Miles:
Who knows, about 62 miles, but not enough!

Incidents:
Barry: Questioned by police AGAIN!
Frank: Hypethermia???
Tim: Hyperthermia???

Unfortunately no pictures due to the bad weather!!

Day 10, Sunburn...Scotland???

A lie in this morning meant we had breakfast at 08:00 and on the road for 09:00. Another full English breakfast (no haggis offered!) and energy levels where high, for the 1 hour drive back to the starting point! Today was meant to be short and simple, we would also try to cover some of tomorrows miles to make Saturday easier!

We set off on another B road, probably the bumpiest road in the UK but Amey were to point out that they maintained it! the sun was shining and very little wind meant a simple easy ride! We moved onto the A71 and headed for Strathaven were we met Barry for the banana, jelly baby and water top up! from here we set off on the A726 for an easy ride to Paisley. We set off again lovely sun, and no wind meant in no time we were in East Kilbride, a quick cigarette and I was accosted by 2 Mormons, (Frank was on the phone! supposedly...) A short 5 minute chat, and I think I sent them away questioning their beliefs! We headed out of East Kilbride, and stupidly followed signs for Paisley A726!!! Unfortunately we didn't realise until 10 miles down the road, as that this was the motorway route!! So once we hit the M77, we had to do a quick cross country trek to get us back on track! To be fair it was downhill around a loch and covered very quickly. We met up with Barry in Paisley and had mums flapjack, jelly babies and yesterdays sandwiches!! Next was Erskine.

We had heard rumours from other End to Enders that kids like to cause trouble to cyclists in Erskine, so we approached with anticipation! however the A726 takes you around the outside so no problems, we went round Glasgow Airport, and over the Erskine bridge! WOW what a view, we would have stopped for longer if the bridge hadn't have been swaying so much! By 16:30 we were in Dumbartion where we were meant to finish for the day!

With morale high, legs in good working order, and the weather good we decided to head up to Arden and knock 10 miles off of tomorrows trip! Arden is at the start of Loch Lohman, beautiful! We met up with Barry and took a quick look round the Loch!

Now it wasn;t until we got back to the hotel and tried to have a bath that I realised quite how sunburnt my legs were! It would have been comical to see me getting in! WOW! sunburn in Scotland! It's true!!

Tomorrow see's us head to Fort William, a long day but simple on the A82!

Just had lovely "discussion" with the manager and 2 employees of table table, and guess who won!! free food and drink for us!!

Miles:
64 miles Total: 660 miles.

Incidents:
Tim: Mormon's and loads of chains
Frank: 1 chain severe sun burn!

Sponsorship is coming in thick and fast thank you everyone!