First Post To Our New Blog

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OK so here it is. Our brand new shiny blog ready to record our adventures on our Lands End to John O Groates attempt. As I write its now only 45 days until we start out on the 20th of May 2012.

The next post will include details of the training we have done so far including our week in Lanzarote.

Watch this space.

C&D

Tandem in the sunshine

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Here we are on the Tandem cycling amongst the volcanoes in Lanzarote.

Less than a week to go!

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As I return from my last trip to London before we go away it’s starting to become a reality. Diane has spent the past few weeks beavering away on routes and accommodation and today booked out flights home.

The train to Cornwall is booked along with our first few nights stop overs.

We cycled 57 miles on Saturday and although it could be tempting fate feel pretty good.

All we need now is for the weather to improve.

5 days to go and counting.

We Have a Bike

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A day of firsts yesterday. Diane had to drive to Newbury in my car (this was first long trip – Tesco’s doesn’t count) to collect the Tandem.

The tandem was duly strapped to the roof of the car and driven home. The worries about low bridges and tight corners were unfounded and both Diane, the car and tandem made it safely home.


The Route is now complete and published on the blog.

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Diane’s hard work of the last few weeks is now complete. To see the proposed route click Here.

Lands end here we come

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So far so good. Trains all running to time and getting the tandem onto the train has proved relatively simple. Just another 4 hours until we arrive in Penzance. The forecast has bright sunshine for today and tomorrow. A great start.

At last we can start cycling

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We spent the night is a lovely B&B a mile from Lands End. So fortified by a large plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. We made the trip to the start line. My memory of The Lands End Experience was that it is very cheap and tacky. I wasn’t wrong but at 9:15 on a Monday morning it was deserted and looked good in the early morning sunshine (yes you read that right. The sun has shone all day here).

After the obligatory photo we hit the road at 9:45am. We passed through St Ives right down to the harbour and then climbed a fair bit to be rewarded with fantastic views over the Cornish countryside. After visiting Morrisons in Camborne (just like Bracknell) for a sandwich we pushed on to India Queens where we are spending the night.

All in all a pretty good start. There isn’t much flat in Cornwall so we are both pretty tired. Hopefully we will have recovered by the morning.

Hills, hills…….and more ****hills!

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Today started so well and then we got a bit lost! Found our way back on route after almost a continuous hour of hill climbing!

After a quick coffee break we were re-energised and continued on……up more hills. Being unable to get up one particular hill in one go because it was so steep, we made it after 4 stops.

Out of Cornwall and into Devon the climbing continued relentlessly and we eventually made it into Okehampton.

Song of the day was supposed to be Running up that Hill, but for some bizarre reason, I started singing the banana splits song………suggestions welcome for tomorrow’s song.

Despite the hills, we are staying at a really nice B&B and we are now waiting for our lasagne to arrive at the pub we’re in.

Tomorrow we push on to Taunton – and we’re hoping it gets a little less hilly.

Diane

We be in Somerset we be

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The hottest day of the trip so far. We both have lines where skin starts and cycling gear ends. Am not too sure Diane is pleased about hers. but hey! at least it’s not raining.

Diane had worked out a cracking route along small country lanes zigzagging between farms. There were still a couple of brutal hills. 16% for the cyclist. It’s especially hard as we don’t stand up for fear of falling off.

As we left this morning we were surrounded by another group of End to Enders. Doing it the easy way Scotland to Lands End. They took our photo and handed us a card for their blog (very slick. But then they had been going 2 weeks). Are we on their blog (not yet but it’s only 8pm) wombats do jogle

Stopping for water in Thorverton we bumped into an antipoedean Alec who is walking from Lands End to John O’Groats. And we thought we were mad. He also handed out his blog card (wheres the nearest ProntaPrint we are feeling outdated as we only have a pen). Alec Blog

So after 3 great days we are now in Somerset. Have covered 180 miles and climbed more hills than I care to count. Let’s hope the next few days are just as good.

Tea break in Cheddar

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With the forecast of 26C we are both covered in sun cream. After cycling through a swarm of tiny midges I now look like my number plate after a long motorway journey.

Just to add to that the bike rested on my leg as we stopped so I have a perfect cyclist tattoo from the cycle chain oil.

Happy days 

I do like to be beside the seaside!

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What a fantastic day we have had today! Started off cloudy as we left last nights abode but as the day wore on the sun came out for us and has stayed (good job really; it’s helping to dry the washing).

Cycling today has been a complete joy – very few hills and a lovely route, even if I do say so myself. There was a section on the outskirts of Bristol that was a bit scuzzy but we cycled through pronto, witnessing a scene from Police Interceptors as we did! Cycling over the Avonmouth bridge wasn’t brilliant either, but it had to be done.

Before that however, we came along the Strawberry Line, a lovely disused railway line which is now a cycle path, into Clevedon. Chris’s brother Malcolm was there to greet us with our lunch – it was good to see him. We spent a lovely hour by the sea at Clevedon, chatting with Malcolm before setting off for Almondsbury where we’re staying this evening in a 16th century inn.

Tomorrow we go over another bridge, but bigger this time, and into Wales.

They got the flags out

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Well ok they weren’t for us. We missed the Olympic touch run by 2 hours. By the time we arrived clean up was underway. Apparently 15,000 people turned out. Mind you that was a guesstimate from the guy who works in Waitrose. Lovely lunch in park in the shade.

Are we in Wales or not?

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It was always going to be warm and it was 27C – thank goodness there was a breeze. We crossed the river Severn without incident. Stopping half way to talk to the workmen that were shot blasting the rust. I think he was pleased to have someone to talk to.

We popped into a company that Chris does work for. Micheldever. Diane declined the once in a life time offer of a tour round a tyre warehouse. I can’t imagine why.

We are now in Wales. Or at least we were until we reached Hereford which is in England. Most confusing. Good job you don’t need a passport.

We are staying in Leominster and Diane’s sister Kay, Gary and Melissa drove all the way from Dudley to see us. After a pleasant evening in the pub (and some extra washing supplies kindly provided by Kay and Gary), it’s almost sleepy time.

A Big Thank You

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We just wanted to say thank you to everyone that is following us. The stats say about 64 reads a day. I didn’t think I knew that many people. But it’s great to know people are reading what we write.

Thanks also for the comments. We talk about them as we cycle. Keep them coming. We are working our way through the song of the day. We only sing when we are in the middle of nowhere. We don’t want to upset the locals.

Must dash my scrambled eggs and bacon await.

Shropshire Lad and Lass

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We left Leominster sparkling in our newly wash cycling kit. Thank you Margaret the lovely owner of the B&B.

Cycling through what we both agreed was some of the prettiest countryside so far. Shropshire really is a beautiful country. It looked magnificent in the sunshine. Sometimes it was so quiet that the only sound was Diane puffing away behind me. Almost no cars all day. Perfect.

Stopping at the top of a largish hill to check we were on the right road a lady shouted over her hedge “are you ok” and before we knew it we were eating ham sandwiches and drinking iced water, looking at a view you could pay millions to see. Trev and Wendy (the kindest people you could hope to meet). Were our host for lunch. Refreshed they waved us on our way.

We stopped off to visit a 15 century church. All oak beams and wonky. Then on to the B&B that Diane’s sister Susan had found for us.

This evening we met up with more of Diane’s family (there are lots of them).
Diane’s mum Pam, sister Judy, brother Jon and partner Jane. It was really great to see them. They seemed so impressed with Diane’s cycling abilities they left us considering doing the trip themselves.

Castles, castles and more castles.

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Another hot day. We continued north finally reaching Cheshire. We passed numerous castles stopping at a couple one for a silly picture and one for an ice cream.

Chris realised that the padding on his cycling shorts was too thin for the job as his body was starting to suffer. Thankfully Pam (Diane’s mum) had brought us some rags to clean the bike the previous evening. So Chris cycled all day with a folded towel stuffed down the back of his shorts. Diane stopped laughing after the first 20 miles.

The final part of the route had been of great concern to Diane as it had taken so long to work out a safe route across the Runcorn Bridge to the hotel where we’re staying this evening. In the event, it worked perfectly and the bike still has 2 wheels! As we write, it is resting in the back office of the Premier Inn.

We survived Preston

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Today was always going to be less rural. In fact Diane had warned about cyclists who are still lost in Preston’s one way system.

We started off down the Sankey canal which was actually very peaceful with the Mersey on one side and a industrial works and a power station the other. Not to mention a small railway line.

We came out of Cheshire and into Lancashire. Chris spotted a sign which reminded him that his father spent many weeks/months working at Kitt Green when he was younger. We then went through Eccleston which is almost but not quite Dianes mums maiden name.

We passed through Preston navigating one way streets. School run mums in 4×4’s and what seemed to be the set from Shameless complete with tattooed man burnt bright red in the sunshine, his sun bed carefully placed amongst the rubble in his FRONT garden.

After a final hour in rural settings we arrived at our stop for the night. Guy thatched hamlet. Again it could be a film set. A kind of Shrek/Hobbit travel lodge. However the rooms and food are nice enough and our bike gets to sleep with us for the first time. If it snores its out on the balcony.

Tomorrow the Lakes.

We have reached the Lakes

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Leaving last nights hobbit burrow we headed north. The sky was a bit grey but still we haven’t had any rain (9 days is that a record?).

Our route took us beside the Lune estuary; an enormous expanse of mud and sand with plenty of bird life to look at as we cycled along.

Passing through the outskirts of Lancaster with its closed and vandalised mills we picked up the Lancaster canal cycle route. Deviating from Diane’s master plan for the first time on the trip (well at least deliberately).

We made slow but steady progress along the canal bank sometimes riding on grass other times on a proper path.

Eventually arriving in Kendal to refuel on coffee and cake ready for a tough 8 miles of climbing in the hills before dropping down into Windermere to our B&B.

If we make it over the hills tomorrow we only have one more night in England to go.

Och aye the noo. We’re in Scotland.

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We left a very busy Windermere fed and ready for our days cycling. Passing Ambleside, Grasmere and Thirlmere before joining a cycle route up into the hills.

Chris had said “as it’s such a touristy place. No need to pick up food until later”. However once on the cycle route we didn’t see a shop for 30 miles. So at 1pm we ate all the fruit, nibbles and some jelly babies to get us over the final set of very steep hills into Hesket Newmarket. Where there was a village shop selling sandwiches and hot drinks.
Thank goodness for that or Diane might have had to have eaten a passing sheep.

We had planned to spend the night in Carlisle but we were doing so well for time we decided to push on to Gretna in Scotland.

We are staying in a large hotel that specialises in weddings so it’s huge but almost completely empty. So much so that we have our own suite with a giant four poster bed a whirlpool bath and a bidet; perfect for washing our smelly cycling gear in.

We have now done 600 miles without a drop of rain. BUT tomorrow is not looking good to say the least. Heavy rain is forecast all day. So it’s time to unpack the wet weather gear. Fingers crossed it stops now and again.

Rain rain go away. Come again another day.

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Well they forecast rain and unfortunately they were right. We awoke to persistent rain but at least it wasn’t windy.

Diane was almost pleased to get to try out her technical breathable, built in flashing, iPod enabled coat and allegedly water proof trousers. However half a mile down the road she realised the trouser legs were rubbing against the chain. Just as we stopped rain bouncing off the road a post van stopped to deliver to the nearby houses. Chris chancing his luck asked the postman if he had any elastic bands … Problem solved.

We stopped for breakfast dripping all over the cafe and set off again towards Dumfries. The rain gradually easing as we went.

After visiting the tourist information centre we secured our most expensive accommodation of the trip so far in Thornhill. Is there a cartel of B&B owners operating here?

Not many photos today but we do have some of Diane modeling not only the wet weather gear but also her shower cap cycle helmet and elastic band trousers. Standards – what standards!!

Day 12 and we’re still going!

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We left Thornhill this morning after a lovely breakfast ……but the worst coffee that Diane has ever tasted. Started off a bit dull but as the morning wore on, the sun came out to play.

We started our journey today visiting Drumlanrig Castle and cycling through the Estate. However, the scenic views were not to last very long and before the morning was out, we were going through some quite depressed areas. We were searching desperately for a cafe so that Diane could have a decent coffee, but to no avail.

We stopped for lunch in a field at the side of the road and were musing about why the road we had been riding on was so bad……..and then a great big rumble started and within the space of a few minutes, 5 or 6 huge lorries went passed us – we understood then the answer to our question.

We carried on, sampling some fine Scottish hills and in the afternoon, the views got prettier and joy of joys, we were able to stop for coffee and cake at a garden centre and enjoy the sunshine……..yum, yum. We even got to see another castle.

It wasn’t long then before we reached the coast and we cycled along a cycle path to West Kilbride, via Ardrossan, where we are staying with Andrew and Yvonne. The view of Arran is beautiful and we are both looking forward to going across the water to it tomorrow.

Tonight we have had a wonderful home cooked dinner and good company and it makes such a difference not eating out for once.

Nearly snoozy time now and looking forward to tomorrow.

Arran here we come

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Is a ferry cheating?

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So we left Andrew and Yvonne this morning to head off for the ferry to Arran. It was a bit dull and quite windy, most of the time blowing against us, but we batted along quite merrily.

Just a short distance from the ferry, a car pulled alongside us and just as Diane was about to stress about another maniac driver, she realised that it was her friend Elaine complete with family also on her way to Arran (we did know she was going to be on the same ferry, but it was still a surprise to see her).

We arranged to meet up for lunch on the island and took their advice to take the hill route. This turned out to be a 6 stopper! Very steep and long – about 250 metres of climb over 3k.

We had a lovely lunch in the sunshine overlooking the beautiful coastline with Elaine and her family Mike, Chloe and Sam.

We realised that we had left it very tight for time to catch the ferry from Arran to the mainland. The ferry port was 17 miles away and after a frantic cycle along a VERY undulating coastline with a strong headwind. 17 miles in 80 mins – not bad eh? Diane’s legs have never moved so fast!

Back on the mainland, our route took us along a fantastic coastal route which was a great way to end our day.

An easy day?

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We woke to brilliant sunshine and blue sky, feeling smug in the knowledge that England was grey and wet.

After breakfasting with beautiful views of the loch opposite the hotel, we set off on our days ride. We briefly stopped to admire the monument to a local bloke who had been eaten by cannibals (a few years ago, obviously!)

The route to Oban by the main road was only 32 miles, but we decided on the pre-planned more scenic and slightly longer route. The first 10 miles were fairly flat and we had time to stop at a church to admire some very old gravestones – this was mentioned in our route book and was a very worthwhile and fascinating stop.

Following the edge of a loch, Chris commented on how great it was that the route would be flat …we turned a corner and three guesses what was in front of us! The undulations continued for a very long time, all down and round Loch Awe. In fact, there was no flat for the next 25 miles.

Arriving at our b&b, we were greeted by an ageing Victor Meldrew. He was very softly spoken and wore a hearing aid; add this to Diane’s inability to understand his accent or hear what he was saying; you can imagine the confusion!

Once settled in for the night, we are now sampling the best of Oban’s Indian cuisine.

As high as it gets.

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We waved Victor goodbye abiding by the B&B breakfast sign of “BREAKFAST FROM 8:00-8:45 NO EXCEPTIONS”.

The port looked lovely in the sunlight as we peddled up the steep hill out of Oban. Today’s route was mainly following the edge of lochs which unfortunately meant cycling on A roads. It was also the longest of our trip 75 miles a record for us on our tandem.

We are now officially in the highlands. So as expected we saw lots of mountains including the biggest of them all, Ben Nevis.

We stopped off to get a new bike pump and water bottle in Fort William and finally got to pump the tyres up properly using the shop track pump. So fed, watered and bike fixed we braved the final 25 miles of manic drivers, patient lorries and confused motorhomes to make it into Invergarry.

The scenery has been spectacular albeit spoilt a little by the heavy traffic.

Our room tonight is in a proper old Scottish house overlooking the countryside. We are wondering if we will see the beacons being lit tonight to celebrate the queens diamond jubilee.

Well how would you pronounce it?

Jun5

The Loch Ness monster… Of a hill.

Jun5

After a day of A road traffic we decided to head for the hills. Starting on the Caledonian canal which was flat, traffic free and bathed in the early morning sunshine. What could go wrong? Four punctures is the answer. This was the first mechanical issue we had had with the bike since we set off.

On closer inspection we realised that the rear tyre had worn through the tread and wasn’t protecting the inner tube on the flinty towpath. Each time we managed a mile or so then we had to stop, patch the tyre and reload the bike. Grrrrr.

We got off the towpath as soon as possible and joined the B road away from the crowds to get around Loch Ness. To quote from our guide book “it’s as big a climb as any you have experienced so far” and it was. To put it into Chris & Diane terms it was an 8 stopper followed by a short down and then a 6 stopper. The view from the top was breathtaking or perhaps we were just out of breath.

We ate our lunch at the top over looking the world.

The downward route was broken by a quick stop to visit the falls of Foyer and a cup of tea. The route then followed the edge of the loch for the next 7 miles. We kept a sharp eye out for Nessie but have nothing to report.

We passed a circus tent and big wheel with lots of people setting up what initially Chris thought was an agricultural show. However when we got to Gate 10 we realised it was something more than that. In fact it was the Olympic torch site for 9th June (we are going to miss it AGAIN).

We shot through Inverness stopping briefly in Halfords for a new tyre and inner tube and on to Cromarty. Today has been one of the hardest of the trip although the 60 miles we covered doesn’t reflect that.

On our travels we reflected on the street parties we were missing. Mentally we raised a toast to them all.

Wet and windy in the Highlands

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We started the day by leaving Cromarty by a little ferry. We were the only passengers. Wet weather was forecast so we togged up ready for the worst. But soon realised it wasn’t going to be as bad as expected and detogged after a coffee stop.

Our route zigzagged across the main A9 and took us close to the sea and into some empty countryside. We still managed to meet two 52 seated coaches in the space of 10 minutes on a single track road.

We stopped briefly at a castle called Dunrobin. Which is such a great name for Ronnie Biggs castle.
As the afternoon wore on the weather got worse. The rain got heavier and the wind picked up (a head wind of course).

So the last 12 miles it was head down and cycle. We both felt we would have been cheated if we hadn’t experienced all that Scotland had to offer.

Soaked but happy we arrived at our B&B. Our mileage total now stands at 996.1 miles (not including getting lost).

Just met a man in the pub doing the same trip alone Joel’s blog can be found at Joel blog

Nearly there.

Jun7

We awoke to fog outside the bedroom window. So much so that we couldn’t see the sea a few hundred yards away. But at least it wasn’t raining.

The road sign outside the b&b said 44 miles to John O’Groats but our route was to Thurso along a hardly used single track road.

We had a magical morning cycling through the scotch mist spotting red deer, waterfalls and numerous birds most of which we didn’t know their names.

Half way was the train station of Forsinard which had an RSPB information centre/coffee room in it. It would have been rude not to have stopped.

By this time the weather had brightened in fact a patch of blue followed us along the valley. The road brought us to the top of the UK it was turn right or get wet. Turning right brought us straight into a head wind. Which we fought against all the way into Thurso (16 miles) not to mention the hill.

We now only have 20 miles to go. The forecast is for rain and gale force winds (30 mph) it’s a head wind of course. We are allowing 4 hours to make it to John O’Groats where hopefully we will be met by our transport to Inverness.

Fingers crossed.

Yeeeee Haaaaa – John O’Groats

Jun8

The sound of the wind and rain on our bedroom window meant that unfortunately the weather forecasters were right for once.

Wearing almost everything we had we set out into the howling gale. The wind didn’t let up for the whole ride. We were sometimes in a steep hill climbing gear just to make headway on the flat.

Thank goodness it was only 20 miles. Even so it took us 2:30 to reach the end. We rolled into the rain soaked car park desperately looking for a welcome sign/finish line but there was none. However Diane was excited to spot a Costa coffee sign it was to be our first port of call.

To say we were underwhelmed by John O’Groats would be an understatement. However we were still elated that we had completed our journey we started 19 days ago.

After drying out, our transport to Inverness arrived as planned to collect us. The tandem is to be couriered back to Newbury and we will fly home in the morning.

So it’s out on the town for us. A bottle of bubbly and a nice meal to round off a fantastic trip.

Stay tuned for additional previously unpublished material and outtakes.

Out takes

Jun10

how much is too much?
Have a look at the picture below. On the left are Chris’s toiletries, in the middle are sun and insect cream and on the right are Diane’s travel size creams. She did say “it’s ok I didn’t bring any makeup to save weight”

Cream of the day
We both made good use of the “Udderly smooth” cream. Without going into to much detail, it certainly seemed to work!

Mind your language
On the whole Diane’s route planning worked perfectly. However when the person on the back has one idea and the person steering has another, conflict can arise. The plan was to take a cycle path around a particularly busy bridge. However although Diane saw the path, Chris missed it as he was watch out for cars and potholes. The air turned blue as Diane pointed out what we had already realised; we were on a dual carriageway in the rush hour with no means of turning round or getting off. We lived to tell the tale.

Strange B&Bs
We have stayed in many b&b’s on our journey, some better than others. There was the memorable smell in one of them. We couldn’t work out whether it was boiled tripe for the very many dogs of the house, or Chris’s cycling shoes left to dry on the radiator! It was very pungent and when Diane woke in the night, she convinced herself that someone had actually died in our room.

In another B&B, which was actually very nice, there was a rocking chair and a ticking clock. Diane woke in the night and being half asleep, thought the ticking clock was the sound of a ghost rocking in the chair – as in The Woman in Black. Cycling can make you mad.

His and hers matching evening attire
Quite unintentionally, we had both packed similar outfits to wear off the bike. Brown trousers, white t-shirt, trainers and hi-viz jackets; not to mention the beanie hats. We couldn’t understand why people were giving us funny looks at first – were the teenage girls gathered around the bench laughing at us, or something else? We’ll never know.

Talking to the animals

Being on a tandem means that generally there is only one person to talk to. Diane rectified this by saying hello to all the animals we passed so the sounds of “hello moo moo”, hello baby baa baa” and “oh my life, baby piglets” became a common sound for Chris. Actually, Chris did try and communicate with sheep and cows in their own language and surprisingly, they answered back but his animal speaking skills didn’t stretch to translation.

We also found that calves and lambs in particular were very interested in us as we cycled past, even to the extent that they would stop eating and follow us with their eyes – we’re sure that some had their mouth’s dropped as if wondering what on earth it was going past.