Day 11 Bonar Bridge to Bettyhill

I'll never complain about a headwind again after the last 12 miles of todays ride. More about that later. The day started overcast with drizzle so once again it was on with the waterproofs. However by the first hill out of Bonar Bridge the rain had stopped and before I was 'boiled in the bag' they quickly came off. Even with the wet weather and easterly wind I was feeling good today. It could be due to the fact I had finally fallen off the wagon and had one or two (or was it three) single malts last night. After the poor start I had yesterday I promised myself a drink!The landscape once past Lairg has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Rugged comes to mind: with the mountains, moorland, lochs, and pinewoods. Large swathes of pine had been cut so some parts look like a disaster zone.

Just before I arrived at the days water stop a Pine Martin ran across the road in front of me and soon disappeared into the heather. The water stop was an indoor affair at the Crask Inn. Here fresh coffee and home made cakes where served. Plus a welcoming fire. GREAT! After the stop the planned route was to turn off the A836 and take the B873. However I decided I needed to do some extra miles (I'm trying to get 1000 miles on this trip. I'm currently at 930) so I continued on to Tongue, before turning due east to Bettyhill. The northerly stretch was fine but the side wind was challenging. While I dreaded each turn into the wind. I picked up a memento of the trip - an antler. It was near the side of the road just the other side of the drainage ditch. I suppose it was better than the rubbish lining the route travelled. The amount of rubbish seen the last two weeks, even in the remote areas was disappointing.

At Tongue I saw the Atlantic (I assume it's the Atlantic to the North of Scotland) before turning east towards Bettyhill. Now the fun began. With the very strong wind directly in my face I was faced with a challenge. Keeping the bike moving forward was hard going and my low gears were required. Staying on the bike was another difficulty. This was for 12 miles - even the downhills were tough since I was being buffeted by the wind constantly and stopped going forward if I didn't pedal! The hill out of Borgie would normally be a challenge but for me it initially provided relief from the wind. Although a slow climb it was faster than when in the wind. The problem was that once at the top the full force of the wind returned :-( All in all, it was an interesting and challenging days ride. One day to go. We are planning to visit Dunnet Head - the most northerly point in mainland UK tomorrow.

Day 10 Invergarry to Bonar Bridge

When I started todays ride and was thinking what I'd post (you think a lot on a bike - some things I remember to post, others I forget and others I miss owing to the fact I'm typing it all in on a phone). Oh yes, what I considered posting this morning included statements like 'this is hell', 'why am I doing this', ' my knees hurt', 'F ing wind' etc. I found the first 20 miles bloody hard work. Until the last 10 miles, the wind was constantly in my face. During the ride along Loch Ness the wind was also cold. Since I had nothing in my legs, pedalling was an effort, I was tired and soon I was cold as well. It was only when I reached Urquhart Castle and the water stop at Drumnadrochit that I got going. Good job since the route from Drumnadrochit was the first and most significant climb of the day along the A833 through Glen Convinth towards Beauly. Even with a headwind the downhill was great. Lunch was after Dingwall near Alness on the B817. This involved another climb plus the constant headwind. Since my legs were now 'working', lunch and water stops were more grab and go with little hanging around. This meant I passed a number of fellow end to enders.The final climb was up to Struie on the B9176. Finally a tail wind at the end of the climb. The first all day. During this final climb I meet another cyclist going to Cape Wrath. He is planning on doing the Audax LEL in July with his wife on a tandem. Today was just a fun ride for him! Not sure when this post will appear since a poor signal. Also unable to access webmail to send todays photos. Sorry. Penultimate day tomorrow. Bonar Bridge to Betty Hill. Bye for now. Fingers crossed that my legs hold out.

Comment from Bob: anyone not realising the effort Anton's been putting in can see from this post that even Ironman himself is finding it tough. He's on the penultimate day today and riding through very exposed countryside - there'll be NO hiding place from the wind nor from the rain. Here is a picture showing it on a good day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28015608@N06/page7/
Come on Anton, nearly there!

Day 9 Inverary to Invergarry

Three quarters through LEJOG, 98 miles for the day. Today was hard due to the distance and head wind, but having said that, it was the most enjoyable days cycling I've had. The scenery was great. Better than yesterday, so I needed to be more selective when taking photo's. I still took too many though. I understand that a flickr site exists to hold all my photos (there is a link to this on the left - Bob).

The weather in Scotland could not be better - warm and sunny. No rain only a head wind.
We started the day with a 5 mile uphill but an easy gradient. Not a hilly route since we're mainly following the lochs up the Great Glen.
Ben Nevis was seen (and photo'ed) from several angles.

The clear weather made the views great.

Having travelled over 700 miles in 9 days, today I think I had my two nearest misses with traffic on the whole trip. Entering Fort William a lorry came so close I was forced off the road - lucky there was a parking area to swerve into! Then when leaving Fort William a campervan pulled in far too early. It makes one think since just before that last near miss I had taken a photo of a ghost bike on the other ride of the road. Tonight we are staying in a bunk house, sharing a dorm with 5 others! Tomorrow we have one hilly section, similar to Dartmoor, to look forward to. We will also be passing Loch Ness. The phone camera will be ready just in case. Bye for now. Only three more days of cycling to go. Then I can have a drink or two to celebrate. Only person in the group not to :(

Day 8 Kilmarnock to Inverary

Todays ride was one of two halves. The first was a dash to the ferry for the crossing to Dunoon. The second was a lazy ride alongside/round a couple of lochs to the hotel.Although the weather was clear and sunny. There was a biting wind most of the day: Okay when it's a tail wind, but a pain when a head wind. Also the wind direction was affected by the lay of the land.To get warm I left the start at a fast pace, with the racers of the group. In approx 90 mins we had covered the 20 plus miles to thef irst water stop. I was dropped immediately we left this stop and in going first to the wrong ferry crossing, missed the one they caught by mere seconds. :(

Once in Dunoon it was a 5 mile ride to lunch, which I made the most of. I also took time to visit the gift shop of the botanical gardens w ehad stopped at. After allowing plenty of time to digest my lunch it was soon time to cover the last 32 miles to the hotel. The views are great so I stopped frequently. Maybe I was tired and the photo stops were an excuse. However towards the end of today I was starting to feel bored with cycling. Maybe 8 days of cycling was getting to me. At least only 4 to go. Tomorrow is supposed to be a long day, both in terms of mileage and hours of cycling. One thing I've found is the sun is constantly on my left and behind. This means that my left calf is medium rare, even with plenty of sunblock. Longs tomorrow me thinks.

Bye for now

Day 7 Carlisle to Kilmarnock (at last)

Currently waiting for the ferry over the Clyde to Dundoon so a chance to post something for day 7. Yesterday I decided to have a lazy day, taking over 8 hours to cover the 100 miles cycled. Kept stopping to look at the views or take photos so a lazy day was in order. The route was fairly flat but the A76 was busy with heavy lorries passing frequently.

5 more days to go.

Day 6 Preston to Carlisle

514.7 miles covered since leaving Land's End on Tuesday, and also halfway through in terms of days left. Tomorrow we pass Gretna Green and enter Scotland. Hopefully the ride to Kilmarnock will not be too hilly. At least the weather is looking to be better. Today started with the rim of Steves rear wheel blowing. Worn and pumped too high the cause. This delayed our start. (Steve is a fellow end to ender in a photo below - sorry about my expression in it). Bernie another E2E and experienced racer also hung around, while Steves wheel was sorted. Even with Bernie not appearing to try too hard he set a fast pace. Just before the first water stop it started to rain, and shortly after met Ian with a flat. Stopping to help, Steve picked up the first 3 punctures for the day. By Kendal the heavy rain had stopped, ready for the climb up Ribs Fell. The climb was okay once you got into a comfortable gear . The problem was the desire to stop on each bend to look and photo the landscape. Once at the top the clear weather was replaced with cold driving rain. The downhill to lunch was not pleasant. I was hoping to free wheel, but instead had to pedal all the way :( From Shap the route was to Penrith where the sun finally appeared and remained all the way to Carlisle.

Day 6 photos When the weather was good lots of great scenery from Kendal to Penrith . Could have taken a lot more photos but would never got up Shap!

Day 5 Shrewsbury to Preston

Hi from Preston. Glad to have got here, since not the best days cycling. My legs are feeling the previous 4 days and I'm finding it harder and it takes me longer each morning to get going. Once the legs are back spinning I'm fine but it's hard work getting started. Restarting after water/food stops is just as bad and even traffic lights are a pain when on red. Until Warrington the A49 is in the countryside, but after that it was nearly all urban. Also had to deal with LOTS of cars, busy road junctions and yes, more traffic lights. :(

From the A49 we joined the A6 into Preston. So all day on busy roads. Well Carlisle tomorrow on the longest day. The 5 mile climb up Shap Fell should be interesting.

Bye for now. Dinner calls .

Day 5 photos Hit Preston at 86.4 but 90.7 on speedo by the time I got to the hotel!

Day 4 Tintern to Shrewsbury (Club Ride!)

I'm still feeling good, but my legs ache more each day and getting started in the morning seems to be getting harder.Today was a good day for cycling with the weather mostly good. More on that later.By the time I'd climbed out of Tintern my legs had woken up and I was spinning well as I headed towards Monmouth. However, just before Monmouth the heavens opened and a strong headwind made it heavy going.Luckily, this was to be the only rain of the day, but with a strong wind constantly blowing from a westerly/south westerly direction, any time the route headed that way, the going got tough - at least the wind would be behind me on the last leg into Shrewsbury.At Hereford I was in for a surprise. Approaching the bridge over theWye, I noticed a cyclist who had a similar bike to Bob, dressed likeBob and looked just like Bob. When he called out my name I realised it was Bob!

Bob, a fellow member of my CTC section and former End to Ender himself, was on holiday nearby and planned to lend me some moral support. Thanks Bob, I hope you enjoyed the ride to Shrewsbury? It was certainly faster than our normal club rides.

The final section was down the Hope valley. But first we had to climb up there! After a refreshment stop at the top, it was a great downhill where I was topping somewhere in the region of 40 mph. As the road flattened out, Bob, Steve and myself cracked along at over 20 mph before a toot from behind announced that Jan had arrived to pick Bob up and take him back home.

Steve and I pressed on to Shrewsbury and were first to arrive at the hotel - beating our roadie companions who'd got lost (again).
Destination Preston tomorrow - the route looks flat but is probably the most built up part of the entire route..p.s. with all the food AD are feeding us, I'm putting weight on!Bye for now

Day 3 Sampford Peverell to Tintern

Three down, only nine days to go.Still feeling good. My legs took a few miles to get going in the morning, but after that I was ok.Today was fairly flat with only one planned hill before lunch over the Mendips. Not Cheddar Gorge, but Shipham Hill. Still a long drag.The day started sunny so plenty of sun block was applied. But by the time we crossed the Severn Bridge into Wales it was grey and overcast.

I got lost three times today which meant an extra 4 miles riding. Not too bad. The problem was the unplanned steep and long hill I had to climb standing up on my lowest gear - I need to check the map more often!Bye for now. Another update tomorrow. ( ps hope the photos got posted. Thanks Bob for sorting yesterdays)

Day 2 Liskeard to Sampford Peverall

End of another day and I still feel ok.The day started overcast with drizzle, so on with the waterproof top. Very quickly I was being boiled in a bag, especially after the hill out of Liskeard. I think I was drier in the drizzle without the waterproof. Yesterday was lumpy. Today was hilly from the start, even before reaching Dartmoor. But after each climb there was a long winding downhill. The downhill into Callington was particularly memorable, but at least my brakes worked for the traffic lights at the bottom! The drizzle had long stopped by the time I reached Tavistock.

Tavistock marked the start of Dartmoor and the mist covered hill indicated what was to come - fog and mist. Soon my glasses were so misted up I ended cycling Dartmoor without them. What with my poor eyesight and the fog that made for an interesting ride!

After lunch in the middle of the park the weather had improved.

Day 1 Lands End to Liskeard

Day one over and I feel okay. The day started overcast, and not too warm. However the forecast was for sunny spells so arm and leg warmers were the order of the day.

LE was not too busy first thing but I did meet several other end to enders setting off. Got a couple of photos (above!) NAS sorry about the oil on your T-shirt. Too much oil on the chain when I reassembled the bike. The route was: A30 to Long Rock via Penzance > A394 > B3280 > B3297 to Redruth then to Scorrier & Chacewater join A390 Truro to St Austell to Lostwithiel to A38 then into Liskeard.

The A390 was very lumpy with one big hill after St Austell near Penpillick that went on for ever. But after each uphill there's a downhill. Some were great. I managed 48mph down the A38. (Bob you would have loved it). Well time for dinner and once I have a signal I'll send this entry plus photos. Hard day tomorrow - Crossing Dartmoor. It will be lumpy :(

bike ready for packing

Hopefully the photo of my bike, ready for packing will be displayed on the blog. The plan is to send any photos at the end of each days riding.

Packing and two days to go

Well I've finally managed to pack the bike ready for the journey to LE. My old Dawes is a good bike, but just on the heavy side. At least the bike bag's got wheels which should help getting to/from train platforms. Hopefully the journey to the start and then home at the end will not be too bad. I'm looking forward to the actual cycling. It's the trains that's worrying :- ( Time to finish packing my cycling gear and some clothes for the evenings.