And so it ends

What can I say? We've all achieved something in the last 2 weeks. For me, this is the first thing I've done that I can look to and say "Not many people can claim to have done that". I've thoroughly enjoyed it, and would recommend it to anybody who is reasonably fit and doesn't mind getting thoroughly soaked now and again. Thanks to two great friends who were with me, another who was almost with us, my wife who coped with a teething 1 year old on her own for 2 weeks, my family, and to everybody's comments on the blog, texts and calls that really helped us on our way. Looking forward to a week of doing naff all next week. Cheers all. Gareth.

5 spokes, 9 punctures and 975 miles

Hi again. So, another day, another mammoth task completed. I don't think I can add much to what Garfy's already written, although I've realised over the last couple of weeks that he's a pretty funny writer, and he knows how to use a REALLY small keyboard (although that's mainly because he's got tiny little hands), and that he does a really good Carttman impression. Ghandi is the most useful man on the planet, to the point that he can even fashion bike tools out of a piece of rope or a stick, and that he also has an affinity for cable ties, as well as for cycling up hills far faster than is neccessary. I've had a great couple of weeks, doing something that 20 years after my last big cycling adventure I thought that I'd never repeat. I've missed my family loads, got stroppy with my friends, and sung some bloody awful songs. And I've had a great time. Thanks to everyone for keeping in touch, sending messages of support, and of course sponsoring us. And especially thanks to Garfy and Gandhi for being really good mates (plus Rob our fourth member) and inviting me as well as putting up with me. It's now seven o'clock on Sunday 23rd August 2009, the day we finished our cycle ride from John o'Groats to Lands End. Can we go and get drunk now please? Darrin

Day 15. Goonhavern to Lands End. 40 miles

WE MADE IT!!!!!!!!! Hard to believe it really but we actually nailed it in 14 1/2 days (apparently the average from JOG to LE is 16, so considering we lost half a day with repairs, we're pretty chuffed with ourselves. The final day decided to throw everything at us - big head winds, torrential rain, 1 puncture and a broken spoke, but we soldiered on regardless. The day for me started badly - I only got about 2 hours sleep and had absolutely no energy this morning. We packed up the tents and the rain started in earnest as we left Goonhavern bound for Redruth. Gandhi had spotted a cafe on the map so we headed for it fueled only by Jordan's bars (is he on family commission??), but buoyed by the thought of a full english and a hot coffee. Our hopes were soon dashed when we discovered that the cafe had been replaced by a Starbucks - not a fried piece of meat in site - so we plodded on to Redruth. Halfway there, we came across the cafe - it had obviously moved site. With joy in our hearts, we stopped, only to discover that it was closed and not open for a further 15 minutes. Rather than get cold, we decided to find somewhere in Redruth. Arriving there, we discovered that Redruth doesn't open on a Sunday. So, more Jordan bars, some warm sweaty cheese and a bread roll and on we went - for 20 yards until Gand ran over a piece of glass from a broken beer bottle kindly left in the road by a local drunk. The tyre was slightly mullered, but Darrin stepped in with an emergency tyre boot and repairs were hastily made. We climbed out of Redruth and pressed on to Camborne where, like a shimmering oasis in a a haze of rain, the M of plenty appeared - a beacon of hope in a desolate land. Cheesburgers - the cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast. And chips. And coffee. Vingoe considered going for a second burger, but then remembered his new trim figure and decided to pass. All feeling much better, we carried on in the rain and passed through Hayle, hitting the A30 to Marazion, where we left the main road and followed the coast to Penzance and Newlyn (Daddy Vingoe - not a bad place to grow up I spose). I popped a spoke in Penzance, but really couldn't give a monkey's as we only had 10 miles to go. Got back on the A30 and on to the last stretch to Lands End. Lots of steep ups and downs on this road - not what we really wanted or expected for the last 10 miles, but the rain had eased off so the going was a bit nicer. With around 2 miles to go, we got our first sight of Lands End - a real lift to the spirits. A few minutes later and we arrived. A complete contrast to JOG - there was actually life here! We pulled up by the signpost and got the obligatory photos taken, then headed for the local hotel for a couple of pints and to phone a taxi (assisted by the Receptionist Vicky, who the other boys assured me was rather lovely to behold; I, of course, didn't notice) to take my crippled bike back to our hostel in Penzance. Darrin jumped in as well whereas Super-Gand decided to ride the 10 miles back (sometimes you can go off a person). Reflections from the three of us to follow.

Day 14 Okehampton to Goonhaven. 68 miles

Saying of the day from Mr Vingoe; "Please let me see a road that doesn't look like a teenager's face"! We started the day with a steep climb out of Okehampton - never the best thing to do after a Full English - and headed cross country for Launceston on some lumpy roads. We crossed the Tamar and in to Cornwall at about 11 - hard to believe that we'd reached our last county and a somewhat pleasurable experience! Launceston appeared to be situated on a small mountain which we duly climbed and rewarded ourselves with our first pasty at the top. A quick visit to the local bike shop where we pumped up our tyres, chatted to the lovely family that owned it and signed their End to End guest book. We then climbed another mountain to leave town and then across country to Camelford on yet more crappy, bumpy roads. Decided to take the A road and stopped at a garage for a cup of coffee to ward off the rain (described by a local as mizzle - a cross between mist and drizzle). The kindly attendant asked where we were headed. When we told her that we our next town was St. Columb Major, her face darkened. "You're not staying there are you?" she said in a semi whisper. We assured her that we weren't, which judging from her reaction was obviously the right choice. We then took another Gandhi detour across some of the most narrow flodded roads we had seen before finally rolling in to Goonhavern. A quick beer and a chat to a friendly local, who was extremely impressed with our endeavours, led us to meet the local campsite owner who gave us 3 pitches for the price of one. So, our last night on the road draws to and end. Lands End tomorrow God Willing!

Day 13. Street to Okehampton. 75 miles

A wise man once said to me (and has repeated it in a comment in this blog) "When the going gets tough, pull up your knickers and keep on boxing". Today it was a mantra that we needed to live by as we entered Devon - home of the up and down hills. We left Street and had an easy first 20 miles or so, stopping for breakfast at a nice little bakery at Othery. We then cycled through Taunton - a busy little place - and headed out on the main A38, deviating from the route suggested by the Book of Love. When will we learn that we ignore the Book at our peril? The road was stupidly busy full of stupid holiday makers who were about as discourteous to cyclists as they could be. We all got pretty hacked off with this and were making slow progress, so we decided to get back on the quiet but hilly route suggested by the Book of Love. Every End to End guide or blog you read says that Devon and Cornwall is the hardest point of the journey and the hills were certainly steep. But we are now veterans of Kirkstone Pass, so getting up these little speedbumps presents a much smaller challenge. I have to say that this is another advantage of doing this in the North to South direction - one's legs are fitter to tackle the hilly terrain of the Southwest. The route skirted conveniently around Exeter to Crediton, where I had to stop at a bike shop to get yet another spoke fixed which had popped 10 miles earlier. Gandhi's charmed journey had finally ended with a puncture at about the same time, so Darrin and I pressed on to Crediton and met him there once he'd fixed it. We then headed on to Okehampton, our stop for the night, and were presented with some monster hills to end our day with. Question - why are Youth Hostels always at the top of a bloody hill?

Day 12 Newland to Street. 70 miles

Got woken several times in the night by a strong wind blowing my tiny tent around - not a good sign for the day's ride ahead! Sure enough when we got up the wind was still strong and it started to rain just as we were packing up. We got going and cycled through the beautiful Wye Valley (the view was somewhat marred by the pouring rain) heading towards Chepstow. 10 miles in we came across a lovely little Cafe within an old railway statiion in Tintern where we stopped for a fry up. Feeling decidedly better we headed in to Chepstow where the rain cleared up just as we reached the beautiful vista that is the old Severn Bridge, which we crossed on the cycle path. We then used the Gand Nav to travel along back roads and cycle paths to the nice part of Bristol, up and down some big hills to the Clifton Downs and then over the River Avon on the Clifton Bridge. We asked Gand to cycle over first to take a photo of Darrin and I as we crossed, but he managed to completely screw it up due to getting a text just as he was pressing the shutter - it was refreshing to see that even he can get things wrong occasionally! We then headed for Cheddar and decided to take a Gandhi shortcut which took us through the Mendip Hills. One or 2 tough climbs later (why do his shortcuts always involve big hills?), we reached Cheddar then headed on for Glastonbury and Street, our stop for the night. Feeling tired and filthy, I decided to stay at a pub while the others headed for the local hostel. I say local - proved to be 3 miles out of town. When they got there, they were told that there were no spare bunks, so the poor sods are camping again. Can't wait to see the little rays of sunshine tomorrow morning.....

Day 11. Church Stretton to Newland. 64 miles

We all had a pretty good day today. The sun shone and the scenery was good. We left Church Stretton and were soon being followed by 3 other cyclists who were enjoying sitting in our tow. Gandhi then nearly killed them by shedding one of his panniers on to the road after hitting a rut. After a quick stop to put everything back, we parted company with the other riders and headed in to Ludlow, a very pretty little town. Shortly after leaving, we met another End to Ender heading for JOG called Richard. He had been cycling with a partner, but she had given up after 4 days. He decided to press on. I really can't imagine doing this on my own, so good on him and good luck! We then headed in to Leominster and stopped to get some lunch where a woman started chatting to us as she had done End to End twice. She advised that we cycle the Wye Valley as it was a lovely route. We quickly adjusted the Gand Nav and headed off for Hereford which we sped through, then on to Monmouth where I promptly got a puncture. With the aid of Handy Gandhi we were quickly on our way and got to the start of the valley. Found a campsite in Newland close to a fantastic pub. A wobbly ride back to the tents followed by some oohs and aahs at the clear starlit sky finished the day on a high. Supposed to be raining tomorrow. Bugger!

Day 10. Chester to Church Stretton. 57 miles

Another eventful day today! August 18th 2009 shall go down in the annals of GGD JOGLE history as "Brokey Spokey" day. We left the hostel in Chester and headed across country to Shrewesbury. Rode through some glorious countryside in the middle of nowhere - clearly the worst possible place for something to go wrong. An ominous noise from Darrin's bike proved that once again we were the victims of Sod's law - 2 spokes had broken on Darrin's back wheel. Handy Gandhi broke out the tool set but we couldn't get the rear cassette off the bike to change the spokes, despite all manner of improvised levers, including tyre irons and stout pieces of wood. Finally Gandhi and Darrin ran down to a local farm where agricultural engineering techiques were employed (a hammer and a length of rope) to get the tricky bugger off. After a 2 hour delay and with new spokes fitted we headed on for Shrewsbury. As we got to the outskirts I heard a strange "doink" noise. After having made sure that I hadn't popped out of my lycra, I pulled over to discover that I had now broken a spoke on my rear wheel. Fortunately, my bike had the good grace to break down close to civilisation, so I nursed it to a local bike shop where they sorted it for me. Had a very interesting conversation with the local nutter who was picking up a bike from the shop that he had "found in a field"and taken in for repair, claiming that it only had a minor bend in the frame. When the thing was wheeled out, it was clear that it was beyond repair - it must have been about 60 years old. When he got on it outside and tried to pedal, the wheel wouldn't move. He still insisted that he'd be doing JOGLE on it next year. We wished him well. After a further hour's delay we headed on again for Church Stretton. By now it was getting late so we headed straight for the local campsite - which was full. We managed to find a room in a hotel which was signed as being "up the hill". Turned out to be a small mountain - not the way we would have chosen to end our day! Still it's a nice gaff and they have a bar - and tomorrow starts with a big downhill!

Day 9. Garstang to Chester. 71 miles

A really good day today for 3 reasons. 1) It was flat pretty much all day. 2) My legs felt like they could go all day. 3) IT DIDN'T RAIN ALL DAY!! With a new tyre fitted thanks to our kind hosts at The Black Horse Hotel in Garstang, Darrin and we set out with renewed confidence, tempered slightly by the thought that we had to negotiate our way through the North West urban sprawl of St. Helens, Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn in order to hit our destination of Chester. The Book of Love warned us that these would be the busiest roads of the trip and gave us a route along dual carriagways and through scally land. However, the Book of Love didn't account for our secret weapon - Gand Nav! He managed to steer us through the quietest roads possible in the middle of urban chaos. I'm not joking when I tell you that we went past a farm in the middle of St Helens. I think the only busy bit we saw was crossing the Mersey on the Runcorn Bridge and we managed to do that on the cycle path. The only tricky bit today was climbing a 20% hill (1 in 5 in old money) just west of Wigan which was a rather unpleasant surprise! Made it in to Chester and found a hostel for the night before heading back into town for a cider or 3 (why have I got in to cider on this trip?). Chester is lovely - a beautiful old walled city and well worth a visit for a dirty weekend. Great to think we are south of Manchester and will hit the Midlands tomorrow.

Day 8. Glenridding to Garstang. 58 eventful miles

August 16th shall ever be known in the annals of Vingoe history as "Puncture Day" - more of that later. Our day began waking up in a beautiful hotel in Glenridding in the Lake District. We were all filled with a sense of dread as we knew we had a climb up to 1500 feet along the infamous Kirkstone Pass to tackle first thing. The rain had finally eased off, but the wind was strong and in our faces as we set off. After 10 minutes or so we got a glimpse of the task ahead. It looked like the cover of a Tolkien novel. It was biblical in it's steepness! I knew we were in trouble when I heard Gandhi, the fittest member of our little gang, take the Lord's name in vain when he first clapped eyes on it. Anyway, up it we went, some more quickly than others. I have to say it was the hardest thing I've ever cycled - especially in to a strong head wind and carrying 20 kg on our bikes. Right at the top, Darrin got a puncture. After a quick patch up, we started the 5 mile descent down the south side of the pass. Where Darrin got another puncture. Another quick fix and on again to the bottom of the pass. Where Darrin got a puncture. We quickly worked out that his rear tyre was screwed, but on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere, we had to make do and mend. We then ran through Windemere - nice but very touristy and busy - and then climbed out on on a nice country road heading for Lancaster. Where Darrin got a puncture. And kicked his bike. And swore a bit. After fixing it and a eating a couple of jelly babies, we pushed on through Lancaster and arrived at Gurstang, our destination for the evening. Where Darrin got a puncture. Believe me, I wish I was exaggerating. Now bearing the visage of a beaten man, Darrin decided we needed a pint. We wheeled the bikes to a local hotel, where the kindly owner Michael gave Darrin a bike tyre - amazing generosity to which we are becoming accustomed on this trip. Really restores one's faith in human nature! Still - it didn't rain today and we've now covered 525 miles.

Day 7. Annan to Glenridding. 48 miles (rest day!!!)

Bonjour and hello from Glenridding, located on Ullswater in the wonderful Lake District. Wonderful because it's NOT IN SCOTLAND! Garfy and I have decided that (and apologies for those of you of a Scottish persuasion) that North of the border was pretty crap on the whole, although to be fair that opinion was tainted by the incessant rain we've had over the last few days. Oh, and the crappy greasy food and rubbish pubs and the fact that everything is either grey, brown or grey-brown. Anyway, on to today... Today started as yesterday finished: horizontal rain stinging our faces and winter cold wind, in August! It really gets a bit of a grind when you've got to leave a nice warm friendly hotel (Gandhi left very quickly for some reason!) and head out into a miserable cold morning. Anyway, we soon warmed up and were shortly trotting along some very quiet country roads with the wind behind us, which meant the rain was only stinging the backs of our heads. The traffic was virtually non existent and we passed Gretna, got married to each other and crossed the border into England, land of the free and home of the vegetable. Carlisle town centre was pretty small but not unpleasant, and after a minor diversion we headed further South and into the Lake District, only stopping for the first puncture of the trip, courtesy of yours truly, at 444 miles. The countryside really started to change and look just more well, English. None of us have been to this part of the world before and all agree that it is pretty spectacular. We arrived in Greystoke by about 2pm and found this fantastic place called something like the Bike Barn, a drystone building which caters for cyclists doing coast to coast (East/West) or end to end like us, plus your general cyclists through the area. After they took our cold wet gloves and put them on the Aga they served a fantastic pasta with bacon, chilli, garlic and parmesan and we tucked in and got chatting to some other fellas there who were doing coast to coast over the weekend. I thought one of them looked familiar and after finding out they were from Darlington realised that his name was Phil Stanion and we had met before at Sascha and Liz's wedding in the Dominican Republic - small world eh? So we caught up for a bit and after they left we got on our way through the beautiful countryside. By this time the rain started to ease off and the sun came out, which was nice. A few hills, up and down, and by 4pm we had descended to the shores of Ullswater and our fantastic hotel in Glenridding, courtesy of the generosity of Mr Williams - cheers mate. At this point I think I ought to mention the various songs which we've been singng on the tour - a lot of country and western: Coward of the County, 9 to 5 etc, Roxanne by the Police (sung in a very high falsetto voice), a lot of sun/rain based songs (Horse with no name), a few Pogues numbers, a lot of songs our Dads listened to in the 70's, most usually at some point followed by Gandhi's rendition of the theme from Terry and June. Lastly, just wanted to say that we've all decided that for the purposes of our journey that Rob Price is the 4th member of our team; he's either phoned or texted us every day, offering words of encouragement as well as his usual guff of course. So cheers Rob - you're a good man. This has been Darrin Vingoe reporting, verbose as usual, from sunny England, four pints into a five pint night. Over and out. x. Darrin

Day 6. Tarbolton to Annan. 71 miles

Hours in saddle - 6. Hours of rain - 6. Sense of humour failures - 2 (one each for me and Darrin). We'd seen on the weather that today would be rainy but nothing prepared us for the amount of rain we got, along with a strong headwind. It really was horrible today. We started out and immediately hit some steep hills. I really struggled for the first 10 miles or so - just had no energy in my legs despite a really good night's sleep. Fortunately, the route levelled out after this and we made as good progress as we could despite the elements. We decided to ignore the route suggesed in the Book of Love (our pet name for our JOGLE guide) and stick to the main A road to Dumfries as this cut the distance by around 5 miles. It wasn't too busy and ran through some pretty nice countryside. Made it to Dumfries absolutely soaked through and then pushed on to Annan 14 miles away on a very busy A road. The rain got even worse and, coupled with the traffic, it really was a miserable run. Some kind soul in a Transit decided to throw a drink can at us which fortunately missed - just what we needed to lift the spirits! Finally got to Annan and found a B&B after one false start at a hotel that told us they did have rooms and then changed their minds just as we had unloaded the bikes.We hit the bar and the barmaid Jo got chatting to us. We think she was trying to get her hooks into Gandhi - poor sod wouldn't have stood a chance but we managed to smuggle him out when she wasn't looking. Forecast for tomorrow is more of the same, but we are doing an easier day of 55 miles (Gandhi is calling it our rest day; sometimes I could cheerfully shoot him) in order to stop at a good point before we tackle Kirkstone pass which will be our toughest climb of the journey. Still it's not all bad - we are only 7 miles North of Gretna, so we'll hit England in the first hour of the ride tomorrow. Hard to believe that we've pretty much done Scotland in 6 days!

Day 5. Ardlui to Tarbolton. 75 miles

A lovely sunny day, coupled with a flat first 50 miles really helped us along today - as did some of the scenery. We stayed on the shores of Loch Lomond last night - a really beautiful part of the world. the route followed the loch south and the flat terrain meant we made really good headway. Unfortunately we then stared hiitting the towns and cities. First came Dumbarton which I will politely describe as a complete shit hole. Got out of there as quickly as we could and then struggled to find the right route to get on the Erskine bridge Darrin and I eventually decided to wheel the bikes over 4 lanes of traffic, whilst Gand sensibly decided to pedal in the wrong direction to find a roundabout. After the bridge we went through Paisley - another busy place where we had to keep stopping to check the route. Finally made our way out and went through Neilston where the hills started. Despite now being in the Lowlands, the hills are steeper and nastier. A quick stop in Kilmaurs so Darrin could buy a new gel saddle (his original budget purchase from Lidl just couldn't cope with the enormity of his arse and split in 2 soon after JOG) and then a further 11 miles to Tarbolton where we found a cheap hotel. Day 6 and 7 are forecast to be raining hard - brilliant!

I've posted some photos to my ovi site - see the "Photos" post from Friday for the link.

Day 4 Fort William to Ardlui. 61 miles

A much easier day today, despite climbing 1150 feet and getting rained on for most of it! After having to wring our socks out last night we started the morning visiting the bike shop in Fort William to buy some neoprene over shoes to keep our feet dry - proved to be a good move! The first 19 miles were lovely and flat, with the road running alongside Loch Linnhe. We then crossed over Loch Leven and into Glencoe where the first climb began. 7 miles up through the mountains but generally pretty gradual and not too hard and amazing scenery. Just about at the top the rain started again and we crossed Rannoch Moor - a desolated place full of the infamous Scottish mozzies. Stopped for a quick lunch and got bitten to bits (by the mozzies, not my companions) and then trawled on over the moor. Have to say that part was pretty miserable. At about 35 miles we had a nice descent for 5 miles and then stopped at a hotel in a small village called The Bridge of Orchy for a couple of large coffees. Then another 5 mile climb followed by a fantastic 15 mile downhill into Ardlui where we stopped for the day. Main distraction for the day was the glove and shoe game. First person to spot a single glove or single shoe by the roadside wins a black or red jelly baby (this seemingly simple prize has stemmed from Darrin's abilty to pick out his favourite coloured jelly babies even when travelling at 17 mph and without looking in the bag). Despite this poor form of entertainment, spirits remain surprisingly high. Tomorrow we look forward to another round of the "Roadkill game" and a flat run past Glasgow. Needs to be a longer run tomorrow, or we'll be lodging with "Neds and Schemies" tomorrow night. Gareth

Day 3. Beauly to Fort William. 65 miserable miles

How do I begin to describe today? In a word, it was a bastard! We left Beauly at 9.45 - later than usual as the intrepid campers overslept. The day began with a 9 mile climb up. That's right. 9 miles. Actually it wasn't too bad. Generally pretty gradual up to a height of about 250m. then a really steep descent into Drumnadrochit where we stopped for some brunch. Whilst eating, the heavens opened - it rained heavily for the rest of the day. We struck off again and cycled along Loch Ness heading South West. Most people do End to End from Lands End up because of the prevailing wind. After today I understand why! Not only were we contending with the heavy rain, we had a strong wind in our faces for 50 miles today. Unless you cycle, you don't realise what a difference the wind makes to your speed and the amount of effort you have to put in. Anyway, being determined chaps we gritted our teeth and got on with it, heading for Fort William where we are staying the night. For once. the campers decided that a B&B might be a good idea, but guess what? Every hotel, B&B and hostel was full. Saw a campsite on the map and started heading towards it when my eagle eyes spotted a ramshackle old house that had the magic word "Vacancies" outside. I knocked on the door - no answer. I then saw a grey pony-tailed man in the garden who told me he had 2 twin rooms free. I nearly kissed the old bugger. Now looking forward to food and beer, trying to dry out my cycle shoes and a really tough day of massive hills tomorrow. Almost forgot to menton that I fell off the bike today. Just pulling in for a rest, unclipped my left foot then the weight of the panniers took the bike right. Didn't unclip in time so down I went! Nothing too serious other than a hurty knee.

Day 2. Helmsdale to Beauly. 66 miles

Aloha ggd joggle blog fans - a quick update on mine and Gandhi's pleasant night's camping last night in Helmsdale. We basically put up our tents in a small park that was reached down some small steps from a car park/local toilets/kids hangout. We were in bed by 8.30 because it had started to rain. Well, the heavens opened and we're in our tents when we realise that we have become the target for the local disenchanted youth, as besides the weather we had bottles, old bike wheels and other junk raining down upon us from the car park above. Needless to say, the next couple of hours we spent wondering when the next item was coming and what it would be - a concrete block perhaps? Anyway we survived and decided this morning to choose our camping spots a bit more carefully from now on. And never to go to Helmsdale again. So, on to today... After drying everything out, removing items from the surrounding area etc. we met the bed and breakfast man and plodded up the A9, climbing about 100 metres from the coast. We stopped in Golspie for a poached salmon pie (yes!) then onto Tain. From then on it was forest all the way until we got back on the A9 and did battle with the HGV drivers until we crossed Cromarty Firth. Gandhi then took us on another of his famous detours where were presented with our first challenging hill. All the previous hills had been long and steady in terms of incline. This one was long and bloody steep! We then had a 2 mile descent into Beauly. After a quick pint on the house from a lovely landlady, Garfy once again bravely opted for a B&B whilst Gand and I actually found a proper campsite with showers and no threat of incoming projectiles. Swift Ruby in the evening - marvellous! Darrin

Day 1. JOG to Helmsdale via Thurso. 78 miles

So finally we've actually started! We cycled down to JOG for some photos and then struck off. Gandhi wanted to take a detour through the Highlands so we headed for Thurso. Stopped at Tescos to buy some lunch and got a couple of people approach us and give us a tenner each as we were wearing our MND t-shirts. Out of Thurso and straight into a long steady climb. After around 10 miles we turned left and headed inland. Another steady climb and then down into a valley on a single track road. Beautiful scenery - just as you'd expect from the Highlands. A passing motorist pulled alongside and handed us 4 quid for the charity - God bless the Scots; a very generous bunch despite their reputation. Arrived in Helmsdale at around 5 and went straight to the local hotel for a beer. They had some vacancies so I promptly told the boys I was gettting a room. After calling me all kinds of names, the other guys headed down to the river to set up camp. Ignoring their poisonous barbs I had the best hot bath of my life and stuffed myself with sausage and mash followed by a phone call with my lovely missus. Life is good!

Saturday 8th

The term sleeper train certainly didn't apply to me - didn't sleep a wink. Arrived at Inverness at 8.30 and decided to cycle down to the river and sit in the sunshine as we had to wait until 2 for our train to Wick. Grabbed some lunch at 12 and then back to the station to meet up with Gandhi's mate Beth and her two mates who had just completed LEJOG.; in 13 days; on bikes with only 18 gears. Oh and they decided to climb Ben Nevis just for shits and giggles. Still, they are all rather younger than us! Got on the train to Wick which takes over 4 hours. By Thurso we'd all had enough so jumped off and caught a minibus to the hostel in JOG - a good decision as it poured down when we arrived at Thurso. The hostel was 3 miles from JOG, so we cycled down to get some dinner. having seen the place, we all agreed that we'd made the right decision to start here, as there's not much to it and it's a long way back home.

The story so far

Finally we've got to somewhere with some coverage so I can update the blog. Here's what's happened so far.

Friday

Darrin arrived at mine at 2.30. After some painful goodbyes to the family we cycled down to Poole Station where we met Gandhi. Darrin's parents and sister had also turned up to cheer us on and wave us goodbye. Hopped on the train to Waterloo. Met a really nice lad called Jim who was a mountain biker who insisted on giving us a fiver towards our charity. Got to Waterloo and then cycled through rush hour to Euston. Had a while to wait for the train so made our way to a rather posh bar in Regents Park. All clad in lycra, we felt it wise to sit outside in case we excited too many wealthy women. Back to Euston and on to the over nighter to Inverness where we met another posh lady who was rather amused by the fact that we were "bicycling" the Jogle. She was going up to the Highlands to shoot tigers or something like that.

Photos

So having had a play around, I'm not sure if I can definitely upload photos from my phone to this site, although I will try. However, all is not lost. I'll be uploading photos to my Nokia Share site which you can find at http://share.ovi.com/album/gareth004.GGDJogle2009

This blog will outline the adventures of 3 idiots who really should know better at their age as they cycle the 950 miles from John O'Groats to Lands End. Tempers will get frayed; bottoms will get sore; but experiences wiill be had that hopefully will never be forgotten! The trip starts on Sunday 9th August and I will attempt to update this blog as often as I can using my trusty Nokia phone. Gareth