Wednesday 10th September

Just thought i'd give a quick catch up on how Rick is getting on. No post for yesterday as when i got back home about 830pm Rick couldnt get any signal in the remote sticks of Scotland- I believe Rick had already gone to bed, this city boy aint used to all that fresh air and physical work!!!!

All is going very well indeed, Rick is managing to do the miles and has been arriving at his accommodation around 3pm so he gets a long evening to relax. Rick informs me that Scotland looks pretty damn beautiful and Tom is managing to take lets of photos of it too. Ricks spirits have been a little dampened today by the news he wont be able to get the beloved tegi (thats Integra to you and me!) on his way home Friday. Apparently theres some sort of bumper scratch that needs looking at first??? Anyway, will be ready for him in a week so not much longer til the white beauty arrives at no.36! 

So tommorrow is actually Ricks last cycling day and the arrival at John O'Groats and the completion of the 18 month mental challenge that has been the LEJOG! Lets hope he feels very proud of himself when he gets there cos I sure know he's worked very hard and deserves the achievement x

Tuesday 9th September

Thought I'd post this myself since we have internet access here in Fort William. What a day! Really getting tiring now, I've got a semi limp already and getting in a out of Tom's car is a real effort! The route today was very scenic but very hilly - the road out of Inverary started with a 7+ mile hill which took me about 50 minutes to negotiate! That pretty much set the pace for the whole day and it was a pretty arduous 72 miles getting here. The weather didn't help much, for the second day in a row I'm drying my gear on the heated towel rail in the bathroom!

Its awesome getting to the accommodation early each night, certainly the way forward. Yesterday in Inverary we arrived at 2:50 and today at 3:30, gives us plenty of time to chillax and prepare for the next day, and I'm getting a decent 9+ hours sleep each night which is just fantastic!

I'm sooooooo glad I bought a couple of medicinal gels with me. One's a cool gel which saves me having to find ice every day, and the other is a Neurofen gel which I can apply exactly where I need to (my knees). Its an anti inflammatory as well and so far its really keeping everything in check. What it CAN'T do though is give me new thighs which I could definitely do with right now, particularly as we've got 100 miles to cover tomorrow past Inverness and onto Tain. I'm aiming to set off at 7:30 ish tomorrow and all being well I should be arriving in Tain around 6pm.

Past half way now, definitely feeling positive today.

Monday 8th Spetember

Just got off the phone to Rick and he sounds very proud of himself since he cycled 80 miles today and was at the hotel for 3pm! The roads were pretty hilly but the new gears are helping Rick bomb up them without too much trouble. Somehow this morning Tom (in the car, with the map and the sat nav) managed to get lost off the route and Rick had to direct him until they eventually crossed paths again. It looks like they've gone into the highlands now, Rick sent me some pictures of the views he's beens cycling through today, looks very beautiful, the kind of photos the Scottish tourist board would want you to see! To finish a pretty successful day Rick ordered two main courses down the pub and went to bed early podged on a calorie overload.

Sunday 7th September

Rick and Tom reached Killmarnock at about 5pm tonight after a pretty successful first day. The weather managaed to stay on Rick's side which made the 80 miles relatively hassle free, although he can already feel the twinge of a dodgy knee! On route he passed three cyclists who were all doing the full LEJOG route, making Rick feel grateful this time he's only gotta do Scotland. Just informed me he's had a takeaway and having an early night as he's up at 6am tomorrow to catch a ferry?

Saturday 6th September

Rick and Tom have driven up to Greta on the Scottish border today in preparation for the first day of cycling tomorrow. Spirits are good and it looks as though the weather may stop raining soon (not holding my breath on that though). Rick is fed and watered and having a chilled evening in anticiaption of what lyes ahead tommorrow.......

The calm before the storm...

Well this'll be my last update, we're heading up to Scotland in the morning and hopefully by better half Sophie and my dear mother will be taking over blog editing duties on my behalf.

Took the bike out for a quick spin last night to give it the once over after all the maintenance and it's running beautifully. It's super smooth and the new gears are an absolute joy to use. The new tyre pressure will take a little getting used to as the bike now jarrs over every single imperfection on the road, but they should offer a little less resistance than they did at 40psi.

Just got off the phone to Tom who's buying up half the stock of his local Tesco, I don't think we'll go hungry on this trip! Tonight I'll be mostly packing (groan) and ticking off my ridiculously long list of essentials I absolutely musn't forget, ready for the trip up to Gretna in the morning.

I fear the weather may not be on our side on this trip. Its absolutely peeing it down at the moment and the weather forecast doesn't inspire me. What's more, I can't seem to find my waterproof jacket and I only have 1 pair of (non waterproof) cycling trousers. Well, the ride wouldn't be as much fun if I had every eventuality covered would it!

The actual 'ride' will start proper on Sunday going on for 5 days until Thursday. I'm already looking forward to Friday.

See you guys soon, over and out.

The bike's finally ready!

Another night of DIY on the bike last night and I think its finally ready. The new gears arrived on Tuesday and with lots of help from Barry (cheers mate!) they went on without a problem. However Barry couldn't help himself and in the process decided to strip the rear axle and fit new bearings and grease. He also tweaked my front forks which had some play in them, and pointed out my tires were only at 40psi rather than the recommended 100+!

Last night I finally took the panniers off (less weight!), fitted some (poor) night lights, a map holder, new brake pads... I think it might be finally ready.

Taking it out for a steady 30 miles tonight just to make sure the gears are absolutely spot on, then tomorrow I'll be packing up ready for the drive up to Tom's Saturday morning.