Lands End to John O Groats, Days 7 to 12
News from the second half of the Lands End to John O Groats teams epic end-to-end ride. You can help them raise money for Willen Hospice by donating at their Just Giving page.
Day 7, Lancaster to Carlisle (74 miles)
The day had a very lumpy start as we headed for the Lake District with some beautiful lanes and sun as we made our way to Windermere. The tea stop was heavy on coach parties of OAPs, so we headed off to the main climb of the day up Kirkstone pass over to Ullswater and on to Carlisle. The climb was tough going, even though we avoided the tougher ascent of "The Struggle" from Ambleside and we were rewarded with a great descent to Ullswater. The tea stop here was much better and we were treated to the surreal sight of an escaping granny. The easier roads and long steady downhill run in to Carlisle were much needed.
Day 8, Carlisle to Ayr (93 miles)
Another cloudy dull day as we headed over the border into Scotland at Gretna and along the flat coast road to Dumfries. We changed support drivers at Carlisle with Stewart Murphy taking over the duties and blagging us into Dumfries golf club for lunch. The day improved with some glorious sunshine and stunning scenery through the surprisingly beautiful Glenken mountains. We finished for the day at Drongan, just outside Ayr.
Day 9, Ayr to Crianlarich (90 miles)
After a hearty (bargain) breakfast in the Holiday Inn (negotiated by Stewart), the team set off again from Drongan. A wrong turning to Kilmarnock added on a few unnecessary miles before the first stop at Neilston where the generous locals donated more to Willen Hospice than at any other stop. The descent through Paisley and then finding the route round Glasgow took a while and wasn’t helped by the punctures sustained by Claire and Gareth. Even though the scenery up loch Lomond was great, the drizzle, traffic and gritty roads made the going tough with a late arrival at Crianlarich and a slightly strange B&B for the night.
Day 10, Crianlarich to Fort Augustus (86 miles)
An easy day for directions as we were on the A82 for the whole day through Glencoe, Fort William and the Great Glen to fort Augustus at the end of Loch Ness. The day was dry and with some patchy sunshine to enhance the views we made good tme along the lochs to the second tea stop at a hotel in Spean Bridge complete with Commando museum as it was here the elite troops trained in WW2. The latter part of the route into Fort Augustus was spent on the Caledonian Canal service road rather than the A82 which made a relaxing change. We arrived at the Lovat Arms for an excellent nights stay.
Day 11, Fort Augustus to Tain (73 miles)
The day got off to a slow start with Richard having a puncture before we left the hotel with a steady ride along Loch Ness before turning towards Beauly and a tough 15% climb. The overnight stay was at the youth hostel at Carbisdale Castle, a strange early 19th century building and not up to the prvious night's standards.
Day 12, Tain to John O Groats (81 miles)
Another WET day!!!! ...... it varied between drizzle and torrential rain for the whole day as we headed up the East coast to John O Groats. The coastline was impressive, at least when we could se it through the rain, and the terrain was tougher and wilder than expected.
The last tea stop of the trip was at Libster (very quiet) where our order for half a dozen sandwiches and bacon butties was met with a shout of "this is a big one" as the waitress headed back to the kitchen. The day continued to become more surreal as we rode past a very muddy woman in a denim mini skirt standing in the middle of a field .... followed by club chairman, Philip Murphy striking up in song.
We arrived in JOG cold and wet at about 5pm for a quick "official" photograph and headed off to the Hotel and celebrations in Wick.
