Day 4 Laggan to Crianlarich

Much cloudier and inclement today. Breakfast served up by the lovely scottish Frances. Paul and Lucy set off bang on 8 again and make good progress arriving in Fort William at 10am. Long break and wait for us to appear.... It's 12.30 now and they've reached Glencoe. Views are really stunning on the west coast though it's easier to appreciate them from the comfort of a warm car than the hard leather of a bike! Me and the boys stop off to search for seals in Inverscaddie Bay near the Corran Narrows. No luck but the sun comes out for half an hour and we mess about on the beach.
Glencoe to Tyndrum is 30 miles. A huge climb through the middle of Rannoch Moor. Outside is black, persistent rain. Hope they are going to be all right.
The support team have to head home at 4pm so here's the last post in real time til Friday when we return . All our love and hope goes to the dynamic duo, from the Infamous three! Ellis, Ewan and Pat! signing off 1.40 pm
Stunning views over the Glencoe pass.Buzzards circling overhead waiting to pick off weary cyclists. Paul says that's the hardest day yet.On the down hill Lucy gets upto 45kph. It takes them until 4.30 to get to Tyndrum then stay at Crianlarich. We wave goodbye to them and head off home to Manchester. Good luck for tomorrow!

Day 3

Thank the lord for sunshine and a balmy 10 degrees celcius! Patrick does a fry up while Lucy and Paul get ready and try to make their muscles work. They set off at 8 am in the sunshine! Follow the coast of the cromarty firth past oil rigs and an enormous cruise ship. Just before the big bridge, there are seals basking on the rocks and playing in the shallows. They go through Dingwall, Conan Bridge , Muir of old and arrive at Beauly without too much to report. At 11 o'clock they hit the hill of all hill. 7 miles of constant climbing over the moors...... average speed 2 mph. At the top exhausted they go down the other side, as always much shorter but even steeper reaching speeds of 30mph! Arrive in Drumna drochit at 1pm and lunch. Ellis, Ewan and I have sarnies on the green and play footie while they lunch inside to warm up. We go to a fantastic exhibition about the loch ness monster.
Paul and Lucy cycle down south on the west side of loch ness and reach fort augustus at 4pm. They then carry on in mixed weather to Invergarry and Laggan where they arrive at the B and B at 5pm. Fantastic day. Well done Paul and Lucy. 62 miles.

2nd day

Stayed the night at Wick, ate the worst fish and chips from the grumpiest scottish man in Scotland watched united lose.
Paul and lucy got up early ate shed loads of lovely food and set off at 8.00am. We met them 3 hours later after having done 25 miles in driving rain. They rode up an outrageously steep 7 mile hill in gale force winds from dunbeath to helmsdale where we are updating this at a museum. Paul and lucy stopped for a piss in the rain . paul peeing on someones garden....... well Scottish farmer's dump. Irate scotsman swore """£$%$£" at him and then chased them down the road in his car, screeched to a halt and looked like he would lamp Paul! Me (Pat) and the boys have been their roadies giving out sarnies and hot teas on the way. We think they are doing brilliantly so far.
Patrick
2.30- meet just south of Helmsdale. Wind is indescribably strong and Paul and Lucy struggling against elements. Sun comes out and wind seems to get stronger. Going down the east coast now and get to the big bridge north of Tain about 5pm. 15 miles from end of day 2.
Paul and Lucy turn east momentarily for 3 miles and are suddenly doing 20 miles an hour! ( Suddenly dawns on Paul why most do it from land's end to john O'Groats.)Paul commented while having to pedal down hill just to keep moving " These south to northerners are free wheeling with the wind!"
Lucy and Paul get in to Balintraid at 6pm shattered. Meanwhile me and the boys have been to Dunrobin castle, the local play park and fought off a nasty looking crow who wanted a piece of Ellis's Ice cream..... some chance ...even Dad doesn't get a look in.
Patrick.
We understand blogger crashed earlier today. Were you all trying to log in to see how the mighty duo were getting on? Believe me they need to feel the love . This head wind is killing them!

After a 10 hour journey we finally arrived in a very, very wet and windy John O' Groats. We took a quick photo and then rode 20 miles to Wick. We were faced with a strong headwind, but soon arrived at our B and B to be met by the boys - Ellis, Ewan and Patrick. Let's hope the weather improves or we won't make the miles we want to do!!! Sorry for mistakes; it's hard to do this on my phone!!! x

I wish I was doing it on my Penny Farthing

I wish I was

doing John O'grotes to Lands end on my Penny Farthing :(  My sister wont let me

Paul's bike Cotic RoadRat

Mapping with Google maps thanks to Elastichosts

Thanks to the IT experts at Elastichosts, we are now able to show our exact location on google maps.  This may come in handy if you want want to come out and meet us :)

A new addition to the family

About a year ago Lucy and Paul had the idea of doing something for their father. They wanted to support St Ann's hospice and show their gratitude for the care the hospice showed to Harold in his last days. Ruth ( Lucy and Paul's sister) said she'd be happy to help and maybe Lynda (their Mum) and she could be the road crew and support vehicle. 
Then about 9 months ago Lucy announced that she'd definitely do the ride in Whit and promptly rang up her sis to see if all was ok. Ruth was a bit reticent and didn't want to commit. 12 weeks later she told us her fantastic news .She was pregnant....... and as life tells us 9 months on ... In fact last Sunday at 10pm she gave birth to a gorgeous little baby boy. So congrats to her and Chris and little Alex for making it into this world!

Lucy's last minute prep

Got home at seven to be met by a lycra clad lucy. she jumped on her trusty steed (not me) and pedalled off in to the wind and sunshine of a lovely manchester evening. Wonder how Paul is going on ?

The big idea- The proposed route.

So paul and lucy have proposed doing this route . They need to make good progress so are having to do alot of A roads. According to our friend who did it ( Steve) scotland was mostly empty and deserted except for midges! A few billion of those then biting their arses! So here goes

John O’Groats To Wick  on A99

Wick to Invergordon on A9

Invergordon to Spean Bridge on A831 then A82

Spean Bridge to Crianlarich on  A82

Crianlarich to just outside Glasgow on A82

Follow B7078 at the side of the M74 to Lockerbie

Then A6 down to Manchester

A49 down Shrewsbury, Leominster, Hereford Chepstow

Then seeing how tired we are we will either go down the A30 or or follow the A39 coast road

Pat and the boys

We're right behind you Paul and Lucy and think your big ride is a fantastic tribute to your wonderful Dad and our lovely grandad. 5 days to go till we head up north to John o 'groats  to see you set off. Can't wait!

My Bike

This is my lovely cool bike but as always my bro's is better,faster and slicker. That's great because I will be able to slipstream him all the way! lowest gear 24,32,48  11-32

The Big Ride Idea

Sadly last year our Dad died of cancer. He was a very special man who is greatly missed by all his family and friends. He was known by many as 'a gentle man and a gentleman.' My family were touched by the care and support the staff at St Ann's hospice gave to both my Dad and us in his final days. St Ann's is the largest hospice in Greater Manchester who help improve the quality of life for those with life-threatening illnesses, whilst supporting their families.  Relying on 65% of their funding to come from donations from the public my brother and I wanted to raise money for St Ann's. 

We have decided to take up the mammoth task of cyclling from John O'Groats to Lands End. We will be doing this at the end of May and have two weeks to complete it in! We would like to raise as much money as possible for this fantastic hospice and hopefully do our Dad proud!!!
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