Day 16 - Thats all folks

And so it is with great sadness that my two week tour of the UK comes to an end, although it does mean that I finally get to sleep in a proper bed, have a good long shower, and put on some fresh clothes.

Last night's celebrations continued late (well 11 is late for me...) Into the night on the beach watching the sun set and spending a final few hours with most of the team, and ended in a tent that I had foolishly pitched the wrong way round so my head was downhill all night (thankfully I hadn't had enough to drink that this was too much of an issue)

When I woke early this morning I was treated to a lovely clear blue sky and warm sun, perfect for drying the tents before leaving. I then went back to bed to doze for a bit and was awakened by an almighty rainstorm, I had clearly set my sights on a dry too tent too early. Once the storm had reduced to spitting I struck camp with the others who had also sat out the storm under cover, and once packed up we all went for one last breakfast and said our goodbyes. It's amazing how much we had all become attached to each other over two weeks, and I certainly hope to see them all again (Bike Ireland 2020...)

I boarded the coach which did it's very best to make me ill on the windy country roads for 3 hours to Inverness. There, after a two hour wait and a walk in yet another rainstorm to the shops, I hoped on the first train to Edinburgh, where thankfully the conductor didn't put up too much of a fuss about my boxed up bike that didn't fit properly in the store.

A quick rushed connection at Edinburgh carrying a bike box was less than ideal but managed to scrape on just in time, even if the only seat left was the floor. Hopefully some will be free soon and I can settle in to the 5 hour journey before Booker Taxi Co. takes me home.

After all that has happened over the last two weeks, I really can't put how I feel into words. I'm relieved to be returning to some normality, but also am going to sorely miss the friends I've made, and the freedom to ride every day. I think it will take a few days for the experience to settle in fully, but I will certainly remember it forever.

And at least for this adventure, that's all folks, over and out!

Day 15 (Part 2) - Don't Stop Believing

1 Cause
2 Vehicles
5 Support Crew
12 Riders
1050 Miles of riding (at least!!)
54,000 feet of climbing

We have biked the UK for MS!! - Job Done

Today's ride was a (slightly too..) leisurely affair. The usual team, back up to full complement with Sarahs return rolled out of Betty Hill at 8:30, our latest start of the whole trip. The first section had a few "speed bumps" which certainly got the legs going. The highlight of the morning came when speedy Gonzales Henry came past and for the first time I have chase, caught and then passed on the following climb before sitting up and waiting for my gang to catch back up (he won't admit defeat, but I beat him!)

After 30 miles we caught the earlier groups at Thurso (the only thing that would class as a town up here) for a very slow Tesco cafe brunch (or an apple if you don't fancy seeing your food again). The slow service meant we didn't get back on the road for a while and by that point the wind had picked up. The others took a bit of encouragement to battle the 20mph headwind (albeit sat on my tail) for the remaining stretch.

With a few miles to go we caught the rest of the team and waited for Franz to finish taking pictures before riding in convoy to the finish where we were met by various fiends and family with huge supplies of food and drink for us.

Once the initial celebrations were over we pitched camp as the wind subsided and the sun came out, just in time to relax and let our achievement sink in. We are about to go for our celebration meal before hopefully spending our last  evening together on the beach in the sun.

Day 15 (Part 1) - One Day More

Having been woken from what wasn't a particularly great sleep anyway by Emma leaving at 5:30 to get on the road with enough time for us to catch her and finish together, I thought I'd write half of today's post before we set off in case I run out of time/effort this evening.

With only 51 miles of rolling Scottish coastline left today, even the prospect of rain and wind doesn't seem that bad (I may take that back later) and I thought to put everything a little into perspective I would write a list of the things I will and won't miss tomorrow once it's all over:

Things I Won't Miss:

-Danny's 6am alarm that he doesn't even get out of bed for

-The various noises people make in the night

-Clothes that all slightly smell

-Scottish "bike paths"

-Midgies

Things I Will Miss:

-Being on my bike every day

-The scenery (except maybe Preston and Carlisle)

-The MS societies that we met

-Not having to do anything except ride

-Having seven or so meals a day

-Being blissfully unaware of the outside world (Did someone say we have a new PM...)

-The banter

-The incredible people I've ridden with for two weeks

On balance, I think it's fair to say I'm gonna really miss this experience, and I have already volunteered to help with next year's trips.

After a breakfast of way to much delicious left over soup, it's time to hit the road and BASH THIS OUT!

Day 14 - Respice Finem

The penultimate day of a two week adventure is probably about the right time to "look to the end" (certainly better that the first week of a four year degree, thanks Homerton) and today the extent of what our team has done over the last two weeks really began to hit home as we realized that as of this evening we only had 50 miles left riding together.

Anyway, saving sentimental stuff for the weekend, more about today. We started early having been scared by the prospect of hills and heat. The usual gang minus the invalid Sarah rolled out and took the first few miles very leisurely and cruised quite happily to the first rest stop where we caught Sarah with Nic, Paul, Franz and Jenny. After much debate about where Danny could quench his coffee craving I decided I wanted to plough on and joined Sarah with Paul and Nic expecting my troops to catch me up later. 

As it happened Nic decided that today was her day and we stormed up the long gradual climb with Sarah soldiering through her injuries like a machine. We were rewarded by some incredible views and the promise of lunch at the rest stop on the top. However once we got there an attack from swarms of horse flies cause us to abandon and run away into the valley where we found the most perculiar (and fancy) hunting lodge/hotel which did serve a cracking lunch.

Just as we had had our fill Danny, Soph, Evan and Lauren also found the lodge and we handed over our table and continued on our way. The roads on the whole today we're much much improved and there was so much less traffic that we could quite happily cruise along chatting while keeping half an eye out for the odd suicidal sheep. Withing what felt like no time we were waved down with only 7 miles left to camp by James bearing gifts of (rather melted) ice creams to power is through to home.

Camp tonight is in Betty Hill with a veiw of the North Sea (I think...) to show us how close the end really is. After a delicious team given to us by the women of the church the plan is to enjoy the sunny evening on the beach with some drinks for a mini celebration.

Despite the heat today, the roads, veiws and pleasant riding made it easily the best day of the trip, which even the thought of finishing tomorrow will struggle to beat!

Day 13 - All about the climb

This morning was certainly all about the actual climb, all 1,200 feet of it in 5 miles, or more accurately 1,800 once I'd dome the second half a second time with Sophie. After such a big start to the day we cruised quite happily up the east side of Loch Ness where we were joined by the rest of the group for a much longer than normal rest stop in the sun. Once some people had dipped themselves in the Loch we motored on to Inverness for a look at the castle and a long lunch.

After a delicious, and relaxed lunch in the sun, we headed off with only 32 miles left for the day, and 3 hours to do it in before we could get into camp. However, luck was not on our, or more accurately Sarah's, side and just outside the town centre a car turned in on her, wiping her clean out. Thankfully the damage was only some bruising and grazing but that was her day over and she headed back to camp for an afternoon of recovery.

Once we left Inverness on attempt two we once again had to split to avoid angry motorists. At this point Sophie began to repay me for all the time she has spent in my slipstream this trip and she left us the ten miles to the next rest stop. 

Back on the road everyone was starting to feel the day in their legs so Danny and I decided to ride for home, but he rapidly dropped of and I was once again left with a solo 12 miles. However the appalling road surface, and grumpy motorists this was not a pleasant experience! 

Once in camp, the shower was much needed to was away both the sweat from the 28 degree heat and all the stress of the day. Let's hope the penultimate day tomorrow is more enjoyable for everyone!

Day 12 - The Beginning of the End

Somehow, in what feels like no time at all, I've found myself halfway up Scotland with only three (cycling, let's not think about that 14 hours of trains on Sunday) days of my adventures left.

Having had thunderstorms overnight, this morning started pretty grey, but thanks to a bit of a lie in (even I managed to sleep in past 7) nobody seemed to mind too much. After a brief stop after only 15 minutes for Evan to replace the water bottle he had left at camp, we climbed out of Tyndrym and into the Highlands. We were rewarded with some incredible scenery as we came up to Glen Coe, and since the rush hour traffic seemed to have passed we made use of the full road for a bit of a moving photo shoot.

Unfortunately, Scotland doesn't have many roads, which means the ones it does have are ridiculously busy. The Scots have tried to help cyclist by putting cycle paths next to the A roads, but they seem to have no clue what a cycle path should actually be. This became increasingly frustrating, and eventually resulted in Laura and Sarah crashing on the bridge over Loch Leven. This left her back wheel completely ruined and so once international rescue arrived we did some bike converting to make the spare bike usable and continued on our merry way.

Once the bike path abruptly ended without warning we were left on the A82 at the mercy of tourists and lorry drivers, so split up and ploughed on to Fort William for lunch.

Leaving Fort William ended up being a challenge since the routes we were following differed, and while trying to work out which was correct we were pulled over by the Scottish fuzz for what we think boiled down to not indicating at a roundabout. We did find our way onto the right path in the end but once again the dangerous traffic forced us to  split up into pairs. At this point Lauren found herself clinging onto my wheel as we began a 25 mile TT at full speed. By the end of this we were both exhausted, but also buzzing from the speed we'd kept up. Quote of the day from Lauren was "Cameron took me for the ride of my life." 

The day finished on the south shore of Loch Ness, where the more warm blooded of my team mates ventured into the water in search of a monster. I meanwhile took some photos and then headed back to camp to clean my bike and rest before doing it all again tomorrow

Day 12 - The Beginning of the End

Somehow, in what feels like no time at all, I've found myself halfway up Scotland with only three (cycling, let's not think about that 14 hours of trains on Sunday) days of my adventures left.

Having had thunderstorms overnight, this morning started pretty grey, but thanks to a bit of a lie in (even I managed to sleep in past 7) nobody seemed to mind too much. After a brief stop after only 15 minutes for Evan to replace the water bottle he had left at camp, we climbed out of Tyndrym and into the Highlands. We were rewarded with some incredible scenery as we came up to Glen Coe, and since the rush hour traffic seemed to have passed we made use of the full road for a bit of a moving photo shoot.

Unfortunately, Scotland doesn't have many roads, which means the ones it does have are ridiculously busy. The Scots have tried to help cyclist by putting cycle paths next to the A roads, but they seem to have no clue what a cycle path should actually be. This became increasingly frustrating, and eventually resulted in Laura and Sarah crashing on the bridge over Loch Leven. This left her back wheel completely ruined and so once international rescue arrived we did some bike converting to make the spare bike usable and continued on our merry way.

Once the bike path abruptly ended without warning we were left on the A82 at the mercy of tourists and lorry drivers, so split up and ploughed on to Fort William for lunch.

Leaving Fort William ended up being a challenge since the routes we were following differed, and while trying to work out which was correct we were pulled over by the Scottish fuzz for what we think boiled down to not indicating at a roundabout. We did find our way onto the right path in the end but once again the dangerous traffic forced us to  split up into pairs. At this point Lauren found herself clinging onto my wheel as we began a 25 mile TT at full speed. By the end of this we were both exhausted, but also buzzing from the speed we'd kept up.

The day finished on the south shore of Loch Ness, where the more warm blooded of my team mates ventured into the water in search of a monster. I meanwhile took some photos and then headed back to camp to clean my bike and rest before doing it all again tomorrow