MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, we are coming home!

Well, that’s a wrap; we knocked off the ride today, finishing at 12:51pm at the official start/finish line in John O’Groats. For those that have been you will appreciate what an underwhelming place it is to finish, J particularly as the weather was poor (again!). Today the ride was the most difficult of all as the wind and rain was in our face, gusts of 20mph were commonplace and there were a couple of decent climbs as well. At times we were struggling to get to even 9mph as the wind tried to push us back. We had a couple of sunny spells but this was to lure us into a false sense of security as we were then lashed by more wind and rain. Somehow we struggled through and closed things out with a coffee and toasted panini at rip-off central AKA John O’Groats J

Here’s a summary:

Total Distance covered: 905 miles

Total Elapsed Time from Start to Finish: 8 days and 4 hours

 

The final instalment of useless body metrics for today is as follows:

Max Speed: 72.6Km/h (approx 45 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 2886

Max Heart Rate: 168bpm

Fluid Consumed: 1.0 litres

Time in the saddle: 4 hours 25 minutes

 

A quick thank you for the loads of texts we received while en route, it really lifted our spirits and to all those who followed us online through the website. Hope you enjoyed it and the nightly updates on this blog. It is yet to sink in about what we have achieved and each team member has their own take on it. The author would like to thank his team-mates for a great adventure and the good humour and determination they showed along the way. It was a privilege to ride with you guys!

I think we showed that 3 average Joe’s can do this thing, all you have to do is decide to go and get a little organised. Special thanks to Geoff Brice (Paul’s Dad) the CFO (J) who drove the support car, looked after us, booked accommodation, helped ensure we were fed and watered and was a constant source of good humour. Geoff belies his 80 years of age with the energy of a man half his age! He is a true English gentleman in my book and we could not have achieved this without him!

If you are at all inspired by our efforts and have not yet donated to the cause (Francis House Hospice) then please visit our website www.arewethereyet2007.co.uk and click on the sponsorship links. We’ll be accepting donations for another couple of weeks before we wrap it up and hand over the cheque to the hospice.

Thanks again one and all, this is the crew of Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007 signing off! Stay tuned for our next adventure in 2008!

We’ll be updating the website with all the latest news and photos from the trip over the next few days.

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

A long day in the saddle on this one but we are full of good cheer knowing that only 50 paltry miles separates us from our objective.

Once again, we were touched by another £5 donation from our guest house owners. The keen interest and generosity of folks we have met along the way continues to inspire us to complete the ride. Weather was the usual best of British this morning (please refer to previous posts for details of what I mean). A mix of grey skies, biting wind and misty showers – Boo!!!!!!

Today took us through a variety of terrain, starting with the awe-inspiring Loch Ness. This lake stretches for miles and miles and you can see why it is the perfect setting for the monster myth. We had a quick squiz but couldn’t find her so Nessie still roams free J This was followed by a quick stop at Urquhart Castle and a coffee and cake break in Drumnadrochit (we could never remember the exact name so we collectively called it ‘Drop the Sprocket’, ‘Toad the wet sprocket’ or ‘Dropped My Cash Docket’). Reub was drawn to the merchandising shops to buy a number of useless items which will be discarded in years to come. J

Moving on from Drumnadrochit we had a decision make: go to Inverness on the A9 which is a longer way but less hilly or take on a B road which would cut 10-20 miles off the total journey but had 2 climbs over a 3 mile stretch which had a 15% and 20% incline (for those not familiar with this then a 15% incline can be difficult to WALK up and a 20% is tough work, needless to say they are challenging on a bike). By now the seasoned cyclists that we are took the shorter, harder option. Two out of three of us enjoyed the climbs immensely, if you are wondering who the non-enjoyee was, it wasn’t Reub or Paul. J We were then rewarded with a breathtaking 9 mile descent through gorgeous valleys alongside streams and meadows, perfect! The sun was out now as well so we had a bit of warmth in our work.

Lunch was taken at the Mallard pub in Dingwall (about 50 miles from our starting point), a pretty ordinary affair but we are only 1 lunch away from finishing so no complaints. Reub was mesmorised by live pre-season football action on the big-screen featuring his beloved Liverpool FC, he was dragged away by his team-mates to keep going, we still had 65 miles to do in the day and it was now 2:30pm.

The afternoon session was a long slog, it started out brightly, the rain clearing to sunshine and we had a tail-wind for about 40 minutes which helped drive us along at 24-30miles per hour. This wasn’t to last as we changed direction but the wind didn’t, we were then beating into a stiff head-wind of 15-20mph, tough going! A later afternoon coffee and cake stop was taken at the most brilliant patisserie in Dornoch (ask Jonathan some time for his jokes about Dornoch – we loved them, well the first time anyway J). It was then that our carefully laid plans came unstuck, we had underestimated the distance to Hemsdale (we kept calling it Helms Deep in honour of J.R.R Tolkien), we still had 27 miles to go and it was after 5pm. The only option as we had booked accommodation in Helmsdale was to push on and do the distance. Jonathan was most disappointed at this and was very tired, it says something about his determination and character to keep it going. We go to Helmsdale just after 8pm and were overjoyed to find a great guesthouse with the best shower and bath facilities of the trip. Refreshed, we headed out for dinner at a local seafood place and scoffed down grilled haddock, grilled fresh scallops with sweet chilli and a whopping steak! We also encountered one of the locals, 3 sheets to the wind, he slagged off Australians, Liverpool (obviously got Reub’s back up), Mancunians (people from Manchester in case you are wondering) – the only person spared abuse was Geoff. The conversation was good-natured in a nervous laughter kind of manner J Needless to say we survived the encounter and headed home to rest up for our last push to John O’Groats, only 55 miles to go to the target -  FANTASTIC!!!

I can’t disappoint the followers without another chapter of “How did Reub’s body perform today?”, brought to you by Reub’s Garmin bike computer:

Max Speed: 63.1Km/h (approx 39 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 7209

Max Heart Rate: 178bpm

Fluid Consumed: 1.5 litres

Time in the saddle: 10 hours 5 minutes

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

 

So close now we can taste it! Only 160 miles to go!!!

Prior to setting out we were touched to receive a £5 donation from the owner of Reub’s B&B, he chatted to me through breakfast and introduced me to all the other guests to inform them about our adventure. A great bloke, brilliant breakfast and a beaut start to proceedings for day 7.

Once again the key theme was the pathetic summer British weather! From when we set out to the last 2 hours we were pretty constantly barraged with cold-cold rain which chilled to the bone. Despite this we were better prepared for the conditions and it’s easier to take when you know what to expect. Several heavy showers hit us as we battled forward today. We had a number of challenging climbs which actually turned out to be welcome due to the body heat generated by your exertions in getting up them.

The other key moment of the morning was our first team spat, well Jonathan’s to be precise J The author notes that all is now forgiven as we sit in the warm pub feeding our faces. Jonno was not happy with Paul & Reub’s tendency to “drop him” or leave him behind as we set about building some momentum and pace. Allegations of the gap between us and Jonno being a mile were thrown at us and he made it crystal clear that we weren’t working as a team. Silence descended on our group for a little while and we rode at a reduced pace to accommodate the big baby. J

During the morning we ran into another team doing the end to end ride, there were 7 riders and they were knocking it off at 75 miles per day, so we felt pretty good about ourselves at a ton a day. J After morning tea, we were joined by this group and Paul and Reub tailed 4 of their fastest riders and we absolutely belted along at speeds between 26-30mph into a driving headwind! The thrill of caning along with the spray and rain hitting your face is a joy to behold. This joy was short-lived as the other team turned off after a few miles – good luck to you guys!

Lunch was brilliant, as 3 rain-sodden, downtrodden cyclists and their support manager (Geoff, more about him and his fantastic work in the wrap-up article) walked into the Kings House Hotel in Glencoe. We went to the Climbers bar and were nourished with copious amounts of hot soup, fries, salmon and dill fishcakes and of course a few medicinal drinks. The highlight of the bar was that the gents toilet had a power hand drier which was used by all members of the team to dry as much stuff as they could. Lunch finished with, we gingerly hit the road again and we swore profusely as the rain chilled us and brought out every ache and pain that had been masked by the beautiful lunch.

By now we were into the highlands and this brought our first views of Highland Coos, for those that haven’t seen one of these gorgeous creatures I will post photos in the wrap-up article. For those that love cattle stats J then you will observe that the Highland Coo is the oldest surviving European cattle breed, dating from the 12^th century. These hardy beasts can survive outdoors in the winter in the highlands and are just so cute J Anyway, we took loads of photos (well Reub did anyway!). Back to the story!

En-route to Invergarry we passed through the most magnificent scenery (in fact all day from Loch Lomond through to the Highlands was absolutely stunning). Lush green valleys, crystal clear lakes and wildflowers everywhere make for a stunning backdrop to our work. We travelled through Fort William and enjoyed the best coffee of the trip, thanks Cafe 31 in the centre of town. J

We arrived in Invergarry at 7pm and were overjoyed to find we had a bath! Simple pleasures are luxury for us on the road and a chance to soak the aching muscles was gratefully received. Dinner has been enjoyed at the Invergarry Hotel, the food was simply superb including haggis, pan-seared salmon with a Thai coconut sauce and sumptuous haddock, this was followed by sticky toffee pudding, Reub was happy! J

As usual, here is the statistical equation, brought to you by Reub’s Garmin bike computer:

Max Speed: 58.0Km/h (approx 36 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 6459

Max Heart Rate: 157bpm

Fluid Consumed: 3.0 litres

Time in the saddle: 8 hours 54 minutes

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007.

Day 6, In contrast to Day 5 was (apologies for the language here) a word that rhymes with 'LIGHT' but starts with ‘SH’.  The day dawned grey misty and drizzly – PERFECT......for staying inside and watching DVD’s in the warmth and comfort of your living room. After a less than memorable breakfast we saddled up with much trepidation. Although we were prepared for the rain from a clothing perspective it was a constant cold, wet sensation and after only a few minutes we were cold to the bone with little hope of warming up. Jon and Reub were worst hit and the first hour was a horrible grind as we slowly made headway. At many times it felt like we were riding through treacle, the effort was there but the speed sure wasn’t!

We plodded on for 3 hours, grinding out 40 miles but feeling very miserable, we needed a break, a coffee, some scones and a change of dry clothing. After one false alarm we stumbled on Junction 13 Cafe in Abington which was like a little ray of sunshine in the gloom. Our hostess patiently served us copious amounts of fresh hot toast, warm scones with jam and butter and beautiful coffees and teas. We were tempted to stay there all day and try the lunch menu followed by afternoon tea but alas we had a job to do and we still had 60 miles to go. Fortunately the weather was clearing and after a few scattered showers we had great streaks of sunshine and a fresh wind which was largely behind us or at worst a cross wind.

Our spirits renewed, we closed in on Glasgow and the task of navigating around her so we could get to Loch Lomond and start the push North towards John O’Groats. Highlights of the afternoon were lunch at Blackwood, a quirky little pub called the Southfield Hotel where the employees were very interested in two things:

1.       Our quest for John O’Groats

2.       Filling our bellies with hot beef and barley broth, fries, chicken salads and potato skins – PERFECT! J

Once again, refuelled and warm and dry we made better progress and whizzed through the outer suburbs of Glasgow tracking towards the Erskine Bridge and our passage to Loch Lomond. We weaved our way through miles of stationary traffic near Glasgow airport much to the frustration of the locals. J At about 6:45pm we arrived in Balloch at the base of Loch Lomond. Our final task from a tiring day was to locate accommodation, we ended up separately in 3 B&B’s, tomorrow will be a logistical challenge trying to get the car loaded with gear and synchronising breakfast activity, we’ll aim to get away by 8:15am and there will be more stories tomorrow.

One final insight from today’s stage was the condition of the A & B roads in Scotland, and Gordon Brown if you are reading this (I’m pretty sure you are) then PLEASE pump some money into Scottish roads – they are a disgrace and that’s for cars let alone cycles. We hit masses of corrugations and potholes which causes bone-rattling pains. I would compare some of the road conditions with 3^rd world countries I have visited such as New Zealand (only kidding guys, I love my ANZAC neighbours) J

As usual, here is the state of play, brought to you by Reub’s Garmin bike computer:

Max Speed: 58.0Km/h (approx 36 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 5964

Max Heart Rate: 153bpm

Fluid Consumed: 3.0 litres

Time in the saddle: 8 hours 42 minutes

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

Day 4, the riding was flat and uneventful and that about sums it up! A lot of today was spent in urban sprawl around Warrington, the greater Manchester area and Preston. It was certainly a glimpse into a world I would never have seen by choice (sorry this is the Australian authoring again). Some of the areas we felt uncomfortable stopping at traffic lights in case our bikes ended up on blocks with the wheels nicked J Additionally, can someone please tell us where you can get a decent Latte in this neck of the woods J

The morning session was pretty grey, slight headwind and a splattering of rain to remind us that this is Summer (sorry these digs at UK weather need to stop, I’ll have a word with the writer – or maybe have him deported J). We started slowly, carried on riding slowly and finished the day, well riding slowly J Although we never really got into our stride 90 miles was a good effort and takes us to a grand total of 413 miles for the trip, we are basically half-way! Everyone has had a night away, free from discussion about the trip, the route and anything to do with bikes! We’ll reconvene early tomorrow for an 8am start and a target distance of 104 miles to Lockerbie in SCOTLAND!!! If we can make this it will be a huge boost to know that our target of John O’Groats is in sight. Still, we need to take each day at a time but with each passing day it is becoming more apparent that we might actually complete this, 3 average Joe’s riding the length of the UK! Anyway, we’ll keep that as optimistic thought for now and talk to you again tomorrow.

No really exciting footage from porn-cam today (for those not familiar with this great gadget, it is a digital video camera which is mounted on Reub’s handlebars and captures aspects of the trip from bike level). As we head through the Lakes District and into Scotland tomorrow then hopefully the scenery and associated footage will improve.

No great gastronomic heights today although the pub we had lunch at in Warrington (The Open Vine? Can’t quite remember) served us some awful soup but absolutely delicious toasted pita bread and magic houmous, great food for cycling, sticks to your ribs and all that! Breakfast was very good so we definitely recommend the Abbey House B&B in Shrewsbury for anyone heading there.

As usual, here are today’s meaningless stats, brought to you by Reub’s Garmin bike computer:

Max Speed: 54.8Km/h (approx 35 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 5128

Max Heart Rate: 159bpm

Fluid Consumed: 3.5 litres

Time in the saddle: 6 hours 55 minutes

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

Day 3 of the trip dawned grey, drizzly and damp. Please note that this Australian author is tempted to copy and paste this start into each blog article and only amend it if miraculously the weather pattern is different! J After a forgettable breakfast (the sausages were deep-fried and the waitress did not understand the term over-easy when I ordered my eggs) we set off from Clevedon, the plan was to head across the famous Clifton suspension bridge followed by crossing the Severn bridge into Wales. The first hour was brilliant riding, we had a slight tail-wind and we rode well as a team and were motoring at 18-20 miles/hour. The suspension bridge was quite stunning, a true engineering feat. Then we got to some roadside services on the approach to the Severn Bridge, we were cold, wet and pretty dispirited, a hot coffee soon helped restore some of our flagging spirits but overall we were not enjoying the task at hand. Reub had a splitting headache, Jon was miserable and it was left to Paul to be the driving force to get us going which he did admirably leading from the front as we crossed the Severn bridge. The view is impressive, the bridge is huge and it is quite an eye-opener to ride across this span. We were temporarily mesmerised for 5 minutes and then the reality of still some 100 miles to ride in the day sank in, as did the rain which came down more heavily. There is nothing more sapping than being chilled to the bone, saturated through and having spray from passing cars and lorries spattering you every 30 seconds J We sunk into this new low funk for a good couple of hours as we ground our way north through Wales towards Monmouth. Once again from an Australian perspective thoughts such as “this was not in the brochure” and “how can anyone live in a country this inhospitable” ran through my head constantly. Sometimes when things are not going your way and all you want to do is find something to blame it is easy to cling on to bitter thoughts of things you have no control over, well that’s my logic anyway! J We reached Monmouth at about 1:30pm and headed for a dry warm pub to get a feed. We found this in spades at the Robin Hood where we were able to dry off, fill our bellies with hot nourishing food such as soups (superb!), chips and crusty bread. Additionally, Jon and I were able to swap over wet clothes for new dry warm ones and when we set out again an hour later we felt that we could take on this challenge again!

Although we still had some 70 miles to go (at the time we thought it was 60 miles due to a poor map reading from the team) we felt we would get through it, or at least get to 100 miles for the day which had seemed impossible only an hour earlier. The afternoon was warmer, drier and far more palatable. We managed to get a couple of stints of 18-20 miles/hour and there was a lot more banter than the stony silence of the morning session. We proceeded in this fashion until about 6:45pm when we still had 20 miles to reach Shrewsbury. It was at this time that we had reached 100 miles for the day, not a bad effort but we still felt it important to close out the day with the mileage target we had set ourselves and so the decision was made to go for it, we would finish after 8pm but at least we would have the mental boost of achieving target. About 5 minutes after setting off on this final stint the heavens opened and a deluge far worse than anything we’ve encountered to date decided to drench us. A great guideline is to look to wildlife and what they are doing, we found geese and swans cowering for shelter and confused by the instant lakes created by the flooding so you can imagine how we felt! Speaking of the flooding, we largely have had no problems as a result of the flooding in the UK. We haven’t had to divert due to flooding. In the only case that a road was closed due to flooding we proceeded through the cordoned off area (bikes will fit places that cars can’t goJ) and rode to our link road to take us to Shrewsbury. The other road closure was the A49 north of Leominster which is closed due to road-works, once again we went down this road with the arrogance that cyclists can display and we quickly found ourselves face to face with a burly security guy warning us that to take the closed road we were risking certain death. A bit dramatic and after a few minutes of thought-provoking discussion we convinced him to let us pass (think of any farcical Monty Python skit and you pretty much have the situation). His parting words were “well I’m not cleaning you up off the roadway”, we thanked him for his concern and proceeded down the roadway of death, no incidents to report I’m afraid J

The rest of our day was pretty routine, we arrived in Shrewsbury at approx 8:30pm, headed for a feed, had hot showers and hit the sack. A quick plug for Pizza Hut in Shrewsbury: quick service, fresh salad and cheap slop, just what the doctor ordered. Anyway, that was Day 3, long and grinding but ultimately rewarding! We are now over a third of the way (320 miles in 3 days – we are chuffed!). Talk to you tomorrow.

Nearly forgot to bore you with the vital stats for today J

Max Speed: 59.1Km/h (approx 38 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 7432

Max Heart Rate: 167bpm

Fluid Consumed: 4.0 litres

Time in the saddle: 9 hours 30 minutes (ooh my aching........ J)

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

Day 2 dawned pretty grey but rain free. We set out at about 8:20am and initially settled into a good pace. However this was short-lived, after an hour we encountered consistent rolling hills which proved challenging. No sooner had you fought your way up a grinding (but not overly steep) climb and raced down the other side that you were confronted by another. This caused our rhythm to be quite disjointed from mid-morning to lunch time and our average speeds dropped accordingly. Lunch was taken near Taunton at a lovely country pub where we all scoffed beaut English delights like Cottage Pie and Sticky Toffee Pudding! After yesterday’s problems post-lunch we deliberately rested for an extra 20 minutes to allow the food to digest and it was a masterstroke as none of us suffered a “mini-bonk” due to the body working hard too hard on digestion.

The other innovation for the day was the first trial of Reuben’s on-bike video camera. Nick-named Porn-Cam by my team-mates due to its small size and versatility J The camera is now loaded with enough storage space to grab 30 mins of action on the bike each day. We checked out the footage and the resolution is fantastic, this will hopefully record a few memories of the bigger hills and some of the scenery from bike level. It will also once and for all prove that Jon has the largest ass of the group J

A few quick stats from Reub’s Garmin Cycling Computer:

Max Speed: 61.2Km/h (approx 38 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 5816

Max Heart Rate: 162bpm

Fluid Consumed: 4.5 litres

I’ll keep you posted tomorrow with these riveting statistics! J

Tomorrow sees us heading for Shrewsbury in Shropshire, a longer day at 120 miles, this has the potential to be a tougher day but should be one of the most picturesque! Once again we keep our eyes on the weather but it looks encouraging, fingers crossed!

 

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

The big trip is under way! Under clear sunny skies we set out from Lands End at 8:50am after a restful nights sleep and fabulous breakfast at our B&B. Spirits were high as we rode the short distance down to Lands End for the obligatory photo session in front of the famous sign. The only problem is that the sign is erected during “business hours” and they want to slug you a fee for the privilege of using their backdrop for your photo, tight b&%$*&ds J We utilising our technical background have taken the shot and will superimpose the sign using a photo editing product later, maybe we’re the tight ones! J

As usual when a group of men assemble for a sporting event the tendency is to go hard early, this was the case and a few heavy breathes ensued as we went about our work. The macho trend soon abated and we set about finding an optimal pace for the group and working together to make the ride as easy as possible. It is amazing how much more efficient it is to slip-stream with your team members. Overhead the sun shone brightly and spirits were high as we started to tackle the range of hills that Cornwall through at us. We have a simple policy for the uphill bits and this is “every man for himself” and we then rest up the top of the larger climbs. These climbs are not so much incredibly steep but they are relentless and you have to grind your way through them.

We arrived at Bendim for lunch at about 1pm after a challenging 60 miles and enjoyed a brilliant meal outside in the sun at the Weavers pub. With the sun on our backs, some decent food and a few chats with interested locals made for a fab lunch break. We were then soon on our way again, too soon it turned out as both Paul and Reuben “bonked” (this is not the global colloquialism for sexual intercourse but rather a cycling term which refers to your muscles shutting down and you feeling incredibly weak, normally this is due to lack of nutrition, in our case it was too much nutrition J), anyway, both Reuben and Paul struggled for the first hour after lunch as our bodies were obviously still focussed on processing the fab lunch rather than providing energy to our leg muscles, something clearly vital for productive cycling activity.

Next quick stop was the Jamaica Inn, famous as a smugglers pub in ye olden days, where there was many poor impressions of Long John Silver and Jack Sparrow J After this, the undulation of Cornwall continued to challenge us through to the finish in Okehampton. The only other noteworthy events involved Reuben and a kamikaze bee which stung him on the finger which caused a bit of discomfort but not much else. We arrived at our B&B at 5:50pm and have spent the evening soaking in as much hot water as we can locate and sampling the local cuisine which was pretty good really. Reuben finished the evening with a chocolate sponge pudding with some beautiful Devonshire clotted cream, superb!

A few quick stats from Reub’s Garmin Cycling Computer:

Max Speed: 65.3Km/h (approx 40 miles/hour)

Calories Burnt: 6500

Max Heart Rate: 177bpm

 

I’ll keep you posted with these riveting statistics! J

Tomorrow sees us heading for Clevedon which is another 100 miles away, spirits are high and we look forward to the next challenge. Here’s hoping our legs hold up as does the weather but we’re pretty sure we’ll get a soaking at some point, this is after all England and it is summer J

Cheers,

Reub, Jon and Paul AKA Team “Are We There Yet?” 2007. 

We had our first serious hit out, about 120 miles, from Alderley Edge to Southport and back.

 

We all got through unscathed and it was a first chance to meet and ride together as a team. After finishing this ride, all were feeling optimistic that with another 7 weeks training we'll be as ready as we can ever be come July 20 for the big one!

 

Highlights of the trip:

 

More to come, including some team jerseys and a renewed push for sponsorship of our ride in the name of our fabulous charity Francis House!

 

Cheers all,

Reuben