Four Become Three
It is with some regret that Gary Sinclair, the single RAF member on the team, has had to withrdraw from the Charity Cycle. Gary has had to withdraw due to injury and is extremely upset that he is unable to travel with the team for the two weeks. We would sincerely like to thank both Gary and his wife Ali for all the hard work in the lead up to the cycle, with particular thanks towards the participation and running of the Charity Skittles Night held at The Crofton in Stubbington.
The paragraph above highlights the true story of Gary’s withdrawal, however, the three remaining Naval Officers believe that he was in fact apprehensive about having to compete with the Senior Service when it comes to such a physical test of endurance, we will leave that thought with you!
Fri 29 Aug 08 - The Day Before - Transit to RNAS Culdrose, Helston
Left Stubbington at 1430, heavy traffic en-route so 5 ½ hours to get to Culdrose. Met up with Richard McKenzie (support van driver and team masseur!) in the Flaming Datum bar. A couple of beers (would have been more if Steve Skit’s had had his way....) before an early night in preparation for the first cycling day.
Sat 30 Aug 08 - Day 1 - Lands End to Liskeard
Daily Distance: 76 Miles / Total Distance: 76 miles / Cycling time: 5h 10m.
Left Culdrose after a hearty (but late) “express” breakfast for the van trip to Land’s End. Met up with Steve S's relatives who were there from 0830, we arrived 0915. Went for the obligatory shot in front of the sign only to find that the commercial venture that is the “Land’s End Experience” take the arms from the sign overnight and were not yet open for business (at £9.50 per photo) – tight *****!!
Set off 0945 along the undulating Cornish roads – first section almost like a rollercoaster! Got to Helston pretty quickly where we stopped for fuel & drink. Next section to Truro took us through the very low cloud base with a few more ups and downs. Lunch stop at Truro. Then the second half.....
Who put those hills there...... Stopped more frequently on this stage – first a forced break caused by the first puncture to Stephen A's bike at 54 miles, then subsequent “hill induced” breaks. Quote of the day from Steve S at 64 miles “I think I’ve hit the wall already”!
Got to our first destination, Liskeard, at about 1620. Bikes in the van then route 1 to HMS Drake in Plymouth where our surprisingly luxurious accomodation awaited. Now sat in bar writing this with a well earned beer. Looking forward to the hills of Dartmoor tomorrow. Adios.
Sun 31 Aug 08 - Day 2 - Liskeard to Cullompton
Daily Distance: 66 miles / Total Distance: 142 miles / Cycling time: 4h45m. Height ascended 100,000 ft (Steve S's estimate).
The weather was very kind to us today (with the rain clearing slowly away just as we set off this morning) which was fortunate as the hills certainly weren’t. I can’t understand why God decided to run all the hills and valleys across the counties of Devon and Cornwall, but I now understand the Romans' reluctance to press further South West! The hills made progress slow going today and whenever we checked the odometer it was never quite as far as we expected.
The setting for today’s cycle was lovely. As we caught our breaths at the top of the hills, the views over the moor made it almost worth the slog. Some wayward sheep, slippery cattlegrids and nasty little corners proved to be diverting, especially when they affected the other cyclists.
Lunch today was rather more substantial than yesterday and the benefits were apparent. Being in the middle of Dartmoor restricted our choice somewhat, but the Sunday carvery that the pub at Postbridge offered certainly put a little more in the tank to get us over the last of the moor.
When we reached Exeter, there was still a little life left in us so we decided to push on as far as Cullompton and eat into tomorrow’s schedule. Now for a good night’s sleep and the hope that the Royal Marines at Lympstone don’t start crashing around too early.
Mon 01 Sep 08 - Day 3 - Cullompton to Falfield
Daily Distance: 81 miles / Total Distance: 223 miles / Cycling time: 4h25m.
After a very quiet evening at Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Lympstone we all managed to get up very early after a hearty breakfast, felt suprisingly refreshed and took the short drive North to Cullompton to commence another days cycling. The weather forecast was not good with heavy showers expected coming in from the West for the latter part of the afternoon so it was vital we made as much ground as possible towards Bristol. Leaving Devon behind at Taunton we entered Somerset in what seemed like no time at all after the hills of Dartmoor. By Bridgewater we had in fact made as much miles in just over an hour compared to what took over 2 and a half hours over Dartmoor.
Weather was indeed good with a nice tail wind until one heavy shower 20 miles short of Bristol, but no complaints all round. The decision was made to carry on as much as possible and delay lunch slightly. We stopped at the 53 miles point for the day at a nice little pub 10 miles short of Bristol. As a typical Scotsman would, Stephen A collared the manager mentioned that we were conducting a charity cycle and asked if he would change the “two for one” offer to three for one! He was very sympathetic and had no problem providing 3 burgers and chips for the price of one, if you don’t ask you don’t get!
After lunch we headed into our scheduled stop of Bristol and once again having made good ground yesterday we made the decision to carry on for another 15 miles north of the town in order to make it easier to depart tomorrow morning.
We are accommodatted tonight at the Youth Hostel in Bristol city centre and are already missing the luxury of Officers Accommodation and were distraught that we had to make our own beds, disgraceful! Not to worry we will be back to normality tommorow night when we arrive at our first RAF stop at Cosford.
Tue 02 Sep 08 - Day 4 - Falfield to Bridgend
Daily Distance: 90 miles / Total Distance: 313 miles / Cycling time: 4h 55m.
A surprisingly good breakfast spread at the Youth Hostel stoked the engines for the longest day in the saddle so far, covering 4 counties (Somerset, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Shropshire). Drove north to Falfield to pick up where we left off – got the bikes out of the van only to find Ady’s front wheel had mysteriously punctured overnight! Only a short delay to repair before we set off along relatively level ground, reaching Gloucester in what seemed like no time at all. A small navigational error took us through some very pleaseant areas tracking the river Severn, such as Upton-on-Severn and Worcester before taking lunch at Stourport. Just as we were about to resume cycling the heavens opened with a very heavy shower. We took cover in the high street bus shelter and whilst waiting for the shower to pass got chating to some locals about our ride. Their generosity was quite touching with 3 old ladies donating to the charity and wishing us good luck.
Bouyed by our encounter, we headed north again to Kidderminster on what were now very wet roads which immediately translated into wet behinds (no mudguards!). Good progress again took us through our original target of Bridgnorth to our revised destination just noth of Telford. We stopped just two miles short due to another dramatic thunderstorm rapidly developing.
A short drive east of Telford brought us to our overnight accomation that is RAF Cosford – let’s hope the Light Blue can provide the level of service that the Dark Blue are used to!!
Wed 03 Sep 08 - Day 5 - Bridgend to Wigan
Daily Distance: 74 miles / Total Distance: 387 miles / Cycling time: 4h 10m.
No complaints whatsover from the service provided from the RAF at Cosford, they were obviously been warned that 4 members of the Senior Service were staying, accommodation, meals and facilities were first class.
We set off once again at 0830, no punctures to repair fortunately, and made the short drive from the camp to Telford to set on our way just after 0900. Our route today was to be relatively flat and therefore very welcome to all three of us. The plan was to head north for about 60 miles and still be about 15 miles ahead of the original estimate, but as they say in the military “no plan survives first contact with the enemy”, so based on the fact that the sun was shining for the first hour or so we made the executive decision to keep going for another 15 miles in order to provide more flexibility in case of bad weather.
This bad weather did indeed come at 1145 when we were about 15 miles south of Warrington. We then sped up the legs and stopped at the next pub at 1200 where Richard was waiting with us for a change of kit. On the road about 15 minutes previously we had passed a couple of cyclists who also joined us at the pub due to the torrential rain. It transpired that the two of them were from Ayr, had set off from Lands End the day before us and were on a similar route to John O’Groats all in aid of Cancer Research. The fact they set off a full day before us, and were aiming to get there in twelve days, therefore two days before us is a bit worrying, but they were very relaxed about it nonetheless.
Another hearty lunch, with Ade even opting for Chocolate Brownies for desert, then donned the waterproofs and made our way north for another couple of hours cycling. Almost throughout we had some heavy showers and extremely wet roads in what would now be the busiest area that we would travel through made for some tough navigation. We crossed over the M54 into Warrington, came out over the M56 and then the M6 heading for Wigan before crossing back over the M6 to a petrol station about 7 miles north east of Wigan to make the ride north up to the Lake District less arduous.
Sadly we had our first minor incident of the cycle with about 800yds to run until our destination. Ade made a right turn around a mini-roundabout and with the roads extremely wet slid and come off his bike. Fortunately there was no major damage to either Ade or his bike, so a quick once over and check out and we made our way to the pick-up.
Tonight we are staying once again at a Youth Hostel, this time in Chester, where due to the fact we are now about three hours cycling ahead of schedule, we had to make a 40 mile trip back down the M6 and across to Chester, better that than being behind schedule. Preston, Lancaster and the Lake District to look forward to tomorrow, lets hope the weather improves.
Thu 04 Sep 08 - Day 6 - Wigan to Ambleside
Daily Distance: 70 miles / Total Distance: 457 miles / Cycling time: 4h 05m
We woke bright and early in Chester Youth Hostel this morning, partly in our eagerness to continue the cycle but mostly due to the the lumps in the matresses and Adi’s snoring. After a full and nourishing breakfast we headed back to the day’s start point near Wigan and pondered what the weather would have in store for us. Given the fine sky, we were concerned that we may be over dressed and need not have taken the rain coats. We shouldn’t have worried. The fact that we passed numerous animals queuing up two-by-two should, in hindsight, have given us a clue of what was in store! Twenty minutes into today’s cycle the heavens openned and it persisted down from then on. Many of the roads became waterlogged and had numerous streams flowing across and over them. This combined with heavy traffic and inconsiderate truck drivers on the way through Preston made it all hard going.
Despite being wrapped up against the elements we were soon soaked through and were only really warm while we kept pedalling. We stopped for an early lunch in Lancaster at KFC to the delight of both Steve’s to start the circulation going once more and fill the stomach before pushing on again under the same rain cloud that had followed us for four hours today. Surprisingly we bumped in to the same two cyclists who we went on Wednesday, who are without doubt going to stuggle to get up in their 12 days estimate, but they were still smiling nonetheless.
As we approached the Lake District a tantalising patch of blue sky remained elusively ahead of us as we continued to cycle through Windemere to Ambleside. Despite the weather the scenery was truely spectacular and the conbination of heavy rain and penetrating sunlight really did set of the landscape in all its majesty. When we finally made it to Ambleside in the mid afternoon, the sun finally stayed out and we enjoyed a pint (or two!) while shivering waiting for the transport back to the day’s accommodation. This is where once again we got chatting to a lovely retired couple who were on their annual holiday to the area who kindly donated £5 to the charity and wished us all the best for the rest of the journey.
Tonight we head back south to Lancaster to the delights of a Service Station Travelodge.
Apparently tomorrow’s forecast is for more rain, hooray!
Fri 05 Sep 08 - Day 7 - Ambleside to Gretna
Daily Distance: 60 miles / Total Distance: 516 miles / Cycling time: 3h 40m
After investigating all of the weather forecasts that were available to us, we made the decision to get up an hour earlier, skip breakfast and get going by 0800 in order to try and stay ahead of the severe weather warning that had been submitted by the Met Office.
Initially this decision seemed to be well founded and after a real tough hill climb out of Ambleside we arrived in Keswick by 0915 to stop for a cup of tea and a quick bacon roll (or in Steve S’s case have a look at the Picture Gallery, yes it is all his!). An essential stop where we also visited a local bike shop for maintenance items, then set off on our merry way departing the Lake District and onwards to Carlisle. Surprisingly enough, the heavens opened again, the wind direction turned, became a headwind and speed increased, shock horror!
Regardless, we still were making good ground, passed our planned stop for completion of the day by 1115 and had a quick break in Carlisle to gather our breath before the final push for the day. The rain remained unrelentless, the traffic density still strong and the three of us trying to look professional by taking stints at the front each to reduce the burden of the head wind.
With the weather not on our side, we made the decision to call it a day at Gretna, and get the obiligatory photograph at the Welcome to Scotland sign! Once again, Ade had another puncture about a mile short of our destination but fortunately the support van was right behind us and gave us some welcome shelter to repair his bike prior to the last five minutes of cycling.
All is still well, we remain around 30 miles ahead of plan, expecting some more rain tomorrow, no shock though bearing in mind we are now North of the border. We are being accomodated tonight at RAF Spadeadam, some 20 miles east of Carlisle in the middle of nowwhere with no phone signal and no town nearby (thanks Gary for booking us in here!!!), not to worry, once again we expect to be well looked after from the crabs!
Sat 06 Sep 08 - Day 8 - Gretna to Kilmarnock
Daily Distance: 80 miles / Total Distance: 596 miles / Cycling time: 5h 07m
Although RAF Spadeadam is a sleepy hollow, with no phone signal and in the middle of nowhere, we were very well looked after, had a great feed and managed to get broadband connectivity from RAF Staff Sergeant Barnet, who also kindly donated £10 to the cause. The only complaint we had is that it had not stopped raining torrentially all night, Met Office severe weather warnings remained in force therefore we were rightly concerned about what the long haul through south west Scotland would bring and donned the wetsuits as we set off to Gretna.
We need not have worried about the rain, as soon as we reached Gretna the skies were relatively clear and fortunately it stayed that way for the full day. What became the biggest worry was the fact that the wind had done a full 180 degree turn increased considerably and would be very much in our face for the entire cycle.
The trip from Gretna took us along a very scenic B road through Annan into Dumfries and then onto the very busy A76 which would take us north west to Kilmarnock through Thornhill, Sanquhar, Cumnock and Mauchline. We were previously quite concerned about the traffic density on the road especially considering the gusty wind conditions, but were pleasantly surprised of how quiet the day would be, partly due to it being a Saturday and a major reduction in the amount of lorries out on the roads. This allowed us to take in a bit of the wonderful scenery when we were not gritting our teeth and hanging on for dear life dealing with the strong head wind and gusts.
Today was particulary difficult in respect of the distance covered and the time taken to do it, but we took great delight in the fact that we were being accommodated by Stephen A’s sister-in-law, Sally and her husband Adam at their holiday home in Ayr, where we were promised a lively night and more importantly a sleep in before the short trip through Glasgow towards Helensburgh and our next stop at HMS Neptune in Faslane.
As we approach the 600 mile mark with 5 cycling days left the old bones, joints and back sides are aching slightly but everyone remains in good spirit and praying for a decent forecast and a change in wind direction!
Sun 07 Sep 08 - Day 9 - Kilmarnock to Arrochar
Daily Distance: 59 miles / Total Distance: 655 miles / Cycling time: 3h 40m
What a difference not having to set your alarm for 0700 makes!! Adam (Stephen A’s brother-in-law) was a wonderful host and all of us are very grateful for the hospitality shown. The beer was on the table, the crisps and dips were there on arrival and then he took us up to sample the local hospitality and entertainment at the local site before retiring, sleeping through and then preparing a massive breakfast to set us up for our planned lunch time departure. The highlight of the night was the entertainment provided by the cabaret host "Ginger Phil". The energy and enthusiasm that man showed has convinced us we will be able to do the rest of the distance in 2 days rather than the 5 planned!
The plan was to have a shorter day on Sunday to allow us to maintain and clean the bikes to set us up nicely for the final push. Having covered just under 600 miles in 8 days with 3 days torrential rain, the bikes certainly deserved some TLC ready for the mountains ahead up and around the lochs and glens of Scotland.
Having delayed it for long enough, we left the comfort of Adam’s and headed for Kilmarnock and out departure point for the day. A sentimental point for Stephen A, who was born here and lived there for the first 16 years of his life, although he made sure we cycled through it quickly enough so that we never got set upon or our bikes stolen! Having left there at 1245 we were intending to take the scenic route to Stewarton, onwards to the outskirts of Glasgow through Barrhead and Paisley, past Glasgow Airport and over the Erskine Bridge into Dumbarton. The original plan was to finish off at Faslane for the day taking in just over 45 miles prior to the next push, but buoyed by the weather, the late start and the spectacular scenery we changed out route to take us through Alexandria and up the length of Loch Lomond to complete at Arrochar prior to heading for Oban tomorrow. This once again leaves us ahead of schedule, making best use of the positive weather as we enter some of the more mountainous terrain!
Tonight we are being accommodated at HMS Neptune in Faslane and looking forward to some of the luxuries that are provided to our Submariner friends!
Mon 08 Sep 08 - Day 10 - Arrochar to Fort William
Daily Distance: 92 miles / Total Distance: 747 miles / Cycling time: 5h 30m
Once again we have no complaints when it comes to military accomodation, the hospitality provided at HMNB Clyde in Faslane was second to none, food was first class and another ideal opportunity to catch up on admin and laundry and the likes.
After a hearty scottish breakfast, with black pudding, fried bread and potato scones on the menu we left the base at 0845 after fuelling the van. The short 11 mile drive to Arrochar should have taken about 20 minutes, but unfortunately young Richard took a wrong turn and took us on a tour of the local countryside meaning we never got on the bikes to 0930, not to worry he was rebriefed that he only had one job and make sure he doesn’t make the same mistake again!
Having looked at the map, our original planned stop for the day was at Oban, some 57 miles away. We were slightly concerned about todays journey as it would take us over some extremely mountainous terrain so the plan was to take it as it came and get as much in as we could.
Our first challenge was to get over the hill at “Rest and be Thankful”, and we were pleasantly surprised with the fact that the hill was a steady climb rather than steep inclines. We quickly got over the top and made our way down to Inverary taking in some spectacular scenery both over the hills and along the lochsides.
A quick stop at Inverary to pick up some food for lunch just in case there was nothing else on route and then we carried on over the top again towards Oban. Things were going very well and we made the decision to keep going and eventually stopped for lunch at 1345 at our planned stop for the day and were very pleased with ourselves taking into account the weather and scenery that we had just witnessed.
A sensible decision was made once again to push for another 28 miles to Ballachullish at the foot of Glencoe. We made good work of this and arrived at the van by 1545 having completed 80 miles. We were then preparing ourselves to pack up the van, when Richard told us that the 2 cyclists who we had passed in Warrington were 10 minutes ahead of us. It took a lot of convincing to get Steve S motivated for another 12 miles to Fort William to make sure we got a head of the other guys, but the promise of us buying him a pint soon got the legs going at top speed.
We were shocked then when we turned the corner about 600yds round to find the 2 of them enjoying an ice cream! A quick chat with them to find out how they were gettting on and onwards we went. It was great to hear their story where they don’t worry about how long it takes or where they are staying and how much they were actually enjoying themselves.
So we finally completed our longest run in a day at Fort William and are around 40 miles ahead of our planned route and trying to keep ahead of the weather that is forecast to come again.
Tonight we are accommodated at the Scottish Youth Hostel in Oban, which we have to say is in a wonderful setting with spectacualr views and great value for money.
Onward again tomorrow with the plan if the weather is on our side to make it Dingwall, lets hoping.
Tue 09 Sep 08 - Day 11 - Oban to Dingwall
Daily Distance: 73 miles / Total Distance: 820 miles / Cycling time: 4h 25m
It is fair to say that the Scottish Youth Hostel in Oban is without doubt the best we have stayed in so far and must be up there as one of the best views in the country as you look out straight over the lochs and islands of the West of Scotland.
A quiet evening in Oban and then we set off this morning for the hour drive back up to Fort William for our start point and a quick breakfast. We opted for the cafe in Morrisons the supermarket and had a couple of “Flying Scotsman’s” for Ade and Stephen A in order to get the square sausage fix that they were requiring.
All complete and ready we left Fort William at 0925 to cover the morning that would take us through Spean Bridge up Loch Lochy and the Caledonian Canal towards Fort Augustus at the foot of Loch Ness. Around 45 minutes in we left Spean Bridge and had a quick stop at the Commando Memorial where the commemorate the Royal Marines who lost their lives in World War II. This has a magnificant vantage point with views over the glens towards Ben Nevis and Aanoch Mor. Once again we bumped in to our two travelling companions who had also stopped and were hoping to get to Tain by the days end.
A scenic pass up the lochside and another quick fuel stop in Fort Augustus before departing along the western edge of Loch Ness through Invermoriston and on to Drumnadrochit where we had a quick lunch stop. It was here that Steve S had a quick look at the map and noticed that there was a very steep hill just in front of us to get us over to Dingwall. So we a certain amount of worry we set off and there it was at about 1 mile in, a 15% ascent for three quarters of a mile. This was the toughest hill that we have conquered so far and after some tight legs and empty lungs we got over the top and headed onwards for the final twenty miles of the day.
The final part of the journey took us through Beauly and Muir of Ord before arriving in Dingwall just as the rain started. We then made the 30 mile journey back towards our Youth Hostel where we are staying tonight along the banks of Loch Ness and got a shock where we passed the two gents again about 20 miles behind us having just struglled up that hill!! No doubt we shall bump into them tomorrow.
Wed 10 Sep 08 - Day 12 - Dingwall to John O'Groats
Daily Distance: 110 miles / Total Distance: 930 miles / Cycling time: 5h 55m
Not what we planned but, hey, not many plans survive first contact!
The day began with a transport problem in that the van’s electrics started dying on us on the way to Dingwall, our start point for the day. A quick call en-route to the RAC saw a very helpfull breakdown man arrive shortly after we pitched up to our RV. Diagnosis was a dodgy alternator, fotunately there was a garage in nearby Inverness that could sort the problem so we left Richard to deal with the van as we set off on another day’s cycling, in the rain.
The A9, our sole road for the day (or so we thought...) was very wet and the heavy traffic kicked up a fair bit of spray but at least the wind was behind us and we made good pace to our first break in Tain. Onward to Golspie with the rain now stopped, our rain jackets were proving to be very warm indeed (no option to ditch as our support van was on the ramps - Steve S could have filled one of the Lochs with the sweat he put out!!) but we continued to make rapid progress, stopping for lunch at the 46 mile point in Brora at the Sutherland Arms Hotel. Lunch was excellent and just what we needed to take on the hills around Helmsdale and Berrisdale Braes which saw Ady record the max speed of the trip at 48.4mph and possibly the slowest too as what goes down invariably must go up!
We reached our target for the day, Lather, at 76 miles. This was where the debate started on the benefits of just "cracking on" and completing the last 34 miles to John O’Groats. Whilst the conservation of fuel (trips back and forth from accom) and making the most of the good weather were cited, the main motivator was finishing 2 days ahead of the RAF team who had started on the same day and we had bumped into in the Loch Ness hostel last night, but were planning to finish on Friday, and who were also staying at the same acomm tonight (Carbisdale Castle - ultra impressive and highly recommended). No rivalry there then....
Energy bars and bananas consumed, we set off at an incredible pace along the relatively flat roads up to Wick, about halfway, where we stopped to catch our breath. Clearly adrenaline was now kicking in with the end in sight we continued at a similar pace through some pretty desolate landscape until cresting the last hill when John O’Groats came into view - one of the finest sights in the world when your backside has been in contact with a bicycle seat for 930 miles!
We headed straight to the "sign" for the obligatory photos. Steve S pulled out a bottle of bubbly which he had managed to keep hidden for the whole trip and the celebrations began. Relief all round that we had all made it, in one piece, and a massive sense of achievement. Now all that remained was to get back to the castle and let the RAF know the senior service had completed a day early!
Thu 11 Sep 2008 - Homeward Bound
After a very pleasant Wednesday evening enjoying the surroundings of Carbisdale Castle and rubbing the RAF's noses in it, we made the two hour drive to RAF Kinloss which was our intended stop for the evening having planned originally to finish today. A quick lunch, wash up and another executive decision was made to travel through the night rather than hit the usual Friday rush hour traffic after the Midlands.
Stephen A took the opportunity to visit his daughter at her boarding school, took her out for tea and then picked up the rest of the guys at 2000 and set on our way.
A very uneventful trip we finally arrived at Fareham railway station at 0600 to drop off our support driver, Richard McKenzie to catch the 0624 train to Redruth and return to Culdrose. Richard has been essential throughout the trip, putting up with the three of us for a start, but dealing with the trials and tribulations that the van has brought and always being in the right place at the right time to get us back to our accommodation. We can't thank him enough and wish him all the best with his future courses at RNAS Culdrose when he finally gets going in November of this year!
We would also like to remind anyone who has not donated and still wishes to, that the Just Giving website remains open for donations which will all be gratefully received as we try to achieve our target of £5000.
We thank everyone who has donated and hope that you have enjoyed following our journey. We are all very much delighted to have achieved it, even more so knowing that it has all been for an extremely good cause, Thank You All.
