Year Round Commuter, Cyclist and Adventure Seeker.

After cycling 403 Miles top to bottom of the greatest nation on Earth - Scotland, how do we plan the next 1.  Well Im thinking,  A cycle of the Western Isles, Ferry from Oban to the furthest point at Port of Ness, far away from Stornaway. This is Epic at its finest..... +200 mile round trip  Planning afoot. - early June 2013   Watch this space 

So today she was remembered with full military honours in a service at St Paul's, before a private cremation, costing the UK tax payer over £10 Million. By the time she left power in 1990 I was 16, so I saw and can clearly remember this time. - especially in Scotland this woman, her party and policies were loathed and my eyes were wide open at the celebrations of her death and the on-going party atmosphere after. From the coal mines to the disappearance of Ravenscraig, and the Poll Tax, - Thatcher will always be a name that a lot of people want to rip apart. Especially in this part of the country I live in. I agree with a lot of this debate. I never had time for the woman, I certainly do not agree with the public purse paying for the funeral, especially when there is 2 grown children with prob 100 million between them. But today of all days. The day of her funeral. Those who want to pay their respects. Family. Friends. And supporters should be able to do so without feeling intimid...

Well its been a good week off. As you know the Scotland cycle was done and more importantly we are so close to our £1000 target. Arrived home on wed night from Gretna on the train and declared the next 4 days recovery time. Last night headed to Ayr for a nice meal at Atrium and caught up with some good chat.. Even ended up in CDM if it was rather rubbish for an hr anyway. Today, cycled about collecting cars far and wide to bring them home. Chilled and caught up on much TV. tonight more of the same. - Much required after this weeks efforts. Got a Christening tomorrow so looking forward to helping a special person celebrate her wee bundles of joys special day.... then BANG... back to work Monday. New era. - New Rota...

Woke up on Wednesday morning after sleeping like a baby for 8 hrs. We were staying at the Travelodge in the City Centre and the staff had kindly hid our bikes in the meeting room. Knackered, sore and with no motivation, got up and went for a shower and got ready. After 3 cups of coffee, was feeling much better and decided to give myself a shake and grit those teeth and make that last push. Todays route was out by the Barra's, out towards Rutherglen, Hamilton, Larkhall and join the old A74 and the A74 cycle route to Gretna. - 89 Miles. Weather was still being kind to us, probably the cold was helping my legs. Pushed out towards Larkhall, Neil got another puncture. Then down towards Douglas.... I was only 24 miles from my front door, and god I tell you I was tempted.... ! lol- then had that long long climb towards Abington, first gear, head down, along a long cold bumpy road.... the chips were down.  At 40 Miles we relented and stopped for lunch in the Abington Services.. A good hr b...

So when we arrived in Fort William, we were staying at the Youth Hostel at Glen Nevis. That night I got absolutely no sleep. A big group of Swedish students left at 4am then someone was snoring so I awoke before 7am exhausted. We gathered our stuff and cycled out to have breakfast at McD's before the 104+ Mile run to Glasgow. [caption id="attachment_1864" align="alignnone" width="300"] Breakfast ![/caption]   Back in November we did this on my birthday of all days, so we knew what to expect. There was to be a slightly longer quicker and different route. More on that in a minute. - We headed off, down towards Corran Ferry, the weather was cold but dry. Then onward down into Glencoe. This is my favourite place in Scotland, stunning scenery and a great atmosphere. It was bitterly cold, and with a strong head wind, much effort was required to batter on. We stopped at the top for 5 mins, for some photos and take in the views...   Onwards and downward, sti...

After a hearty breakfast at the Golf View in Tain were we stayed we were up and ready to depart at 930am. It was snowing, ever so lightly. Back onto A9 and the first 34 miles to Inverness. The snow/sleet go much heavier so full waterproofs and face mask were on. A few steady climbs but mostly flat, and as we crossed the Keswick Bridge the weather improved. Headed through Inverness city centre, and passed where we had been on Sat lol. Then followed signs for Fort William. This is where the fun started. - in literally a 1 min split, I lost Neil who was following the route on RunKeeper. My phone was off. Charging. - I followed signs for A82. I phoned him from the Caledonian Canal, to then discover we were both going down either side of Loch Ness ! - Me the A82 (right), Neil the B road on the left. As it was 2 long for me to cut back we agreed to link back up at Fort Augustus - 33 miles further down. So I trundled on passing some very nice scenery. I got there around 4, and it was time ...

So on sat night we arrived in Wick well after 10pm and it was clearly too late to start cycling so we made some calls to local taxi firms to see if we could get a lift .... With 2 bikes. - after the 3rd attempt we were lucky. So bikes attached to a taxi on a cycle carrier we arrived and went straight to where we were staying and head down. 15 hrs door to door lol. Sat night I thought I seen ever hr on the clock but awoke early. After breakfast we got ready and headed down to the harbour to take a couple snaps. Of course the signs not there. - only comes out at certain times of the day. Which is a bit daft. Anyway took some then headed off..... Weather was fantastic. Blue sky's. the jacket was soon off tho cold. - coming out of J.O.G - I noticed 3 deer bolting across the moorland in tandum with the road we were on. Hoping they were following to wish us luck lol. After Leaving J.O.G junction, joined A99. Down through Wick then followed coast road for a good 25 miles then joined the A...

So here goes a run down of an eventful day so far. Left house at 7am with bike n stuff. Up to Glasgow then meet Neil at Queen Street - for our 10.10am train to Inverness. Get told by conductor there is no room for bikes. As I had not BOOKED THEM ON -WTF. - never thought of doing that. We are allowed to go as far as Perth then get chucked off. Next Trains in 30 mins. Got that ok, but downside is miss the connecting Train by 10 mins. - next 1 is 3.5hrs later. We went for a beer and a bit to eat. See the Grand National. Looks like it will be a late arrival in Wick. As I write this, we are still working out how to get to John O Groats where we are staying tonight. Still 2 hrs on a train to go .. At Inverness Neil loses his bank card and his KEY for the lock on his bike .... Thinking what next eh? -..... He canny find it anywhere. Goes back to pub to find it on the floor. We make the Wick train by 10 mins..... As we head north it's getting rather white..... We are both sitting here lau...

Morning.  The morning has arrived. bags are packed, 2 wheels are ready. Todays the easy day... just 8 hrs on a bloody train. then a 16 mile cycle from Wick. Last night I was overwhelmed by the fact that our fund raising total grew by now £170 in like 6 hrs... Some of you are very kind... Currently we stand at £635 towards the £1000 target..  I was awake so just got up. Chilling enjoying a coffee. Ill blog how we get on over the next few days, this is where the iphone app is very useful.....  Cheers People xx

Day off today. Went a final run in prep for sat. Up to Murkirk, then Drumclog, then back done to Galston and back to Mauchline. 1 puncture and an old woman clip my bike with her car. Ffs. Hope it's not an omen. Lol. Pannier fitted the mora. Then pack. All ready. I hope. Current total 25 quid off 500. - thanks all Please DONATE