LEJOG Day 8 - Final assault

After breakfast the Regimental Sergeant Major handed us the Black Watch jerseys, Roger was the most grateful as he now had another layer to put on.

''

The peloton glided through the awesome countryside, the army support vans were laden with jerry cans of water as coffee shops have not yet reach this far north.

We had some distance to cover, as today would be our longest day distance wise. The beautiful surroundings, good weather and great mates made the going quite easy.

With 25 km to go the legs found new energy and the pace picked up a little. The final climb and the Surrey boys sensed that one or two of the squadies may be running out of gas so we put the hammer down a little more just for fun. We arrived at John O' Groats in phenomenally good form and cheer, a job well done.

We rode 202km today, 1400km over 8 simply amazing days, we felt privileged to have been able to do this. Britain is great!

The biggest cheer at the end went to Jo our long suffering nutritional expert, logistical support and biggest fan. Thanks Jo and thanks to Bobbo for an amazing LEJOG 2017

LEJOG Day 7 - Highland high

Wow! What a day, a beaut of a day. Clear blue sky helped us to forget the inconvenience of an icy North Easterly wind.

We climbed out of Moffat towards Glen Coe and sliced through the head on gale inspired by the beautiful surroundings.

 

Coffee required a quick health and safety chat in relation to road safety and then we were on our way cycling along the numerous lochs.

Ben Nevis was still capped in snow as the lithe athletes sped past towards lunch. Some of the fuel tanks ran out before our nutritional specialist, Jo arrived.

No navigational skills required for the last leg of the day, just follow Loch Ness and then pick the meanest mother of a climb and then you will be 17 km from the ice cold beer that awaits.

After 188km, bodies were tired but minds and hearts we deliriously happy after an awesome day's cycling. Tomorrow is the final day and will be joined by the Regiment Sergeant Major of the Black Watch and some of his squadies for the final assault.

LEJOG Day 6 - Glasgow kissed

We stayed in the narrowest free standing hotel - a bit of a novelty, however we were quite cozy.

,

We had quite a long and cold climb out of Moffat as we headed towards Glasgow, the wind was still giving unwanted resistance. The road surfaces were rough and sensitive behinds were taking a hammering, our rib cages were being rattled and there was not a coffee shop in sight. There were some interesting obstacles on our way to coffee.

After coffee we descended into Glasgow where our commuting skills were put to good use. The locals became a little more understanding of minor traffic indiscretions once they found out that we came from South Africa and we were not their pesky neighbours, the English. This arrangement suited us. We picked up a great cycle route in Glasgow that would take us all the way to Loch Lomond along the River Leven. The scenery for the rest of the day was absolutely stunning.

After 179km of riding we reached Crainlarich, our overnight stop. Beer in the local was a hoot and we are blessed to be in such magnificent surroundings and with good mates.

LEJOG Day 5 - Who passed wind?

Clear blue skies bode well for a good days cycling and the boys were up for it.

 

Getting out of Lancaster was slightly cumbersome as Adrian had navigational issues and Geoff needed to stop every 500 meters to take a picture and talk to motorists in the "rush hour " traffic. Once out of town Bobbo hit the front and started the pull towards Kendal. Progress was slow as the wind was blowing an absolute gale. We were riding straight into a head wind of 25 kmph with gusts of up to 45 kmph. It was seriously hard work particularly the 8km climb out of Kendal to Shap straight into the teeth of the wind. The reason why one rides from Lands Ends north is because the prevailing winds are favourable, well clearly not today. Views were beautiful but the boys were in bits and could not really appreciate it.

There was no relief at the top of the pass as we had to pedal hard to make any progress down hill. Coffee in Shap was a chance to rest and to ensure that spirits were not broken as it was clearly going to be a long long day. One of the team required 2 sausage rolls, a fruit scone and a date slice before we could persuade him get into the saddle again.

The next stop would be lunch in Scotland, what a treat. The wind did not hold up and we eventually rolled into Gretna for lunch at 15h30 - more broken but happy to be in Scotland.

Only 57km to Moffat and a beer. The wind had taken its toll and the pace dropped, some tried to boost their pace by passing turbo charged wind. This clearly did not help and we needed an extra stop at the Lockerbie truck stop.

LEJOG Day 4 - Where are you lads going?

First we had to extract our bikes and bags from the hotel. This proved to be a little tricky given the very narrow stairs and door ways. We found a way...

J

We rode through Shropshire into Cheshire and stopped for coffee at Delamere Forest. A cappuccino in this part of the world is called tea.

We were a bit disappointed that the rest of the ride would be quite unremarkable from a scenery point of view to say the least. We crossed over the ship canal that connects Liverpool and Manchester and we now had a real sense that we were heading towards the north of England.

While on the bridge a number of the locals were curious as to what these pretty boys were doing. We had a very nice chat to a gentleman who very enthusiastically asked "where are you lads going?" What was meant to be a 2 minute photo stop turned out to be somewhat longer as we were entertainment for the very friendly and welcoming locals.

We rode through Warrington, Wigan and Preston. If we could have ridden faster we would have as there is nothing noteworthy to see.

Health issues seemed to be under control so we could enjoy the sumptuous refuelling at lunch.

After lunch it was heads down and a big pull into Lancaster. We made it in time to reach a bike shop for some adjustments followed by a well earned beer.