The bikes

Nick rode a steel Dawes Galaxy tourer with triple chainset.  It weighed a ton, probably even before he put his panniers on.  He used his granny gears a lot. I rode a carbon-framed Cannondale Synapse with a Tailfin carbon rack and panniers.  It weighed about 16kg all up, with the loaded panniers. I fitted 28mm tyres and a wide-range 11-36 cassette at the rear, it had a compact 50/34 at the front.  This meant I rarely need to leave the big chain ring, only changing to the smaller ring on the steeper inclines when my legs were tired.  I also fitted a Redshift Shockstop suspension stem to help absorb vibration through the bars on uneven surfaces.  I recommend it.

Both bikes performed well (well, they survived to the end) but mine was not so well suited to the route we took (the Royston Woods route), which included some muddy, stoney, bumpy, uneven, gritty and otherwise unpleasant cycle and canal towpaths - most were fine but there were definitely times when sections weren't a lot of fun.  I was really happy with the all changes I made to my bike, which I am sure helped make the experience more tolerable on some of the surfaces we rode on.  Mud did tend to build up between the frame and wheels because of lack of clearance - a gravel or hybrid bike would definitely be better for that route.

We had only two mechanical issues on the whole trip: Nick started the journey with a slightly buckled rear wheel which became worse after hitting a pothole.  Eventually he had it checked (by which time we were well into Scotland) and three broken spokes were discovered.  Perhaps if he'd had it trued before leaving this might have helped avoid the problem, but of course there's no certainty of this.  I would recommend starting with a good set of sturdy and true wheels though :-)  For me, the internal bracket on one of my lightweight panniers broke but there were no problems with the bike. No punctures for either of us, despite the surfaces we sometimes rode on.

Postscript

I arrived in London on the sleeper train from Inverness. Navigating my way through a maze of near-stationary traffic on the Euston Road, I reached the bottom of Pentonville Road and sprinted up it.  It seemed much shorter than it did two weeks ago.  I turned left at the top soon reaching my flat.  My legs weren't too bothered about stopping so soon, they are quite familiar with my flat anyway.  I showered, had breakfast and started unpacking my kit.  My legs said 'Hey, what's going on, we're ready, let's go cycling'. Time passed with no cycling. I put on some jeans.  My legs said 'wait, what are you doing, you can't cycle in those?'  Gradually it dawned on them: 'OMG, he's going to the office.  He's not going for a nice, long, easy ride in the countryside, he's going to join the morning cycle commuter race.  Oh no!  That's so much harder and more dangerous...'

Day 13 - The End of the Road!

We did it! Today we reached the north-eastern most settlement on the British mainland - John O'Groats. It was a beautiful day for cycling, almost perfect - sunny from the outset, not too hot, not too windy. We started from Helmsdale and were immediately confronted with the Berriedale Braes - a steep ride up to an undulating plateau, followed by a steep descent into Berriedale and another steep ascent out of it. We climbed about 1500' in the first 10 miles. Which as any cyclist knows is quite a lot of up in a fairly short distance, and it was followed by more up afterwards. But, although the Berriedale Braes have a bit of a fearsome reputation among LEJOGers, I found them not as bad as expected. Just the usual matter of getting into a low enough gear and spinning the pedals to the top. The reward once the Braes were over was amazing, sunny vistas over vast expanses of coast and golden and purple land - the gold from cropped fields and the purple from heather on the hills behind. Just simply beautiful beyond words to describe. At least beyond my limited talent. Photos will follow but will not do them justice.

After passing Lybster (which to my surprise had a street with a French name, Quatre Bras), the road turned north and headed straight on for miles and miles - miles without traffic or traffic lights or other streets or houses, before swinging more north-easterly and continuing on in the same vein. I later found out that this relates to a battle against Napoleon's French troops - a skirmish in the larger battle of Waterloo that the allied forces including several Highland regiments won. Sorry Mika (a French colleague) :-)

 The stats:
Distance cycled today: 53.5 miles
 Ascent: 3,053'
Distance from Lands End: 947.5 miles 

After arrival we took the obligatory photos, had lunch, and took a taxi back to Wick for the train to Inverness, which I am on as I am writing this. It was funny getting the taxi because I'd told the controller we wanted to meet it at the 'John O'Groats hotel'. It turned out there is no hotel called 'the John O'Groats hotel', so it had been told to meet us at the Seaview hotel a quarter of a mile back up the road. So it was back on the bikes for 5 minutes to reach it. We both found our legs complaining a bit about this as it seems they'd thought their work was done when we got to JOG. Funny how the body reacts to what the mind expects.

So that's it, the ride is over but this blog isn't finished yet. There are photos to add, videos to edit and perhaps more musings to write.

Day 12 - Inverness to Helmsdale

Today was definitely a day of two halves, cycling-wise.  The first, easy, pleasant, in good sunny weather on minor roads, or well-surfaced cycle paths alongside the A9.  The second, on the A9 itself from Tain to Helmsdale.  This was not a pleasant experience.  At first, from Tain until after the Dornoch Firth Bridge, there is a 'shoulder' for cyclists to cycle on but this quickly disappears and the A9 becomes single-carriageway in each direction, with motorists trying to maintain dual-carriageway speeds and no room for cyclists.  The road is not busy in terms of traffic volume, but the traffic there is wants to get where it's going fast, and while most motorists will still wait until a suitable passing opportunity and give space, some pass by inches leaving the barest of margins - as if wanting to shave your legs as one cyclist put it.  Neither Nick nor I liked it.  The weather turned a little greyer too.

The stats:
Distance cycled today: 70.6 miles
Ascent: 3,347'
Distance from Lands End: 894 miles

Of course, the big news is: This was our last full day of cycling on this trip.  Tomorrow early afternoon we will reach John O'Groats, celebrate briefly and then get the train home.  It's been a fantastic adventure, but I won't write the end before it happens.  That's for tomorrow.  Today was another day in the cycle of eat, sleep, cycle, repeat with some great scenery passed along the way, all adding to a memorable experience.  Today I was thinking 'why did I wait so long to do this?'  It's an adventure I've long wanted to have.  Don't put off your adventures.

I should also mention passing a sign pointing to Barbaraville - a most unlikely name for a remote Scottish village in the far north of Scotland.  I'm sure my colleague Barbara will be chuffed to bits to know someone named a remote Scottish village after her :-)  Well, on checking Wikipedia, that fount of all knowledge, it seems that in Scottish Gaelic it's called "An Cladach", which doesn't sound at all like Barbara, so maybe it has a different derivation :-)

Day 11 - Struan to Inverness

Well, we are in Inverness and only two days from completing our journey.  It seems hard to believe we started only 11 days ago.  Once again we've had an easy day following a hard day, and have been lucky with the weather.  It started off dull and overcast with clag covering the Drumochter pass, which became light drizzle as we climbed it, but soon cleared to become a beautiful day offering wonderful cycling along easy ascents and descents.  The descents were glorious - at once steep enough and shallow enough to offer long miles of hardly needing to pedal or brake.

The stats:
Distance cycled today: 79.3 miles
Ascent: 3,281'
Distance from Lands End: 823.4 miles.

Dinner beckons.  Tomorrow the penultimate day.

Photos from today:

Day 10 - Edinburgh Newbridge to Struan

Today was, on paper, expected to be the hardest day so far - the longest ride and the most climbing. It didn't disappoint. It was harder than expected, or seemed so. It began innocuously enough - 10 fairly flat miles followed by the highest climb of the day that went up in a series of short ramps,  sometimes steep, sometimes not, with flat or downhill bits in between so that you hardly felt the ascent.  The descent into Kinross was exhilarating.  If only the day had stayed like that. What happened was that it kept throwing upward ramps along the way, all the way to Killiecrankie, just before Blair Atholl, which was still 5 or 6 miles from Calvine and Struan.  So it was a hard day in the saddle, even if Garmin thinks it was less ascent than Strava said it would be.

The stats:
Distance cycled today: 83 miles
Ascent: 4,839'
Distance from Lands End: 744.1

Nick's rear wheel had been buckled for a while so he dropped into a cycle shop in Inverkeithing, just after crossing the Forth bridge and asked them if they could straighten it. They found he had three broken spokes, took it in immediately and fixed it.  He was back on the road within 30 minutes.  A big shout out to Ryan's Bike Surgery.  If you need anything bike-related in the area, use them!

For anyone interested in the Royston Woods route, it has been very good so far through Scotland, mostly on minor roads running parallel to the main roads, or on tracks alongside them.  Relatively few off-road cyclepaths have been used and mostly those have had good surfaces, today there were a couple of short sections of unsealed muddy or stoney surfaces making for slow going but on the whole things have been good, main A roads avoided (there was just a short section of A9 today).

Tomorrow, Inverness, then just two more legs to go.  Let's hope our legs hold up :-)