The BIG bike ride - Land's End to John O'Groats

Some of you may already know that I'm cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats from 5th to 20th of May.
  I'm cycling with a friend of mine Rob Dentry who is 14 yrs my junior and a whole heap fitter, however he currently has the scars of a paintball pellet to the bum which makes sitting on a saddle extremely painful :o)
  1000 miles of pure hell I'm sure, but it will be for charity. Before you all reach for your wallets I won't be asking for your money. What I would like you to do is to donate a bit of your time to a charity or worthwhile cause.
  You'll be able to track our progress via this blog. Please feel free to leave some words of encouragement :o)

I'm not asking for your money!!(but...Rob is!!)

Fed up with the usual "give me your money" approach to charity. An idea came to me one day of asking people to donate their time instead. I thought my idea was unique until I found a whole host of sites and organisations who do such a thing. One such organisation can be found at
  http://www.volunteering.org.uk
  You will be able to find your nearest centre. There are a large number of different ways of donating your time. So don't feel that you will be pushed into something you're not comfortable with. Alternatively you can give blood for the first time or help out at a local youth group. The options are endless. There is no time limit on when to do this. Anytime from now until whenever. Your help will always be invaluable.
  It would be fantastic if you could post a comment on the site to say what work you would like to do and how many hours you have donated so that we can keep a running total. If you prefer send an email info@donatemytime.org.uk . If everyone I know can donate even just 1hr of their time to a worthwhile cause or charity then we would have achieved a great deal.
  If you'd prefer the easy option of giving money, Rob is cycling to raise money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and you can visit his fundraising page here.
  Thanks
  Peter & Rob :o)

Day Ten - Greenhead to Stirling

May 15, 2009

Day 10

Greenhead to Stirling

Distance  131.64 miles

Average 12.5 mph

Time 10 hours 2 mins 37 seconds

We left Greenhead at about 08.50 heading for Brampton along the A69.  We had a cracking wind behind us and on some of the flats we were doing up to 25 miles an hour which was pleasing.  We headed north up through Longtown and across the border into Scotland, stopping to take photos as we did so.  We went through Gretna Green where Rob promptly proposed to me!!!   I of course declined the offer as I am already married to a wonderful woman!!  Shortly after passing through Gretna Green we passed through Lockerbie.

We continued along the B7076 which runs alongside the A74(M) which was a pretty good road and dead flat so we made great time with the wind behind us…  we covered the first 50 miles averaging 15 miles an hour and completed that mileage before 12.00.  Again, we saw some lovely scenery and we were surrounded by beautiful Scottish mountains.

After about 70 miles Rob had a blow-out on his back tyre after hitting a huge bit of slate on the cycle path.  We did a temporary repair to Rob’s puncture but the tyre itself was split so this affected the next 60 miles of our tour delaying us quite a lot and we had to detour off our planned route to a bike shop in Wishaw to get a new tyre for Rob’s bike.  On the way there we came across some cows that had come through an open gate and onto the dual carriageway.  Rob phoned the police to advise them of the situation.  As the dual carriageway was quite empty, I ran back to see if I could get them back into the field and as I did they went back through the gate and I closed it behind them.  My good deed for the day!

We arrived at the bike shop, called Centre Bike (www.centrebike.co.uk) at 17.30 and they stayed open late just to help us out - they normally close at 16.30.  We really appreciated that and say a big thank you to John McArthur for his assistance getting Rob’s bike roadworthy again.

From there, we grabbed a bite to eat and got a free roll in Subway in Wishaw and we cracked on to get to Stirling as quick as we could after lunch to try and get a good night’s sleep after a mammoth day!  It was the first time we had to use the lights on our bikes.   We heard the weather down south wasn’t too good but we had dry weather all the way although it was a little bit chilly.  Rob’s leg is still giving him some grief so I will have to use my wonderful massage skills on him again to see if I can get that sorted out for tomorrow’s leg of the tour.

We arrived at the hostel in Stirling at 21.50 and the building is very old, I don’t know how you would describe it really but it is a huge place.  It’s a bit like an old town hall, massive place!  We had a Chinese Takeaway for dinner - not my favourite and again not one of Anne’s wonderful dinners!!  Tomorrow we’ll be going up through the Grampians so we’re sort of looking forward to that.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Day Ten - Greenhead to Stirling”

  1. Anne on May 15th, 2009 10:15 am

    Great story about the cows - conjures up some comical images for me!!!

    I know you’re getting tired now babe and the tour is taking its toll on you but here’s hoping for a better day tomorrow and an easy ride!

    Hang in there, you’ve gone so far now - not long to go and you’ll be back for my wonderful dinners soon……

    You’ve now eaten all over England, Wales and Scotland and I am glad you still haven’t found anyone who can cook as good as me!!!

    Love you lots - nearly there now babe……..
    xx

  2. Buggy JoJo on May 15th, 2009 1:28 pm

    well done boys, Peter, you’ve really impressed me!! I keep asking Rob how you are doing and he is always complementing you on your achievement.. Not long to go now, and this will be the best part of the tour with all the stunning scenery and the fantastic feeling at the end…

    Novelty of living along is wearing off so come home soon guys xxx im sure me and anne both need some ‘cuddle time’ xx

  3. Ion on May 15th, 2009 4:29 pm

    haven’t you finished yet?

    make sure you stat at bunrannoch…

  4. Rob Cockburn on May 16th, 2009 9:40 am

    Crikey, nearly there now! Hats off to you both for such a great effort!

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