Day 6 - Westhoughton - Welshpool

Day 6
Westhoughton -> Welshpool
78 Miles
~1000m Ascent

5 Hours 58 Minutes

A few beers always seems like a good idea when you've been riding all day. We had always planned to give ourselves the morning off and leave for Welshpool between 11-12. I'm not sure if it was how much we had eaten, how much we had drunk or whether pure laziness came into play but we made the 78 miles to Welshpool feel like 178 miles. It seemed to take forever! On any other day we could have smashed 78 miles out in around 4 hours dependent on wind and hills, today was nearer to 6. Granted we have heavy bags and had covered just over 500 miles in 5 days previous but for some reason the legs just would not turn! When we finally rolled into Welshpool we were so tired and lethargic we had to call it an early night and got some shut eye!

Despite our obvious lack of pace, we still managed to improve our score! Overtaken: 26, overtaken by:0!

On to Upton upon Avon tomorrow!

Nathan + James

Day 5 - Carlisle - Westhoughton

Day 5
Carlisle -> Westhoughton
108 Miles
1320m Ascent
6 Hours 28 Minutes

Yesterdays bitterness aside we awoke looking forward to some very friendly faces in Westhoughton, taking in sights along the way that were very familiar as we'd used many of the same roads during training rides! However if we were dreaming of an easy day we were rudely awoken by the Lake District. I realise by this point your probably wondering why big hills still surprise us. Its not like we didn't expect the Lake District to have quick, sharp ascents and long and rolling leg burning climbs. We just didn't expect so many, and with so much wind.

We were both massively relieved when we hit Lancaster and we were on familiar ground, we knew every road and every hill from there onwards. After a few quick pictures in Lancaster we made brilliant time down the A6, a quick stop for some chocolate and sugar meant we could roll into Westhoughton feeling good and looking forward to a few beers and a big curry! 

A quick shower and we were off for a sports massage to loosen up the legs and keep us feeling fresh, Alison Leach did a fantastic job of making us feel human again! A couple of beers and a curry rounded off what was a very nice but very tiring day!

I realise that we have not been keeping the score up to date, as of today we stand at overtaken: 19, overtaken by:0! Still good progress but we know we've got fresh weekend riders to contend with! 

Nathan + James

Day 4 - Paisley - Carlisle

Day 4
Paisley -> Carlisle
106 Miles
1000m Ascent
6 Hours 30 Minutes

Lands end to John O'Groats is cheating. Don't get me wrong, cycling the whole length of the country is no mean feat. If you want a real challenge though, set off from John O'Groats and try cycling into mile after mile of constant head wind. 

We have therefore decided that Lands End to John O'Groat-ers should be banned and everyone should be forced to cycle down the country, the hard way.

A very tired and frustrated,

Nathan + James

Day 3 - Fort William - Paisley

Day 3
Fort William -> Paisley
107 Miles
1000m Ascent
6 Hours 17 Minutes

"You won't get a better view than that!" No matter how many times we said that during the day North Scotland always managed to impress us more and more with amazing views and scenery. The day started out like any other, a massive breakfast followed by a food stop an hour down the road when we get hungry again! 

We knew that the only route to Paisley was through Glasgow 80+ miles down the A83, we asked the bacon sandwich making man what the hills were like from there to Glasgow. My heart sank when he laughed in my face. "So you don't know about the longest ascent in the UK then?" No, it seems that we overlooked that when planning the route. He wasn't wrong, the hills just seemed to go on and on relentlessly. 

After we seemed like mile after mile of ascent we rolled into Glasgow extremely tired and hungry, after checking in at the hotel and locking the bikes away we sat down and demolished a massive tea at Frankie and Bennys. Another early night and we were ready for day 4 which we were dreading, a monotonous ride from Paisley to Carlisle with barely anything in between!

Nathan + James

Day 2 - Dornoch - Fort William

Day 2
Dornoch -> Fort William
105 Miles
1200m Ascent
6 Hours 14 Minutes

Today was our first trip into the unknown! The first day that we would have to use hotels so couldn't afford to forget anything! The quiet back roads through North Scotland really helped eat up the miles and before we knew it we were stopping for lunch! I'm not sure what professional cyclists eat during big events but so far our diet has mostly consisted of Scotch pies and Iron Bru, I'm not complaining!  

The whole day flew by and after stopping a few times for photo opportunities, we rolled into Fort William. After finding somewhere that didn't shut up at 6:30pm we called it a day and had an early night, ready for the next day consisting of 107 miles from Fort William to Paisley!

Nathan + James

Day 1 - John O'Groats - Dornoch

Day 1
John O'Groats -> Dornoch
81 Miles
1120m Ascent
4 Hours 15 Minutes

Our first day consisted of a 80 mile drive to John O'Groats from Dornoch. After a few photo opportunities we were officially on our way! It was a strange feeling to put all the organization and planning to good use, knowing that the next 10 days would be mostly be spent pedaling down the UK!


The first 15-20 miles went really quickly, before we knew it we were sampling the local pies and pasties in Wick. We knew it was going to get a lot harder in the coming miles, with no real town or shops to stop at for the next 40ish miles we stocked up on sugary drinks and set on our way. 

The hills we'd driven up/over/down during the car ride to John O'Groats seemed to pass really quickly in the car, they didn't seem to pass quite as quickly when we were cycling up them! After a brief stop at the top of a huge 10% hill the magnitude of the challenge really hit home! We refueled at next big town and breezed into Dornoch via Loch Fleet, stopping to take in the views and the Sea Lions that live there.


To keep ourselves amused and encouraged James and I have challenged ourselves to not be overtaken by other cyclists once during the trip. Today's totals are, Overtaken:11 Overtaken by others: 0. Good start! 

We've got a 9am start to Fort William tomorrow, 40 miles down the A9 then 60 miles all the way down the side of Loch Ness. We will keep our eyes peeled for Nessie!

Thanks again for all the donations!


Nathan + James

Its Here!!

After months of planning and training we are within 48 hours of the start of our end to end ride! We're fully packed and have just had the 'last supper', consisting of a large plate of carbs! We have an early night planned, followed by an even earlier start to begin the 8 hour drive up north to Dornoch!

We can't thank you enough for the donations made, we've been blown away by the amount we have raised so far!

Now you have done your bit, we've got some pedalling to do!

We will try and update the blog after each day so keep checking!

Nathan + James