The Final Post-Thankyous!!!

To see all the photos from the mad journey, please go to these links(you dont need to be registered we think!):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48480&l=70fee&id=505605040
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48479&l=956ad&id=505605040
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48280&l=d0006&id=505605040
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48281&l=ab212&id=505605040
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48278&l=f82f5&id=505605040


We did it!!!!!

We just thought we should do a write up about the ride to let you all know how amazing it was and to say all the thank-yous to everyone who helped us out!!

Since we have been back we've been quite sad that its over as we had such an amazing time and met so many lovely people, so its wierd to be back in the real world again. Right now we are sat in the very cafe where we spent most of our time organising the ride.......................thinking about what to do next!!! It was wierd at first adapting back to normality again such as being in a car, driving to work, having a lay-in (very nice).

The ride was brilliant and everyone should do it. Our favourite places where;

Isle of Arran
Fort Augustus (shame about Fort William though)
Lake District
Wye Valley
Padstow

The great people we met were;

A man who is walking John O Groats to Lands End (met him on our day1, his day 3)
2 lovely old men (hugh and another man) who fixed our bike for us at a cafe we stopped at......and then also sponsored us!!
A man in Padstow who is doing the ride in memory of his friend who committed suicide and is donating the money to the older people of Padstow at Christmas.
The Bishops Castle Tandem Cycling Group who met us for a bbq in Bishops Castle and were not only all absolutly lovely but also raised a massive £100 for us also!!
The Henderson household who gave us such a great stay, fed us (a bit too much) and sent us off with a pack full of food (including Jelly Babies which Phil now bums............also he loves Carole too)
The Courtyard In Helsby who were fabulous and bought us a bottle of Champagne on arrival. They have also done a feature on us in their website ( www.thecourtyardhelsby.com)
In Eccleston (the original farmers arms pub) gave us a free lunch and coffees to warm us up.
The cafe in Wick who gave us free coffee and malteser cakes.
The owners of the following hotels who gave us free accomodation and a very welcoming stay;
Golf Links Hotel in Golspie
Foyers Bay House in Foyers
Falls of Lora in Connel
Old Brick guesthouse in Bishops Castle
Myrtle place in Monmouth


Thankyous!!!!!!!!!!
A huge thankyou also to Hollies Mum for meeting us at Helsby at a lovely converted stable! We were fed a huge meal, had champagne in their massive bath, slept wonderfully on their gorgeous beds and then were packed up with lots of treats the next day!! Also she left some letters at various hotels for us spurring us on.
Also to Phils Dad for meeting us at Padstow and following us to the finish (literally 5 miles an hour at some points) and making us laugh (treating us to lunch also in St.Agnus)
Big thanks to Hollies Dad who followed us the last 3 days and paid for our accomodation those last days. He was there on hand to fix the many things that went wrong with the bike over those last 2 days (must have been meddling with the bike lol). Also keeping us motivated!!
Also to Phils mum who had arranged for a bottle of the good stuff (champagne) to be in our room at Lands End (which we again drank in the bath and also the next morning with breakfast) and always being at the end of a phone (like when we had to ring to ask what Kianti food was)
Thanks to Victoria, Stuart, Oliver and Paulie (Phils sis and family) who met us at the top in John O Groats to set us off at the start. Sorry it was so bloody cold!!! it was really great having you there!
Adrian Lawson was a massive help before we left being our bike fairy and fixing up the bike for us before we set off. Also to Liz Colebrook from Bishops Castle who did some vital tinkering on the bike for us during the ride and also being at the end of the phone for advice when things went wrong.
Also to all the bike shops along the route who mended the bike for free which is just so lovely of them!!
All our family who supported us and sponsored us including;
Grandad Gibbons and Aunty Sue
Nan and Bakki
Ben, Lisa, William and Summer (and new bump)
Andrew, Fran, Pete and Donna
Simon for driving us to the airport
Mick for fixing our brakes

Thanks to Oracle who donated much money through events Phil organised there (james corrall haircut, moustache growing, charity football, games afternoon)
Thanks also to Hollies work (Carwarden House School) who not only sponsored Hollie but also arranged a Fun Run for children and staff which has raised over £350.
Aston Uni Marketing Team (especially Sarah Tiernan) who managed to get various publicity arranged for us including being in the Birmingham Mail.
The commuter centre at Phils work who bought the maps for the whole route, which we then photocopied for the ride!


Whats next............


Well we both feel really fit now and think we have caught the bug for charity events. When you do these things you realise how many amazing people there are and how many people will help you no matter what. Its really humbling!! We are now thinking of what to do next and we want it to be bigger and better than this one!!! We have London To Brighton in June which is 50 miles in one day (which should be quite easy hopefully)

Reading -> the boot of Italy next???

Thanks to everyone who has been reading this-we cant believe how many have!!! Thanks for everyones donations and we will be in touch soon with our next event!!xxxx

Hollie and Phil.

Just a quickie.

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DAY 14 - Padstow - Land End (62 miles)

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DAY 13 - Crediton -> Padstow (74 miles)

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DAY 12 - Cheddar -> Crediton (68 miles)

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DAY 11 - Monmouth -> Cheddar (59 miles)

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Day 10-Bishops Castle -> Monmouth(60mls)

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You have received a new message

You have received a message from mobile number +447920097421 You can reply once to this message via MMS for free! To send a reply containing pictures, audio or video, click here to visit our on-line composer. Alternatively, you can send a text-only reply (limited to 500 characters), simply by clicking your usual reply button. By replying to this message you agree to our terms and conditions. Please see our Website Terms and Conditions at http://www.vodafone.co.uk/termsandconditions for full details. Only one reply is possible until 18/04/2008. Subject: You have received a new message As the days start to drag on what really keeps us going is the people we see and meet during our trip. This morning after a brilliant breaky- it needed a mention! We had some photos taken and then set off into the cheshire countryside. After being 'attacked' by another dog- they really got something against us- we had an ok morning getting in to ellesmere. Find it really strange that these nice little towns are littered with chavs and there souped up washing machines (cars) , anyway we stopped for a bite at a little cafe with some people who asked about the ride and then getting a little lost in the process we set off again- jelly babies in tow. After learning all about the different names of the babies-brilliant, bubbles, baby bonnie, big heart, bumper, boofuls - yes we were bored! But these things are powerful stuff, gets me hyper like little bits of speed. Our day was ending with a massive hill- called stiperstones. We did it in one go and the downhill couldn't be enjoyed as it was too steep and narrow,we had the brakes on the whole way down,thanks mick for sorting them! We got to the stop and met some lovely people who checked the bike and gave us some tips plus rosie threw on a great meal and made us feel very welcome. A really lovely evening!!Off to monmouth tomorrow which is a good part of 60 miles. 5 days to go people! More pics soon we had no net ! night x You can reply once to this message via MMS for free! To send a reply containing pictures, audio or video, click here to visit our on-line composer. Alternatively, you can send a text-only reply (limited to 500 characters), simply by clicking your usual reply button. By replying to this message you agree to our terms and conditions. Please see our Website Terms and Conditions at http://www.vodafone.co.uk/termsandconditions for full details. Only one reply is possible until 18/04/2008. Using Vodafone mobile phones you can create and receive MMS (Multimedia Message). For more information join our website on www.vodafone.com or visit one of our Vodafone shops around the world.

DAY 8 - Garstang -> Helsby (60 miles)

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DAY 7 - Gilcrux -> Garstang (78 miles)

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DAY 6 - Phone pics

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DAY 6 - Thornhill -> Gilcrux (78 miles)

Back in England!

Yes finally after 5 1/2 days on the road we have now moved back into near home albeit another 500+ miles to go (we done 467 so far!)

We left Thornhill a bit late, Phil had to pick up a knee support and some Ibruprofen to paralyse his right knee plus we were still on the high about our room and the amazing breakfast we had. Lovely jubbly.

Back on the road we thought that it was going be just over 60 miles- bish bash bosh. Nope 78 and we rolled into Gilcrux at nearly 8. Racheal lives on a bloody hill which was a pain in the arse!

"Clouds dipping into the trees just outside Thornhill"

The weather this morning was rainy but feeling a lot more energetic in the morning we managed to get into Dumfries around 11ish for a coffee then the sun came out.

<-Think these cows need a paternity test or go on Jeremy Kyle, that calf blatently aint theirs!!

Hilarious place names along the bottom of Scotland, the other one being "T***hats" - would you wear one?

"Hollie doing her badass pose for when we return to the motherland, even though we are going to miss bonnie Scotland, ayeeeeeeeeee"

Once we got to Annan about 15 miles from Carlisle, we stopped for a tea and I saw Hol coming back with something wrapped up along with two teas (cup 400 + 401 by now) - cant believe I hadnt thought of getting one before- DEEP FRIED MARS BAR!!!!!!!!!!!!! jesus that stuff is genius, Id easily get fat on that and be happy. That is a taste sensation. Anyway after that was wolfed down (that is 70p, giving it away......) we noticed that the panniers were a little bit "loose", I think 5 days of constant shaking had loosened all the bolts in the pannier rack and it was on its last legs- this werent good, so we managed to tighten up the bolts remaining and had to find a local hardware shop for the remaining screw. Guy I found didnt say much, just a usual Scottish grunt - 2 mins later it was good as new and we moved on to Carlisle in rush hour which turned out to be a bad idea- we have really started to appreciate what the countryside does, and taking the back roads is good even though a bit unpredictable.

Thought Rachaels was going to be a easy 10-12 miles from Carlisle, nah 20 miles on- 20 hills climbed completely knackered we arrived to a feast Racheal and her Mum had put on- jeez I couldnt stop eating!

Pretty tired now, so ill add the camera photos on in a sec.

Much love people, off to Lake District tomorrow !!!

DAY 5 - Rest of the pics

"Lochranza pitch used by the locals...."
"Seals nr Brodick on Arran"
"More seals"
"Phil doing some Attenborough style photos"

DAY 5 - Lochranza -> Thornhill (78 mile)

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DAY 4 - Phone pics

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DAY 3 - Extra Photos

All our photos from yesterday we didnt manage to get off the camera.


Amazing mountains other side of Loch Linnhe ->


"Castle Stalker on its own, on way to Connell"


"Hollie at the 3rd stop Hotel- doing her deodrant check at the precise moment, how wierd"

Great view just off A82
Me in a dodgy well.


Hollie doing her admiral pose

DAY 4 - Connell -> Lochranza (67 miles)

Island Hopping -

So we are now off the mainland and on the isle of Arran, this place from the mainland port of Claonaig looks amazing.

Anyway our day started with a usual cal packed breakfast (Hollie had a bit toooo much fibre in one sitting), all this eating is one hell of a benefit to doing this sort of thing. We were able to set off a bit earlier than usual as the bike was in our room and hit the road about 8.50am heading for Oban about 5 miles away. We got there reasonably quickly and asked around as for once we might be able to find a bike shop because we were worried about the rear spokes as the amount of weight its taking (mostly Hollie....although I tell her its the panniers..). We got near the bike shop and saw the owner jumping into his car and driving off, how bloody typical - Tesco was next door so we went in there for the daily dose of isotonic power and energy bars with Hollie cruising the chocolate aisle like it was xmas. Came back out and he was back-Turned out to be a top bloke and said the wheel was fine, he chucked in the spoke key for free! Cue us laughing at everytime he mentioned about the spoke nipples... I think whoever named parts for bikes was a horny bugger- theres nipples and a phlange.

The road from Oban to our lunch stop Lochgilphead was 'hilly' and when we began crossing off the miles we could feel the fatigue the last 3 days had taken on our bodies. This was crazy and I got really stressed because on a flat road we were doing about 5mph. What kept me going was the fact that when Hollie stopped to go for a wee by the side of the road- it was pure comedy as cars kept coming past and when there was a break in the traffic she brought the rain. One of those you had to be there moments, but to cut a long story short- she got wet and it werent raining.

Once we got over this fatigue, a few stops of food and drink we got to Lochgilpead- 42 miles into our route- good news, over half way of our journey this day and on track for an earlier ferry across to Arran. We stopped at a really nice cafe there called bar 35 - where we had a super healthy burger, crisps and a lettuce leaf. Got talking to a woman about the ride and as usual when we say "lets go by 3" it turns into half 3. After we set off we heard a car beeping behind us and pulled over down the road, it was the woman who was chatting to us before- she slipped us a tenner saying "This is for you two to spend on yourselves" I tried to barter for 20 but she was having none of it. Luckily though the ride to our next stop (Tarbert) was mainly flat and followed the edge of Loch Gilp so we had plenty of eye candy (Hollie gets it all the time, buns of steel!!!). Tarbert turned out to be a beautiful small port where we stopped briefly before making the last final slog to Claonaig to pick up the Ferry to Arran.

Once we got to the turning we were over the moon just 3 miles, it was 5pm and were gonna make the earlier Ferry, sun was shining, bike was going well and Hollie had stopped singing for once, she only knows 1 or 2 songs. Requests are a no-no.

Little did we know this last road was a nightmare, If i remember 7 or 8 massive climbs, all hidden from one another. Note: me telling Hollie to use her last bit of energy on the 2nd one-she was not happy. Good thing is that all these climbs lead to one hell of a downhill, this time was not so good as we nearly piled it into a ditch- dont blame me the sign said 14% incline up ahead, blind corner, pedal to the metal, turned out to be a hairpin going DOWNHILL. Cue me doing a act you would normally see in the Superbikes championship leg out, swinging a 40kg mass round my leg. I thought it was pretty cool, Hollie shat herself! Got to port, few phone calls and met a random drunk Parisian guy with specs the shape of diamonds like he stole them from Merlin himself. He was just waiting for the ferry with us, with a bottle of whiskey,vodka and necking a can of Scrumpy jack for him not to even get on it. Nutter-baring in mind it is literally in the middle of nowhere.

Quick chat with the guy on the ferry, we were only ones on there- braved the top deck (see pic) and 2 mins round the corner- right on the coast our next Stop!

Off to Drumlanrig tomorrow to hopefully meet some celebs as they start shooting "Cowboys for Christ" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0323808/ ,

'Rainbow just off Arran'

Ciao for now brown cow.

H + P

DAY 3 - Foyers -> Connell (84 miles)

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DAY 2 - Phone pics

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DAY 1 - Phone pics

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DAY 2 - Golspie -> Foyers (74 miles)

So Day 2 was a day of 2 halfs!! We woke up and it looked pretty sunny-with not much wind. Had a wicked breakfast at the lovely Golf Links Hotel and after a few photos with the owners left at 9.10 am.

'Lovely owners of Golf Links who made us feel very welcome'

Took the coastal route to Dornoch to visit sis again and met a 'lovely/eccentric/mad/fruit cake/crazy/you are what you eat.....mmmm nuts' who gave us a massive lowdown on why Dornoch was the best place on the planet-saying it all like he was on E's. Madonna had her kids christened there and married next village on...dont you know! We do now!

'Hollie checks she put deodarant on-oops no she didnt!'

A quick stop at the Distillery refuels us (it was shut).

Then onto Invergordan where we had lunch and got yet more sponsor money (plus 20p off a little kiddy). Some guy at the bar (pissed at half 12) complimented Phil on has 'large balls' and rubbed his back which we can only presume meant 'you are brave'. Scots are funny!!

'This bridge was very 'hard'. hahaha '
'

Then it went bad.........................it snowed and snowed and snowed!! and rained and winded and snowed a bit more.then pissed it donw, then hailed. Inverness bridge was pretty scary as was seriously windy and bleak! Eventually 10 miles from our stop at Foyers we stopped at Dores Inn (which looked shut) and had a million cups of tea and laid on the floor by their fire! This was to be the start of journey down Loch Ness. Then the excitement really began-we set off out the car park and a police car went past us- we thought mmmm!? Then a red car went past and did a sort of u-turn and went the other way. So we set off down towards Foyers and a police car pulled us over-i thought oh god what have we done and they asked if we'd seen a red car. We were like uuuuuuh no dont think so. Cycled off then about 2 minutes later Phil was like s**t I did see a red car so we paced it back up the road to the police and did our 'tandem investigators' bit and dobbed the car in. (wow exciting lol). prompt Hollie 'ID'ing every car that came near us after that!!

'Very friendly cows'................. not as good as sheep ;)

The road got darker and darker as we went along and the 10 miles felt like a million. We finally arrived at Foyers Bay House (which has a massive steep drive,,,,, which we walked) and had Dinner plus a swift glass of vino in front of the open fire!

Night......tomorrow onto Connel!

DAY 1 - John O Groats -> Golspie (67 miles)

Hello!!!!!!!!!

What a day we have had, few bike problems, extreme snow and wind, meeting a man doing the same journey but walking it (will take him 70 days!- what a legend), free coffee and cakes in Wick plus meeting some really genuine helpful people and some serious hills (eg Berridale Braes)

We arrived at JoG about 8 o clock last night to meet my sister, her husband, my nephew and a close family friend Paul, had a few drinks and tasted the local whiskies to calm the nerves... specially when we heard the forecast, snow snow snow. Got up at 7am to go down to the official startpoint at John O Groats, basically its no way as grand as it sounds... its a car park including a used condom (right infront in the pic). After we went back to the hotel for our first cooked breakfast, we finally got round to setting off about 9.

Weather was quite sunny, with a southerly blowing wind (what more could we ask for....) within a few miles we were already hitting a few downhills and managed to get tomtom up to 40mph- niceee.

After reaching Wick (18 miles away) within an hour we thought we might get to Golspie by 2pm... haha no God thought otherwise. Then began the snow, not just any snow, this is Scottish sideways knifelike snow which hits you in the face like a midget ninja. So painful and the wind in flat land was pushing us all over the road. LEAN!

After about 20 miles or so we noticed something was rubbing on the bikes rear mech and chain. Nearest bike shop was 30 miles away, cool. Called ahead to the bike shop and Hollie the resident bike expert thought he was talking Japanese, so decided to start speaking in kids language - the round bike thingy holding the chain thingy.

Luckily when leaving a place called Lybster (basically a house and a few sheep) we saw tearoom which I remember from the trip up and spotted a few mountain bikes attached to the back of a car in the car park, spotting a chance to fix the bike without cycling 30 miles and just letting a fresh pair of eyes have a look at the derailleur. Went in and saw two old guys who we asked if it was their bikes and if they knew about them, we told them what we were doing and after that prob thought if you cant fix a bike why you cycling so far. Few cups of tea later, my sister turns up thinking we just taking a casual break and not doing any riding.. the guys both ex army (Hugh and friend) managed to see the problem and one screw later it was sorted. This is when we met the legend Santa lookalike Walker doing the whole 900+ miles to Lands End just because he has nothing better to do (his words!!!!) We do have a photo with him but we shall upload it after the ride. We also got 20 pooooounds (insert scottish accent) from other people there, considering it was in the middle of nowhere.

Once we left the tea room we were warned of two major hills- the first was Dunbeath where we didnt actually do it (even though its smaller than the other) and then the monster 15 minute constant climb of Berridale Braes, which we did non stop - this hill was so big it had a sandpit at the bottom for any runaway lorries. check victory photo above.

Then 3 hours later covered in snow we arrived in Golspie about 6.50 headed to Coop for tomorrows supplies and made our way to the very cosy Golf Links hotel - met by the owner at the front door - we have been made very welcome, got a cuppa tea soon as we got in the door and dropped our stuff off. Since then we have been sat infront of the open fire, bite to eat, written this blog and watched TV Burp (the best program there is.)

Now we are off to have a bath and wash our clothes, then some tv then hit the hay for tomorrow. Good news snow is sposed to be worse tomorrow, we got the snow plough attachment for the bike lol.

Will try to write as often as possible, if it has internet we will do it!

plus my n95 wont send MMS at the moment so I cant update this remotely, Ill get on to o2 pronto.

Much love!!!!!!!

Phil and Hol. x

The Ride BLOG!

Hi everyone,

This is the blog for the JoG to Lands End bike ride, commencing this saturday 5th April.

More info please see www.justgiving.com/hp1000 and we shall try to keep everything updated via mobile with photos too.