Stage 1 complete!!

We awoke at 5.30am to fabulous weather. Clear blue skies and only light winds. It was pretty cold being so early in the morning (and of course being in the topmost part of Scotland! So we donned our thick base layers and cycle jackets and walked down from the campsite to The Last House where we were to start our ride. After many a photo we set off at 6.52am, a little later than planned! We took the A836 along the top of Scotland, meandering along the coastline. The views were spectacular and we saw so many different birds including Oyster Catchers, Linnets, Buzzards and Cuckoos! The road was pretty flat for the first part, stretching out for miles infront. On reaching Betty Hill we had a very long climb ascending over 500m. We then turned away from the coast inland, cycling down towards Altnaharra. All of a sudden the road surface became really bad, being very rough and full of potholes. In addition we now had a strong wind to battle into. We had been successfully maintaining a 16.4mph average and this soon was diminshed to 15.5. We stopped after 60 miles to have a refuel in the form of a chocolate oat cake. Despite the hard going on the road we were amply rewarded by the stunning surroundings, particularly down the side of the Naver Loch. We saw more buzzards, one of which was directly above us sitting on a telegraph wire! After about 75 miles we had another long ascent which although being easier than the early morning climbs was rather more tiring due to our waning energy levels. Our drink supplies were also running out fast. Wearing the rain jackets was obviously a mistake as they were acting like roasting bags in the bright sun! Thankfully from about Crask Inn onwards it was downhill all the way! I was on my tri bars for most of it, picking up some good speed to make up for the earlier slowness! We finally hit the Woodend Campsite at 13.53 making our 95 mile journey in 7 hours 1 minute. To our surprise we had beaten our 'support vehicle' (Pete's Mum and Dad!) to the campsite which was rather annoying as they had the food! We were starving! After a brief phone call and finding out they were over 45 mins away, the lovely campsite owner came and invited us into her house for ham rolls, cake, biscuits and tea! She was literally a God send!! When the cavalry did arrive we fuelled up again on pasta, kitkat chunkies, apples and tea! According to the bike Garmin we'd burnt over 5000 calories!! That's 2.5 days worth of food!!

Tomorrow should be a bit shorter, 77.3 miles. One very big climb to contend with though and the likelihood of rain....

Arrived in John O'Groats!

After 2 days of driving we finally arrived in John O'Groats at around 18.45 today. Our campsite is situated right next to The Last House with a spectacular view straight across to the Orkney Islands! We enjoyed a lovely sunset earlier and are now about to get our heads down for an early start tomorrow. We'll be setting off at 6.30am from The Last House, cycling around 95 miles down to Lairg. Hopefully the big evening meal of curry and pasta, complete with Naomi's homemade flapjacks will see us through!! Forecast is for a clear dry day with a following wind! Hurray!! :o)

Check out the routes of each stage of our ride!

View stage 1:

View stage 2:

View stage 3:

View stage 4:

View stage 5:

View stage 6:

View stage 7:

View stage 8:

View stage 9:

View stage 10:

View stage 11:

Naomi gets her 2nd win!!

On Saturday 22nd May I competed in the Farnham RC 10 mile time trial. Conditions were very sunny and blisteringly hot, yet very windy making it a tough 10 mile race! Even so I managed to finish in first place with a time of 25mins 52 seconds, exactly the same time as my last 10 mile time trial which I also won!! Must be a pattern emerging here!!

So...this time next week we will have completed the first day of the JOGLE ride and will be camping by Loch Shin. Go here to see a route of stage 1.



I'll be posting a map of each days ride up during the course of this week so that you can see where we'll be heading on each stage of the ride, and what mammoth hills / mountains we'll be dragging ourselves up!! :o)

Naomi competes in her first 25 mile Time Trial

On Sunday 16th I competed in the Worthing Excelsior 25 mile Time Trial. The course ran from Crawley, down the A246 and A24, taking in 24 roundabouts over the 25 mile course!!! Thanks to the well signposted route I managed not to veer off course and finished with a respectable time of 1:08:08, putting me in 3rd place for the ladies. We had a brilliant morning for it with clear skies and warm temperatures. Hopefully we'll be treated to equally good weather for this Saturday's 10 mile time trial up at Farnham...!

In other news, I am currently top fund raiser on the Just Giving Website, currently raising more money than any other fundraiser on the site! The total is almost up to £2500!! :o)

For those of you based in East Sussex, the Seaford Gazette have run a story about my ride in this weeks paper! Grab yourself a copy and have a nosey!

50 mile time trial

On Sunday 9th May I completed the Charlotteville 50 mile time trial down near Farnham. The course ran up and down the A31 for 3 gruelling laps. The conditions weren't great with a Northerly wind blowing straight down the length of the course, and a drizzling of rain for much of the duration of the race. Even so I managed to finish in 2hrs 20mins 34seconds, putting me 6/13 for the ladies and 85/130 overall. Go here for more pictures of the event: http://www.pbase.com/blinkmanphotos/charlotteville_50

The sponsorship has now shot over the £2000 mark which is fantastic! And it keeps rising! :o) Thank you again to all who have contributed. Only 3 weeks till the ride!

Naomi finishes 1st Lady in 10 mile Time Trial!

Today I competed in my 2nd time trialling event, the Sussex Cycling Associations 10 mile TT down at Steyning, and finished with a speedy time of 25m52s!! I managed to shave a whole 1m30s off my personal best for a 10m TT and landed first prize for the ladies!

The rest of the bank holiday weekend should see some longer distance training, hoping to squeeze in a couple of 80 mile rides Sunday and Monday. No rest for the wicked! :o)