If you would like to donate towards my charity, this can be done securely online at http://www.justgiving.com/BradMiddleton

Regards

Brad Middleton

A little bit dehydrated due to the Guiness last night, but got up tried to hydrate as much as possible, but feeling good as this was my final day of cycling in 2 weeks. Had a good breakfast and left he B&B at 9:00 and headed to Par where my dad was staying. My dad Rich was to cycle the last 60 miles with me today, plus I had finally got rid of my panniers, so any extra weight had been removed.

The weather started off quite mixed, very light rain which got heavier for a while as we headed for Truro, 20 miles away. We were going good this morning and it didn’t appear too hilly and we made good time, completing the distance to Truro in under 2 hours. We stopped off and met uncle Frank for tea and croissants. I took some painkillers to help relieve a slight niggle in my left thigh.

We left Truro originally heading for Redruth, but after reconsidering my route, we headed cross country along the quieter B roads, this was a more direct route, but again was hilly. My left thigh got worse as each hill arrived, to the point where again, I was cycling with less than half power and pushing with my right leg to get up every hill. The pain in my left leg was constant, but by the time we arrived in Penzance at 15:20 the painkillers had reduced the thigh problem to an ache on each turn of the the peddle. Knowing that I only had 12 miles to go was a real incentive, and also having the support of everyone, plus Ash, Dad, Frank, Bob and Butcher here today was good. So more tea and food in Penznace for the final hurdle.

The last 12 miles were quite fast considering, adrenalin had kicked in and the pain in my thigh was nearly non-existent. Every hill we approached, I was peddling with extra enthusiasm. With about 3 miles to go my brother Ash passed in the car with the horn going. So at least they would be there to meet us. We could see Lands End, or at least the water and knew it was only a few minutes away, then sun started to shine and it was finally a great achievement to arrive at my final destination. Lands End had finally arrived. I crossed the finish line, found the Lands End sign-post and got the official photo taken (which you have to pay for standing next to the sign).

There beers were then cracked open, I got off the bike and vowed not to ride it for at least 2 weeks, which would be a nice relief for Lara and the girls being bored everyday with dads plands to ride from John O Groats to Lands End.

I had achieved my goal and raised nearly £2300 for the Rowans Hospice.

Thanks to everyone for their support and reading my updates, everyone has been very generous and I’ve update the pictures soon.

I woke up quite early this morning with my thigh injury on my mind. I’m staying in a Backpackers hostel in the middle of Exeter, but it does seem like there’s more people living here for months on end, so sharing one room with 10 men as you can imagine is probably not the quietest room during the night, noises coming from all directions.

Last night I tried to find another decent Sports Massage Clinic, the guy I saw in Taunton had mentioned someone in Gandy Street. So after finding this little alley in Exeter where there were lots of decent bars and restaurants I found this little door leading to ‘Nigel Millet’ Massage and Well Being center. There was no one there so I gave him a call, he was unable to meet that evening but I had arrange to meet him early in the morning.

I told Nigel all about the problems I’ve been having with my leg, and the amount of massages I’ve been having to try and get me through this challenge. He was very good and started with some laser treatment to get directly to the muscle, then some further massage followed by more stretching. He seemed really good and after nearly an hour he only charged me for 30 minutes treatment. I was very impressed with the treatment he provided and left a tip.

So I left Exeter at 9:30 today very late considering I’d been starting no later than 8:30 most days. Anyway I knew it was going to be a long and slow day, there were lots of hills to contend with, maybe not the highest, but there were lots of them. I mainly stuck to the busy A30 for the first 30 miles, as this seemed to be the fastest route on paper, going on the minor B roads meant lots of shorter hills. With the leg feeling good all morning I made good progress and reached Liskeard around 15:30. From Liskeard I dropped south to Fowey.

There was a slight change to my route, as rather going to Par, I was to meet my brother and friends in Fowey, this is a lovely sailing village, with some nice bars and restaurants. Meeting Ash, Bob and Butcher in Fowey after crossing the Fowey River felt like I was near the end. We went for a few beers, found a B&B in a pub, had a decent meal and then out for a few more drinks.

My dad and uncle Frank arrived by 22:30 I had a quick chat and gave them directions to their B&B just up the road and arranged to meet them in the morning.

This morning started off really well, I was feeling good after the sports massage in Bath. I had breakfast and took a few photos with Lorraine and the boys before setting off, nothing could be better and the body and legs were in good order.

It was quite flat for the first 3 miles and I was making steady progress but at the same time not trying to push it due to my left leg. Then it happened again, each turn of the peddle caused more pain in my thigh, to the point where I was only using my right leg to turn the peddles and the left leg was just resting and being turned by the natural motion. This was not in the script, for the last 800 miles I’ve been fine considering, ok I had dodgy achilles, but I’ve been able to manage them, but this is a real problem. I’m unable to put any pressure thru the leg, so it’s just a dead weight.

I made it to Taunton at about 1pm. Not the fastest time, but I was half way for today’s ride. I stopped off to see another osteopath/massage person. To be honest he wasn’t the greatest, but it enabled me to get thru the rest of the afternoon and I finally arrived in Exeter around 6pm.

Staying at a hostel tonight, it’s ok and everyone seems friendly. More rest and let’s see how the leg is in the morning, it’s going to be my latest start tomorrow as I’ve booked on to see another sports injury therapist, the good thing is that I only have a 60 miler tomorrow, I don’t care if it take all day, just get my leg working till the end!

Looking forward to a Guiness with you on my return!

I woke up in the best self contained B&B anywhere for miles around feeling quite good. I had used ice-packs on my ankles last night and had managed the pain in my Achilles quite well. So I had a great breakfast and didn’t plan on rushing this morning as I only had a 35 mile trip to Bath, I was using this as a part of a rest day as I was ahead of schedule and wanted to get my body in the best shape possible, for what is probably the hardest part of the whole trip, Devon and Cornwall.

I said my goodbyes to Bindy on Saul farm and paid her the £40 for the wonderful B&B, and to my amazement she handed me back £20 and said to put it towards my sponsorship. I was a bit shocked and gob-smacked as the B&B was cheap considering the quality and luxury of it all. It just goes to show the continued generosity that everyone has shown throughout my challange, from the other B&B owners, to taxi drivers, to Dave who I only spoke to for a short moment, and of course to all my family, friends and colleagues that have dug deep to support this. I can’t say enough about it.

Anyway so I left slowly, beautiful weather a nice easy 35 miles and then the biggest, steepest hill that I’ve had to cycle up since I started, all going fine until I got to the top and realised I had pulled a muscle in my thigh after only 5 miles. So basically for the next 30 miles I progressed very slowly with only my right leg functioning, the other was just a dead weight clipped into the peddles. Every turn just hurt, and I didn’t even think about the Achilles. I got to Bath and then had to make it to Coombe Down, another big hill awaited, I just couldn’t even attempt it without causing more injury. So in the 800 miles I’ve already achieved, I walked up this steep hill for the first time.

I arrived at our friends Steve and Lorraines where I was to stay and relax for the day. Lorraine had managed to book my in for a decent sport injury massage. This guys was very good, he identified the problems in both my thigh and my Achilles and worked on these key areas for an hour. On leaving I had felt some relief and won’t know until Tuesday how it will be. So it’s been more paracetamol, ibuprofen and ice-packs for me today.

I left Shrewsbury just after 8:30am after dosing up with paracetamol this morning, I stopped for breakfast a short distance after, as the chef at the pub where I stayed wasn’t working (I had an evening meal instead).

Today was about managing the pain on my Achilles, initially it had all started on my right leg, but now had spread to my left, I’ not sure which was worse, they were both very tight and I had them strapped-up, but the real pain was on my left leg. The problem when cycling is that you constantly think about it, so any other pain or distraction is a good thing to take your mind off it for a few moments.

After about an hour of cycling I was past by a tandem with a couple cycling to Lands End, as they past I noticed the guy at the back had a sign, “Blind Rider” placed on his back, I tried to keep up for a short spell but they were traveling too fast and I had to go at my own pace, otherwise I would never finish, I could see them in the distance for a while and then lost them completely. About another hour down the road I noticed that they had pulled up and stopped to help. Their rear cog had completely locked up and wouldn’t spin freely. I tried to do what I could but only managed to identify the root cause, rather than fixing it for them. They were raising money for the ‘National Blind Children’s Society’ and completing it in 11 days. They said thanks and I was on my way again.

Feeling good after stopping and helping and thinking that there’s a lot worse off people out there, all doing what they can to raise money anyway they can, I pushed on for another couple of hours and made it to Leominster by 2pm. I still had another 45 miles to go, but didn’t mind this as I knew I had a short day tomorrow.

I continued all day to take pain relief, to help ease the pressure on my achilles, and just keep turning the peddles to the finish, by 5:30pm I had arrived near my destination, so I stopped in the first pub I found for a couple of pints of Guiness (for medicinal purposes) and a proper Sunday dinner of Lamb chops and all the trimmings, very nice to.

I made it the 85 miles to Saul and arrived at the farm. Lara had arranged this B&B and to my surprise, was the best B&B I have ever been to. I had my own annex off the main farm building. You go up the external stair case and on entering is a very big king size bed, and behind the cupboard is a self contained kitchen full of food, decent coffee machine, Sky TV etc etc… on making my way downstairs you have the biggest bathroom I have see in a very long time, with a massive 3 person jacuzzi in the corner. WOW!

So as you can imagine, I got that beast of a bath running and had a great jacuzzi for an hour then tucked into some of the fine cheese, fruit and cereal which was for my continental breakfast in the morning. This is what I call a B&B!

I woke up quite early around 6am, a good sleep, but the cleanliness of the place made me want to leave ASAP. I set off at 8 after getting what breakfast I could stomach in this place. I’m not a snob, but the breakfast was the cheapest value basic range and tasted like it.

The weather was overcast with spots of rain, but good riding weather. Within the first 2 hours I had made nearly 30 miles by staying on the main roads.

I stopped off at a cafe just before Warrington at Standish where I grabbed some more food. A guy called Dave walked in and asked what I was up to and I told him my charity and website. I set off again and about an hour down the road I heard a ‘Ker-Ching’ which came from my JustGiving iPhone app. Dave who I spoke to in the cafe had donated £10, what a gent. Thank you.

I got a little lost in Warrington, completely my fault as I decided to follow the route calculated by my bikes gps, not a good move, taking me along some dirt tracks, but I did see some amazing houses (how the other half live).

I made my way to Whitchurch by 4pm, 80 miles already completed, I only had 20 more to get to Shrewsbury. So I set off in high spirits, the sun was shining and feeling ready to complete the longest ride of my challenge so far, 100 miles.

At a junction a lady waved me out of a junction, checking the traffic in the opposite direction while balancing on the the peddles, I lost my balance and crash! I didn’t get my feet out in time and ended up on the deck in front of about 8 cars. I wasn’t hurt just more embarrassed, for any cyclist it happens occasionally. It had been on my mind most days, wondering when it might happen. I blame it completely on the woman trying to let me out. Nothing to do with the fact my achilles are killing me and I didn’t want to keep twisting my feet out of the clipped peddles. So I’ve been dosed up with paracetimal and ibuprofen all day. It also helps just sitting down on the saddle going up hills. I hope they improve before Devon and Cornwall.

I stayed in a pub in Shrewsbury, it was handy as they had plenty of ice to put on my achilles, had a quiet evening just trying to get fit for tomorrow.

The youth hostel in Keswick was excellent and for £20 it even came with a breakfast. So after getting my clothes dry I set off about 8:45 (latest start so far). The weather was not great again, I had torrential rain for the third day in a row.

After only 5 miles I had to stop as the chain needed to be fixed. I’d been riding with a dodgy link for about 200 miles and the repetitive click had to get sorted, I had been trying my luck until now. So I found some shelter and got the chain link removed, checked my rear buckled wheel and realised I had 2 broken spokes, anyway I carried on and the chain felt a lot stronger and quieter.

I made my way through the Lake District following my own route off the busy A road, which was a nice route and had some good scenery. The weather got brighter by lunch time, eventually some sun appeared.

I stopped at a trucker cafe just inside Lancashire at about 2:30pm where I met a couple of Scots doing the opposite route to me. We exchanged our stories and they also told me of a bike shop in the next village.

The bike shop came at the right time, the owner fixed my wheel within 30 minutes and charged me £10. This was a good price and I couldn’t ask for better timing, this will allow me to have a good days cycling tomorrow.

I arrived at Blackpool, found my hostel (more like a squat, but they seem nice enough) and headed out on the town to see what all the fuss is about. Well I did my walk along the prom. Have seen a few hen and stag dos, what a sight.

Anyway onto the morning of day 6, Thursday 15th July. I had a good sleep got all my bags ready and my last Scottish breakfast of porridge and full fry-up with my hosts and also having a very nice natter. Linda is an author, the books are about setting up the farm and breeding the Galloway’s. She stopped talking at times and said “you’ll just have to read book 2 to find out what happened…” . After saying my goodbyes she handed me £5 towards the Rowans Hospice, how charitable do you get?

I left with heavy rain which didn’t ease up all morning. I made my way to Dumfries on the busy A75, which wasn’t nice at times but due to the heavy rain I just got my head down and got on with it. After just 3 and a bit hours I had reached Gretna covering 40 miles. I stopped for tea in a cafe. I was the only one in there apart from this old dear and her parrot which I didn’t see but heard. I had a good old chat with her for a bit and then carried on. By now the sun was shining and after an hour of riding my clothes had dried. It was quite tedious ride to Keswick as I couldn’t get any food on route but I arrived in good time.

The Keswick Youth Hostal is really nice and has good facilities, better some hotels I’d imagine. The food for tonight was Mexican, so I couldn’t refuse and as I hadn’t eaten since lunch time I tucked in, very nice to.

Lara had arrange a massage for me in Armathwaite Hall. The massage was excellent and the surroundings were as good. On my way back the and boring yet another person about my challenge, the taxi driver let me off £5 which will also go to the charity. Being pampered nearly half way thru my journey was a nice touch and a bit different to the daily routine of just eating, cycling, eating some more and sleeping.

I stopped for lunch with a 2 course meal of soup followed by a nice Scottish steak with all the trimmings, maybe not the best for cycling, but it was good.

The afternoons riding was very wet and the route I took along the A713 was hilly, the views were impressive and completely different from the Highlands. It made a change to leave the Lochs and Glens, but a new challenge awaits tomorrow as I arrive in England and head to the Lake District.

The second half of the day was a lot faster and enjoyable, most of the route was costal along the A82, passing Loch Fyne and a few big hills for good measure.

I arrived in Dunoon about 16:40 and caught the ferry to Gourock, then to my friends Campbell and Anne a few miles down the coast. I managed to have a decent cold bath to cool the legs. Feeling a lot fresher this evening after a decent amount of pasta intake, oh and good company.

I left Loch Ness in pretty decent condition, a slightly buckled wheel and a few adjustments to the breaks I set off. The first few hours were really good and I was making excellent time, rolling along the Loch Ness, onto Fort Augustus and then Fort William, passing Ben Nevis on route.

The A82 along the shore line from Fort William was brand new and not too busy, very flat, so again made good time. I’ve been updating my tracker as much as possible and there appears to be good mobile reception across most of Scotland in general.

Stopped off for a quick pot of tea about 20 miles from Oban, had a quick 10 minute power nap and again was recharged for the final few miles. Oban is a lovely coastal town, I popped out to the pub for a pint of Guiness (for the iron) and then a meal in the local Piazza.

I couldn’t ask for a better start on Sunday. A full Scottish breakfast with all the trimmings(haggis included) to get me going. A big thank you to Mandy and Lindsay for your great B&B.

I had a steady climb from Altnaharra which took me to Lairg. From there I headed to Fall on Shin and onto Boner Bridge.

I then had a steady ride for a couple of hours before the hills came. There was a head wind at times which made it challenging but manageable. Then on to the A9 and at bit of a detour which took me to Beauly.

I thought with 20 miles left, I’ll be back within good time. I underestimated the biggest hills of the day which went on and on, fantastic views though. A steep descent to Loch Ness which was really fast. I still had another 10 mile slog to the really basic yha. So renamed it to Loch Mess. I arrived at 19:30.

12►

The YHA in John O Groats was fine and I had a really good sleep.   Managed to leave John O Groats by 8:20, which was pretty good, as I had to cook breakfast (and wash-up), strip my bed etc.. Didn’t think about all those domestic chores, obviously I’ve been looked after.

I met some really good people, all doing pretty much the same, some had finished and some were just starting out like me, all completing very different routes to the end.

Quite a steady day, a few hills to get use to and managed to complete it by 4pm.  Staying at a really nice B&B, I’m the only one there so I have free run of the whole house with, internet, Sky TV so will sit down to Venison Lasagne (home cooked) and then the World Cup game, come of Uruguay.

Met a few riders who had finished today and were in high spirits. 75 mile cycle to Altnaharra in the morning.

Vital Stats
Location: John O Groats
Miles to go 1000
Miles completed: 0
Punctures: 0
Legs: Tired
Weather: Heavy rain and strong head winds.

Honorable mentions go to:

• Rich Middleton (Dad) – £150;
• Simon Walsh – £100;
• Ian Budgen – £50;
• Alex Philips – £50;
• Phil Salt – £50;
• Ian Bishop – £20;
• Nat Ives – £20;
• Phil Pafford – £50
• Stuart Branson – £50

(If I’ve missed anyone please let me know)

I had the pleasure Jem Choppen, a veteran JOGLE rider accompanying me for this 67 mile ride. The route would take us to Wickham through the country-side to New Alresford and onto Basingstoke and then heading back down to West Meon.

I’m trying slow down my riding this weekend, this has to be about trying to enjoy the riding each day. 14 days of continuous cycling will take it toll I’m sure.

The first 40 miles have been steady today, averaging 12 miles per hour. I think this is what I should average overall today. Some of the previous training rides have been averaging 14 miles per hour.

Just had lunch and having a sun bathe. I’m now preparing for the next 40 plus miles.

The legs were a bit tired by the end of the day, but the weather was dry.

Statistics
Distance: 99 miles
Hours in Saddle: 7 hrs 25 mins.
Punctures: 0
Weather: Cool to Warm and Dry

I set off from Ryde around 08:00 heading west for Cowes, I used the chain-link ferry from east to west Cowes to avoid Newport where the Isle of Wight festival was taking place.

I followed much of the coastal route around island and I also tried to go into many of the towns to gain a few extra miles and hills. The total route including getting too and from home was 78 miles, which was a good days riding.

Statistics
Distance: 78 miles
Hours in Saddle: 6 hrs 47 mins.
Punctures: 0
Weather: Warm and Dry

Planned Route using RidewithGPS.com

Garmin Connect

I followed up by researching the bike on the internet, using a few forums and looking at Patrick Taylors blog