Stephen and Kate end to end

 Sir Ranulph Fiennes wrote: "I am doing this for many reasons, some of which I don't fully understand" I know we're not explorers and countless thousands have 'done' the end to end, many in more extreme ways - take Bash in his wheelchair for example - but there's something hard to explain about us humans (if I may be permitted to slot us both into that category for a moment). It's like the way we respond to praise and encouragement. Today a 12 ish year old leant out of a car window and cheered us on. (Our sign on the tandem does help) Other people have wound down their car windows and said well done. Near the top of our big climb a few days ago, someone shouted Well done, c'mon, you're nearly there! And suddenly we have renewed strength in our legs. We must never underestimate the power of encouragement! I knew it would happen of course. It had to. We weren't going to cycle the length of Scotland with hardly any rain. We set off this mornin...

 I'm sitting in the lounge of a lovely lodge hotel on the north coast of Scotland. The rain is beating on the windows, the thunder is cracking overhead and there are log fires in the bar and the lounge, where we have just eaten a superb meal. We feel cosy and snug and to cap it all, the Lodge is tartan carpeted throughout. Essential, surely, for any Scottish Highland hotel. If we were in a car, we could fully embrace the wild weather. In the back of our minds is the knowledge that tomorrow we are out in it all day. The forecast isn't great. But then it's almost felt like we are cheating. So far, Scotland has offered very little in the way of bad weather. We feel like it hasn't shown its true colours. Perhaps it will tomorrow? If not, much of our cycle clothing kit will return unused and carried from Land's End for nothing. Yes, there was a heavy mist this morning and we set off in our coats. We removed them after just half an hour. It wasn't the easiest start. W...

This is hopefully the link for 'Bash'. The guy travelling by wheelchair. He is raising money for 'Whizzkids', A charity for young wheelchair users. One of life's remarkable people.... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eraP5CRJ1Uw The picture is shared with his permission.  Sorry it isn't a better one!

 Inverness looked like the end of the world this morning. The city finished at the water's edge with the enormous "Kessock Bridge" setting off from the city, out over the Moray Firth into mist and mystery. As we approached it, the mystery deepened as the cycle path over the bridge had been closed. In the end, a sprightly elderly lady on a bicycle let us in on the secret of how to access the path that lead beyond the edge of the world.  I haven't mentioned the trapped nerve in my shoulder yet. Well, probably in my neck but it sends pain down my arm sometimes to my fingers. It's accompanied me for about 3 months. I didn't want to mention it but today it featured too heavily to be omitted. I was quite anxious that it might feature heavily in the entire trip so am pleased to report that up to now Ibruprofen has kept it at bay. The doctor gave me some big boy pain killers to be used on the trip if necessary. Today it was necessary. The first 15 miles between Invern...

 Breakfast was immense. It was the first of many immense things today. Kate's Scottish Porridge, undoubtedly featuring whiskey, made such an impression on her that it was described to me at regular intervals through the day. It was the first day when proper muesli has been served (apart from when at our friends) We looked out of the breakfast room window and there was Ben Nevis, surrounded by other impressive peaks. Immense. We set off in warm sunshine.  I understand that it has been rather warm elsewhere in the UK. It has been a pleasant 20 or 21 degrees here. We cycled along a fairly main road for the first 10 miles or so, making good progress then we joined the Caledonian Canal. I have wanted to do this for a long time. It didn't disappoint. We passed a few smaller lochs which were all linked to the Canal via locks. One of the lochs is the originally named Loch Lochy. I was going to photograph the Loch Lochy Lock but we passed it by. We arrived at the thriving   b...

 Ok, so you'd have had to have read a previous blog entitled "We don't like Uncle Cicerone" to get this title. If not, you also won't know that we are following the "Cicerone route" This is a route which takes full advantage of quiet roads and tracks where possible.  But a few days ago we went off piste. We parted company with Cicerone at Glasgow and won't see him again until Inverness. This is partly so that we could drop in on our friends in Oban and also because we want to cycle up the Caledonian Canal instead of cycling over the Cairngorms.... The trouble is that my app insists that certain routes are cycleable (See two days ago). Uncle Cicerone - 1. Stephen  - 0. We had a very small skirmish with another path today which started out as reasonably cycleable and became progressively unreasonable. After a short while, we heard a road close by and got on it brushing aside any consideration for which way the road might be going. Yes many paths over t...