Epiblog

..back to London on the sleeper, 


get off at Euston, 


half asleep, 


and guess who's there waiting at 7.30 am with a bottle of bubbly? 


Ma and Pa! 


Legends both. 


Lovely surprise, thanks parents!!






...and don't forget, folks, there's still plenty of time to log on to http://www.justgiving.com/hughwilkinson/  and make a donation to the cause ...

H X

Helmsdale - John O'Groats

Done,  finished,  fin,  finito!

It's all over and the fat lady has sung.

950 miles, over £2500 raised and I can still,  just about,  walk!

I started out earlier than usual today, hitting the final leg of LeJog  at 8.30 to leave enough time for unforeseen nightmares like punctures or fundamentalist sheep.  


The big Northern fella in the bar last night had enjoyed telling me about the 'hill to end all hills' and threw down the gaunlet,  proudly stating that I wouldn't make it up there without getting off to push.   Not one to shy away from a challenge I made it up without taking my feet off the pedals once.

Ha!

John O'Groats appeared at the end of four hours non stop pedalling.  

Not another act of bravura,  just a quiet fear that any hanging around could mean missing the only train from Wick to Inverness today.

'Jog' isn't the tumbleweed strewn backwater I'd been told it was, but the 'last shoppe in Scotland' feel to everything makes it every bit as fake as Lands End.    Still, the views are great and the sun started to shine on cue so that was alright.

I made it back to Wick with an hour to spare, downed a bowl of soup and got myself and bike onto the train,  where I am now, clattering along between water and fields.

So that's all folks!   A few quick thankyous  -  first thanks to Mum for knocking my words and pictures into shape every day.   One Terry's chocolate orange on it's way to Norwich.

Thanks to everyone who's put money in the pot.   Big or small,  the donations all add up to a tidy amount and will make a big difference to some deserving kids.

Finally,  thanks to all the people who were kind enough to put me up for free along the way, really appreciated.

Oh yeah,  thanks for reading the blog and keeping me company on ma wee trip.

Baah!   H x

Dingwall - Helmsdale

Helmsdale.    So far north I can smell the herrings in Norway.

It looks strangely like rural Kent around here, until you look into the distance and catch a glimpse of some mountains, then look the other way and see the oil refineries off the coast. The light is different to the south, kind of clearer and more vivid.

It's been the best day yet for wildlife. I spent the first 20 miles in the company of some big birds, mostly buzzards and one that looked a bit like an osprey, but I wasn't sure. 

Just as I started the last climb to Helmsdale I noticed I had an otter jogging along the verge next to me, doing that funny butterfly-stroke run that they do.  "Tarka?" I asked him, stopping to get a better look.   He didn't seem amused and jumped into the hedge.

As well as living things it has been sad to see how many of our furry and feathered friends get wiped out on the roads.   And they smell pretty bad, especially the deer.

The cheesiest moment happened today as well.  I stopped for a breather at a clearing looking out over the Firth of Moray.  Just as I sat down on the grass verge, surveying the natural beauty,  iTunes decided this would be an apt moment to play Cherish by Kool and the Gang,  possibly the corniest thing they ever committed to wax.   Apart from Joanna, maybe.

It's amazing what a soundtrack can do and,  jelly babies in hand,  I felt for a second like I was in the closing credits of a schmaltzy '80s romance, possibly starring Daryl Hannah as the love interest and me, obviously, as the heartbroken lead.   With nothing but a sunset and some confectionary to provide comfort.   Cheesy eh?

The next tune, Baggy Trousers by Madness, helped bring me round and back onto the bike.

So -  one more day to go folks.  

Early start tomorrow,  up to the top,  then back to Wick for the 4 o'clock to Inverness. 

Then back to Laandan taan!

Love and tatties Hx

Spean Bridge - Dingwall

After English (well Scottish) breakfast number 12 I hauled myself back onto the trusty ride and hit the A82 making my way up the Great Glen.

This Glen is the one that almost severs the north part of Scotland from the rest of it, and has a fair amount of water to fill in the gaps. Loch Ness is one of these watery corridors, and a big one at that. 

 I must have spent too long looking at the murky grey lake to notice my turnoff and ended up steaming the wrong way for a good 10 miles before realising my mistake. 

After a look at the map I decided to keep going and pedal through Inverness rather than make a u-turn. It would have meant a few miles less but I seem to have a mild OCD objection to going back over my tracks when I'm somewhere new.

Another golden sunny day, and some beautiful pine covered hills were chalked up on the cheerful side of the board. 

It's weird to think that in two more days my trip will be over and I'll be clipping the bike into place on the sleeper back to Euston.  I'm getting used to bagpipe music in the pub, whisky distilleries on every corner and fresh faced cyclists passing me on route to Lands End. I'm also itching to get back to the groove of playing and writing, like I always am after time away.

I've still got a fairly tough day in the saddle tomorrow though;  hills aplenty and some exotic sounding places like 'Clashmore' and 'Brora' to check out. 

The God of punctures has been kind to me so far but, as Bobby Burns said himself on the subject - "The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley" aft

 agley

True 'nuff BB!

H x

Ardlui - Spean Bridge

Today was just amazing.

A shorter ride than yesterday by 30 miles, it didn't take long to get out of the lowland near Loch Lomond before I started the slow ride up through Rannoch Moor.   

After about an hour, the mindblowing beauty of Glencoe unfolded and I spent the rest of the day surrounded by mountains, valleys and more mountains. 

The sun had his Tam O' Shanter on most of the time and the west wind kept me cool.

Lunch at the 'Real food Cafe' near Glen Coe was washed down with Bru and topped off with carrot cake and coffee on the house.   Thanks Andrew the manager, top man!

And thanks legs for getting me this far without totally falling apart.   According to my sums they've carried, sorry pedalled me 755 miles since last Tuesday..   I'll be treating the faithful old pegs to some Radox lovin' later.

Tonight it's another freebie courtesy of the Spean Bridge Commando hotel.   Fortunately you don't have to be a Para to stay here, it's just a reference to the memorial down the road. Note to self,  try not to get too drunk tonight and start spinning yarns to tourists explaining how the mild limp is a result of several tours in Basra. 

By the way,  Mum took editorial control of the blog yesterday and inserted two sentences of her own.   Five English pounds to anyone who can tell which two. 

Loch Ness and more Bru tomorrow!

H x




ps from Mum:  Hugh was very tired after cycling up Loch Lomond in the dark without falling in and drowning, so his prose was not quite as cogent as usual.

Afton Water - Ardlui

Very short entry for yesterday - long,  seemingly unending,  finishing with two hours along the side of Loch Lomond in the dark (so no photos of that particular bit of scenic splendour)!  

I ended up cycling from 11am until 10.30pm even though the book promised a 6 hour ride. Must be slowing down in my old age!

Both knees are giving me trouble now and one of my Achilles' tendons has joined in.

The speedo stopped working on the Erskine bridge and my phone fell out of the rubbish holder thing, finally cracking the screen.

Apart from that, it was a great day!

In fact, it did end on a happy note when my GPS sent me two miles beyond the b&b and into a posh hotel. The receptionist told me they only had a 'superior double' but seeing as it was late she'd only charge me a single rate. A jacuzzi and two whiskies later the world was feeling like a kinder place again.

Gotta fly now, Glen Coe and Ben Nevis await...

Hx


ps    If the google map still says I'm in Kilmarnock, it's telling porkies.

Gretna - Cumnock

Wednesday. Must be Cumnock.

The rain stayed away and the sun was there or thereabouts all day, shining down on increasingly hilly surroundings and giving me another reason to be cheerful.

The aural entertainment came mostly in spoken form today. 
George Carlin's ascerbic take on everything from pointless airline announcements to the inevitability and ultimate inconsequence of the end to humankind was a good way to kick off.  


After lunch, courtesy of the cheery wee red and white chef, I moved onto an Ian Banks novel, read by an actorly Scotsman, which kept me company til the destination.

So here I am, being looked after by Julie and Alistair in Afton Water.   There was a plate of Toad in the hole waiting in the oven when I arrived, not forgetting Julie's home baked scones, almost as good as Mum's! 

Thanks for having me guys, and for carrying on the tradition of being guest house owners from Yorkshire, regardless of where I am!

Also thanks to Tom Savage for sorting out the map at the top, so that you can all see that I'm really doing it and not sitting on a beach in Malaga with a cold cerveza and Photoshop.

Duck me I'm knackered.    90 more clicks to do tomorrow, taking me to the top of Loch Lomond..

5-1!!!

Hx