Day 2 Tain to Fort William

We kicked off the day (beautiful conditions, sunshine, small headwind) with breakfast at the Edderton Inn, Christ and Izzi were tremendous hosts, porridge and full Scottish again set the tone and freshly laundered team kits (big thank you Izzi) were the order of the day. Walt Dog had his second bad nights sleep after picking the room above the bar, the team felt sorry for him. The route today was reduced overnight thanks to some local knowledge gained at the bar by Hamish, the only snagging point was a semi black run start, once we were up that we were on our way.  The B9176 through Aucheandunie was quite a climb at the start, but the epic downhill into was epic, a real blast!



From Alness we skirted the Cromarty Firth, 25 miles done we went into our morning stop, Dingwall for coffee and cakes. One word of warning, the Dingwall one way system was quite a challenge, and splintered out the group.  The A862 was quite a challenge as we headed down to. Muir of Ord, and Beauly which had old Garmins in a bit of a pickle nonetheless we started the climbing up to Tomnacross, then downhill, proper downhill 15%, with speeds nudging 35-40mph into the Drumnadrochit Hotel for lunch.  We got chatting to some friendly faces who kindly donated to the charity fund, gratefully received, thank you very much!

 The first afternoon stretch had us heading south on the A82 alongside Loch Ness, Nessie it seemed wasn't out to play, we stopped for a few photos then rode some rollers alongside the coaches and motorbike gangs. (loch castle pic) 25 miles alongside the Loch, the sun was shining as we approached Fort Augustus, where the Caledonian Canal lock was in full operation drawing quite a crowd. (lock photo)

Tom FroomDog Ungi and Sammy Wiggo Dawson were clearly in the zone, the two man peloton/snow plough was in full effect and there was no stopping them, coming in 30 minutes ahead of the b team. We asked the Froomedog and Wiggo what it was like, difficult to describe was the reply, when your overtaking so many cars! (pic of Tommy and Sammy)

Invergarry Castle was the next stop for rest of us, the one mile driveway we though might annoy Big Tommy and David but Andy, Hamish and Craig arrived and ordered afternoon tea scones and cakes in some of the comfiest sofa's we've ever had the pleasure to sit in. 














 The last leg (Froomedog Dog and Wiggo had gone snowboarding up Nen Nevis) Waltdog, Hamish and Craig went cross country down the B804 to Gairlochy, and into Fort William, a single track blast and a pleasure to ride, not a car in sight. 


Big Tommy and Dave stayed in the A82 enjoying the down hill all the way from the Commando Memorial and into Fort Wlliam, and to our bed for the night at the Travel Lodge, with a belly full of curry, we headed for bed.

 Worth a mention:

Expletive of the Day: " I'm not going down the Fricking Road" Tommy Ungi Snr as we approached Invergarry Castle driveway.

 Motor of the Day: Tommy Ungi Snr, 95 miles with a lot of up hill, the big man didn't put a foot wrong, recovering well after 95 miles, an Almighty recovery after looking a bit ropes at mile three! 

Motivational speaker of the day: Super Colin at every stop.

 Best Dismount: of the day goes to Big Tommy, the double pirouette ended with Tommy catching his cleats on David's Handlebars at Dingwall.



Action Shots:

Day 1 - John o'Groats to Tain

745am, the weather had turned we were faced with grey skies, 20mph headwinds gusting up to 40mph.  With a breakfast of porridge and full Scottish inside us, we kitted up and made our way down to the John o’Groats sign post for the final picture where Colin got our official certificates stamped and we were officially on our way by 930am.

 

Gerdoosh! less than ¾ of a mile up the road, and still inside JOG the puncture repair skills were called into action, Sammy’s back tyre had gone, a 5 min tube change later and we were back on the road eating the monster headwinds and wondering what on earth we gotten ourselves into, Andy especially with his Deep Dish rims was being blown all over the place!



 

We headed down A99 to Wick for our first stop of gels bars and energy drinks, thirst quench we cycled on down towards the almighty Berriedale Braes  which put hairs on the chests, the 13% up hill was our first real test, that had the legs pumping and caused the air to be filled with multiple expletives.

53 miles in it was time for Lunch and La Mirage in Helmsdale which had come highly recommended, on closer inspection it had some pretty hairy looking locals but some world class Fish and Chips!

Down through Brora the group was splintering out into several mini pelotons, and with the wind easing off a little we got into our rhythm as the miles clicked past. Our afternoon refuel of tea and scones was well received as a shower came and went we were glad to be in out of the rain.

On the home stretch down to Tain we wound the legs and got some speed up and knocked out the last few miles over the Dornoch Firth and into Edderton Inn.

 

1^st Day done, 86 miles travelled, tired but happy, time for bed.

Day 0 - Home to John o'Groats

After months of preparation the day had finally arrived, after saying goodbye to our loved ones the importance of our trip was beginning to dawn on us us, and we all gave a thought on what it meant to each of us and our families, the Chloe Gracie Jogle13 was under way.

The troops made their way north in two groups, the Northern boys in the support van ,three a breast and led by our driver Colin.  And the Southern division flying up from Gatwick to Wick.  After a long day in the van, and in the skies the troops were present and correct by 4pm on John o'Groats.

Que half an hour of frantic assembling of bikes later, and in our full racing kit we were ready to roll for the group shots by the sign posts.  The Sun was cracking the flags, blue skies above and not a breath of wind in the air, things were looking fantastic.

 

Dinner in the Sea View Hotel where we were staying was superb, haggis starters and rib eye main courses with a few pints saw us off to bed, ready for the first day.  85 miles down to Edderton on the Dornach Firth.