Day 5 - It's Hervé's Birthday!

Day 5 - Arrived in Wick

Happy Birthday to our navigator Hervé. We sang happy birthday over breakfast and dinner over some Co-op carrot cake and Champagne!

It was raining very heavily and the ground was sodden. The only route to Wick was an A road, crossing the mountains and rivers in fog and heavy rain. We decided it would be unsafeto cycle the 6 man team in these conditions. A decision to call off the day was made, as we intend to tackle one of the most challenging routes in Scotland...Applecross

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/routes/route_applecross.html

In Wick, the Mackay's Hotel allowed us to dry off more kit, and gave us a great meal.

Day 5 - Mark destroy's the flower bed !

Day 4 - Arrived in Inverness

Great hospitality at Hamish and Moira Marshall's the previous night had us off to a good start. The day started grey, cold and raining. After a morning of cycling we arrived at Inverness cold, tired and very wet. We took a trip to Tiso's to drown our sorrows, and bought water proof gloves. No doubt the weather will be great for the rest of the trip. We then travelled to Tain where we received a warm welcome from the Isom's and Daisy the dog. Lesley spent the evening trying to dry all our cycling kit.

Day 3 - Arrived in Elgin

Started the day with full stomachs but soon burned off the calories by climbing 2300ft before lunch in Lumsden. After lunch, an agonising 2700ft foot climb made Duncan grumpy. Rodger tried to go mountain biking and failed miserably with a spectacular fall. Sasha didn't want to stop and wanted us to go faster....again Kevin wanted to go in single file...again Mark wanted to stop 3 miles from the final destination for a beer...again Duncan S asked for Scampi...again Hervé kept driving away each time we wanted to stop, and failed his telepathic test...again And finally... Thank you very much to the Kennedy's for the fantastic Scones. P.S. Sasha moves to runner up in the grumpy stakes...Duncan R is still at number 1.

Day 3 , Angus in tights !

Angus wore his tights... again

Day 2 - Arrived in Blairs, Aberdeenshire

Leaving Dundee we faced steep hills with a grumpy Duncan who drunk too much the night before. Fought against a head wind all the way up, which tired the thighs. Got caught in yet another hail storm. Stopped for Lunch, rolled into Shannanburn House tired and weary, great welcome and hospitality soon picked up our spirits.

Day 1 - Arrived in Dundee

Good day starting from the Western General Hospital with a great sendoff. We met a steep climb 10 mins from the Forth Bridge heading to Kinross. The Team were settling into a routine of rotating the load leading the pack. The roads were good but some drivers showed their annoyance with our Pace! Got caught in a hail strom half way across the Tay Bridge.

Day 1- and they're off

Dundee here we come.

Day 1 -The Cyclists, Edinburgh Western General Hospital

All geared up and ready to go.

Day 1 - Rodger hoping for a bigger bike

Red Bull gives you wings and hopefully a bigger bike for Rodger.

Training

A pic of Duncan, Mark and Rodge training hard one month before the ride. This pic was taken the day after Mark threw himself off a jump at Glentress,injured his elbow and wrist, and broke his mountain bike. 60 mile cycle the next day, now that's dedication.