Author Archives: Karenjtheobald

Day 25: Thurso – John O’Groats “Movin’ on up” Another relaxing start to the day as we were nearly at the end of the road! With time on our side we visited the Castle of Mey, home to the Queen Mother. Met by a delightful woman who had worked for the Royals and who hadContinue reading “Day 25!!”

Day 23: Lairg-Bettyhill “I can see clearly now ……” DIY breakfast and packed lunch with time to repair white goods. Delayed start due to heavy rain which miraculously disappeared around our revised departure time. Used the local cycle pump station to get our cycles ready for the day ahead. Set off through absolutely stunning countryside.Continue reading “Day 23-24”

Day 21: Fort Augustus- Dingwall “The long and winding road” Nothing like starting the day with 5 miles of gruelling uphill cycling. The bonus was seeing the long winding road down to Inverness. A day of technical hitches did not detract from the beauty of a caffeine deprived journey. Cobbled together lunch on the highContinue reading “Day 21-22”

Day 19: Crianlarich – Fort William “Ain’t no mountain high enough” Early start. 5 mile cycle for breakfast at the well known Green Wellie stop in Tyndrum. Rendezvous with the ‘boy’s’. A challenging cycle. Long uphills, busy roads but scenery out of this world as we went over Rannock moor and on to Glencoe. EveryContinue reading “Day 19-20”

Day 17: Abington – Glasgow Big sky theme continued over the moors. Wind farms everywhere. Up and over the hills into Scotland’s industrial belt and the high rise flats of Glasgow in the distance. Some challenging cycling with busy roads until we reached the Clyde walkway which took us all the way to the cityContinue reading “Day 17-18”

Day 15: Penrith – Annan Clear ride out on a beautiful day on flat roads. Chance meeting with a fellow cyclist from NZ who had been on the road for 3 years. No helmet and sandals for him whilst we were all dressed up in protective gear! Met up with Cath in Carlisle and toastedContinue reading “Day 15-16”

Day 13: Kirkby Lonsdale – Penrith Sunshine at last!! 🌞🌞 A day spent traversing the Yorkshire Dales and lake lands. Beautiful scenery. Surprisingly steep hills verging on undoable. Power of positive pedalling resulted in being proclaimed Queen of the Mountains!👸 Day 14: REST DAY in Penrith!! Warnings of escaped horses didn’t distract us from ourContinue reading “Day 13-14”

Day 11: Northwich to Preston On leaving our bed and breakfast in fabulous weather we came across beautiful thatched cottages at Great Budsworth. Travelled through Sankey park on the outskirts of Preston for miles. Seemed to go on forever. Very impressive. The valley follows the course of the Sankey brook and the now disused SankeyContinue reading “Day 11-12”

Day 9: Droitwich to Newport More canals. More rain. 🌧🌧 More navigation challenges.🚵‍♀️ More fantastic people along the way.💕 Discovered we had booked accommodation in Newport Wales not Newport Midlands (oops) but Premier Inn saved the day. Exit the following morning was via short cut through garden center. Day 10: Newport to Northwich Beautiful villagesContinue reading “Day 9-10”

Day 7: Bristol to Gloucester Goodbye Chris (for now)! Chris has been a fantastic support to the group – now we are definitely on our own! Very tricky getting out of Bristol city center in rush hour. Lots of hills, lots of traffic but lots of patient road users as we navigated which lane weContinue reading “Day 7-8”