clairedavieswriter

I promised some reflections on the ride, so for those of you still checking in, here goes, in no particular order: Cycling makes me HappyThere’s a brilliantly purposeful simplicity to climbing on a bike in the morning, with all my stuff, and setting off into the unknown, in the knowledge that by the end of…

Distance cycled: 1,900 kms; 1,180.6 milesMetres climbed: 21,564m (cf height of Mt Everest: 8,849m)Longest ride: 104.2k (the final day – Tongue to John O’Groats)Most climbed in a day: 1,416m (Kirkby Lonsdale to Appleby)Highest average speed: 19.64kph (Moffat to Glasgow)Maximum speed: 56.26kph (Moffat to Glasgow)Sponsorship raised for Rewilding Britain: £1,930 + £391.75 (as of 17 October)Cycling…

Given all the photos you’ve seen of Trixie the trusty Trek, you may be wondering what that apparently modest luggage contained. So here goes – it might surprise you. If you’re not remotely interested, you know what to do. BikeAluminium framed Trek Lexa (2014), with Shimano 105 shifters, 11 speed, fitted subsequently with a pannier…

Well this was a bit unexpected: It certainly hadn’t been the plan as we enjoyed the view of the Kyle of Tongue from our breakfast table and remembered the stags we’d heard braying as we went to sleep last night: But the forecast for tomorrow, when I planned to ride the last leg from Thurso…

On paper, today’s ride looked like a doddle: barely 60k, and less than 500m of climbing. But I refer you once again to Mike Tyson and Helmuth von Moltke’s views on what happens when plans meet reality. In this case, the adversary that punched our easy day in the nose was a 20-25mph wind blowing…

A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me and my chosen charity, Rewilding Britain: so far you have helped me raise £1,785 plus £365.50 gift aid. Amazingly, mine was one of the top 5% most successful JustGiving pages last month. Thank you.

At the risk of repeating myself, it was another beautiful day to be out on a bike. And I picked up an extra shadow: Mark is back – this time for longer than an hour: in fact till John O’Groats. Kessock Bridge marks the boundary between the Beauly and Moray Firths, and offered fantastic views…