Photos from the final leg

Tiredness Can Kill. Take a Break

The Final Push

Erskine Bridge

Hamish, Martin and some beautiful Loch Lomond scenery.

We're there. How good does that feel!

Having joined us for the beautiful ride through Glen Coe and along Loch Nes, Paul Brooks loses no opportunity to recruit for the hoops.

Hamish prepares for life after cycling

What Martin's boys want to be when they grow up

And now we're there!

No doubting the best moment of the ride - rolling 5 abreast down the final hill into JO'G with a great feeling of achievement masking the pain in various bits of your body.

The lowest points along the way are when your body refuses to do things you normally take for granted - such as bending or digesting at normal pace! The schlep up to Shap in Cumbria was undoubtedly the toughest section for me. Luckily George's visit to the doctor to sort his hand out allowed me forty winks on the grass verge at the top - oblivious to the passing lorries.

For a mixed ability, mixed age group we got on famously with great humour, encouragement to all and no hissy fits. We even cycled in good formation for very long periods, although I have a feeling Richard will now be working on constructing a dream team to beat this record (maybe North to South as well!).

I will put in an honourable mention for the lovely and very hilly section above Hereford (nearest to my home town of Stourbridge) but the best scenery was undoubtedly Glen Coe on a beautiful sunny day. Simply stunning!

Let's not forget a dishonourable mention for the car, van and lorry drivers of Wrexham and Cheshire whose incompetence and impatience knows no bounds! There are words of four letters that cannot be used here that describe you succinctly.

The near 150 mile days into Preston and Crianlarich were tough, but the first day was still the most brutal with 127 miles and 2700m of hills. The funniest moment, in retrospect, was at the end of that day when we took a wrong turn at the very last moment taking us down into a village we didn't need to go to. When we asked a local lady where we had to go for our B&B she said "you go up that road and up and up .....etc" and both she and the many children with her all pointed enthusiastically upwards. If looks could kill the one on Hamish's face would have wiped out half of Devon.

Finally - while my ability to faff can never be doubted I will mention the total reliability of my old Da Rosa and its derided Campag gears. It may not be the lightest, and the colour wins no beauty prizes - but no drama and no punctures from the little yellow machine while others were sidelined!!

......and on reflection

We didn't break any records, or do anything truly remarkable. We however completed the course quicker than most, despite 3 out of the 5 having relatively few cycling miles in their legs..... .....We also looked the part in our day-glo yellow cycling jerseys.
For me personally it was great to have my two sons on the trip and to see them go through the inevitable down periods and the pure elation of reaching the end of yet another long tough day in the saddle. Some of the climbs, downhills and mountain scenery moments were very special, and some of the the "collective memories" will last for life. We were not all able to cycle at the same pace, but we started together and finished together, and helped each other where necessary. The banter was sharp, very funny and a great reliever of tension. Everyone took and gave stick

Many have analysed why human beings take on these "painful" challenges. The sense of achievement on completion is obviously huge, but my own theory is that its a step out of normal day to day life with two major differences :

1. The lows are lower and the highs are higher. Normal life is relatively flat. Taking on something like this is more of an emotional rollercoaster. Maybe we need these extremes ?

2. There is an elegant simplicity and singularity of purpouse, which is very different from everyday life. All that matters is covering the miles and getting to the next coffee stop or B&B. 95% of thoughts relate to the task in hand. There is no juggling of work, home, hobby, family etc.,

Anyway enough waffle. We will get JOG phptos loaded asap, and finalise the ride stats for other like minded anoraks

Also a reminder that if you are of a mind to (and havn't already done so) and contribute to our MCS fundraising, please go to http://virginmoneygiving.com/team/Cooper9

We did it !!!

921 miles. 7 days, and over 12 000m of ascent. The team reached JOG at 6.20 sunday evening, after over 48 hrs "in the saddle". Some tears (me), a lot of champagne spraying, and a marveloous feeling of achievement and relief. Day 7 started from a B&B near Inverness, riding into strong cross/head winds. and ended with a blistering downwind roller coaster across the barren Caithness landscape. All members of the team had different problems during the trip (Hamish ...the runs, Martin .....too many ailments to mention, and a worrying tendancy to strip off down to his heart rate monitor for #2 relief behind an accomodating hedge, Jack acute knee pain, George..........neck & back pain - knee pain- achilles blisters, and a general propensity to be on another planet, and yours truly....chronic impatience disorder). Our support team...Chris Vokins to statt, Graham & Betty Cooper for the middle section, and John Cooper for the final 2 days made the whole trip possible. Huge thanks.

We covered large distances as a 5 man peleton, with each allocated a number. We never held our positions up or down hills. Thro the week, there were many polka dot jersey effort to top of hill, normally won by George or Dad, and some Green Jersey sprints, the most importantl & poignant of which won by Jack on the last day 10 miles from JOG. Martin was top of faffing league table at every single start & re-start. Hamish had more "cycling kit " options than my wife has shoes. He also managed to carry more (about 2.5kg) kit in his 3 jersey pockets than any other cyclist known to man. The most frequent peleton call was "hole" which tells a story about the state of our roads.

Average speed around 15.8 mph; average fluid consumption by Martin per day about 72 litres; number of YR navigation errors 5, including a 45minute detour trying to find the cycle path across M5 Avon bridge

Now being chucked off Hotel PC, so more to follow in due course...... R

Photos from Day 4

George and some girlfriends at the top of Cumbria!

Hamish officially welcomes us to 'his' country

George makes early bid for favourite son status having won the intermediate sprint into Scotland

Jack Cooper: Day 4

I have now had 8 punctures, roughly 6 more than anyone else in the group. The others have started relating these figues to my weight which I believe is not fair..brief injury scare involving tendons in both knees apparently because I had too low cadence according to dad which has resulted in me having to pull upwards when pedalling instead of the normal downward stroke that 99% of people do, this made the 7 mile hill today a bit tricky, with a heavy dose of ibuprofen I hope the next 3 days will be ok, only 400 miles left anyway ...

Thursday - on the roof of england

Day 4 lunch on roof of england. Shap. 9 mile ascent out of kendal followed by screeming 5 mile descent, and then the heartwarming sight of mum and dad in laybye with sarnis and a brew. Weather a bit unacceptable......saw a couple of clouds today. Younger lads (all but RC) suffering with a vast variety of ailments which would keep a team of doctors busy for weeks. Now on to penrith and carlisle and in scotland by end day 4

All the best from LEJOG team