Day 12 - The Last Leg with aerobatics thrown in

I would just like to say a big thank you to Pam at Carahouse B&B for creating pack lunches as we had an early start of 0530

Phil would complete the last leg on Monday as he had his partners Dads 80th birthday bash to attend near Berwick over the weekend but would have his partners brother Murray to accompany him on his bike back up the road to Edinburgh.

Thankfully I had Steve and Martin who got the train down to Berwick the day before to give me company up the road.

Unfortunately we had to leave at 0530 due to Hearts v Rangers being shifted from a 3pm kick off to a 1215 kick off so the game could be shown on telly and if there was any chance of seeing this game in the final stadium I would have to cycle like an express train to get there in time.

So off we went at 0530 on the dot. Gave Garmin one last reboot and woohoo! It worked!

Not sure why... maybe just giving it an extra charge from 97% to 100% did it but who knows... who cares... what is important is that it would shave off about 20/30 mins through some back roads and missing out Duns.

The road was damp but the sun was on our backs as was the wind for a change. What a difference that made.

We cracked on for 10/15 miles until we saw the welcome to East Lothian with a 14% incline - I wouldn't call that a welcome - I would call it "get up here if you're hard enough"

Well, I had my granny gear and leaning over the handlebars I managed to make it to the top without stopping.

Time to crack open my pack breakfast get the deck chair out, lie back, munch away and take in the beautiful scenery while I waited on Steve & Martin to catch up with me. I was just finishing my breakfast when they arrived at this particular summit. Once everybody was fuelled we were off again.

Not to be outdone by a hacker loaded with several suitcases and a signed fitba they belted up the next hill with great aplomb. However I did see Steve get a push from Willies wife as they had driven up to see us at the final summit where Edinburgh, the Lothians and the firth of forth could be seen. It was a cracking view from nearly 1,500 feet.

From here it was all downhill to Portobello promonade especially for Steve.

Head down and hands on the brakes I managed to hit 45mph  - but with cattle grid coming up I didn't have much time to straighten up and felt my back wheel slide a bit - scary, very scary, a warning to come...

Martin was giving it laldy down the road but I was in control decent mode as there were sharp corners.

However with Steve about 15/20 feet behind me and with the road still damp, as we turned a corner all I could hear was 'Ohhh shit' from Steve as he misjudged his speed and flew over the handlebars and into a ditch. I think his motocross experience helped him decide on the style of aerobatics he would apply landing in a mud ditch on the other side of the road (just as well there wasn't a car coming in the other direction).

As he stood up he looked more like a mud wrestler with a small graze on his chin and finger.

Once we got to Gifford we cleaned him up as best we could and carried on. Time now 0900

Still downhill we went and pitched up at Portobello promonade. At this point Steve was feeling a bit poorly and no wonder so Martin escorted him home while I carried onto the 2/3 final stadiums. Once Hibernian was done I took the opportunity to fit in Edinburgh City at Meadowbank just in case they make it up to the SPFL 2

And finally to Heart of Midlothian 1130 where large crowds were gathering to see Hearts lift the Championship trophy.

Parked up my bike, got changed, put 4 layers on as it was getting colder by the minute and took my seat in the stand where Hearts were very kind to give me a seat to watch the game.

Game ended 2 - 2 then once the presentation was over it was back into my cycling gear and the last 5 miles back to home via the pitch at Balerno High School where it all started 12 days ago.

Met up with Phil and Murray on Monday on their bikes at Easter Road. Apparantly they had a headwind all the way - nae luck!

Managed to get the bikes up the tunnel at Easter Road and took some pics before we headed off to Edinburgh City and onto Hearts where the stadium appeared to be shut. So quick pic outside and it was time to head home.

Summary

1,000 miles covered
42 clubs visited (43 if you include Edinburgh City)
More Sponsorship raised for the 2G pitch
Felt 21c down to 0c
Felt sun, rain, sleet, hail, snow, bitter biting winds
Felt tailwinds, headwinds, crosswinds
Heard thunder but didn't see lightning
Garmin satnav worked when it needed to
Live Track worked where there was mobile reception
Sore arse
Sore knee
Sore ankle
No punctures
No broken chains
No broken spokes
No tread left on Phils back tyre
Completely and utterly knackered and going to bed.

Phil in the HOME dugout

Graeme in the AWAY dugout

Day 11 - Into the wind for 90 miles

Intrepid  cyclists departing Annan

Stopping at Hawick - Scottish/English border and anywhere else where we need to before arriving at Berwick Rangers at 1700

Garmin was u/s again and all the way to Berwick upon Tweed. So back to old fashioned maps and re plot route.

Good news - the sun was out
Bad news 5/10 mph headwind with nearly 90 miles to cover.

Well it was head down and we cracked on to Hawick where we stopped for lunch.

Back on the bikes and we cut across to Kelso, thru Coldstream and Cornhill before arriving at Berwick Rangers Football club who made us most welcome.

Also there to meet us were Steve and Martin who had travelled down from Edinburgh by train that afternoon. Steve and Martin will be cycling back to Edinburgh tomorrow as well so no doubt there will be extra banter and more hands on deck if something goes wrong with the bikes. Martin being full of energy will know doubt throw me a tow line!

Lots of photos and it was off to B&B for rest and recouperation.

nearly 90 miles done
5/10 mph headwind
still sore backside
knee still playing up
approx 950 miles cycled so far
40 clubs visited
only 2 clubs left to do
one more day left

Will the Garmin jump back into life? I hope so because there are tricky roads tomorrow.

Day 10 - Satnav throws a wobbly

Todays cyclists starting at Stranraer calling at Queen of the South (QOS) - Annan Athletic and arriving at B&B at Annan 1700

91 miles done
1 hour & 15 mins less than yesterday
3/4 hills of 400/500 feet
Sunshine & blue sky
A75 most of way
Old School house near CD for lunch

So... breakfast done and on bikes for 0815 but spent the next 15 mins continuously rebooting  satnav to get the fecker to work but no joy. If this had happened yesterday we would have been fooked.

Executive decision - forget satnav and crack on.

A75 to Dumfries quickly found and 10 miles down the road I give the satnav one last reboot and low and behold it kicks into life. (I will be having words with Garmin btw). Today didn't matter so much as most of the route was on the A75. This was the one road in the cycle that I was not looking forward to - in reality it turned out  to be one of the best roads as

(A) it wasn't busy
(B) there was a smooth tarmac outside of main road
(C) some cycle lanes
(D) we made good time

Heads down and nearly 45 miles in food was on our mind - was it Gatehouse of Fleet or not. Not was the answer. Castle Douglas the goal but then the Old School house cafe appeared and we pulled in. I think I faired better than Phil in the amount of soup that was delivered. However Phil made them aware of the portion delivered but no joy. Time to move on.

A few testing hills past CD and we were in Dumfries and pics taken at QOS with Paul Burns who scored in the cup semi final against Aberdeen in 2008.

16 mile flat run to Annan much to Phils delight and mine with the wind behind us was brilliant.

Its funny you can complete over 91 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes earlier when the weather is better.

So much better getting in an hour earlier...makes such a difference.

so... 91 miles done
over an hour less in the saddle
Still pain in arse
still pain in left knee but ibruprofen doing a job
sunshine :-)
Another 2 clubs done
big push for Berwick tomorrow

Day 9 - Sodden to Stranraer

The intrepid cyclists have now left Seamill calling at Kilmarnock - Ayr Utd and arrived at Stranraer at 1800

After a good nights sleep and excellent breakfast at Carlton Seamill B&B (which has outstanding views of Arran btw) we headed off in a downpour towards Kilmarnock. It was bloody miserable weather. Within minutes everything was wet again. Arrgh!!!!

Feet were sodden, hands/gloves were sodden (lesson - pay extra for waterproof gloves).

Quick stop at Kilmarnock and into wind with driving rain. Backside hurting like hell into the bargain.

By the time we got to Ayr we were worse than drowned rats. Asked local chap where a mickey  Dees was or something similar and he pointed in the direction of Burger King. Told him we were heading for Stranraer - never seen somebody laugh so much.

By the time we got to BK and got inside it took several minutes to regain conciousness and feeling in our hands and feet before we could order anything. Usual folk looking at a couple of hackers on bikes.

Lunch done and back on bikes for long haul to Stranraer with a couple of monster hills with snow hail and sleet chucked in for good measure.

Finally made it with the sun trying to pop out but it was just a teaser.

Another football stadium knocked off and the usual drying session started before heading for dinner.

88 miles done (BTTF)    
3 clubs visited today
Torrential rain    
Utterly soaked
Still sore knee
Still sore arse    
Completely exhausted
But made to Stranraer    
Met a Portsmouth football supporter - great guy and good banter
Looking for rain respite tomorrow

Day 8 - Over the bridge and back again

The cyclists now departing Hamilton calling at Hamilton - Queens Park (Hampden) - Celtic - Partick Thistle - Rangers - St Mirren - Dumbarton - Morton and due to arrive at Seamill at 1815

Big hill straight out of the Service Station of the M74. Many thanks to all the staff at the Days Inn Hotel for looking after us.

A couple of miles down the road and we clocked Hamilton - photo done and off to search for bacon rolls - found an excellent cafe and fuel restored we were off again to Queens Park which uses the National Football stadium at Hampden. 

Cloudy and cold with traffic lights stopping us every 100 yards was monotonous and then the road was clear to Celtic - the staff there were ery friendly and took us and the bikes up the tunnel pitch side to what is quite an impressive stadium.

Photos done and we were off again to Partick Thistle and then winded our way down to Rangers via a bike shop to get some bolts to actually hold Phils bike rack.

Satnav working overtime through the busy streets of Glasgow we arrived at Rangers football club where again we were escorted pitch side via the tunnel by very helpful staff.

Pictures taken and we were heading into dark clouds over St Mirren football club and with the rain pelting down photo taken and then the long cold slog to Dumbarton via the Erskine Bridge.

Found a good cycle path and soon we were at Dumbarton football club  where it turns out they might be on the move again!

Hunger pains kicked in and KFC hit the spot.

The weather was damn right miserable as we headed back over the Erskine Bridge and towards Greenock using the old Greenock road. Not sure Phil was too keen on the rolling hills but the surface was good and the road was quiet.

Arrived at Greenock Morton where again the staff were delighted to see us and took pictures of us on their pitch.

Gave Phil the option of the scenic route or just go direct A78 - he chose A78

Down the coast we went for about 25 miles and into our B&B at Carlton Seamill.

85 miles done
Mostly Cloudy with heavy showers
Biting winds
Knee still causing me grief
But we made it.

View from Carlton Seamill B&B

Day 7 - its Snow joke in central Scotland

Day 7 - Auchterarder to Hamilton

80 miles today, half of it in driving wind and half of it in driving snow - which seemed to wash the factor 50 of me.

Left my cousins house in Auchterarder in cold but beautiful sunshine... satnav took a wee flaky at the start but sorted itself out and off we went.

Craig joined us for the rolling hills of Perthshire for the first 10 miles until we crossed the A9 and headed up and up and up... it seemed to go on forever until we hit about 1,100 feet and levelled out (Phil lost another screw on his rack so his bungee came to the rescue before the drop to Stirling where another cyclist (Peter) kindly showed us the way to Stirling Albion.

Onto Alloa and across the new Kincardine bridge and a pit stop at McDonalds. Then onto Falkirk - Stenhousemuir - East Stirling, where we did a loop of these combined clubs as satnav got confused by this scenario.

Then s big push to Clyde where the snow blizzard started and didn't stop as we continued to Albion Rovers, Airdrie and finally at Motherwell.

It was so so bitterly cold... never cycled in those conditions in our lives before. It was gigantica snowflakia - I was really pleased with the satnav even having to wipe the snow of it every minute. Could hardly read the damn thing because of the steam and snow blocking my vision on my cycle specs.

We cracked on to Motherwell and followed up with a Montpellior (but you have to know us to know what that means)

Another McD's spotted and it was in to defrost with a hot cup of tea and an apple pie while still shaking with hyperthermia.

20 mins later we were down at our hotel for the night - the staff were most welcoming and the long session of drying everything ensued.

Hard hard day on the bikes. Left knee still giving me pain.

80 miles
26 Stadiums done
16 to go
forecast for next few days - sunshine & showers

Stenhousemuir & East Stirlingshire share this stadium.