We left Torquay about 7am, a bit behind schedule and after much careful driving got down to Lands’ End for 11am, where we took a few pictures (despite a photography business down there trying to make it as difficult as possible) and started getting ready for the ride, where Nick provided everyone with the new kit – showcasing some shiny new sponsors including Liquid Planner, Moore’s Motors, Western Towing and Black Tree Gaming. Also another special mention to Krystal Hosting, who gave us another substantial donation of £953 – £1 for each mile cycled! A full list of our sponsors can be found here.

While preparing, we had some attention from a family who very kindly gave us a £10 donation. It turned out that their son was also called Bertie and suffered from Muscular Dyspraxia. We were more than happy to have our photo taken with him in front of the Bertie 23 minibus and wish him all the best. I think it made us realise even more that the reason we are doing this is for people such as Bertie, to lead better lives.

We completed the cycle as a relay between 6 of us, with 2 on the bikes for 6 hours at a time, with 2 supporting/driving and 2 resting. The cycle took us a total of 112 hours.

At 12:30am we set off against strong headwinds (this appeared to frequently happen to us for about 90% of the journey, so I’ll try to refrain from mentioning them too much – let’s just say they were about 20 knots!) with Rob and James on the bikes. Rich, another member of the team who unfortunately couldn’t take part in the whole challenge due to work commitments also joined them for the first 50 miles.

The A30 was an interesting bit of the journey, as it was to take us all the way through Cornwall and through North Devon to Exeter. It wasn’t exactly the most pleasant or scenic of routes, but definitely the fastest.

2 hours into the ride and the support bus stopped for refreshments, in the form of a nice high-carb, healthy and nutritious meal…ok, so it was KFC but hey, we worked it off in no time! While the other guys pushed on, we managed to get the kind people at Beefeater in Penzance to fill up our water supply and we were back on route.

60 miles later and the first stage, the first 6 hours had been done. Rob and James had successfully arrived in Bodmin. It was time for the first switchover, to Matt and Nick.

Stage 1 complete. Lands’ End to Bodmin – 60 miles

A few minutes into the ride and they were greeted with some of the biggest hills so far, the closer we got to North Devon. The winds had also picked up as the evening slowly started to approach and the temperatures drop. It wasn’t the best of introductions to this whole cycling business but we were highly motivated by the promise of friends and family in Exeter.

The support bus managed to get the battery powered microwave working and had a feast on the side of the A30.

The guys kept pushing all the way to Cullompton for 11:30pm where they were greeted by Nick’s family, ready for the next stage, the first big night shift, with Joe and Mike.

Stage 2 complete. Bodmin to Cullompton – 75 miles

Joe and Mike did an awesome job with the first night shift, considering the cold weather and continuing head winds, at bits even averaging 17mph! The final 20 miles were the hardest, with the final stretch of the North Somerset A38 giving a tough challenge.

In full lycra clothing, through a town where they counted 35 pubs a young man pretended to be a sleeping policeman which made for an amusing ride, despite the low quality of the roads with potholes every few metres! This caused a couple of injuries, to Mike’s shoulder and Joe’s Knee – but they kept pushing to cover 60 miles to Bristol Airport, ready for the next switch over.

Stage 3 complete. Cullompton to Bristol Airport – 60 miles

James and Rob started cold and in the early hours of the morning, after a long switchover at 5:20am. The early hours in Bristol certainly were interesting, with a slight diversion causing some more city cycling which resulted in spotting a few people from the night before stumbling about!

Eventually the sun showed its face and it was set to be a beautiful day. The day set in and the shades went on! Half way into the ride, Rob needed to get to McDonalds before the 10:30am breakfast switchover so a brief break was made and then they were back on route again, arriving in Tewkesbury where Matt and Nick were ready to go.

Stage 4 complete. Bristol Airport to Tewkesbury – 55 miles

Back on the bikes for the second time and with a sunny day ahead we were all in high spirits. One particular car caused a bit of frustration and didn’t appear to understand certain highway codes, which lead to Nick chasing him down the street (in a polite manner of course), hitting speeds of 30mph! By the way, person in the red Toyota Aygo – LEARN TO DRIVE!

Unfortunately later on in this ride Nick managed to fall off his bike at a red traffic light, due to not being able to unclip from the pedals in time, in front of a car too! Embarrassment at its finest!

Needless to say, we arrived in Stone in good time and 72 miles later, with a nice tan as well!

Stage 5 complete. Tewkesbury to Stone – 72 miles

It was Joe and Mikes turn again and as always they were highly enthusiastic and ready to give it everything they’ve got, despite a lack of sleep meaning severe tiredness. Cheshire delivered on the posh car front, spotting countless Chelsea tractors and a shiny ford GT. Unfortunately as nearing the end, we were greeted by numerous youths on BMX’s shouting abuse as we entered the outskirts of Manchester with plenty of sarcastic lycra comments and wolf whistled – to be fair, we were asking for it!

The boys arrived at Wigan in the late hours ready for the night shift where we stopped for a quick McDonald’s and a puzzled look after the woman asked us what drink we would like, before giving us an empty cup and requesting us to fill it up ourselves! Here we switched over to Rob and James ready for their first night shift.

Stage 6 complete. Stone to Wigan – 70 miles

With plenty of speeding boy racers about, Rob and James set off for the most “dodgy” start yet, with plenty of people ready to throw abuse at any opportunity! We just needed to turn to our website and see the other side of support we were receiving, which gave us a great amount of enthusiasm and determination.

The night shift was hard and cold, which caused some issues – but they pushed all the way to Kendal fuelled by energy bars and plenty of man hugs!

Stage 7 complete. Wigan to Kendal – 60 miles

Today was a big shift for Matt and Nick as we were to tackle the Lake District and see some serious hills, including the biggest one of the trip! This was accompanied by some really thick fog and some hazardous conditions, but we kept close to the edge of the road and after about 10 miles got to the top successfully.

Something every good roadie knows is that there aren’t usually public toilets when you need to go… a crazy rambler caught a glimpse of the team (not one he bargained on) and may have gone a little loopy! (luckily the bikes were quicker than he was)

5 hours later and the heavy rains started. The head winds were as powerful as ever and this meant the support bus got a little loss. This resulted in 7 hours of cycling in total, but the plus side is that 75 miles were covered!

Stage 8 complete. Kendal to Gretna – 75 miles

It was Joe and Mikes turn. Guess what? Head winds…really powerful head winds! There was also a slight detour from the set route but this resulted in a scenic climb to over 2000 ft where the views were stunning. They were looking forward to the decent on the other side but the head winds prevented the freewheeling they were hoping for. Needless to say, they had a lot of laughs on the way down and made the descent a positive one.

Stage 9 complete. Gretna to Abington – 65 miles

Rob and James back on the bikes! Riding into the night saw the boys tackle the second tough hill, which seemed to go on forever. On our website feed, many people were commenting because every time they thought they’d hit the top, there was another several miles to go and it just appeared to go on and on!

We were met by a Scottish guy named Kenny who read about us and found our website on some forums. He had been tracking our progress and decided to drive up the road from his house to give us his support. This gave us the biggest boost of the trip, as he had nothing but positive things to say and he was genuinely a nice guy.

The Minibus continued to follow the guys into the night, lighting up the dark and quiet roads in front of them to give them a bit more visibility, due to the large amount of pot holes about.

We also noticed a lot of sheep in the area!! The lambs would run alongside the field next to the bikes. One of them managed to escape and chase the bikes for a bit! It soon realised it couldn’t catch up and then struggled to get back into the field – oops!

Stage 10 complete – Abington to Inverkeithing – 65 miles

Matt and Nick on the bikes again and sub-zero temperatures made for a very cold start. Within minutes they had lost feeling in the hands, feet and face and had to temporarily stop to layer up and get back up to temperature. We then got on to a single carriageway which must have been one of the main transport links to the ferry port, as every minute a massive lorry came speeding past despite it being about 3am. Extreme temperatures and strong head winds meant that tiredness set in quickly. The support minibus was called and it was decided too unsafe to cycle until the morning. We all slept for a few hours until sunrise and then Joe and Mike set off bright and early.

Stage 11 complete – Inverkeithing to Birnam – 48 miles

Joe and Mike set off and the Lorries were still speeding past. The rear mech on Joe’s bike also went, so when Nick was sleeping he decided to swap over to his and was back on track again. The head winds were still pushing hard and heavy downpours also stunted the progress.

Stage 12 complete – Birnam to Dalnacardoch – 40 miles

Rob and James back on the bikes again, with more head winds and rain storms. James also managed to fail with the clipless pedals and fell off his bike! They had another mammoth hill but with some great views of the mountains as they hit the most hilly part of Scotland. Eventually they reached the best of all summits at 405m above sea level, before a nice downhill route for 15 miles into inverness.

Stage 13 complete – Dalnacardoch to Inverness – 70 miles

No more 6 hour shifts now, we were swapping shifts regularly to cover as much ground as possible between Nick, Matt, Joe and Mike while James and Rob supported from the minibus.

For the first time in the trip, we had winds behind us! Nick and Matt were on the bikes first and thanks to the headwinds managed to achieve 38 miles in just 2 hours! Joe and Mike were then pumped with energy drinks and straight on the bikes, averaging high speeds also and didn’t even drop below 17mph despite the hills starting to arrive!

It was when we hit the big hills nearing John O’Groats when things slowed down a little. The team were in very high spirits though and kept pushing through to the end. While Matt and Nick were on the bikes, Joe and Mike were serenading from the side door by singing Meatloaf and then we hit some really steep downhill bits, meaning speeds of over 45mph were reached! The appearance of a couple of graveyards in the pitch black made things a little spooky!

The last 20 miles or so were very challenging for Joe and Mike, who were more excited than ever to reach the finish but absolutely freezing! Joe also missed a roundabout and hit it at high speed, giving him some air time on the bike!

Plenty of pot holes and a dug up road followed by the last 5 miles cycled as a team, we finally reached John O’Groats at 4:30 where we spent a great deal of time looking for the sign and a photo! Friends and family were watching at home and the messages of support were flooding in!

We then watched the sunrise and had a rest before heading to Newcastle for a celebration night in the worst hotel we have ever seen!

Throughout the event we had a live website updating our location every 15 seconds. Friends and family posted messages regularly and this totalled several thousand by the end! The website had over 4000 unique visitors in the 4 days of the event. A great success and much finance raised.

Thank you all.

Stage 14 complete – Inverness to John O’Groats – 130 miles

TOTAL CYCLED: 953 MILES

CALORIES BURNED*

Matt and Nick – 26319 calories
Joe and Mike – 18960 calories
Rob and James – 16459 calories

*calories taking into consideration wind and elevation

Please follow the link for more information and to purchase tickets:

http://www.bertie23.co.uk/trackday/

http://ball.bertie23.co.uk/

Do you know someone who works at Halfords? If so we would like your help to secure their support in a two year partnership worth over £100,000.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign and four other charities are in the running to be Halfords’ Charity of the Year, with the lucky charity being chosen by staff vote. So if you know anyone who works for Halfords, please encourage them and their colleagues to vote for us next week. The vote starts on Monday 10 January and lasts until Monday 17 January.

We have lots of fantastic ideas of how this partnership could raise awareness as well as vital funds to support people living with muscle disease, so every vote counts.

You can check out our dedicated website for it here:

http://ball.bertie23.co.uk/

Hopefully, we will see you there!

They will be donating 50% to Bertie 23

For £100+VAT (normal email template price) we’ll customise any of the cards below with your company logo and Christmas greeting and send it to your database of contacts or to new contacts.. just let us have the data! Once your cards have been sent, you will be billed in accordance to our monthly EMS tariff for sending to that number of contacts.

Sending a Christmas Card to up to 200 contacts: £125 + VAT = £62.50 donated directly to Bertie 23
Sending a Christmas Card to up to 500 contacts: £145 + VAT = £72.50 donated directly to Bertie 23
Sending a Christmas Card to up to 1000 contacts: £175 + VAT = £87.50 donated directly to Bertie 23
Sending a Christmas Card to up to 2500 contacts: £225 + VAT = £112.50 donated directly to Bertie 23

Head over to http://www.optixsolutions.co.uk/christmas_cards/ for more information

Saturday’s cycle up the Saleve was a success, taking just under 2 hours to go from the office to the summit. Renate rode with me and having someone to talk to certainly helped take my mind off the pain, thanks Renate, you seriously are a top sportswoman.

Big thanks also to Susan and Dick for coming to see us off, to Han and Fred for their support on the way up and to you for your kind donation.

Total raised is £530, this will be doubled by the Economist to a grand total of £1060, a very healthy sum, thank you for your generosity.

Weather forecast is a severe weather warning with 70-80mph winds and gusts up to 100mph on exposed ridges. We were discussing whether or not we should still do parts of the walk when it clears, or walk on the roads instead but a decision was reached that we will be moving it to the first week of next July.

As things stand, the Dartmoor walk next month is still going ahead and we look forward to the large number of events next year (I think at one point we have a span of about 8 weeks with events every weekend!)

Thanks again to everyone who keeps supporting us.