Day 17 ended in Kinlochbervie at 96miles, loads of hills, quite slow as a result of the hills but beautiful scenery as hopefully the photos will show, there was a reasonable amount of headwind to start with but it decreased and also changed direction to a cross wind. Tomorrow looks very windy and wet, let’s see what happens!

Day 15 ended at Dunnet village on the North coast at just under 98miles. It included a visit to John O Groats which was a milestone for the trip I feel. The climbs were much more frequent today and long but the gradient was not severe, this will change on the west coast! The wind was a decent tail wind for most of the day. Looking at the forecast gales for tomorrow I have decided to take a weather day tomorrow and stay here for a second night. Christina has traveled home today for a well earned rest as she would not have been able to travel across the North of Scotland as there is no public transport! No blog tomorrow back on Saturday!

90 miles to Tain via Inverness and the Black Isle. Weather was good till the last hour when the heavens opened! Took the Cromarty to Nidd ferry which was a little different. Tomorrow is John O Groats, definitely a milestone in this ride! Photos and Stats to follow

Day 13 ended in Buckie at 94 scenically beautiful miles. A take of two half’s with strong tail wind to Fraserburgh then difficult crosswind in the afternoon! The photos will hopefully give some idea of the scenery. Tomorrow we head for Tain via Inverness and the Cromarty to Didd ferry.

Went through 1,000 miles for the trip today!

Day 12 ended in Aberdeen after 82 miles, the wind was a superb tailwind so the day finished early, it was one of those times when if we had not booked accommodation we could have gone further but is good to finish earlier as well for once. The ride itself started under grey skies but after crossing the iconic Tay River Bridge, the day brighten to be a fantastic beautiful day cycling along the coast but reasonably high up which gave wonderful views! Tomorrow it is on to Buckie with one eye on the weather!

Day 11 ended in St Andrews at just over 100miles. The highlights were crossing the Forth Bridge from a geographical perspective and from a personal one meeting up with my cousin Wendy and her son Timothy who I haven’t seen in 30 years! Downsides were the poor roads in Edinburgh and inadvertently joining the back of the Musselbrough half marathon! Tomorrow we aim for Aberdeen!

Today finished in Dunbar as planned at 106 miles, it started in an unplanned manner as I had two punctures before leaving Whitley Bay, fortunately ‘Whiptail’ cycle repair shop found a small fragment of seashell trapped in the tyre which was causing the issue. Once sorted the day was plain sailing although starting at 1045 meant I only got to Dunbar after 7-30pm in the dark. More difficult for Christina as the curse of rail replacement bus hit with no trains south of Berwick! That said she did arrive in good time. Tomorrow is similar till she gets to Edinburgh. Tomorrow is 100 miles to St Andrews.

Day 8 finished in Whitley Bay as no hotels in Blyth as well as suffering the first slow puncture of the trip which probably wasted an hour at least before I gave in and changed it! Today was 83 miles with many steep hills as from Whitby all ways are up unless it goes down before going up. Had a hill with a 30% gradient. Christina has also made it to Whitley Bay which is fantastic, many people have commented that she has the much harder task traveling on public transport. She has also done a brilliant job of keeping me supplied with everything I need as well as dragging a big suitcase! The weather tomorrow looks poor north of Newcastle so we will stay in Whitley Bay and set off again on Saturday

Outside hotel in Hull where we held our wedding Reception 35 years ago!

Finished day 7 as planned in Whitby some 70miles from Hull. Managed to catch up friend Kevin and my cousin Robert cycled 20 miles from Filey towards Whitby. First day of serious hills today as well as wet and windy!

Finished in Hull tonight with 104m today and 564 for the 6 days, hopefully Whitby tomorrow. Took the chance today to visit my Auntie Mary and my cousin Susan in Skegness. It was windy today but largely a tail wind, last day of no hills! Tomorrow will be different!

Photos of the ferry at Kings Lynn, the start at Blakeney and how wet it was in Long Sutton!

Day 5 finished in Boston at 76miles, we said goodbye to Brad who had cycled for 4 days with me. Tomorrow up the coast to Skegness and hopefully get to Hull although the weather looks a little inclement! Photos and Stats to be attached later as I had another Garmin issue today

Day 4 finished at 85 miles, just fitted in with somewhere to stay. Windy and wet most of the day, wind was favourable once we turned the corner at Cromer!

Ready for Day 4 around the Suffolk and Norfolk coasts to Blakeney

Day 3 ended in Aldeburgh at 104miles. I was lucky enough to have Brad and Rebecca cycle with me today and take the headwind!

Day 2 finished at 94miles as our hotel was just East of Gravesend. More hills and steps(thanks Garmin) Tomorrow we will take the Gravesend to Tilbury ferry and head for Aldeburgh not Harwich as the ferries later in the day stop at 4pm. I will hopefully attach data later as Garmin is misbehaving!

100.07miles! Probably the easiest day of all, mainly flat with light tail wind. Beautiful views. I attach photos and stats below

24 miles from Angmering to Peacehaven. I left Angmering at 0720 and arrived at Peacehaven at 0900. Photos are of Brighton pier and Costa in Peacehaven!! Next section is climb over Beach Head

All training finished, my bike goes to cycle shop tomorrow for final checks, just need to pack then I am ready to go Thursday. Thank you for all the support I’ve received I am truly grateful

I just wanted to say I have increased the target fundraising from £5,000 to £6,000 as everyone who has donated has been so generous and the old target was almost reached. The need for funds for mental health is immense so please continue to donate generously. Thank you

With less than a week to go I have attached a day by day guide of the planned mileages and climbs, this is the plan and I’m sure it will change once I get started, interestingly the biggest climbing days are not in Scotland but in Wales!

As I said earlier the bike is a basic Giant Defy manufactured with composite material so limited for carrying panniers!