Raffle Draw For Mishap Mile Winners

Name - Mishap Mile - Ticket Number - Prize

Matt Anchor - 999 - 1000 - Scott Bike
Mark Anchor - 923 - 916 - Brandy
Ocean Team Log - 542 - 551 - Whisky
Marty J CRFC - 655 - 655 - Camberly Gym Membership
Twiggy CRFC - 32 - 32 - A Meal for 2 at Primos
Stani CRFC - 127 - 127 - Farnborough Gym Membership
Dawn & Nigel - 744 - 750 - A Meal at Dwani
Justin L Smith - 123 - 123 - England Saxon Shirt
Mick & Joyce - 283 - 285 - Signed London Irish Shirt
Joyce Ocean Team - 816 - 830 - Wine
Ocean Team - 324 - 330 - BBQ set
Roomie - 581 - 601 - Signed London Irish Ball
Graham Anchor - 418 - 412 - Exclusive '1000milesformacmillan' polo shirt

Congratulations to all the winners!

Day 13: Helmsdale to John O'Groats, 52 miles

We made it!!!

Inspite of a force 10 gale headwind we powered on through the last 52 miles arriving in John O'Groats by 2 o'clock.

The day started off with yet another fully loaded breakfast followed by some massive hills, which, combined with the wind, made it feel like cycling through thick jelly. All in all today was one of the hardest days cycling and because of the headwind we even had to pedal downhill so there was no respite. We stopped after 20 miles for a cup of tea in a field where the farmer was muck spreading. He joined us for a cup of tea as he was a very friendly bloke... but no body shook his hand!

Brian and Vic joined us to cycle the final 5 miles into John O'Groats. Once we arrived it was very windy and cold, we were glad to get the photos over and done with so that we could load the vans and grab a sandwich and a cup of tea before heading southwards to our overnight stop in Perth.

Mishap mile was mile 999: when just as we were saying that there had not been any problems all day, David got a puncture as we rolled into John O'Groats. Winners of the mishap miles and their prizes will be publised within the next few days.

We have calculated that with pledges and promises we are within touching distance of our £10,000 target. Thank you so much to everyone that has supported us throughout our ride. We have had a few celebratory beers tonight in Perth but yet another early start tommorow to get home asap.

Day 12; Inverness to Helmsdale, 72 miles (955 in total)

Undeterred by the pounding Highland wind and rain we have arrived in Helmsdale, Sutherland, our last stop before John O'Groats, which is now only 55 miles away.

We set out from Inverness at around half eight, after yet another breakfast feast of porridge and a full English – thanks mainly again to Andrew (Porridge) and David (full (ish) English). We bade farewell to Father Christmas and his wife, (who had arrived on a tandem last night) and headed north more or less tracking the A99. All day there was a very strong headwind, which made it feel like we were cycling uphill all day.

The last of us arrived around 4:30 pm and most of the riders feel that today has been the hardest day’s cycling so far. However, we only have 55 miles to go as the road sign outside the hostel constantly reminds us.

After lunch we only had 30 miles left to go but the wind and rain dug in and it was very hard work. As a group we spread out as we each followed our own pace in the testing conditions. Stewart kindly took the wind for Ian and David as they crossed a bridge across an estuary only for them to pass him and leave him for dead on the other side – taking the pirate’s code a bit too far.

Mishap mile was mile 923; when leaving the lunch stop Kieran fell off his bike, bashing his knee and hand in the process as he put his body in the way to prevent his bike from getting scratched, and AJ got yet another flat tyre. Kieron was ok although he lay in the road until somebody helped him get up in case he scratched his bike in the process.

Thank you for all the continuing donations and support. We are now very close to our target of £10k so if you have not yet donated then there is still time left.

Day 11 Glen Nevis to Inverness (70 miles 883 total)

Started more or less on time, in considerably better conditions than on arrival in Glen Nevis. We met another group who were also doing LEJOG only they intended to finish in 8 days, hardcore or what!

We set off down the Glen and then joined the A82to Spean Bridge giving us some really great views of Ben Nevis that still has a little snow on the top even after all the hot weather!

At Spean Bridge we stopped at the Commando Memorial as Ian's Dad did his training here many years ago. It was quite moving really as it is on a piece of ground with nothing around it and Ben Nevis as the backdrop, especially the area of rememberance where memorials to dead Commando are laid, to quote Ian 'there are a lot of young bones up there'. While there Andy got talking to some Australian tourists and they donated £20.00, thank you.

From there it was down to Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness. This put us all on monster watch, but unfortunately there was no sign, perhaps it was the sight of the seven of us in our Lycra that kept her down.

Apart from that it was a relatively quiet day, not many mishaps to speak of, just the odd near miss and swerve on the bikes as we all slipstreamed one another too closely, not even any punctures! Therefore despite the headwind, we made relatively good time and arrived at the Youth Hostel in Inverness at 1530, the earliest yet.

There is only candidate for mishap of the day:

Stewart decided that he needed to spread his money around this mronong to all the poor people in Fort William so threw his wallet on the floor and the cash exploded from it! This caused Adam to re enact the Crystal Maze collecting the money in the air tunnel. All very amusing.... This happened at mile 816.

To give you an idea of the level to which the trip has degenearated and also show how just how competitive the Johnson brothers are was highlighted at the lunch stop today. Stewart and David decided to have a race opening a can of Rice Pudding with a 'jiffy' can opener...... Stewart won in a time of 38 seconds, David came a poor second in a little over a minute complaining of numb hands from the cycling. Watch this space for the rematch.

A special thank you to the Bikers from Lancashire whom we got chatting to at the lunch stop today, I seem to recall that negotiations were underway to exchange a push bike for one of their's they didn't want to take this as it would spoil the challenge, but did give us £35.00.

Our sincere thanks to all of you who have donated recently either on the website or by communicating directly with us. THANKYOU. Including Chris Lee, Kim's Aunt Kay and her family and Cameron 'The Yank'.

Thanks also for the texts and messages that we have been getting they are great encouragement and remind us that it is really important that we all finish this and complete our end of the bargain.

Finally......only 2 days to go. Watch out for the drop in sales Sudocream!

Day 10 Crianlarich to Glen Nevis (79 miles 813miles in total)

The day started quite slowly Andy who had replaced a spoke yesterday evening, found a puncture in his rear tyre. The rest of us were ready to get going as Stewart and Ian's friend 'Johnnie' didn't turn up, so it was early to bed all round.

As Andy and Kieron are the speed monsters the rest of us started about on time at 0830 and left them to catch up. It only took about 7 miles.

For the ride itself we commenced at 750 feet and immediately climbed to 900 feet that woke the legs up! Following on from this we headed to Oban and descended quite quickly to around 150 feet where we stopped at Lochawe for tea, after which we contined down beside the Loch before turning north at the coast. We then continued to track the coastline north on the A898 with only a couple of short breaks. Then the rain set in and it can rain in the Highlands, so we all arrived at the hostel drenched.

We all agreed that today's ride was beautiful even if it was raining and we would recommend it to anyone. There have been no sightings of strange creatures yet, but Loch Ness draws ever nearer!

Sleeping arrangements are interesting with 8 of us sharing a room so you can imagine the aroma that is emminating already and we haven't even gone to bed yet!

Candidates for Mishap mile are:

Andy for puncturing his tyre while repairing the spoke.

Ian decided that his glasses would look better if he threw them under a car, which he did and then slammed on his brakes causing the 3 following bikes to swerve out into the overtaking traffic.

David for losing his water bottle after bouncing through another massive Highland pothole.

Mike for deciding that the main water container tap was too slow and so contrived to allow the container to slide out of the van and smash the tap off.

Today's winner is Ian's glasses at mile 744.

Some other useless information, Stewart has been recording the amount of calories that he has burn't every day, guess what the total so far is.................
52,534! Saves going on a diet.

To conclude, spirits remain high, backsides remain sore, 187 miles to go.

Don't forget the messages, posting and calls they are really appreciated. Please, please keep donating.

Finally, finally only 3 days to go.

Day 9 Kilmarnock to Crianlarich (79 miles 734 to date)

An interesting day! The start was a little delayed as Stewart and Ian bmet some new friend's in the hotel bar last night, first their was 'Johnnie Walker' and then they made friend's with a 10 year old........Macallan. Anyhow these friends didn't seem so nice this morning and needless to say their normal performance levels were not achieved until later in the day with the helpful and friendly encouragement of their colleagues.

The route today took several back lanes, uphill and down glen to the Erskine Bridge, west of Glasgow. Shortly afterwards we stopped for the first tea break (very civilised) near Dumbarton and then we picked up a cycle route along the banks of the river upto Loch Lomond, beautiful. From there we tracked along the western shore of the loch, past Luss and Tarbett where it started to climb. It's so nice to have a 500foot climb at the end of a 70 mile cycle ride.

The mishaps today were, Kieron's helmet that was damaged in the Hotel store! And Andy's second spoke breakage of the trip. The decision goes to Kieon's helmet at mile 655.

The only downside today, which was a really scenic ride, was the condition of the roads. Clearly the Scottish Parliament is definately not investing in Highway Maintenance. Some of the surfaces were very rough with enormous potholes, causing more damage to already sore under-carriages.

While we are on the subject, we are now officially carrying a larger stock of skin protection/repair products than Boot's! We have everything fromVAseline to Annusol.

Robin would like to say Hello to Batman.

Again thank you for all your text's emails and postings of support they are really appreciated. Furthermore please keep donating, every little helps! (to steal a catchphrase).

Finally, finally only 4 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 8 Carlisle to Kilmarnock 97 miles (654 to date)

We have reached Scotland (hopefully pictures posted after this!). The first Scot we met was wearing an England football shirt with ‘Gerrard’ on the back – we all have the right to support a decent team!
Andrew and Kieron had decided to see how quickly they could do today’s ride and after the photo session at Gretna they headed off at top speed. They did very well, reaching the hotel around three hours before the ‘Peloton’ and also getting a free lunch and £13 in donations on the way.
All in all a good day’s riding with the main route along the Nith Valley. There were parts where the uphill road actually looked downhill and we all thought that we had run out of energy – we actually climbed to around 750 feet in an hour.

It was a quiet day in terms of mishaps, just two punctures, one for Dave (the 2nd in 3 hours of riding) and one for Andy. As this was the 2nd one in succession, we decided that the mishap was Dave’s at mile 591.

After much deliberation in court this evening it was decided that the Spanner of the Day should go to Brian for driving off with the back door of the van open, he hit 50 mph before picking up the phone to Stewart! Furthermore it was also decided that Vince should be ‘awarded’ a WKD wobbly wig for throwing his helmet on the ground, and swearing profusely at the top of one of the climbs.

The end of the day was a bit of an event trying to find the hotel, Andy and Kieron rode directly in, followed by Mike in the first van. Brian then called the hotel for instructions and drove straight but advising the main party of cyclists to take the main A77 (fast dual carriageway). All went to plan until Stewart was nearly taken out by a car entering the main carriageway, after the squeal of breaks it was decided for Adam’s mum’s sanity that the main group would an alternative route. This was OK except Dave was out of ear shot, so on he ploughed for the next hour trying to find the hotel, at least he hit his second century in 3 days.

Still we all made it which is the main thing. ‘Just’ 5 days to go and tomorrow is allegedly a little shorter at around 80 miles.

Keep the texts and messages coming, they really do make a difference. If you have sponsored us in the last few days then thank you, we check the site during the day and e very addition helps us to keep going. Keep voting on Stewart’s dilemma and if you have not already the SPONSOR US!!!!!