Friday 12 June 2009

Day 12 - Newquay (almost) to Land's End - 46 miles. Total: 901 miles.




And there it was...done. 901 miles from the north-easterly point of the UK down to its south-westerly. After recovering from a 'few' glasses of wine and the end-of-challenge meal last night (well done to Banger Betley for sourcing a fantastic restaurant for us!), we began the journey in 24C and bright sunshine and (with a little poetic licence), we finished in much the same weather. That's not to say that all of today was in good weather, however. As we arrived at the layby on the A30 where we ended yesterday, the cloud descended and the wet with it. On went the weather-proof jackets and off we went for the final 46 miles. The route was quite easily the simplest of all - the A30 all the way to the end. So it was a case of simply head-down and get on with it.

By mile 17, the latest addition to our group, Bertie Kerr, was suffering. He had only been able to join us for the final three days due to work commitments and was not exactly 'bike fit'. That said, however, he soldiered on and despite his knees going yellow with swelling and bruising, would not give up. Well done to him.

As we proceeded along the A30 past Penzance, so the clouds began to soften and the warmth of the sun pushed through. With but 2 miles to go, all of the teams joined up for the final 10 minutes together and the ride in. We were welcomed by various wives, children, family and friends - a really pleasant culmination to a tough challenge. After the obligatory photographs (which will be published soon!), it was back to the support crew who lashed us up with a fantastic picnic spread, accompanied by a few bottles of bubbly.

Our thanks go out to everyone who has sponsored, cheered, tooted, waved, swerved, skidded, laughed, pointed at us through the last 12 days.

There will be photographs uploaded shortly but at the moment much of the team are spread across the country and out of phone signal or internet access.

1 comment:

  1. hello fellas. somehow ended up on this page after looking for a phot of heartbreak lane!
    bit late but good effort! I did groats to lands end with 7 other marines and the corps camper in 94! none of the gucci kit though!

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