Jonny Blogging off!

Firstly! Just a Pic to sum up the epic event!



Well since John and Andy have both blogged out I thought I’d better get on it! I can’t be the odd one out! can I?. You guys are nearly making a tear come to my eyes with your thank you’s, however you’re both spot on! It has been great cycling with you both, amazing memories and lots of laughs! I’ve been sat hear reading your highlights laughing to myself, each highlight has a great story behind it and can’t wait to share them with everyone.

I just want to take this opportunity to personally thank some individuals that have made this experience so enjoyable and worthwhile for me.

SO THANK YOU!

• Family & friends for sponsoring us
• Ma & Pa Woolsey for panniers, lights etc.
• Mark Cooper for the slicks (got me over half way)
• Peter Green for flapjack and Vanilla slices to die for
• Chinese Man for taking our picture at John O’ Groats
• Bodmin Police for letting me sleep a few hours longer
• Glasgow Lady for advising us to get the hell out of the centre of Glasgow!
• Inverness Girls for finally thinking and giving our flags back
• Asda for the £10 tent
• Weatherspoons for the free half pint of Lemon beer
• Glasgow Fireman for lending me your vice
• Penzance Postman for going out of his way to get our bikes posted home
• Newquay crew for cheering us on and setting up the tent
• The Wade’s for taking our panniers home
• Jess Wade for taking us home (sorry for the snoring)
• John Green for blogging and camera duties
• John, Andy, Jess, Charlotte, Ross, Oly, Mark, Danika, Seasick Steve, Faulkner for a great after party!




Also I would like to say SORRY TO:

• Pop’s for snapping your bike in half (it was 20 years old!)
• Andy & John for having to put up with me
• Bodmin Police for camping under the traffic sign
• Andy for putting you in the highest gear to get up the biggest hill ever
• Everyone for the snoring
• Andy and John for persuading you to rub lemon all over yourselves
• Crazy Newquay Stalker Girl for hiding and running away from you


I think all three of us deserve a big pat on the back, John I am sure Debbie will be full of respect for you! Well done! And everyone watch this space! WE WILL BE BACK!

This is Andrew Signing Out!!

Well what an unbelievable experience. Energy sapping,YES. Mentally Draining, YES. Hard work, Definitely. Strenuous, YES. Stressful, VERY. Would I do it again??? YES (although not in a hurry). Although it was such a gruelling challenge, I have to say I enjoyed every minute, well..... maybe not the rain in Scotland!! This was mainly due to the fun and laughter John and Jonny provided throughout the entire journey. (Jonny even managed to makes us laugh in his sleep). Thanks for that guys, probably the only thing keeping me going at some stages.

Her is a list of some of my highlights of the journey.

1. Glorious sunshine at John O'Groats....until we set off!!! Constant rain for 3 days.
2. Jonnys Singing/Lyrics. Seriously mate there's a career for you in that line of work for you!
3. John, unable to cycle in a straight line whilst talking.
4. Road Kill! I've never seen so many dead animals (dears, birds, squirrels, mice, rats, badgers.....WILD BORE). the list goes on.
5. An unbalanced diet. Perfect for the small journey ahead.
6. The lack of Vanilla Slices on offer throughout.
7. Rain.
8. Puncture.
9. John's panier problems.
10. Jonny's panier problems.
11. Wet tents/sleeping bags, oh how i miss them.
12.Jonny's amazing front light. ABSOLUTE BARGIN!
13.Puncture!
14. Scotland, what a beautiful country.... until you hit Glasgow.
15. Pushing bike up hill, not enough gears for Andrew.
16. Jonny's face when his bike snapped. Still makes me laugh.
17. Waking up at exactly 6.00am every morning... oh no wait! i mean 10! or 11!
18. Punture!
19. Jonny's sexy new bike.
20.The lad that took our picture in Glasgow.... haven't heard from him since! PHOTOGRAPHER?? i don't think so.
21. Chorley FM, Coming in your ears!
22. Getting Flags stolen by some really classy birds in Inverness!
23. The Smell of foist/mould.
24. Puncture!
25. Puncture!
26. Puncture! 3 in the space of about 200m
27. How we stuck together as a team. (Lets forget about the 2nd last day. ey boys??)
28. How England provided us with good weather, Scotland and Wales.... not so much.
29. Catching a lift from a very nice man due to yet another puncture.
30. THE FINISH LINE!! The 3 of us with our arms round each other... we had done it!

The list could go on and on!!

Thanks to everybody who sponsored me and the followers of the blog. Family, friends and everyone at the golf club, im talking to you. John and Jonny, thanks for the experience you have provided and for the memories i will be able to treasure for life. Maybe we could do something similar in the future.

Cheers Guys its been a blast :)

THE FINAL POST

Hey guys! This is the last post I will/plan to do on the Top-2-Bottom blog, so thanks for following us and I hope it provided you with some entertainment!

I hope you can enjoy the images above, these were all taken on my SLR which i carried on the whole trip in a pan to keep it safe, it was not always easy to get it out of the panniers, but we did it, and everytime we did this always ended up being a 45 minute stop instead of a 5 minute, while we explored our surroundings, took on water and ate!

I don't really know what to write on the final post, but all I can say is I absolutely loved the trip and would love to do it again in a quicker time! Instead of rambling on I'm just going to list a few of things that really stick out to me about the trip:

1: Explaining Bastard to canadians on the train
2: unsalted nuts, raisens & chocolate raisens & andy nuts
3: Tesco value, white choc & Strawberry cereal bars
4: the AMAZING scenery in scotland
5: LOCHS
6: THE BIGGEST & STEAPEST HILL I HAVE EVER SCENE & TRAVELED UP! (were talking first gear for cars)
7: Side ways rain!
8: Night cycling (in rain, up hill)
9: The 4.30am arrival in fort william
10: A fresh Lemon as midgy repelant (NOT RECOMENDED)
11: The pure bliss of AVONSOSOFT as the midgy go (RECOMENDED)
12: Leaving a note to the campsite owners on an innertube in pissing down rain
13: The immense full english in FortWilliam (with square sausage/haggis)
14: My pannier dropping off!
15: The quick fix of the pannier using brown tape lasting the whole journey!
16: Andy's knee warmers (clever)
17: Jonnys smelly helmet
18: Jonnys snoring
19: Camping rough in the village green and being woke up by people walking to work
20: Avocado
21: My Dads delivery of Vanilla slices
22: The amazing flat road that went for around 20 miles leading to bridgwater
23: Jonnys bike snapping in half
24: Our awful diet of full englishes, vanilla slices, mcdonalds and snickers duos!
25: Jonnys kilo of chilly sauce on his bacon butty!
26: Andy's lowest gear!
27: Andy's puncturless tyres
28: The severn bridge
29: The bodmin sign
30: Numb fingers (which i still have)

Finally there are a few thank you's I have to say:
1. Thank you to EVERYBODY who has sponsered us! It means a lot to me, and I'm sure the money will be put to good use within the Neurosurgical Department.
2. Thanks to all those nice FRIENDLY people who talked to us on route and recomended alternative routes to get a nicer ride, every single bit of advice made for a great ride! Talking to strangers is the future!
3. Thanks to my DAD for bringing us the ULTIMATE vanilla slice!
4. Thanks to all of those campsites that were understanding when we turned up in the early hours of the morning!
5. Thanks to all the guys in Newquay for setting everything up for us so that we could literally just dive into bed upon arrival!
6. Last but not least a MASSIVE thanks to Jonny and Andy for making the ride possible, providing some great laughs and memories that will last my life time! Seriously guys reflecting back on it, it was a great mission and wouldn't have been the same without you!
7. THANK YOU JESSY WADEY FOR DRIVING US HOME THROUGH THE NIGHT AND STAYING AWAKE WHILE WE ALL FELL ASLEEP! THAT WAS A HEROIC EFFORT!

John o'groats 2 lands end = DONE

Friday morning after a day off in Newquay celebrating in style we arrived at lands end! Now we head back to Newquay for the unleashed music festival over looking watergate bay! Nice!

The last stretch was a breeze! It turned out at 42.1miles instead of the expected 30 that we had made up in our heads! That extra 10 miles was sooooooooo easy when u know the finish post is what ur aiming for!

So luckily for us the traumas were minimal on the last stretch! no punctures for andy! Can u beleive it????! No punctures for me (can't believe I didn't get a puncture the whole way, with over 1000 miles cycled. Big Thanks to Chris Green for lending me a solid bike with great tyres! Maxxiis is the brand if any of you are thinking of doing the ride and need something that really have done the test ) jonny had to refill his tyre with air but no proper punctures.

Jonny's brand new machine lead him to victory to get to the post first! I think even if he was on his old bike he still would have powered through first with his amazing power!

I said it before this trip has been great and ending in Newquay is just what we all needed!

- Posted from my iPhone

N E W Q U A Y

Hello people!
I'm on holiday now! It was always the plan to goto newquay for boardmasters as soon as we finished! Instead of going direct lands end we went 19 mikes out of our way to Newquay, it's only 30 miles from lands end! And due to practicalities were not doing that last stretch until we have somebody that can bring our bikes back from lands end! The finish post will come!

Then me n jonny were cycling along together with about 30 miles to go and jonny got a puncture! We had an update from newquay that andy had arrived demoralising!

Anyway I stopped with jonny to fix his puncture he then said I'll put my panniers on while u cycle off it will give a target to aim for! So I did as fast as I could because I know how fast he is! And I knew he would catch me!

10 miles in and I couldn't see him! I phoned him! He said: I got another puncture straight after ad I have no more innertubes! So I said I will leave a pump a spare innertube and a tyre under the Bodmin sign!

I tucked them all up neatly and made a nice big arrow out of stones! Then I set off again on a mission promising
Myself I will not stop until Newquay! Only 19 miles to go!

200 miles completed with NO SLEEP and I arrived at Newquay! 70 yesterday and 130 today! So 130 with no sleep actually! It was 11.10 pm

As soon as I got to Newquay I made the guys call jonny to check his safety as I knew he was walking 10 miles in the pitch black on a very fast road through the Bodmin moors!

When we got through to him he said: I've just got to the Bodmin sign and found the rescue kit! Do u know how many Bodmin signs they are man????? He then said I'm just going to pitch up here and cycle
In the morning, although all these shadows are worrying me, what if re
Bodmin beast Comes? We assured him that it's a myth a black panther is loose up there get to sleep!

So Me n andy were all tucked up this
Morning when jonny phoned to say the police have just woke me up and setting off to Newquay now!

So that's it, I'm signing off now! Sat on my board checking out the surf in front of me, the sun is booming the girls are sunbathing and the lads are out there in the sea enjoying the surf! The trip
Has been epic glad u followed and stay tuned for the final Post at lands end! But for now I'm going to enjoy my holiday!

Ciao






- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Truro,United Kingdom

A30

One man down! Andy gets yet another puncture and has fallen too far back to get it sorted out as he didn't carry a pump with him (school boy error).

Don't worry parents and carers for andy he has hitch hiked his way into Newquay and waved at me and jonny as he went by.

Me n jimmy have 40 miles to go and run we are at Newquay! I'm looking forward so much to a beer that landsend is happening in the morning! Only 30 miles from Newquay and it will be in the daylight!


- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Launceston,United Kingdom

Hills

Creditons hills living up to their steap Scotland style reputation!


- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Exeter,United Kingdom

Good morning

Good morning from
Bridgewater!


- Posted from my iPhone

Not again

5am sunrise. Time to go!


Hi im back! U won't believe it! we've been sat here all this time struggling to find some sleep and guess what has happened! We limber up 5.00am grab our bikes! Then guess what?!?!? Another puncture for andy! I can't believe it! I've been twiddling my thumbs for hours I could have fixed it then! Glad this is the last day!


- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Taunton Rd,,United Kingdom

The costa before the end

Just been speaking to some end to Enders who have just finished! Friendly ones! Not like the tight spotted jersey think their it type! They've advised us on some better directions to make the final slog as pleasurable as possible, were scraping the old pen on hand directions and moving to the map! Well for now! Cheers Annette & co (sorry didn't catch all your names)

Stuck in a car park

3:15am. Here we are freezing our buts off (as if they weren't bad enough) in the car park awaiting to know when we can get back in to sleep or more importantly retrieve our bikes to complete the mission! As for over disasters! We seemed to have had a fairly clear day up until now, although the picture below may suggest otherwise!?! Andy's had a puncture, but that goes without saying!






Were back in the building! An other hours rest and then the big slog! 145 miles to go! Maybe a quick pop into Newquay on the way! You know how we like our detours! TTFN.

Hey guys! This is jonny giving John a well deserved rest! We are just resting our heads on a costa cafe table while our buts still feel the discomfort of a shiny,hard, over polished seat. We are just having a few hours rest before we set off for the finally to lands end. The picture above shows the view from the top of our first hill out of monmouth, in wales this morning as the heavens opened. Pretty sure there was a flatter route but as you will have learned to expect by now we chose the harder one!



This is our second costa stop today as at about 2pm as we just got over the seventh bridge we already needed an expresso boost! This stop was due to be that too! However it's turned in to z catch up! The only thing is I'm too exspressoed to sleep.


Looks like the luck is still with us! The fire alarms just gone off! We are know stood in a car park at 2:45am with our bikes locked in the services! Woop woop!

Location:Taunton Rd,,United Kingdom

Vanilla slice no 3

Jonny goes to Monmouth to get some money to pay the campsite And brings back something wort More than money!

V slice no 3

Ability to hit the spot = 8
Stability = 10
aesthetics = 4
taste = 7.5
stickiness = 5






Courtesy of nine yards Monmouth. Nothing on a hand delivered haighs farm one!













- Posted from my iPhone

Wales

It got very cold and dark fast last night ! So at around 1am we pitched up in WALES 3 country I'm the last week!

There is only 2 showers so Guess I've drawn the short straw blogging while those 2 shower!

Next stop oakhampton!

P.s. This sign is the best we could do! No welcome to Wales sign around here!

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Watery Ln,Monmouth,United Kingdom

The new bike

Here we are again! A good job they are open late! Jonnys gears are playing up so he's useing his warranty to full effect! Not sure the guy on the shop can beleive it's already done 150 miles and it was only bought just over 24hrs ago!

We never left shrewsbury this morning until 3.30 more teething problems with my pedals, I thought it was the buckled wheel causing a click but when that was fixed and it carried on I had to go back and have it sorted!

Anyway Today the pace has gone well over 50 miles in 3hrs!

Check out andy and jonny picking wild berries!






Everytime we stop jonny finds something to eat, even if there is nothing in his pannier and not a shop for miles! Deisel covered berries not for me!

I picked this instead, massive daisy! Bet u enjoy that jessy ;)



- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Holmer Rd,Hereford,United Kingdom

New shoes on

Heeeeey, I've got some new shoooooees on and everything is alright! (should be sung like Paulo nutini)

It was a sad day, these trainers have done me well, rowed many rivers and ran many miles in training for half marathons, they've probably even cycled even more miles! From john ogroates to Gretna, where I made the change, they were an absolute mess, falling to bits! Sorry, I know the post is delayed but other posts have taken priority on times of low battery!

Thank you JD wetherspoons for your free Internet, and electricity supply!

Jonny also says thanks for the free beer, even if he did drink it with his breakfast! Honestly the guy has lost the plot!

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Lower Claremont Bank,Shrewsbury,United Kingdom

Avocado

Morning all! This was taken this morning but then the battery went! This picture absolutely creases me! Jonny bought this fruit/veg last night! N I'm gonna be honest, i don't have a clue what it is! But jonny said "take the skin of these and they are absolutely beaut!"
Andy then says: "is it a papaya?" jonny then says: "yeh that's the one, the well nice, and it was only 45p can u believe it?"
Andy then says: "are u sure it's not avocado? The thing u have with salads?!?!?"
Jonny says: "nah. I don't like avocado, there horrible!"

This morning we here a crunch as jonny bites into it, jonny: "errrggghhh, really quietly mumbled" a mystery object then comes flying out jonny's tent!

Check out our nice little campsite as we roughed it/poshed it on the village green Whitchurch! we were actually 20 miles short of Shrewsbury but yesterday it was my turn again to have a total mare!

Firstly we never left Preston until 5.30pm! Jonny's brand new bike needed a bit more tweaking, more than a few hundred very well spent, he was like Chris hoy this morning steaming up the hill!

Just as were about to leave Preston, well actually chorley where jonny got his bike, I thought I would text my mate Si as only last week he got married (great do by the way) in shropshire and I wondered if he was anywhere near Shrewsbury so we could stop with him or something! Then suprisingly (like everything on this trip) he said, nah mate, I'm in chorley! So we met up for a chat and obviously delayed setting off even more!

Right back to my mare, so we finally get
On our way and then my bike and wheel starts making a really weird noise, we stop have a look and I have 2 spokes flying around totally come out and about 3 loose ones!, and my wheel is really really buckled! So I wobbled on and then andy had another puncture this time in his front wheel, initially he got some kind of egg coming out of his pinctureless/crap tyres so we all looked closely at it, stopped and then BANG the loudest thing I've ever heard, sooooooooo funny! Then jonny's new bike got a puncture!

So there is ur reasons we stopped short, basically me and andy were desperate to get to a bike shop, obviously non would be open till around 9 we had so we thought we may aswell do 20 miles in the light rather than the dark, so we pushed on until we found somewhere nice to camp, and Whitchurch was the place!






Andy is now getting a new front tyre to match his spanking new continental on the back, and also some run tape to prevent any punctures! So after today there should be no more reasons for any mares! Apart from the fact were sat at table no. 13 in wetherspoons! Were just eating a full English while our bikes are being fixed! Yes that is half a pint, and it's jonny's, he said it's healthy it's got lemon in!

Today = Shrewsbury - Bristol 100miles on top of the 20 we've done this morning!

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Lower Claremont Bank,Shrewsbury,United Kingdom

-jonny says hi to all whallys!

Posted from my iPhone

Problem solved

Jonnys new bike!

Its 3.30pm and we are just about to leave chorley, 6miles north of where we camped! gonna be another late cycle! :(

Jonny says thank you to his mum and dad for saving the day and the trip!

THE VANILA SLICE

-

















I've carried this little baby from penrith to preston in my pannier just so that i could photograph it when i got my iphone charged!

Ingrediants = fresh cream, custard, sultanas, rum, apricot jam, fondant, puff pastry, glacé cherries and chocolate!

My dad brought these to us in Kendal because he knew we were struggling to find a one anyway and it's a good job he did, because we couldn't find in any Kendal neither! Lots of Kendal mint cake though!

Taste = 11 out of 10
Aesthetics = 10 out of 10
Stickiness = 9 out of 10 my hands were a bit sticky afterwards but ive had worse.
Stability = 10 out of 10 can't believe it lasted from brighouse to Kendal to Rochdale


Honestly the best any of us have ever experienced! Almond edging and hidden sultanas within the custards!

The vanilla slice was from haighs farm in brighouse! Well recommended

If your reading this dad THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH for the vanilla slices from all the lads!


Posted from my iPhone

MARE

Game over for jonny's bike!

Yet another set back!

I can see a long day coming!

Were currently ringing all the people we know in the surrounding area of chorley to find us a halfords and take jonny!
- Posted from my iPhone

heroic effort

Hi guys sorry its been a while, i have had no battery for ages! Here is some nice horny bulls/cows we had a chat with just outside of Glasgow!

Were back on track! Last night was a struggle, as some of you may know, we left Glasgow late as we were messing around waiting for a screwfix to open to fix
Jonny's panniers then andy kept on getting punctures one after another.
At one point andy picked up 2 punctures right on the top of a hill in the middle of no where but next to a truck stop, where some hells Angels bikers were meeting! And while me and andy were fixing the puncture I swear jonny had pulled! Some big biker was adamant that we all went in and had a pint and he swore we would get them bought! We swiftly moved on and said no!



All this meant we were moving slow, and as it turned midnight we decided it was too dark to carry on! So we pitched up at the next site we saw! Luckily we just caught the bar man cashing up at a nice looking site about 30miles short of gretna, if it wasnt for the barman there would have been no one to let us on the site, not that it would have mattered too much, because we had decided it was a toss up between a nicely pruned roundabout or a cricket ground! Both looked good sleeperies!






So this morning we were up at 5.30 ready to put in a130miler. We started well and pace was probably the best yet, until we realised we had been going for 20miles in a southwesterly direction instead of south! So we covered six affective miles instead of the 20 we had just cycled! For me this was very depressing! Especially when I knew we were supposed to be meeting my dad at 2 in Kendal!






Anyway to cut it short, we powered on even with andy getting another puncture! Another reason we was desperate to get to Kendal (so andy could have his bike looked at)! anyway we soon got to gretna and passed the border, finally some english soil!




We met my dad in Kendal for a
Quick pub lunch, some amazing cherry flapjacks he had brought from our local farm shop in brighouse and most importantly because he has been following the blog closely he had seen how much we have been struggling to find vanilla slices, so he brought along the finest VANILLA SLICES yet! Ha, and the only ones! Dad also delivered my wrist splints, this should make for some interesting cycling!

Most eventful things that happened today were:
1. Going the wrong way, first time yet!
2. Crossing the border from Scotland to England
3. Meeting my dad and having a few pints and a pub lunch knowing we still had 50 miles to go! And after we had already done 80miles!
4. Jonny falling asleep whilst cycling downhill!
5. Our epic pace for our fastest 50miles yet from kendal to Preston! We did it in just under 4 hrs.



- Posted from my iPhone

Another pannier incident and some numb fingers

Good morning followers! Friday morning and we've just finished breakfast in our "absolute bargain" etap hotel! £36 for 3 beds anytime of the year! Beats £108 ibis or 79 travel lodge!

So here's the crack! Our planned stop was just outside of Glasgow as the many top2bottom blogs out there recommend avoiding it! So we were supposed to stop in Dumbarton! We arrived there in good time around, at around 9pm! Went into the travel lodge that we had actually booked for weds (they wouldn't swap it for thurs even when ringing in advance) and there was no room! So we decided to quickly head off for Glasgow 17miles down the canal! A nice cycle but it soon got dark! Then arriving in the city we were lost looking for hotels! So we finally got some directions for this ETAP place from a nice man in a nice hotel!

As were cycling across Glasgows biggest cross road. JONNY'S pannier decided snap of and shoot across the road, clothes and sudocreme everywhere, including on the side of taxis! Devastating! I was just glad it wasn't mine for a change! Then andy got another puncture (so much to puncture-less tyres). Then when we got our hotel room we got room no 666.












So yesterday went from being great! To be being a bit gash! From 9am to 9pm was great, the scenery coming from fort William was great up through the highlands and then cycling along loch lomand with the sun sitting low in the sky was very nice! I've got some great pictures
On the SLR.

























ANDY also wants all the guys following at the golf club to check this picture out of him on one of the greens at loch
Lomond golf course! (this is probably why we arrive late to most places, we see something we like n we go for a quick snap, even if it is invite only).






Now onto me! So for the last few days I have been moaning about numb fingers! Last night in the room I decided to google it! Turns out I have handlebar palsy! So a ten minute chat with my mum this morning has sorted it (she's some kind of doctor) I'll be dosed up on anti-inflammetaries from now on and my dad will be delivering some wrist splints on Saturday when we meet in Kendal !

Here's the description for those who are bothered:
Also known as ulnar neuropathy, handlebar palsy is actually an inflammation of the nerve that runs along the entire length of the arm to the hand. This nerve, which is also known as the ulnar nerve, provides for both movement and feeling in the arm and hand (e.g., it possesses both a motor and sensory function).

So why does this nerve have a tendency to become irritated during cycling? In general, the ulnar nerve becomes inflamed, usually either at the fingers, elbow or the wrist, when it has to absorb vibration and shock transmitted to the arm. (it can also flare up when the fingers, hand and arm are maintained in a fixed position for a long time).

The numbness will last up to 6 weeks and it is recommended that cyclist stop cycling!


One thing we learnt today: a vanilla slice does not exist in the highlands! Only Aberdeen Angus beef burgers which are very nice :)

And finally our feet our dry after a day of sunshine:






See you in Gretna when we hopefully break the border into England!

- Posted from my iPhone