Day 14 - They think it's all over............it is now !!

What a treat this morning - no packing of bags and getting everything wedged into the car before setting off. It made it seem real luxury being able to leave stuff behind and know you were coming back to the same place that day. Such a change from 2 weeks of a different place every night.

We got back to where I stopped yesterday and I was on the road by 9:05. It was all a bit of a party atmosphere helped by receiveing several text messages of support for the last day. The first stint was only 10 miles as it took me close to the foot of today's BIG climb - Cairn o' Mount; I figured a bit of re-fuellng might be a good idea. These 10 miles were with a tail wind and although a bit lumpy, they flew by in about half an hour.

So, to the climb. Approx 1200ft of climbing in the space of a few miles with slopes up to 1:6 gradient. These are the best bits for me - I love climbing on the bike. I'm obviously lucky as I have almost no weight to drag up the hills but the challenge of them just inspires me to go for it.
And for once the weather was blessing us and there were some beautiful views from the top right out to the North Sea:

Where I'd come from



Where I'm off to - note the road below



The descent was a bit hairy - I'm not brave when it comes to 1:5 downhill !  Anything much over 35mph begins to make me very nervous and my poor brakes took another hammering down this hill. Think it might be time to visit Geoff Baines again.

By the bottom of the hill there were only another 30 miles to go to complete this little jaunt !  The first few miles were with a cross wind but then I turned west and it was once more into the teeth of it. But do you know what?  I couldn't care less, I was nearly finished and the sun was shining. Let me just type that again: the sun was shining !! I even risked getting my knees out again - they hadn't seen the light of day since entering this country. 

But when the sun does shine, Scotland reminds you again of what a magnificent country it is.

I took my time and tried to enjoy the moments as the number of miles to go ticked down.

Some of the local towns are particularly pretty and according to Dad have some excellent tea shops. Indeed when I stopped in Fettercairn to take a photo of its archway, I noticed his car parked outside one. Apparently the bacon sandwich was spot on  and as for the cakes, well they were 'to die for'.

Despite the wind, by 1:45 I was cycling the last couple of miles through Kirriemuir to my folks home and suddenly that was it, it was done !
The 3 Peaks, 2 Wheels, 1 Lunatic Challenge was complete !!

Me and my trusty steed have covered over 900 miles, I've been up (and down) the three highest peaks of mainland UK and have survived sun (yes, there was a bit), wind, rain, sleet, hail and even snow. I've eaten more food in the last two weeks than I ever thought possible and I'm still flippin' starving. It has been a blast but I must admit, I'm now ready for a kip.

I owe a huge debt of thanks to so many people so here are the first few:
Clare and the family for putting up with my absences and their support during training as well as the event itself. It has put a tremendous extra burden on Clare - thank you !
Tim for supporting me during the first week so brilliantly and for giving me the time off work to do this.
Dad for keeping up that level of support during a very trying second week - oh, and he did finally get that midge !!

And also for everyone that has sponsored / donated to Help For Heroes through me doing this challenge. It helps make such a difference to people like Alan on Snowdon.

And if you haven't made that pledge yet - please do.