Kirkdale or Bust

Wolf Rayner and Jenny Cussons are cycling from Oxford to Kirkdale near Dumfries in order to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Yorkhill.

Jenny and Wolf do not have a great deal of cycling experience and the 350 mile journey is their first major cycling venture.

Today they set off on the last leg of their journey in drenching rain, looking very elegant in their waterproofs.

The highlights of their journey so far has been the luxury of cyling along some of the towpaths, so they can ride two abreast, have a chat and not have to worry about the traffic.

They are very pleased with the fundraising and have already raised double the intended target. Details can be found here.

University Challenge

Adam Blacklock and Tim Rutter are two old university friends that have met up for a short cycle holiday.
Their trip takes them from Glasgow to Lancaster, breaking their journey at Newton Stewart and Gretna Green on the way. Yesterday has been their most enjoyable part so far, as the 100 mile ride took them along the coast road where they could enjoy views over the Solway Firth to the heights of the Lake District.
The keen cyclists had an early start this morning for the final part of their journey.

On a bicycle made for three.

Martin and Carine Wood are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End, along with their Jack Russell, Jake. They are cycling on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support.

Although they have seen some fantastic scenery, the highlight of the journey has been meeting wonderful helpful people along the way.

The lowpoints have been steering, stopping and trying to get comfortable on board their tandem whilst carrying their luggage and Jake.

Next stop on their route will be Burton-in-Kendal approximately 75 miles. Martin, Carine and Jakes adventures can be found on their blog.

Three men and a lady.

Our quad of visitors last night were, Alexander Roberts, Rose-Marie Turner, Philip Coker and Paul Turner. They are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End to raise money for the Stroke Association. 

Yesterday was day eight of their epic journey and saw them travelling from New Lanark in driving rain. When they arrived they were badly in need of our tumble dryer. With heavy wind and rain also forecast for today the weather has not been very kind so far, but they have had chance to sample a couple of scottish distilleries which may have numbed the pain.

Their continuing adventures can be found on their facebook page.

London Bound

Paul Meehan (in green) is cycling from Glasgow to London to take part in the Prudential RideLondon- Surrey 100.
Yesterday he cycled from Glasgow to Gretna Green with his friend John Robson and today he rides alongside another friend Michael (on left) to Milnthorpe, to the south of Kendal.
He is dreading todays journey as he will be battling high winds and rain which are forecast over Shap.
The Prudential RideLondon begins on the 10th of August and the 100 mile route takes them through the beautiful Surrey countryside before finishing on The Mall in central London.
Paul is cycling on behalf of Macmillan Cancer Support and his charity page can be found here.

Dash across the country.

Yesterday saw the arrival of David, Ali and Dash. David Swinburne is cycling from lands Ends to John O Groats, with his wife Ali as the support driver and their dog "Dash" for company.
Yesterday David cycled up from Kirby Lonsdale and said that it was one of the most perfect and challenging day so far.
Todays journey is day 9 of 14 and will take the trio to New Cumnock.
After finishing their journey to John O Groats David and Ali hope to take on the arduous Bealach Na Ba (A historic twisting mountain pass in the Scottish Highlands).

Guten Morgen

Last nights visitors were Martin, Sigrid and Christiana who all come from different parts of Southern Germany.

They arrived in England two days ago and spent the previous night in Hexham. The group have a general idea of the route they would like to travel, but at present are about 50 miles behind schedule.

The trio woke to a beautiful sunny morning and after an early breakfast they rode off to enjoy the rest of their holiday.

Who ya gonna call.

Lionel Duboir is cycling just for fun from Lands End to John O Groats. Its his first attempt at Lejog and the weather so far has been in his favour.

Unfortunately yesterday Lionel left his mobile phone (a vital tool when youre a big name in the financial sector) in a pub in Kendal so he used our landline to phone his girlfriend back in London.

The highlight of his journey so far has been a detour through the beautiful Shropshire hills.

Today he will be cycling on to Stair in Ayreshire and then taking the scenic route across the Isle of Arran.



Team Pie

Jayne and David Hall cycled from Egremont in Cumbria on Saturday and have spent the last 2 nights here in Gretna Green.

Jayne and David were using the weekend to train for the London Revolution (a 185 mile, 2 day cycle challenge around the outskirts of London). As the couple didnt quite make Team Sky, they decided to represent Team Pie instead.

Yesterday they explored some the wonders of Dumfries and Galloway visiting Caerlaverock Castle. Today was an early start for their cycle home following route 72 to Egremont.

Cycle Holiday

Yesterdays visitor was Dicky Doran, our first cyclist visitor of the year,  who works for the YHA in Keswick. Dicky has been enjoying a few days camping and cycling holiday in Castle Douglas and used Gretna Green as a stop off point on the way back. He thought he would treat himself to the luxury of a bed and breakfast after spending most of the week in a tent.  Todays weather is very good so Dicky will be exploring some of the Solway coast before heading home.