Free as a bird

Soren Manzel from Germany is taking a few months off and exploring Scotland by bike.

He arrived a few days ago in Newcastle and is travelling at his own pace along the west coast of Scotland, eventually reaching the Orkney Isles.

He was carrying quite a large amount of luggage for his journey including a tent.

After the Orkney Isles, Soren will cycle back down the East Coast.

Soren really enjoyed his vegan breakfast.

Ironman

John Farrington was one of a group from a Merseyside cycling club that were staying in the area. On sunday they were cycling from Gretna Green to North Wales (A distance of approx 180 miles). This endurance feat would take around 12 hours to achieve and so they were setting off at 7.30 in the morning.

John enjoys endurance events and has taken part in several "Ironman" triathlete events.

I heard later that the cyclists had reached their destination with very few problems.

Taking the low road

Alex and Wanda from Amsterdam are on a cycling holiday in the UK.

So far they have cycled across from Newcastle following Hadrians wall. They arrived very wet after a long shower of rain in the afternoon and so dressed in waterproofs for their journey today.

The couple are travelling on to Dumfries today and hope to travel to Glasgow, Arran and explore the west coast of Scotland.

Alex and Wanda hope to avoid mountains, and also avoid rain as they will be camping most of the time.

On a mission

Our latest guest was Ben from Colne in Lancashire.

Ben made it his years resolution to cycle from his home town to Scotland.

Ben is normally a keen runner but on this occasion he gave cycling a go.

He covered the 113 mile trip in one day, cycling through the Northern Yorkshire Dales in order to achieve his objective.

His favourite part of the trip was between Kirkby Stephen and Alston and he almost managed to avoid the rain (only getting caught out in the last 15 miles).

Lock and Quay

Jim and his brother-in-law Simon are cycling from Lands End to John-O-Groats raising money for Mcmillan Cancer Support . The journey will take 15 days in total.

Much of the journey so far has been along canal towpaths, which has had many advantages and disadvantages. The big advantage was a scenic trafic free route, but the disadvantage was a slow bumpy route.

The pair are very much enjoying their journey and have found some excellent cafes on the way. Jim and Simons charity page can be found here
and you can read about their adventures on their facebook page.

From the Land of the Midnight Sun to the Land of the Wind and Rain.

It has been several months since we have had any cyclists so last night we welcomed our first cyclists of 2017.

Arne Fagerlie and Rita Gundersen from Stovner in Norway travelled from Crawford in pouring wind and rain yesterday. They are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End.

The couples favourite part of the journey has been the stretch from Fort William to Oban. They are now hoping for better weather.

In a previous year Arne has travelled the length of Norway by foot.

Birthday Biker

Andrew Haines is cycling the whole of the coastal Britain. So far he has cycled approximately 3750 miles and is down to his final 300 miles, finishing in Liverpool in the next few days.

The journey was split into several stages so he would cycle for several days then take a few weeks off. The journey to date has taken around 59 cycling days.

His favourite area has been the south west of Scotland and has enjoyed meeting new people who took an interest in his cycling exploits.
Yesterday was also his birthday.

The Stig

Stijn De Kesel is on a cycling holiday of Northern England and Scotland. He started 14 days ago from his home in Bruges and so far has visited Newcastle, Berwick, Bamburgh, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayr, the Galloway Forest and Dumfries. His favourite place has been Edinburgh.

Today he leaves Scotland and heads towards the Lake District.

Stijn has mainly been staying in B&Bs, but also in youth hostels and a "bothie" (A basic accommodation found in remote mountainous regions provided free of charge).

Details of Stijn's journey can be found on his blog, which also includes a lot of photographs.