Scotland

I'm 4 days into Scotland now and currently at Portpatrick on the Rhins Peninsula. I visited the first major lighthouse on this side of the coast yesterday at the Mull of Galloway, an amazing and isolated spot. Scotland has been great so far although most of the roads I have had to take have been really busy lorry routes. On Tuesday we stayed in Auchencairn at Jim Holland's fantastic Holiday cottage (dads blog for details), beautiful spacious place in a really quiet area. We had a nice meal and I did a talk at the Kirkcudbright rotary club that evening which went down well and raised some more money.

Point of Ayre LH

Day off today, so planning the route into the western islands for the next 2 weeks. My brother is coming up for a couple of days next week and rupe arrives on Saturday.

Largest water wheel in the world at Laxey IOM

Almost 2 weeks since I've blogged, mainly to do with internet connection problems, relaxing in a hotel and cycling on the Isle of Man.
Had a fab few days in Liverpool with Elsie and also hooked up with Harriett and Dean (sis and B-I-L). Got to do lots of tourist things, shopping, museums etc.
Had some interesting riding around Birkenhead and Liverpool, very busy, sometimes dodgy and stacks of oil refineries to navigate around. Great place though!

Hoylake LH, Wirral
Beautiful sunset over the Dee Estuary, Wirral
The Isle of Man was stunning and well worth a visit. Very mountainous and amazing Viking History. I didn't realise that there is no speed limit on the island. I got to cycle around the whole of the Island (approx 100 miles) and see all of the mainland Lighthouses. I also rode on some of the famous TT track and did a couple of radio and internet interviews for Manx Radio and the BBC.
The last 2 days have been pretty flat out heading up the coast from Liverpool to Isle of Walney (approx 150 miles) and I'm hoping to be in Scotland within 3-4 days. Weather has been perfect for cycling :0)
At the mo pics are taking up to an hour to upload each so ill stick some decent recent ones up soon when I get a better connection.
Quick but massive thanks to Keith at Eureka Cycles (outside Chester) for sorting the bike, Penny from Port St Mary for putting me up, Heather from Heathers B&B in Ramsey for recommending a good curry house, Mohammad from Ramsey curry house and Ian at Ancient World Chester.
cheers

Loved North Wales...nice to be back in England

The Incredible South Stack Lighthouse, Holy Island

Monday today and had the day off doing a bit of fixing, planning and looking around Chester.

My plans have changed a little for the next few days due to a few reasons. I'll now be going to the Isle of Man a week today (19th) and spending this week in and around The Wirral, Chester and Liverpool, visiting the 7 or so lighthouses in the area, getting my bike serviced tomorrow and catching up with family and friends. So Im going to be a little lighter on the miles this week. I've ordered a new map and book from the Scottish Lighthouse Museum which will hopefully get to me in the next couple of days so I can get planning the route to the far North this week. Once I get back from the IOM I'm going to have to put in some longer days to get up to the Glasgow area by the 8th May to meet up with Rupe WS for 10 days of island hopping up the west coast!

Point of Ayr, North Wales

I met a nice couple on Saturday kitted up on their new bikes (Thorn?) test riding them for a couple of weeks before they embark on their 2 year cycle around the world! Ant and Kate are leaving in mid July and heading South East to follow the Danube down through Europe...and beyond. Good luck guys!

My legs are still doing well and I feel good in general but I do feel in need of a good strong sports massage and a long soak in a bath, maybe in Liverpool... up to almost 1200 miles now.

Finally, this is something I've seen too many times this week and I'm sure I'm going to see it again a few times before we finish

See ya.

Anglesey and Holy Island

I've spent the last 2 days spinning around Anglesey and Holy Island in the glorious sunshine, still been quite tiring days though- Approx 130 miles and 6 lighthouses. Cycled along the longest breakwater in the UK at Holyhead...very impressive bit of engineering at almost 2 miles long!

Also visited Llanddwyn Island on the southern tip of Anglesey, which was one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, incredible beachs with mountainous backdrops, ancient ruins and a couple of lighthouses.

Off to the Isle of Man in a few days so just trying to sort tickets, routes, places to stay, etc. Before that I've got the rest of North Wales and The Wirral.

Happy Easter! Day off today in Aberystwyth and the sun is out, although its still cold. Its great seeing the white snow caps to the North in Snowdonia. I'll be heading up there tomorrow.

The guys from Intus/OvPlex (www.ovplex.co.uk) sent me a message a couple of days ago to let me know that the cyclethelights website has been selected to be 'cool site of the day' today, which is fantastic! Hi to everyone arriving here through that site :0) (www.coolsiteoftheday.com)

Also, I'm on the radio again tonight - BBC Devon, The John Govier Show on his Meeta Tweeter section, just for a bit of a progress report.
So far we've managed to raise nearly £4000 (including cheques to clear) and I've cycled 855.6 miles in the last 3 weeks.
Off now for some yoga to stretch out my aching limbs!

few more pics

Fishguard Harbour, Lower Town Harbour, South West Wales

Very cold, wet day at Burry Port Lighthouse, South Wales

Old tunnel linking the towns of Wiseman's Bridge and Saunderfoot via the coast path, South Wales

Looking South down Newgale Sands, South Wales

Thank you to the guys at New Image Bicycles in Cardigan (Tom and Elle) and also to Phil at Bike Style in Clevedon.