"Its all downhill from here"

So what was all this about? Well in short, OSA was turning 8 and we wanted to celebrate and give back by raising some money for charity. Liam came up with the idea of cycling from the top of the UK to the bottom and if that wasn't enough, cycle back home to Cardiff too! all in the name of Charity.

The problem was that we were not cyclists by any means, we didn't even have bikes!

So there we have it, 1328 miles in 22 days was the challenge, we made it! it was an incredible journey and lots memories were made. As of now we have raised £5000 for our 3 chosen charities and we are so appriceative of the support we've had.  

 Day 0 consisted of a drive, a flight, a train, and a short cycle to camp in John O'Groats, ready to begin our adventure the next morning. I would say there was no going back now, but that is exactly what we were doing. We got to the top of the UK in one day of travel, and now we had 22 days to get back to Cardiff via Lands End with a tent a few clothes and a couple of bikes. 

 Our return journey began in the wilderness of North Scotland. This section was pretty easy to plan because of the lack roads; the difficult part was locating places to eat and stay the night. It felt like we were isolated from society up there, but to be honest, it was quite nice. The roads were calm, the beaches were beautiful, and we were treated to breathtaking views of lesser-known lochs and mountains in the distance. As expected, there were some steep inclines, they were long but steady and so weren't too difficult for our fresh legs. One of the highlights of our trip in Scotland was cycling the length of Loch Ness and riding through the Three Sisters mountain pass, which had amazing panoramas, long climbs, but even longer descents to compensate for it. Day 4 we decided to take a half-day for some early recovery and ended up at the top of Loch Lomond, lounging in the sun with a beer or two. The rest of Scotland consisted primarily of canals and shoddy cycle paths which were initially a welcome break from the country lanes and busier mountain roads, but they quickly became monotonous. We made our way down to Glasgow across to Edinburgh and then towards the border. 

 Day 7 marked the end of our journey in Scotland, we had a few days ahead of us with minimal elevation but long distances. We knew the days would be long, but given how flat it would be, we figured we could just cruise along and rest the legs. That was not the case; we had an immense 20 mph headwind all the way from the north to the south of England, so we were definitely not getting the rest we expected. To make matters worse, the views of mountains and lochs gave way to views of hedgerows and the occasional grey town. Day 9 was a very low point for us mentally, 92 miles fighting a headwind with nothing to look at but the tarmac beneath our wheels, we'll leave it at that.

 On Day 11, we reached the South and, happily, the scenery improved. Back into the countryside, flying through beautiful villages, and to top it off, we were joined by our friend Sam. The hills returned, but unlike in Scotland, they were short, steep, and relentless. Without the rest we anticipated our legs would get from the previous days, these hills were challenging, but we knew it was only a taste of what was to come in Devon and Cornwall. A night in Cirencester with Sam gave us with a sense of normality and a chance to reset our heads over a pint and some good food, but the next morning we were back on the road to Glastonbury.  After saying goodbye to Sam in Bath, it was back to just the two of us as we travelled towards the beast that was Dartmoor.
Day 14 was going to be one of our biggest elevation days yet as we began the journey up Dartmoor and the day after would be our highest elevation day by far as we finished the climb over and across Dartmoor. This was a critical moment. 13 days of riding behind us, with two days of monstrous climbs ahead. In my mind, if we made it through this, I knew there was nothing else that could get in the way. It was a long slog, as we expected, but we kept our spirits high and kept pushing. We spent the days saying "this has to be the top now" and "surely it can't get any higher," but it was never the top and it always went higher. On the longer second day, we were treated to some rain, which was not ideal for morale, but it did not deter us, and so we kept the pedals turning, gradually climbing higher and higher, and before we knew it, to the delight of our legs, we were dropping down the other side of Dartmoor, knowing that it was all behind us.

 We were on the final stretch of our journey from John O'Groats to Lands End, and everything was going so well. We met up with another friend, Luke, who offered us a place to stay near St. Austell and rode with us for half a day the next day too. The weather was kind to us the entire way down, and our spirits stayed high. We stopped briefly in Penzance before continuing on for the final 10 miles to Land's End. We made it to Lands End on day 16, but that was not the end of our journey. After a brief photo and a Rattler to celebrate, we set up camp and prepared to begin our leg home the following day.  

 The journey home felt like a vacation; the distance each day was nearly reduced in half, the weather was still fantastic, and what better place to slow down and enjoy than Cornwall. We used our shorter cycles to relax and take in the landscape a little more. Having breakfast in St. Ives, getting tattooed in Newquay, going for walks with an ice cream in Bude—pure vacation mode. We gradually worked our way up to Bristol, where our final leg would begin.
Day 22, the final ride. It felt nice to be joined by six of our friends for the victory lap back to Cardiff! Crossing the bridge felt amazing, and we were greeted home by torrential rain in typical Welsh fashion, but nothing was going to stop us now. We arrived at the shop fully drenched, to a crowd of friends, family, and supporters! It was a surreal moment, and we cannot express our gratitude enough to everyone for being there to welcome us back home!