We've done it!

3pm, Saturday 28th July 2007.
We've done it!
After 15 consecutive days of cycling we finally rolled into Land's End to a rapturous welcome from James's family, Mark (our old schoolfriend), Karen's sister Sally, her daughter Ffion and friend Georgia, Jo and Emma. They'd gone on ahead from our pitstop at the First and Last pub a mile up the road to prepare our reception. As we rolled down the hill they saw us coming and from several hundred yards away we heard the cheers, whistles and shouts of encouragement, it was terrific. They had streamers to throw over us and balloons and a fountain of champagne was perfectly sprayed to douse us both. This drew the attention of 20 or 30 other visitors going in who stopped to watch. It was like having a massive reception and it made us feel very special. Well done to Jo who'd loosened the champagne cork too much and had been trying to hold it in for 5 minutes. Loads of lovely hugs and we moved through the throngs to find the signpost for the mandatory photograph. At this point it wa
s absolutely tipping it down, we're in a mist and it's blowy and cold - just to update those in the rest of the country who we understand had a glorious day.
Whilst it would have been more pleasant to have been in the sun we agreed that these atrocious conditions better captured the essence of our ride and in fact neatly mirrored those when we set off from John O'Groats 15 long days ago. That really does seem like an age away.
Rather than a place name and distance on the sign we went for JOGLE 07 as our two home locations would have been too difficult. And it was too cold/wet to mess around. Next stop was to get our record sheets stamped as proof. When we asked the girl in the shop to which we'd been officially directed for a stamp she said they didn't have one and looked at us as if she'd never seen a cyclist there before and didn't know what the End-to-End was. She was totally clueless. Another tourist in the shop also found this ignoramus amusing and after we'd got our stamps in the hotel she sponsored me which really is quite touching from a total stranger.
The day had begun in a very leisurely fashion as we knew it wasn't too far and I think in our minds we had almost finished already. We picked up Nat Cycle Network route 3 and went along the pretty estuary in Hayle in very pleasant conditions and continued along leafy lanes towards Penzance passing the impressive St Michael's Mount. There was a bit of philosophical musing on how strange it would feel to be all over and how empty our days would feel without a 70 mile destination to achieve. The route from there tracks along the beach and it was very scenic.
The wind picked up here and was bringing in spitting rain clouds so we took shelter in Penzance for a refueling pitstop. Setting off through Newlyn we had to leave the coast and met the mother of all climbs, a 1 in 6 or so out of the town. It was so steep and strenuous we had to stop for a breather twice on the way up. Even though the road from there to Land's End is the easier one away from the ups and downs into coastal villages it still had a few final challenges for weary legs. I had my biggest scare of the trip when whizzing down a hill to a tight left hand bend the road got very lumpy and the bike started jumping and drifting towards the centre of the road. I don't know if even Lewis Hamilton could have held the racing line in this case and when a car came the other way and I missed it by about a metre I knew my cycling shorts would require some extra attention at laundry time.
Uneventfully we met up with the extended support crew for a pint at the First and Last pub just a mile from Land's End. It felt a bit weird stopping within spitting distance of the place we've been aiming for for two weeks. The others went on to prepare our reception whilst James and I shared a last pint together, then we freewheeled off (as it's all downhill thankfully) to glory. We'd decided that we should cross the finish line in our JOGLE 07 tour T-shirts so, despite the horribly inclement weather, off came the waterproof jackets and on went the team strip. This meant we were completely exposed and absorbed all of the weather. Particularly when it took us 20 minutes in the rain to put the bike rack on Karen's car.
Once we'd done it I felt so delighted, pleased it is over even though it has been a terrific experience and proud of the massive achievement.
We'd been looking forward to a cornish pasty and even missed lunch as the First and Last felt they were not good enough for pub food. Thought that's a bit weird in Cornwall. Our celebration meal, after the finish-line champagne, was a pasty at the famous Philip's bakery followed by a pint at the Red River Inn.

A special mentiom goes to my sister Linda and husband Andy who got up at 5am to travel from Birmingham to surprise us by greeting us at the finish. Unfortunately near Bristol they were shunted at full speed from behind on the motorway and the car has been pretty much wrecked. Glad to hear you're okay Linda and you're not downplaying your aches and strains for my benefit. It was a lot of effort to go to and a big sacrifice, thanks, we both appreciate it and you were there in spirit.