Day 8 - Thursday 7 June - View pictures Pickering to Retford(via York) - 87 miles / 1200 ft climbing Another tough day but for very different reasons.  Thanks again to Steve and Alison for putting us up and taking us out for a grand meal.  We also really enjoyed the back end of the quiz in your local - sorry we couldn't be more useful.  Steve, you are a star.  Not only did you help us into York this morning but you must have sat nose into the wind for over 100 miles over the past 2 days - Amazing! Thank you also to our friends at Unipart rail for having a selection of sweet treats and coffee ready for us on arrival - very much appreciated.  Once we'd fought our way out of York we headed south and found a great pub in Naburn who dished us up with 2 enormous salads. After lunch we continued south on quiet roads to Selby where an ice cream was the order of the day. Latterly though, it became clear that the only route south was on feeder roads for the M18 and M62 - not fun.  Should anyone decide to follow our lead, please find a different route south through east Yorkshire.  We rolled into Retford around 7.15 and have just refuelled our bodies with a great meal.  Up at 6.30 tomorrow but should be a shorter day on the road.  Already looking forward to that curry Mark. Day 9 - Friday 8 June - View pictures Retford to Leicester(via Derby) - 72 miles / 4000 ft climbing Up at 6.15 with the aim of getting across to Derby to deliver a jersey for Tony at Bombardier. We also had an unexpected visit from Andy Jones from Bel Power at the hotel before we left. Bel supported all of the costs of our amazing jerseys (we still have a handful left btw - only £50). We really appreciate your support. Unfortunately I'd been a little over ambitious with the pre-ride timings, so ended parking the bikes in Hucknal and using our trusty mule, Neil, to bus us into Derby for our 11ish meeting. It also gave us a chance to dry out and warm up - the weather wasn't kind first thing Lunch stop was at the Cartwheel cafe (highly recommend) in the centre of Nottingham, followed shortly after by a pilgrimage to Trent bridge, where we managed to blag a photo from the members bar. Our run into Leicester was a joy through some great villages - a real contrast to yesterday. Highlight of the day though was meeting Mark and his colleagues at the 3 Kilns, Rushey Mead, for one of the best curries I’ve ever had. Thanks to everyone there for making us feel so special and for the very generous donations (we're over £9k now). Off to bed with a slightly sore head, but looking forward to some better weather and the op arrival of 2 new companions tomorrow. Day 10 - Saturday 9 June - View pictures Leicester to Banbury - 60 miles / 2300 ft Climbing Very glad of an extra hour in bed this morning (slightly sore head).  That was some curry.  We were joined first thing by my son Tom, who is our new directeur sportif.  Nice roll out of Leicester along a bespoke bike path pretty much until we joined the Fosse Way.  A big shout out to the staff and locals of the Sharnford arms, who not only helped with local road advice, but also found £55 for us. We were soon on quieter roads and the landscape became more rolling and the hedgerows higher. Lunch by one of the many canals in this part of the world.  Highlight in terms of cycling was the Edgehill climb which was 10% average for 1km, but most of it was 14% - gruelling. Shortly before we hit our final destination, we met Chris, Nicole and Roxy the dog, who were about to move into the area.  We got chatting and swapped Glenshee pictures. Theirs with skis on and ours on bikes.  Both involved chair lifts though. 6PM and we pedal up to the Horse and Groom at Milcombe.  Fabulous pint of Hooky, great food and more donations.  Thanks everyone. Day 11 - Sunday  10 June - View pictures Banbury to Bath - 78 miles / 5000 ft climbing Joined last night by Lesley's daughter Alice for the next 4 days.  Great to swell the peloton by one.  Thanks to Vicky and the staff at the Horse & Groom, Milcombe for a fabulous stay. Today's route took us through a rolling Cotswold landscape.  Quick coffee stop at Burford, which was heaving with tourists, but we soon found ourselves on quiet back roads.  The roads suddenly got busy with tri-bikes around the Cotswold water parks, where we saw 100s of competitors in the Kingdom Triathlon, including some in GB kit.  Great job in that heat! Fabulous lunch in Oaksey, then the run into Bath, which had a short sharp climb before the long steep descent into Batheaston. A harder day than first envisaged, but was all capped off by some great tapas at Ole in Bath city centre. Thanks Antonio for looking after us so well.  Great atmosphere. Day 12 - Monday 11 June  - View pictures Bath to Tiverton - 77 Miles / 3900 ft climbing Summer has definitely arrived.  We all feel and look like lobsters. Left Bath first first thing via our good friends and loyal customer Rotork.  My thanks to Jo and Mark for allowing us to come and see you. The early part of the ride was pretty tough on the A roads to the south west of Bath, but eventually we hit the climb up onto the Mendips at Harptree.  I can only describe this one as brutal.  Once over the other side we stopped for coffee and cake in Wells before heading towards Glastonbury.  Really pleased with the picture above. The Somerset levels provided some welcome respite, but the day was getting warmer and warmer.  Fabulous Greek lunch at the King Alfred, Burrowbridge, before heading on towards Taunton. Finished the day with another long climb into the Blackdown hills, but this time not so steep.  Rolled into Fisherman's cot at Bickleigh around 7 for a well earned pint of cider and lovely meal.  Just been looking at tomorrow's profile and we have as much climbing as we did in the Cairngorms.  Gulp! Day 13 - Tuesday 12 June - View pictures Tiverton to Bodmin - 75 Miles / 7300 ft climbing We thought the Cairngorms were tough - welcome to the south-west!  We were greeted with a 15% climb as soon as we left the hotel this morning, and the hills just kept on coming.  We said goodbye to Tom at our lunch stop in Bridestow and welcomed back Peter.  Thank you to all our support crew (Neil included), we couldn't have done this without you. One of the best parts of the whole adventure has been meeting fellow end to enders, and we we thrilled to bump into Hannah and Lousia heading north raising funds for Allegra's ambition, a charity in memory of a sadly lost school friend.  Good luck girls, I'm sure you'll have a blast. Our afternoon ride just seemed to get harder and harder as we hit Bodmin moor. We were rewarded with the best ever cream tea at Minion, in the highest pub in Cornwall. We thought that 15 miles to go and starting from the altitude we were would be easy.  Think again.  Those Cornish hills are like running into a brick wall. You go from 30mph to 0 before you can work through your gears.  It saps the will. Arrived in Bodmin around 7.15 at the Westberry hotel.  Great cider and awesome Thai food.  Off to bed now.  Just one more day in the saddle.  What will tomorrow bring?  A mixture of sadness and relief I suspect. Day 14 - Wednesday 13 June - View pictures Bodmin to Lands End - 65 miles / 4700 ft climbing Well, we made it.  A day of euphoria, relief and exhaustion. The last morning of the alarm going off and thinking, "oh no, not again".  That said, once we were up and moving things always felt much better.  We always looked forward to the mid morning coffee stop and today we added 4 extra miles to pop into sunny Newquay for an espresso and carrot cake. We'd been blessed with pretty much unchanging warm(ish) NE winds for the past 13 days, but that changed in the afternoon.  The continuing rolling terrain and high hedgerows made this another tough stage, but not long to go now. As we came down the hill into Marazion we were greeted with the sight of the sea, St Michael's mount and that milestone.  Nearly there. A big thank you to Katie from the Brain Tumour Charity, who took time out of her holiday to come and see us over the line.  Sadly we couldn't quite get to Lands End in time, but the backdrop we found wasn't a bad one.  Katie, we wouldn't have even started this had you not inspired us to try something different. And so on to Lands End - The last 15 miles, weren't the easiest.  The wind, the terrain, the motorists (I'll blame the tourists here), and also knowing that this was literally the end of the road.  Peter & sister Annie were there with fizz and flowers in hand and tissues to wipe away a few tears. So after 14 days, 1083 miles, 56,000 ft of climbing, 92 hours of saddle time, we'd made it.  We did have half a plan to turn around and start riding straight back to Scotland, but thought we'd better get back to our day jobs for a while.  Already thinking about where the next trip might be. A final thank you to everyone who helped us along the way, all of you who gave so generously, and especially those at the Brain Tumour Charity, who work so hard.  As we rolled over the line we were still £650 short of our target.  Can I please put out one last plea to help us reach that £10,000 target. Thanks for reading, please drop me an e mail through the website if you would like to know more - It's been such great fun! J&L