Well what an amazing day.  Inspired by the fact that we only had 80 miles to go and by tea time we would be in Compiegne.  We set off about 8.30am fully re-charged by a good nights sleep and a good breakfast.  It was a fantastic day's cycling, mostly on level-ish ground but on a wide variety of road surfaces, some wide, sweeping, smooth 'A' roads giving us the opportunity to make fantastic progress, cruising at 15mph plus, very enjoyable.  Some challenging rough, flinty, overgrown, farm tracks, not ideal for the road bikes and needing lots of concentration to try to avoid the worst holes but all the bikes held up amazingly well, even those on 23mm tyres (we felt every bump).

It's supposed to be a crossroads in the middle of a village!

Once again Martyn (with a little help from Davy's satnav) navigated us through some interesting terrain, except the debate which started at a T-junction in the middle of nowhere with the words "It's supposed to be a crossroads in the middle of a village."   We did eventually find the way and met Shaun once again.






We had a few hills to climb but nothing like the previous 2 days, however, once again we were waiting all day for 'The Climb', a hill longer than any we had faced before!  Yesterday we climbed over 4000 feet, today we only climbed about half of that but most of it was one hill - it was a shocker, but Martyn and his little band of 'ducks in a row' just kept peddling.  The upside was of course the downside - an amazing downhill freewheel, winding through the woods, cool breeze, knowing there were only 10 miles to go and met by the sight of Shaun at the bottom with the kettle on - the best moment of the trip without doubt.

Phew what a stinker!

Shaun was ready with the kettle on every time we needed him (well roughly every 20 miles) so we were able to keep well stocked with food and drinks - we couldn't have done it without him.








The last few miles were probably the most interesting.  We followed signs to Compiegne, cruising steadily into town and suddenly there was a sign showing how many towns Compiegne is twinned with.  We accosted a random frenchman to take our photo under the sign (once we'd re-grouped as Martyn and Jen seemed to think the sign was about a mile back down the road) and then headed off to find Avenue de Bury St Edmunds - then the fun began.  Compiegne is a bit tricky to navigate and has quite a lot of traffic, we decided to take an underpass to get across a rather busy road and unfortunately Griff collided with Davy and he had to do a quick mudguard repair before we could carry on.  I started to feel that my back tyre was a little soft and in the process of trying to look at it narrowly missed Kim's back wheel and ended up nearly falling off and rather ungracefully staggering into the middle of the road in front of an on coming car.  A few minutes later I definitely had a very soft tyre and Davy leapt into action once again for a quick repair.  Eventually we did get to Avenue de Bury St Edmunds and were met by Shaun and Matt who has come to take us home. We had pictures taken under a rather unimpressive sign, were presented with some lovely medals by Martyn and celebrated with a bottle of champagne.  What an amazing achievement, 300 miles, who knows how many hills climbed, lots of laughs, no arguments and lots of money raised for an amazing project to support the children of St Monicah's.

Quotes of the day:
"Eyes front."  - Jen when using a convenient tuft of grass.
"I only just missed a bomb." - Sarah when using a convenient hedge only to spot a large explosive shell in the undergrowth.
"Do you think it might have been dead?" - Jen when asking about the bomb.
"It's a bit like child birth, give it a few months and you'll have forgotten the pain and only remember the good bits." - Sarah
"There are no significant hills between Bury St Edmunds and Compiegne." - Sarah reminding Martyn of his encouraging words just before she signed up for the challenge.
"Don't tell them about the hills beforehand, it will only discourage them."  - Martyn to Davy.
"This orange juice is better than the one at the hotel this morning." - Keith
"The problem with the French is that they don't do very much with their front gardens." - Keith
"This is nothing new, he's been moaning for as long as I've known him and that's about 25 years." - Sarah about Keith.
"This man's daughter was married to an English man, he's an engineer, 25 and lives in Lyon." - Robert after a long conversation to a random french man.
"Martyn you are amazing." - Everybody.

Today's statistics: 78 miles, 6 hours travelling, average speed 12.92 mph, climbed 3097 feet, descent 3238 feet, top speed 38 mph.

Sarah B
Please sponsor us at https://my.give.net/thedoxaproject

It's now  9.30pm and we have just eaten a delicious meal.  This morning seems a very long time ago.  We started the day with a big continental breakfast to make sure we were well stocked up for the day and then retrieved the bikes from the 'shed' where they had had a comfortable night's rest.  Although the sky was cloudy we could tell that it wasn't going to stay that way for long, it was going get hot very quickly.  Martyn expertly navigated us out of Calais and we headed off through some beautiful countryside.  The first few miles were lovely, flat and pretty, cycling along good quality roads beside the canal - that didn't last long!  Soon the hills started and they went on and on and on ... and on and on and on!!  Yesterday was tough and I'm sure someone said that today would be easier, it kind of was but the heat was draining (over 30 degrees) and the hills were horrible. Getting to the top was a hard slog but the views were amazing, like cycling along the top of the world.  The down hills were truly ex-hill-erating! - equally long, some windy, which made it a bit tricky not knowing what was coming round the corner when you were travelling at 40mph but the straight ones were so cool and gave you a good boost for the next hill, unless there was a junction at the bottom which there always is!

Keith and Trevor at the end of 'The Climb'

Well, what a day.
Setting off at 8am, we really didn't realise what the day had in store for us.
It started reasonably gently, as we crossed the Medway, although the path down to the cycle path along side the M2 was perhaps not the route we were suppose to take !


Soon though we were on an off road cycle track. It wasn't ideal for road bikes !
A few large puddles, lots of gravel, hard rocks, uncomfortable seats, and very slow going.


Trevor had the pleasure of the first puncture of the day, so a few stayed behind as the others pressed on. The cycle tracks became too much though, and we reverted to the main A road to catch up time, and meet with Shaun. So a very slow morning, knowing that we needed to be in Dover for 2.30.

Then the afternoon. Hill after hill, after hill. Some real stinkers ! And time slowly ebbed away. Eventually we missed our ferry by about 15 minutes, on top of which Davy had his first puncture just as we entered Dover.


It didn't matter, we caught the next one, but just got late into Calais, and so late eating and to bed.


We had passed through some lovely countryside, but oh what a tiring day. Everyone exhausted having out in such effort. Even though it was only 57 miles, we had climbed over 3300 feet in the day. More than double what we did in the day previous over 80 miles !

After our first meal in France, we all retired to bed very very weary, looking forward to a much more relaxed day's cycling in France,

Well, what a wonderful day.
We left Bury St Edmunds at 8am, from Compiegne Way.

It was cool and overcast. Heading south through Clare, we quickly covered our first 25 miles, meeting Shaun just north of Finchinfield. Everyone was on a high. The first 25 had gone well. Even though Kim managed to be the first to fall off and draw blood !!!


The second 25 went even better ! They seemed to just disappear, and before we knew it, we were meeting up with Shaun again. Its great being able to stuff yourself, knowing you're burning off around 1000 calories every 25 miles ! So lots to eat. The sun had broken through by this time, and it was turning into a beautiful day. Lots of glorious countryside, a real pleasure cycling.


After leaving Shaun  the roads became busier, as we passed close to Chelmsford, Billericay etc. Keith and Trevor (The Essex boys amoungst us), getting quite excited as we cycled along old haunts. However,  distance was getting to us. The last 25 were definately slower and harder, but still fun asMartyn took us off road, down an overgrown path, with logs, nettles, and lots of moaning from the crew !!

Finally we made Tilbury, and a very old tub took us across the Thames from Tilbury to Gravesend. Keith and Davy really enjoyed it !

Then the climb up out of Gravesend to the Inn on the Lake. Far too comfortable !!!
Sore limbs (and bums) meant we needed to retire to the bar ! But very satisfied with our days cycling !

Last minute rushing around, printing out, packing bags, oiling chains ........
Excited ! YES !!!

Monday 3rd June ! Only two more days to go before we cycle off to Compiegne !
300 miles in 4 days, with ten riders !
Should be great fun !
Lots of training gone on over the last few months, now for the real thing !
BRING IT ON !!!
You can sponsor us at :-
https://my.give.net/thedoxaproject

The BFP recently took a photo of us, and did a small article on our ride from Bury St Edmunds to Compiegne, due to take place at the beginning of June.
You can find the article here :-
http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/news/latest-news/fund-raising-cycle-ride-to-twin-town-is-open-to-all-1-4627341

Another exciting academic year is coming to an end at St Monicah's with christmas time being there main summer holiday. We are trying hard to find some new land for the school in the local area as we have to move off the current site in 2013. Land however is not in abundance. Nakuru is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa and prices for land are increasing day by day. Hopefully we will be able to find somewhere in due course.

There was a little scare at the school a few weeks ago as a couple of the older girls caught Malaria. There was an outbreak of it in the slum and unfortunately some at the school were effected. One of the girls collapsed and had to be taken to hospital which upset a lot of the younger children. Thankfully both girls have now recovered and are back at school

A new Kitchen

A few repairs

Some of the buildings at the school are getting a bit old - especially the ones that were made of mud! Again at the request of the local education authority we had to do a few repairs. The picture to the left was part of the repairs to the mud classroom.

Fundraising for 2013 - fancy a cycle ride?

After the success of this years LEJOG cycle ride we have decided to begin to plan for more cycle rides next year. One of the ideas we have is to cycle from our hometown of Bury St Edmunds to its partner town in France, Compiegne. This ride will take place from Wednesday 29th May - 1st June, returning to Bury on the 2nd.

If you would be interested in taking part in this event or any others we may be running then please get in touch.

Event being organised by Act Cycling Tours (www.actcyclingtours.co.uk), exclusively for St Monicahs.

The cycle ride from Lands End to John O'Groats completed at the beginning of July rasied around the £10,000 mark with sponsorship. This is fantastic, so thank you to all that sponsored. All the money raised is going into a separate pot that we have aptly named 'The Building Fund'. We will continue to try to build this up till we have what we need to buy and build - indeed we have to find land in Kenya which is getting quite expensive in the area around the school.

If anyone would like to donate specifically into the building fund then please let us know, we obviously have a way to go to raise all the money we need so we will be continuing to fund raise and look for friendly and generous donors :-)

Just put together a video of the trip.

Our final day !

We said goodbye to The Crask Inn with all its midges biting madly, but having had a great night. What a unique place.

So we continued our journey up the A836, a single track ‘A’ road through the wilderness north of Scotland. The sun was shining, blue sky, fantastic scenery. It was a superb ride, along the side of wass slLoch Naver, which in the still of the morning gave reflections of the mountains like glass. It was an incredible ride. So many photo opportunities that progress was slower than expected, but what a journey.

Eventually we reached Bettyhill, on the northern shores of Scotland. Upon reaching the coast though, the mist immediately started rolling in, and the next part of the journey was once again in thick mist.

The landscape had changed too, to a more barren and bare one. Eventually the sun emerged and the afternoon was spent mainly in glorious sunshine as we travelled along this most northern of coastlines. Unfortunately though, the wind had turned to an easterly, and we battled against a strong headwind all the way along to John O’Groats. This slowed us down and made us even more weary, but eventually at around 6.30, as a group, we cycled into John O’Groats together.

Met by cheering crowds (well, Kenny’s Inlaws), we gathered for the compulsory photos before loading up the van, and starting our journey home.

An epic journey of 970 miles. It has been an incredible time. Mostly good weather, lots and lots of good humour and banter, a real camaraderie built up between all who participated, but mostly a great cause (St. Monicahs), that needs our continued help. If you have not done so yet, please please contribute and sponsor us on-line.

www.stmonicahs.co.uk

We decided to get an early start today as we had over 85 miles to ride, so we left Carrbridge Youth Hostel at 7.30am, while it was dull and overcast. An early start for Davy on his birthday !

Inverness was 23 miles away, but fortunately it was a relatively easy 23. Again beautiful countryside, easy roads, shadowing the main A9 mainly. Into Inverness and over the bridge to meet up with Shaun immediately on the other side.

The first group arrived and saw Shaun looking out over the Moray Firth. He quickly pointed out the dolphins swimming just a couple of hundred yards out from us. Plus a seal bobbinng around as well. What an amazing sight.

Past Inverness we continued north eventually into Dingwall, and along the Cromarty. All the time the cloud seemed to be getting lower and lower, with the odd spot of drizzle. It was when we then started over the hills towards Bonar Bridge that the weather got worse. We went higher and higher and quickly lost ourselves in the clouds. At one point the visibility was down to about 20 yards, with rain falling and very difficult conditions, but we all made it through, dropped down on the other side and gradually the day brightened from that point on.

In fact as we went further north the weather got better and better and the sun started to shine through as we got to Lairg. The last 12 miles upto The Crask inn were just breath taking. The scenery had been lovely so far, through lots of glorious rivers and valleys, but once up on to the highland plateau it is just breath taking. Wild open space. Mountains in the back ground. A real wilderness with striking beauty. We pedalled along in silence mainly just in awe of the beauty of this place. The far north of Scotland is just in another league to the rest of the UK, because it is just so different.

Along route today we had great views of curlews, plus sight of red squirrel, Golden Eagle, weasel, grouse and lots more.

We ended our day arriving at the Crask Inn, somewhere in the middle of the highlands, on the A836. Set miles from anywhere else it is just a unique experience. A time capsule from years ago, selling wonderful ale and great traditional food. Being Davy’s birthday, a card and present was presented, happy birthday sung, and an odd pint drunk.

Being, in effect, our last night though, during our meal at the inn, we sat around the table, reminiscing, giving out awards, and just talking about what a wonderful experience it had been thus far. A great bunch of people, a wonderful cause, a terrific experience. Thank you Lord.

John O’Groats tomorrow

A SPLENDID DAY

Brodies hostel in Edinburgh is not to be recommended. While we had a bed, it was the noisiest and worst place we have stayed at so far. A water pump just above our ceiling was going all night.

So we were glad to leave Brodies behind, but sad to leave Kenny behind. Some excuse about a conference in Edinburgh meant he had cycled as far as he was going to, so after waving us goodbye, he went off to a luxury hotel, large breakfast and comfort !!!

Unfortunately the rain was falling when we woke, and continued virtually all day long. The morning especially was foul. Everyone got soaked through, cold and down. At the first break, many had to change clothes, blankets were wrapped round to keep warm, hot drinks all round. Gradually the rain slowed as we progressed but it was a very tough day, and everyone was exhausted at the end of it.

The Forth Bridge was particularly difficult. Torrential rain and high winds just as most of us crossed it.

Nevertheless it was of course an eventful day as always. Brian, another friend of Davy’s, joined us for the days cycling from Edinburgh to Pitlochry.

Even in the rain and low cloud, Scotland is beautiful. Lots of wide, fast flowing rivers, with mountainous backdrops. Often stunning views. Low cloud covering the tops. Dunkeld was beautiful. Just outside of Dunkeld a Red deer with its fawn appeared and disappeared quickly in front of us.

Today’s route often followed the main A9 up into the heart of Scotland, but we mainly cycled on b-roads shadowing the main route.

Rays front tyre today bit the dust, having been worn down to the canvas, so eventually the inner tube blew. Daz came to the rescue, cycling back nearly five miles to take Ray a new tyre that he had only bought that morning, knowing his old one was severely worn.

As this group entered the high street of Pitlochry, a bagpipe started playing welcoming them to the town. The Pitlochry Backpackers Hotel seems so much more helpful, warm, clean, reassuring, comfortable and friendly than Brodies !

After a fantastic night at Low Luckens, where everyone seemed to sleep well, and we had had the opportunity to use the washing machine, the fire, and the very soft beds, it was soon time to leave.

We woke though to pouring rain, low cloud and a very dull day. Undeterred, we donned waterproofs and set off. Being in the middle of nowhere meant we had to locate the track going in the northerly direction we needed. Unfortunately, we turned too soon, found our way up a grass track that led to nowhere. Was this really the way to John O’Groats ???

Eventually the road was found and so were the hills. More ups and downs, in rain and low cloud. For some, this was the most difficult morning so far. Cycling in waterproofs that are almost as wet inside as out is not fun. A change of clothes for many at the first stop !

Gradually though as the day unfolded, it got a little brighter, but heavy showers still seemed to appear.

It wasn’t long before the Scottish signs appeared, with much rejoicing from Kenny. Most of the rest of us missed them, but soon enough noticed the midges. Yes, we were in Scotland.

The Scottish borders were beautiful. Lots of wide, fast flowing rivers, full and brown with the soil off the hills. Today it was the turn of the Oyster Catchers to serenade us as we passed through the valleys. A few hard climbs, but compensated for by sweeping downhill runs. Even in the wet they were great.

Bob, Ray and Jon managed to change a tyre on an Audi car, whilst cycling along, and then had the opportunity to change an inner tube on their bikes. Davy too falling to the dreaded puncture. Six between the group so far. Ray, once again, managed to fall off his beast !

Most of the groups managed to stop for coffee and cakes as well. One of Davy’s friends joined us for part of the day and was a welcome addition to the ride.

As we got closer to Edinburgh the uphills all became down hills, and we all sped into the city, and through it, onto a church where we were leaving our bikes for the night, before finding our hostel in the middle of town. After a curry, Davy took most of us to his pride and joy, the Brew Dog pub. One of only about 6 in the UK, we were forced to taste their unique and delightful beer. What a way to finish a day !

After a good but short night at the Youth Hostel, we set off to get north of Carlisle.

After an exhausting day yesterday, we decided we needed a little easier day, so took the option of continuing up the A6. This though took us over Shap. A 1400 ft ascent. Fortunately the wind was blowing in the right direction, and blew us up. We stopped on top of Shap for our first break and it was wild weather up there. Blowing a gale, cold and wet. The descent down into Penrith though was great, giving Daz an opportunity to beat his top speed again.

It felt a great shame to be leaving the Lakes so quickly, but there were some glorious views as we rode up Shap, and the curlews called us higher.

Unfortunately in Penrith the van stuck in 3^rd gear, but again mechanics Brown & Byford came to the rescue, delicately hammering the linkage back together !

Ray’s bike, especially the front wheel had been disintegrating over the last few days, with spokes missing and buckles appearing, so a visit to the cycle shop in Penrith saved the day, with a new wheel. Ray may now make it to john O’Groats, despite his bike !!

Cycling now really has become part of our routine. No one thinks about how they are going to complete the day, we just get on our bikes and ride. Speeding our way up the country.

Weather was very mixed all day. A number of heavy showers with us all getting wet at some point, but again, quite a bit of sunshine in the afternoon. Bob in his unique style managed to manufacture a new style of head gear to keep him dry, thanks to a Morrisons bag !

Roger had a revelation this evening. Davy and Daz explained to him that he had 18 gears on this bike, not just the 9 he had been using so far ! Tomorrow he is going to be flying up the hills.

As we neared Low Luckens, passing Carlisle airfield, Ray, Kenny and Daz spotted a Vulcan bomber. They investigated further and were given the opportunity to look closely at it, even getting into the cockpit. It was an amazing end to the day for them.

After a day covering 74 miles, we ended it by reaching Low Luckens Organic Resource Centre. What an amazing place. Located in the middle of nowhere, up on the Cumbrian fells, north east of Carlisle. Its own wind turbine, solar panels etc. Etc, Fantastic farm buildings, and the accommodation superb. We even lit the log fire to try and dry some of the clothes we washed. Another gourmet meal cooked by Ray and Kenny, a few beers, lots of banter, hopefully setting us up for the trek across the Cheviots tomorrow and on to Edinburgh.

Click on this link for Route details for today