Saturday Sept 4th 2010 saw the journey start of making our way to John O Groats in Scotland to start the challenge of covering 1,000 miles over 8 days and covering the country down to Lands End for Parkinson's Disease. Little did I know that this would be the most challenging, emotional, painful, rewarding and satisfying physical achievement I have ever done that would combine making alot of money for charity and lighting a fire inside me that has given me the desire to want to achieve more in he way of future challenges.......

On Saturday 4th Sept me and Ben flew from Birmingham Airport to Inverness. We met Kevin who would become instrumental within the team dynamic in getting us from JOGLE. With 7 hours to spare before the coach was due to pick us up from the center of Inverness we looked at a train / hire car to JOG with avail due to availability. In hindsight this worked out for the best as it gave us the opportunity to sit outside Pizza Express, drink and eat and meet our fellow riders that came walking along with their big bike bags.

3pm soon came around and it was time to go and get the 3.5hr coach to JOG. Due to the back up vehicle breaking down on the M1 on the way up they where not due to arrive in JOG til 12am so we made a tactical decision to stop half way and get fish and chips. Ive never a fish and chip shop where you order a large fish and chips give you 2 large haddocks! The Fish and Chip shop was in a remote little village in the middle of nowhere yet we still managed to stumble into a hen night with a difference. A male gay couple that where getting married. The bloke was dressed in drag and he was out with just girl friends! Very bizarre and not something I think I will see again.

We arrived in to a very cold, wet Barron and very depressing JOG shortly after 8pm. Not the type of place you would go on holiday to and want to spend any time there. Very depressing so it was great to know we wouldn't end up here to have our celebrations although this was very presumptuous of me expecting to make the 8 days as I would soon find out......

We errected the tents, got our bikes out the carry cases and started to re build them from their travels. It was all a bit of a rush, the light was fading fast and we didnt have much time to spare. We hit the sack about 11pm and I remeber laying in bed excited with adrenalin but also nervous in what the next 8 days would hold, what would they throw at us and how would I react to it....