Day 11 - Cumnock to Cairndow

I have never been good with early starts. On LC4 it is up at 06.00, usually after a patchy night's sleep. Today was especially hard as it was the last time I will have Daniel's shoulder to cry on until this is all over - he has completed his two days for the cause and he headed South to the rain.

We headed North in glorious sunshine and it seems the weather gods should be smiling on us for the rest of the trip.

We started with a 40 mile (64 km) dash to ‎Bridge of Weir (just to the west of Paisley) where the vice chancellor's sister lives. She laid on a great BBQ and a paella!

After an all-to-brief stop we headed for the ferry close to Greenock. Obviously the sea is at sea level and I couldn't understand why we kept climbing until we suddenly reached a peak and descended some 750 ft (230m) in about 8 miles (13km)

The ferry was a nice break to recover. We still had 25 miles to get to our hotel for the night but the stunning scenery was all the incentive we needed to get through the final hills to the hotel located at the top of Loch Fyne. Another 80 miles (128 km) on the clock and, incredibly, we are now more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) into this adventure.

Tomorrow is another 90 mile day (144 km) with a couple of nasty climbs. I think if I survive tomorrow I will make it to John O'Groats!

A very special thank you to Lynn and Elspeth for their daily motivational mails. They are part of my small band of dedicated Scottish supporters who are rooting for me even harder now!