The fourth and final leg of the North Sea Cycle Route (NSCR) has now started - 30th May 2011. Watch this site for more details.

INTRO: This is the last leg of the North Sea Cycle Ride for me. I started in the Spring of 2007 with an old friend Mike, who got me underway cycling with me to Hunstanton in Norfolk - I then cycled up to Hull. In 2008 Pat, an old school pal joined me for about 2300km from Bergen to Esbjerg (Norway, Sweden and Denmark). Gilly finished of the continental bit with me last year, Hoek Van Holland to Esbjerg (Holland, Germany & Denmark) about 1800km. That just leaves me Hull to Muckle Flugga in Northern Shetland to cycle - about 1200 miles or so.

Programme

Sally, my niece, is joining me in Edinburgh and cycling up to John O'Groats. This will be a great adventure for her, she is not a cyclist and it is the first time she has done anything of this nature, we will be cycling through some quite remote country. We have just had a good cycling weekend down here when I introduced her to the hills of Devon - it has not put her off although she is some what saddle sore and she is booking her train tickets as we speak. Gilly is joining me in Aberdeen and she will be with me until the end at Muckle Flugga - Britain's most northerly point in the north of the Shetlands. (There is a small rock called Low Rock about 2.5 miles off Muckle Flugga which, if you are a purist, is the the most northerly point and I am hoping to get a charter boat to take me round this).

It is not too late for you to join me for any part of the trip or just a day - you are all very welcome. We will be camping for most of the time - I will be sending email updates as usual. Colin will also be doing the website as usual and has asked if I could bring something drinkable back - he is a bit fed up with the undrinkable Aquavit I keep bringing back from Scandinavia - I think he is hoping for a wee drop of 'Malt' - we shall see!!  

I have just cleaned and oiled the trusty bike (there is only one bit held together with cable ties - I think it has lasted well although I had to have my rear wheel re-spoked a few months ago) and I have started gathering my stuff - I am looking forward to getting on the road again - there is something about a cycle journey that calms the spirit and gets you back in touch with nature and reality.

Hopefully I will see you on the road.

HINT: For those of you who don't realise this, many computers keep a cache of web pages, which means that you may well need to do a "Reload" command from whatever internet viewing program you are using, if you want to be sure of seeing the lastest details. If you think you might not be seeing the very latest info, hit "Reload" while viewing the page in question.