First things first, a confession: this probably should’ve been posted yesterday. But hey, John O’Groats is a bloody long way up, and none of 2/3/4G or wifi seemed to have made it up here yet. Sorry folks, I’ll try harder next time.

My next post will be a rundown of Day One. But before that, a brief recap of how we (just about) got here. What have we learned in the past week? To summarise, here’s a ‘what not to do when preparing to cycle a JOGLE’ list…

1. Don’t rely on couriers
Despite planning and booking it months in advance, our bikes almost didn’t make it to the start thanks to a combination of a missed courier pick-up and a bank holiday. Things worked out fine in the end (phew), but it was squeaky-bum time for a few days while our trusty steeds were lost in transit. The lesson? Other people are undoubtedly less competent than you, so leave way more time than you need. Because, erm, you’ll definitely need it.

2. Don’t get knocked off your bike days before you leave
As I span through the air, head-first over my handlebars (courtesy of a wayward pedestrian stepping out onto the cycle track without looking), I tried to look on the bright side: a timely reminder of the potential perils of cycling is probably no bad thing, I thought, given what we’re about to undertake. As I hit the ground, I just thought “ouch”. No serious harm done thankfully – bruised knee, minor road rash, and the pedestrian was fine too – but still not to be recommended.

3. Don’t get a hole in your panniers the week before you go
We get a lot of rain here in the UK. A LOT of rain. You also need to carry a lot of stuff on a trip like this. So developing last-minute holes in stuff designed to simultaneously keep that rain out AND carry your stuff is a no-no. Full marks to manufacturers Ortlieb for offering (and managing) to repair it in time. But I’m going to have to deduct a point for forgetting to mail it back to me and then sending the post-complaint express delivery package – guaranteed to arrive by 9am, just three hours before our flight – to the wrong address. Close guys, but no cigar (please see point 1).

4. Don’t try to take an offensive weapon onto the plane
When you’ve been up since 6am packing, then spent an hour tearing around Bristol trying to track down an errant pannier before your flight leaves without you, you just want to get to the airport and chill out for a bit. The last thing you need is one of your party (I’m looking at you, Geoff!) to fall foul of airport security by attempting to smuggle a stainless steel blade onto the plane. Mate, they made us pack that plastic spork into our hold luggage; they’re not gonna look kindly on a credit card sized killing machine. (Although it was a bit weird that having kicked up such a stink they let you keep it, after all…) Ah well, at least they stopped short of a full body cavity search!

5. Don’t confuse when your boarding gate closes with when you think it opens
A collective brain-fart, this. We were quite happy sitting in Soho Coffee, eating lunch and wondering when we should take a leisurely stroll over to the departure lounge – when the decision was taken out of our hands via the dreaded final boarding call. An 800 metre sprint to Gate 16 (when the hell did Bristol Airport get so damn big!?) at near world record pace is not exactly the best preparation for a 1000-mile cycle – but, then again, it’s perfectly in keeping with the rest of our build-up so far!

6. Don’t over-exaggerate the negatives
Of course, I’m making it sound worse than it was, and there were plenty of good things too. The flight up was great. The minibus pick-up service from the brilliant Sandy at John O’Groats Transport was impeccable. Our bikes made it to the start in tip-top condition (again, thanks to the re-assembly and service from Sandy and his team). Our accommodation at the Seaview hotel in JO’G was fantastic, with the largest selection of whiskeys I’ve ever seen collected in one place (the fact that we didn’t get sucked into sampling them all also has to be another plus point, from a hangover-avoidance perspective). And the scenery up around Duncansby Head (the Uk’s most north-easterly point) and the view across to a sunset over Orkney was amazing. Puffins, ahoy!

Best of all, we made it here safe, sound and ready to begin. So let’s see what tomorrow (and the rest of the trip) brings. Good luck, chaps!