There we go, all done.
Over 10 days , 996 miles were cycled, 3 mountains were climbed, tens of thousands of calories were burned and consumed and we are the proud owners of a massive sense of achievement.
After a few weeks of holidays and resting we are both very proud of what we achieved and very thankful for all the support we recieved.
To date we have rasied £5,099.88 for Cancer Research.
On tuesday I will be depositing the last of the money that has been collected and so will update the total then.
If you want to see any more photos, there is a gallery on facebook which you can find here: - CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS
The even better news is that we both still enjoy riding. Various ideas are being kicked around for more adventures next year. We definately have the bug!
So, to stick a fork in the whole adventure I would like to thank a few people.
Ang & Phil - without these 2 we wouldn't have made it. Ang cooked up food constantly and was always there to crack a joke, mainly out of his bum, but he raised the mood none the less. Phil drove A LOT of miles and always made sure the canyonero was where it needed to be to give us a break, joined us on the mountains and was a welcome break from the monotony that is Sonny Winston.
Sonny - For some unknown reason, we work well together. Perhaps I fancy him a bit, perhaps he fancies me a bit, who knows but we make a good team. We both know why we did this and in retrospect, it was a pleasure to share a tiny bed and one of the biggest adventures of my life with one of the strangest human beings I have ever met. Kudos Sir, Kudos.
Everyone who sponsored us personally thankyou. Everyone who raised money for us at schools (Abbots Farm, The Revel), work (Stevie B!)and sent us messages of encouragement and support, thankyou!
I'm sure Sonny will have a few words to say once he's back from Polskie, but from me, until next year...
ADIEU!!
Sunday 29 August 2010
Tuesday 3 August 2010
Day 10 - Glen Morangie to John O Groats
Glen Morangie to John O Groats
THE LAST DAY!!!
Incredibly happy that the end is nigh.
I awoke to lots of encouraging texts and facebook messages from friends and family for 'one last push'. Its nice to know people are thinking of us in what seems a very surreal situation. Definately helped to motivate me this morning!
Started a bit later than usual, 0830, a bit more relaxed knowing we had less than 90 miles to do today.
We managed a good initial pace making the first 30 or 40 miles fly by.
Sonny noticed my back wheel was very buckled. We pulled over and found a very loose spoke. Slightly alarming as these were brand new wheels and we knew there were some monster uphills today, which more often than not, means monster downhills too. We tightened it using the wrong tools on the side of the road which helped for a bit but it soon loosened itself.
Not confident enough in the bike to cane the downhills. Shame, they were awesome, I'm sure I could have hit 50mph!!
Team speed had warned about a couple of big hills today as they'd been here a few days before us. Thankfully, the ridicuhills of Wales and the Lakes had prepared us well so we were soon over the worst of it.
The final 30 miles were very windy. We had wanted to turn up the pace for the last section but the wind hampered our progress and tired me right out!
We bumped into Tunnocks Dan (check out his blog - http://mitchelllejog.blogspot.com ) with less than 10 miles to go on his way back to Wick to catch a plane home. It was nice to see him for the last time, and to know he had made it.
The last few miles were undulating, very sparsely populated coastal roads. How anyone can live up here is beyond me.
Lots of cyclists passed us on the final few miles. They were embarking on their own JOGLE adventure (John O Groats to Lands End), I couldn't help but feel sorry for what they were about to endure!
We finally reached John O Groats - It was not what I expected, but then i'm not too sure what i had expected. A ticker tape parade maybe?!
It was a massive anti climax. I expected to feel at least some emotion when we reached 'the sign' but there wasn't any. A brief sense of relief maybe, but I think the daunting drive home was on all of our minds. That and then the extra trip to Torquay to drop off the canyonero.
Definately pleased to have finished, and also pleased to see Rachel and Tim who we'd met in a pub a day or so previously. They had given us some sponsor money and promised to meet us at John O Groats. Nice one guys!
One thing we had been talking about and looking forward to at the finish line was a big fat victory cigar each. Ang didn't let us down. He had some massive Dominican stogies posted up to the John O Groats visitors centre for us which we duly smoked. Not only did they make us look cool but they meant we were done. No more cycling, no more mountains and no more pain!
After sending a few postcards we started the huge mission home - we were on the A9 for a million miles, Phil caned it all the way, then we started on the ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE M6. Not before a sleep in a service station in which Sonny and Phil became convinced we were being surrounded and about to be attacked and Ang decided he'd try and drive off with us still sleeping. Needless to say we didn't let that happen!
Arrived home finally, cleared out the canyonero and went for a much deserved curry and a few pints.
THE LAST DAY!!!
Incredibly happy that the end is nigh.
I awoke to lots of encouraging texts and facebook messages from friends and family for 'one last push'. Its nice to know people are thinking of us in what seems a very surreal situation. Definately helped to motivate me this morning!
Started a bit later than usual, 0830, a bit more relaxed knowing we had less than 90 miles to do today.
We managed a good initial pace making the first 30 or 40 miles fly by.
Sonny noticed my back wheel was very buckled. We pulled over and found a very loose spoke. Slightly alarming as these were brand new wheels and we knew there were some monster uphills today, which more often than not, means monster downhills too. We tightened it using the wrong tools on the side of the road which helped for a bit but it soon loosened itself.
Not confident enough in the bike to cane the downhills. Shame, they were awesome, I'm sure I could have hit 50mph!!
Team speed had warned about a couple of big hills today as they'd been here a few days before us. Thankfully, the ridicuhills of Wales and the Lakes had prepared us well so we were soon over the worst of it.
The final 30 miles were very windy. We had wanted to turn up the pace for the last section but the wind hampered our progress and tired me right out!
We bumped into Tunnocks Dan (check out his blog - http://mitchelllejog.blogspot.com ) with less than 10 miles to go on his way back to Wick to catch a plane home. It was nice to see him for the last time, and to know he had made it.
The last few miles were undulating, very sparsely populated coastal roads. How anyone can live up here is beyond me.
Lots of cyclists passed us on the final few miles. They were embarking on their own JOGLE adventure (John O Groats to Lands End), I couldn't help but feel sorry for what they were about to endure!
We finally reached John O Groats - It was not what I expected, but then i'm not too sure what i had expected. A ticker tape parade maybe?!
It was a massive anti climax. I expected to feel at least some emotion when we reached 'the sign' but there wasn't any. A brief sense of relief maybe, but I think the daunting drive home was on all of our minds. That and then the extra trip to Torquay to drop off the canyonero.
Definately pleased to have finished, and also pleased to see Rachel and Tim who we'd met in a pub a day or so previously. They had given us some sponsor money and promised to meet us at John O Groats. Nice one guys!
One thing we had been talking about and looking forward to at the finish line was a big fat victory cigar each. Ang didn't let us down. He had some massive Dominican stogies posted up to the John O Groats visitors centre for us which we duly smoked. Not only did they make us look cool but they meant we were done. No more cycling, no more mountains and no more pain!
After sending a few postcards we started the huge mission home - we were on the A9 for a million miles, Phil caned it all the way, then we started on the ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE M6. Not before a sleep in a service station in which Sonny and Phil became convinced we were being surrounded and about to be attacked and Ang decided he'd try and drive off with us still sleeping. Needless to say we didn't let that happen!
Arrived home finally, cleared out the canyonero and went for a much deserved curry and a few pints.
Day 9 - Fort William to Glen Morangie
Fort William to Glenmorangie
This morning was awesome, we got a 30 minute lay in. MAGIC.
We then drove back to the Ben Nevis visitors center and started our planned 96 mile day to Tain, near Glenmorangie (where the whiskey is made).
We noticed that we had a single massive 1500 ft ascent around inverness way.... so we cleverly stuck to the A9, and as if by magic the ascent was nice and easy... stupid MapMyRide keeping us of the main roads. Thinking back, I think a whole bunch of Wales and the Lake District may have been easier if we went for the longer routes.... but then that would have made us a bunch of girls ;-)
We rode down the whole of Loch Ness (with Phil along for the jaunt)... which, it turns out, is a very long piece of water.... sadly lacking in monsters, DRATT!
Then into Inverness. Inverness is a very windy place, and the big bridge in the middle, which name I should know, is AWESOME. We stopped in the middle.... I was wondering "why are more people not walking over this"..... MY GOD IT IS WINDY, and the bridge moves, moves a lot. It was really pretty cool, and just a bridge, sad really but the view was fantastic.
The main road out of Inverness, the A9, is another A road it is best not to ride on bikes, but unlike other cities the locals just left us to it i.e. they did not swear at us loads. I guess being on the best route for the End 2 End they are just used to seeing cyclists.
We stopped 17 miles short of our destination, and Phil joined us again. We quickly headed off the A9, on some "better and quicker" route found by MapMyRide... which was actually very direct. We decided to ride like Bastards, and almost killed Phil on the flats, but it was nice to "open up" the old legs ;-) 30mph on the flats is good fun, if not a little tiring.
We got to Tain, ate, and I am now sat in a pub writing this blog.... this is getting silly now.... bye.
Sonny
P.s. massive thanks to Rachel and Tim for the kind donation in the pub
This morning was awesome, we got a 30 minute lay in. MAGIC.
We then drove back to the Ben Nevis visitors center and started our planned 96 mile day to Tain, near Glenmorangie (where the whiskey is made).
We noticed that we had a single massive 1500 ft ascent around inverness way.... so we cleverly stuck to the A9, and as if by magic the ascent was nice and easy... stupid MapMyRide keeping us of the main roads. Thinking back, I think a whole bunch of Wales and the Lake District may have been easier if we went for the longer routes.... but then that would have made us a bunch of girls ;-)
We rode down the whole of Loch Ness (with Phil along for the jaunt)... which, it turns out, is a very long piece of water.... sadly lacking in monsters, DRATT!
Then into Inverness. Inverness is a very windy place, and the big bridge in the middle, which name I should know, is AWESOME. We stopped in the middle.... I was wondering "why are more people not walking over this"..... MY GOD IT IS WINDY, and the bridge moves, moves a lot. It was really pretty cool, and just a bridge, sad really but the view was fantastic.
The main road out of Inverness, the A9, is another A road it is best not to ride on bikes, but unlike other cities the locals just left us to it i.e. they did not swear at us loads. I guess being on the best route for the End 2 End they are just used to seeing cyclists.
We stopped 17 miles short of our destination, and Phil joined us again. We quickly headed off the A9, on some "better and quicker" route found by MapMyRide... which was actually very direct. We decided to ride like Bastards, and almost killed Phil on the flats, but it was nice to "open up" the old legs ;-) 30mph on the flats is good fun, if not a little tiring.
We got to Tain, ate, and I am now sat in a pub writing this blog.... this is getting silly now.... bye.
Sonny
P.s. massive thanks to Rachel and Tim for the kind donation in the pub
Day 8 - Loch Lomond to Fort William
Loch Lomond to Fort William
Cycled the above, then climbed Ben Nevis.
Today began with the realisation that somehow we'd miscalculated this distance to Ben Nevis from our finish point yesterday. That meant that instead of the comfortable 50 miles to the start of the climb, we now had to do 70! It wasn't the actual act of cycling the extra distance that would matter much but the timing definately would. We didn't really want to be on the climb still when it got dark, especially a climb we are unfamiliar with.
We started early and got on with the first 20 miles of the day, I felt very tired until we rode into Marmite Dan again, I think I must have just been bored by Sonny. I perked right up after that, cheers Dan!
On the horizon were mountains. After Wales and the Lakes, this concerned me as we had seemed to climb right over the top of them.
However, in Scotland thankfully they seem to run around the base of the hills, awesome. After a few gradual climbs we were soon into Glencoe which was astounding. The views were epic!!
The descent into Glencoe gorge was probably the best I've ever done and was the highlight of the trip so far. Huge mountains either side of a winding valley road which went on for miles! The best thing was that I didn't have to pedal. If you ever get chance, go for a drive along that road, it is beautiful. I videoed it on my phone which was perhaps slightly dangerous with all the coaches flying passed us all the time, but i had to capture it.
We stopped for a quick refuel and powered through to Fort William, we even beat the losers in the Canyonero and more importantly because of the immense speed we were travelling at, caravans could not get passed us. Ace.
Ang cooked up some lunch in the Ben Nevis car park and for some reason made me cry hysterically with laughter. I had to leave the van or I wouldn't have got my food down. The hysteria, mainly flatulance related, conitunued up the mountain. I think the tiredness is affecting my mental health.
Suprisingly, the climb was hot, really hot. We were sweating heavily 10 minutes in!
3 hours later we reached the top. Nothing interesting happening on the way up, it was a long a boring climb. The scenery was beautiful though:
The top is one of the better summits I've seen. It was completely clouded over, but that added to its appeal. It was extremely quiet, no wind or noise. There were some buildings up there, an emergency shelter and an old observatory.
Very odd to see these things at the top. Some monster drop offs in the mist added to the eerie feeling of the summit, there were even a few birds.
Unfortunatley though, it was quite littered. Why people can't take their rubbish back down with them I do not know. It shows no respect and really annoyed us all.
The descent was another long, dull and uneventful affair. All that happened was that our knees hurt. Happily though that was the end of the day so we could go and grab a Guiness and a chinese takeaway.
2 days to go from here!!
Andy
Cycled the above, then climbed Ben Nevis.
Today began with the realisation that somehow we'd miscalculated this distance to Ben Nevis from our finish point yesterday. That meant that instead of the comfortable 50 miles to the start of the climb, we now had to do 70! It wasn't the actual act of cycling the extra distance that would matter much but the timing definately would. We didn't really want to be on the climb still when it got dark, especially a climb we are unfamiliar with.
We started early and got on with the first 20 miles of the day, I felt very tired until we rode into Marmite Dan again, I think I must have just been bored by Sonny. I perked right up after that, cheers Dan!
On the horizon were mountains. After Wales and the Lakes, this concerned me as we had seemed to climb right over the top of them.
However, in Scotland thankfully they seem to run around the base of the hills, awesome. After a few gradual climbs we were soon into Glencoe which was astounding. The views were epic!!
The descent into Glencoe gorge was probably the best I've ever done and was the highlight of the trip so far. Huge mountains either side of a winding valley road which went on for miles! The best thing was that I didn't have to pedal. If you ever get chance, go for a drive along that road, it is beautiful. I videoed it on my phone which was perhaps slightly dangerous with all the coaches flying passed us all the time, but i had to capture it.
We stopped for a quick refuel and powered through to Fort William, we even beat the losers in the Canyonero and more importantly because of the immense speed we were travelling at, caravans could not get passed us. Ace.
Ang cooked up some lunch in the Ben Nevis car park and for some reason made me cry hysterically with laughter. I had to leave the van or I wouldn't have got my food down. The hysteria, mainly flatulance related, conitunued up the mountain. I think the tiredness is affecting my mental health.
Suprisingly, the climb was hot, really hot. We were sweating heavily 10 minutes in!
3 hours later we reached the top. Nothing interesting happening on the way up, it was a long a boring climb. The scenery was beautiful though:
The top is one of the better summits I've seen. It was completely clouded over, but that added to its appeal. It was extremely quiet, no wind or noise. There were some buildings up there, an emergency shelter and an old observatory.
Very odd to see these things at the top. Some monster drop offs in the mist added to the eerie feeling of the summit, there were even a few birds.
Unfortunatley though, it was quite littered. Why people can't take their rubbish back down with them I do not know. It shows no respect and really annoyed us all.
The descent was another long, dull and uneventful affair. All that happened was that our knees hurt. Happily though that was the end of the day so we could go and grab a Guiness and a chinese takeaway.
2 days to go from here!!
Andy
Sunday 1 August 2010
Day 7 - Lockerbie to Loch Lomond
Day 7
Lockerbieish to Loch something or other
I would like to mention firstly that Sonny had his 1st night in the smaller, more enclosed part of the bunk last night. Needless to say he woke up and made me swap with him. Panic attacks and a LOT of moisture in his sleeping bag lead us all to believe he had a code yellow situation in the night. He doth protest too much methinks.
We started out driving to where we finished last night and got on it at a good pace straight away. The morning rituals of bike checks and self massage were firmly in place meaning my knees were behaving themselves:
We made good progress on terrible cycle paths with gradual climbs en route to Glasgow.
We came across another LEJOGer named Dan who we cycled with for a while, - it was nice to talk to someone going through what we were going through, exchanging stories and the like.
We also came across an over excited bunch of teenagers on the outskirts of Glasgow who wanted to know how fast our bikes were, where we were going and if we wanted a race. Obviously we obliged with the later and to be fair, the smallest kid wasn't far behind on his BMX, he must have been going 20mph!
Glasgow slowed us right down. Again, every single traffic light slowed us down!
Lets just say that Glasgow, from what we saw, doesn't like the cyclist but definately likes the beer!!
Phil joined us on the bikes for the last 20 miles or so on what we thought would be a nice road running along side the Loch I can't remember the name of. Turns out it was REALLY busy and the view was almost totally obstructed by trees.
I was hella tired by the end of the day, good job we found a pub that sold us Guiness and loads of food.
Ang was well up for a dance but we had words and kept him in his seat.
He, and Phil continue to do an amazing job looking after us day after day.The end is in sight, everyone is excited to get to the end, we just have to cycle 65 miles and climb Ben Nevis tomorrow before the final 2 days.
YES MATE
Andy
Lockerbieish to Loch something or other
I would like to mention firstly that Sonny had his 1st night in the smaller, more enclosed part of the bunk last night. Needless to say he woke up and made me swap with him. Panic attacks and a LOT of moisture in his sleeping bag lead us all to believe he had a code yellow situation in the night. He doth protest too much methinks.
We started out driving to where we finished last night and got on it at a good pace straight away. The morning rituals of bike checks and self massage were firmly in place meaning my knees were behaving themselves:
We made good progress on terrible cycle paths with gradual climbs en route to Glasgow.
We came across another LEJOGer named Dan who we cycled with for a while, - it was nice to talk to someone going through what we were going through, exchanging stories and the like.
We also came across an over excited bunch of teenagers on the outskirts of Glasgow who wanted to know how fast our bikes were, where we were going and if we wanted a race. Obviously we obliged with the later and to be fair, the smallest kid wasn't far behind on his BMX, he must have been going 20mph!
Glasgow slowed us right down. Again, every single traffic light slowed us down!
Lets just say that Glasgow, from what we saw, doesn't like the cyclist but definately likes the beer!!
Phil joined us on the bikes for the last 20 miles or so on what we thought would be a nice road running along side the Loch I can't remember the name of. Turns out it was REALLY busy and the view was almost totally obstructed by trees.
I was hella tired by the end of the day, good job we found a pub that sold us Guiness and loads of food.
Ang was well up for a dance but we had words and kept him in his seat.
He, and Phil continue to do an amazing job looking after us day after day.The end is in sight, everyone is excited to get to the end, we just have to cycle 65 miles and climb Ben Nevis tomorrow before the final 2 days.
YES MATE
Andy
Day 6 - Sca Fell to Lockerbie
Cycle 8 miles - Climb Sca Fell Pike, walk to Seathwaite - cycle to Lockerbie
This day, as most before it, was a pain in the ASS.
Got up, rode from end point day before (Drigg), approx 8 miles away, to the bottom of scafell pike Click for map
A work chum of mine, Chris Akers, was kind enough to join us up the mountain. Us being Walker, Norton, Akers and my good self.
Climbing Scafell had no high points really, all we were thinking about was the ride out of the lake district..... so we climbed the mountain.
Once again, we were greeted at the top by a total white out:
To ensure we did not have to ride the bikes back on ourselves for miles around the mountain range, we came down the other side of the Sca fell, via the Corridor Pass. I say we, me and Walker. Chris and Phil went back to car park via the route we came. This meant some map and compass navigation with about 5 metres of visibility. Note the navigation panic:
Corridor Pass looked pretty epic... all photos we took did not reflect this in any way, which was quite annoying.
After a fairly long descent we got to Seathwaite to find this was not where we expected to start the ride from but it was where Dad and Phil expected us to be, so all good. Confusion for a few minutes where Andy had to pretend to be a lost child on the phone to the operator in order to be put through to Sonnys dad to find out where they were. We had no money or phone signal, rookie mistake. Thankfully, they turned up as we were on the phone.
Had a brief moment thinking we had to do Honister Pass, which having tackled some 25% hills a few days before would have been possible, but not desirable. Fortunatley this was not the case.
We set off for Keswick, 100% convinced that the road therewould be UBER hilly, and had the fear. For some reason though, this was not the case and the ride out was very enjoyable.
We now had a fairly hilly, but not terrible set of miles to get through to Kirkpatrick Flemming.
On the way there we were on a B road that followed the Motorway, and seemed to be popular with cyclists, and people wanting to drive really fast, although the road was not busy. We came to a junction on the road, only to find a "Road Closed" barrier up, and two people from the higway agency in a car there. We approached them and asked if we could still use the road. They advised us that there had been an incident with a bike and a car and that the Police were investigating, but if we proceeded slowly the Police would let us through, so we set off. After a mile or so we got to the accident, the Police were measuring tyre marks etc. There was a car with one bike underneath it, one wrapped around the wheel arch and around 3 or 4 more scattered around, all the bikes were very badly smashed and broken. Needless to say this brought our mood down considerably.
However we rode on, and eventually entered Scotland, which made us very happy. Two countries down, one to go ;-)
We stayed at a campsite at Lochmaben. We all decided to get some food in the nearest town; Lockerbie. MISTAKE. All place to eat were SHUT, walked into a Chinese that's door was open "we shut now" (literally that is what she said). So we went to a chippy. Looked OK. Whilst we were getting served two kids, about 10 or 11 walked in and started pumping money into the gambler, the owners did not bat an eyelid.
On the walk back to the van we heard numerous drunken shouts,and I was pretty much 100% sure a knife related incident was going to occur involving one of us, and an over keen local, at ANY SECOND. Awesome place.
We all went to bed wondering what other delights Scotland had in store for us.
Sonny
This day, as most before it, was a pain in the ASS.
Got up, rode from end point day before (Drigg), approx 8 miles away, to the bottom of scafell pike Click for map
A work chum of mine, Chris Akers, was kind enough to join us up the mountain. Us being Walker, Norton, Akers and my good self.
Climbing Scafell had no high points really, all we were thinking about was the ride out of the lake district..... so we climbed the mountain.
Once again, we were greeted at the top by a total white out:
To ensure we did not have to ride the bikes back on ourselves for miles around the mountain range, we came down the other side of the Sca fell, via the Corridor Pass. I say we, me and Walker. Chris and Phil went back to car park via the route we came. This meant some map and compass navigation with about 5 metres of visibility. Note the navigation panic:
Corridor Pass looked pretty epic... all photos we took did not reflect this in any way, which was quite annoying.
After a fairly long descent we got to Seathwaite to find this was not where we expected to start the ride from but it was where Dad and Phil expected us to be, so all good. Confusion for a few minutes where Andy had to pretend to be a lost child on the phone to the operator in order to be put through to Sonnys dad to find out where they were. We had no money or phone signal, rookie mistake. Thankfully, they turned up as we were on the phone.
Had a brief moment thinking we had to do Honister Pass, which having tackled some 25% hills a few days before would have been possible, but not desirable. Fortunatley this was not the case.
We set off for Keswick, 100% convinced that the road therewould be UBER hilly, and had the fear. For some reason though, this was not the case and the ride out was very enjoyable.
We now had a fairly hilly, but not terrible set of miles to get through to Kirkpatrick Flemming.
On the way there we were on a B road that followed the Motorway, and seemed to be popular with cyclists, and people wanting to drive really fast, although the road was not busy. We came to a junction on the road, only to find a "Road Closed" barrier up, and two people from the higway agency in a car there. We approached them and asked if we could still use the road. They advised us that there had been an incident with a bike and a car and that the Police were investigating, but if we proceeded slowly the Police would let us through, so we set off. After a mile or so we got to the accident, the Police were measuring tyre marks etc. There was a car with one bike underneath it, one wrapped around the wheel arch and around 3 or 4 more scattered around, all the bikes were very badly smashed and broken. Needless to say this brought our mood down considerably.
However we rode on, and eventually entered Scotland, which made us very happy. Two countries down, one to go ;-)
We stayed at a campsite at Lochmaben. We all decided to get some food in the nearest town; Lockerbie. MISTAKE. All place to eat were SHUT, walked into a Chinese that's door was open "we shut now" (literally that is what she said). So we went to a chippy. Looked OK. Whilst we were getting served two kids, about 10 or 11 walked in and started pumping money into the gambler, the owners did not bat an eyelid.
On the walk back to the van we heard numerous drunken shouts,and I was pretty much 100% sure a knife related incident was going to occur involving one of us, and an over keen local, at ANY SECOND. Awesome place.
We all went to bed wondering what other delights Scotland had in store for us.
Sonny
Day 5 - Little Sutton to Sca Fell
Day 5
Little Sutton to Sca Fell
(stats to come) 120miles ish
Click for link of Little Sutton to The Mersey
Started with a welcome full english from the hotel. We shoved a load of the buffet food into sanitary bags from our tolets and took them with us for food on the road.
We started solidly after I had woken up very stiff. The 1st 10 miles into Liverpool were a good warm up for the rest of the day. We managed to catch the ferry across the river by about a minute and proceeded to get stopped at every single traffic light through the city! Well annoying!
Ferry across the Mersea:
My knee felt good and so today was looking to be a good solid 120+ miles on the bike into the Lakes.
We rode well through Preston, Lancaster and eventually into the beginnings of the lake district. The flat roads were a welcome change from the ridicuhills (yes, thats a word!) of Wales. That is, until we hit the Lakes and the weather came in!
We went from wet and climbing gradually to soaking in the clouds after repetitive and exhausting 25% hill climbs. We had to take frequent breaks as we’d already cycled over 100 miles when we hit the big hills.
Unfortunately, because we were soaked, we couldn't take any photos. Such a shame because the scenery was amazing. Bleak and misty up in the clouds it was almost tropical, apart from being freezing cold. The steep, steep hills kept coming for 10 miles or so with the odd plateau but unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of the equally steep downhills because of the wet roads and the sharp corners. It was definitely tough after an already big day. We weren’t far from walking up some of these hills when Duff Man had this to say:
DUFF MAN NEVER QUITS
so we got on with it.
At one point Sonny slammed his brakes on mid hill convinced he’d seen some kind of Bodmin style beast. It was a sheep and we were losing it.
Eventually as it was getting dark, we made it to the canyonero. The campsite wasn’t far and was a much welcomed sight after such a hard day. Poppa Winston cooked up some chilli and we went to bed to prepare for climbing Sca Fell and cycling to Scotland.
The toughest day so far, and possibly of the whole trip was done. Certainly the toughest 10 miles we have done, and after already cycling 110 miles we are glad its over.
Bed now, mountain tomorrow.
Andy
Little Sutton to Sca Fell
(stats to come) 120miles ish
Click for link of Little Sutton to The Mersey
Started with a welcome full english from the hotel. We shoved a load of the buffet food into sanitary bags from our tolets and took them with us for food on the road.
We started solidly after I had woken up very stiff. The 1st 10 miles into Liverpool were a good warm up for the rest of the day. We managed to catch the ferry across the river by about a minute and proceeded to get stopped at every single traffic light through the city! Well annoying!
Ferry across the Mersea:
My knee felt good and so today was looking to be a good solid 120+ miles on the bike into the Lakes.
We rode well through Preston, Lancaster and eventually into the beginnings of the lake district. The flat roads were a welcome change from the ridicuhills (yes, thats a word!) of Wales. That is, until we hit the Lakes and the weather came in!
We went from wet and climbing gradually to soaking in the clouds after repetitive and exhausting 25% hill climbs. We had to take frequent breaks as we’d already cycled over 100 miles when we hit the big hills.
Unfortunately, because we were soaked, we couldn't take any photos. Such a shame because the scenery was amazing. Bleak and misty up in the clouds it was almost tropical, apart from being freezing cold. The steep, steep hills kept coming for 10 miles or so with the odd plateau but unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of the equally steep downhills because of the wet roads and the sharp corners. It was definitely tough after an already big day. We weren’t far from walking up some of these hills when Duff Man had this to say:
DUFF MAN NEVER QUITS
so we got on with it.
At one point Sonny slammed his brakes on mid hill convinced he’d seen some kind of Bodmin style beast. It was a sheep and we were losing it.
Eventually as it was getting dark, we made it to the canyonero. The campsite wasn’t far and was a much welcomed sight after such a hard day. Poppa Winston cooked up some chilli and we went to bed to prepare for climbing Sca Fell and cycling to Scotland.
The toughest day so far, and possibly of the whole trip was done. Certainly the toughest 10 miles we have done, and after already cycling 110 miles we are glad its over.
Bed now, mountain tomorrow.
Andy
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