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
Friday 30 July 2010
blogs n ting
Just a quick one to explain why the blogs have been short and sharp and have not explained a great deal.
We haven't had any wifi for days now bit as soon as we do, BLAM blog city.
Until then...
We haven't had any wifi for days now bit as soon as we do, BLAM blog city.
Until then...
Thursday 29 July 2010
Day 4 - Snowdon to Little Sutton. Hills and everything pain!
Day 4 was, Snowdon 2 hours up, 2 hour down, then 63.2 miles, 14.3 mph avg, 3283 ascent.
We were a little worried about climbing and riding.... but the actual act of riding after climbing is not that bad, the muscle groups are a bit different, as some learned people have told me ;-)
We got up, had breakfast, and drove from our campsite to the base of Snowdon. Phil, our driver/helper/gimp, was coming with us.
We set off, letting Dad look after the Van.
There is not much to say about the actual climb.... we went up a very well marked path, up, and then up some more. The view up to a point was good, but then we realised that all the rest would be cloud, and indeed it was :-(
On the way up we saw a woman with her 4-5 year old child, ON HER BACK, and she was climbing at a decent speed, good work that lady.
As mentioned, and as you can see from the pictures, there was no view to be had at the top, Pants.
There was, however, a shop, and we got some food and a coffee.... semmed silly not to really.
We also saw a group riding mountain bikes down..... I am very sure they took the train up.
The descent was equally uneventful. 2 hrs down and into the canyonero for some food.
We then set off on the ride to Liverpool, Gradient maps said there would be hills..... HOLY MOLY!
I planned this route telling MapMyRide to aviod highways and favor walking.... MISTAKE. We were taken on some pretty sketchy B roads, and had to go up some 20% inclines.
I was about to have a small "toilet incident" at the bottom of a particular hill, fortunatley there was some kind of museum there, and they let me use their "facilities". Reliefe has never felt so.... well you get the picture. (EDIT ANDY - I WISH I had a photo of Sonnys face. The oh so sudden realisation that something explosive was coming still makes me laugh out loud now!!)
We finally broke out of the mountains and headed towards Liverpool, via some massive A road, on which most of the drivers were none to keen to have to slow down for us on our bikes..... I can see their point, but we did not have anytime to make alternative routes etc.
This night, we decided to stay in a hotel, so we all had a slap up meal, and a nice big warm bed to sleep in.
However this Did not change the fact we would be riding to the Lake District..... eeeeK!
Sonny
Day 3 - Hereford to Snowdon. Hills and Knee Pain
No signal last night.119.8 miles, 7513 ascent, 13.8 mph avg,
Hereford to Penn-y-Pass (Snowdon)
This was the day we were most scared of. Cycling through the middle of Wales into Snowdonia was going to be hilly. The gradient map showed us individual climbs of over 1500ft!
The distance we covered yesterday really had taken its toll on my right knee, and then my left knee because I'd had to use the left leg more to compensate for the weakness in the right. I had called Richard Barnes, a friend and excellent Rugby based sports therapist for some advice last night and was hoping the stretches I'd done and the changes I was going to make to the bike would help.
I'd decided to change back to my old SPD pedal and shoe setup in the hope that my knee would prefer being in its old position, not that it had changed much but I had to try it. After 15 mins of Sonny trying to change my pedals while i massaged my legs with a rolling pin we decided it best to find a bike shop in Leominster who would do it for us. Phil Prothero turned out to be an awesome guy who really helped us out. He told us that Sonny had been turning the pedals the wrong way, which made us all really quite happy for some odd reason. He'd also injured his shoulder in the process. D'oh!
Phil changed my pedals free of charge, what an awesome guy.
It soon became clear that my knee was not just painful, but I was unable to put down enough power for us to make the progress we needed to to make our target destination. We made our way 50miles to Welshpool en route taking in a few hills at a painful 2mph. Rubbish!! I called Gem who tried to find someone to look at my knee for when we got to Welshpool. Hopefully someone could sort me right out!
Turned out they couldn't.
Here we are a few miles from welshpool crossing the border. Note how rubbish I feel :-)
After another phone call to Rich it became clear that there was no quick fix to the problem and it was bothering me that i was holding everything up deciding what to do. A difficult decision was made to send Sonny off on his own for the next 20 miles while I massaged the bits of my leg Rich told me to. For us to have any chance of making Snowdon by sunset, it had to be done. Not at all happy about it but it had to be done.
We decided to meet up again at the base of the big climb as we thought it important that we tackle the most difficult sections together. So 20 miles lost was not so bad, not what I had wanted but unfortunately neccessary.
We were both apprehensive about the climb as we'd looked at the gradient map for the last few months knowing it was steep, long and high. It didn't disappoint! We both really enjoyed it, it was an actual mountain like you see on le tour, awesome. Knee felt good and we were on our way again.
On the bike about half way up the climb:
Sonny near the top:
Me near the top:
Over the top of the climb, my favourite photo of all:
Snowdonia is gorgeous, stunning views and an amazing descent from whatever mountain it is we climbed. We had a few tiny B roads to tackle with some short sharp climbs but it was all good fun and a relief that after a good massaging, my knee felt better.
I had managed 35 miles after getting back on the bike which was more than I expected but on the last few small climbs the knee went again and i had to call it a day 15 before the end. Really not happy but it was getting dark. Sonny manned right up and went on alone along the mountian roads to the starting point for our Snowdon climb in the morning. Good work.
Sonny arrived at Pen-y-pass just before dusk which meant we saw an amazing sunset! Phil managed to get some cool pics - LOOK:
Hopefully with some nurturing my knee will hold up for the mountain climb tomorrow and the subsequent 60 mile cycle into Liverpool.
Andy
Tuesday 27 July 2010
Day 2 - Tiverton to Hereford
Tiverton to Hereford.
136.7 Miles, 08:47, 15.6 mph avg, 4991 total ascent.
After our longest day in the saddle ever myself and Walker were feeling decidedly sick on the trip from the campsite back to Tiverton bus station.
We started at around 08:00, and it took us little time to realise that Mr Walker had a problem with his knee.... however we took it easy and started to eat away at the mileage.
Looking at the gradient map we had decided that this day would be easy. This was a pretty stupid mistaka to maka.
We decided to stop after around 40 miles. Just before this point we came to Bridgenorth.... this place was, how can I put it... "basic", i.e. as a Town it had roads, pavement and people living there. That was it... oh and a shedload of factories and units etc.
Then we went on to have our first break at Burnham on Sea. This place was nice, nice in the way that everyone obviously knew eachother well, as it appeared they all had the same Mum/Sister/Uncle..... not the deepest gene pool I have ever encountered. We had a coffee, coke and icecream whilst looking over the bleakist view of the sea I have seen in a while.
We then had a few climbs, followed by 15 miles of boring flats.
The came Bristol. Bristol is after some Hills, some masssive sweat inducing hiils.
We got into town to find Dad and Phil outside Bristol Temple Meads station eyeing up the local talent, good work chaps ;-)
We then got some nice pitta type things, coffee and other assorted goodies (I cannot remember what they were).
Recharged, me and Walker headed off to Gloucester.
By this time Walkers knee was hurting him more...
At this point, we both got quite hungry, we then realised were realising that the route would not take us through Gloucster, we also noticed a KFC, WINNER.
We then had 15 miles of suprise hills, the suprise being that the gradient map averages stuff out, so really steep small hills, do not show up. We crusied into Hereford, ran a red light and got shouted at (Andy shouted back at them, a lot).
135 Miles, DONE.
The chosen campsite was a further 3 miles up the A49. It was a bit old but had power and free wifi.
We were both really tired, and Walkers knee was agony, he had to phone Richard Barnes sports therapist - going to stretch loads and change pedals back to SPD.
Day three, or as it has been titled; Infinite Hills in Wales, is tomorrow, Awesome.
Sonny
136.7 Miles, 08:47, 15.6 mph avg, 4991 total ascent.
After our longest day in the saddle ever myself and Walker were feeling decidedly sick on the trip from the campsite back to Tiverton bus station.
We started at around 08:00, and it took us little time to realise that Mr Walker had a problem with his knee.... however we took it easy and started to eat away at the mileage.
Looking at the gradient map we had decided that this day would be easy. This was a pretty stupid mistaka to maka.
We decided to stop after around 40 miles. Just before this point we came to Bridgenorth.... this place was, how can I put it... "basic", i.e. as a Town it had roads, pavement and people living there. That was it... oh and a shedload of factories and units etc.
Then we went on to have our first break at Burnham on Sea. This place was nice, nice in the way that everyone obviously knew eachother well, as it appeared they all had the same Mum/Sister/Uncle..... not the deepest gene pool I have ever encountered. We had a coffee, coke and icecream whilst looking over the bleakist view of the sea I have seen in a while.
We then had a few climbs, followed by 15 miles of boring flats.
The came Bristol. Bristol is after some Hills, some masssive sweat inducing hiils.
We got into town to find Dad and Phil outside Bristol Temple Meads station eyeing up the local talent, good work chaps ;-)
We then got some nice pitta type things, coffee and other assorted goodies (I cannot remember what they were).
Recharged, me and Walker headed off to Gloucester.
By this time Walkers knee was hurting him more...
At this point, we both got quite hungry, we then realised were realising that the route would not take us through Gloucster, we also noticed a KFC, WINNER.
We then had 15 miles of suprise hills, the suprise being that the gradient map averages stuff out, so really steep small hills, do not show up. We crusied into Hereford, ran a red light and got shouted at (Andy shouted back at them, a lot).
135 Miles, DONE.
The chosen campsite was a further 3 miles up the A49. It was a bit old but had power and free wifi.
We were both really tired, and Walkers knee was agony, he had to phone Richard Barnes sports therapist - going to stretch loads and change pedals back to SPD.
Day three, or as it has been titled; Infinite Hills in Wales, is tomorrow, Awesome.
Sonny
Day 1 - Lands End to Tiverton
Lands End to Tiverton
135.5miles 16.2Mph av. 8127ft climbed
Andy;
Up at 6am the aim was to leave by 8. We met up with Team Speed at Lands End and got away by 8:05. Both of us felt the fear for sure but were definitely glad to get started.
We knew Day 1 would be the worst in terms of terrain as the gradient map showed constant ups and down with almost no flat sections. It wasn’t lying.
We started well getting the first 30 miles done in pretty good time and so stopped in Redruth to formulate a plan to get the maps Sonny had left at home and get them posted out next day to Wales by my awesome Girlfriend. We cycled past Keith of Team Speed which we thought odd so went to find him. It transpired that he got separated from the others and didn’t have a phone so was essentially lost. Not good for Day 1!
I wasn’t long before we had to get onto the A30. A busy, undulating dual carriageway which meant constant climbing and no conversation. Usually I’d relish the chance to not have to talk to Sonny much but in this case it just got boring. I stuck JOR on my mp3 player and powered through to Bodmin.
On the descent into Bodmin, on a cycle path I might add, I hit a protruding slab of concrete at 25+mph and was pretty close to coming of my bike. I very nearly went to kick the mayor in the face after that as I had punctured BOTH wheels!! Rubbish.
We repaired my wheels, chowed down on pasties and left for the next leg on the A30.
Now, I didn’t really want to moan on this blog but I really have no choice if we are to report daily happenings properly. In retrospect, I’m sure we ate too much at lunch and set off too early after eating. As soon as we hit the first hill out of Bodmin I felt bad. I started getting stomach cramps which inhibited my breathing. It was like a stabbing pain in my belly which only got worse when I took anywhere near a full breath. The following 40 miles were the worst I’ve endured on a bike. I really considered my ability to carry on with the hills because I was unable to breath properly. It was, in a word, WAK.
There was no way I could stop on day 1, I would never forgive myself. As usual in such situations, I found myself fighting my mind as well as body. Various peoples faces kept appearing n my head and the voices of some of those people who had really helped us get this far. No way I could let them down. Oakhampton came eventually and we had a small rest with coffee and coke. That sorted us right out .
30 miles to go and we both felt good. The mental hills we came across in the remaining miles were both unexpected, and savage!. The rolling Devon countryside after 100 miles was punishing and made progress slow.
Eventually we reached Tiverton and were finished. Thank Jebus!!
I just wanted to mention a few other people quickly. Phil Retardis and Ang (sonnys dad) are doing an awesome job driving about and looking after us with food and extreme flatulence .(ANG!) Gem for sorting us out with the maps for the rest of the trip (and the other stuff!!) and Stevie B for going above and beyond with fund raising at his office. I think he’s managed around £140 so far – good lad!
Tomorrow looks more forgiving as we make our way to the Welsh border.
Sonny;
Well Andy have given everyone the lowdown and details. The ride started well, then the middle bit was horrible, then we felt better, then we discovered a new kind of hill on the final 30 miles. AWESOME.
The worst thing was being on the A30 for so long, it was a nice and direct route but the cars and lorries were fast, loud and un-ending.
The weather was mainly overcast, but warm so that was OK.
Today we have less hills, but the weather is described as “persistent rain”, which should be nice.
My Legs feel OK, and breakfast is done, so we are now about to drive to Tiverton and start where we stopped.
135.5miles 16.2Mph av. 8127ft climbed
Andy;
Up at 6am the aim was to leave by 8. We met up with Team Speed at Lands End and got away by 8:05. Both of us felt the fear for sure but were definitely glad to get started.
We knew Day 1 would be the worst in terms of terrain as the gradient map showed constant ups and down with almost no flat sections. It wasn’t lying.
We started well getting the first 30 miles done in pretty good time and so stopped in Redruth to formulate a plan to get the maps Sonny had left at home and get them posted out next day to Wales by my awesome Girlfriend. We cycled past Keith of Team Speed which we thought odd so went to find him. It transpired that he got separated from the others and didn’t have a phone so was essentially lost. Not good for Day 1!
I wasn’t long before we had to get onto the A30. A busy, undulating dual carriageway which meant constant climbing and no conversation. Usually I’d relish the chance to not have to talk to Sonny much but in this case it just got boring. I stuck JOR on my mp3 player and powered through to Bodmin.
On the descent into Bodmin, on a cycle path I might add, I hit a protruding slab of concrete at 25+mph and was pretty close to coming of my bike. I very nearly went to kick the mayor in the face after that as I had punctured BOTH wheels!! Rubbish.
We repaired my wheels, chowed down on pasties and left for the next leg on the A30.
Now, I didn’t really want to moan on this blog but I really have no choice if we are to report daily happenings properly. In retrospect, I’m sure we ate too much at lunch and set off too early after eating. As soon as we hit the first hill out of Bodmin I felt bad. I started getting stomach cramps which inhibited my breathing. It was like a stabbing pain in my belly which only got worse when I took anywhere near a full breath. The following 40 miles were the worst I’ve endured on a bike. I really considered my ability to carry on with the hills because I was unable to breath properly. It was, in a word, WAK.
There was no way I could stop on day 1, I would never forgive myself. As usual in such situations, I found myself fighting my mind as well as body. Various peoples faces kept appearing n my head and the voices of some of those people who had really helped us get this far. No way I could let them down. Oakhampton came eventually and we had a small rest with coffee and coke. That sorted us right out .
30 miles to go and we both felt good. The mental hills we came across in the remaining miles were both unexpected, and savage!. The rolling Devon countryside after 100 miles was punishing and made progress slow.
Eventually we reached Tiverton and were finished. Thank Jebus!!
I just wanted to mention a few other people quickly. Phil Retardis and Ang (sonnys dad) are doing an awesome job driving about and looking after us with food and extreme flatulence .(ANG!) Gem for sorting us out with the maps for the rest of the trip (and the other stuff!!) and Stevie B for going above and beyond with fund raising at his office. I think he’s managed around £140 so far – good lad!
Tomorrow looks more forgiving as we make our way to the Welsh border.
Sonny;
Well Andy have given everyone the lowdown and details. The ride started well, then the middle bit was horrible, then we felt better, then we discovered a new kind of hill on the final 30 miles. AWESOME.
The worst thing was being on the A30 for so long, it was a nice and direct route but the cars and lorries were fast, loud and un-ending.
The weather was mainly overcast, but warm so that was OK.
Today we have less hills, but the weather is described as “persistent rain”, which should be nice.
My Legs feel OK, and breakfast is done, so we are now about to drive to Tiverton and start where we stopped.
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