LEJOG - Stage 6

Weather watch has been a major part of this journey and waking up each morning with BBC weather woman Carol has become something of a familiar comfort. Today was not a great day with terrible conditions and the worst, sadly for us, was still yet to come.

Today's action would see us take the long journey from Penrith to East Kilbride. Splitting the ride in to mental segments we first needed to get through Carlisle and then roll in to our third country of the trip when we would enter Gretna and Scotland. We did this in reasonable time and managed to get under the "Scotland welcomes you" sign before noon.

Today was very stop start with having to stop a lot to put on and take off waterproofs to avoid a similar soaking to yesterday. We moved on from Gretna to Lockerbie which is a place that holds tragic memories for so many and will stick long in my memory. I was only 10 when I heard the news, just before Christmas time, that Pan Am Flight 103 had been destroyed by a terrorist bomb and all 243 passengers had been killed. Large sections of the aircraft killed 11 more people on the ground when it landed in Lockerbie. It was a very surreal feeling and emotion riding here.

As we entered Lockerbie we needed to eat as it was getting past lunch time. We stopped at the only real place available for miles. It was not the best at all. We stopped at the Lockerbie Lorry Park. We did what we needed to do and got out of there quick smart with our bellys full.

Onwards to the Annan Dale, which provided fantastic views of the Lother Hills before trying to navigate our way to East Kilbride in the dark without any GPS for either of us at the end of the day. Today's day was very hard and weather didn't favour us again. When we got to East Kilbride we were staying with Andy's auntie and uncle who made us feel very welcome indeed. A lovely homely dinner together around a table, a nice hot shower and a full wash of all our a gear. I felt like a king.

We both still have major concerns about tomorrow's stage and if we can even complete it as the winds from Hurricane Gonzalo are meant to be at 70mph, it is meant be very cold at 6oc and the rain is meant to be crippling. I am not sure I will sleep well tonight on that basis even after all that physical output of effort and energy today. I am really concerned.

Here are today's stats

Total ride time = 7hrs 53mins

Distance = 182kms

Calories burnt = 4017

Elevation = 1518m

East Kilbride to Fort William tomorrow (pending)

LEJOG - Stage 5

Not the best start to the day with no breakfast served at the hotel until 8 and that is when we needed to leave for the long journey to Penrith. All we could obtain at the time in the morning that feed needed a feed was a pre-made packed lunch. Given this was our only choice we went for it but it was mostly inappropriate food items for the time of day. We set off after digesting some flapjacks, ham and cheese sandwiches and a muffin.

It took a while once we set off to break in the soreness once again and find the right sitting / riding position. As we were just about to pick up one of our main roads that we would follow for the day at only 5 miles in Andy promoted himself to the top of table with a 2-1 after stacking it turning around at 3mph. As he gathered himself from the floor he was left in front of a big shiny mirror and hoarding opposite him that read - "future champion" oh the irony.

After passing Wigan and its overwhelming kebab stench in the city centre (this was early Sunday morning) we headed on towards Preston. I must say the scenery was pretty disappointing up to this point. Just as we were exiting Preston as fast as we entered I saw a large Evans cycles open and called time to stock up on tablets and recovery powders. The guys inside the shop seemed pretty decent people and we chatted a lot about our adventures to date, while one chap shared his experience of completing LEJOG last year.

As we left Evans cycles and Preston I had my first mechanical of the trip. Chain and derailer issues that took some time to inspect and then to rectify. We finally got everything back in to what seemed like full working order but once we got back on the road I could only use little cog. The heart dropping turn around from miles in the bag and trek back to Evans cycles had to happen. As Andy said the positive thing is that it has happened here and not the middle of nowhere, even though this meant a big delay to our schedule.

Back at the store I sheepishly rolled in my filthy Colnago for inspection by a man better than I. I caught the eye of the man I was previously speaking to about LEJOG in the hope he would take pity on me and help me as much as he would have wanted help on his trip. Ted didn't disappoint he was on it like shot. The bike was straight up on a stand and he had a few others over to take a more detailed inspection. He gave it a serious looking over made the magic happen and all was shiny and new. He actually sorted more than he should of for me by sorting the derailer, cleaning the chain from all the crap I collected over the last 5 days, lubing all parts all over, sorting my handle bars whilst giving me great advice on the setup of the bike and how to get the best put of it. Ted did LEJOG on a single speed in 10 days and camped on his journey. What a man! He also didn't charge me a bean.

On leaving Preston for a second time morale was low and riding became tough. We knew we lost time. The weather wasn't helping either and scenery around us was dreadful. We also probably lacked the food we needed to keep up any sort of tempo as well. We both put our heads down and pushed hard to get to Lancaster, which was 45 miles in, for our lunch. Not many options in Lancaster once we arrived for what we wanted so we ended up in a soup place called Soupanova! The food was ok but the highlight was the waitress who didn't seem happy in her job, friendly or knowledgable about anything. Poor Natalie. This was a sign in the shop....number 8 is my favourite.

After lunch the mood was a little better but a few wrong turns and Garmin using its own mind led to more frustrations and the mood being knocked back again. Once we finally found our bearings, after more lost time, we were eventually treated with more pleasurable views across the Fylde coast to Blackpool Tower and inland to the edge of the Pennines.

Prior to joining the A6 we traveled in a northerly direction towards Keswick and took in Kendall and a place I visited a few years ago in Beatrix Potter world, good times. However, this is when the weather really turned for the worst. It hadn't been great all day but we were in for a battering. Heavy rain, hail stones and high winds chucked everything they had at us. We were temporarily distracted by some nice climbing. Weird to say distracted but when you climb you have to get in your zone and mindset and nothing else matters...pain, weather or any other factors.

The best was yet to come though with the world famous Shap Climb from the steep side. This provided great views of the Lake District prior to our finish in to Penrith. The climb was great and I really enjoyed it but once at the top, waiting for the little guy yet again, I pulled up to wait and was hit by heavy hail stones and huge gales. Not the best place to stop on reflection as I was shivering down to my bones.

After the monster hill we tried our hardest to get home for the night as quick as possible by pedalling as fast as we could in the pouring rain only stopping for a quick snap on our arrival in Penrith.

Tonight we are staying at the Caledonian Guest House and immediately on arrival Ian, the owner, asked if we wanted our clothes washed and dried for the morning to which we bit his hands off. He was very hospitable and agreed to even cook our breakfast early so we can get away in good time. I know there is an inner cyclist in him by getting a quick peak at his bike in his shed. What a touch though.

Here are today's stats:-

Total ride time = 7hrs 47mins

Distance = 168kms

Calories burnt = 3253

Elevation = 1437m

Penrith to East Kilbride tomorrow

LEJOG - Stage 4

A pre ordered breakfast bap kicked off our day at 7am. Breakfast started at this hotel at 8 but some silver tongued action the night before saw me collecting a super sized all in one breakfast bap to go. This also saw my first black pudding of the trip...sheer delight and jubilation for me.

Today's ride from Ludlow to Haydock crossed the edge of the Stipperstones prior to entering the Shropshire and Cheshire Plains during the middle part of the day. Our stage today is the least amount of climbing of the whole ride. After an undulating start to the day it flattened out considerably before Knutsford. The approach to Haydock for the end of the stage was set in slightly more suburban surroundings as the route dissected the land between Manchester and Liverpool.

After 15 miles of climbing at the start of a gloomy day the only thing to note is my first fall of the trip. Standard Chris Lee fall happening in the stationary postion whilst stopping for a stretch and a gel. 1-1 now with Andy. Watch this space though to see the final result.

After blasting through the first 35 miles with the power we haven't seen all trip we decided we had earnt ourselves a decent coffee. We found it in Shrewsbury with the addition of a piece of cake, comfy chairs and some decent music on the terrace. After some good BATMAN chat over coffee (first time I have cried with laughter on this trip, actual tears - reference stage 1 blog) we were about to set off when we were hit with tune "it's time to go"....apt! A little bit of euphoric dancing, probably from all the sugar and caffine and we were back in the saddle.

Flat-ish = fast. We nailed 60 miles sharpish and decided to lunch in Nantwich at Harrisons Cafe Bar (Harris, Harris, Harris). Perched on the decking out the back of the place, trying not to offend locals with our smell, I fulfilled my week long craving of ordering a jacket potato. A garmin charge boost, black current and lemonade and a water refill on multiple bottles and we were back to work.

It was a very business like day and reminded me of a training session I would do in preparation for this epic challenge or a ride that I would do to try and complete a strava challenge.

Knutsford was a nice place to neR our finish we saw the local football club in action as we had got in early due to the good average and hard push all day. As it was the weekend we also saw the cycle community out in force and the varying level of bods in championship Lycra,  drop down crew and an old Doris on trike that AJ would struggle to beat in a sprint! Cav he is not....

The hotel tonight was the one on this whole trip that I was dreading the most as it was a chain. All our other places are either guest houses, B & B's, observatories etc however on check in it seems to be spot on and the local entertainment seems to be up to par!

Today was exceptionally great for the only reason we reached our place of rest in the 16 hundreds, meaning more time to rest for the next stage.

A bath with The Streets playing "Leave it out" sorted me for the night and left me in a good mood until I heard on the news that Hurricane Gonzalo is heading towards me on Stage 7 and Britain has been put on storm alert with dangerous driving conditions and flood risks. I guess I just have to man up, right?!

Today's Stats:-

Total ride time = 6hrs 20 mins

Distance = 165kms

Calories burnt = 3599

Elevation = 906m

Haydock to Penrith tomorrow.

LEJOG - Stage 3

A late breakfast and start today didn't give us the best chance of beating the darkness at the end of the day and we certainly didn't want to be left in the horrible situation of last night coming in to Bath in the pitch black.

The technology curse on this trip continued as my garmin would not upload today's route when we tried in June morning so it was left to Andy and his gps to guide us to Ludlow. After fiddling about a lot to try and find the start of gps course route from Bath we eventuall locked in our start point but were very aware we were well behind schedule. More worrying was that Andy then pulled up very early in to the ride with concerns about his already troublesome and regularly operated on knee. I certainly thought the worst at this stage.

However, we finally did get going and underway with some momentum until we climbed a big hill and right at the top we were immediately halted with a road block and a sign saying "pedestrians only". We negotiated an uncomfortable next 5 minutes on foot down some awful terrain to get around the problem.

The weather seemed good and on our side when we left Bath via the south west edge of the Cotswolds. We made good ground and pedalled hard towards the superb crossing of the Severn Bridge. As we crossed the sun was shinning and the views were spectacular. We stopped for photo on the bridge that was taken by an architect who was strolling the bridge to admire the structure.

After the bridge we rode on towards the beautiful Forest of Dean and Wales, stopping for the standard photo.

Riding into Wales we climbed, as you would being in this very hilly country, before an incredible long decent into Tintern Abbey which was an exceptional sight to behold. With the wind rushing pasty cheeks and beautiful landscape zooming by either side topped with an Abbey that was established in 1131 this was truly a breathtaking moment.

Gels, stretch stops and comfort breaks during the next 25 miles took us to lunch in Monmouth at the Punch Bowl. 45 minutes to refuel with a hearty soup and some good carbs (lesson learnt from previous days) gave us the boost we needed to get to the end of the day. 2 things of note though at the punch bowl. Firstly, I had a very interesting conversation with a elderly chap, whilst ordering our food, about LEJOG and i started telling him about our long trip which he related to some of his long hikes that he was passionate about. I then went on to say about the Russian lady that walked the length of the country and all the interest that it created at the time all those years ago and I knew her name was Dr Barbara but we both did not know her last name. We both went about our business after that until a few minutes later he jumped out on me and cries Moore...her name was Dr Barbara Moore (she passed away in 1977). The second thing of note was not as high brow as the previous. Whilst sitting outside eating our lunch and people watching Andy nudges me and says I know this bloke walking up the road and swore he was from Berko. The man looked a bit of a scruff and what I can only describe as an ailing Peter Stringfellow. As he walked off in to the distance we continued to debate the fact which I was contesting. 

There was a long steady climb up from the River Wye in Chepstow next up and this is when pain really started to hit home. Many things are about to blow me thinks. Legs heavy, feet strained, back pain from a big bag, thighs starting to burn and the all important bottom has almost been pierced. Big trouble is on the horizon.

On our next stint of spinning we "chewed the fat" a little on some quiet roads side by side and I was just finding out how much Andrew actually moans! Not just when riding......Our conversation then led back to his Berko mate from Monmouth and he then proceeded to tell me, astonishingly, that he wrote the popularly loved them tune from the children's TV show Rosie and JIm. I did tell Andrew I found it hard to believe that Peter Stringfellow wrote the them tune to Rosie and Jim!

At the top of the next hill we were provided with more entertainment, please bare in mind this is entertainment for people that had been sat down pedalling for 8 hours, when we entered the village of Phocle Green. Try saying it with a northern accent and not laughing. I won't even go on to tell about the village of "Here". 

On the last leg of this stage we finally entered Herefordshire on the more undulating run into Ludlow via Leominster where we would lay our heads for the evening. Our shared excitement about having a bath in the room was a little worrying but pain relief once bathed was immense. I booked us in a quirky little place called the Feathers Hotel, which is said to be haunted. The place has a lot of character and charm and I am only hopeful that Casper does not disturb me in the night as I am knackered.

Today's stats:-

Total ride time = 6hrs 31mins

Distance = 147kms

Calories burnt = 3695

Elevation = 1497m

Ludlow to Haydock tomorrow

LEJOG - Stage 2

A hearty breakfast served up by Mark at 6.50am (he told us to come at this time to avoid the resident builders who would mop up at 7) kicked of the day in fine form and I already felt like I was winning compared to yesterday's events. After breakfast we grabbed our now dry clothes from the airing cupboard where our hosts had allowed us to dry our saturated attire from yesterday's stage.

I forgot to mention in yesterday's update that we both had some major issues with technology. Andy's phone packed up and my garmin to record all my rides died. This lead to some sulking for most of yesterday evening. However, when we got back late last night Andy suggested putting the garmin on the radiator to which I replied in appropriate nature which I will not repeat on this PG13 blog. However, at my wits end and no other solution other than to run out first thing in the morning to buy a new one a first light I gave in...

....then BOOOOM! The garmin jingles started ringing out after about 5 mins of heat. My night was complete!

Under way on the road by 8 we set off for the Roman town of Bath not knowing really what was ahead. The day started again with rolling hills and some tasty climbs. The weather was reasonable though and made a real difference to the spinning. The climbs and miles passed quickly and with a full English as my fuel I felt good. We came to the village of Bickleigh and it was a beautifully quaint little place however two things to note happened here. Firstly, as we stopped for an energy gel I walked over to a picturesque river running through to gaze at it. At this time a doddery old couple in a car started reversing to allow another drive pass them on a very small road. Once they reversed though they caught the back tyre and you could hear the air being released. They pulled off quickly without me having the chance to let them know but AJ said "let's go quick" before we spend an hour fixing this. I wasn't sure this was the right thing to do but....hey-ho. The next extremely strange thing to happen was that Andy beat me to the top of massive hill that lead up to the castle in Bickleigh. I can only put his intense climbing down to the fact he really didn't want to fix the puncture on that car.

At the top of the castle we powered along more rolling hills and small sceneric roads that were filled with fog and mist that made for great photos and creative GoPro action.

Before we knew it we were approaching 50 miles and the hunger started to set in. From the 50 mile point we called next nice looking place for our tucker.it took 5 miles but we found a cracker of a place called the globe inn in Milverton. Eyes bigger than belly scenario took over again and we both ordered more food than we could manage. Once we were paid up the Nicole Kidman lookalike barmaid filled all 6 water bottles for us and we were ready to attack the second half of today's stage.

Straight back to hill action as if I thought it would be anything else! The only thing that was keeping me going was a hill I have wanted to tackle for a long time and my most eagerly anticipated section of the whole 9 days of LEJOG..........Cheddar Gorge.

It took a few stretch stops and energy gel stops to reach Cheddar Gorge. We finally came within range at 90 miles in to the ride. Not exactly how I had envisaged taking on a hill of my dreams after blasting 90 miles today and after finishing 108 yesterday but I was still up for this, even with 11kgs pounding on my back. I love Cheddar Gorge as a place and have fond memories of it from recent times and as a child so I think that is why I was looking forward to it so much. At the bottom of Cheddar Gorge Andy didn't feel great and needed a few minutes to pick up the energy levels and compose whilst I was chomping at the bit. Once we set off I got in to my spinning motion and enjoyed every single piece of road on the way to the top. Nice switchbacks, varying gradients, different road widths and grazing mountain goats made me all a little too excited. I reached the top of the 7k ascent (part of the 100 Greatest Climbs) in decent time considering all the factors and once there I had a huge adrenaline rush which helped for the last 20 miles home to Bath

We had a major problem once at the top. We were out of daylight! On a tough ride home with more hills we had to suffer darkness and didn't reach the hotel until 7.30pm. This tainted the day a little but lots of things to learn from this.

In summary it was a really long and tough day with far too many hills!

Here are the stats:-

Total ride time = 8hrs 28 mins

Distance = 185kms

Calories burnt = 4897

Elevation = 2384m

Bath to Ludlow tomorrow.

LEJOG - Stage 1

In bed before ten and the best nights sleep for a while set me up for the start of this monumental task ahead today of getting to the tip of Scotland from Cornish pasty central. Waking at 6am with howling winds, waves crashing against the rocks and rain rattling the windows didn't exactly make me want to whip on the Lycra.

With the hotel only starting breakfast at 8am and our rolling start time scheduled for 7.30 we needed fuel before we got going. We had been given a doggy bag that was left at reception to give us some form of nutrients for the big day ahead. However a muffin and yoghurt didn't really cut it.

Before leaving the hotel we both signed the all important end to end guest book at the Land End Hotel and in 9 days hopefully we will do the same in John o'goats. 

All kitted up, bikes at the ready and my 11kg bag stuffed and now firmly strapped tightly to my back we stepped outside the hotel and in to the dragons den with the elements out to finish us before we had started. Would you want it any other way though on a challenge like this!?

Our ride started immediately with tough hills, clothes soaking rain and driving winds that make your face burn. This didn't really let up for 5 hours. Food and nutrition will play a huge part on this challenge over the next 9 days and I learned my lesson early. With a small breakfast, a shared pack of two ginger nuts with Andy at 30 miles and no proper food until 50 miles I was really bonking (cycle term for feeling delirious from lack of food). More importantly I was out of water so hydration was also on the wane. We tried to find somewhere to eat for lunch but found this a real problem being in the middle of nowhere. When at my weakest a costcutter appeared from out of the blue giving the opportunity to recharge. A large bottle of water, a weird green antioxidant smoothie and a currie slice did not exactly mix well in my stomach or when I got back on my bike to start pedalling again. This will not be repeated. Andy had a chocolate boost! We agreed we need some proper food as soon as we could find somewhere selling hot food. We travelled another 20 miles without finding anything. Then the small town of Camelford crept up on us and if you didn't take your cleat out the pedal you would be out the other side before you knew it. This was now over 70 miles and 6 hours in and importantly no real food had been consumed by either of us and I was now starting to feel ill. There were two pubs in the town and Andy checked them both before making the call. So we sat out in the garden as the sun had just come out and we wanted to dry off. We took off all most wet stuff that we could dry and then went to see about food to be met with. We do t serve food! The long process of gearing up took place and the off to the other public house. The Darlington Arms. WOW! As we approached a girl on skateboard that looked "interesting" was heading up the hill. We dumped our bikes outside the boozer and asked the batman of they served food to which he was stumbling around for words and then in walked skater girl to which the batman grunted at her "can you cook".  He then offered us a chicken a mayo sandwich. So we took the offer and sat down in what can only be described as spit and sawdust place. Jeremy Kyle candidates frequented this place with a dirty dog also running riot in the kitchen and the main pub area. I couldn't wait for my food to come. Then I see the batman run out and 2 mins later he hot foots it back in with a fresh loaf of kingsmill. We left fairly sharpish. On exiting he said let say tenner. Paid up and off we popped.

With 40 miles left it was a tough finish to the day. Lots more hills, weather inconsistent and water running out fast. This was one of the toughest rides I have aver done and the worrying thing is that this is day1! We also arrived a lot later than anticipated at gone 6pm.

Arrival at the B&B was greeted with a hallelujah from but of us and that feeling of reaching the finish for the day was an amazing feeling. The guesthouse was excellent and Mark the owner made us feel incredibly welcome and really went the extra mile with a few things for us.

A pizza dinner in a restaurant we saw on the way in to Okehampton really hit the spot and the food was incredible but it would have had to try hard from the intake we had today.

Total ride time = 8hrs 6 mins

Distance = 174kms

Calories burnt = 4413

Elevation =1835m

Okehampton to Bath tomorrow for Stage 2

The calm before the storm - the prelude...

So........today it all starts...

An early rise was needed to rack my tiny mind to see if anything was missing from my incredibly heavy backpack that I would be carrying for the 9 day adventure ahead.

I shut the front door at 9am with that sense of relief of no turning back and that it was to late to do anything else. I rarely get that feeling but when I do I feel released and free. It like the feeling a lot.

A short pedal on my own to collect my partner in crime, Mr J, and then on to the station together to start our long travel day to Lands End. A laughable first mile for us both saw a lost bottle roadside and a near crash at the station. Only 999 miles to go!

An unbearable packed train to London standing in the aisle with bikes, cycle to Paddington, train and arrival at Penzance, taxi to the Lands End hotel and here we are 10 hours later!

The train journey from Paddington took over 5 hours and the woman sitting near us across the way that was earwiging finally gave in after Andrews chat

The weather was very diverse on the journey down but gazing out of the window was a real delight with a More beautiful English countryside to behold and enjoy.

Arrival at Lands End made things very "real" and the undulating and rolling hills on the way in gave us an insight in what we would start with tomorrow. The evening here though tonight was beautiful and sunset made for great pictures

I am sooo excited to hear that alarm tomorrow morning. Let's get this on!