As we start the final leg of our journey from Blackpool back to London we thought we would try to capture some of the highlights and one or two lowlights of the trip (more for our own memory bank but hopefully it may also provide a reasonable read).
As a very brief side note, yesterday's marathon drive south passed off well. We managed to load the support vehicle with the bike rack plus three bikes and completed the 470mile drive back to Thornton in around 9hrs. The enormity of the distance we have covered over the last 2 weeks started to hit home with every passing hour in the car. We were greeted with a finishing line tape as we crossed the threshold into station road and Mum was there along with some old family friends to finish the tour off with a very enjoyable evening.
Also, this wrap up couldn't pass without doffing our hats to the excellent support we received from Big Mike during the second week. His versatility and enterprise meant Big Mike's roadside tuck-shop/deli was always stocked with sweets and pasties, he could overcome any tyre blowout and we had the benefit of his wisdom with wines and whiskeys. We have included the top 3 Big Mike-isms in our summary below.
So to the summary. We are going to try to narrow down our two week marathon into the top three or four events under a number of categories:
Best cycling leg: Leg 8 (Thornton to Pooley) was impressive because of the beautiful scenery and the number of additional riders in the peloton; Leg 13 (Beauly to Altnaharra) due to the picturesque lochs, isolated pub at Crask and the single track A36; and Leg 5 (Bristol to Clun) due to our first border crossing over the Severn bridge, the idyllic meandering Wye valley and our first 90 plus day of cycling on tour.
Best stop (Dicky's parents was discounted as the touch of home comforts and a loving mother blew the commercial accommodation out of the water): Week Farm due to the warm welcome of Devon scones and clotted cream, great night in the White Hart and that John came and picked us up; Altnaharra Hotel as the quality food and array of whiskies was impressive; Clachaig Inn, Glencoe as we sampled our first truly Scottish dishes of Black Pudding, Haggis, Neeps n' Taties and Clottie dumplings and enjoyed the isolation of a log retreat; and Crawford Country House partially because we were saved from a rough night in Leadhills but mainly due to the luxury rooms, excellent breakfast and interesting night at the nearby truck stop.
Best pub: Riverside Inn, Clun as we were dead on our feet, had great cider and was located in a beautiful spot by a river; the Watermill at Ings as it was our last stop before the Kirkstone pass, where we devoured impressive lunches and were entertained by Paul with his hilarious sense of humour failure (see below); and the Crask Inn before Altanarra because of the remoteness of the pub and the imposing surroundings.
Richard Finn Best beers: Betty Stoggs from Cornwall, Butty Bach from Shropshire, the Lytham Blond from Lancashire (obviously) and Jennings Cocka Hoop from Cumbria.
Big Mike Top whiskies: Laphoaig, Bowmore and Balvenie (footnote, credit does go to Phil who also recommended the Balvenie as well as the farmyard Bruichladdich, which unsurprisingly does make the top three).
Best sense of humour failure: Ian when crossing the Cornwall/Devon border after our multiple laps of Launceston; Dicky, his fall at end of first day after struggling up Watergate Hill and then being laughed at by Ace; and Ace because his mudguards were rubbing prior to the Kirkstone pass. We should also mention the dual sense of humour failure by Ian and Dicky after being told by Ace there were an extra 10 miles of riding to do up to Beauly. It didn't make for a harmonious peleton for an hour or so.
However, on looking back at the tour as a whole, the three musketeers stayed pretty tight and we are all still on speaking terms as we draw up to Euston. Sorry for those of you who we expecting fisticuffs and handbags at dawn!
Best guest riders:
- Fergs is in under worst guest rider due to many misdemeanours, including him causing the only multiple pileup, falling off twice, breaking his chain and providing the dodgy pump that caused Dicky's blowout. Quite an impact for his 24hrs on tour.
- JB rode the most miles with the three of us, clocking just shy of 200 miles and using his family heritage to help us safely negotiate the tricky border crossing into Scotland. We did contemplate disqualifying JB due to the false promise of pancake flat plains and shimmering peat bogs of the far north.
- Stuart 'Grandad' Carter takes the last spot due to the positive impact he had on leg 8 to Pooley Bridge. He calmly and expertly took over all navigational duties to guide us through some of the most picturesque and flat parts of the lakes. He also floated up Kirkstone ahead of us despite being nearly 40 years our senior (20 on Ace...)
Best humorous names: Splatt, Cocks and Boghead. For whatever reason the south-west has definitely got the funniest place names of the regions we passed through!
Best detour: Ian taking us across a Bull field to close a one mile (or 2 inch on the map) gap in the road missed during his route planning, Dicky's quick thinking to navigate around a road closure on the way to the Severn Crossing and Ace using the Caledonian canal as a welcome off-road section to get us to Loch Ness.
Best regional food: Pasties the size of a small baby in Cornwall, Haggis (lots of it) throughout Scotland and Devon scones and clotted cream at Week Farm.
Best/worst water crossing: Padstow to rock ferry is how an estuary should be traversed, the fast lane of the Runcorn to Wigan bridge is not and the cycle lane over the Seven bridge was pretty spectacular.
Best river/canal: River Wye in Gloucestershire, River Never in Southerland, Northern Scotland and the Caledonian Canal leading to Loch Ness.
Best Loch/lake/reservoir: Ullswater lake, Loch Ness and Chew reservoir
Most challenging climb: Kirkstone Pass (and we didn't even take on the struggle), the double hill into Bristol at the end of a long day in the saddle and Cheddar Gorge. Notable mentions must also go to the unrequired climb up to Launceston castle post-lunch and the long pull up to Beauly when an extra 10 miles appeared late on in leg 12.
Best additional cycling gear: Ace's 'bento box', Dicky's knee warmers and Ian's Scottish Gillet.
Best comment: Dicky with his East Shieldhill is west of Shieldhill, Dicky mistaking the Lancaster canal for a stream (to the disgust of the locals), Ian prematurely celebrating 100 miles to go, and Ian stating as we neared our finishing point "it had better not be that dump".
Best Big Mike-isms : sustaining the worst injury of the tour when stubbing his toe in the night answering nature's call, being wrongly recognised in Hearthill as an old customer and his flashing headlights/horn beeping disgust at the proposed accommodation in Leadhills
Best/worst Animal: midges, Pinemartin and 'Sea Eagle' (we think) all spotted in Scotland.
Final stats:
Total Mileage 1,118 miles
Unaccounted miles by sector
- Sector 1 (Ian): + 19 miles
- Sector 2 (Dicky): + 18 miles
- Sector 3 (Ace): + 18 miles
Summary: we are all about as bad as each other!
Feet climbed: somewhere between 30 and 45k or twice the height of Everest (and it felt it at times).
Continuous days on the bike: 14 days
Time in the saddle: approx 85 hours
Peddle turns per cyclist: estimated at 500,000. Please see Ian for workings out (yes I know it could be way out!).
Guest members in the peleton: 19 - many thanks to everyone who rode out with us and supported us at various points along the road. It really did lift our spirits and ultimately helped get us to JOG.
Counties crossed: ~15
Borders crossed: 3, England to Wales, Wales to England, England to Scotland
Pubs visited: ~55
Pints drunk: ~70 pp
Drams sunk: ~15 pp
Beard/barnet update: Ian did have a 3 week head start but has turned into the ginger Father Christmas. Paul has developed a reasonable, if rather subtle, goatee-esk effort and Dicky's 'beard' remains rather shaggy and pathetic. On the barnet front we all bow at the knee of Andrew 'panzer helmet' Dickinson for his impressive public schoolboy take on the Afro.
Falls leader board:
1st: Paul with four
2nd: Fergs with two (in one day guesting)
3rd: Dicky with one
4th: Ian with zero
Bike maintenance summary:
Ace had the first puncture at Preston docks 450+ miles into the tour. Dicky had a spectacular blow out after 550 miles due to the 'dodgy pump' saga and Ian 'Armadillo' Deane rode a puncture free tour.
The only other 'major' incident was the consistent trouble Ace had with the common tourists nemesis, 'mudguard chaffing'. Fortunately he was talked out of the drastic removal action at the bottom of the Kirkstone Pass and managed to complete the tour with guards in tact.
Special thanks must also go to Becs, Miriam and Amy, our very understanding and supportive wives who have put up with lots of cycling talk, purchase of new kit and obviously leaving us to go off on our boys tour for two weeks. I am sure we will all pay our dues next summer!
So to the more serious side of our great adventure. We a pleased to report that we have already managed to raise a shed pile of cash for our respective charities. As we write this we estimate the total to be in excess of £4k with hopes that we each reach our individual target of £2k. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and a shameless plug to say it isn't to late if you still want to pledge!
As we sign off the tour and roll back into London, talk has naturally turned to the 'next one'. The half ironman seems to have already been put in the diary for next June. More ambitious talk has included the full Tour De France in 2012 and Side-to-side Australia at an unspecified date in the future. Perhaps LEJOG has merely wetted the appetite and it would be a shame to waste all the newly acquired Lycra. The main questions are whether our arses and marriages can take it!
We hope you have enjoyed our tour journal.
TTFN
Ian, Paul and Dicky.
LEJOG2011: Ian, Paul and I are cycling Lands End to John O'Groats and raising money for for the Ben Trend Foundation, see http://www.bentrendgetinvolved.com/
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Friday, 26 August 2011
Day 14 done: Altnaharra to John O'Groats
Before we start the monumental description of today's leg we first must return to yesterday evening. Our proclamation in yesterday's blog of Dad's perfect day in the support vehicle turned put to be somewhat premature.
The Altnaharra Hotel hap provided one of the best evening meals of the tour. Fabulous steak, snapper and pork had been washed down with Big Mike's carefully selected Malbec. We then retired to the lounge to sample a couple of the local single malts. Talk turned to the plan for the morning. I suddenly had a lucid moment. What did we do with the keys when we locked up the bike? I had been pretty careful with them on previous occasions but I had absolutely no recollection of what I had done with them. A comprehensive retracing of events rapidly homed in on the fact that Big Mike had been complicit in the locking up episode. The second kangaroo court of the tour pointed the finger at Mike for being the last in possession of he keys. He was quick to deny the charge. A check of his room and my worries began to mount. We then spent the next 30 mins searching the bike shed in the near pitch blackness to no avail. Key-gate was in full flow. Talk of whether Altnaharra have a fire brigade to cut through our locks took on a pretty serious tone. Finally we deducted that the only place they could be was back in the glove compartment of the car. Thankfully our last resort proved fruitful and Dad's only defence of amnesia was not particularly well received.
Ian's prediction of the procession to John O'Groats was living up to it's promise as, minus the pesky midges, we were faced with with rolling countryside and scenic lochs for the 20 mile ride to the northern coast. Various LeJog tourists seemed to converge as the alternative routes were disappearing by each passing mile.
20 miles in we were all dreaming of ticker tape parades and keys presented by the Mayor of John O'Groats. Then suddenly the wheels started to come off and the blasé approach of the group proved unfounded and exceptionally premature. Who would have thought that the north east coast of Scotland would be so unforgiving...
The village of Bettyhill passed in the blinking of a hypnotised Crocodile's eye and we realised the procession onto JoG was in fact a procession of mountains. Multiple climbs later and the intrepid explorers were gasping and banging on the door of the Starsky Inn 10 minutes before their opening time of 11:30. During our emergency regrouping over a pint of Orkney, the proprietor confidently stated that the next 8 miles would be tough, then the final 36 would be the cake walk we were aiming for. 12 miles of climbing later down his supposedly flatter, short-cut and we realised that we were already manually supping ales and whiskeys in JoG. Our next rendezvous with the support vehicle was scheduled for Thurso and never had 20 miles felt so far! By this stage we were feeling every bump and rivet in the road.
Rather than chastise ourselves, and like any group of men, our attentions turned to blaming others. Could the very same John Bigley (JB), who was our Samwise the brave from his three day stint as a tourist, prove to be our nemesis. If your are reading JB where are the rolling roads, the pancake flat plains and shimmering bogs that were promised?
A refuel at Thruso in the glorious sunshine and we were all set for the last 20 miles. One or two testing hills still lay in front of us but we were now back in full peleton formation and counting every mile down. Before we knew it we were down to single fingers of miles left to ride. The famous JOG signpost was imagined around every passing bend. Surely it is around the next one?! Eventually a cluster of odd looking buildings were spotted down toward the coast. Ian came out with a usual instantaneous remark, 'it better not be that dump'. Well of course it was and we reached Dad who was waiting for us at the signpost marking 1/4 mile to 'the end'.
Suddenly our sails were once again filled. Dad was sent ahead to capture the final action sot of the three musketeers riding in. We we all set and already practicing our poses for the signpost shot we had cycled over 1,000 miles to get. Everything was ready and we slowly drew three abreast for the key moment of the tour. Just as Dad was ready for the shot an old dear suddenly pulled out in her 1997 Ford Fiesta and the shot was missed. We were not too disappointed as we free-wheeled on the remaining 150yards to 'the end'. We rolled in at 4.35pm to be greeted by a cheer from the handful of LEJOGers who had already finished. Our joyful expressions soon turned to confusion as we could not spot the famous signpost. Our fellow LEJOGers filled in the gaps to explain that the signpost is removed each evening at 4.30pm. The only feasible explanation given was theft or vandalism. It hardly seemed possible. We had cycled over 1,000 miles for two key photos and came away with neither!
Fortunately a second, but less impressive, sign exists and we got our finishers piccies. Better news followed as Dad produced a bottle of bubbles from the support vehicle. The cork was popped and we enjoyed a very refreshing glass sat on quayside of John O'Groats harbour.
Now that the LeJoGers were over the line it wasn't the time to clock up further unnecessary miles. We were all ready for beers and whiskeys after being home and hosed. Besides, who could get lost in then anti-metropolis of JoG? The answer: Ace! A few trips up and down the main strip, with Ace protesting that these the clock should stop for the 'over count' sweep stake, and we finally rolled into what looked like a single story shack. Finally, the mileage clock was stopped for the last time. As the votes were counted, it seemed like Westminster isn't the only house that has a hung parliament. Deano is our very own Labour party, out of power and sat on 19 excess miles, whilst Ace and myself formed an unwelcome coalition, each clocking 18 excess miles for our sectors. Who would have thought that out of 1118 miles we would only miscalculate by 55 miles with a spread of 1 mile between the worse and best estimator. A good effort all round and an honourable draw.
Another welcome result was meeting Alastair, the proprietor of our digs for the evening. He greeted us with our second bottle of bubbly care of the Finns. We were now getting the taste for the good stuff! A quick shower and we wandered down the road for a good feed at the Seaview Hotel. Discussion over dinner naturally turned to the next challenge. A 70.2 half ironman has already been pencilled in the diary and more ambitious future tours have been muted. Negotiations at home may need to begin.......
We have decided to try to put together something of a round up blog during the 690mile journey back to London via Blackpool.
So to the stats of the day:
- mileage covered: 77
- total miles: 1,118
- unaccounted miles: 2
- nuclear power stations passed: 1 (Dunrea)
- birds of prey: 1 (maybe an eagle but unconfirmed)
- falls: zero
And most importantly, miles to go... 0!!!
Attention turns to the two big outstanding trophies of the tour, the Finn Beer trophy and the Dickinson Whiskey Cup.
The beers have remained steady if unspectacular. We have started to realise Scotland is a little lacking on the village pub front. We were a little unsettled when confronted with Boddingtons on tap in our lunch stop but have enjoyed the Orkney Ale served at the Seaview.
As for the Whiskeys, well we have had a flood of tastings over the last 24 hours. We will sumarise here to prevent boredom (and accusations of alcoholism). Ace has developed a taste for the Islay and has decided his firm favourite is the Laphoaig. Ian almost chocked when he tasted Phil Mawdsley's recommendation of Bruichladdich. The general consensus was that the noise smelt of silage and it tasted like something that was produced by an Angus heffer. Other favourites have been the Balvenie, Bowmore and Craggnmore.
Our final Scottish meal saw plenty of haggis and steak being washed down by one of Big Mike's recommended Malbecs.
The 400 mile road trip to Blackpool tomorrow could be a long day (for Dad). I think Paul, Ian and I will sleep very well in the knowledge that we will not be having to get on our trusty steeds and into the saddle!
TTFN
The Altnaharra Hotel hap provided one of the best evening meals of the tour. Fabulous steak, snapper and pork had been washed down with Big Mike's carefully selected Malbec. We then retired to the lounge to sample a couple of the local single malts. Talk turned to the plan for the morning. I suddenly had a lucid moment. What did we do with the keys when we locked up the bike? I had been pretty careful with them on previous occasions but I had absolutely no recollection of what I had done with them. A comprehensive retracing of events rapidly homed in on the fact that Big Mike had been complicit in the locking up episode. The second kangaroo court of the tour pointed the finger at Mike for being the last in possession of he keys. He was quick to deny the charge. A check of his room and my worries began to mount. We then spent the next 30 mins searching the bike shed in the near pitch blackness to no avail. Key-gate was in full flow. Talk of whether Altnaharra have a fire brigade to cut through our locks took on a pretty serious tone. Finally we deducted that the only place they could be was back in the glove compartment of the car. Thankfully our last resort proved fruitful and Dad's only defence of amnesia was not particularly well received.
Ian's prediction of the procession to John O'Groats was living up to it's promise as, minus the pesky midges, we were faced with with rolling countryside and scenic lochs for the 20 mile ride to the northern coast. Various LeJog tourists seemed to converge as the alternative routes were disappearing by each passing mile.
20 miles in we were all dreaming of ticker tape parades and keys presented by the Mayor of John O'Groats. Then suddenly the wheels started to come off and the blasé approach of the group proved unfounded and exceptionally premature. Who would have thought that the north east coast of Scotland would be so unforgiving...
The village of Bettyhill passed in the blinking of a hypnotised Crocodile's eye and we realised the procession onto JoG was in fact a procession of mountains. Multiple climbs later and the intrepid explorers were gasping and banging on the door of the Starsky Inn 10 minutes before their opening time of 11:30. During our emergency regrouping over a pint of Orkney, the proprietor confidently stated that the next 8 miles would be tough, then the final 36 would be the cake walk we were aiming for. 12 miles of climbing later down his supposedly flatter, short-cut and we realised that we were already manually supping ales and whiskeys in JoG. Our next rendezvous with the support vehicle was scheduled for Thurso and never had 20 miles felt so far! By this stage we were feeling every bump and rivet in the road.
Rather than chastise ourselves, and like any group of men, our attentions turned to blaming others. Could the very same John Bigley (JB), who was our Samwise the brave from his three day stint as a tourist, prove to be our nemesis. If your are reading JB where are the rolling roads, the pancake flat plains and shimmering bogs that were promised?
A refuel at Thruso in the glorious sunshine and we were all set for the last 20 miles. One or two testing hills still lay in front of us but we were now back in full peleton formation and counting every mile down. Before we knew it we were down to single fingers of miles left to ride. The famous JOG signpost was imagined around every passing bend. Surely it is around the next one?! Eventually a cluster of odd looking buildings were spotted down toward the coast. Ian came out with a usual instantaneous remark, 'it better not be that dump'. Well of course it was and we reached Dad who was waiting for us at the signpost marking 1/4 mile to 'the end'.
Suddenly our sails were once again filled. Dad was sent ahead to capture the final action sot of the three musketeers riding in. We we all set and already practicing our poses for the signpost shot we had cycled over 1,000 miles to get. Everything was ready and we slowly drew three abreast for the key moment of the tour. Just as Dad was ready for the shot an old dear suddenly pulled out in her 1997 Ford Fiesta and the shot was missed. We were not too disappointed as we free-wheeled on the remaining 150yards to 'the end'. We rolled in at 4.35pm to be greeted by a cheer from the handful of LEJOGers who had already finished. Our joyful expressions soon turned to confusion as we could not spot the famous signpost. Our fellow LEJOGers filled in the gaps to explain that the signpost is removed each evening at 4.30pm. The only feasible explanation given was theft or vandalism. It hardly seemed possible. We had cycled over 1,000 miles for two key photos and came away with neither!
Fortunately a second, but less impressive, sign exists and we got our finishers piccies. Better news followed as Dad produced a bottle of bubbles from the support vehicle. The cork was popped and we enjoyed a very refreshing glass sat on quayside of John O'Groats harbour.
Now that the LeJoGers were over the line it wasn't the time to clock up further unnecessary miles. We were all ready for beers and whiskeys after being home and hosed. Besides, who could get lost in then anti-metropolis of JoG? The answer: Ace! A few trips up and down the main strip, with Ace protesting that these the clock should stop for the 'over count' sweep stake, and we finally rolled into what looked like a single story shack. Finally, the mileage clock was stopped for the last time. As the votes were counted, it seemed like Westminster isn't the only house that has a hung parliament. Deano is our very own Labour party, out of power and sat on 19 excess miles, whilst Ace and myself formed an unwelcome coalition, each clocking 18 excess miles for our sectors. Who would have thought that out of 1118 miles we would only miscalculate by 55 miles with a spread of 1 mile between the worse and best estimator. A good effort all round and an honourable draw.
Another welcome result was meeting Alastair, the proprietor of our digs for the evening. He greeted us with our second bottle of bubbly care of the Finns. We were now getting the taste for the good stuff! A quick shower and we wandered down the road for a good feed at the Seaview Hotel. Discussion over dinner naturally turned to the next challenge. A 70.2 half ironman has already been pencilled in the diary and more ambitious future tours have been muted. Negotiations at home may need to begin.......
We have decided to try to put together something of a round up blog during the 690mile journey back to London via Blackpool.
So to the stats of the day:
- mileage covered: 77
- total miles: 1,118
- unaccounted miles: 2
- nuclear power stations passed: 1 (Dunrea)
- birds of prey: 1 (maybe an eagle but unconfirmed)
- falls: zero
And most importantly, miles to go... 0!!!
Attention turns to the two big outstanding trophies of the tour, the Finn Beer trophy and the Dickinson Whiskey Cup.
The beers have remained steady if unspectacular. We have started to realise Scotland is a little lacking on the village pub front. We were a little unsettled when confronted with Boddingtons on tap in our lunch stop but have enjoyed the Orkney Ale served at the Seaview.
As for the Whiskeys, well we have had a flood of tastings over the last 24 hours. We will sumarise here to prevent boredom (and accusations of alcoholism). Ace has developed a taste for the Islay and has decided his firm favourite is the Laphoaig. Ian almost chocked when he tasted Phil Mawdsley's recommendation of Bruichladdich. The general consensus was that the noise smelt of silage and it tasted like something that was produced by an Angus heffer. Other favourites have been the Balvenie, Bowmore and Craggnmore.
Our final Scottish meal saw plenty of haggis and steak being washed down by one of Big Mike's recommended Malbecs.
The 400 mile road trip to Blackpool tomorrow could be a long day (for Dad). I think Paul, Ian and I will sleep very well in the knowledge that we will not be having to get on our trusty steeds and into the saddle!
TTFN
Day 13 done: Beauly to Altnaharra
As we are drawing to the end of the tour the blogging duties have been passed back to me, Dicky, to hopefully see us home.
Over dinner last night, and after yesterday's 11 mile overrun, the apparently easy 65mile cruise into Altnaharra for leg 13 suddenly became the main topic of conversation. Had all Ace's calculations (or lack of them) been askew or was leg 12 a blip. Boys being boys, the forecast versus actual mileage conversation suddenly turned into a major competition. The trigger question was simple, who has led the most accurate sector of touring, where their forecast mileage most accurately matched the actual miles covered. Therefore a quick read back over the tour so far revealed some very interesting stats:
- Ian had managed to under estimate his 4 leg sector by 19 miles. This included a whopping 18 mile shortfall on leg 3, from Bridgestowe to Taunton. Ace and I were both left speechless how we had managed to let this type of wilful neglect go without ridicule.
- I had underestimated by a steady 3 or 4 miles per leg to come in at a total overrun of 18 miles for my 5 leg sector. A solid performance I put down to local knowledge.
- Ace (who must remember is the most competitive man on the planet) realised that his 11mile error from day had seriously set him back. After a lot of mileage remeasuring into the wee small hours, Paul emerged this morning to announce that he was confident of a fairly accurate day. In reality we rolled into the Altnaharra Hotel as we clicked through 70miles, resulting in Ace needing to be within a mile of the forecasted 75 left to John O'Groats. It is going to be close!
So to today's cycling. It was definitely the coldest morning of the tour so far as we prepared to roll out at about 8.30am. I was feeling rather smug about my ever increasing Lycra outfit as we slowly made our way through the mist filled valley. The cold start was quickly behind us as the sun burnt through the mist and we started the steady climb up to Stuies Hill. We met the support vehicle at the first designated stop of Dingwall. Big Mike was left to source supplies whilst the three musketeers cracked on up the hill. We were soon into open country and the blue sky against the heather mountains made for a pretty picture.
A major milestone we were looking forward to passing during our morning in the saddle was moving to less than 100 miles to go to 'the end'. Ian, our Maths Graduate and resident Carol Vorderman, was left to do the calcs and we were confidently told by Ian that when we clock up 30 miles we will be down into double fingers. As we passed the mark we all gave a mighty cheer and our spirits will filled ready for the last push. 10 minutes down the road and Ian confessed to a slight miscalculation. He had somehow managed to calculate 65 + 75 - 100 = 30. I might have to write to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham to report the declining teaching standards.
We made it to Stuies Hill lookout just before midday and were left in awe at the views down over the Dornoch Firth. A quick Scotch Pie (keeping up our high nutrition), a couple of photos for the album and we were on our way.
A quick stop at Lairgs for our sandwich and we set off up the A836 north. Paul's desire to stear clear of the major A-roads of Britain has been severely restricted as we got further north and the A836 was the only road into Altnaharra. Fortunately the A386 is not one of Britain's major A-roads. In fact it is a single track lane that runs through some of the most rugged countryside I have seen in the UK. All in all, we must have passed 15 cars, a postman, 2 vans and a timber truck in the 20mile ride to our hotel.
At our lunch stop, Paul had spotted a place called the Crask Inn that was 10 miles short of our destination. Could there really be a public house this far into the wilderness? Our hopes were fading as we hadn't passed a house, never mind a pub, in the first 10miles of the A836. As we drew around a corner our spirits raised as we spotted a white house in the distance. We quickly spotted the support vehicle parked up by the side. Surely not!? Our prayers were realised, and not only that but, Dad, in the advanced party, had already lined up the beers. We then enjoyed a quiet, refreshing pint in what must be one of the most remote Pubs in the country. The only issue was that the midges were out in force!
We then had an easy 10 mile cruise into Altnaharra and our day on the bike was done! Due to the weather, the terraine and the general cycling, this was one of the best legs of the trip so far.
Special mention must go to Dad in the support vehicle for a near (well actually completely) faultless performance today. The food run was spot on and Mike's tuck-shop has now turned into Mike's deli. The pastries and cakes went down a treat, there were no injuries to report and his forward advances tonthe pub and hotel perfectly executed. It seems he has got his A-game together as we reach the end. This was perfectly illustrated when we got to ordering wine with dinner. I asked for the wine list but it quickly emerged that Dad had already done his research and suggested the Malbec would go perfectly with the steak. Perhaps supporting future expeditions could be a nice little earner for the retirement years?!
I must also report the budding bromance that has been developing between Ace and Deano. It has been simmering for most of the trip but has really started to blossom since Dad joined the tour and they have been thrown into room sharing. Since then the colour of each others facial hair has been rapidly converging, tyre kissing on the road has become a reglar event and double night-caps chit-chatting into the wee hours has become the norm. They have also made a formidable sports team taking the Dickinson team down at pool and ping-pong over the last 24hours. As a final straw, I am sure I caught them pushing their twin beds closer together when we reached the hotel last night. Talk tonight of sharing a single bed and spooning has just taken it all a bit too far! I think it is time to get these boys back to their wives!?
Stats for today:
- miles covered today: 70
- Unaccounted mileage cycled in the day: 5
- miles covered in total: 964
- miles remaining: 75 (even though Ace needs to remeasure)
- injuries received: 1 (Ace managed to get a nettle sting where no man wants one)
- single track A-roads ridden: 1
- falls: zero
The Big Mike Scotch Cup was once again well tested in Beauly. The local Singleton malt was well received if not spectacular. The Balvenie Doublewood was the best received of the evening and has emerged as a strong contender for the cup. Other malts sampled included the Highland Park and the Lagavolin, both of which were part of the bromance night cap but neither hit the high spots of the Balvenie.
The beers consumption has remained steady if unspectacular. The Belhaven Best hs been slipping down well but we have decided it is not a patch on some of the English drops we have consumed on the trip.
Food has remained focused on haggis and steak - this is a boys trip after all!!! We did also include the Cullen Skink to keep it Scottish!
Tomorrow sees us embarking on the final push to 'the end'. Ian is convinced it is merely the 'precesion' to the Champs Élysées to receive our podium finishes. We are also looking forward to the shimmering peat bogs JB (John Bigley) promised us. I reserve my judgement until tomorrow.
TTFN
Over dinner last night, and after yesterday's 11 mile overrun, the apparently easy 65mile cruise into Altnaharra for leg 13 suddenly became the main topic of conversation. Had all Ace's calculations (or lack of them) been askew or was leg 12 a blip. Boys being boys, the forecast versus actual mileage conversation suddenly turned into a major competition. The trigger question was simple, who has led the most accurate sector of touring, where their forecast mileage most accurately matched the actual miles covered. Therefore a quick read back over the tour so far revealed some very interesting stats:
- Ian had managed to under estimate his 4 leg sector by 19 miles. This included a whopping 18 mile shortfall on leg 3, from Bridgestowe to Taunton. Ace and I were both left speechless how we had managed to let this type of wilful neglect go without ridicule.
- I had underestimated by a steady 3 or 4 miles per leg to come in at a total overrun of 18 miles for my 5 leg sector. A solid performance I put down to local knowledge.
- Ace (who must remember is the most competitive man on the planet) realised that his 11mile error from day had seriously set him back. After a lot of mileage remeasuring into the wee small hours, Paul emerged this morning to announce that he was confident of a fairly accurate day. In reality we rolled into the Altnaharra Hotel as we clicked through 70miles, resulting in Ace needing to be within a mile of the forecasted 75 left to John O'Groats. It is going to be close!
So to today's cycling. It was definitely the coldest morning of the tour so far as we prepared to roll out at about 8.30am. I was feeling rather smug about my ever increasing Lycra outfit as we slowly made our way through the mist filled valley. The cold start was quickly behind us as the sun burnt through the mist and we started the steady climb up to Stuies Hill. We met the support vehicle at the first designated stop of Dingwall. Big Mike was left to source supplies whilst the three musketeers cracked on up the hill. We were soon into open country and the blue sky against the heather mountains made for a pretty picture.
A major milestone we were looking forward to passing during our morning in the saddle was moving to less than 100 miles to go to 'the end'. Ian, our Maths Graduate and resident Carol Vorderman, was left to do the calcs and we were confidently told by Ian that when we clock up 30 miles we will be down into double fingers. As we passed the mark we all gave a mighty cheer and our spirits will filled ready for the last push. 10 minutes down the road and Ian confessed to a slight miscalculation. He had somehow managed to calculate 65 + 75 - 100 = 30. I might have to write to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham to report the declining teaching standards.
We made it to Stuies Hill lookout just before midday and were left in awe at the views down over the Dornoch Firth. A quick Scotch Pie (keeping up our high nutrition), a couple of photos for the album and we were on our way.
A quick stop at Lairgs for our sandwich and we set off up the A836 north. Paul's desire to stear clear of the major A-roads of Britain has been severely restricted as we got further north and the A836 was the only road into Altnaharra. Fortunately the A386 is not one of Britain's major A-roads. In fact it is a single track lane that runs through some of the most rugged countryside I have seen in the UK. All in all, we must have passed 15 cars, a postman, 2 vans and a timber truck in the 20mile ride to our hotel.
At our lunch stop, Paul had spotted a place called the Crask Inn that was 10 miles short of our destination. Could there really be a public house this far into the wilderness? Our hopes were fading as we hadn't passed a house, never mind a pub, in the first 10miles of the A836. As we drew around a corner our spirits raised as we spotted a white house in the distance. We quickly spotted the support vehicle parked up by the side. Surely not!? Our prayers were realised, and not only that but, Dad, in the advanced party, had already lined up the beers. We then enjoyed a quiet, refreshing pint in what must be one of the most remote Pubs in the country. The only issue was that the midges were out in force!
We then had an easy 10 mile cruise into Altnaharra and our day on the bike was done! Due to the weather, the terraine and the general cycling, this was one of the best legs of the trip so far.
Special mention must go to Dad in the support vehicle for a near (well actually completely) faultless performance today. The food run was spot on and Mike's tuck-shop has now turned into Mike's deli. The pastries and cakes went down a treat, there were no injuries to report and his forward advances tonthe pub and hotel perfectly executed. It seems he has got his A-game together as we reach the end. This was perfectly illustrated when we got to ordering wine with dinner. I asked for the wine list but it quickly emerged that Dad had already done his research and suggested the Malbec would go perfectly with the steak. Perhaps supporting future expeditions could be a nice little earner for the retirement years?!
I must also report the budding bromance that has been developing between Ace and Deano. It has been simmering for most of the trip but has really started to blossom since Dad joined the tour and they have been thrown into room sharing. Since then the colour of each others facial hair has been rapidly converging, tyre kissing on the road has become a reglar event and double night-caps chit-chatting into the wee hours has become the norm. They have also made a formidable sports team taking the Dickinson team down at pool and ping-pong over the last 24hours. As a final straw, I am sure I caught them pushing their twin beds closer together when we reached the hotel last night. Talk tonight of sharing a single bed and spooning has just taken it all a bit too far! I think it is time to get these boys back to their wives!?
Stats for today:
- miles covered today: 70
- Unaccounted mileage cycled in the day: 5
- miles covered in total: 964
- miles remaining: 75 (even though Ace needs to remeasure)
- injuries received: 1 (Ace managed to get a nettle sting where no man wants one)
- single track A-roads ridden: 1
- falls: zero
The Big Mike Scotch Cup was once again well tested in Beauly. The local Singleton malt was well received if not spectacular. The Balvenie Doublewood was the best received of the evening and has emerged as a strong contender for the cup. Other malts sampled included the Highland Park and the Lagavolin, both of which were part of the bromance night cap but neither hit the high spots of the Balvenie.
The beers consumption has remained steady if unspectacular. The Belhaven Best hs been slipping down well but we have decided it is not a patch on some of the English drops we have consumed on the trip.
Food has remained focused on haggis and steak - this is a boys trip after all!!! We did also include the Cullen Skink to keep it Scottish!
Tomorrow sees us embarking on the final push to 'the end'. Ian is convinced it is merely the 'precesion' to the Champs Élysées to receive our podium finishes. We are also looking forward to the shimmering peat bogs JB (John Bigley) promised us. I reserve my judgement until tomorrow.
TTFN
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Day 12 done: Glencoe to Beauly
Today was another successful day in the life of a touring cyclist; albeit that we had a slight recalculation, that I will come to later. We passed our last two milestones before the big one and we now 'believe' we are less than 200 miles from John O'Groats (even though the exact miles remaining has come into debate somewhat).
Before proceeding with today's events an appendix to yesterday's is required. To celebrate Dicky's promotion we commenced the Big Mike Scotch Trophy by consuming a couple of the local scotches; Ben Nevis and Oban. Both scored rather highly but the Ben Nevis seemed to get slightly better reviews.
Through google we also settled Ace's and my bet from Stirling and proved that my knowledge of scotches is rather limited. Based on the evidence that scotch is named, obviously in hindsight, by being Scottish rather than my tenuous scorched barrel theory, I settled the bet. Still a least the 18 year old Bowmore scotch that I had to buy for all seemed to suppress the bitter taste of defeat.
So, bringing the scotch ranking up to date we are currently ranking the Bowmore as number one followed by Craggamore, Ben Nevis and Oban respectively. I am sure further updates will follow...
Interestingly, the scotch seems to be having an adverse effect on Ace and myself. After last nights nightcap(s) we spent about 15-20 minutes looking for a lost 20p piece under a bench. We are hoping that the Scottishness will wear off as we head south from John O'Groats in a few days...
Today begun, with a heartier breakfast for all concerned. Knowing that we had a long day ahead we all seemed keen to learn from my mistake by not going light. The table was also reeling from the revaluation that the tour almost came to a premature end through a debilitating injury. Big Mike's toe was the main topic of conversation as he stubbed it on the bathroom door whilst answering the call of nature in the night. The sentiment of trying to avoid waking Dicky, by keeping the light off, was wasted as the blue language post-stubbing was more disruptive than any piercing light.
After breakfast we set off, impressed by Dicky's latest addition to his outfit. By wearing longer socks there is now only about 1% of Dicky's skin subjected to the elements. We all agreed that Dicky's Lycraman outfit would of been perfect during the recent riots as a vigilante costume. Rumours abound that the 1% of exposed skin could still be reduced further if a balaclava can be sourced prior to John O'Groats.
A few miles of hugging some scenic lochs saw us arrive at Fort William for our first catch up with Big Mike. Fort William is a quaint village blessed with being based by a loch and at the base of Ben Nevis. After commenting all tour how versatile his camera was, Ace was met with a situation that even his camera could not cope with. It seemed that none of the 'Children and Pets', 'Fish Eye', 'Colour Swap' or 'Magnify' modes were adequate for the 'Mountains and Supermarket' view he was faced with, as our first glimpse of Ben Nevis also included the local Morrisons in the camera frame. Along with the manufacturers of his water bottle holder and Evans (for wrongly fitting his mudguards) it seems Cannon will be getting a stern letter for not covering all eventualities...
The rest of the morning was spent meandering through the Caledonian countryside passing countless waterfalls, lochs etc before arriving at the unimaginatively named Loch Lochy for lunch. Quick Butty and sugary tea later we began to home in on Loch Ness and Ace's big revaluation. To continue Dicky's geography master class we were all astounded that Loch Ness holds as much water as all the lakes in England and Wales combined. We were also delighted with the detour along the Caledonian Canal tow path, primarily because it's flat.
Comforted by only having 15 miles remaining we settled down for a cheeky half when we arrived at Loch Ness. It was at this point Ace's estimation of the day's mileage seemed to differ from what was recorded on our planning sheet. It was when he admitted that he never measured the mileage and that it could be anything up to an extra 10-15 miles that our mood changed. The extra miles might also account for the frayed humours over the next 10 miles when the peloton stretched and we weren't quite the slick 'professional' racing team of previous days.
Luckily a sign a few miles away confirmed that our extension was restricted to 10 miles and we begun to zone in on Beauly. After leaving Loch Ness, disappointed that Nessy hadn't popped up to cheer us on, we began a severe climb that must rank in our worse ten climbs of the tour and arrived at our hotel with 86 miles on the clock.
As it is my last blog of tour it would be amiss of me not to mention our last transformation, which along with the beards and ferrel barnets that might persuade our better halves to have the front door locks changed before we return; the farmers tan. As we are eating a lot of sweets to keep our calories up I think we should use sweet shop classics to provide an analogy. My tan is looking very much like a humbug (very black vs white), Dicky's is looking like a rhubarb and custard (red vs yellow) while Ace's is looking like the fried egg penny sweet (pasty yellow vs pasty white).
Tomorrow we head to Altanarra but not before we will all be sitting behind Ace's shoulder as he rechecks his estimates for the last two stages. As found today, we may again experience issues posting the blog due to reception as we get further north. Please bare with us. We will post as soon as we hit a hot spot!
Stats:
- Mileage: 86
- Total mileage: 894
- Miles remaining (hopefully): 140
- Unaccounted mileage cycled in the day: 10miles
- Beers consumed en route: 2 halves per cyclist
- Monsters spotted: zero
- Falls: zero
Before proceeding with today's events an appendix to yesterday's is required. To celebrate Dicky's promotion we commenced the Big Mike Scotch Trophy by consuming a couple of the local scotches; Ben Nevis and Oban. Both scored rather highly but the Ben Nevis seemed to get slightly better reviews.
Through google we also settled Ace's and my bet from Stirling and proved that my knowledge of scotches is rather limited. Based on the evidence that scotch is named, obviously in hindsight, by being Scottish rather than my tenuous scorched barrel theory, I settled the bet. Still a least the 18 year old Bowmore scotch that I had to buy for all seemed to suppress the bitter taste of defeat.
So, bringing the scotch ranking up to date we are currently ranking the Bowmore as number one followed by Craggamore, Ben Nevis and Oban respectively. I am sure further updates will follow...
Interestingly, the scotch seems to be having an adverse effect on Ace and myself. After last nights nightcap(s) we spent about 15-20 minutes looking for a lost 20p piece under a bench. We are hoping that the Scottishness will wear off as we head south from John O'Groats in a few days...
Today begun, with a heartier breakfast for all concerned. Knowing that we had a long day ahead we all seemed keen to learn from my mistake by not going light. The table was also reeling from the revaluation that the tour almost came to a premature end through a debilitating injury. Big Mike's toe was the main topic of conversation as he stubbed it on the bathroom door whilst answering the call of nature in the night. The sentiment of trying to avoid waking Dicky, by keeping the light off, was wasted as the blue language post-stubbing was more disruptive than any piercing light.
After breakfast we set off, impressed by Dicky's latest addition to his outfit. By wearing longer socks there is now only about 1% of Dicky's skin subjected to the elements. We all agreed that Dicky's Lycraman outfit would of been perfect during the recent riots as a vigilante costume. Rumours abound that the 1% of exposed skin could still be reduced further if a balaclava can be sourced prior to John O'Groats.
A few miles of hugging some scenic lochs saw us arrive at Fort William for our first catch up with Big Mike. Fort William is a quaint village blessed with being based by a loch and at the base of Ben Nevis. After commenting all tour how versatile his camera was, Ace was met with a situation that even his camera could not cope with. It seemed that none of the 'Children and Pets', 'Fish Eye', 'Colour Swap' or 'Magnify' modes were adequate for the 'Mountains and Supermarket' view he was faced with, as our first glimpse of Ben Nevis also included the local Morrisons in the camera frame. Along with the manufacturers of his water bottle holder and Evans (for wrongly fitting his mudguards) it seems Cannon will be getting a stern letter for not covering all eventualities...
The rest of the morning was spent meandering through the Caledonian countryside passing countless waterfalls, lochs etc before arriving at the unimaginatively named Loch Lochy for lunch. Quick Butty and sugary tea later we began to home in on Loch Ness and Ace's big revaluation. To continue Dicky's geography master class we were all astounded that Loch Ness holds as much water as all the lakes in England and Wales combined. We were also delighted with the detour along the Caledonian Canal tow path, primarily because it's flat.
Comforted by only having 15 miles remaining we settled down for a cheeky half when we arrived at Loch Ness. It was at this point Ace's estimation of the day's mileage seemed to differ from what was recorded on our planning sheet. It was when he admitted that he never measured the mileage and that it could be anything up to an extra 10-15 miles that our mood changed. The extra miles might also account for the frayed humours over the next 10 miles when the peloton stretched and we weren't quite the slick 'professional' racing team of previous days.
Luckily a sign a few miles away confirmed that our extension was restricted to 10 miles and we begun to zone in on Beauly. After leaving Loch Ness, disappointed that Nessy hadn't popped up to cheer us on, we began a severe climb that must rank in our worse ten climbs of the tour and arrived at our hotel with 86 miles on the clock.
As it is my last blog of tour it would be amiss of me not to mention our last transformation, which along with the beards and ferrel barnets that might persuade our better halves to have the front door locks changed before we return; the farmers tan. As we are eating a lot of sweets to keep our calories up I think we should use sweet shop classics to provide an analogy. My tan is looking very much like a humbug (very black vs white), Dicky's is looking like a rhubarb and custard (red vs yellow) while Ace's is looking like the fried egg penny sweet (pasty yellow vs pasty white).
Tomorrow we head to Altanarra but not before we will all be sitting behind Ace's shoulder as he rechecks his estimates for the last two stages. As found today, we may again experience issues posting the blog due to reception as we get further north. Please bare with us. We will post as soon as we hit a hot spot!
Stats:
- Mileage: 86
- Total mileage: 894
- Miles remaining (hopefully): 140
- Unaccounted mileage cycled in the day: 10miles
- Beers consumed en route: 2 halves per cyclist
- Monsters spotted: zero
- Falls: zero
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Day 11 done: Stirling to Glencoe
After yesterdays relatively short cycle we knew that we had a tough days cycling ahead of us. When the shop assistant at the Stirling cycle shop said "expect a few hills" you know he's not kidding. After a quick breakfast we were on the road at 8 am passing by Stirling Castle and King's Knott on the way out of the city. Both Dicky and myself were hoping that the blog would write itself this evening if Ace's optimism backfired. He mentioned that today would be an easy one to navigate and confidently packed the maps away saying he would not need to refer to them again today!
We were all eager to test ride our new cold weather kit purchased in Stirling. Dicky's new Fame-esque knee and arm warmers have resulted in him looking more camp than Mr Motivator from GMTV. I was looking forward to the extra protection the cycling waistcoat will provide on the steep declines; albeit concerned that my Scottish themed design might get me in trouble when cycling back in London.
The morning's climbs were a series of long pulls (for all your cycling buffs) that, whilst not lung busting, were testing some tired legs and keeping the speed a lot less than on previous days. I was regretting my decision of a light breakfast and definitely found this the toughest morning. Apart from the spectacular scenes you could tell that we might be getting a bit bored of the whole cycling thing.
Our main interlude that broke up the morning was meeting Mark Osborne whilst on the road. He quickly put our challenge into perspective. Mark had just returned from Turkey after getting shunted by a car 3000 miles into his round the world cycle attempt (you can follow Mark's adventure on http://mskworldcyclingtour.co.uk/). Only 7 weeks after breaking his fibia he is back on his bike and road testing his leg before starting again. The comedy sight of him using one of his water bottle holders to store his two pints of milk was something to behold, as was the amount of gear he had on his pannier racks for camping wild in the forests.
After our frequent but short refuel stops during the morning, including the 11am one where we interrupted Mike's power nap, we begun to climb through the mountain ranges that were looming on the horizon all morning. Quite simply, it was the most picturesque day of cycling that any of us have done to date. We passed a succession of streams, lochs, waterfalls and bogs that even my bad joke about lochs being quite similar to lakes couldn't spoil. The only concerning point was the dark clouds forming in the direction we were cycling and the fact that visibility was beginning to shorten.
Embarrassed by his 'East is West' debacle yesterday, Dicky treated us all to a master class on geographical terms throughout the afternoon. U-shaped valleys, terminal morraines and interlocking spurs were all reportedly spotted on our route. Both Ace and myself are hoping that we score top marks in our homework tonight.
Similarly, both Ace and Dicky stepped up their campaigns to replace me as the Poet Laureate of the tour. Dicky's limerick "20 more miles of sorrow, 20 more miles on this old bike, I hope I get there tomorrow" was something to behold. You could also hear Burns turning in his grave over some of Ace's attempts. His most memorable being "you have to remember the site, sound and smell of this view" when riding along a particularly stunning Loch. That being said it is a shame that Valentine's day is still six months away as our better half could have been reading some impressive stanzas in the cards if it was soon...
With the clouds overhead we were treated to our first taste of Highlands weather as the heavens opened and continued for the remainder of our journey into Glencoe. Our final long pull of the day was ended by the welcome sight of a roadside cafe selling hot milky tea and Bike Mike's tuck shop open for business. The views and the calories were slightly tarnished by the coach load of Germans and a lone bagpiper. Although I seemed to be in the minority about my dislike of the bagpipes we all agreed about the coach load of German tourists.
After 60 miles of climbing we were treated by 20 miles of flats and descents into Glencoe, which must rank as one of the most beautiful yet intimidating retreats. The village is located within a recess of two crossing ranges such that we have views of mountain tops and waterfalls from our rooms. It also seems to indicate that we might have a bit of a climb first thing tomorrow as well.
When we arrived at the accommodation we were all pleased to be faced with a log cabin resort that must thrive during the skiing season. Both Dicky and I were a bit glum faced that Ace's optimism regarding the navigation was realised. Boys being boys we resisted providing Ace with any credit and used the fact that there were only three roads to turn it on it's head.
On retiring to the rooms to complete our post-game routines, Big Mike was caught having a lie down before the evening to recover from his tiring day at the wheel. His defence that the early start, tescos shop and the fresh air had hit him hard was met by deaf ears from the Defence's bench.
Once again Mrs Richards has done an excellent job with the choice of digs and we are eager to see what she can pull out of the bag in the one hotel villages of Beauly and Altnaharra. Will she be able to follow Annika Rice's example in building some new accommodation before we arrive?
We managed a bar crawl in the evening as they have two, I repeat two, bars. This fact made some of the one pub hamlets we have been staying at seem non-existent. We have also consumed our first portions of Haggis so all is good with the world. Ace might regret rooming with me after my Stornoway Black Pudding for starter and Haggis, Neeps 'n' Tatties for main. It might be a blustery night in Glencoe...
Tomorrow we head to Beauly. The receptionist warned "there's a lot of big hills that way" once you get north of Inverness so we all know what to expect...
Stats
Mile: 79
Miles total: 808
Miles to go: 215
Counties crossed: 2 including crossing into the Highlands indicating another major milestone reached.
Strangest place to receive a promotion: Dicky by Loch Lubnaig
Richard Finn appreciation trophy: Flying Scotsman 8/10, Glencoe Stout 6/10, Nectar 7/10 and Red Culiin 8/10. The Flying Scotsman was taken through on the opinion of the expert witness, Big Mike, due to the tie.
We have begun a Big Mike Whiskey Trophy in honour of his support crew assistance. Scores will follow...
Monday, 22 August 2011
Day 10 done: Crawford to Stirling
The fact that today's blog is short and sweet is a testament to Ace's navigation skills as much as the relatively short incident free cycle. Now that we have seen each of our navigation styles it's fair to summarise: I am more a wing and a prayer man; Ace prefers specific road numbers; whilst Dicky prefers to outsource as much navigation as possible by pulling in as many ringers as possible.
All runners and riders enjoyed the varied and hearty breakfasts at the Homeland County House, which received top marks all round, and we set off at 9 am. We once again settled into the new found rhythm of a professional peloton. Mark Cavendish, if you are reading this blog you are free to join our newly formed team (All feel free to propose a team name via the comments feature on the blog).
We started to power our way through the Scottish countryside noting that the 'God's Country' refers to the beautiful vistas rather than some of the towns that we visited. The quaint village pubs from the southwest and the lakes have been replaced by breeze block pubs with shutter fronts. Still, the half cut locals have been very useful in navigating our way to our lunch stops.
Talking about lunch, today's stop provided a potential alarming insight into the world of Big Mike. The local butcher in Hearthill was convinced that Mike was an old customer that hasn't been in for a while. When Mike, unlike his normal self, terminated the conversion abruptly and speed off (pies in tow) Dicky was left visioning what might have happened in this wee Scottish town in Mike's formative years. All fears were allayed a few miles down the road when we saw Mike's car in a lay-by but without Mike who was scampering towards the nearest hedgerow due to nature's calling. Scotch pies in bellies and the "professionals" were off.
At this point another editors note on the morphing into a professional peloton: hand signals. We have all developed our own interpretation of the signals that the Fylde Coast cyclist taught us. Ace has begun to resemble the umpire Billy Bowden on his pre-test match Wednesday morning cycle. Dicky has begun to invent his own, including the salute which means 'no potholes but I am top of the world'. I have been informed that I have begun arm-cartwheels for a row of potholes. I am sure Cracker could give an assessment of what this means on our personality.
At this point we had our one disruption of the day, a temporary traffic lights indicating a reduced one lane of traffic. When the lights went green we were presented with a poor team of workmen who had managed to wedge a telephone pool across the road and spent the next few minutes making a bad job worse (see Dicky's tweeted picture). All was redeemed when they commented "nice beard" as I passed.
Prior to navigating our way through the central residential belt of Scotland we arrived in West Shieldhill. Two funny points of note arose in this place. Firstly, we spoke to two locals who were admiring our bikes. They seemed impressed. Likewise, they seemed impressed that we had cycled from Lands End. The seemed puzzled that we were heading to John O'Groats. Maybe they thought it was the poor cousin to the Lands End To West Shieldhill tour.
Secondly, when trying to direct Big Mike to our impromptu stop, Dicky displayed the symptoms of tiredness that sets in after a ten day tour. The award winning geographer directed Mike east out of Shieldhill to West Shieldhill.
Big Mike left the peloton to ensure that Paul's first accommodation was a better standard than Dicky's last, leaving us to navigate the last few miles to Stirling. Thankfully we were not met with an irate Big Mike and we cruised in at 2:30. Still enough time us to discuss cattle farming and the difference between cows, bullocks and bulls after encountering the largest bull we have seen on tour. All in all a Stirling effort. Boom boom!!!
Stats:
- Mile cycled: 61
- Total mileage: 729
- Funny towns: California, Bogend, Bog Way and Cockridge
- Beard and Barnett updates: less said about my beard the better. Dicky's has gone beyond the post-pubescent teen and is looking like a tramp. Paul is resembling a World War II spiv and I am waiting for him to start trading sugar and suet in the towns that we pass. We also have 'Beardgate' based on the fact that Big Mike is continuing to shave whilst on tour.
- Beers consumed on route: zero again...
- Times past a West Lothian sign: three
Richard Finn Beer contest: Light Orkney 6.5/10 and Dark Orkney 7/10
Final addendum to today's blog is a quick food update. As this is the last main conurbation before the End we once again opted for Italian. Unfortunately I was unable to find any Michelin starred restaurants and ended up in a traditional Italian trattoria.
All runners and riders enjoyed the varied and hearty breakfasts at the Homeland County House, which received top marks all round, and we set off at 9 am. We once again settled into the new found rhythm of a professional peloton. Mark Cavendish, if you are reading this blog you are free to join our newly formed team (All feel free to propose a team name via the comments feature on the blog).
We started to power our way through the Scottish countryside noting that the 'God's Country' refers to the beautiful vistas rather than some of the towns that we visited. The quaint village pubs from the southwest and the lakes have been replaced by breeze block pubs with shutter fronts. Still, the half cut locals have been very useful in navigating our way to our lunch stops.
Talking about lunch, today's stop provided a potential alarming insight into the world of Big Mike. The local butcher in Hearthill was convinced that Mike was an old customer that hasn't been in for a while. When Mike, unlike his normal self, terminated the conversion abruptly and speed off (pies in tow) Dicky was left visioning what might have happened in this wee Scottish town in Mike's formative years. All fears were allayed a few miles down the road when we saw Mike's car in a lay-by but without Mike who was scampering towards the nearest hedgerow due to nature's calling. Scotch pies in bellies and the "professionals" were off.
At this point another editors note on the morphing into a professional peloton: hand signals. We have all developed our own interpretation of the signals that the Fylde Coast cyclist taught us. Ace has begun to resemble the umpire Billy Bowden on his pre-test match Wednesday morning cycle. Dicky has begun to invent his own, including the salute which means 'no potholes but I am top of the world'. I have been informed that I have begun arm-cartwheels for a row of potholes. I am sure Cracker could give an assessment of what this means on our personality.
At this point we had our one disruption of the day, a temporary traffic lights indicating a reduced one lane of traffic. When the lights went green we were presented with a poor team of workmen who had managed to wedge a telephone pool across the road and spent the next few minutes making a bad job worse (see Dicky's tweeted picture). All was redeemed when they commented "nice beard" as I passed.
Prior to navigating our way through the central residential belt of Scotland we arrived in West Shieldhill. Two funny points of note arose in this place. Firstly, we spoke to two locals who were admiring our bikes. They seemed impressed. Likewise, they seemed impressed that we had cycled from Lands End. The seemed puzzled that we were heading to John O'Groats. Maybe they thought it was the poor cousin to the Lands End To West Shieldhill tour.
Secondly, when trying to direct Big Mike to our impromptu stop, Dicky displayed the symptoms of tiredness that sets in after a ten day tour. The award winning geographer directed Mike east out of Shieldhill to West Shieldhill.
Big Mike left the peloton to ensure that Paul's first accommodation was a better standard than Dicky's last, leaving us to navigate the last few miles to Stirling. Thankfully we were not met with an irate Big Mike and we cruised in at 2:30. Still enough time us to discuss cattle farming and the difference between cows, bullocks and bulls after encountering the largest bull we have seen on tour. All in all a Stirling effort. Boom boom!!!
Stats:
- Mile cycled: 61
- Total mileage: 729
- Funny towns: California, Bogend, Bog Way and Cockridge
- Beard and Barnett updates: less said about my beard the better. Dicky's has gone beyond the post-pubescent teen and is looking like a tramp. Paul is resembling a World War II spiv and I am waiting for him to start trading sugar and suet in the towns that we pass. We also have 'Beardgate' based on the fact that Big Mike is continuing to shave whilst on tour.
- Beers consumed on route: zero again...
- Times past a West Lothian sign: three
Richard Finn Beer contest: Light Orkney 6.5/10 and Dark Orkney 7/10
Final addendum to today's blog is a quick food update. As this is the last main conurbation before the End we once again opted for Italian. Unfortunately I was unable to find any Michelin starred restaurants and ended up in a traditional Italian trattoria.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Special Charity Reminder
As you can hopefully tell from reading this blog, we are having quite an adventure and managing to enjoy ourselves in between the hills. However we just wanted to remind you that we are each doing this to also raise money for charities close to our hearts. So if you haven't done already and are enjoying following our progress, please throw a few quid our way.
Ian can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/Ian-Deane-Lejog-Ironman
Paul can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/paul-richards3
Dicky can be sponsored at www.bentrendgetinvolved.com
Cheers
The LEJOGers
Ian can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/Ian-Deane-Lejog-Ironman
Paul can be sponsored at www.justgiving.com/paul-richards3
Dicky can be sponsored at www.bentrendgetinvolved.com
Cheers
The LEJOGers
Day 9 done: Pooley Bridge to Leadhills?! (Crawford)
The observant ones amongst you will notice that we have broken with tradition and handed over blogging responsibility a day earlier than the baton handover of the navigational duties. In addition the renaming of Andrew to Dicky and Paul to Ace means that you are reading the words of Ian 'Mad Jock' Deane.
The handover was expedited a day due to a mishap in the handover point between Dicky and Ace. Dicky's memory was Leadhills whilst Ace's was Stirling. The direct result is that Ace is now trying to bridge a 60 mile gap!!!
Today was a day of two halves (or more accurately a day of 3/89ths and 6/89ths) plus two significant milestones, a first event and a lucky break. All in all it has been an eventful day that has seen us move 89 miles closer to a big session in John O'Groats and made me feel more at home in the land of the ginger beards.
We set out from Pooley Bridge at 8:45,after consuming our lunch boxes in the car park, expecting a hefty climb and then a slow meander into Carlisle; how wrong we were. The hefty hills never really arrived and after passing a classic car show being set up, we were serenaded to a procession of classic cars. Based on the strength returning to our legs we were confident of a quiet day up to Leadhills. However our troubles were about to start...
Back in the car park at Pooley Bridge Dicky noticed he had a flat front tyre and had to carry out his third tyre change of the tour. You would have thought three novices would have mastered this simple task by now, but a few fumbles later we were requiring John to step in and we were lamenting his pending departure at the Scottish border.
As we were passed by the procession of classic cars Dicky's confidence in his front tire was reducing by the pot hole and decided that some maintenance was required in the next passing point. This 20 metre trip resulted in his inner tube exploding with a mighty bang; our first tyre blow out of the tour.
Closer inspection revealed some tyre damage, so Big Mike was dispatched on a whistle stop tour of The Lakes' bicycle shops on a grown up scavenger hunt to get a replacement tyre. Also, after the roadside kangaroo court, Fergs was convicted of the crime of continuing his one man mission of sabotaging our LEJoG efforts (see earlier blogs for his previous escapades) through providing a pump with a dodgy pressure gauge that resulted in some serious over-inflation. My rough calculations resulted in the 90psi we pumped in equated in reality to 140psi. A new pump was ordered via the 'Official Logistics and Dispatch Fast Active Response Team' or 'OLD FART' for short. Seriously having Big Mike today has proved a god send, as later will testify.
45 minutes down and 3 miles travelled, the difficulties across the Bull Field was reclassified as a minor blip, and we knew we had to put in some serious knee grease to get back on track. Luckily the route included a few roman roads and we were able to rock into Carlisle at a respectable average of 15 mph after 'pump gate'.
A few miles on, post back slaps and pictures all round at the Scottish border, we said goodbye to John at Gretna, after coffee at a soulless retail park. The three musketeers were on their own once more and we were missing John; partially due to his superior bike knowledge and common sense but mainly due his laid back persona and dry wit.
At this point a truly miraculous transformation occurred and we morphed into a seasoned well-oiled cycling outfit and formed a tight knit peleton with the leader buffering the other two from the increasing winds. With ten minute stints at the front followed by rotating leader we were up to an impressive 18 mph average and making large chunks into our allotted miles for the day. We quickly caught up with Big Mike at our lunch stop with him stooped in the driver seat. He testifies that he was trying to tune into the cricket but our suspicions were of a mid-afternoon snooze.
As we continued to churn our way to Leadhills, bobbing and weaving under the motorway and railway we were hugging we were met with Big Mike travelling the opposite direction, lights flashing, horn blaring and a rather serious look across his face. "I'm not happy, the accommodation is CRAP" came his shout out of the window. It seems that a lack of local knowledge has finally caught up with us and that Dicky, at the dying embers of his management reign, had booked us into a near-derelict hotel. A quick roadside meeting later, we were booked into new hotel in Crawford and we were off. On arrival we were met with the most welcoming hosts, beautiful panaroma and an impressive hotel. We all concurred that we were fortunate to get through the first half unscathed and that Big Mike was becoming the last vital cog in our cycling machine. Cheers Mike!!!
As we reach the end of Dicky's stint it wouldn't be right for Dicky's achievements at management to pass without note:
- Derelict hotels booked - one
- Border crossing - two (Wales and Scotland)
- Special guests hired 18.
- Getting us up the Kirkstone pass and supping in the highest inn in England
- Finding two shapes that resemble the Uk (toast and a cement repair of a pavement)
Stats for the day:
Significant milestones - Scottish border crossed and a reduction of peleton size back to the original three
Lucky break - changing from a derelict hotel to a plush country house
Funny towns - none, but as a southerner who associates the sign for 'The North' with the Watford Gap it was amusing to see one leading out of Carlisle
Race courses passed - 1 At Carlisle
Miles covered -89 miles
Total miles - 668
Falls 1 (Ace)
Punctures - 2 including one tyre blow out
Beers consumed on route - none (true athletes)
(And for all you animal lovers) Roadkill - zero
'Richard Finn' Beer Trophy: Belhaven Best 7.5/10
The food at Heatherghyll was just what the doctor ordered. Home cooking and big portions were accompanied by four very quiet people...
Tomorrow we start Paul's management and continue on to Stirling. I am sure it will all go smoothly but I can also see some panic calls to his wife, Miriam, to help him through any tricky points!!! I am fully confident of no further B&B mishaps as they were all researched and booked by his better half!
The handover was expedited a day due to a mishap in the handover point between Dicky and Ace. Dicky's memory was Leadhills whilst Ace's was Stirling. The direct result is that Ace is now trying to bridge a 60 mile gap!!!
Today was a day of two halves (or more accurately a day of 3/89ths and 6/89ths) plus two significant milestones, a first event and a lucky break. All in all it has been an eventful day that has seen us move 89 miles closer to a big session in John O'Groats and made me feel more at home in the land of the ginger beards.
We set out from Pooley Bridge at 8:45,after consuming our lunch boxes in the car park, expecting a hefty climb and then a slow meander into Carlisle; how wrong we were. The hefty hills never really arrived and after passing a classic car show being set up, we were serenaded to a procession of classic cars. Based on the strength returning to our legs we were confident of a quiet day up to Leadhills. However our troubles were about to start...
Back in the car park at Pooley Bridge Dicky noticed he had a flat front tyre and had to carry out his third tyre change of the tour. You would have thought three novices would have mastered this simple task by now, but a few fumbles later we were requiring John to step in and we were lamenting his pending departure at the Scottish border.
As we were passed by the procession of classic cars Dicky's confidence in his front tire was reducing by the pot hole and decided that some maintenance was required in the next passing point. This 20 metre trip resulted in his inner tube exploding with a mighty bang; our first tyre blow out of the tour.
Closer inspection revealed some tyre damage, so Big Mike was dispatched on a whistle stop tour of The Lakes' bicycle shops on a grown up scavenger hunt to get a replacement tyre. Also, after the roadside kangaroo court, Fergs was convicted of the crime of continuing his one man mission of sabotaging our LEJoG efforts (see earlier blogs for his previous escapades) through providing a pump with a dodgy pressure gauge that resulted in some serious over-inflation. My rough calculations resulted in the 90psi we pumped in equated in reality to 140psi. A new pump was ordered via the 'Official Logistics and Dispatch Fast Active Response Team' or 'OLD FART' for short. Seriously having Big Mike today has proved a god send, as later will testify.
45 minutes down and 3 miles travelled, the difficulties across the Bull Field was reclassified as a minor blip, and we knew we had to put in some serious knee grease to get back on track. Luckily the route included a few roman roads and we were able to rock into Carlisle at a respectable average of 15 mph after 'pump gate'.
A few miles on, post back slaps and pictures all round at the Scottish border, we said goodbye to John at Gretna, after coffee at a soulless retail park. The three musketeers were on their own once more and we were missing John; partially due to his superior bike knowledge and common sense but mainly due his laid back persona and dry wit.
At this point a truly miraculous transformation occurred and we morphed into a seasoned well-oiled cycling outfit and formed a tight knit peleton with the leader buffering the other two from the increasing winds. With ten minute stints at the front followed by rotating leader we were up to an impressive 18 mph average and making large chunks into our allotted miles for the day. We quickly caught up with Big Mike at our lunch stop with him stooped in the driver seat. He testifies that he was trying to tune into the cricket but our suspicions were of a mid-afternoon snooze.
As we continued to churn our way to Leadhills, bobbing and weaving under the motorway and railway we were hugging we were met with Big Mike travelling the opposite direction, lights flashing, horn blaring and a rather serious look across his face. "I'm not happy, the accommodation is CRAP" came his shout out of the window. It seems that a lack of local knowledge has finally caught up with us and that Dicky, at the dying embers of his management reign, had booked us into a near-derelict hotel. A quick roadside meeting later, we were booked into new hotel in Crawford and we were off. On arrival we were met with the most welcoming hosts, beautiful panaroma and an impressive hotel. We all concurred that we were fortunate to get through the first half unscathed and that Big Mike was becoming the last vital cog in our cycling machine. Cheers Mike!!!
As we reach the end of Dicky's stint it wouldn't be right for Dicky's achievements at management to pass without note:
- Derelict hotels booked - one
- Border crossing - two (Wales and Scotland)
- Special guests hired 18.
- Getting us up the Kirkstone pass and supping in the highest inn in England
- Finding two shapes that resemble the Uk (toast and a cement repair of a pavement)
Stats for the day:
Significant milestones - Scottish border crossed and a reduction of peleton size back to the original three
Lucky break - changing from a derelict hotel to a plush country house
Funny towns - none, but as a southerner who associates the sign for 'The North' with the Watford Gap it was amusing to see one leading out of Carlisle
Race courses passed - 1 At Carlisle
Miles covered -89 miles
Total miles - 668
Falls 1 (Ace)
Punctures - 2 including one tyre blow out
Beers consumed on route - none (true athletes)
(And for all you animal lovers) Roadkill - zero
'Richard Finn' Beer Trophy: Belhaven Best 7.5/10
The food at Heatherghyll was just what the doctor ordered. Home cooking and big portions were accompanied by four very quiet people...
Tomorrow we start Paul's management and continue on to Stirling. I am sure it will all go smoothly but I can also see some panic calls to his wife, Miriam, to help him through any tricky points!!! I am fully confident of no further B&B mishaps as they were all researched and booked by his better half!
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Day 8 done: Thornton Cleveleys to Pooley Bridge
Due to the local nature of events today, Dicky is back in the blog-seat today.
Well what a 24 hours to report. We are not sure if it has been reported yesterday but the old dears (Dicky's Mum and Dad) did a grand job at looking after us last night. The hungry cyclists from leg 7 were joined by additional special guests to help devour the fantastic spread put on by Mike and Sheila. Special mention to Wally for supplying the beer but his brownie points from that were quickly lost when he failed to secure an anchor man for the tandem and therefore didn't pitch up for the ride out on leg 8. I hope Stevo's hip reflexor gets sorted quickly.
The barrel of Lytham Blonde slipped down very nicely and we were able to eat our dinner outside In the fresh Blackpool air. Surprisingly early exits were made by Fergs and Pickers, proof that maybe the 75 miles had taken a little more out of them than expected.
The LEJOG boys slept well and were up and ready for the next big challenge of getting up to the North Lakes. Rumours reached Thornton at about 7.45am that a professional peleton was winging it's way from South Fylde.
Iiterally 5minutes later and Dani and Evo led the Lytham cycle club into Station Road after pulling them across the Fylde at a steady 22mph. The Lytham club of 4 were then supplemented by the North Fylde club pulled together at short notice by Mark Roberts. The mottly crew included JR, Martin Dickens and Sturat Carter. By 8.15 we thought we were off. Unfortunately Paul was late out of the gates (again) and I had forgotten that not everyone the party was from Blackpool. Most of the riders were off up the hill but a wrong turn at the first roundabout and poor old Paul had an extra mile on the ride for today.
The peleton of 14 reformed as we rode over the Wyre and we enjoyed a fabulous 60mins ride through the Fylde plains, learning what is is like to ride in a proper cycling group, hand signals, lots of talking, a little leaning on each other and plenty of team work. Before we knew it we were in Lancaster and still making good progress. By just after 10am we had made it to Carnforth Station for a cup of tea and a scone. Ian 'train spotter' Deane got a little over excited by the Hornby model trains on show. Just to add to the excitement and a real, full size steam train trugged through. A memorable brew stop was completed when the three LEJOGers were requested to "autograph" the visitors book!
At this stage most of the old boys from North Fylde peeled off and headed for home. Fortunately Stuart 'Pathfinder' Carter stayed on the front to guide us through some amazing lanes and parks of the Southern Lakes. Another quick 10miles and the Lytham contingent peeled off. dani and Evo led them home for a decent 105mile ride. The LEJOG group were now down to 6 with the 3 full timers, John '3 days is enough for me' Bigley, Robbo and Stuart left to keep up the pace. Next rendezvous with the support car was the Watermill at Ings for a spot of lunch.
Front of mind for everyone now turned to the rapidly approaching Kirkstone Pass. A climb of 1,500 feet that has caught the odd 1,000cc engine out in the past. I decided to prepare for this by abstaining from the usual shandy, Ian prepared by moving from his usual shandy to a straight pint and Paul decided to prepare by taking his bike apart. The problem seemed to be an annoying noise coming from his front wheel. At one stage the solution proposed by Paul was to rip his mud-guard off with his bare hands. Fortunately, sense (and Stuart) intervened and Paul decided to merely adjust the guard and put the front wheel back on.
After a jolly good lunch we set off for the next 30mis or so of pain. Despite the screaming legs and very slow progress everyone made it up the hill. The fact that the highest pub in England and a celebrating drop was awaiting had nothing to do with it. Robbo sprinted up in little over 20mins, Stuart next up, followed by Paul, Ian and John. I decided to make sure everyone got up safely and brought up the rear. The main thing was that everyone got up and another significant milestone was achieved. For the cycling enthusiasts it must be noted that Robbo also decided to drop off down the struggle and then back up for an addition pain and pleasure moment.
During our well earnt beer tasting the weather closed in and we had to undertake the descent in the Lake District drizzle. The last 10 miles of the day around Ulswater was a bit of a slog but the amazing scenery and knowledge that Pooley Bridge was not far off kept us going.
All in all, probably our strongest day in the saddle which must be put down to our lead out crews from across the Fylde and also the addition of the support vehicle carrying our panniers. Special thanks must go to Stuart for his fantastic pathfinding across the back roads and lanes of the Lakes and to Robbo for seeing us all the way in to Pooley Bridge.
A great day was finished off with a decent feed at the Sun where Robbo and Mrs Robbo joined us for a really fun evening. Well done Amy for providing the support vehicle and driving all the way home with a snoring Robbo for company!
Today also marks us crossing the halfway mark, both in time and in miles. We are now cycling for home!
So to the usual summary.
There were plenty of beers tasted during the day
Beers at the Kirkstone Inn (the highest pub in England) included the red scree, old faithful, kirkstone black. We decided the Red Sce was top. The Sun also had the full range of Jennings ales in. Probably the top of the charts was the Cock-a-Hoop scoring 8 /10.
From Lancashire, beleve it or not but after careful deliberation the Lytham Blonde makes it through as the Lancs champion.
Stats of the day
Today's mileage - 74
Total milage - 579
Height gained - 1455ft
Beard update - slowly developing but looking a little multicoloured....
Zero falls (thankfully Fergs couldn't ride out today)
Barnet update - Dicky's is still growing fast!
Silly name spots: a quick fly through Slaphead (well spotted Dani)
We have another challenging and long day ahead tomorrow where we will get over the Scottish border. JB is aiming to get us into Scotland before he peels off back to catch the train south.
TTFN
Friday, 19 August 2011
Day 7 done: Chester to Thornton Cleveleys
Today's Blog comes courtesy of the fresh legged guest bloggers Picko, Kate and Fergs. The other fresh legs of John, have already retired to the in-laws for a well deserved bath, he has another three days in the saddle whereas Pickers, Kate and Fergs have seen sense and are calling it a day.
So to today's exploits. On meeting at Chester station we were expecting to meet with a beliguered Dicky, Paul and Ian, instead we were faced with a fresh looking Cadel Evans, Mark Cavendish and Sammy Sanchez; there goes the gentle pedal we'd hoped for.
All was going well until the first stop about 5 miles into the journey when Fergs tried to dismount, but failed to remember to unclip... In one effortless move, he wiped out half the tour; this was a re-occurring theme through the day.
We then spent the next 3 hours on the most beautiful dual carriage ways, industrial estates, roundabouts, and ring roads that Runcorn, Widnes and St Helen's could throw at us.
Progress was slow in the morning reaching The Farmer's Arms south of Leyland. Ferg's wasn't impressed with the Reggae Reggae Wrap and I'll leave the beer commentary to the regular LEJOGers.
The pace was cranked up after lunch partly due to the introduction of Jev's NOS injected super tri bike. The first puncture of the journey slowed us slightly at Preston, but we were soon back on track. To try to slow the rest of the crew down especially Jev on his F1 machine Pickers with his cyclo cross bike decided to introduce some off-roading on the way out of Preston. Dick Dastardly's plan was foiled and all made it across the off road section in one piece.
Some good road side support at Woodplumpton from Papachu, Mamachu, and Grannychu provided some good energy drinks and biscuits.
The rest of the ride through the Fylde Coast was far more scenic and pedalling was strong. Only slight issue was the group being split by milking time at the farm and cows crossing. Fergs managed to unclip safely this time so no cows were hurt in the making of this journey.
Arrived at Chez Dickinson just after 5.00, Lytham Blonde and BBQ at the ready.
Stats for the day.
Falls 2 (both Fergs)
Punctures 1 (Paul drops behind in the puncture sweep)
Miles 74
Total miles 505
Peleton members 7 (8 for about an hour)
So to today's exploits. On meeting at Chester station we were expecting to meet with a beliguered Dicky, Paul and Ian, instead we were faced with a fresh looking Cadel Evans, Mark Cavendish and Sammy Sanchez; there goes the gentle pedal we'd hoped for.
All was going well until the first stop about 5 miles into the journey when Fergs tried to dismount, but failed to remember to unclip... In one effortless move, he wiped out half the tour; this was a re-occurring theme through the day.
We then spent the next 3 hours on the most beautiful dual carriage ways, industrial estates, roundabouts, and ring roads that Runcorn, Widnes and St Helen's could throw at us.
Progress was slow in the morning reaching The Farmer's Arms south of Leyland. Ferg's wasn't impressed with the Reggae Reggae Wrap and I'll leave the beer commentary to the regular LEJOGers.
The pace was cranked up after lunch partly due to the introduction of Jev's NOS injected super tri bike. The first puncture of the journey slowed us slightly at Preston, but we were soon back on track. To try to slow the rest of the crew down especially Jev on his F1 machine Pickers with his cyclo cross bike decided to introduce some off-roading on the way out of Preston. Dick Dastardly's plan was foiled and all made it across the off road section in one piece.
Some good road side support at Woodplumpton from Papachu, Mamachu, and Grannychu provided some good energy drinks and biscuits.
The rest of the ride through the Fylde Coast was far more scenic and pedalling was strong. Only slight issue was the group being split by milking time at the farm and cows crossing. Fergs managed to unclip safely this time so no cows were hurt in the making of this journey.
Arrived at Chez Dickinson just after 5.00, Lytham Blonde and BBQ at the ready.
Stats for the day.
Falls 2 (both Fergs)
Punctures 1 (Paul drops behind in the puncture sweep)
Miles 74
Total miles 505
Peleton members 7 (8 for about an hour)
Day 6 done: Clun to Chester
Apologies for the late posting, to be fair to Paul it was a dead battery that caused the dalay!
Sorry for the delay in posting day 6, while a perfect cycling day it was a relatively slow news day.
We said goodbye to the lovely Clun, cycling past the castle and straight into the Shropshire hills...great! Thankfully the ride ahead looked good and the weather fine, the only thing missing was the usual morning chorus of birds but instead we where heralded out of Clun by the unforgettable sound of the the incredible greater belching Shropshire sheep! Anyway, while the start of the day was painful, for much of the rest of the day we had a relatively easy ride through Shropshire and into Cheshire, with the odd excursion into Wales. This was the perfect antidote for yesterdays marathon ride, and the mere 70 miles no longer held any fear for us, although the Lake district and then the highlands are still looming!
Andy has definitely warmed to his navigational responsibilities and did a fine job today, the only concern was another closed road, which we decided to risk and managed to make it through a freshly tarred road with the wheels still in tacked. Today was not only an easier day of riding but also one in which we managed to keep out of trouble. The only significant cycling incidents was a collision between myself and Ian, and Andy having a continuous issue with his gears, hopefully now resolved! We made good time through the day so decide to finish a great but uneventful day of cycling with a few stops to sample the local beverages in the new county of Cheshire. The main contestants for the beer of the day were, Tom Watkins BB and the Boader Cast light Mild, of which the Mild has been put forward for the Richard Finn appreciation trophy.
The village names are definitely getting more sensible the further north we come the only exceptions today was, the villages of Shelf, The Bog, Knockin, and Halfway House.
The focus is now on tomorrow, hopefully we have saved the legs today and tomorrow is a big day where we will be joined by several friends for the trip into Blackpool, where we have been promised a warm reception and BBQ. Our biggest concern is keeping Andy sober during these celebrations marking the end of our first week and the addition of Andy' father Mike to our team where he will provide support for the final week. Andy is currently petitioning for a duvet day!
Our day finished with a trip to a chinese restaurant followed by a quick pint in the strange but nice Albion pub with live folk music, it was all very pleasant but not enough to keep us awake, thankfully we were joined by John who will also be with us tomorrows ride.
The new things to report are Andy's incredible ability of seeing the outline of Britain and the extent of our journey in the weirdest places - currently toast and road repairs, which you will be happy to know he has photos of. We also seemed to have developed a walking style that means we don't need to bend the knees!
Stats:
Miles in the day: 73 miles
Total miles: 431 miles
Road kill - 3 dead badgers
Punctures - all square on the puncture sweepstakes, we are all still on zero.
Collision - 1, imaged to get a little closer to Ian's backside than I wanted to, but we survived that.
Sorry for the delay in posting day 6, while a perfect cycling day it was a relatively slow news day.
We said goodbye to the lovely Clun, cycling past the castle and straight into the Shropshire hills...great! Thankfully the ride ahead looked good and the weather fine, the only thing missing was the usual morning chorus of birds but instead we where heralded out of Clun by the unforgettable sound of the the incredible greater belching Shropshire sheep! Anyway, while the start of the day was painful, for much of the rest of the day we had a relatively easy ride through Shropshire and into Cheshire, with the odd excursion into Wales. This was the perfect antidote for yesterdays marathon ride, and the mere 70 miles no longer held any fear for us, although the Lake district and then the highlands are still looming!
Andy has definitely warmed to his navigational responsibilities and did a fine job today, the only concern was another closed road, which we decided to risk and managed to make it through a freshly tarred road with the wheels still in tacked. Today was not only an easier day of riding but also one in which we managed to keep out of trouble. The only significant cycling incidents was a collision between myself and Ian, and Andy having a continuous issue with his gears, hopefully now resolved! We made good time through the day so decide to finish a great but uneventful day of cycling with a few stops to sample the local beverages in the new county of Cheshire. The main contestants for the beer of the day were, Tom Watkins BB and the Boader Cast light Mild, of which the Mild has been put forward for the Richard Finn appreciation trophy.
The village names are definitely getting more sensible the further north we come the only exceptions today was, the villages of Shelf, The Bog, Knockin, and Halfway House.
The focus is now on tomorrow, hopefully we have saved the legs today and tomorrow is a big day where we will be joined by several friends for the trip into Blackpool, where we have been promised a warm reception and BBQ. Our biggest concern is keeping Andy sober during these celebrations marking the end of our first week and the addition of Andy' father Mike to our team where he will provide support for the final week. Andy is currently petitioning for a duvet day!
Our day finished with a trip to a chinese restaurant followed by a quick pint in the strange but nice Albion pub with live folk music, it was all very pleasant but not enough to keep us awake, thankfully we were joined by John who will also be with us tomorrows ride.
The new things to report are Andy's incredible ability of seeing the outline of Britain and the extent of our journey in the weirdest places - currently toast and road repairs, which you will be happy to know he has photos of. We also seemed to have developed a walking style that means we don't need to bend the knees!
Stats:
Miles in the day: 73 miles
Total miles: 431 miles
Road kill - 3 dead badgers
Punctures - all square on the puncture sweepstakes, we are all still on zero.
Collision - 1, imaged to get a little closer to Ian's backside than I wanted to, but we survived that.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Day 5 done: Bristol to Clun
As with the navigation handover, today also sees the handover of author duties on the blog. Dicky's sector is done (hence i will be referred to as Andy for the next fee editions). I write this paragraph to pass the baton on to Mr Richards. Not known for his social networking activity we are hoping Paul pulls through for the silver surfer generation.
Today was the big marathon cycling day, Bristol to Clun and over 90 miles, that's over 20 more than our average. With Andy taking the navigational reins we were confident we were in good hands. That was until we got about 5 miles down the road with Andy congratulating himself on doing such a great job of getting us out of Bristol to find he had not only taken us down the wrong route but also down a road that was closed off for repairs. We looked at the options of jumping into the field to work around the obstacle but decided against this based on yesterday's experiences and the rather large cows taking too much interest. However, Ian provided one of his motivational speeches and we were soon off and racing towards the Seven Bridge and into Wales - another major milestone reached.
Today's cycling was marked by not only the amount of miles covered but also the amount of counties covered, we started in Avon and then flew through Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and finished in Shropshire, while also briefly entering Monmouthshire and completing our first country border crossing into Wales. For the latter, Andy was proudly wearing his Welsh T-shirt, all for charity of course, although it should be noted that Andy is still struggling with the welsh national anthem, his attempt was the Irish rugby anthem with Wales added instead!
Unfortunately there was little to report on the best place names, other than we seemed to enter a weird Eastend twilight zone halfway through our 5th day. We initially entered Millwall (or Milkwall but close enough), with shellsuits and fighting dogs followed by Mile End and Walford. We were lucky to get out of there with our shins still in place, but we were soon back to the lovely countryside and the beautiful views of the Wye valley?
Halfway through the day we decided to mark this milestone with a well earned drink in Hereford. Andy's confidence in his navigational skills seem to gain there previous height's at the start of the day and he decided to take us off plan down the Hereford pedestrian only high street. Unfortunately the local constabulary recognised 'people not from these parts' and immediately put pay to our ideas of a quick drink, although more for his 15 min directions to the nearest pub than anything else. Anyway, with a promise to only drink something refreshing for the ride we made it to the pub for a well earned Cider. Our brief rest went without further issues, although this was interrupted by Ian deciding that the young girls playing hide an seek where just not doing it correctly, subsequently he treated everyone to a master glass of hind and seek skills amassed over 30+ years! Anyway with the new lesson well an truly imbedded we soon headed off for the final 35 miles. However, at the first cross-roads we met with some stiff comments from the local youths, initially they seemed quite impressed with Andy's shirt, 'king of the mountains' Andy explained, 'more like Noddy' came the response, Ian soon stepped up to defend Andy's honour stiffly explaining Andy was more like Big Ears!
The rest of the day went well and we made it close to our home for day 5, stopping 10 miles out in what can only be described as the perfect pub - next to the river, local beers and bar snacks to keep us going. While the 10 miles seemed to go on forever we finally made it into the lovely town of Clun, not in any small part to Andy's map reading skills. The day was finished off with special guess appearances from Ian's wife Becs and her sister Emily and we finally got our high carb meal missing from last nights adventure into fine dinning!
Hair update - Andy and Ian's mops are now only just allowing them to get their helmets on, my attempt at beard to match Ian's is now looking like it will need to be reduced to a goatee and Andy looks like he is trying for a Amish beard!
The beer sampling was surprisingly good after a drop off in the Bristol area. The ride through Herefordshire was marked by discovering the refreshing powers of a cold cider.
We sampled two over the course of the day. Firstly Sowcrow in Hereford and Weston. Both lovely and cold and solid 7s.
On the bitter from we had a glut of quality ales. The Clun Slop drop was brewed in the back yard of the pub we had dinner in and went down very easily. We also tried the Butty Bach, Three Tuns and Ludworth. General consensus was that the Butty Bach was the best and goes through as Hereford County Champ and the Clun Slop as Shropshire's representative.
Stats of the day:
Miles completed - 93
Total miles - 350 (it is growing)
Counties - 5
Countries - 2
Road kill - lots, including a large boar
Falls - zero
Today sees us head up and over the hills of Clun and head north via Oswestry and Wrexham to Chester. Looking forward to seeing some friendly faces tomorrow morning!
TTFN
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Day 4 done: Taunton to Bristol
The end of day 4 is the first of our mini-milestones as Ian passes the navigation and team lead baton over to me. This marks the end of our first sector and it would be amiss of me not to single out a few of Ian's achievements over the last 5 days:
- successful train trip to Penzance with our bikes. If you have ever booked using Great Western customer services then you will know why this has to be noted as a major achieve.
- 5 nights perfectly comfortable accomodation with the highlight of Week Farm - see day 2 blog
- generally calm and accurate map reading. Obviously there were a few exceptions. The A366 around Launceston and another gem I will tell you about later in the blog.
- his truly unique cockney poetry. The best to share was when halfway up a tough Devon hill Ian turned around to Paul and I to proclaim 'remember lads, this all adds to the tapestry of the ride'. Just brilliant! I am sure we will be able to share more classic over the comig days.
We also feel like today is momentous us as we reach the top of the long leg of the south-west and tomorrow will see us start to make some serious progress north.
Now to the report from today. We got a great early start and each opted for our first non-full English. Obviously it was still a cooked breakfast but a slightly lighter start to the day. 1.5 laps of the Taunton one way system saw us eventually find the south-easterly route out and we were on our way. We had a pleasant first hour meandering through the narrow lanes of the Somerset flats. All was going well until we hit a sudden dead end in the tiny hamlet of Isle Abbots. On consultation with Ian's route we quickly discovered that an overexcitable highlighting mistake had linked a mile section of lane that was in fact separated by a rather substantial river. Thinking on his feet as ever, Ian spotted a footpath that signed a small village 1 mile away that would get us back on track. The first 500meters of the path were fine. We the hit the first sty that was negotiated with reasonable ease. I am sure there are many of you wondering why we didn't decide turn back at this stage, however, three stubborn men is all the answer you need. The next sty crossing saw us enter an electrified field. The alarm bells began to ring. However, atbthis point Paul decided that the bull field would be the perfect location for a bit of bike maintenance. By this stage we were attracting attention. Ian stepped up the the mark and quite literally took the bull by the horns and set off across the field accompanied with his bright red panniers. The story ends after a further 3 sty crossings. All in all, our 1 mile detour to get back on track was timed in at 38minutes.
Sense finally prevailed and Ian did a bit of replanning, taking the direct route on to Cheddar via Street and the Glastonbury Tor. A quick cheeseboard in Cheddar refuelled us for the challenge of the climb through the gorge. it was a fantastic ride up through the towering cliffs and within 20 minutes or so we were on the top of the mindip hills. Everyone thought the hard work of the day was done and we faced a pleasant 15 or so miles cruising down into Bristol. How wrong we were. The views down the chew valley were breathtaking. Only now did we start to realise that Bristol was not yet in sight and the Chew Hill lay beyond the Chew Valley. The final two climbs of the day were nothing if not sheer hell and we finally rolled down the hill into Bristol at about 5. A quick stop at Evans to restock the energy supplements and we arrived at our B&b in Clifton.
After a shower and a celebratory beer, Paul and I took 10 mins to review the route for tomorrow. Ian was given the task of seeking out a local Italian to carbo-load. He seemed very pleased with himself when he announced he had found a place only half a mile from us and had booked a table for 8. So we wondered down the road and entered a nice looking place called casamia. The penny started to fall when the maitre'd asked Ian if he would like her to hang his jacket (hoodie). We realised we were a little underdressed for their usual clientele. Only after sampling their five course tasting menu did we realise that we were in a one star Michelin restaurant that won last years Gordon Ramsey's best restaurant tv show. The food was fantastic and the portions were minute, hence we had to follow it up in the pub with a pint of bitter and a pack of pork scratchings.
Richard Finn Beer Appreciation Trophy update:
- potholder in Cheddar scored a 7.5 and was a smooth real ale
That was our last Somerset entry and after consultation the real Hatcher's medium cider romps through as county champion
Unfortunately no entries from Bristol as yet.
Local food consumed, cheddar in cheddar, to state the bleeding obvious!
So to stats of the day:
- 75 miles cycled
- 256 miles
- best funny town names, curry mallet and beercrocombe
- 0 falls for the second day running
- Michelin stars consumed = 1
Tomorrow takes us pretty much due north up to Clun. The first big mileage test measured out at 90miles. Hopefully another good day will be had and the transition to new management will go smoothly!
TTFN
- successful train trip to Penzance with our bikes. If you have ever booked using Great Western customer services then you will know why this has to be noted as a major achieve.
- 5 nights perfectly comfortable accomodation with the highlight of Week Farm - see day 2 blog
- generally calm and accurate map reading. Obviously there were a few exceptions. The A366 around Launceston and another gem I will tell you about later in the blog.
- his truly unique cockney poetry. The best to share was when halfway up a tough Devon hill Ian turned around to Paul and I to proclaim 'remember lads, this all adds to the tapestry of the ride'. Just brilliant! I am sure we will be able to share more classic over the comig days.
We also feel like today is momentous us as we reach the top of the long leg of the south-west and tomorrow will see us start to make some serious progress north.
Now to the report from today. We got a great early start and each opted for our first non-full English. Obviously it was still a cooked breakfast but a slightly lighter start to the day. 1.5 laps of the Taunton one way system saw us eventually find the south-easterly route out and we were on our way. We had a pleasant first hour meandering through the narrow lanes of the Somerset flats. All was going well until we hit a sudden dead end in the tiny hamlet of Isle Abbots. On consultation with Ian's route we quickly discovered that an overexcitable highlighting mistake had linked a mile section of lane that was in fact separated by a rather substantial river. Thinking on his feet as ever, Ian spotted a footpath that signed a small village 1 mile away that would get us back on track. The first 500meters of the path were fine. We the hit the first sty that was negotiated with reasonable ease. I am sure there are many of you wondering why we didn't decide turn back at this stage, however, three stubborn men is all the answer you need. The next sty crossing saw us enter an electrified field. The alarm bells began to ring. However, atbthis point Paul decided that the bull field would be the perfect location for a bit of bike maintenance. By this stage we were attracting attention. Ian stepped up the the mark and quite literally took the bull by the horns and set off across the field accompanied with his bright red panniers. The story ends after a further 3 sty crossings. All in all, our 1 mile detour to get back on track was timed in at 38minutes.
Sense finally prevailed and Ian did a bit of replanning, taking the direct route on to Cheddar via Street and the Glastonbury Tor. A quick cheeseboard in Cheddar refuelled us for the challenge of the climb through the gorge. it was a fantastic ride up through the towering cliffs and within 20 minutes or so we were on the top of the mindip hills. Everyone thought the hard work of the day was done and we faced a pleasant 15 or so miles cruising down into Bristol. How wrong we were. The views down the chew valley were breathtaking. Only now did we start to realise that Bristol was not yet in sight and the Chew Hill lay beyond the Chew Valley. The final two climbs of the day were nothing if not sheer hell and we finally rolled down the hill into Bristol at about 5. A quick stop at Evans to restock the energy supplements and we arrived at our B&b in Clifton.
After a shower and a celebratory beer, Paul and I took 10 mins to review the route for tomorrow. Ian was given the task of seeking out a local Italian to carbo-load. He seemed very pleased with himself when he announced he had found a place only half a mile from us and had booked a table for 8. So we wondered down the road and entered a nice looking place called casamia. The penny started to fall when the maitre'd asked Ian if he would like her to hang his jacket (hoodie). We realised we were a little underdressed for their usual clientele. Only after sampling their five course tasting menu did we realise that we were in a one star Michelin restaurant that won last years Gordon Ramsey's best restaurant tv show. The food was fantastic and the portions were minute, hence we had to follow it up in the pub with a pint of bitter and a pack of pork scratchings.
Richard Finn Beer Appreciation Trophy update:
- potholder in Cheddar scored a 7.5 and was a smooth real ale
That was our last Somerset entry and after consultation the real Hatcher's medium cider romps through as county champion
Unfortunately no entries from Bristol as yet.
Local food consumed, cheddar in cheddar, to state the bleeding obvious!
So to stats of the day:
- 75 miles cycled
- 256 miles
- best funny town names, curry mallet and beercrocombe
- 0 falls for the second day running
- Michelin stars consumed = 1
Tomorrow takes us pretty much due north up to Clun. The first big mileage test measured out at 90miles. Hopefully another good day will be had and the transition to new management will go smoothly!
TTFN
Monday, 15 August 2011
Day 3 done: Bridgestowe to Taunton
Before we get into the cycling from today, first mention to the evening entertainment. Yes, I know is is supposed to be about the cycling but we need to keep Dr Mawdsley interested.
So we start with the evening entertainment. What are the chances, we were wondering into Taunton to find dinner and maybe a pint of cider only to spot a 40 over game at the county ground in Taunton. What could we do but head in and watch a bit of cricket. Fortunately they were also serving Somerset pork sarnies and proper Hatchers cider (the flat stuff, not the fizzy). Obviously we had to get involved and despite the odd rain break were lucky enough to see a real cliff hanger with Chris Read bringing Notts home with one ball to spare. The notable cider of the evening was the Hatcher's sweet which was a vivid orange colour. We were confidently told this is "what we drink in Somerset!".
now to the serious stuff. The morning started well. John and Margaret's hospitality at Week Farm was finished off perfectly with a killer fully English. The sausages were enough to set you up for the day. We then headEd out to get past Okehampton as soon as possible and continue north. We had a great but tough morning meandering through the mid-Devon countryside. We met
a coupe of cyclist at Monkokehampton who suggested Ian's beard was nothing more than bum-fluff. South Molton was reached by about 12.30 and a suitable pub found for lunch. Proper Ian's mums doorstep rolls sorted us right out, along with the obligatory bitter shandy.
During lunch we learnt an important lesson (one we have all learnt before but never seem to heed). Never trust an opinion obtain by a stranger in a public house! Evidence of this was obvious when a casual Conversation with one of the locals about the best way to Taunton lead to us heading down the dual carriageway of the A361 in the driving rain. Not the best post-lunch start and we had a pretty tough 30 minutes or so trying to get ourselves back on track. Fortunately we soon hit the main road of the afternoon, the B3227.
That got our speed back up to the required velocity and we were soon in good spirits speeding down into Brampton. Spirits were raised further when we heard the Finn support team were steaming their way towards us. We passed Richard (father-in-law) and Victor (Amy's grandad) within yards of the Somerset border. Flapjacks and lukozade went down a treat and the obligatory photos by the county sign gave us the motivation we needed for the last 18 miles into Taunton. Local knowledge from Richard and Victor told us we had only one moderate climb ahead and we enjoyed our cruise down into Taunton. A very comfortable hotel and a refreshing drink with Carol and Richard was a very pleasing end to a tough but rewarding day!
So the usual end of blog stats:
- 78 miles done. Most so far in one day.
- 195 miles in total since LE
- zero falls
- zero sense of humour failures (surprisingly)
- one king of the mountains dismount - it was very steep!
- zero wrong turns taken (discounting the dodgy directions at the pub). Great work Ian!
- however, a disappointing day on the amusing towns with only a duplicate Splat
- ciders consumed - too many.
One final note for the Richard Finn Appreciation Trophy. Somerset's contenders were obviously all ciders.
- the Sheppy's was very good and a solid 7
- the fizzy Hatcher's was pretty good but just under at 6.5
- however, the proper stuff was inside the county ground with non-fizzy Hatcher's running away with it. Ian and I am split between whether we drake the medium or sweet forward however they both get a 8.5.
Majority rule means that the Jail Ale, brewed on Dartmoor, goes forward as the Devon champion ale.
Tomorrow we will be in Bristol. I am really hoping the view at the top of cheddar gorge is worth the climb.
TTFN
So we start with the evening entertainment. What are the chances, we were wondering into Taunton to find dinner and maybe a pint of cider only to spot a 40 over game at the county ground in Taunton. What could we do but head in and watch a bit of cricket. Fortunately they were also serving Somerset pork sarnies and proper Hatchers cider (the flat stuff, not the fizzy). Obviously we had to get involved and despite the odd rain break were lucky enough to see a real cliff hanger with Chris Read bringing Notts home with one ball to spare. The notable cider of the evening was the Hatcher's sweet which was a vivid orange colour. We were confidently told this is "what we drink in Somerset!".
now to the serious stuff. The morning started well. John and Margaret's hospitality at Week Farm was finished off perfectly with a killer fully English. The sausages were enough to set you up for the day. We then headEd out to get past Okehampton as soon as possible and continue north. We had a great but tough morning meandering through the mid-Devon countryside. We met
a coupe of cyclist at Monkokehampton who suggested Ian's beard was nothing more than bum-fluff. South Molton was reached by about 12.30 and a suitable pub found for lunch. Proper Ian's mums doorstep rolls sorted us right out, along with the obligatory bitter shandy.
During lunch we learnt an important lesson (one we have all learnt before but never seem to heed). Never trust an opinion obtain by a stranger in a public house! Evidence of this was obvious when a casual Conversation with one of the locals about the best way to Taunton lead to us heading down the dual carriageway of the A361 in the driving rain. Not the best post-lunch start and we had a pretty tough 30 minutes or so trying to get ourselves back on track. Fortunately we soon hit the main road of the afternoon, the B3227.
That got our speed back up to the required velocity and we were soon in good spirits speeding down into Brampton. Spirits were raised further when we heard the Finn support team were steaming their way towards us. We passed Richard (father-in-law) and Victor (Amy's grandad) within yards of the Somerset border. Flapjacks and lukozade went down a treat and the obligatory photos by the county sign gave us the motivation we needed for the last 18 miles into Taunton. Local knowledge from Richard and Victor told us we had only one moderate climb ahead and we enjoyed our cruise down into Taunton. A very comfortable hotel and a refreshing drink with Carol and Richard was a very pleasing end to a tough but rewarding day!
So the usual end of blog stats:
- 78 miles done. Most so far in one day.
- 195 miles in total since LE
- zero falls
- zero sense of humour failures (surprisingly)
- one king of the mountains dismount - it was very steep!
- zero wrong turns taken (discounting the dodgy directions at the pub). Great work Ian!
- however, a disappointing day on the amusing towns with only a duplicate Splat
- ciders consumed - too many.
One final note for the Richard Finn Appreciation Trophy. Somerset's contenders were obviously all ciders.
- the Sheppy's was very good and a solid 7
- the fizzy Hatcher's was pretty good but just under at 6.5
- however, the proper stuff was inside the county ground with non-fizzy Hatcher's running away with it. Ian and I am split between whether we drake the medium or sweet forward however they both get a 8.5.
Majority rule means that the Jail Ale, brewed on Dartmoor, goes forward as the Devon champion ale.
Tomorrow we will be in Bristol. I am really hoping the view at the top of cheddar gorge is worth the climb.
TTFN
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Day 2 done: Mawgen Porth to Bridgestowe
Right, straight to the important stuff. We have made two important refinements to the beer challenge. Firstly the beer challenge has been renamed to the Richard Finn Beer Appreciation Trophy. Thank you to Richard for rewarding our efforts with a beer at the end of the first couple of days. Secondly we have improved the format. We have decided to take the best beer from each county into a national final. As we have crossed into Devon this afternoon This means Betty Stoggs goes forward as the Cornish champion.
So for the first Devon contenders.
- first up the Jail Ale, brewed a couple of miles away on Dartnoor. Very smooth and rich. A solid 8.
- second an otter ale. Brewed in Exeter using water from the Otter River. My favourite but the boys are pulling me back to a 7.75.
On reflection, maybe we are getting into this a little too much.
A suggestion from Dr Mawdsley was to also think about our regional food. So the local food consumed so far and scores are:
- Cornish pas tie in the heart of Cornwall. Spot on when needing calories. The size of a small baby and a 8.5 out of 10.
- the hog pudding in our Cornish brekkie was a decent effort at a twist on the Lancastrian black pud but obviously not as good. An average 6.5.
- the arrival to Devon and our home baked Devon scones and clotted cream was just spectacular. Made from the 5th generation of owners of the 200acre farm. We have decided it is an 8.
Ok. So now to the secondary stuff - the cycling. In summary a really good day.
We started out at a fairly late 9.30. Mainly due to our landlords being out at the Boardmasters festival until the wee small hours. Ian managed to confuse our hungover host. When asked who we were raising money for he got a little confused about Paul's charity and I quote, 'yeh, I am raising money for a local hospice, dicky for the Ben Trend Society and Paul for the homophobia association'. I quickly corrected him to Haemophila Society.
Our hosts also told us to expect a gentle ride down into Padstow. Well, the resting heart reached 150bpm within 200yards. Padstow was reached by 10 on the button. It was great to see Sue and Alastair waiting for us on the quay. Unfortunately as we were saying hi the ferry pulled in. Only time for a brief conversation and we were quickly on our way. sorry Sue and Al but you still take the prize as our 1st official supporters.
We then had a fabulous couple of hours weaving our way through some beautiful Cornish countryside. Rolling hills and babbling brooks were the order of the day and only a couple of testing inclines. Ian'S map reading was fantastic taking through the unmarked roads as if they were major routes.
By the time we reached Launceston we were ready for a shandy and a bite to eat. Everyone on top form. Then we hit the A388 (4 times to be precise). The first time was a gentle hill out of the town. Ian decided it was not the right way and instead took us up a 15% incline past The castle. After catching breathe we carried on up the 2nd A388. Ian was now confident we were on the right track. Paul and I got a funny feeling something wasn't quite right when he started to take us up the slip road to the A30. A recalculation and we were heading back to the A388. After the 3rd crossing of the A30 we did finally find the correct A388 and we were off and running again. Unfortunately Ian,s sense of humour did not get back on track until after we had crossed the county boundary 10 miles further on. To Ian's credit, we did retrace our steps and for some reason there really are 4 A388s in and around Launceston. The only question left to asks is why we had to cycle along all four.
After our fun and games in Launceston, we then had the final 20 miles to ride into Okehampton. A tough few hills as we skirted Dartmoor bur again some amazing countryside. A final couple of hills and we arrived at Week Farm. John and Margaret we waiting to welcome us for cream Tea and scones.
A beautiful English summers evening was had at the White Heart where we rated the Devon ales (see above). Paul won the darts with a text book 75 checkout (double 2, followed by double top and then double 16). We were a bit worried about the 1.5 mile walk up the hill but a quick phone call home and John was down to pick us up in his red land rover. Now that is hospitality.
Just finishing watching MOTD2 before another early night. We are Already looking forward to the ride to Taunton tomorrow. Hopefully we will be rating the cider.
Finally our stats (with Steve Cushings suggested additions):
- 60 miles done
- 1 county boundary crossed
- 1 fall (PR failed to unclip)
- 4 pints consumed per rider (after our finish)
- best comedy place names fo to Splat and Camp.
TTFN
#LEJOG blog
So for the first Devon contenders.
- first up the Jail Ale, brewed a couple of miles away on Dartnoor. Very smooth and rich. A solid 8.
- second an otter ale. Brewed in Exeter using water from the Otter River. My favourite but the boys are pulling me back to a 7.75.
On reflection, maybe we are getting into this a little too much.
A suggestion from Dr Mawdsley was to also think about our regional food. So the local food consumed so far and scores are:
- Cornish pas tie in the heart of Cornwall. Spot on when needing calories. The size of a small baby and a 8.5 out of 10.
- the hog pudding in our Cornish brekkie was a decent effort at a twist on the Lancastrian black pud but obviously not as good. An average 6.5.
- the arrival to Devon and our home baked Devon scones and clotted cream was just spectacular. Made from the 5th generation of owners of the 200acre farm. We have decided it is an 8.
Ok. So now to the secondary stuff - the cycling. In summary a really good day.
We started out at a fairly late 9.30. Mainly due to our landlords being out at the Boardmasters festival until the wee small hours. Ian managed to confuse our hungover host. When asked who we were raising money for he got a little confused about Paul's charity and I quote, 'yeh, I am raising money for a local hospice, dicky for the Ben Trend Society and Paul for the homophobia association'. I quickly corrected him to Haemophila Society.
Our hosts also told us to expect a gentle ride down into Padstow. Well, the resting heart reached 150bpm within 200yards. Padstow was reached by 10 on the button. It was great to see Sue and Alastair waiting for us on the quay. Unfortunately as we were saying hi the ferry pulled in. Only time for a brief conversation and we were quickly on our way. sorry Sue and Al but you still take the prize as our 1st official supporters.
We then had a fabulous couple of hours weaving our way through some beautiful Cornish countryside. Rolling hills and babbling brooks were the order of the day and only a couple of testing inclines. Ian'S map reading was fantastic taking through the unmarked roads as if they were major routes.
By the time we reached Launceston we were ready for a shandy and a bite to eat. Everyone on top form. Then we hit the A388 (4 times to be precise). The first time was a gentle hill out of the town. Ian decided it was not the right way and instead took us up a 15% incline past The castle. After catching breathe we carried on up the 2nd A388. Ian was now confident we were on the right track. Paul and I got a funny feeling something wasn't quite right when he started to take us up the slip road to the A30. A recalculation and we were heading back to the A388. After the 3rd crossing of the A30 we did finally find the correct A388 and we were off and running again. Unfortunately Ian,s sense of humour did not get back on track until after we had crossed the county boundary 10 miles further on. To Ian's credit, we did retrace our steps and for some reason there really are 4 A388s in and around Launceston. The only question left to asks is why we had to cycle along all four.
After our fun and games in Launceston, we then had the final 20 miles to ride into Okehampton. A tough few hills as we skirted Dartmoor bur again some amazing countryside. A final couple of hills and we arrived at Week Farm. John and Margaret we waiting to welcome us for cream Tea and scones.
A beautiful English summers evening was had at the White Heart where we rated the Devon ales (see above). Paul won the darts with a text book 75 checkout (double 2, followed by double top and then double 16). We were a bit worried about the 1.5 mile walk up the hill but a quick phone call home and John was down to pick us up in his red land rover. Now that is hospitality.
Just finishing watching MOTD2 before another early night. We are Already looking forward to the ride to Taunton tomorrow. Hopefully we will be rating the cider.
Finally our stats (with Steve Cushings suggested additions):
- 60 miles done
- 1 county boundary crossed
- 1 fall (PR failed to unclip)
- 4 pints consumed per rider (after our finish)
- best comedy place names fo to Splat and Camp.
TTFN
#LEJOG blog
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Day 1 beer roundup
A few pints were consumed on the north coast today.
Betty's is still out on top and a strong, consistent performer again today holding firm at an 8.
The sharpes own came in at 7. Full bodied and hoppy.
In the b&b were are halfway through a Fistral organic from the Atlantic which is hitting the highs of a 7.5.
Over and out! Off to bed for a good nights sleep ready for the hills tomorrow.
Betty's is still out on top and a strong, consistent performer again today holding firm at an 8.
The sharpes own came in at 7. Full bodied and hoppy.
In the b&b were are halfway through a Fistral organic from the Atlantic which is hitting the highs of a 7.5.
Over and out! Off to bed for a good nights sleep ready for the hills tomorrow.
Day 1 done: Lands End to Mawgan Porth
Well day 1 is done and everyone is in one piece and on good form.
Overnight digs in Penzance were spot on! A full Cornish breakfast and good wishes from Sue set us up nicely for the days riding. We started out about 8 from Penzance and did the 11 miles to Lands End by just after 9. We were all fairly underwhelmed by the sign-post (Paul is protesting about this). Paul got a little over-excited with the arty photos but I am sure they will be great. The big question is whether Paul's camera's will make it to JOG. It would be a shame if he misses the final shot!
The king of the mountains had a pretty average start have to dismount on the first major challenge 5 miles out of LE. It is only going to get harder!
Mount St Michaels was passed about 11ish and we soon left the south coast to turn north for the next 900 odd miles.
We got to Camborne about 12 and decided some serious calories were required. As the true athletes that we are we all opted for a proper Cornish pastie. But these pasties were each the size of a small baby. They were devoured and gave us the energy needed for the rest of the day. We had a great 15 mile run through Redruth and into Newquay. My first visit and I can only say it was a strange town. Full of school kids and slightly old surf dudes trying hard to be cool. We fitted in perfectly head to toe in Lycra.
We timed our arrival perfectly for the Wales v England game. Enough said about that one. The three pints we had were on hindsight a poor option. If anyone has headed east out of Watergate Bay then you will understand the pain we went through getting up a true horror of a hill. But it is done and we are sat drinking a couple of beers (thanks you richard!) overlooking the Atlantic. A fanatic end to a great start.
Tomorrow is on to Okehampton via Padstow and Rock. Supposedly a tough day through the Cornish moores.
So some stats (for Phil):
- 65 miles done in total
- 3 falls (2 for PR and 1 for me)
- Best comedy place names go to Cocks and Goonhaven
Overnight digs in Penzance were spot on! A full Cornish breakfast and good wishes from Sue set us up nicely for the days riding. We started out about 8 from Penzance and did the 11 miles to Lands End by just after 9. We were all fairly underwhelmed by the sign-post (Paul is protesting about this). Paul got a little over-excited with the arty photos but I am sure they will be great. The big question is whether Paul's camera's will make it to JOG. It would be a shame if he misses the final shot!
The king of the mountains had a pretty average start have to dismount on the first major challenge 5 miles out of LE. It is only going to get harder!
Mount St Michaels was passed about 11ish and we soon left the south coast to turn north for the next 900 odd miles.
We got to Camborne about 12 and decided some serious calories were required. As the true athletes that we are we all opted for a proper Cornish pastie. But these pasties were each the size of a small baby. They were devoured and gave us the energy needed for the rest of the day. We had a great 15 mile run through Redruth and into Newquay. My first visit and I can only say it was a strange town. Full of school kids and slightly old surf dudes trying hard to be cool. We fitted in perfectly head to toe in Lycra.
We timed our arrival perfectly for the Wales v England game. Enough said about that one. The three pints we had were on hindsight a poor option. If anyone has headed east out of Watergate Bay then you will understand the pain we went through getting up a true horror of a hill. But it is done and we are sat drinking a couple of beers (thanks you richard!) overlooking the Atlantic. A fanatic end to a great start.
Tomorrow is on to Okehampton via Padstow and Rock. Supposedly a tough day through the Cornish moores.
So some stats (for Phil):
- 65 miles done in total
- 3 falls (2 for PR and 1 for me)
- Best comedy place names go to Cocks and Goonhaven
Friday, 12 August 2011
Day /night 0
We have safely arrived in Penzance. Unfortunately for Mr Mawdsley and other sceptics, it has been a remarkably smooth trip. Ian was in charge of the Train booking and it all worked very smoothly. Even Paul was in very good time.
The main information to post is that we have decided to drink (and also rate) only local ales on our trip through the country. So this evening the scores on the doors are as follows:
- Ian was first on springo and that came out at a slightly disappointing 6 out of 10
- ace and dicky went for a Betty Stogs which hit an 8 straight out of the traps
- the doom bar got a solid 6.5 from me
- Paul then switched to a ragge dagge from Wallsend and it got a strong 7. Obvious by this pint Paul had broken our rules (established only 30 mins earlier) and went for a north-eastern ale. He was not biased at all
So the cycling starts in the morning. We are all chomping at the bit and hoping for a dry day
We will let you know how we get on.
Ace, deano and dicky
The main information to post is that we have decided to drink (and also rate) only local ales on our trip through the country. So this evening the scores on the doors are as follows:
- Ian was first on springo and that came out at a slightly disappointing 6 out of 10
- ace and dicky went for a Betty Stogs which hit an 8 straight out of the traps
- the doom bar got a solid 6.5 from me
- Paul then switched to a ragge dagge from Wallsend and it got a strong 7. Obvious by this pint Paul had broken our rules (established only 30 mins earlier) and went for a north-eastern ale. He was not biased at all
So the cycling starts in the morning. We are all chomping at the bit and hoping for a dry day
We will let you know how we get on.
Ace, deano and dicky
Leg 8: Thornton to Pooley Bridge on Sat 20th August
Plan (to be confirmed) will be to roll out of Thornton not too long after 8am.
We will be trying to stick to B-roads where possible and will be heading through the following places:
1. Thornton
2. Hambleton – 4 miles
3. Out Rawcliffe
4. Garstang – 10 miles. 9 ish
5. Forton – 15 miles. 9.30ish
6. Caton – 25 miles. 10.30ish
7. Borwick – 30 miles. 11ish
8. Burton-in-Kendal – 35 miles. 11.30ish
9. Crooklands – 40 miles. 12ish
10. Kendal – 50 miles. 1ish
11. Lunch somewhere near Kendal
12. Crook – 55 miles. 2.30ish
13. Windermere – 60miles. 3 ish
14. Troutbeck – 65 miles. 3.30 ish
15. Kirkstone Pass – 70miles – 4 ish
16. Patterdale – 75 miles – 4.30ish
17. Pooley Bridge – 85 miles – 5.30 ish
That is the plan – let’s see how close we come to it.
My mobile is 07837 380389 so call me to arrange meet ups.
Leg 7: Chester to Thornton on Fri 19th August
Just a quick note with a few more details on the Chester to Thornton leg.
As it stands today, we will be meeting at 8am at our B&B which is close to the centre of Chester. Address is: Chester Recorder House, 19 City Walls, Chester, CH1 1SB.
The pace below is particularly pedestrian but we will see how th elegs are doing by then!
We will be trying to stick to B-roads where possible and will be heading through the following places:
1. Chester
2. Helsby
3. Frodsham – 10 miles. 9am
4. Runcorn
5. Widnes – 14 miles
6. Prescot – 18 miles
7. St Helens – 22 miles. 10am
8. Orrell – 26 miles
9. Appley Bridge – 30 miles. 11ish
10. Eccleston – 35 miles. 11.30ish
11. Leyland – 40 miles. 12ish
12. Preston – 45 miles. 12.30ish
13. Lunch somewhere nice near Preston – is this possible???
14. Woodplumpton – 50miles. 2.30ish
15. Inskip – 55 miles. 3ish
16. Elswick
17. Singleton – 60 miles. 3.30ish
18. Thornton – 65 miles. 4ish
That is the plan – let’s see how close we come to it.
My mobile is 07837 380389 so call me to arrange meet ups.
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