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