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!