Today's route can be found here.
After another full English breakfast we set off in good form whilst it wasn't raining! We reached Kendal with no problems, however, wondering where our support car had got to for topping up our supplies, we learnt that he was running late due to having been locked in at the B&B by mistake! He'd been engrossed in updating our blog, and the owners had forgotten he was there and ended up going out and locking all the doors behind them! After a hunt for an appropriate key, a safe escape was made!
We climbed numerous challenging inclines en route to Shap... Highest climb was almost 1400 feet in one go! It was very windy (north westerly) which meant even harder cycling, and it was bitterly cold too. Our reward after the tough climbing, apart from lunch, was some much deserved Kendal Mint Cake! Bring on those calories!
Further hills en route to Carlisle were made even more tiring as the north westerly cold wind continued. A hot cup of tea was welcomed on arrival at Sue's mum and Dad's house in Carlisle - thank you for making us feel so welcome!
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Day Six - Whitchurch to Lancaster
Another longer day today to make the following day to Carlisle easier.
Our route is here.
An early start (around 08.30) saw us on the road and making good time. After about an hour we found a nice roadside cafe just outside the village of Tiverton (not the one in Devon) and there were full breakfasts all round.
We knew it must have been good because it was full of police trainee drivers!
Showers on and off during the day and wind which made it really cold. Fortunately the terrain was reasonably flat (Bob was disappointed that there were so few hills) so the guys were able to make good progress. Traffic in the towns (Wigan and Preston) was really heavy so it was quicker to get through by bike than in the car.
Made it to Lancaster and an excellent B&B - The Lancaster Town House, which also had secure parking for the bikes.
We walked into town for dinner (which was further than we thought) and got back reasonably early and slept soundly!
Off to Sue's Mum & Dad's at Carlisle tomorrow. Shorter mileage than today but a bit hillier?
Managed to upload some more photos to the Gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Our route is here.
An early start (around 08.30) saw us on the road and making good time. After about an hour we found a nice roadside cafe just outside the village of Tiverton (not the one in Devon) and there were full breakfasts all round.
We knew it must have been good because it was full of police trainee drivers!
Showers on and off during the day and wind which made it really cold. Fortunately the terrain was reasonably flat (Bob was disappointed that there were so few hills) so the guys were able to make good progress. Traffic in the towns (Wigan and Preston) was really heavy so it was quicker to get through by bike than in the car.
Made it to Lancaster and an excellent B&B - The Lancaster Town House, which also had secure parking for the bikes.
We walked into town for dinner (which was further than we thought) and got back reasonably early and slept soundly!
Off to Sue's Mum & Dad's at Carlisle tomorrow. Shorter mileage than today but a bit hillier?
Managed to upload some more photos to the Gallery for your viewing pleasure.
Day Five - Hereford to Whitchurch, Shropshire
We left Rita's after a leisurely breakfast and headed north.
Details of our route can be found here.
Weather was good and Team Monday took a route through minor roads which was pretty but longer.
Mobile phone reception and therefore tracking the guys was more of a problem today but we managed to catch up with one another.
Today Team Monday decided to push on a bit and rode their furthest distance in a day to date (a little over 92 miles).
We eventually arrived at a B&B just a mile north of Whitchurch in Shropshire around 20.30. There was a nice little hill to finish the day off. Mile Bank Farm B&B were great and managed to make two rooms available which saved having to pitch the tent.
A quick shower and then into the town for some food and local beer at The Bear. Excellent!
Everyone was tired tonight so a good sleep was had in readiness for an early start tomorrow.
Details of our route can be found here.
Weather was good and Team Monday took a route through minor roads which was pretty but longer.
Mobile phone reception and therefore tracking the guys was more of a problem today but we managed to catch up with one another.
Today Team Monday decided to push on a bit and rode their furthest distance in a day to date (a little over 92 miles).
We eventually arrived at a B&B just a mile north of Whitchurch in Shropshire around 20.30. There was a nice little hill to finish the day off. Mile Bank Farm B&B were great and managed to make two rooms available which saved having to pitch the tent.
A quick shower and then into the town for some food and local beer at The Bear. Excellent!
Everyone was tired tonight so a good sleep was had in readiness for an early start tomorrow.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Day Four - Edington to Hereford
Today's route details are here.
A cloudy start, but the sun certainly shone down on us for the rest of the day once we were in our stride. The first 30 miles were generally flat - we were crossing the Somerset levels; the Strawberry Line cycle path and on through the Gordano Valley - a lovely road surface!
Once we had crossed the old Severn Crossing (very windy!) and waited for our own David Bailey (Bob) to get his mini tripod out, we found that the hills were back with us as expected, however, cycling through the Wye Valley made for a very pretty cycle ride.
We were joined by Mike (who really should get a faster bike as he had only managed to catch us up by the end of the day!) He had located us via his iPhone - we're not sure if he wanted to see us or was pining for his iPad which we are borrowing! (He's really missing it - cheers for lending it to us Mike!)
We were greeted at our Hereford stop by Rita (Rita offers a fantastic B&B for people visiting Hereford or surrounding areas and can be contacted at - rita117@btinternet.com ) who made us very welcome in her lovely house, and food a-plenty - thanks Rita! We also met up with an ex-tutor of Trudy's, who offered us some sponsor money and introduced us to some fine local beer, a pint of Butty at The Barrels (highly recommended) - thanks Richard!
Onwards and northwards...
A cloudy start, but the sun certainly shone down on us for the rest of the day once we were in our stride. The first 30 miles were generally flat - we were crossing the Somerset levels; the Strawberry Line cycle path and on through the Gordano Valley - a lovely road surface!
Once we had crossed the old Severn Crossing (very windy!) and waited for our own David Bailey (Bob) to get his mini tripod out, we found that the hills were back with us as expected, however, cycling through the Wye Valley made for a very pretty cycle ride.
We were joined by Mike (who really should get a faster bike as he had only managed to catch us up by the end of the day!) He had located us via his iPhone - we're not sure if he wanted to see us or was pining for his iPad which we are borrowing! (He's really missing it - cheers for lending it to us Mike!)
We were greeted at our Hereford stop by Rita (Rita offers a fantastic B&B for people visiting Hereford or surrounding areas and can be contacted at - rita117@btinternet.com ) who made us very welcome in her lovely house, and food a-plenty - thanks Rita! We also met up with an ex-tutor of Trudy's, who offered us some sponsor money and introduced us to some fine local beer, a pint of Butty at The Barrels (highly recommended) - thanks Richard!
Onwards and northwards...
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Day Three - Okehampton to Edington
Our route for day three can be found here
We have also started to upload some pictures to our LEJOG gallery at http://gallery.me.com/pete.nichols Gallery
For those of you wondering why there are pictures of pints of beer every now and then, Pete's alternative LEJOG is to sample a local pint from each county which our route passes through!
The day started with a much needed cooked breakfast in "Woody's Diner", located along the road from the Travel Lodge we were staying at in Okehampton. By permission of the staff there, we were allowed to bring our bikes into the room with us.
A puncture-free day, however, Karl and Trudy were starting to suffer with a twinge in their knee. Thanks to the ibuprofen and pain relief gel, we managed to complete the day's route successfully. 76.63 miles were logged today, and a total ascent of 2337 feet - no wonder we felt more human this evening compared to the last two days! Conclusion: Somerset is much, much flatter than Cornwall and Devon!
We must now be getting nearer to Bristol - the road surface doesn't match up to what we've experienced during the last two days! It's amazing what the human body will endure from the white knuckle vibrations travelling up through the handlebars and saddle.
The technology today is amazing - wherever we are, our support vehicle seems to just appear, even when we go 'off road' to follow canal tow paths... There's no escape!
Our hosts tonight are Karl and his wife Liz - we are staying at their home in Edington. Top marks for our dinner tonight Liz, thank you very much! Also, thank you to Keira for the entertainment (age 20 months!) and Karl for his home-made beverages!
We have a long day tomorrow, crossing two magnificent bridges, Avon and Severn.
We have also started to upload some pictures to our LEJOG gallery at http://gallery.me.com/pete.nichols Gallery
For those of you wondering why there are pictures of pints of beer every now and then, Pete's alternative LEJOG is to sample a local pint from each county which our route passes through!
The day started with a much needed cooked breakfast in "Woody's Diner", located along the road from the Travel Lodge we were staying at in Okehampton. By permission of the staff there, we were allowed to bring our bikes into the room with us.
A puncture-free day, however, Karl and Trudy were starting to suffer with a twinge in their knee. Thanks to the ibuprofen and pain relief gel, we managed to complete the day's route successfully. 76.63 miles were logged today, and a total ascent of 2337 feet - no wonder we felt more human this evening compared to the last two days! Conclusion: Somerset is much, much flatter than Cornwall and Devon!
We must now be getting nearer to Bristol - the road surface doesn't match up to what we've experienced during the last two days! It's amazing what the human body will endure from the white knuckle vibrations travelling up through the handlebars and saddle.
The technology today is amazing - wherever we are, our support vehicle seems to just appear, even when we go 'off road' to follow canal tow paths... There's no escape!
Our hosts tonight are Karl and his wife Liz - we are staying at their home in Edington. Top marks for our dinner tonight Liz, thank you very much! Also, thank you to Keira for the entertainment (age 20 months!) and Karl for his home-made beverages!
We have a long day tomorrow, crossing two magnificent bridges, Avon and Severn.
Day Two - Truro to Okehampton
Quote of the day - Bob 'Not another amazing hill! They must grow them in Cornwall'
Our cyclemeter app showed a total ascent of 4688 feet today and it certainly felt like it!
We had great plans to start early this morning. There was even some talk of being away by eight although in the end due to a combination of a very chatty and sociable breakfast with our hosts Jill and Trev (Thanks once again guys, you were fantastic, Trev your toast was excellent!) and a downpour of major proportions including a few claps of thunder we eventually got going around 10.30.
Details of today's route can be found here.
Bob was highly impressed with how good the road surfaces are in Cornwall compared to back home in Bristol. (well at least he was happy with one aspect of the day ;) ) Karl said that Bob was able to inspect the road surfaces because he was going so slowly...
The rain had dried up and we had a southerly breeze helping us along. (well at least it wasn't in our faces!)
After a long morning we made it to Liskeard where our newly sign written support vehicle was waiting along with some comfy chairs and fresh local steak pasties. Bob commented later that without those pasties and one of Olive's rock cakes the day might not have ended up as successfully as it did!
The afternoon continued in the same vein with the majority of the hills appearing to go 'up'. There was some excitement with narrow lanes and oncoming cars but in the end everyone made it to our overnight stop just outside Okehampton.
A trip down into Okehampton itself found us in an excellent pub with huge plates of food all round together with a sample of local Devon beers and ciders. Needless to say we all slept very soundly!
Onwards to Karl's tomorrow at Edington. Slightly longer in distance but fingers crossed not so much 'up'.
Thanks for reading. Live long and prosper.
Our cyclemeter app showed a total ascent of 4688 feet today and it certainly felt like it!
We had great plans to start early this morning. There was even some talk of being away by eight although in the end due to a combination of a very chatty and sociable breakfast with our hosts Jill and Trev (Thanks once again guys, you were fantastic, Trev your toast was excellent!) and a downpour of major proportions including a few claps of thunder we eventually got going around 10.30.
Details of today's route can be found here.
Bob was highly impressed with how good the road surfaces are in Cornwall compared to back home in Bristol. (well at least he was happy with one aspect of the day ;) ) Karl said that Bob was able to inspect the road surfaces because he was going so slowly...
The rain had dried up and we had a southerly breeze helping us along. (well at least it wasn't in our faces!)
After a long morning we made it to Liskeard where our newly sign written support vehicle was waiting along with some comfy chairs and fresh local steak pasties. Bob commented later that without those pasties and one of Olive's rock cakes the day might not have ended up as successfully as it did!
The afternoon continued in the same vein with the majority of the hills appearing to go 'up'. There was some excitement with narrow lanes and oncoming cars but in the end everyone made it to our overnight stop just outside Okehampton.
A trip down into Okehampton itself found us in an excellent pub with huge plates of food all round together with a sample of local Devon beers and ciders. Needless to say we all slept very soundly!
Onwards to Karl's tomorrow at Edington. Slightly longer in distance but fingers crossed not so much 'up'.
Thanks for reading. Live long and prosper.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Day One - Lands End to Truro
After a lengthy drive to Cornwall via Edington to pickup brother Karl who is joining us for the first leg of the journey (and all hoping the bikes are stable enough on the new bike rack) we made it to Lands End.
It's bright sunshine but with a stiff breeze blowing (fortunately from the South).
After the obligatory photos we eventually set off at about 16.00 heading for Truro.
Trudy managed to get the first puncture of the trip within 10 miles of leaving Lands End! Hope this isn't a sign of things to come...
To view our route please click here.
Bob decided to take the scenic route avoiding the busy A30 as much as possible. Hills, hills, hills and more hills - highest climb 700ft (good practice for Scotland) however it was very pretty!
We eventually made it to Truro and were picked up by Pete who had been monitoring our progress using an iPad and already knew we had stopped near McDonalds. how spooky is that?
A short car journey brought us to our first stop of the trip where we were made very welcome by Pete's cousin Jill and her husband Trev. A brief stop to shower and freshen up before heading to the pub for a meal and some cornish ale. Bring on those calories!!
Looking forward to our first full day of cycling tomorrow. Hope the weather stays kind to us.
It's bright sunshine but with a stiff breeze blowing (fortunately from the South).
After the obligatory photos we eventually set off at about 16.00 heading for Truro.
Trudy managed to get the first puncture of the trip within 10 miles of leaving Lands End! Hope this isn't a sign of things to come...
To view our route please click here.
Bob decided to take the scenic route avoiding the busy A30 as much as possible. Hills, hills, hills and more hills - highest climb 700ft (good practice for Scotland) however it was very pretty!
We eventually made it to Truro and were picked up by Pete who had been monitoring our progress using an iPad and already knew we had stopped near McDonalds. how spooky is that?
A short car journey brought us to our first stop of the trip where we were made very welcome by Pete's cousin Jill and her husband Trev. A brief stop to shower and freshen up before heading to the pub for a meal and some cornish ale. Bring on those calories!!
Looking forward to our first full day of cycling tomorrow. Hope the weather stays kind to us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)