Lejog day 10 standish to milnthorpe

Another relatively short day to get to another family stop this time at grandpas. Started off grey and cool and gradually turned to drizzle and the first proper rain of the trip for the last half hour. We arrived very wet, me particularly as we discovered the slick tyres of the cyclist in front (sarah) picked up the surface water really well and sprayed the cyclist behind in the face (me). Route was straight forward a49 to preston then mainly a6 onwards. We took a bit of a detour to cockerham before lancaster. Nice to see the back of the a49 as weve been on an off it for the last 4 days. Lunch in garstang which is a much nicer place than i expected and then a good tea stop at carnforth station and railway exhibition. The photo that should be attached below shows the nominal half way point of the trip at 800kms or 500miles. Trucking on now! distance today 83km average speed 19kph cumulative 807km

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LEJOG Day 9 Weaverham to Standish

Just a short one today to get us back to the Standish Guest House (TM) where the food and accommodation has been exceptional and will hopefully continue that way tonight. We are paying our way here buy trading the nightly tariff against our appearance fee.

Today was basically the A49 all the way. This road gets a bit of a bad press from other LEJOGgers but we found it relatively quiet (it shadows the M6), flat, mostly wide enough and with cycle lanes through the busy bits of Warrington and Wigan. A bit weird coming into Wigan from a new direction and being a tourist.

had a spanner mechanical as i put the wheels on the wrong bikes after we got delivered back to weaverham and then had our first proper one as sarahs front mech became mis-alligned but this was easily fixed...in warm sunshine. i have a sneaky suspicion punctures and proper mechanicals are waiting for bad weather and strong winds on the top of scottish hills

distance today 43km
ave speed today 17kph
cumulative 724km

Lejog day 8 craven arms to weaverham

We both woke up feeling it would be better to have a normal length cycle today and a short one tomorrow with tourist stops in wigan rather than a no holds barred attempt to get all the way to standish. We were both in a much more positive frame of mind and steamed into shrewsbury with a 21kph average over 22 undulating miles. The a49 was generally wide and well surfaced and not the bad ride some have claimed. I think we suddenly felt we were achieving the north after a few days of samey middle england and it felt good. Nice cream tea and we kept up the pace via wem to whitchurch for lunch. Hit cheshire soon after and that meant we were back in the north. Woohoo! Had some fun picking our way through a big queue with white van men shutting the door on us but we got through that and we time trialled into weaverham with me as lead out. Waiting for our lift to the standish guest house just now and we'll come back here tomorrow to continue. Given the quality of the food and accommodation so far there is a lot to be lived up to. distance today 108km average speed 19kph cumulative 681 km. interesting road kill for the day: tortoise shell cat

Lejog day 7 -monmouth to craven arms

Today was sunny but mentally the hardest yet especially for me. Had a mini crying fit at a costa coffee in hereford still dont understand why. Then after lunch suddenly got the idea that if we managed a 50 miler today we would be close enough to get to my mum and dads tomorrow. This spurred me on massively and i started to go much faster and at last i felt like there was purpose in every revolution. There isnt much to see along the roads we have been on today. Just more rolling hills that seemed neverending. Saw some wheat being harvested which was pretty dusty and the tractors carrying the grain were a bit disturbing as they came past us. Got to craven arms and had a little bit of trouble finding accommodation. Found a place called the craven arms hotel which usefully isnt a hotel anymore. It used to have rooms apparently! Then there was another hotel where they wouldnt let us have a room because it hadnt been serviced! Aargh! Luckily the hidden hills discovery centre (a tourist centre) came to our aid and after a bit of kerfuffle managed to secure us a bed for the night. Very funny the american girl who first tried to book couldnt work the phone and was saying she couldnt get through to the only b&b that was within 3 miles of here. We started to contemplate a slog up the road to church stretton. Luckily her colleague decided to try the nearby place a second time. Yeay! Very happy. Now in the pub waiting on grub. Just hoping the weather gods keep the winds down tomorrow and that we can complete the southern leg to get to my folks. i suppose a good thought is that we are a third of the way through. Although this could also be considered a very bad thought! Stats- graeme beat the speed record with 68.5kph. Hoopla! Distance 85km avg speed 15kph. 1 cake, 1 icecream. Sarah

Lejog day 6 cheddar to monmouth

Ooh ow! Today was a toughy. Started well by feeling ok at breakfast, but both went rapidly downhill (metaphorically). Physically we went uphill with a grinder up the gorge. The drizzle set in from the offset and the gorge, although spectacular, was oppressive in the rain and felt neverending. Chew lake is apparently the most depressing place to stop for tea although the scone was ok we were left feeling down. We got back on our cycles just in time for drizzle to kick back in. Legendary timing. We took our first wrong turning shortly afterwards so it wasnt going well. Drag over to a place called ham green pill-where i jested that you would need medication if you ate green ham. Ha ha you have to keep your sense of humour on these things. Followed cycle path 41 through a massive council estate to get to the avonmouth bridge. Avonmouth is a shithole. Was expecting a big lorry park and wasnt disappointed. Cycle paths were awful and we were frequently abandoned to the busy lorry filled road. Got through unscathed to join the severn and wye bridges were we bumped into the fellow lejoggers from our cheddar b&b. dont think they were as clued up as us tho because they were navigating with a lonely planet guide and one of them had fallen off a couple of times. Bit of a drag out to tintern but then the scenery improved a million times over. The wye valley was beautiful (even better for being fairly flat!). A few ups and downs into monmouth but pretty good. Think i had some of my darkest hours today. I am not ashamed to say there were a couple of points where i shed a tear or two. It is pretty hard this lejog thing! But have now managed 3 60mile days in a row so something to be proud of. Hope we can take it a bit easier the next couple of days as our backsides are now pretty worn out. Really looking forward to the ride from wigan to standish though :0) sarah. Stats - 97 km, 14.8kph 488km cumulative. Road kill was varied today a badger,fox and a squirrel. I managed to also smuggle a caterpillar across the welsh border in my hair.

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Lejog day 5 tiverton to cheddar

Today was the first day anything other than a full breakfast was offered so we took advantage with boiled egg cheese and croissants. The bridge guest house is yet another place we liked. We left tiverton on the canal and followed its weird glowing greenness until it ended where it has fallen into disrepair. Lots of dog walkers and a stupid boxer dog walked in front of my wheel and i hit it and nearly fell into the canal. Fortunately the owner just thought it was funny and didnt mind a squashed dog. Jumped onto roads until taunton where we had an early lunch. The somerset levels were and we rolled along to glastonbury for another bite to eat. The last couple of hours were a little bit hillier as we passed through wells and then some smaller villages before reaching cheddar. Physically not too tiring a day but probably more mentally taxing for the lack of hills to focus our energy. On a bumpier part of the canal i noticed the speedo wasnt reading so i think the totals are a few clicks short of the true values. This didnt affect our average speed though which was our best yet. today 96km average 17.7kph total 391km

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Lejog day 4 launceston to tiverton

Another breakfast where we both felt crap. This must be part of cycle touring cos thats the third day in a row. we forced as much down as we could and headed straight out to our first hill. It was pretty steep and seemed to last but it was made worse by the fact it was the last hill in cornwall. We whizzed down the other side and both entered devon undefeated cornish hill champions. Devon nearly undid us straight away with a 20% and a 15% in the next few miles. Thankfully ridge top riding from there. Devon minor roads are also surfaced really badly. Sarah says devon knows how they make them so bumpy. No suitable tea and cake until hatherleigh and a series of traverses from one river valley to another til we crashed a village pub bbq at chawleigh. A local had once had mail mis-directed to our chorley. Not too much thatch or saxon churches in lancashire though. The rest of the ride was along a great ridge with views very reminiscent of the merse as we looked over to the mass of dartmoor. a couple of classic long descents with an unexpected stinger of a hill in between and we found ourselves in tiverton. Spotted a nice looking guest house with a terrace by the river and enjoyed g&ts there before a very good chinese where i spilt beer over sarah. I also have to praise the weather gods again as we had helpful winds all day and after a couple of hours of light drizzle we had sunshine. 86km today ave speed 15.5km/h 295 km total

Lejog day 3 - lostwithiely to launceston

We both felt a bit rubbish today so didnt want another biggy. Today we went just under 40 miles. Much nicer day than yesterday from a hill perspective. Long rolling hills rather than deep sharp ravines of despair. Lovely sunshine today and no burn which is always good. Long grinder out of bodmin which was pretty hardcore and got to the top to see a very sweaty looking celtic graeme. The no. 81 for both of us. Nope we carried on our way to the humorously named camelford and them finally launceston. Am starting to get a big head with all of the olympics comments. Coming out of bodmin a guy shouted that he would give me a gold medal when he saw of complete a wee steepy. Camelford had good pasties. Went to see a cool motte and bailey castle in launceston before pub for curry and a pint for a bargain 6.50 very good and hit the spot. Stats. Icecream nil, pasties 4. 57km, 208 cumulative and the top speed record remains with mrs champion. Yeay! Anyway now going to finish drinks and head for another early night after another cup of tea. Tea tastes even better after cycling. Sarah

Lejog day 2 lizard to lostwithial

Sarah says hills are pointless and why not make it all flat. Today was pretty tough uppy downy country with a few real steepies thrown in. It started off in glorious sunshine after a good breakfast at seaview b&b (i recommend it) and we went through lovely country to reach helford. We caught the ferry and then tackled the double inclined hill away from the river. One corner was particularly steep. Might have been one in three on the inside. Got sniffy looks at the first cafe we came to so left and went to the next where someone shouted 2012 at sarah. Some stupid cycle lanes on the way none worse than the one that encouraged us up an uphill dual carriageway before abandoning us later to the mercy of seventy mile per hour traffic. Did quite a bit on sustrans routes 3 and 32 today. Particulary good for getting into truro. Good pasta lunch in truro followed by palava in tourist info booking accommodation. Comedy double act with old faffy lady and lazy mardy computer literate one. After several calls and much panic they got us a place they said was in lanivert near bodmin. Not padstow but bang on our route so we headed off to dairyland which was about half way. Lots of river valleys made it hard work but we got there and had a cream tea. While we were sat in the cafe i looked at the b&b booking and noticed it said lanlivery not lanivert. A worried map search revealed this to be a few miles further but well off our route. Id have gone a different way from truro if we had known! We dodged a shower while inside but went back out into cool greyness. The wind was slightly less helpful on our new course but still generally beneficial. Curiosity is supposed to kill cats but today it was nearly sarah as a kitten ran out in front of her. The mizzle set in for the last forty minutes and so did the hills. The last one went on forever. Just as we got to the b&b the rain really came on and we rushed inside. Apparently the pub was booked out for food so our lovely landlady did us the best cheese on toast ever. We wandered down to the pub for a drink and found we could actually get food so steaks all round. To bed now at 0930 cos we is both knackered. I hope its true when people say the first few days are the hardest. teashop scores :ice creams one, cream teas one. 3 points score draw. 94 km today. 151 km total.

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Lejog day 1 lands end to lizard

The travel lodge last night was rubbish. Hot, bad bed and noisy so we all slept badly. Sarah slept a lot of the way in denial that we were going to start the ride. We both got more nervous as we got nearer and i lost my appetite. I also had a complete mental abberration getting the bikes ready and split my chain for no reason. Weather was perfect as we did photos by the sign and start line. Didnt bother signing the end to end book as we just wanted to start. Said goodbye to janet and david and, just like that, we were off. Half past one. Nice ride to penzance via st buryans then along seawall to marazion where we helped a guy with a puncture before going to helston which has the most hidden tourist info in britain...in the council offices! Did help us get a room at lizard tho. Good cycle to lizard and a sunny evening walk to the point. Now awaiting mussels and skate. distance today 58 km. max speed 66.7 km by sarah so i must try harder. no cakes! ;-(

Journey to the end of the land.

Currently in the rubbish travel lodge at bridgewater. Got away in decent time last night and journey was good until ten miles from here when a phantom double lane closure caused a forty minute delay. like all highly prepared athletes we prepared with pick and mix and nearly made ourselves sick.

LEJOG -1

Still in the office but raring to go. We're staying at Bridgewater services tonight which I believe is the only motorway services with a multi-storey carpark. I think that is probably bad for caravans.

Anyway, Sarah's mum and dad are driving us in the postman pat mobile (red boxey van sized thing) so we'll hopefully squeeze in amongst their stuff in the back seat. The boot will be entirely taken up by our bikes. At least we can get them both inside the car easily enough though.

Hoping to get to LE around midday tomorrow and make a start. I guess Helford, Penryhn or Truro might be the stop over after the detour to the Lizard. I hope recent bad weather means Cornwall won't be booked up over the holiday weekend otherwise we'll be sleeping in bus shelters!

A few last minute mechanicals (front mech broke and rear hub went on my bike) but Wheely Good Bikes saved the day. New chains and brake blocks all round after a thorough clean last night. I'll be happy if we get to Bristol without having to visit a bike shop

Tissington Trail Ride

Another decent weekend ride with Scabbington and Elaine. This time testing our mindset in pouring rain, pretty much all day. 45mile round from Tissington to Parsley Hay to Middleton Top on the Tissington and High Peak trails and then by road to Ashbourne. Had a cup of tea to warm up at Parsley Hay just as weather really deteriorated and cloud came down as we got towards Middleton Top so it got really cold. Lunched there and went back out into lighter rain. Epic downhill into Ashbourne with Sarah and I slip streaming our way past each other down the hill. Had tea and cake at a nice florist/cafe and then headed the last few miles back. Pointless hill out of Ashbourne back onto the trail and drying kecks were really chaffing now. Had a real go at the steep hill back to our campsite and felt suitably knackered afterwards. Great ride, pity about the weather. Not sure we're going to get any decent rides in between now and starting so that may be it for significant training. Will need to keep fitness up on the odd little ride.
Saddle has really changed shape now thanks to the long ride in the wet. Looks a bit odd now

More training

We've managed a couple of longer rides the last two of weekends.

First one was up at my parents in the Borders. On a very hot day from Coldstream we cycled to Duns and up the Hardens before passing through Longformacus to the top of the road in the Lammermuirs. Then has a great decent and river valley ride back to Duns. 45miles and 1200m climbing, we even kept up and average of 10mph so quite please given the heat.

Last weekend we trialled pannier/B&B riding. From Chorley we hopped onto the Leeds Liverpool canal on Friday evening and cycled to Clayton-le-Moors and a B&B. 22miles, a few dodgy dogs/neighbourhoods in Blackburn and one off by me got us there. Nice curry for tea too but wished I'd kept the MTB tyres on. Bit slippy on the unmade sections. On Saturday we headed off further eastwards. Very rough to Burnley, nice local cycling to worked helped us negotiate the tunnel/motorway and then a great ride up to the top pound of the canal at Foulridge. Quick ice cream and tea before continuing. The track got really tough after Barnoldswick and Sarah had a bad off involving a dry stone dike and a potential broken hand. Lunch at Gargrave before more roughness to Skipton. Afternoon tea there and we finally got back onto a good surface near Bingley so the final cruise into Leeds flew by. I made us climb an unnecessary hill to get to Alice's but we found it in the end. 63 miles! Longest day ever by Sarah and the sort of daily distance we need on Lejog.

So getting good to give it a crak now. Tissington Trail this weekend...with forecast it will be pissington trail!