As The Dust Settles After LeJog.......

Its now almost a week since we completed the epic ride from one end of the country to the other.  Having put all the days together as one ride to show just how far it is, its come out at 911miles.  We thought we'd done slightly more than that but who cares.  Its a long way anyway.  A very long way.  Especially in 8 days!

So, here, in its entirety is our ride :

Now that I look at it again, its seems even further!

To think, I've sat on my little bike and pedalled all that way.  

ALL THAT WAY!!!

As the pain fades of actually doing it, its now is hitting home just how much of an achievement it is.  Yes, people have walked it naked ( see Day 1 pictures ), a person has even tried to push a pee along with his nose ( lasted 2 miles apparently ), and the world record is something like riding it in 45 or 48 hours ( I can't remember exactly ), but who cares. 
This was our epic adventure and what an adventure.  We aren't professional cyclists, just mere mortals who enjoy cycling. Or did, as it may have put me off doing really long distances now!!

We might not have been that quick but who cares.  With an average of just over 14mph for the entire journey, thats not bad going.  14mph for over 900miles and thats with climbing hills that laid vertcially would be almost 8.5miles high!
Yes, my legs know it but not like our backsides!

Surprisingly my legs haven't been stiff at all.  They were worse when we would stop for some food, etc and then have to start riding another 30miles to the next stop.

My backside seems to have calmed down, although there is still a few blisters to heal.  They're not too bad now but they were. 

And so as a little re-cap, here are the actual rides we did - although a couple of them stop short due to battery failure on my Garmin.

Day 1 Lands End to Lifton

For those wondering, the little red dots with numbers on are relating to the difficulty of the hill.  If you look at the map, there were only 9 graded hills but as you can see from the graph ( green wiggly lines ), we went up and down quite a few times more than that!

With hindsight, we wouldn't have done this route.  We'd made the decision to keep off as many A roads as possible due to the possible Easter traffic.  The back roads we chose were so empty we hardly saw anyone at all.  And then, when we got lost, the Garmin was taking us the shortest distance to our finish point which was probably our downfall.  It was my fault the Garmin took us the shortest route as it was set to route as Bike rather than car.  It doesn't take into account hills, just the shortest way to the finish.  You might be wondering what the problem was as surely the shortest was the best?  No.  It took us down plenty of windy difficult sections that had us hard on our brakes bouncing over potholes and grass and then having to struggle up a steep hill immediately afterwards.  Had we stuck to the `better` roads, we would have been able to ride quicker, and then might have got to the hotel rather than being 20miles short!

And then when we got into Devon, there was the 20% hill that was tough as well.

Probably not one of our better choices of route!

Day 2 Lifton to Bridgwater

It didn't help starting off 20miles from where we should have been.  Slightly better roads meant we could go a bit faster, if we had the energy to do it - shame we didn't after yesterdays efforts.  Our problems today where more a case of how far can we go in the strong headwind.  It didn't seem to matter which direction we went, the wind was there all the time.

The only cheery bit for us today was stopping to look at these lovely Morgans... 

After yesterdays Sportive killing amount of hills ( fine if it was just the one day ), we had yet again more hills to climb, and this time we had three big hills that are a Grade 3 ( it goes 4,3,2,1,HC with a grade 4 not being as tough as a grade 3, etc ).
It was this last Grade 3 hill that Ric blew up on.  His bike going over the side of the hill, well, almost.  Thankfully our rescue team arrived just in time!

Thanks again to Jus & Di for sorting us out with a new hotel for the night in Weston Super Mare.  What would we have done without you?

Morale of the last two days for anyone doing LeJog?  Try to keep the hills down to minimum.  Cornwall and Devon are tough and you will still need your legs later on!

Day 3 Bridgwater to Ludlow

Frantically re-routing to minimise the hills and ( hopefully ) ensure we get to Leyland at the end of Day 4 doesn't help on such an epic adventure. Yes it might add to it, but when your tired, the last thing you want to do is spend a couple of hours trying to find a more suitable route and a new hotel for the following day.  Stressful !!!
Today we had to brave the A38 and pat of the A49.  Fast roads that seem even faster when you are pedalling away and a lorry hurtles past you missing you by inches and then the back draft knocks you.  

Not a good day in that respect.  
Not a good day for me in terms of my bowels either!!

But it was a good day to meet up with old high school mate Allan and the support he gave us on his motorbike following us along for a couple of hours.

Day 4 Ludlow to Leyland

This was the day we had to do.  Get to our own beds tonight.  Damn that A49 though.  Not ideal but a means to an end.  Fast enough for us to push into the headwind again.  We suffered what turned out to be the only puncture of the trip on the A5 around Shrewsbury.  At least where we had stopped seemed to be sheltered from the wind and was really warm - could quite easily have stayed there!! 
Riding past Oulton Park towards the end of the journey perked me up a bit - but not enough to want to ride around it!!
At the end we were told by my nephew Christopher that we had dirty faces.  Yep, we did.  Panda eyes like the old days.......

Day 5 Leyland to Lockerbie

Much needed support from Chorley Cycling Club helped us to Lancaster where we met my sister-in-law Sharon and then Kendal where we met another old school friend John. Then THE hills started - Shap.  By now I'm starting to real struggle on the climbs and Ric is just getting stronger and stronger.  I found Shap to be tough but Ric thought it was relatively easy.  I hope he's not going down the Lance Armstrong route!!!
We didn't quite make Lockerbie by 4 miles.  But, and this is a big BUT, we were actually ahead of schedule!!  After the disaster of Day 1 and especially Day 2, we had pulled ourselves in front by 15miles.  It might not sound a lot but its about an hours cycling so good enough for us! 

Day 6 Lockerbie to Luss ( Gretna )

What do we remember about this ride?  Well, the weather for one - wet and miserable.  The roads were, mostly, excellent except for the muck - we looked like we had been mountain biking by lunch time!
We don't like Glasgow, although by now Ric didn't trust the Garmin so that didn't help!
High point?  Getting to Loch Lomond and still being ahead of schedule.

Day 7 Luss to Inverness

This turned out to be my worst day and Rics strongest.  I failed big time over the Glencoe Mountains.  20 odd miles that made we want to stop, cry and go home.  I had no energy at all on the climbs and Ric was minutes and miles ahead of me.  Luckily everyone supported me and we managed what turned out to be a very long ride to almost the wrong hotel in Inverness!  Bare in mind before we had started this adventure we had only ridden 100miles as our furthest ride and we had beaten that on day 3 by doing 122miles.  This was 20miles further than that!!
Beautiful scenery too, if the weather could have improved a bit.

Day 8 Inverness to John o Groats

Someone told us today would be undulating.  Now what I call undulating isn't 13% climbs.  Undulating should be rolling hills that are easy to pedal up, not monster hills that seem to go on and on.  Be warned there are a number of tough climbs on this stretch.  Its very windy too, especially along the coast.
Today you have really only one road to follow as well so no major issues about the route ( for a change! ).

A Quick Review

Cornwall and Devon are killers, the A38 and A49 fast, the A6 much better than we had thought except for the Shap ( for me not Ric ).  Scotland is a big place with one road in one road out but beautiful Lochs!
John O Groats is not exactly a lively place at 7:15pm on a Saturday night!!

Should we have taken longer?  Yes.  Maybe 8 days was pushing it.  9 would have been better and 10, well, maybe a bit too easy?

But at least we did what we set off to and that is complete our journey from Lands End to John O Groats in 8 days.  Phew!!

For the Stato's out there here's some interesting figures

It took us 64 hours to ride from Lands End to John O Groats.
Our average speed for the entire journey was 14.03mph
We turned the pedals around approx 305,746 times - no wonder I've got a bad right knee!!

So would we do it again?

Me - No
Ric - Maybe

We now have to start planning our next big adventure.....

I think getting on the bike will be enough for me just at the moment, thank you!

Day 8 LeJog 13th April 2013 - Inverness to John o Groats 120miles

Today is the day, the day we hopefully get to John O Groats.  We've still around 120miles to do so it won't be a walk in the park, especially after yesterday.  I feel quite tired even though I seem to get, for once, a reasonable nights sleep.  Not surprising really as we've ridden 800miles in the last week!!

Our problem of the day was how to get over the Kessock Bridge just outside Inverness.  This is the A9 and its a fast busy dual carriageway that had one side closed due to roadworks.  Luckily there was a cycle path to ride along so we were kept away from all the traffic on an early Saturday morning.

Once over, we then found a cycle route to follow which I think was the old road. It saved us being on the A9 for a few miles which was great and also brought us out about half way up the hill we would have had to climb too.  At the top of this little hill we then had quite a good descent to the next bridge.

Cromarty Bridge spans the Cromarty Firth and is quite a low narrow bridge compared to the Kessock Bridge.  The road surface was a bit rough too!  I must be getting old as we'd only ridden 11miles so far and I was already approaching wee stop number 3!!

I think I must be holding it in here looking at that expression!

Oh Dad do I have to have another photo!!

And so the rough surface proved too much and I had to stop for that wee stop number 3 on the other side of the bridge!

We would be on the A9 and much of the coast for most of the day which, when you look at the photos above, looked Ok but the wind was picking up ( again ).  We had quite a strong headwind at times which slowed our progress down, especially me with my less than empty legs!!

We met our wonderful support team just outside Tain and I think I might have been ready for it - I think I had a Duck & Hoisin Sauce Wrap for my 2nd breakfast!!  I recommend them - from Tesco.

Once fed and watered, we set off for Golspie as our next meeting point.  From here, not only did we have the dreaded headwind to contend with, but also the hills started.  After crossing the Domoch Bridge we then found ourselves with a number of inclines which started to get at me but not Ric.  

A short 8% climb over the River Fleet had me puffing hard when normally it wouldn't have been a problem.  Thankfully the town of Golpsie appeared around a corner and our crew waiting for us at the local playpark for more cakes and brews, etc

Hoping that we had got the worst of the steep climbs out of the way we set off again.  How wrong we were.  65miles in and we hit Helmsdale.  I think the name says it all.  This was a tough climb.  It just seemed to go round and up forever.  And then we hit Berriedale Brae after a wicked descent.  13% downhill and twisty had us exploring our limits after the crawl of climbing hills.  And, as Ric likes to say "If you go down, you only have to go up". we immediately found ourselves hit with a brick wall of a climb.  13% again.  Oh, how I wished it wasn't.......

Obviously used to slow cyclists, we had cars beeping at us as they approached us to warn us - made a nice change.  Mind you I did have the bike moving across the carriageway to try to lessen the steepness of the incline at times!!

Obviously I have googled the picture above and below!!

Another view just to give you an idea of the height your climb quickly.

At the top of this I had had enough.  Quite simply had enough.  And this was with my climbing cassette on ( lower gearing to make the hills easier, supposedly ).  I'm sure with the other rear cassette on I wouldn't have got to the top, mind you, I probably wouldn't have done half the climbs I've done during these past few days!

Luckily not much further along the girls had pulled up ready for us ( well, me ) to fall into the car.  The wind was getting stronger and the beautiful sunshine was being replaced by dark clouds and it was getting quite cold.  Another layer on, we then hoped we would get to Wick which was only 16miles from John O Groats.  Yey?

The wind tried is hardest to stop us getting anywhere. I'm sure that was its intention. It didn't seem to matter which direction we rode, the wind was pushing us backwards and I was seriously struggling to keep Ric in my sights.

Then all of a sudden the wind changed and we had a tailwind.

Great, time to play catch up.  Ric upped the pace and even though I was still travelling at around 24 - 25mph, it wasn't enough to keep up with him so we got separated again.  Not to worry, not long to go now I thought.

I also found out how fast a rabbit can run - 18.2mph!!

It was a really quick 4 miles at this 20 odd mile an hour pace and it certainly makes you feel better.

And so to our final feed stop before the big finish.  Homebase carpark at Wick!!  

After a quick feed we left the girls to look at Pets at Home and, with the help of the wind again, had another 5 miles of fast riding.

It didn't last.  As soon as we turned a corner BAM, the wind hit us.  Soon to a crawl, it became apparent that we wouldn't have an easy last few miles.

Oh how I hate the wind.  Oh how I hate the hills.  Because, of course, there were some more to come. Why can't it be an easy run to the finish?

After another wee stop ( I'd lost count at 8!! ) and my final murdering of my jelly baby population, we tackled the last climb in worsening windy conditions.

At the top we saw our final destination - John O Groats, and then we saw our families running towards us cheering us along.  As we passed the town sign holding hands we had to stop as the girls were shouting at us.

Apparently the sign ( the official white signpost ) was out of order so the girls had come back to the start of the town to get our pictures taken with the towns name instead.

We'd arrived at just after 7pm.  Thankfully.

Then, to finish it was a short ( welcome ) freewheel to the port itself for some more pictures.

Struggling to stand up in the bleak and remote port, we decided the best option would be to put the bikes on the bike racks and shoot off back to Wick for a celebratory Fish & Chip supper - the champagne is on ice!!

All I can say is it was hardwork.  Mentally and physically.  But I've done it, well, we've done.  920miles in 8 days.  Sounds like a long way even to me!!

And, I certainly wouldn't have been able to if it wasn't for my friends and family. 

So a big BIG thanks goes to :

Mr. B

For his Froome-like support when I needed it the most

Jus  ( my lovely wife )

For being my shoulder to cry on and all the love and encouragment you gave me during this emotional rollercoaster. You simply are the best.

Di ( Ric's lovely wife ) 

For keeping Ric's spirits up when he needed it the most.  And for doing the market research in nearly every supermarket we passed ( same goes to Jus for that as well )

Tara, Cordy, Jess & Meg ( our girls )

For cheering us along and being there when we needed a laugh

Mums & Dads

For looking after the girls for the first half of this journey.

Alan Tomlinson

What a star on his BMW bike making us feel like Pro's from Bristol to Gloucester. Some excellent photos too and we definitely will buy you a beer next time you are back in Leyland.

John Pointon

Thanks for meeting us in Kendal for a bit of a laugh and moral boost before the Shap climb.

Marc, Lisa & Christopher Nelson

For meeting us at Euxton and Christopher making me laugh whilst he hung out of the car trying to take pictures. 

Sharon Barton ( Sister in law )

For getting us on Radio Bay ( even though we didn't hear it but Charlie did! ) and meeting us in Lancaster.

Rob Crank ( Chorley Cycling Club )

For us good steady pace to Lancaster on Day 5.

Graham Shaw ( my boss )

Telling us about Google Lattitude was such a godsend.

And to all the rest of you that has supported us through kind wishes and donations, thank you very very much.

Now what do I do????????

Day 7 LeJog 12th April 2013 - Loch Lomond to Inverness - 142miles

I'm getting fed up with rough nights sleep.  This morning we opened the curtains to rain.  Miserable rain.  The view across the River Clyde to Greenock looked cold and uninviting.  At least we didn't have the climb out of Helensburgh to do!

With Loch Lomond in the background, we set off getting blasted by spray from the passing cars and lorries along the A82. These Loch don't half go on!!

We did our usual roadside `wee-stop` at railway bridge 85 before the climb to Crianlarich.  It was lovely and quiet.  Just a bird tweeting and a Woodpecker knocking on a tree trunk.  I said "Oh listen, a woodpecker", Ric replied " Oh look, my pecker!"  It amused us but I suppose you had to be there!

The climb to Crianlarich was never ending.  Not steep, just on and up, up and on.  Ric went further and further into the distance. There was nothing I could do to keep up with him.

All I kept thinking was I hope he stops soon.  At Crianlarich he had. It was cold so a brew stop that turned into a beans on toast and coffee stop was thought to be a good idea as the girls where still having breakfast back in Helensburgh.  We stopped at the Crianlarich cafe which is on the train platform.  Basic but sufficient for our needs.  Don't suppose you can complain at £4 for a cup of (strong) coffee and 2 slices of toast with beans, can you?

Now I knew the next section was going to be fairly difficult as from our route we had no choice but to stick to the A82 and go over the Glencoe mountains.  One road in, one road out.
40 miles of hills with still 100 to do once over them!

Climbing over another hill and I was really struggling.  Luckily Ric had slowed at the top and we raided our onboard food rations - me murdering the Jelly Baby population!  The climbs where twisty as well.  A bit European.  
You know you're high and in remote places when the main road has barriers on it that they close when it snows.  No getting out or in, it seems if it snows!!

This single carriageway is reasonably fast for cars.  And we found out that some give us plenty of room whilst others don't give a hoot.  In fact Ric was very close to be knocked off at one point.  A van coming the other way decided to pass 3 or 4 cars in one go and ignored the fact there was a cyclist coming the other way even though there were sufficient gaps between the cars they where passing.  Poor Ric had to scramble for the grass verge as the van hurtled passed.  I made my feelings clear to the driver who just laughed at me.  I just wish I had got his number..... 

The hills continued and I found it increasingly difficult to keep Ric in my sights.  Now, as much as this pains me to say so and I don't care if you laugh, but the mental anguish of this ride now began to hit home.  Not being able to keep up with Ric was hurting.  I was getting more and more depressed at the thought of what was still to come and I found myself fighting away tears.  Its really difficult to explain these feelings, you seem to have no control over them.  And then it happened...

Climbing from Loch Tulla to Locahan na h-Achlaise ( how on earth do you say that? ) there was a steep hairpin section that we could see approaching.  Ric just did his thing and powered up the hill.  I just about made it to the corner where the views would have been fantastic and Ric was waiting.  At least he's waiting I said to myself.  Not quite.  I got within 100 yards of him and he set off again.  He was unaware of my `condition` and I don't blame him at all, but the floodgates opened.  I couldn't help it.  Still climbing gently I was sobbing hard.  I even had to keep my head down as I passed some walkers coming the other way.  I felt stupid and embarassed as I couldn't control it.  Then, finally, at the top, the support crew where there.
I rode into the layby with my hand covering my face and collapsed in a heap.  Jus covered me up with my coat and I tried to control myself.  For me, I was getting in the car and going home.  I couldn't carry on.  It was too much.  I still had around 100miles to do today. No chance. I'm glad there weren't any pictures taken, it wouldn't have been pretty. 
I don't know what I would have done without Jus's support - gone home and failed.  Simple.
It took me an age to come round to continuing.  Poor Ric was still unaware as he was keeping warm in his car.  With Jus's encouragement and a sausage butty and my daughters left over square sausages we agreed to meet up at Fort William for the next feed point and take it from there.

With still some hills to climb, that I wished we'd already ridden, Ric became my Chris Froome.  Encouragement and pacing is what Ric is good at.  He slowed down and tried to pull me up most of the hills as best as he could, or my legs would allow me to.  It must have been hard for him, but that is what mates do.  Thanks, Ric.

And then, finally, we had gotten through those blasted killer mountains and were dropping down into Glencoe and onto Fort William.  The descent was awesome. 

Finally Fort William arrived and with that a Big Mac!!  Now I must have been feeling bad as I'm not a McDonalds fan!!!  After this I seemed to be feeling a bit better, not stronger, just better.  Maybe it was the thought that the major hills where out of the way.

We agreed with our Support Crews, to meet up at Fort Augustus as these smaller targets of 25 to 30 miles seemed to keep my spirits up rather than looking at the full distance still to be ridden.  The girls went for a wander around the town and we set off.  They didn't catch us until maybe 40 miles.

Mind you Ric had us pushing a fair pace at times as we pedalled alongside the banks of Loch Ness.  The road is undulating but does have some shorter steeper sections that Ric thought would be good to do Hill Intervals on just to keep me motivated.  I managed 3!!!  Through gritted teeth I pushed hard to not lose his wheel and at the top told him, thats enough especially as we have 30 miles still to do.  I suppose it took my mind of `other` things for a while!!!

Then at Drumnadrochit ( where the Loch Ness visitor Centre is ) we took a phone call.  Now the plan was that we were spending 2 nights in the Inverness Travelodge near the Fairways golf course. Oh so I thought.  I had given them the Post Code and our route on my GPS was taking to the same hotel.  It turned out to be the wrong hotel!!  Sorry.  A frantic half hour as we continued to pedal towards Inverness had the girls finding the other Travelodge.  And, also very luckily for us, Ric had stayed in the same hotel previously so we just about knew which way to go through the town centre.

The downhill section on the A9 to the hotel was slow.  I could hardly turn the pedals round and we struggled to break 13mph.  Shattered.

142.4miles, thats what we have just done and boy do I know it.  How I got here at all, I just don't know.  I certainly wouldn't have if it wasn't for Ric and Jus and Di and our girls.  Not a chance.

Today has been one of the toughest days of my life.  Period.

Slightly changing the subject, I'm also noting that my food intake has shot up during the day.  So, this is what I ate today for the ride:

Breakfast - Porridge Pot
During the morning - Protein bar, couple of Soreen Slices
Mid-Morning Breakfast - 2 Slices of Toast and Beans
Early Lunch - Jelly Beans, Soreen, Jelly Babies
Lunch - Sausage Butty, sqaure sausages, hash brown, cake
Late Lunch - Big Mac, Chips and Cake
Afternoon - 2 Chicken Tikka Kebabs, cake

We have one final day to go.  A short little ride of 120miles to John O Groats and then we have done it............I'm just hoping someone find my legs and brings them back to me during the night or else I might be in trouble again.....

Please support us

Day 6 LeJog 11th April 2013 Lockerbie to Loch Lomond 116miles

Today we are supposed to ride to Crianlarich from Lockerbie, passing through Glasgow.  Officially we are ahead of schedule, and we need to keep it that way too, otherwise Day 7 might become the ride to finish us off.

Mrs. B kindly drove us both back to the previous nights finishing point after we had had our usual Tesco / Sainsbury porridge pots.  Not the best but at least we get some fuel in us until the girls meet up with us later on.

The route we followed was on the B7076 which runs right alongside the A74(M).  Most of the time the road was really smooth and fantastic.  Just wish some of our roads could be that good.  Other times the surface was rough.  So rough I'm sure we both lost fillings along the way.  After another long slog miles behind Ric, we stopped for some warmth at Abington Services.  Soup, Toastie and black coffee!

The girls had been shopping in Gretna's Outlet Village so only caught us just outside Hamilton, some 60miles into our journey.  Have to say that their timing was spot on as Ric was wondering where they were and we stopped to phone them.

Cold and wet and filthy from the muck on the road we welcomed the break!

I think thats Motherwell in the background.

The next meeting point was to be the Erskine Bridge, approximately 30miles away but that turned out to be a nightmare ride.  With no faith in my Garmin GPS device Ric decided he knew better than to follow a left turn we should have taken and kept us on the A74.  To some extent he was right as the particular left turn was a dead end, but the next one wasn't and that was our A724 route to keep us just south of Glasgow's centre.  Oh well!!

We ended splat bang in the middle, stopped at every set of lights, got lost, fell out.  Fun and games.  At least we saw the 2 football grounds in the process! 

Celtic

We didn't get close enough to Rangers, plus we'd had enough too!

This part of the day was so demoralising.  We just never seemed to get to the Bridge.  I think I might apply for the position of Directions Director!!  someone should make the signs better.

Eventually we did make it but we had spent ages getting through Glasgow that it looked unlikely we would get to Crianlarich today as it was already around 5pm and we still had over 40miles to do.

Ric's duaghter Jess has some good shots of us coming over the bridge which I will add later.

Erskine Bridge itself?  Well, all I can say is thankfully there is a cycle path!  Its quite an incline and very windy too.

We then dropped down into Old Kilpatrick on the otherside for another feed session.  Then I noticed that the A82 we were to ride on had quite a climb for us straight after we had eaten.  It was buys rush hour time and I didn't fancy struggling up a dual carriageway at maybe 8mph when cars were rushing past us at 60+.  

A sensible decision saw us stay to the old road A814 which was our first bit of luck.  We knew we would meet up with the A82 again a few miles further along so hoped the old A814 would be kinder to our legs.  And it was.  The A82 climbed and then came back down to meet us so thankfully we hadn't had to risk ourselves in the rush hour traffic.

Then we had a second stroke of luck. Ric noticed a Cycle Path route called Route 7 Loch Lomond.  We jumped off onto it around Dumbarton and followed it along the River Leven to the bottom of Loch Lomond.  It was a great route, well signposted, with nice flat tarmac.  It might have wiggled its way along the river but we're sure it was a better and safer option the scarying ourselves silly on the A82.

Unfortunately, we had no choice at Loch Lomond but to follow the A82.  Our target was to get past the junction for Helensburgh ( where our hotel was ) and to see how far along that stretch, we could go before finally calling it a night.

It then started to drizzle.

We tried the cycle path but that proved too slow with tree routes slowing us down to under 12mph at times.  Back on the road a more normal pace resumed.  We had arranged for the girls to check into the hotel and then one of them to come and collect us.  I was flagging as the A82 gently climbs for miles and miles. I'm now coming to the conclusion that these long slog rides and definitely more Mr. B's bag than mine.  Thats why he's miles ahead of me at the moment!

And then Jus came past me.  Phew.  She caught Ric and pulled into the next Layby.  It turned out we had gone just over 7 miles past the Helensburgh junction which I was happy with.  And, although we didn't make Crianlarich, which was some 20miles still ahead of us, we were still in front of where we wanted to be.  Great.

And, more crucially as we drove into Helensburgh, not having to tackle a steep climb out of the town first thing in the morning!!  I'm so glad we changed the route!

Now I feel I must say a few words about our hotel choice for tonight ( as I booked them all ). We stayed in the Travelodge which when I booked had requested 2 rooms each needing 4 beds.  Two family rooms.  Now when you book you have to tell them how old the kids are.  We knew they would be in pull out beds but that wasn't the problem.  The problem was the girls beds weren't made, and they only gave us 2 towels in each room.  Having to make the beds up and ask for additional towels when they know how many people are in the room isn't on.

And to make matters worse, the room was near to the reception so we had people coming and going past our room at all hours.  I didn't get a great nights sleep.

Another reason to complain to Travelodge I think!

Tomorrow, the biggest ride of our lives........

Please support us

Day 5 LeJog 10th April 2013 - Leyland to Lockerbie 119miles

After the mad dash up the A49 to get home, I left Ric at his house in Leyland and headed for home in Hambleton.  A welcome hot shower in my own house was some relief for having to put up with the traffic on the A49.  Can't believe how dirty I was - almost like those old films of car and bike racers when they removed their goggles and you could see panda eyes.
After a local take away meal and bed, it was up early and then back to Leyland for another day in the saddle......

As you can see, we were joined by 2 other riders for company.  Far left is Chorley Cycling Club leader Rob Crank and the one in black is Ian Buck.

A nice and gentle ride down the old tramway into Avenham Park in Preston saw us miss all the rush hour traffic - nice!  Ian then left us as he had to go to work.  Rob led us to the Canalside Cafe at Galgate at a nice steady speed that I was grateful of as it was a little bit slower than the previous 2 days which were taking their toll on me but not Ric - he seems to be getting stronger!

A nice brew and some toast thanks to Ric as I'd left my money at home ( oops! ) saw us get to Lancaster where Rob then left us for his solo ride back home.  Thanks again, Rob.  Your support is appreciated and it cheered me up.

As we cycled into Lancaster on the A6 our support crew passed us, now double in size!  2 cars full of our families heading to meet Jus's sister Sharon who lives in Lancaster.  

Cutting out part of the busy central section in Lancaster we rode across the Millenium Bridge ( I think its called that )

Sharon had, very gratefully, sent a message to Bay Radio about our ride and apparently, around 11am, the presenter mentioned us!

We then continued up the A6 to Kendal where another old school mate we hadn't seen for 25 years met us for a lunch time feed station in the Homebase car park!

Thanks to John ( Pointon ) for travelling from Leyland with his two little girls to meet us - Ninja Neve was sooo funny!  A quick catch up and bite to eat saw us leave Kendal, and John to visit Wray Castle.  We maybe mad cycling this far, but whether I could manage a whole day out with my two monkeys on my own, I'm not sure...John, you're brave!

Our sights where now firmly set on getting into Scotland for the night.  In fact, even though our hotel was in Gretna, we wanted to try to get as far into Scotland as possible so as to reduce the miles on the following days.

Unfortunately, less than 10 miles from Kendal is The Shap.  Famous for being the highest motorway point in the country, the summit on the A6 is a daunting 9 mile climb which I think will become our highest climb ever ( in terms of starting and finishing elevation rather than height above sea level ). I knew it would be a tough climb and as the day was warming up, we decided to get rid of a few of the layers in anticipation.

My legs have officially been left by the roadside somewhere.  Ric just left me for dead.  Yes I know it isn't a race but its normally me waiting for him at the top! Mind you I did have to stop for a wee half way up so I'll use that as an excuse!  At the summit we met up with our support crew again.  As you can see I think I've just about had enough!

Refuelled with pasta and my mums home made fruit loaf cake, and now with a few more layers on, we had the fast descent into Penrith.  Almost 16 miles down hill ( more or less ).  My legs were grateful of that!

Now, as part of our ritual, we always get lost on any ride we do, and today was no exception!  We have decided that whoever puts the signs up needs shooting!!  So, after a slight detour in Penrith and then another in Carlisle, we arrived in Scotland at around the 106 mile mark.

Its such a morale boost when you reach a target.  We even celebrated by having a wee stop too.  Daft thing was, unbeknown to us, the hotel we would be stopping in was just over the grass bank on the left and had anyone been looking ( hard ) they might just have seen us!   

We also thought it would be funny to take a pic of the First & Last Wedding House in Scotland.  This pic is for Ian at work if he's reading it!

Now officially we had done the days miles we had planned, but with 155miles to do on day 7, we carried on into the unknown.  The unknown not being distance but the fact that we could start the following day ahead of schedule for the first time.  Yeah!!

Continuing on the we went through a village which gave us a quite a bit of amusement for the days to come.  Fancy naming a village Ecclefechan.  

We finished the day about 4 miles from Lockerbie which meant we'd done maybe 15 more miles.  With the Garmin battery dying on us again and the fact the data seems to have been corrupted, we don't, as yet, have our ride information which is a shame.

For the doubters out there, my legs will re-assure you they pedalled from Leyland to ( almost ) Lockerbie today.

Thanks to Di in support vehicle number 1 for collecting and rushing us back to the Garden House Hotel in Gretna for a quick shower and, probably, the best meal we have had so far.

Another mapping session today from our finishing point just outside Lockerbie to Loch Lomond, north of Glasgow.  Bring on the Loch's!!

Please support us