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