So I have lost count of days now, all I know is yesterday was pure hell. Myself and Jonathan were so close to giving up, the trip was balanced on a knife edge. We were going through the Lothian Mountains in Scotland, and we were about 400m up. The rest of the way we were going in headwinds of over 15mph, however through the mountain roads the mountains on either side amplified the wind, meaning we were facing winds of 30mph or more. As we cycled forward we were being pushed back UPHILL!!!! After 3 hours we covered a total of 12 miles, so we were going at walking pace. As we came down the side of the mountain we couldn't even get over 3mph.
Today we went from Glasgow to Glencoe through the highlands, this is the highest mountain range in the UK with Ben Nevis and the like around here. The scenery was fantastic, however we expected 80 miles today, turns out it was 96miles......again.....we are once again exhausted. However now we only have about 230 miles to go. After slogging along Loch Lomund into the wind we turned West and up into the Highlands, where thank god for the first time today the wind behind us. This was a great help as we scaled the hills to be over 1500 feet above sea level. A lovely 10 mile downhill stint (which took less than 25mins) and we were at our destination. Downhill with a tailwind doing over 30mph is a great way to end the day. So with a nice pint and a Angus burger in my belly, I bid thee adeiu,
Kyle and JP
Monday, 30 April 2012
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Day 5,6,7
Hi folks, I realize I have missed 3 days of blogging, however our route was Tiverton==>Chester==>Kendal==>Dumfries this is 97,104,92 miles respectivley. With my boss, who I am close to falling out with, having the genius idea of going through the Lake District and over through Windermere, and then along the banks of Ullswater, we went to the highest pub in England. It was pretty brutal.
So Wednesday we went through an industrial estate through the pouring rain, and after 8 miles of leaving the Travelodge our new arrival and mascot for 2 days got a puncture. We do 1000 miles between us, puncture free and then Phil "puncture man" Wadely shows up and blam, torrential curtain rodesque rain and we are fixing puncture #1. We take a bridge over the River Severn and into Wales, blast up the River Wye, soaked through, but it was lovely scenery and we had a few picnic stops and it was fairly flat. All in all a pretty good day.
Thursday was a dream, the weather was pretty dry, we did over 100 miles and we blasted it, averaging about 14.5 mph for the whole time. We smashed our way through the day in no time at all, we were outside Chester by 615pm and we were thinking early finish excellent. True to form 6 miles outside Chester Phil managed to conjure up another puncture. Our support driver, Andrew Lowe, was meeting one of our other support drivers for a wild camp up Snowdon, and had already departed for the day. So with heavy hearts myself and JP left Phil at a bus stop to public transport his way to the Travelodge, however we get a phone call within 30mins saying "Hi lads, I'm in the pub having a pint waiting for a taxi." THANKS PHIL!!!! Meanwhile once again the heavens had opened and me and JP were suffering from DRS (Drowned Rat Syndrome) and were pretty miserable arriving in Chester, until we went out for a fantastic Indian. That saved the day.
Friday Kendal today, we had a tail wind and it was fairly dry, intermittent showers that we sheltered from, so nothing to strenuous, no punctures or mechanical failures, this is our 2nd consecutive 100 mile day and we are feeling it now. I have a calf muscle that is like a lump of stone, and JP has an achilles tendon that is living up to his name. Slower progress today, but we were done by 730pm which wasn't too bad.
Saturday.....Dumfries..........I officially now hate JP. Suffocation whilst sleeping is definitely a real risk for him now. If you look on google maps you will see in the lake district, Windermere this is a lovely little town with a little cafe that has the best black pudding I have ever tasted. The waitresses were all stunning and we had a rather nice morning. The downside is that I had 2 punctures, 1 that Kevin noticed as we were getting ready to leave, and 1 that I got 10 miles down the road, these punctures were our final salute to Phil. *insert salute here* So then we went the Kirkston pass which half way up my gears packed in, it's a 20% incline and I had 3rd gear as my lowest.....that was evil, to compound matters my knee gave up at this point and I got stabbing pains like my kneecap was being prised off. This was not good. So by the time I reach the summit my knee and lower quadracep is swollen and we have to take a break by the pub that is 1500 feet above sea level, that's pretty f**king high. Kevin O'Connor did us the fantastic service of brining a mini gas kettle mabob with him and made us the most welcome cup of coffee ever.
This was 2pm and we had done about 23miles.....which is shit. We had normally been doing 45-50 miles by this time. So to say we were behind was an understatement. I am in a rush now to set off to get to Glasgow so will be brief now, we sailed round Ullswater, which was lovely and then up some more brutal hills into Penrith, and onto Carlisle which was super hilly. This was the hardest day coming off 2x 100 mile days and to top it off we had a 15mph headwind the whole damn way. This made going slow and painful. So at about 7pm we had done 70miles and were coming out of Carlisle heading towards Gretna (Scotlands first town) so we head off down the A75 and get the greatest quote out of JP.......ever. "You know what, you have all this image at the gym of being awesome, but I have seen you pushed to your limit and screaming for mercy, you absolute pussy." After this at about 730 I had a bout of go fuck yourself itis, and proceed to plough down the A75 to Dumfries at 20+ mph, after being in the saddle for 12hours this is not something I would recommmend, however I have to say, this made me feel good and we got to the pub just in time for 10pm (last food order) and a steak. EPIC WIN.
We are about to set off to Glasgow today. So I will see you all real soon.
Take care, and I leave you with some super photos.
Peace
Kyle
So Wednesday we went through an industrial estate through the pouring rain, and after 8 miles of leaving the Travelodge our new arrival and mascot for 2 days got a puncture. We do 1000 miles between us, puncture free and then Phil "puncture man" Wadely shows up and blam, torrential curtain rodesque rain and we are fixing puncture #1. We take a bridge over the River Severn and into Wales, blast up the River Wye, soaked through, but it was lovely scenery and we had a few picnic stops and it was fairly flat. All in all a pretty good day.
Thursday was a dream, the weather was pretty dry, we did over 100 miles and we blasted it, averaging about 14.5 mph for the whole time. We smashed our way through the day in no time at all, we were outside Chester by 615pm and we were thinking early finish excellent. True to form 6 miles outside Chester Phil managed to conjure up another puncture. Our support driver, Andrew Lowe, was meeting one of our other support drivers for a wild camp up Snowdon, and had already departed for the day. So with heavy hearts myself and JP left Phil at a bus stop to public transport his way to the Travelodge, however we get a phone call within 30mins saying "Hi lads, I'm in the pub having a pint waiting for a taxi." THANKS PHIL!!!! Meanwhile once again the heavens had opened and me and JP were suffering from DRS (Drowned Rat Syndrome) and were pretty miserable arriving in Chester, until we went out for a fantastic Indian. That saved the day.
Friday Kendal today, we had a tail wind and it was fairly dry, intermittent showers that we sheltered from, so nothing to strenuous, no punctures or mechanical failures, this is our 2nd consecutive 100 mile day and we are feeling it now. I have a calf muscle that is like a lump of stone, and JP has an achilles tendon that is living up to his name. Slower progress today, but we were done by 730pm which wasn't too bad.
Saturday.....Dumfries..........I officially now hate JP. Suffocation whilst sleeping is definitely a real risk for him now. If you look on google maps you will see in the lake district, Windermere this is a lovely little town with a little cafe that has the best black pudding I have ever tasted. The waitresses were all stunning and we had a rather nice morning. The downside is that I had 2 punctures, 1 that Kevin noticed as we were getting ready to leave, and 1 that I got 10 miles down the road, these punctures were our final salute to Phil. *insert salute here* So then we went the Kirkston pass which half way up my gears packed in, it's a 20% incline and I had 3rd gear as my lowest.....that was evil, to compound matters my knee gave up at this point and I got stabbing pains like my kneecap was being prised off. This was not good. So by the time I reach the summit my knee and lower quadracep is swollen and we have to take a break by the pub that is 1500 feet above sea level, that's pretty f**king high. Kevin O'Connor did us the fantastic service of brining a mini gas kettle mabob with him and made us the most welcome cup of coffee ever.
This was 2pm and we had done about 23miles.....which is shit. We had normally been doing 45-50 miles by this time. So to say we were behind was an understatement. I am in a rush now to set off to get to Glasgow so will be brief now, we sailed round Ullswater, which was lovely and then up some more brutal hills into Penrith, and onto Carlisle which was super hilly. This was the hardest day coming off 2x 100 mile days and to top it off we had a 15mph headwind the whole damn way. This made going slow and painful. So at about 7pm we had done 70miles and were coming out of Carlisle heading towards Gretna (Scotlands first town) so we head off down the A75 and get the greatest quote out of JP.......ever. "You know what, you have all this image at the gym of being awesome, but I have seen you pushed to your limit and screaming for mercy, you absolute pussy." After this at about 730 I had a bout of go fuck yourself itis, and proceed to plough down the A75 to Dumfries at 20+ mph, after being in the saddle for 12hours this is not something I would recommmend, however I have to say, this made me feel good and we got to the pub just in time for 10pm (last food order) and a steak. EPIC WIN.
We are about to set off to Glasgow today. So I will see you all real soon.
Take care, and I leave you with some super photos.
Peace
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
day 3
So day 3, we got about 65 miles today, and it was so easy going it was unreal. We left Tiverton this morning at 1015 after breakfast at the local pub.
Pretty decent full english with fruit juices and coffee etc. Only £6.50.....winning.
Left at 1015ish on the trail to Taunton, was only about 15 miles. After only 10 miles we were into Somerset, which was sweet. Got a photo or 3, which will be posted.
After a quick tesco stop for the epic meal deal + lucozade cola it was off to our next stop, Bridgewater. This wasn't too far, surprisingly short to be fair. The miles were eaten up
by the fact we kept a good pace. We managed to blast through it, before long we were approaching Burnham upon sea. This was a nice little town, stopped there for a little while.
After that it was on the A38 the rest of the way to Bristol, we got to do the first big hill of the day after 40 miles, so we had some good terrain all day. Nice and flat.
At around 330pm we were approaching Bristol, with less than 5 miles to go to the City we took a cheeky turn down a country road, the B3130 and we went out towards Clevedon,
I have been there before en route to a camping trip to Newquay, and wouldn't like to do that again. So we went up the 1/2 mile biggest hill I have ever seen so far. It was mental,
luckily it brough us out on the B3128 which went down a massive downhill to Portishead. This was a 40mph freewheel round some tight bends that allowed us to do the last 2 miles
in under 8 minutes. Then a quick jolly around the business park at 430pm to find somewhere to eat for tonight. As I type this we are sat in Bottelino's Italian resteraunt with a pint of Becks.
After 97miles y/day todays 65miles was sooooo easy.
Day 3, no longer contemplating jumping infront of the next bus.
238miles done.
Peace
Kyle
Getting ready to set off on day 2. Some minor aches from y/day however we will be taking regular breaks for food and water unlike y/day where we had a break after 30 miles.....and then nothing else until our destination at 77 miles.
Today the weather is wet but not windy which is a godsend. We have about 80miles to do, route permitting. With any luck there are a few public walking routes that are cycleable. If not we may be looking closer to 90 miles....which I don't really fancy in the rain.
So we finished today, 97 miles. Some unsavoury sod decided to twist a signpost around on a country road and set us back 15 miles, we were caught in a headwind and rain constantly. It was pretty horrific. We got to Tiverton at 830ish. It was then we discovered that
the travel lodge wasnt actually in Tiverton. It was on the M5 which was about 9 miles out. So we stopped at a McD's and I had 2 BigMacs, large fries coffee and a cheeseburger. Calorific.
So we woke up this morning, I feel pretty good. Was expecting to feel like death, however we only have 60ish miles and there is no rain, only a little wind.
This is being written at 830am on 24/04 but no wifi anywhere atm. So we will be looking around for some wifi and that will get this uploaded.
Until then,
Kyle
Sunday, 22 April 2012
LEJOG Day 1
So we finished day one, our supposed 60 mile day took a total of 76 miles. We opted to take the scenic costal roads.....this was a mistake. It was full of hills which were marked with gradients, which is bad. We are sat in the pub opposite the travel lodge waiting for food and it is the most welcome meal I have ever eaten.
Tomorrow we head for Tiverton, route dependant this is 80-95 miles, and the route is equally as arduous as today, oh for the flat lands. Been distracted by route planning for tomorrow, and its been about 25mins.......still no food FML. How long is this going to take.
Fundraising total is in the £1350 ballpark atm with more and more coming in at work every day and many charitable donations from friends and family.
I'm ready for bed, and will try and upload photo's tomorrow night.
Until tomorrow.
Kyle
Tomorrow we head for Tiverton, route dependant this is 80-95 miles, and the route is equally as arduous as today, oh for the flat lands. Been distracted by route planning for tomorrow, and its been about 25mins.......still no food FML. How long is this going to take.
Fundraising total is in the £1350 ballpark atm with more and more coming in at work every day and many charitable donations from friends and family.
I'm ready for bed, and will try and upload photo's tomorrow night.
Until tomorrow.
Kyle
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