Trampolining Dogs and killer birds

Today was a 73 mile ride and finally we were going to be entering Scotland. Yet another sunny day and the forecast for the next few days is equally good, hard to believe my luck really.
First stop was Appleby in Westmoreland. As we crossed the bridge some local lads were fishing and there was a lot of commotion as they had hooked one. The trout was dispatched very swiftly and was clearly going to make a very nice meal.

A lovely trout

At one point we had to go on a cycle path along an old railway which went past a scrap metal dealers. I spotted a Bedford truck, which caught my eye as I used to drive one in my Army days. What was more interesting were the rocket parts which were lying next to it.

Scrap metal

As we passed a churchyard in I spotted a military grave. So stopped to take a look. This was a reminder of part of the reason I was doing this trip. It would be interesting to know the story behind this as he died in 1919, after the Great War.

Private Irvine.

The route we are following uses very quiet lanes, so the road into Scotland didn’t even have a proper side. Fortunately one had been erected by Bike Adventures.



Trampolining Dogs and killer birds

Of course you were wondering what the title of this entry was all about. Well I have no idea but the News and Star certainly has the most interesting headlines.

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/

Into the wind

One of the shortest days today, only 55 miles. However the compensation for this was the 6,800 feet of climb (more than the combined height of Snowdon and Scafell Pike) made even worse by the incredibly high winds that we were cycling into all day.

The route was lovely up over the Forest of Bowland and into the North Yorks Moors. It would have been even nicer to drive it in this Ferrari, which I spotted in Clitheroe
Ferrari

This was a typical downhill section, although at times it felt like you were going uphill because of the wind.
Downhill all the way

Here I am entering North Yorkshire, with Ingleborough, one of the highest hills in Yorkshire in the background.


The scenery was stunning

After lunch in the beautiful village of Dent, we then climbed up to Dent Station, the highest railway station in the UK at over 1100 feet. The road was one of the steepest we had climbed, made worse as it had just been resurfaced with loose stone. Several riders reported having to walk this bit, but I managed to ride it. I saw an old guy at the top and he asked me if I had ridden all the way, when I said yes, he said “you want your head walloping”

Dent Station

We then descended into Cumbria and had an easier ride into the campsite. The sheep are braver in Cumbria and this one decided to face off with me.

A Brave Sheep

Some other blogs
A number of other people on the ride are also competing blogs. Some even have fancy GPS tracking to show exactly where they are

Richie’s GPS tracker
http://tiny.cc/y92u3

Simon and Nigel’s facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=331412446821&ref=ts

Alan and Jenny’s blog
http://alan-jenny-lejog2010.blogspot.com

Mad for It

Today we had to cycle from Cheshire all the way past Manchester and into Lancashire proper. I really felt like I was in the North now. Accents had changed and so had the weather and we also had our first rain.



Every morning we have a great breakfast at the campsite, but you sometimes you can need more than muesli, fruit and toast. So today I decided I needed to have a real breakfast. I left the campsite an hour earlier than normal and pushed along as fast I could in search of a 'full english'


I was starting to run out of puff when finally I found Willowpool garden centre www.willowpool.co.uk/ Great service and just what I needed. This was also where I spotted the ancient bike mentioned in my previous post.

A great breakfast

Shortly after I thought I was hallucinating when I saw these enormous sheep. Turned out they were llamas.

The next challenge was getting through the Greater Manchester area.

I bravely left my bike unlocked whilst taking this picture as we went through Wigan.

We had about 15 miles of urban riding, lots of traffic and annoyed drivers. The great news was finally we left this behind and ended up in Rivington, where we stopped in the tea rooms. This was like something out of Heartbeat. http://rivingtontearooms.co.uk/

Tonight was the England match against Algeria. I suspect this decoration may get taken down soon. But it was nice to see so many houses decorated.

Shortly after this I had an opportunity to try and break the law. A lovely swooping downhill section in a 30 mph area. I think I went through at 32, but the camera didn't flash.

Tea at the campsite is always served at 4pm, so I raced the last 10 miles to try and get there on time and I just made it and even did a skid stop in front of all the others who had got there before me and were already drinking tea.

Tonight's campsite was on the outside of Clitheroe. Most other people had been trying to get there early so they could go out an watch England play. I decided to do an extra 10 miles to find a McDonalds with free wifi. It was nice to ride on completely empty roads for once. As I later found out, I was probably the only person in England not watching an very boring game. Result!!

Avoiding Saddle Sores

Lots of people said to me before I set off make sure you get a nice soft saddle. As it turns out this is poor advice. Luckily my new bike cames with a Brooks Saddle, which is as hard as a rock! http://www.brookssaddles.com/ This has proven to be the most comfortable saddle I have ever had. Some experienced cyclists say that you have to do at least 500 miles before it is worn in, but I have found mine to be comfortable from the beginning. It has now nicely moulded itself to fit by backside perfectly. Not bad for something that was invented in 1866.

A bit different to this saddle which is probably over 80 years old, which I saw on an old bike made in Ashford, Kent. This was in a Garden Centre in Cheshire, where I stopped for Brekkie

A little bit of history of Norman Bikes here www.normancycles.co.uk

LeJoG meets Jogle

Billed as an easier day, today we were travelling through Shropshire and into Cheshire. Very soon we started to see hundreds of cyclists going in the opposite directions. Turns out these were from the Deloitte Ride across Britains, http://www.rideacrossbritain.com/ and they are riding from John O Groats to Land's End (JOGLE). It certainly didn't look as much fun as our trip. I couldn't see any of these guys stopping for cakes and sampling beers and ciders from across the country!

I also passed through Tiverton, whose more famous namesake we went through about 250 miles before.

This was a nice fast ride and despite stopping at a cafe in Malpas with the worst service in the world I still got back to the campsite at Acton Bridge before 4pm. As we shared afternoon tea we all swapped stories of how long we had waited for the simplest of food orders.

One of the nicest things about Bike Adventures http://www.bikeadventures.co.uk/ is the afternoon tea and cakes when we finish. The cakes are homebaked by manager Kevin's mum.

The campsite was a bit crowded, fortunately there were no children on the site wanting to use the slide.

Cider Rider

Yet another sunny day. Overnight we had stayed at Coleford, on the edge of the Forest of Dean. The ride up to the campsite had been a killer at the end of a long day. But this of course meant the beginning of the ride was all downhill, a great way to start a day on a bike. Very soon we passed into Herefordshire. The picture was taken as I descended to Symonds Yat.





We then spent the next couple of hours criss crossing the river Wye. Herefordshire is very beautiful, with some of the best views of the trip. so far.

Looking towards Sugarloaf Mountain, Abergavenny

The villages are also very pretty.

And not forgetting the cider.
We passed Dunkerton Cider Mill, no time to have a real look round or a tasting though.
http://www.dunkertons.co.uk/
Impressive barrels

I stopped for some late lunch in Pembridge and the manager of Sally's Pantry kindly made a donation to Help for Heroes. Thank you.

Today's ride was tiring, partly because it was so hot, but also because of the 'rolling countryside' a nice euphemism for hilly. But I would certainly recommend Herefordshire for scenery. The ride finished in Wentnor, which is in Shropshire. Unfortunatley we usually miss the signs for the counties because we go on such small lanes.

This is my £10 Decathlon tent. This has been fantastic, 2 seconds to put up and about 10 seconds to put down in the morning(after some practise. Pictured to the left is the goat used to keep the grass mown on the bank. Fortunately, he was tethered on a chain or I am sure he would have eaten my luggage.

Gorging It

One of the nice things about cycling so far is that you can eat quite a lot! Breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. Today I had a very nice breakfast at our campsite(unfortunately not a full English though). We then cycled over the Somerset levels, which ordinarily would be pleasant, but unfortunately we were cycling into the wind and it was very hard.

14 miles later we got to Cheddar and I had a nice pot of tea, with Oat biscuits. Then we had to cycle up Cheddar Gorge. Fantastic scenery, but very long and steep.

I cycled with a big group this morning and it was nice to have some company and help with the navigation.

Here they are as we finally could see Wales in the far distance. I then split from the group to go and visit my friend Ray. Pictured here in the back row middle. This was in 1981 when we did an Army course together.

I am the one with the dodgy moustache!

Unfortunately he wasn't in, but his son made me a very nice cup of tea.

Finally we arrived in Wales

Unfortunately I got a little bit lost today and ended up doing an extra 3.5 miles finishing the day with 78 miles on the clock. My knees are aching and my thighs are burning, but I am having a great time.
Thanks again for all the support. I am very near to my target of £3,000.