Alternative Link
Location:Kirkby Lonsdale
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Week One - Video
Whilst the others were outside fixing up our bikes in the rain, I put together this little video summary of our first week...
Alternative Link
Alternative Link
It's right grim oop north
Third time lucky with writing n uploading...
As everyone else got such an early start I headed to Liverpool for a few hours. switched to City Radio & was easy to reach Albert Docks as unlike London there's plenty of helpful signage. Had a failed (got either blank looks or complicated 'do you know where xxx is' directions) wander round the shops, via the Superlambbananas, in search of shakes to boost the dwindling supplies of some of the riders headed back to the pier for the ferry 'cross the Mersey trip. You can get off on the other side and do interesting u-boat tours but I just had time for the round trip with commentary - started with the song!
Can't decide whether I like the accent or not but 30 kids running around shouting wasn't ideal. Spent my time on the first leg walking to whatever bit of the ferry they'd just left! Aside from that and the wind was good and had lovely views of the skyline, even taking in New Brighton (no pier) on the other side.
Apart from Bootle, Liverpool is a lot nicer than expected and didnt see a single shellsuit!
Made the decision to take a slower route than the M6 and drove through Southport before stopping in Preston for lunch. The city centre is a thoroughly depressing place so ate quickly before heading for the motorway and the cottage. Almost went to Kendal for mint cake but decided against it in the end.
Switched to Lakeland Radio in Cumbria- no mention of kitchenware.
The view from the road was pretty good but even better on the hill to the cottage and kept stopping on the narrow lane for pictures.
Once I'd worked out the right cottage (next doors springer spaniel probably not included in the price) I waited for Yorky to arrive and his feet to thaw before we headed for mammoth shop. Got a free tussauds ticket but if you have to spend over £200 (still forgot a couple of things) for 1 ticket to Thorpe Park is that not a rip-off?!?? Unless prices have risen recently?
Considering it's a rest day a lot of exercise has happened - Yorky's run, Nige giving Bianca her daily exercise & me dragging Andrew out for a short walk! Afternoon mostly consisted of Mary arriving, route plotting, icing sore knees and bike cleaning in the rain.
Not sure what Lancaster has to offer but the station isn't the best or warmest place to spend an hour!
Have definitely enjoyed driving up the country and getting a taste of places I'd like to see more of (Cornwall, Wales amongst others) and some I'd rather forget (Runcorn & Preston stand out). Impressed myself with not really managing to get lost apart from when trying to find Penzance station - who needs satnav?! Took a mere (for me) 700 photos and the unedited selection is a slideshow waiting to happen on Tom's laptop!
Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed (for a few days anyway til sussex based camping) and getting some exercise after a week of mostly sitting. Not much looking forward to first 5 day working week in a while... Semi expecting a phonecall from someone who's cycling down a hill and can't talk other than a mileage/ time guesstimate)
Hoping that the rest of the trip goes well and the weatherman was wrong about windy Monday!
As Jerry Springer would say - take care of yourselves, and each other. And watch the bananas!!
The Transporter
As everyone else got such an early start I headed to Liverpool for a few hours. switched to City Radio & was easy to reach Albert Docks as unlike London there's plenty of helpful signage. Had a failed (got either blank looks or complicated 'do you know where xxx is' directions) wander round the shops, via the Superlambbananas, in search of shakes to boost the dwindling supplies of some of the riders headed back to the pier for the ferry 'cross the Mersey trip. You can get off on the other side and do interesting u-boat tours but I just had time for the round trip with commentary - started with the song!
Can't decide whether I like the accent or not but 30 kids running around shouting wasn't ideal. Spent my time on the first leg walking to whatever bit of the ferry they'd just left! Aside from that and the wind was good and had lovely views of the skyline, even taking in New Brighton (no pier) on the other side.
Apart from Bootle, Liverpool is a lot nicer than expected and didnt see a single shellsuit!
Made the decision to take a slower route than the M6 and drove through Southport before stopping in Preston for lunch. The city centre is a thoroughly depressing place so ate quickly before heading for the motorway and the cottage. Almost went to Kendal for mint cake but decided against it in the end.
Switched to Lakeland Radio in Cumbria- no mention of kitchenware.
The view from the road was pretty good but even better on the hill to the cottage and kept stopping on the narrow lane for pictures.
Once I'd worked out the right cottage (next doors springer spaniel probably not included in the price) I waited for Yorky to arrive and his feet to thaw before we headed for mammoth shop. Got a free tussauds ticket but if you have to spend over £200 (still forgot a couple of things) for 1 ticket to Thorpe Park is that not a rip-off?!?? Unless prices have risen recently?
Considering it's a rest day a lot of exercise has happened - Yorky's run, Nige giving Bianca her daily exercise & me dragging Andrew out for a short walk! Afternoon mostly consisted of Mary arriving, route plotting, icing sore knees and bike cleaning in the rain.
Not sure what Lancaster has to offer but the station isn't the best or warmest place to spend an hour!
Have definitely enjoyed driving up the country and getting a taste of places I'd like to see more of (Cornwall, Wales amongst others) and some I'd rather forget (Runcorn & Preston stand out). Impressed myself with not really managing to get lost apart from when trying to find Penzance station - who needs satnav?! Took a mere (for me) 700 photos and the unedited selection is a slideshow waiting to happen on Tom's laptop!
Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed (for a few days anyway til sussex based camping) and getting some exercise after a week of mostly sitting. Not much looking forward to first 5 day working week in a while... Semi expecting a phonecall from someone who's cycling down a hill and can't talk other than a mileage/ time guesstimate)
Hoping that the rest of the trip goes well and the weatherman was wrong about windy Monday!
As Jerry Springer would say - take care of yourselves, and each other. And watch the bananas!!
The Transporter
Location:Speedin towards London town
Favorite Place Names
To keep us amused on our long days of riding, we have taken to keeping an eye out for amusing or bizarre place names.
Until yesterday, my favourite had been somewhere we had seen early on (day 2, I believe). A place called Boconnoc, in Cornwall.
However, this was surpassed by the fabulously named hamlet of Top O' Th' Lane, nr Brindle, Lancashire. I think I like it for the way it is spelt as it no doubt sounds in the local dialect, and that it perfectly (if unimaginatively) describes where it is located! I only wish I'd stopped to get a photo of the sign post.
Let's see if Scotland can produce a place name which can top this one.....
Until yesterday, my favourite had been somewhere we had seen early on (day 2, I believe). A place called Boconnoc, in Cornwall.
However, this was surpassed by the fabulously named hamlet of Top O' Th' Lane, nr Brindle, Lancashire. I think I like it for the way it is spelt as it no doubt sounds in the local dialect, and that it perfectly (if unimaginatively) describes where it is located! I only wish I'd stopped to get a photo of the sign post.
Let's see if Scotland can produce a place name which can top this one.....
Location:Kirkby Lonsdale
Facts and Stats
A few facts and stats from halfway through our ride, from leaving my house in London last Friday....
Total distance: 514 miles
Total time: 52 hrs, 19 mins
Total ascent: 22,530 feet
Total calories: 23,625
I'm not sure how accurate the calories figure is, but given how much I've eaten on this rest day alone I wouldn't be surprised if my calorie intake isn't far off this amount!
To put the total ascent figure into perspective, it is about 6.4 Snowdons. And as the height of Mt Everest is about 29,000 feet, we can expect by the end of this little jaunt to have exceeded this in total ascent.
Total distance: 514 miles
Total time: 52 hrs, 19 mins
Total ascent: 22,530 feet
Total calories: 23,625
I'm not sure how accurate the calories figure is, but given how much I've eaten on this rest day alone I wouldn't be surprised if my calorie intake isn't far off this amount!
To put the total ascent figure into perspective, it is about 6.4 Snowdons. And as the height of Mt Everest is about 29,000 feet, we can expect by the end of this little jaunt to have exceeded this in total ascent.
Location:Kirkby Lonsdale
Hard Days Riding
Man that was tough! With the Wimbleball 70.3 race fast approaching, and with Sunday being a rest day, day 7 was going to have to be a hard solo training day!
After a 20 mile warmup followed by a good breakfast, I said goodbye to the others and set off on my own. 62 miles and 2000m of climb through Lancashire hills awaited. I wasn't expecting the bitter headwinds though!
The first big hill was fine. Very wet, but ok. The rain carried on, and there was a closed road which added some more miles, and then the next hills into a howling headwind! Hills in Lancashire aren't especially tall, just a few hundred metres. They just go up, then down, then up, then down again, slowly sapping the strength out of your legs.
When the wind is pushing you down hill as you try to climb up, and you aren't stopping for any rests, it gets Hard! It was bitterly cold too, and after a while I couldn't feel my toes! All the dirt on the wet roads was getting washed up into my chain, which had started making a nasty grinding sound.
The views were amazing though. Once the rain cleared, the rolling hills gave a fantastic view of the Lancashire and Cumbria countryside. After dropping down into the last valley and avoiding a few stray sheep, I climbed the last hill to the cottage. Looking forward to a good rest day!
After a 20 mile warmup followed by a good breakfast, I said goodbye to the others and set off on my own. 62 miles and 2000m of climb through Lancashire hills awaited. I wasn't expecting the bitter headwinds though!
The first big hill was fine. Very wet, but ok. The rain carried on, and there was a closed road which added some more miles, and then the next hills into a howling headwind! Hills in Lancashire aren't especially tall, just a few hundred metres. They just go up, then down, then up, then down again, slowly sapping the strength out of your legs.
When the wind is pushing you down hill as you try to climb up, and you aren't stopping for any rests, it gets Hard! It was bitterly cold too, and after a while I couldn't feel my toes! All the dirt on the wet roads was getting washed up into my chain, which had started making a nasty grinding sound.
The views were amazing though. Once the rain cleared, the rolling hills gave a fantastic view of the Lancashire and Cumbria countryside. After dropping down into the last valley and avoiding a few stray sheep, I climbed the last hill to the cottage. Looking forward to a good rest day!
Location:Sealford Ln,,United Kingdom
Friday, 20 May 2011
Day seven
A landmark day in the ride.
Today we pushed past the 500 miles mark, 7 days of cycling, now up through Lancashire and into Cumbria. Tomorrow is our rest day, and Sunday we will have made it into Scotland.
After the fiasco of the morning and having to blaze through 20 miles of inner city urban rubbish-ness, we found 50 miles of quiet country lanes taking us up through the Lancashire cycle highway. We also found demanding hills and energy snapping wind and rain.
The scenery was quite outstanding. We zigzagged north, just west of the Yorkshire Dales, finishing up south east of the lake district, not far from Kendal. On many occasions we seemed to be out of sight of all humanity. The middle of nowhere, just the odd car coming from one side of nowhere to the other (or t'other as they say it up here).
The day before, we were debating whether to stick with the original hard going 85 miles, the short, easy but dull A-road route, or even a third middle-of-the-road route. We went for the 85 miler, it seemed noone wA thinking any different, even those carrying injuries. We all wanted to take in the views.
After a nasty rain shower we stopped for lunch where James set the world record for largest slice of cake ever (presumably making up for his previous banana disaster) and we pedalled on up into the moors. Here we had to tackle some significant climbs, 3 looming hills within a fifteen mile stretch, each progressively worse. The third climb was immense. Some of the riders rated it harder than Dartmoor. Some said the hardest day by far. I broke out from the front of the group, keen as always to make the summit at my own pace. It was a long twisty path, completely open and exposed. I was trying to foresee the road, map it out in my mind, work out where to kick for home. Kick to early and you kill yourself, don't kick at all and you always have that 'could have done it faster' feeling. I had to crane my neck just to see the top, I couldn't see the road at all, couldn't pinpoint the summit. Tom had told me the height at the bottom but I'd forgotten... then I saw a car that had been past me about a minute ago, winding its way far into the distance. The kick was still ages away, so I sat back and just kept the pedals turning. The wind seemed to be hitting me from all angles at the same time. Even on the flatter parts I was barely moving. I just remember the road twisting left, right, all over the place.... a small waterfall on the right, a pretty steep drop to the left. With my knee roaring with complaint and my lungs just about bursting, the time to kick came. I stood up on the pedals and mashed them as hard as I could, Bianca piercing me through the wind and soaring me over the cattle grid up to the summit.
The view from the top was incredible. My camera not good enough to capture the moment, but it felt pretty cool to be up there. The other riders soon followed, all of them equally jubilant at our achievement. The next few miles were quite glorious, along the top of the ridge we had just climbed. The sun even came to say hello and we made progress at a fair speed, dodging lambs, sheep and bunnies that seem to think its ok to cross the road without looking.
Eventually with 75 miles in our legs, the pace slowed. We knew there was one final climb. A final stop for tea was even mooted but the cafe was closed. Lots of tricky up and downs got us home, each of them seemed to start with a different rider yelling 'is this the last hill?' No one was broken, but exhaustion was setting in. The final 10 miles were rather uncomfortable for me. Let's just say I was carrying a full load and happy to find the bathroom vacant when I got to the cottage.
Tomorrow is our day of rest. I shall spend some of it feeling proud of how far we've come together and how well everyone has done. I shall spend the rest of it thinking that we're only half way there, and everything we have done this week we have to do again, starting with a trip to Gretna on Sunday. 92 miles....
It should be noted that Yorky broke off from the group after breakfast. Training for an ironman comp he wanted to smash it all the way to the end. He took the same route as the rest and got here ages before us, without stopping. Must have been an immense effort to keep the legs turning for so long, to keep motivated riding solo, to tackle the bad weather and the tough climbs. Very well done to him.
Day 7 - Warrington to Kirkby Lonsdale
A pretty epic day today - our longest, furthest (88 miles), wettest, and probably toughest ride of the trip to date. Also my favourite day so far I think, despite all the above!
Google Maps Link
Late last night we had a decision to make. Take the easy 65 mile, pretty flat but less interesting route roughly parallel to the M6, or the more adventurous, scenic (i.e. hilly!), 85 mile route through the south Lancashire moorlands. We chose the latter - we evidently like a challenge!
So with our alarms set for 0625 this morning, we had an early start to avoid all the rush hour traffic around Warrington. Didn't even have time for a cup of tea or any breakfast to speak of (a hastily eaten cereal bar doesn't count!). The plan was to find somewhere after about 10 miles for breakfast. About 22 miles and almost 2 hours later, we finally found a nice little cafe in Chorley, where I had the best breakfast of the trip so far. This may have been due to the immense hunger I had developed, or the awesomely cheap northern prices (£1.00 for a cuppa, compared to the often extortionate £2.00+ down south!), but we headed out of Chorley fueled up for the remaining 65 miles.
With the roads steadily climbing upwards, we were soon on the South Lancashire cycle route. I'm not sure of the proper name for this area (it is the big patch of white on a road map next to the M6 near Lancaster and borders the Yorkshire dales), but it had some quite awesome views... despite the onset of rain.
After taking a soaking, we stopped for an excellent lunch, where they served the largest desserts imaginable - as James kindly demonstrates below with his giant egg custard tart....
Back on the road, the hills started getting more intense, and before long more fuel was needed in the form of the last of my mums flapjacks.....
After seemingly endless climbing, with pretty intense gusts of wind, we finally made it to the highest point where we were treated to quite incredible views from 3 different counties - the surrounding Lancashire moorland, the Yorkshire dales, and the Lake District in the distance (and were also treated to some fudge which had served as our incentive to reach the top!)
Only 20 miles left to go, starting with a lot of fun downhill riding, before yet more climbing up to our cottage near Kirkby Lonsdale where we'll be staying for the next 2 evenings - with tomorrow (Sat) as our single rest day (woohoo!!)
We are 7 days of riding in now, and have covered over 500 miles - so pretty much half way there.
I'll do another blog update tomorrow with some stats on the ride so far, but right now my bed is calling..... I'm so looking forward to a lie in!
Google Maps Link
Late last night we had a decision to make. Take the easy 65 mile, pretty flat but less interesting route roughly parallel to the M6, or the more adventurous, scenic (i.e. hilly!), 85 mile route through the south Lancashire moorlands. We chose the latter - we evidently like a challenge!
So with our alarms set for 0625 this morning, we had an early start to avoid all the rush hour traffic around Warrington. Didn't even have time for a cup of tea or any breakfast to speak of (a hastily eaten cereal bar doesn't count!). The plan was to find somewhere after about 10 miles for breakfast. About 22 miles and almost 2 hours later, we finally found a nice little cafe in Chorley, where I had the best breakfast of the trip so far. This may have been due to the immense hunger I had developed, or the awesomely cheap northern prices (£1.00 for a cuppa, compared to the often extortionate £2.00+ down south!), but we headed out of Chorley fueled up for the remaining 65 miles.
With the roads steadily climbing upwards, we were soon on the South Lancashire cycle route. I'm not sure of the proper name for this area (it is the big patch of white on a road map next to the M6 near Lancaster and borders the Yorkshire dales), but it had some quite awesome views... despite the onset of rain.
After taking a soaking, we stopped for an excellent lunch, where they served the largest desserts imaginable - as James kindly demonstrates below with his giant egg custard tart....
Back on the road, the hills started getting more intense, and before long more fuel was needed in the form of the last of my mums flapjacks.....
After seemingly endless climbing, with pretty intense gusts of wind, we finally made it to the highest point where we were treated to quite incredible views from 3 different counties - the surrounding Lancashire moorland, the Yorkshire dales, and the Lake District in the distance (and were also treated to some fudge which had served as our incentive to reach the top!)
Only 20 miles left to go, starting with a lot of fun downhill riding, before yet more climbing up to our cottage near Kirkby Lonsdale where we'll be staying for the next 2 evenings - with tomorrow (Sat) as our single rest day (woohoo!!)
We are 7 days of riding in now, and have covered over 500 miles - so pretty much half way there.
I'll do another blog update tomorrow with some stats on the ride so far, but right now my bed is calling..... I'm so looking forward to a lie in!
Location:Kirkby Lonsdale
Food!
Feeding seven hungry cyclists is a big task! Kim has been the team mum for the first week! Luckily the others have been doing the cooking and washing up
Carnage
Banana rack failure in a high speed chase. Total carnage. Bananas everywhere, the road is littered with them. James is almost in tears. Sad times.
Fast starters
This morning, James and I woke five minutes from departure time. Not ideal. Everyone else outside prettyuch ready to go, me in my pants, bleary-eyed and fuzzy headed. The rule is, if you're late, you get left behind.
A 20 minute turn around from bed to saddle put us 15 minutes behind everyone us. Thankfully Garmin powered Yorky waited for us. Fuelled on espresso and not much else, we absolutely ragged it to catch up, eventually overtaking everyone and scoping out a breakfast spot.
20 miles done, still 65 miles to go, hopefully there's still plenty in the tank.
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Day Six
More miles consumed, our heading is simple. Directly north to get us through this part of the country ASAP.
Today was the flattest by far... but there wasn't much energy in the team. Was all a little lethargic, even my own body not able to sustain a high cadence for long. With the slow pace I wasn't needing to focus on turning the pedals or breathing, so my mind wandered... distracted...
The pic shows the best part of the day, cruising through some lanes with Tom and Yorky in full flow.
Feeling the miles now, my legs collapsing under me when I stand up at times. Tomorrow should be better, North past Lancaster, a beautiful part of the country. The group still debating the hard route, or the easyish route. We'll see how people feel in the morning.
Saturday is rest day. Am thinking of getting checked in for a massage at a local spa.
Two cakes today, not much need for the energy for todays route. Must be about 20 in total now. Not bad for a week in the saddle.
Must sleep, need some R & R.
Day 6 - Ironbridge to Warrington
73 more miles behind us, and we're now properly in The North.
Google Maps Link
Today has been good to me, being mostly flat so giving my knee a bit of a rest after the trauma of yesterday. It has also been one of the warmest days so far (apart from being a bit chilly when the wind blows), and was really pleasant making our way through the Cheshire countryside with the sun on our backs.
We got about as close as we are going to get to my home county (Staffordshire), and I was quite excited to see signs to Stoke (but no oatcake shops in sight!)
After the unexpected (and welcome) surprise of seeing my parents last night, my dad kindly came to the rescue with a solution to my knee problem.... almost. After tracking down some in-sole things for my cycling shoes, he made his way to Nantwich where we stopped for lunch to drop them off. Unfortunately, after he left, I discovered that the shop had put the wrong size soles in the packaging. Very frustrating!
Time for bed now. Have just been informed that we're meeting at 0640 tomorrow for an early start to avoid rush hour traffic out of Warrington!
Google Maps Link
Today has been good to me, being mostly flat so giving my knee a bit of a rest after the trauma of yesterday. It has also been one of the warmest days so far (apart from being a bit chilly when the wind blows), and was really pleasant making our way through the Cheshire countryside with the sun on our backs.
We got about as close as we are going to get to my home county (Staffordshire), and I was quite excited to see signs to Stoke (but no oatcake shops in sight!)
After the unexpected (and welcome) surprise of seeing my parents last night, my dad kindly came to the rescue with a solution to my knee problem.... almost. After tracking down some in-sole things for my cycling shoes, he made his way to Nantwich where we stopped for lunch to drop them off. Unfortunately, after he left, I discovered that the shop had put the wrong size soles in the packaging. Very frustrating!
Time for bed now. Have just been informed that we're meeting at 0640 tomorrow for an early start to avoid rush hour traffic out of Warrington!
Location:Warrington
Hairdryer = happy
Widnes can also be confirmed as somewhere that exists in England.
Have action shots of cyclists that will have to be uploaded on my return to London this weekend - watch this space...
Warrington Travelodge - me & Andrew have a lovely view of the M62. At least this makes the morning easy - can check the traffic before leaving by looking out the window!
Have action shots of cyclists that will have to be uploaded on my return to London this weekend - watch this space...
Warrington Travelodge - me & Andrew have a lovely view of the M62. At least this makes the morning easy - can check the traffic before leaving by looking out the window!
Bulbous helmet
Since we started this trek, Yorky's red helmet has become rather swollen.
Apparently its been on the cards for a while, and randomly at lunch the other day, Yorky decides he needs a helmet cam.
Now, you can get some which are neat and tidy, small cylinder shape jobbies. One of those would have actually pretty neat next to the helmet mounted light he already has. Instead, he came back with a 'My First Camera' style Playskool thingy. We all think its hilarious, its hardly aerodynamic.... but he has already captured me overtaking him at some crazy speed :)
Ridiculous? You decide...
ironbridge to starbucks
here goes my first blog....starting off from ironbridge this morning i could feel the affects of my aggrivated achilles heel from the day before which came out of the blue to join me on the trip (not welcome!). Therefore i had to initiate my 'achilles management plan'. This consisted of holding my foot at a constant angle a few pain killers and using the potential energy of the hills on the way down.....job done.....well sort of, i'll get to the end with one leg if i have to!. Anyway we made it to the outskirts of warrington where we are staying at a travelodge and just enjoying a caffe latte in good old starbucks. blogging is brilliant expect more updates from me!!!!
Runcorn is on the way to other places
Andrew booked the ironbridge pub stay so he delegated room buddying, meaning that him, Nige & Bianca's front wheel got the paradise room with the four poster double bed. I baggsied the nicer of the twins with the lounge & kitchen - although that did mean me & Chris sharing the lounge with 7 bikes (minus 1 wheel) as there was no storage.
Ironbridge appeared to be shut first thing, even with the 10 museums so just had brief walk along the river before setting off.
Spent the morning shopping in Telford & Stafford for bike bits. On the way Signal fm ironically lost signal & switched to Rock fm. Stafford has a castle but there's really only so many ruins you can see in a week!
Paid a visit to some services specifically for the wifi as I don't have a smartphone & Internet access (and blog updates) can be few & far between).
The M6 was slow so come to Runcorn to find out there's nothing to do! Next stop Widnes. Liverpool was a maybe this morning but seem to have run out of time today...
Ironbridge appeared to be shut first thing, even with the 10 museums so just had brief walk along the river before setting off.
Spent the morning shopping in Telford & Stafford for bike bits. On the way Signal fm ironically lost signal & switched to Rock fm. Stafford has a castle but there's really only so many ruins you can see in a week!
Paid a visit to some services specifically for the wifi as I don't have a smartphone & Internet access (and blog updates) can be few & far between).
The M6 was slow so come to Runcorn to find out there's nothing to do! Next stop Widnes. Liverpool was a maybe this morning but seem to have run out of time today...
Shopped out
Much bike stuff bought - although not all that was requested - credit card been well used this week!!
The Transporter
The Transporter
Slow starters
This morning has been a slow, lethargic start, despite the easy terrain. The only time Andrew has broken 10mph, he stormed off in the wrong direction. Unable to pedal and navigate at the same time apparently.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)