http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lGYlRZefnY
enjoy :)
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Thursday, 21 July 2011
Day 6 and Day 7
Day 6 - 68 miles Bridges to Warrington
Started off going uphill out of valley we stayed overnight in, massive fantastic view of the valley from the top. Started descending on wrong road, mostly because i was distracted by massive downhill, 45.6 mph, new personal best! Thats bloody quick, bike was wobbling all over, as the week progressed I slowed down, mostly because i wanted to finish the whole ride in one piece!
Easy riding, barely any hills, just a long day, 70 miles is a lot of pedalling.
Overnight in travelodge, pub for tea, happy days.
Day 7 - 63miles Warrington to Over Kellett
Left travelodge early because we had no breakfast, the roads round Warrington were stiil mad busy at 7:30am. Motorway roundabout M56 was dangerous so we went right round the edge, always seem to be turning right at the big roundabouts? Flew along after that, then things got a bit weird, riding through places very close to home, Wigan, Standish, Coppull, very strange. Rode through the village we live in, we actually went past our houses! Didnt go in as we probably wouldnt have left! Did right not going in, saw family at mums house, fed and watered, nice.
Forgetable ride up A6 to Carnforth, we have ridden that road too many times really. Had 3 close encounters with traffic, worst drivers of the trip, far too many!
Rode up to steves dads van, had a dip in the caravan sites outdoor pool, cold once you got in, eased off after a bit, had to be done! :)
 |
| some days were such a struggle? |
Easy riding, barely any hills, just a long day, 70 miles is a lot of pedalling.
Overnight in travelodge, pub for tea, happy days.
Day 7 - 63miles Warrington to Over Kellett
Left travelodge early because we had no breakfast, the roads round Warrington were stiil mad busy at 7:30am. Motorway roundabout M56 was dangerous so we went right round the edge, always seem to be turning right at the big roundabouts? Flew along after that, then things got a bit weird, riding through places very close to home, Wigan, Standish, Coppull, very strange. Rode through the village we live in, we actually went past our houses! Didnt go in as we probably wouldnt have left! Did right not going in, saw family at mums house, fed and watered, nice.
Forgetable ride up A6 to Carnforth, we have ridden that road too many times really. Had 3 close encounters with traffic, worst drivers of the trip, far too many!
Rode up to steves dads van, had a dip in the caravan sites outdoor pool, cold once you got in, eased off after a bit, had to be done! :)
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Day 4 and Day 5
Day 4 Bristol to Ledbury 56 miles
Bristol early doors, came closer to a bus than is safe, we seem to hit the four lane roundabouts at rush hour?
Leisurely day, barely any hills. Lovely area, great ride, legs felt quite good, we may have our riding legs now after 4 hard days ride. Minor creaking but nothing to worry about. Quality Woodside bunkhouse - recommended. We wheeled the bikes into the room! We had expected a dusty bunkroom but pretty much got a brand new appartment! Bought loads of food in, coulda fed 4 people.
Day 5 Ledbury to Bridges 50 miles
Short day, easy ride, quiet roads. We did too many miles too fast and had to slow down or we would have arrived at the hostel far too early, before it was even open.
Lunch in Ludlow, Steve purchased a wooden garden duck for his dad, we christened him Ludlow! Strapped him to the rear rack with bunji chords, very funny.
Arrived at another big hill 1000ft again, we knew it was coming, looming at the end of the day. Started gradually and went on and on. Topped out then dropped 100ft, very steep, then went up again 100 ft very very steep, barely rideable. Awesome views of the valley.
Then Disaster struck, the pub next door to the hostel was closed for refurb, I held it together by getting into bed fully clothed in dirty biking gear and falling asleep at 5pm!
Church Stretton hostel is an Old School, lovely place but very creepy at night, bats in the attic!
Later that evening as i was just drifting off to sleep (whilst listening to Machinehead!) Steve fell down the steps of the room and came running across dorm like a loony, i screamed my head off, ha ha ha
We land in Warrington tomoro which is crazy, still loving it, happy that we have had two easy days in a row, if you call 50miles easy? :)
Bristol early doors, came closer to a bus than is safe, we seem to hit the four lane roundabouts at rush hour?
Leisurely day, barely any hills. Lovely area, great ride, legs felt quite good, we may have our riding legs now after 4 hard days ride. Minor creaking but nothing to worry about. Quality Woodside bunkhouse - recommended. We wheeled the bikes into the room! We had expected a dusty bunkroom but pretty much got a brand new appartment! Bought loads of food in, coulda fed 4 people.
 |
| what panniers are for |
 |
| Feast |
 |
| view from bunkhouse |
Day 5 Ledbury to Bridges 50 miles
Short day, easy ride, quiet roads. We did too many miles too fast and had to slow down or we would have arrived at the hostel far too early, before it was even open.
Lunch in Ludlow, Steve purchased a wooden garden duck for his dad, we christened him Ludlow! Strapped him to the rear rack with bunji chords, very funny.
 |
| Ludlow! |
Then Disaster struck, the pub next door to the hostel was closed for refurb, I held it together by getting into bed fully clothed in dirty biking gear and falling asleep at 5pm!
Church Stretton hostel is an Old School, lovely place but very creepy at night, bats in the attic!
Later that evening as i was just drifting off to sleep (whilst listening to Machinehead!) Steve fell down the steps of the room and came running across dorm like a loony, i screamed my head off, ha ha ha
We land in Warrington tomoro which is crazy, still loving it, happy that we have had two easy days in a row, if you call 50miles easy? :)
Monday, 18 July 2011
Lejog Video - first attempt
its small and blurry, a work in progress?
how do you spell copyright infringement?.... Red hot chilli peppers please dont sue me
how do you spell copyright infringement?.... Red hot chilli peppers please dont sue me
Day 2 and Day 3
Day 2 Golant to Exeter 81 miles
Death on a bike! Set off at 9am and finished at 7pm. 10 bloody hours!
Near Liskeard we found a fantastic stretch of dual carriageway - 40mph downhill for a long time, like flying, loved it, highlight of the trip so far for me thought i had found god!
Stunning views today, massive downhill sections, wore out some brake rubber today.
Then to Okehampton onto edge of dartmoor. up another 1000ft hill.
Big hills and lots of em, no flat bits around here, your either going uphill or going downhill, theres nothing else!
Plenty of narrow country lanes, high hedges so you cant see anything, had enough of it really, like a rat in a maze!
Road of Death! A30
We finally gave in, after the CTC route took us up every hill it could find, and got on the A30. This is dual carriageway but its pretty much a motorway. We rode in the gutter, dodging cat eyes, grids and a lot of roadkill, and unbelievable amount of dead things actually. Quote of the day was ' dont fall off here or you will definitely die'. Being whipped by branches, dodging wheel trims, there was a truck with a house on the back and people towing speedboats. Quick miles though, never again, very very dangerous.
Ian and Clive had to order our meal at Exeter hostel, arrived and went straight in for it in dirty bike gear, strong cider imbibed, all is well again, legs are wrecked. Exeter is a good city for cycling, from what we saw there were bike lanes all over, impressed!
Day 3 Exeter to Bristol 75 miles
First 30miles flew by, good roads, wind behind us, a couple of big hills. Lashed down after lunch, very wet. Long day, riding was alright, glad to be out of Devon and Cornwall. At the end of the day there is a big hill 1000ft which Bristol airport sits on top of, pretty steep, killer, we got drenched again, long way up on a busy road. Massive downhill into Bristol. Nice. Big cup of tea that i had been looking forward to for hours.
Death on a bike! Set off at 9am and finished at 7pm. 10 bloody hours!
 |
| view from golant hostel window |
 |
| any hill that has a percentage isnt good |
Stunning views today, massive downhill sections, wore out some brake rubber today.
Then to Okehampton onto edge of dartmoor. up another 1000ft hill.
Big hills and lots of em, no flat bits around here, your either going uphill or going downhill, theres nothing else!
Plenty of narrow country lanes, high hedges so you cant see anything, had enough of it really, like a rat in a maze!
Road of Death! A30
We finally gave in, after the CTC route took us up every hill it could find, and got on the A30. This is dual carriageway but its pretty much a motorway. We rode in the gutter, dodging cat eyes, grids and a lot of roadkill, and unbelievable amount of dead things actually. Quote of the day was ' dont fall off here or you will definitely die'. Being whipped by branches, dodging wheel trims, there was a truck with a house on the back and people towing speedboats. Quick miles though, never again, very very dangerous.
Ian and Clive had to order our meal at Exeter hostel, arrived and went straight in for it in dirty bike gear, strong cider imbibed, all is well again, legs are wrecked. Exeter is a good city for cycling, from what we saw there were bike lanes all over, impressed!
Day 3 Exeter to Bristol 75 miles
First 30miles flew by, good roads, wind behind us, a couple of big hills. Lashed down after lunch, very wet. Long day, riding was alright, glad to be out of Devon and Cornwall. At the end of the day there is a big hill 1000ft which Bristol airport sits on top of, pretty steep, killer, we got drenched again, long way up on a busy road. Massive downhill into Bristol. Nice. Big cup of tea that i had been looking forward to for hours.
Day 0, and Day 1
Hello All, cheers for your support and donations!
Were back home and the dust has settled, were just about ready to do more detailed write ups for the day rides.
(I am gutted its over and searching for a new mission, but we will get to that later...)
Day 0
Train from Preston to Penzance, as soon as we arrived at Preston station people started giving us donations! Straight away, the signs on the back of the bikes turned out to be a really good idea. The trains went like clockwork even with the bikes, we had booked the bike spaces of which there are very few per train. Landed in Penzance and it absolutely hammered it down with rain before we even got out of the train station. Rode 8 miles over hills into wind to Lands End Youth hostel, noticed the change in countryside straight away. The ride still didnt feel real at this point. Lands End YH is one of the best we stayed in, good introduction to hostelling anyway. We met up with fellow riders who where doing same or similar ride to us. (Ian and Clive)
Whilst checking the route for tomoro we found we were catching a car ferry, king harrys, we think we knew about this just forgot!
Day1 67miles
Set off early to ride to start at Lands End, about 6 miles away, very excited. Arrived at Lands End and it was closed cos we were too early, theres 'tourist tat' there lots of it. We stood there for about an hour talking to various groups of cyclists who came through before photo man eventually turned up. Apparently its private land and you can only take a picture of his sign from outside the fence...
Picture sorted, of us and the bikes and the date and stuff, £12 rinsed out of us. A quick shout of Have It! and then we were off. Theres a start /finish line painted on the ground, thats when the ride became very real. We didnt even get out of the car park before we were soaked through!
This day and day 2 are supposed to be amongst the most difficult of the trip, this is true, very hilly today, good job we had fresh legs at this point! I snapped my chain, putting too much force on it whilst changing gear at wrong time on steep hill, dope! We carry speedlinks with us so it wasnt too bad, steve left his chain tool on the ground and we rode off, good job we didnt get far before realising. I also broke my phone cos my waterproof jacket isnt waterproof and got sunburnt today, good start!
Fianlly arrived at Golant YH near Fowey and found it was just us and a coach full of schoolkids in there, tea and breakfast the following day were very loud! Golant hostel showers were crap, had to run round to get wet!
Were back home and the dust has settled, were just about ready to do more detailed write ups for the day rides.
(I am gutted its over and searching for a new mission, but we will get to that later...)
 |
| theres a storm comin... |
Train from Preston to Penzance, as soon as we arrived at Preston station people started giving us donations! Straight away, the signs on the back of the bikes turned out to be a really good idea. The trains went like clockwork even with the bikes, we had booked the bike spaces of which there are very few per train. Landed in Penzance and it absolutely hammered it down with rain before we even got out of the train station. Rode 8 miles over hills into wind to Lands End Youth hostel, noticed the change in countryside straight away. The ride still didnt feel real at this point. Lands End YH is one of the best we stayed in, good introduction to hostelling anyway. We met up with fellow riders who where doing same or similar ride to us. (Ian and Clive)
Whilst checking the route for tomoro we found we were catching a car ferry, king harrys, we think we knew about this just forgot!
Set off early to ride to start at Lands End, about 6 miles away, very excited. Arrived at Lands End and it was closed cos we were too early, theres 'tourist tat' there lots of it. We stood there for about an hour talking to various groups of cyclists who came through before photo man eventually turned up. Apparently its private land and you can only take a picture of his sign from outside the fence...
Picture sorted, of us and the bikes and the date and stuff, £12 rinsed out of us. A quick shout of Have It! and then we were off. Theres a start /finish line painted on the ground, thats when the ride became very real. We didnt even get out of the car park before we were soaked through!
This day and day 2 are supposed to be amongst the most difficult of the trip, this is true, very hilly today, good job we had fresh legs at this point! I snapped my chain, putting too much force on it whilst changing gear at wrong time on steep hill, dope! We carry speedlinks with us so it wasnt too bad, steve left his chain tool on the ground and we rode off, good job we didnt get far before realising. I also broke my phone cos my waterproof jacket isnt waterproof and got sunburnt today, good start!
 |
| broken chain, i am the weakest link! |
Fianlly arrived at Golant YH near Fowey and found it was just us and a coach full of schoolkids in there, tea and breakfast the following day were very loud! Golant hostel showers were crap, had to run round to get wet!
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Day 11 and 12
Day11
Arran to Glencoe 100 miles!
(We are double centurions now, yeaaahhhhhh)
A hundred miles of pure joy and many mixed emotions....
Fantastic cycling, long sweeping hills, plenty of turns, lochs, sunshine all day.
Got tired by end of it, but we had been going for 10 hours. nearly broken.
equal on hardeness scale as day two though cornwall.
In hindsight it was unrealistic to attempt this on this trip! would have been ok on lightweight race bikes with no bags!
landed at hostel and dumped bags in room and rode straight to pub, extra mile and half uphill, at the time we thought it was stupidest idea of our lives. after 2nd pint of guinness it turned out to be a really good idea, rolled back downhill to hostel.
most of the day was best cycling weve ever done, just final part was horrible.
Glencoe region is wonderful - this is why were here!
Day 12
Glencoe to Loch Ness - 58 miles.
Actually felt ok when we got up, even after yesterdays epic!
Met up with Ian and Clive (who we first met in lands end) and rode with them all day, right good craic!
Fastest 58 miles weve ever rode ever, average speed 14.6mph whilst moving!
We ended up in Fort Augustus and stop for about an hour and actually felt like we where tourists on holiday not pro riders on an expedition to the ends of the earth, we picked up some supplys for our sausage cassarole and didn't forget our beer and minuture bottles of whiskey then headed of for the hostel. Once in the hostel we decided to go for a swim in Loch Ness but quickly ran away after we put our toes in too cold where not tough enough yet.
3 DAYS TO GO will keep you posted. PS still want more charity donation money please and its not for our whisky fetish honest!!.
Arran to Glencoe 100 miles!
(We are double centurions now, yeaaahhhhhh)
A hundred miles of pure joy and many mixed emotions....
Fantastic cycling, long sweeping hills, plenty of turns, lochs, sunshine all day.
Got tired by end of it, but we had been going for 10 hours. nearly broken.
equal on hardeness scale as day two though cornwall.
In hindsight it was unrealistic to attempt this on this trip! would have been ok on lightweight race bikes with no bags!
landed at hostel and dumped bags in room and rode straight to pub, extra mile and half uphill, at the time we thought it was stupidest idea of our lives. after 2nd pint of guinness it turned out to be a really good idea, rolled back downhill to hostel.
most of the day was best cycling weve ever done, just final part was horrible.
Glencoe region is wonderful - this is why were here!
Day 12
Glencoe to Loch Ness - 58 miles.
Actually felt ok when we got up, even after yesterdays epic!
Met up with Ian and Clive (who we first met in lands end) and rode with them all day, right good craic!
Fastest 58 miles weve ever rode ever, average speed 14.6mph whilst moving!
We ended up in Fort Augustus and stop for about an hour and actually felt like we where tourists on holiday not pro riders on an expedition to the ends of the earth, we picked up some supplys for our sausage cassarole and didn't forget our beer and minuture bottles of whiskey then headed of for the hostel. Once in the hostel we decided to go for a swim in Loch Ness but quickly ran away after we put our toes in too cold where not tough enough yet.
3 DAYS TO GO will keep you posted. PS still want more charity donation money please and its not for our whisky fetish honest!!.
Monday, 27 June 2011
day 9 and on and on!!
Day nine, Carlisle to Galloway 74 mile.
Left the dive that Carlisle is and picked up a cycle route 7 out of the city heading for Gretna Green it was shut!!! so didn't get hitched to any big dutch birds that where following us along the day. Eventually ended up at a bunkhouse at Loch Ken where we got a nice evening meal of roast pork and seasonal veg Mmmmm, and while drinking beer outside we where repeatedly dive bombed by midges other than that a nice evening.
Day Ten, Galloway to Arran.
Well what can i say the first 20 miles up hill into the wind a proper sufferfest of pain with only oat bars and flapjacks for breakfast, we stopped at some little village of the dammed where we where told of for leaning our bikes against the shop window. From then on it was down hill into the wind with the worst roads Scotland could throw at us so far, it got that bad we where actually pedaling down hill to keep up a reasonable speed. Got of ferry on Arran and it was liked we entered a new world it was idyllic riding until we came to a bend in the road and it proceeded upwards forever but like the pro riders we are we didn't shy away from this we just had some wine gums and got on with the job. Got to youth hostel had a great shower well some of us did and then proceeded to the local tavern to taste their delights.
Left the dive that Carlisle is and picked up a cycle route 7 out of the city heading for Gretna Green it was shut!!! so didn't get hitched to any big dutch birds that where following us along the day. Eventually ended up at a bunkhouse at Loch Ken where we got a nice evening meal of roast pork and seasonal veg Mmmmm, and while drinking beer outside we where repeatedly dive bombed by midges other than that a nice evening.
Day Ten, Galloway to Arran.
Well what can i say the first 20 miles up hill into the wind a proper sufferfest of pain with only oat bars and flapjacks for breakfast, we stopped at some little village of the dammed where we where told of for leaning our bikes against the shop window. From then on it was down hill into the wind with the worst roads Scotland could throw at us so far, it got that bad we where actually pedaling down hill to keep up a reasonable speed. Got of ferry on Arran and it was liked we entered a new world it was idyllic riding until we came to a bend in the road and it proceeded upwards forever but like the pro riders we are we didn't shy away from this we just had some wine gums and got on with the job. Got to youth hostel had a great shower well some of us did and then proceeded to the local tavern to taste their delights.
Day 4 and on
Sorry weve had no internet access! still enjoying ourselves
Day4
Bristol to Ledbury, 74ish miles. A38 out of Bristol, shenanigans road as Adi whos lives there likes to call it, nightmare.Cheers Adi for putting us up and plying us with good food / beer/ scotch.
Lots of rubbish road riding really.
Landed in a bunkhouse near Ledbury, quality place, we wheeled our bikes up a rear access ramp into the room! More like an apartment, bunkhouses shouldnt be this good, 'i feel like were cheating'. Bought food in for bunkhouse, could of fed 4 people, had mandatory beer and wine too, feast!
Day5
Ledbury to Bridges, 54miles,
started alright all way up to leominster then a49 to church stretton. Got hilly and steep. At one point it was barely rideable. Stayed over in yha which is an old school, very creepy. pub next door was shut, Disaster.
Told repeatedly by people we met along the way that we were on a rubbish route, should be riding on quieter roads, annoying! ignored em.
Day6
Bridges to Warrington, 50 odd miles. started with a massive down hill, new top speed of 45mph. really good morning, nice riding till we got into warrington. stayed in travel lodge, went to pub for tea and beers, happy days.
Day7
Warrington to Carnforth 69ishmiles
Got out of madhouse of warrington roads, fast route to home.Riding through our home village and local area was very weird, like a training ride- just finishing off. except we were half way on the trip! rode out of preston, worst drivers we found so far, had about 3 close calls, which is far too many! Good to see family at home, gave us a big lift. Thanks!
Rode up to lancaster, weve ridden up there too many times already, going through the motions. arrived at pete and sues van, had a swim in outdoor pool, fed and watered, cheers!
Day8
Carnforth to Carlisle 70miles ish
rode 15 miles into kendal, then started up Shap. 9 miles uphill. we found it alright really, had south west breeze behind us, 1400ft, quite enjoyed it. Then on to penrith and carlisle. stayed over in farm bunkhouse 7 miles outside carlisle, feast again!
:)
Day4
Bristol to Ledbury, 74ish miles. A38 out of Bristol, shenanigans road as Adi whos lives there likes to call it, nightmare.Cheers Adi for putting us up and plying us with good food / beer/ scotch.
Lots of rubbish road riding really.
Landed in a bunkhouse near Ledbury, quality place, we wheeled our bikes up a rear access ramp into the room! More like an apartment, bunkhouses shouldnt be this good, 'i feel like were cheating'. Bought food in for bunkhouse, could of fed 4 people, had mandatory beer and wine too, feast!
Day5
Ledbury to Bridges, 54miles,
started alright all way up to leominster then a49 to church stretton. Got hilly and steep. At one point it was barely rideable. Stayed over in yha which is an old school, very creepy. pub next door was shut, Disaster.
Told repeatedly by people we met along the way that we were on a rubbish route, should be riding on quieter roads, annoying! ignored em.
Day6
Bridges to Warrington, 50 odd miles. started with a massive down hill, new top speed of 45mph. really good morning, nice riding till we got into warrington. stayed in travel lodge, went to pub for tea and beers, happy days.
Day7
Warrington to Carnforth 69ishmiles
Got out of madhouse of warrington roads, fast route to home.Riding through our home village and local area was very weird, like a training ride- just finishing off. except we were half way on the trip! rode out of preston, worst drivers we found so far, had about 3 close calls, which is far too many! Good to see family at home, gave us a big lift. Thanks!
Rode up to lancaster, weve ridden up there too many times already, going through the motions. arrived at pete and sues van, had a swim in outdoor pool, fed and watered, cheers!
Day8
Carnforth to Carlisle 70miles ish
rode 15 miles into kendal, then started up Shap. 9 miles uphill. we found it alright really, had south west breeze behind us, 1400ft, quite enjoyed it. Then on to penrith and carlisle. stayed over in farm bunkhouse 7 miles outside carlisle, feast again!
:)
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Hey all, this is Karen, Steve's wife and Dave's big sis - they've asked me to do an update for all of you who are following them. Today they've ridden up SHAP (yes, that bloomin big , long, devil mountain on the way to Carlisle). I spoke to them both as they summitted (!), Steve was very chilled and relaxed as normal...from Dave I got a massive WOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO as he came over the top, closely followed by some swearing about a 77 year old man who apparently overtook him.
The last couple of days have been a bit wierd for them, they came through their home town of Bamber Bridge yesterday and stopped at our mum's for tomato soup and ham butties. Dave ate them like he was never going to eat food again. Steve, in the meantime, packed and repacked his bags with items I had been instructed to bring along.... " beige walking pants, beige T-Shirt". God knows what would have happened if I'd put a red T-shirt in there instead. They may never of continued. A Hollands pie man had apparently pulled in front of them on the way and Steve just about managed to stop swearing at him long enough to discover that the "stupid Bas$$rd" hadn't just cut him up but wanted to give them free steak and pepper pies.
Thursday prior found them in sunny Warrington, I received a call that they had nowhere to eat and that everywhere was closed... disaster and melodrama was upon them....anyway the story ended with them finding a pub that did burgers big enough for Steve-i-never-leave-anything-farnan to leave, well, lots of burger.
Yesterday they saw us, dumped a load of smelly clothes and headed off to Steve's dad's van in Carnforth (Pete & Sue you owe me for not sending smelly clothes up to you), apparently they had yummy braised steak, beer, wine and then pudding of stawberries - Pete got up at half six today to make sure they had actually left and not hidden in his shed....... the story continues, very proud of you both xxxxx
The last couple of days have been a bit wierd for them, they came through their home town of Bamber Bridge yesterday and stopped at our mum's for tomato soup and ham butties. Dave ate them like he was never going to eat food again. Steve, in the meantime, packed and repacked his bags with items I had been instructed to bring along.... " beige walking pants, beige T-Shirt". God knows what would have happened if I'd put a red T-shirt in there instead. They may never of continued. A Hollands pie man had apparently pulled in front of them on the way and Steve just about managed to stop swearing at him long enough to discover that the "stupid Bas$$rd" hadn't just cut him up but wanted to give them free steak and pepper pies.
Thursday prior found them in sunny Warrington, I received a call that they had nowhere to eat and that everywhere was closed... disaster and melodrama was upon them....anyway the story ended with them finding a pub that did burgers big enough for Steve-i-never-leave-anything-farnan to leave, well, lots of burger.
Yesterday they saw us, dumped a load of smelly clothes and headed off to Steve's dad's van in Carnforth (Pete & Sue you owe me for not sending smelly clothes up to you), apparently they had yummy braised steak, beer, wine and then pudding of stawberries - Pete got up at half six today to make sure they had actually left and not hidden in his shed....... the story continues, very proud of you both xxxxx
Monday, 20 June 2011
LEJOG day 3
Today was a good day, long but good. we got rained on. flat in places, much less hilly than devon and cornwall. 76 miles! hardest biking weekend weve ever done, fantastic in places, horrendous in others.
Made good progress during the morn, then rain and the Mendip hills slowed us down, our legs are creaking a bit more today. To date we have done 230 miles. Off to Gloucestershire tommorrow then onto Ledbury for our over night stop, it's a short day only 54 miles so where havin a lie in.
![]()
happy days!
Made good progress during the morn, then rain and the Mendip hills slowed us down, our legs are creaking a bit more today. To date we have done 230 miles. Off to Gloucestershire tommorrow then onto Ledbury for our over night stop, it's a short day only 54 miles so where havin a lie in.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
LEJOG Day 2
Glorious sunshine, cornish and devon hills should be a recipe for great hol, not on a bike though! Up and down em for 10 hours which is a new personal best, for 74 miles.... average speed embarassingly low!
Some parts were amazing with great views, others were an absolute nightmare!
lost count of the hills, theres no flat bits round here, up or down thats it.
We hit a patch of road into liskeard doing 40mph for ages downhill, unbelievable.
Highway of death = A30, if you fall off on here you will die! these where the comforting words Dave said to me as we set of on our final 15 mile, the road lives up to the name we give it i have never seen so many dead animals on one road before. Anyway we cracked on and got into Exeter in one piece all though a little shaken.
Cheers!
Some parts were amazing with great views, others were an absolute nightmare!
lost count of the hills, theres no flat bits round here, up or down thats it.
We hit a patch of road into liskeard doing 40mph for ages downhill, unbelievable.
Highway of death = A30, if you fall off on here you will die! these where the comforting words Dave said to me as we set of on our final 15 mile, the road lives up to the name we give it i have never seen so many dead animals on one road before. Anyway we cracked on and got into Exeter in one piece all though a little shaken.
Cheers!
LEJOG day 1
Hi people, limited tinterweb access down here!
It rained as soon as we set off, torrential style!
Good ride, plenty of hills.
My phone got wet and broke. My chain bust at the bottom of a hill, good job we had a spare link!
Lands End to Golant which is near Fowey.
Met loads of riders who are doing similar ride to us.
Cheers!
It rained as soon as we set off, torrential style!
Good ride, plenty of hills.
My phone got wet and broke. My chain bust at the bottom of a hill, good job we had a spare link!
Lands End to Golant which is near Fowey.
Met loads of riders who are doing similar ride to us.
Cheers!
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Time to go! Yeeaaaahhhhhh!!!
Well then here we go, Time to pack up and ... er leave!
We have reached over a £1000 with the sponsorship so far which is unbelievable! We never expected that so thankyou all very much, theres still plenty of time for more
The bikes are prepped, the panniers are packed, the laden bikes weigh about the same as an average 7.5 year old child which is fairly entertaining. This involves standing on me mums scales lifting the bike, then weighing myself without the bike. 4 Stone?
We have trained with bags on the bike anyway, since we got the bikes last year, just not this full! Were taking the minimum gear, no shaving kit - expedition beards! You probably dont want to know how many pairs of keks were not taking either....
Steve knocked up some signs for the back of the bikes, cheers to Halfords for that, theyre actually motorbike number plates. They look really smart, should give us a bit of goodwill from drivers hopefully, and a bit of craic too
We start off in Cornwall, the first three days are going to be amongst the hardest of the whole trip , Day2 being the daddy, because of all the hills. I read another blog of a rider who had just done it this week - 'There are no words to describe how tough the hills were today' @2old2cycle. So thats something to look forward to! The weather for down there on friday is heavy rain ha ha ha
I havent ridden this week, (well apart from friday 30, sat 44, sun 15miles) and am getting a bit twitchy, its called tapering apparently, have an easy week before the big ride so you are fresh and raring to go. I dont like it!
Actually I lost my nerve monday night and nearly set off on the trip, peddling like a good un off to Penzance, which wouldnt have been a good thing seeing as we have a train booked to get down there on friday!
We will try to update this blog during the ride (its not a holiday!), maybe even daily, but it will depend on internet access, will, and whether we decide the pub is a better option!
Cheers!
Dave
:)
Also were plotting the next expedition, probably gonna be in 2013! ha ha ha - location TBC...... get involved!
We have reached over a £1000 with the sponsorship so far which is unbelievable! We never expected that so thankyou all very much, theres still plenty of time for more
The bikes are prepped, the panniers are packed, the laden bikes weigh about the same as an average 7.5 year old child which is fairly entertaining. This involves standing on me mums scales lifting the bike, then weighing myself without the bike. 4 Stone?
We have trained with bags on the bike anyway, since we got the bikes last year, just not this full! Were taking the minimum gear, no shaving kit - expedition beards! You probably dont want to know how many pairs of keks were not taking either....
Steve knocked up some signs for the back of the bikes, cheers to Halfords for that, theyre actually motorbike number plates. They look really smart, should give us a bit of goodwill from drivers hopefully, and a bit of craic too
We start off in Cornwall, the first three days are going to be amongst the hardest of the whole trip , Day2 being the daddy, because of all the hills. I read another blog of a rider who had just done it this week - 'There are no words to describe how tough the hills were today' @2old2cycle. So thats something to look forward to! The weather for down there on friday is heavy rain ha ha ha
I havent ridden this week, (well apart from friday 30, sat 44, sun 15miles) and am getting a bit twitchy, its called tapering apparently, have an easy week before the big ride so you are fresh and raring to go. I dont like it!
Actually I lost my nerve monday night and nearly set off on the trip, peddling like a good un off to Penzance, which wouldnt have been a good thing seeing as we have a train booked to get down there on friday!
We will try to update this blog during the ride (its not a holiday!), maybe even daily, but it will depend on internet access, will, and whether we decide the pub is a better option!
Cheers!
Dave
:)
Also were plotting the next expedition, probably gonna be in 2013! ha ha ha - location TBC...... get involved!
Friday, 10 June 2011
Mmmm new bar tape.
Well said Dave i feel excatully the same just want to get on the road again, well just put some new bar tape on it looks the dog's.
Cool eh!, well let's get ready to rumble.
Cool eh!, well let's get ready to rumble.
One week to go! Can you believe it? :)
Thankyou for your kind Donations! Much Appreciated. We want more!
We just want to get going now!
We get the train down to Penzance on Friday 17th, its a 7 hr journey, with 3 changes.
Steve serviced the bikes, trued the wheels on his jig at work, put on new chains, changed cables and put 2 new tyres on my bike as i wore down the rear one on the turbo trainer. He did other stuff too but I wasnt watching, but I was distracted by beer at that point :)
We have made last minute route mod's too, avoiding A30 through Cornwall. This is thanks to some LEJOG riders that came to the bike shop Steve works in. They told him its pretty much a motorway, so were going the scenic route now. Scenic meaning bloody hilly and long still!
The routes are sync'd to our GPS units, the main navigational tool, but weve also got paper copies of day routes, which can be binned after use, or eaten.
We are getting to the stage of packing and just go, the gear were taking is basically:
Biking clothes, Off bike clothes, Bike Mech Stuff, Medical Stuff.
I asked the Eccles Cake Company if they would like to sponsor us, got no reply so far, still keeping fingers crossed for last minute reprieve though.
Ive just asked the Lancashire Evening Post if they wanna put us in the paper, will see what comes of that.
After planning this adventure for a year, its a bit weird that were actually setting off next week!
Its come round pretty quick, this last month has gone really fast. By thursday eve next week I am sure we will be scared/very excited.
People we arent going to see between now and then are wishing us good luck, which is nice!
Cheers
DB
:)
We cant f###### wait! - Its all about the Ride!
(I wouldnt drive it!)
We just want to get going now!
We get the train down to Penzance on Friday 17th, its a 7 hr journey, with 3 changes.
Steve serviced the bikes, trued the wheels on his jig at work, put on new chains, changed cables and put 2 new tyres on my bike as i wore down the rear one on the turbo trainer. He did other stuff too but I wasnt watching, but I was distracted by beer at that point :)
We have made last minute route mod's too, avoiding A30 through Cornwall. This is thanks to some LEJOG riders that came to the bike shop Steve works in. They told him its pretty much a motorway, so were going the scenic route now. Scenic meaning bloody hilly and long still!
The routes are sync'd to our GPS units, the main navigational tool, but weve also got paper copies of day routes, which can be binned after use, or eaten.
We are getting to the stage of packing and just go, the gear were taking is basically:
Biking clothes, Off bike clothes, Bike Mech Stuff, Medical Stuff.
I asked the Eccles Cake Company if they would like to sponsor us, got no reply so far, still keeping fingers crossed for last minute reprieve though.
Ive just asked the Lancashire Evening Post if they wanna put us in the paper, will see what comes of that.
After planning this adventure for a year, its a bit weird that were actually setting off next week!
Its come round pretty quick, this last month has gone really fast. By thursday eve next week I am sure we will be scared/very excited.
People we arent going to see between now and then are wishing us good luck, which is nice!
Cheers
DB
:)
We cant f###### wait! - Its all about the Ride!
(I wouldnt drive it!)
Monday, 30 May 2011
Liverpool docks ride and spiney Norman
2.5 Weeks to go!! we are ready as we'll ever be!
Thankyou for your kind donations!
This is spiney Norman, he wasnt happy about having his photo taken at 6:43am the other day as i rode to work, but who is? Do you think he looks ill? My hedgehog knowledge is limited.
(we are broadening our range of topics to get more readers! ha ha ha)
Anway enough of that heres some pics from when we rode to Liverpool Docks on saturday:
Four lanes of traffic enough for ya?!
This ride was very different to our usual ones, the turn around point being Liverpool city centre. Dockland industrial estate is a change from country lanes! Preston, Bretherton, Ormskirk, Maghull, Bootle, Docks, Crosby, Little Altcar, Southport, Preston.
Heres the route we did:
http://www.bikemap.net/route/984944#
Avoiding switch island, and bad main roads, 73 miles overall. Out from 7:30am till about 3pm, we always average 10mph door to door with stops and lunch included in that. We started off into a headwind, this was horrible, carried on for about 3 hrs! All part of the training. Arrived at the waterfront got a bacon butty and cup of tea. It was all pretty damn flat, roads were decent too, apart from one in the centre they were resurfacing, had scraped it back exposing old cobble stones.
Steve has discovered Banana Malt Loaf - highly reccommended! Also munching wine gums is all part of the training too.
I broke a bracket on my mudguard, it now interferes with my tyre every so often, not good, solved temporarily with tie wrap!
We went out Sunday aswell, did 44miles, windy and rainy. Went to Bolton then Wigan. It was alright, saturday ride was better, legs felt ok too.
We are ready to go now, fairly happy doing big miles day after day, just finalising gear lists and making final prep.
Going to do a service on the bikes shortly aswell.
Weve worked out that for our outgoing train, one of the train change overs is 12 minutes, a bit tight?
Cheers for now
DB
:)
Thankyou for your kind donations!
 | |||
| Spiney Norman |
(we are broadening our range of topics to get more readers! ha ha ha)
Anway enough of that heres some pics from when we rode to Liverpool Docks on saturday:
 |
| the bikes - nearly fully laden |
 |
| Steve and the Royal Liver Building |
This ride was very different to our usual ones, the turn around point being Liverpool city centre. Dockland industrial estate is a change from country lanes! Preston, Bretherton, Ormskirk, Maghull, Bootle, Docks, Crosby, Little Altcar, Southport, Preston.
Heres the route we did:
http://www.bikemap.net/route/984944#
Avoiding switch island, and bad main roads, 73 miles overall. Out from 7:30am till about 3pm, we always average 10mph door to door with stops and lunch included in that. We started off into a headwind, this was horrible, carried on for about 3 hrs! All part of the training. Arrived at the waterfront got a bacon butty and cup of tea. It was all pretty damn flat, roads were decent too, apart from one in the centre they were resurfacing, had scraped it back exposing old cobble stones.
 |
| good butty van (and Liver Bldg) |
 |
| Isle of Mann ferry and one big un from Rotterdam. Ferry bloke nearly fell over when we told him we had come from Preston and were going back! |
 |
 |
| Merseyside Maritime Museum - no cycling allowed round here |
 |
| Wheel of Liverpool |
We went out Sunday aswell, did 44miles, windy and rainy. Went to Bolton then Wigan. It was alright, saturday ride was better, legs felt ok too.
We are ready to go now, fairly happy doing big miles day after day, just finalising gear lists and making final prep.
Going to do a service on the bikes shortly aswell.
Weve worked out that for our outgoing train, one of the train change overs is 12 minutes, a bit tight?
Cheers for now
DB
:)
Monday, 16 May 2011
Time to service the bike's me think's.
Well just under five weeks to go and my trusty steed Madge and Dave's ride which i don't think has a name yet are ready for a good strip down and service, i know mine needs a new chain and all cables replacing and i will also do hub service on both bikes just to ensure we have silky smooth ride all the way up. Then it's time to get all the kit ready where taking, we have a couple more training weekends work permitting but as Dave said where not going to get any fitter it's just a case of keepin well and we will be fine. These are some pics from our last ride which was the 100 miler.
This was perfect timing.
Objects may look larger in the mirror.
This was perfect timing.
Objects may look larger in the mirror.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
5 weeks deadline, Panic!!!!
I get the feeling these last few weeks will fly by. I dont think we will get any fitter, just have to stay injury free now. Ive got a caving trip coming up which i may possibly skip, even though i have never got injured caving ever.
We booked both Trains a couple of weeks ago, had to go to the station and speak to them because you cant reserve bike spaces online.
Train 1 - Preston to Penzance 7.5hrs £55 Each
Train 2 - Wick to Preston 11hrs £40 Each
You can get a discounted fare if you book it early, about 8 weeks before departure, this is the earliest opportunity, you can view tickets online before that but you cant buy them. (Or if you can i couldnt find it!)
We are changing trains twice on each trip, this should be entertaining with two fully laden touring bikes. :)
Its all starting to get a bit more real as the start date comes closer, hard to believe its a year ago that i bought my road bike.
The idea is starting to settle in with friends and family too, they are coming round to the idea of what were doing.
Thankyou for your kind donations! They are very much appreciated!
Lessons from the road - here are some things we have learned so far:
- There is always another hill, always.
- Dont buy a new bike and then ride 50 miles straight off. World of pain.
- Make sure your pump works. Makes sure you know how to use it.
- When car drivers pomp their horns at you, smile and wave, (this annoys them even more).
- We are scared of cornfields, Stay away from the corn! Mostly due to that film with the kids that attack you with scythes.
- Car drivers dont give enough room to cyclists, alot.
- As soon as you reach the peak of the hill and start flying down the otherside you will instantly forget about the pain of getting up there.
- Sealskinz wetsocks are a gift from the gods.
- Secure your panniers to your bike properly, they can bounce off when fully loaded, and nearly kill Steve.
- Bruised fruit really pisses me off.
- In cycle touring if you get really angry with inconsiderate drivers you will have a really long bad day, take it easy, be calm.
- I start singing to myself when I am enjoying the ride.
- Biking short tan lines will get you and your stuck with them possibly forever.
- Dont fight the headwinds, thats a good way to strain yourself, gear down and accept that your going to go a bit slower than normal.
- Chamois cream is very necessary for multiple high mileage days.
- Biking lots will make your clothes not fit anymore, your normal shorts may fall down at inappropriate times.
Other points of note:
We are considering wild swimming in multiple locations on the ride, all perfectly safe, one may be Loch Ness, its going to be brief!
We ride past our houses on the main LEJOG ride, roughly half way through the whole trip, then past here onto a week going across Scotland.
A family friend mentioned we should go to The Orkneys after weve finished Lejog, for a ride! ha ha Might aswell seeing were up there with a spare day or so, more riding! Its meant to be nice and flat, you can go there on the ferry.
Be careful of being around bikers that have just ridden a hundred miles in a day, they will have the biking hunger, and may eat you!
We are getting scared and very excited, going to do some more big rides with full gear in the bags. Its nearly time for a final bike service before we go too. Itching to get going now, enough talking lets just get on with it!
Cheers
DB
:)
(I am also plotting and scheming for my next adventure, I may do a bike tour combined with couchsurfing, have a look at the website, http://www.couchsurfing.org)
We booked both Trains a couple of weeks ago, had to go to the station and speak to them because you cant reserve bike spaces online.
Train 1 - Preston to Penzance 7.5hrs £55 Each
Train 2 - Wick to Preston 11hrs £40 Each
You can get a discounted fare if you book it early, about 8 weeks before departure, this is the earliest opportunity, you can view tickets online before that but you cant buy them. (Or if you can i couldnt find it!)
We are changing trains twice on each trip, this should be entertaining with two fully laden touring bikes. :)
 |
| this photo looks like a painting? fluke! |
The idea is starting to settle in with friends and family too, they are coming round to the idea of what were doing.
Thankyou for your kind donations! They are very much appreciated!
 |
| i only took 3 pics on this ride, i like all 3! |
Lessons from the road - here are some things we have learned so far:
- There is always another hill, always.
- Dont buy a new bike and then ride 50 miles straight off. World of pain.
- Make sure your pump works. Makes sure you know how to use it.
- When car drivers pomp their horns at you, smile and wave, (this annoys them even more).
- We are scared of cornfields, Stay away from the corn! Mostly due to that film with the kids that attack you with scythes.
- Car drivers dont give enough room to cyclists, alot.
- As soon as you reach the peak of the hill and start flying down the otherside you will instantly forget about the pain of getting up there.
- Sealskinz wetsocks are a gift from the gods.
- Secure your panniers to your bike properly, they can bounce off when fully loaded, and nearly kill Steve.
- Bruised fruit really pisses me off.
- In cycle touring if you get really angry with inconsiderate drivers you will have a really long bad day, take it easy, be calm.
- I start singing to myself when I am enjoying the ride.
- Biking short tan lines will get you and your stuck with them possibly forever.
- Dont fight the headwinds, thats a good way to strain yourself, gear down and accept that your going to go a bit slower than normal.
- Chamois cream is very necessary for multiple high mileage days.
- Biking lots will make your clothes not fit anymore, your normal shorts may fall down at inappropriate times.
Other points of note:
We are considering wild swimming in multiple locations on the ride, all perfectly safe, one may be Loch Ness, its going to be brief!
We ride past our houses on the main LEJOG ride, roughly half way through the whole trip, then past here onto a week going across Scotland.
A family friend mentioned we should go to The Orkneys after weve finished Lejog, for a ride! ha ha Might aswell seeing were up there with a spare day or so, more riding! Its meant to be nice and flat, you can go there on the ferry.
Be careful of being around bikers that have just ridden a hundred miles in a day, they will have the biking hunger, and may eat you!
We are getting scared and very excited, going to do some more big rides with full gear in the bags. Its nearly time for a final bike service before we go too. Itching to get going now, enough talking lets just get on with it!
Cheers
DB
:)
(I am also plotting and scheming for my next adventure, I may do a bike tour combined with couchsurfing, have a look at the website, http://www.couchsurfing.org)
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Century ride - dont try this at home kids!
7 weeks till we get the train to Penzance!
Please donate on our just giving website for this charity ride!
We rode a century today, 100 miles! hell yeah! This is the furthest we have ever ridden!
First century ride, as i write this i am not itching to do a second one.
It hurt a lot, we probably shouldnt have included a 1000ft hill towards the end either!
Heres the actual route on bikemap - http://www.bikemap.net/route/927343
We have ridden part of this route before when we did an 86 mile ride just to see if we could go that far. Months later and after much training it seemed a good idea to knock off a century, so Steve modified our route slightly and off we went.
We set off at 7am and were out for 11hours!
5543ft overall ascent, max elevation 1139ft.
Pictures are below
Two hours ride up the A6 to Lancaster, a 4x4 with a horsetrailer came ridiculously close to me as it passed, i jumped out of my skin, Steve - 'you coulda got in that horsebox mate!' then over to Bentham. The A65 past Settle was bad to ride due to so much traffic, we went fairly quickly to get off that road. Such a big difference between riding quite country lanes with the birds for company to a hectic dual carriageway on easter sunday. We stopped for lunch in Long Preston on a random bench on the village green. 5 hours riding 55miles on the clock.
Steve - 'Were halfway there", Me - "I am knackered!".
After lunch it got hillier, culminating in Easington Fell, we sat at the top on the floor, cackling slightly as we still had 30 miles or 3 hours riding to go at that point.
This was all soon forgotten as we dropped down 700ft in about 3 miles, flipping unbelievable! Like being on a rollercoaster, our new personal best top speed achieved, 41mph, thats pretty quick on a laden touring bike, dont fall off at that speed!
We then churned through Clitheroe, creaked through Longridge towards home, worked out we werent going to hit 100 miles and had to ride round the block for a couple of miles to toggle over into being centurions. ha ha ha brilliant!
This was the hardest ride weve ever done, parts of it were unbelievable, the yorkshire dales are fantastic. Parts of it were very hard, its a bloody lot of miles, i am not going to discuss chaffing, and why you need chamois cream on long rides...
and I never got my f###### icecream either!
Cheers
DB
:)
Please donate on our just giving website for this charity ride!
We rode a century today, 100 miles! hell yeah! This is the furthest we have ever ridden!
First century ride, as i write this i am not itching to do a second one.
It hurt a lot, we probably shouldnt have included a 1000ft hill towards the end either!
Heres the actual route on bikemap - http://www.bikemap.net/route/927343
We have ridden part of this route before when we did an 86 mile ride just to see if we could go that far. Months later and after much training it seemed a good idea to knock off a century, so Steve modified our route slightly and off we went.
We set off at 7am and were out for 11hours!
5543ft overall ascent, max elevation 1139ft.
Pictures are below
Two hours ride up the A6 to Lancaster, a 4x4 with a horsetrailer came ridiculously close to me as it passed, i jumped out of my skin, Steve - 'you coulda got in that horsebox mate!' then over to Bentham. The A65 past Settle was bad to ride due to so much traffic, we went fairly quickly to get off that road. Such a big difference between riding quite country lanes with the birds for company to a hectic dual carriageway on easter sunday. We stopped for lunch in Long Preston on a random bench on the village green. 5 hours riding 55miles on the clock.
Steve - 'Were halfway there", Me - "I am knackered!".
After lunch it got hillier, culminating in Easington Fell, we sat at the top on the floor, cackling slightly as we still had 30 miles or 3 hours riding to go at that point.
This was all soon forgotten as we dropped down 700ft in about 3 miles, flipping unbelievable! Like being on a rollercoaster, our new personal best top speed achieved, 41mph, thats pretty quick on a laden touring bike, dont fall off at that speed!
We then churned through Clitheroe, creaked through Longridge towards home, worked out we werent going to hit 100 miles and had to ride round the block for a couple of miles to toggle over into being centurions. ha ha ha brilliant!
 |
| A6 on the way to Lancaster |
 |
| spot the Farnan, can you see him? |
 |
| Ingleborough and the bikes |
 |
| lunch in Long Preston, 55 miles ridden |
 |
| stocks reservoir |
 |
| view from easington fell, halfway up! |
This was the hardest ride weve ever done, parts of it were unbelievable, the yorkshire dales are fantastic. Parts of it were very hard, its a bloody lot of miles, i am not going to discuss chaffing, and why you need chamois cream on long rides...
and I never got my f###### icecream either!
Cheers
DB
:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)