They think it's all over....it is now!!

We finished as we had begun cycling into a strong headwind! It was only 57 miles and perhaps we were a bit too relaxed with a 10am start. The wind and hills - is anything flat in Cornwall? - slowed us down and made it hard work, but I guess it's not supposed to be easy! The weather was a mixture of everything but any sunshine we saw was extremely limited. The strong wind was supposed to clear the clouds away, but just served to make us work harder. The traffic was also very heavy, in fact it was probably the worst of the whole trip. All those holiday makers rushing down to spend time in the wind and rain!

Anyway enough of all that we made it! What an incredible journey. It was great at the end as we cycled three abreast into Lands End. Sarah, Sandra ,James, Emma and Mark's friend Pete were there to meet us. The kids soaked us with champagne, sparkling water and anything else they could throw over us. Hopefully I can add some pictures later today or tomorrow. We also met the four guys who started half an hour before us 12 days ago. They finished half an hour before us! They also thought this was one of the toughest days. It was great to see them as we had built up a great sense of camaraderie.

Now for the facts: 960 miles ridden at an average speed of c13.7 mph giving around 70 hours in the saddle. Feet climbed over 50,000 and calories burned well over 30,000. I need to adjust my diet quickly before turning super sized!


Lots of people to thank. Firstly Mark and Steve, could not have done it without them, when the going got tough they just knuckled down and put the miles in. Couldn't have wanted a better two guys to join me. Sandra of course made life so much easier for us, she worked so hard and no one could have asked for more. Most importantly Sarah and the kids for putting up with the training,having to see me in lycra and making the long trip to support us at the end. I also got some great advice from a number of you who are cyclists, some of whom have done the JOGLE, which was very helpful,and indeed some of you even rode with me even though I slowed you down! You know who you are and thank you. Thanks also to Roota and Steve K for joining the ride, it was good to ride with you guys.Finally I would like to thank the readers of this blog, it's been wonderful to know that people are taking an interest and wishing us well every pedal of the way. You should not under estimate how important that has been to all of us.

I'm sure I will look back on this trip with a great sense of achievement. Just now I need a shower , a few pints , a meal and a long sleep! But as well as what it means for me I have been lucky enough to raise c£7,000 for my chosen charities which I am delighted about.

Thank you and goodnight!!

Cornish Delight!

The Lamb Inn was wonderful, I can't find any fault with it except it's too far from Pinner! It is what a pub should be.

As we were leaving Sarah and the kids arrived having left London very early. They saw us off and then had an excellent breakfast at the Lamb, some consolation for getting out of bed in the middle of the night!

We were straight into the hills and the first 20 miles or so was quite challenging. Steve K suddenly realised that today was going to be a bit different to the flatter ride the previous day! Still we were doing pretty well and the rain was keeping away. We kept passing Sarah, Sandra and the kids who were taking photos. Apparently we have lots of pictures of the empty road, I'm sure this was down to our speed and not any lack of photographic skills on their part!

We were going to have lunch just passed Launceston but the village we chose didn't have a pub and so it was another 5 miles before we could stop, all of which was uphill! This just built up the appetite! Fabulous views from there though, although it was getting colder and windier. It was a relatively flat last 20 miles but they were wet and cold miles! The rain had come although it was nothing compared to that encountered in Scotland!

So here we are in Cornwall, over 900 miles covered, with 57 to go. It was a sweet moment entering Cornwall and we are all feeling quite strong, which is remarkable. The big challenge tonight will be keeping out of the bar, Steve K leaves us in the morning and I can sense there may be some encouragement to imbibe more than usual!

More guests joined us, Pete and Jan friends of Mark and Roy and Betty. I worked with Roy many years ago. Lovely to see all of them. It's been great over the last eleven days to see so many friends and to have so many messages of encouragement. It has helped when the motivation to go mile after mile wavered.

Now for the facts:

Stats for the day - 65 miles covered at an average speed of 13 mph ,feet climbed close to 5,500.

Ale and Arse report - four beers on tap and only three sampled! Did well especially considering King was on a mission! The IPA, Tribute and Trelawney's. Tribute has to take the title for tonight. There is no doubt that whilst I have sampled some great beers from the north as we have moved south the quality and choice has improved, as has the consumption! Well I felt with the demise of Nature Watch and the Porridge Report that I had to make sure the Ale report was as full as possible! As for the Arse I have a feeling that I must have hard skin forming there now as it not longer hurts so much. Recently Emma ,my daughter, went to have the hard skin on her feet (not that she had any!) removed by having fish nibble at her toes. I am suspect the fish will go on strike if they see my bottom hovering above the bowl!

Forecast for tomorrow — it would be lovely to finish the ride in the sunshine. It looks like that could happen although there will be a brisk south westerly wind. Me thinks we are heading south west! We have actually been quite lucky with the weather considering how poor a month it has been. We've only had three really wet days although a strong headwind has been blowing on and off for the passed four days which has hindered us.

I remember on the first day at lunchtime, we were cold and tired after a battle with the wind,when we spoke with some people who only had 50 miles left to go and I thought how lucky they were. Well I do smile as I see the odd group battling away on the other side of the road, I wave ,wish them well and then think I'm very glad I don't have all those miles to look forward too! It has been a fantastic trip but there comes a time when it needs to finish and that time is tomorrow!

Easy Rider!

Today was the easiest day so far. Most welcome as the relentless nature of this challenge doesn't give much recovery time and we were at our pub by 4pm which is great. The pub is also looking great but more on that later.

We set off with Steve K in tow from the lovely little town of Axbridge, which is well worth a visit. Once on the A38 the next 40 odd miles were pretty dull to be honest! The road was not too busy as most transports go on the M5 and it was the flattest section of the whole ride. We couldn't have everything though, the wind was very strong from the west and we were heading south west so it had quite an impact. You could tell that by the maximum speeds which were around 34mph despite a couple of great long downhill sections.

We had lunch at a Burger King just off the M5. We really know how to enjoy ourselves and how to ensure we eat the right food to get maximum performance whilst on the bike!!

The remaining 25 miles or so where much better. There were some hills but the scenery was starting to get much more interesting. The sun was shining and everything was fine with the world. Then Mark's bike broke down! The gears wouldn't change properly. We stood around, muttered to ourselves, scratched our chins and then played with the bikes gears when it was on it's wheels and then put it upside down and did the same things to it again! Funnily enough putting it upside down didn't help! When the advice from various web sites we accessed got what we considered too technical - talking about derailleurs - we headed for Tiverton and the nearest bike shop! £5 and 10 minutes later we were on our way although there is some concern that the problem will recur again tomorrow.

The remaining miles were down some traditional Devon lanes - it's sounds really good saying Devon, it makes me feel like we are getting close! - which was lovely. We arrived in the village of Sandford which you would never find unless you were going there! Of course it was near the top of the hill but the village pub has some wonderfully appointed rooms - Kate Moss has stayed here apparently but there was no talcum powder in our bathroom! The early arrival meant we could relax a bit more before heading for the bar!

Now for the facts:

Stats for the day - 66 miles at an average speed of 14mph. Feet climbed 3,500 feet climbed.

Ale and Arse report - the Lamb has Otter which I have sampled before and Lighthouse. I have to say Lighthouse is the best I have tried on the whole trip and this does not bode well for tomorrow! For the bottom news there is not much to say, I seem to have found stability which is better than detioration! Tomorrow with loads of hills will be more of a test!

Forecast for tomorrow - if we continue to be lucky we will avoid the rain showers. We were not far from Glastonbury yesterday and this morning and they have had rain and we haven't so may our luck continue, especially as the family is coming down. I think they just want to check I'm riding the bike and not sitting in the Audi all day writing my blog! The ride to Wadebridge is a hilly one and so it's our last major test, well at least we hope so! May the force be with us!

The hills are alive with the sound of.... exertion!

We left Lugwardine at about 9am, nothing unusual there! The B&B was really high class and we had a very good breakfast. We had to order our breakfast the night before and remarkably each of us each ordered a different form of eggs - fried, poached, boiled and scrambled! If we had all ordered scrambled we probably could have left half an hour earlier!

It didn't take long for the first of the hills to appear on the horizon. We climbed and climbed and climbed. The scenery was wonderful and well worth the climb. That was very true until we had to re ride a hill after Mark had left his sun glasses at the top of it! Yes it was sunny, in fact we didn't see any rain, or even the threat of rain, all day. We were truly lucky with the weather, although you can't have everything and the wind was still strong and in our faces for most of the day.

The twenty five miles to Monmouth were hard but spectacular. It was also a bit of a trip dowm memory lane as Steve and I went passed pubs and B&B's we used to visit when we went to parties each year at a hotel in Brockhampton, which was very close to our route.

From Monmouth we followed the Wye down the Chepstow. A lovely ride with a twist in the tail! Yes at the end there was a long hard climb. Still the wonderful chip butty we had in the centre of Chepstow made it all worth while. There have to be compensations for all this exercise and a chip butty was one of them! Also I'm sure in the cycling books I have read the nutrition section recommends this particular form of sandwich!

We then rode over the Severn Bridge which was great fun. It was a long way up and despite the size of the bridge every time a lorry went passed the bridge vibrated!

Then it was on to Bristol! This is not a city you should cycle in. You go up a hill, go down it and then go up another one! I don't mind that in the countryside when you get wonderful views but somehow when you are just trying to get through a city it all becomes rather irritating! Once we were over the Clifton Suspension bridge, another impressive bridge, we sped on to meet Steve K. This meant a quick pub stop before braving the A38 for about 15 miles until we got to Axbridge where we are staying. What a wonderful little town and we are lucky enough to be staying at a small hotel right in the centre and so a beer in the square was fair recompense for all the hills we had to climb during the day!

Whilst it was a relatively short day, 77 miles, the riding was hard given the wind and the hills. The scenery was fabulous though and this made it a great day. Also crossing the Severn Bridge gave us a sense that we have made huge progress. Over 750 miles done, which I know seems hard to believe even though I have pedalled every single one of them! It's interesting to note Scotland took about five and a half days whilst from Carlisle to south of Bristol it has taken three and a half days! Having said all that there is still much to do before we reach Lands End.

Now for the facts:

Stats for the day - 77 miles at an average speed of 12.5 mph, which tells you hills, wind and possibly the cumulative impact of over 750 miles took their toll! The feet climbed was close to 6,500. Maximum speed deserves a mention, I'm not the bravest going down hill , and I was hoping to break 40mph but fell short tonight on the A38 at 39.8mph! Just not good enough!

Ale and Arse report - the only ale in the pub was Axbridge Ale, unsurprisingly a local beer! Very good it was to! No great change on the Arse front despite the hill climbs which make it all the more painful!

Forecast for tomorrow - if we are lucky, like we have been for the last two days, we will dodge the showers. A bit like today, shortish on the miles but long on the hills! Bring them on!

You don't always get what you wish for!

When planning this ride we felt the two days from south of the Lake District down to Herefordshire would we the recovery days between the hills of the North and the hills of the South West! After yesterday we certainly were hoping for a fast flat 85 miler with no complications. We didn't get that!

After a good breakfast - the porridge report is now officially closed! - we set off before 9am, it doesn't sound it but that's good. Sadly we set off without Steve's sat nav Garmin working, it seemed to have deleted the ride! Now in Scotland where the Garmin worked flawlessly you barely needed it, I mean its not difficult to navigate when it's "30 miles down the A82"! Across the fields of Shropshire however it would have been helpful, but instead we had to rely on the pages I had ripped out of a large atlas on which I had marked our route and then covered the pages in sticky backed plastic! This was not hi tech, but perfectly acceptable. The only problem is you have to stop more to check the map and this slows you down.

It did not slow us down as much as a strong and gusting head wind which bedevilled us all day. It made for a tough day but at least it didn't rain.

Well that's not quite true, it did rain briefly but at the time we were under a large oak tree sorting out a puncture. No one had been allowed to use the "p" word as we felt that if we talked about it then we would end up with punctures. Not rational I know but it worked for us for the last seven days. However my back tyre gave away and we all looked at each other to see if anybody knew what to do! We replaced the inner tube only for it to "pop" when inflated! So we did it again and this time it worked. This delayed us by close to an hour, there was a lot of thinking to be done as we all stood around and looked at my crippled steed!

We were a little behind schedule anyway due to the wind and due to spending a little longer at our first break as Mark's brother Guy met us for a coffee. As a result it was close to 2 o'clock and we still had 50 miles to ride. We set off trying to make up time only to be confronted by some significant hills around Shrewsbury. I haven't found the name for these hills, we made one up today but that can't be published! Whatever they are called they were unexpectedly steep! Indeed one of them, I think, was the most difficult on the ride so far. I know it wasn't an 8 mile climb like we faced in Scotland, but it was long and in parts incredibly steep.

We battled on, still into the wind, and rested briefly in Ludlow. What a lovely looking town not that we had time to enjoy it! There was still 25 miles to go to our stop in Lugwardine, just east of Hereford and we needed to get there so we could rest, eat, drink and of course blog! We decided to ride on the A49 which although busy was faster than going through the quieter back roads. This was a good strategy although a large hill at Hope-under-Dunmore was less than welcome. We arrived at 6.30pm and had a pretty good dinner in the local pub, whose landlord was either drunk, eccentric or probably both!

So it was not what we wished for but we battled through and now we are close to crossing the Seven Bridge and moving into the South West, another major milestone. All legs are tired and all bottoms sore but it was another major step forward, all the more satisfying given the challenges faced.

Now for the facts:

Stats for the day - 87 miles covered at an average speed of 13.4mph. Feet climbed over 5,500 feet climbed. Strong head wind!

Ale and Arse report - the Otter, from Devon, and Timothy Taylor's, from Yorkshire, were sampled. I asked the landlord why he didn't sell any local ales, he said because he didn't like any of them! Fair enough I guess. The Otter beat TT's and I look forward to drinking some when I get to Devon. The benefit of double cycling shorts seems to be wearing off and after a tough hill climb the pain is quite strong, so lots of standing when whizzing down the other side of the hills! All sorts of creams being applied, but I'm reconciled to it not getting any better!


Forecast for tomorrow - The weather looks damp, the wind sadly looks strong and we have some hills on way to Chepstow. After that we have the excitement of cycling over the Seven Bridge so hopefully it's not too windy! And then in Bristol we are meeting up with my mate Steve who will ride with us until Friday night. We are looking forward to that.

Finally I know a number of you have been trying to post comments on the blog but are struggling to succeed in this task. I have changed the settings to make this easier but I'm not sure if this has really changed anything! I much appreciated you trying to leave comments so I wish you best of luck in doing that!

Something surprising happened today ......... It didn't rain!

We awoke to see something strange in the sky, the sun! After three days where we have alternated from being damp and cold to being absolutely soaked this was welcome news!

We had a great breakfast, despite a lack of Porridge! - the Longlands Inn Tewitfield was excellent , dinner was also first class - and they donated £50 to our charities which was wonderful.

We left just before 9am and we flew down to Preston where Chris has a Care Home business. 30 miles at an average speed of 16mph. It was a good trip which included going through the centre of Lancaster, which looks like a lovely city. Slightly worryingly as we arrived at the Care Home one of the lovely ladies we met told us she had smelt us before she saw us! Still only 5 days to go, but watch out Devon and Cornwall! We had some bacon butties and bade farewell to Chris. Thanks for joining us Chris, it was great riding with you.

We had a further 65 miles to go. The first 30 odd miles was through the industrialised belt of the North West. We went through more traffic lights than we had done on the previous six days! Most of them , of course, changed to red just as we approached. I only recognised the names of the towns we passed because of the late great Eddie Waring! It was real rugby league country.

We then emerged into what Steve calls the Cheshire Flats, not sure why as there were quite a few rolling hills! All fairly rural, so lots of farmyard smells which seem to go on for a long time when cycling. Of course the harder you ride to get to clean air the harder you have to breathe, sucking in more smelly air! No easy solution there then! Talking about that Steve managed to let his water bottle fall from his bike into some rather unpleasant slurry. I shall make sure i don't need to slurp from his bottle tomorrow!

The last 30 miles was tough. The exertions of previous days are taking their toll and the schedule is relentless. Over 100 miles yesterday and 96 miles today, the pressure is on! Having said that these were the two longest days... always look on the bright side of life!

We arrived in Nantwich and checked into our hotel. We had to carry the bikes upstairs so they could be locked away, just what we wanted after a long day!

Steve's family joined us for dinner, which was good fun and meant we didn't start our blogs over dinner, something Sandra gets irritated with! Probably quite understandably!

Now for the facts:

Stats for the day - 95 miles at an average speed of 15 mph.

Ale and Arse report - three beers tried today , Quadraphenia an ale from Sheffield and two from the Woodlands brewery in Nantwich, Ash Blonde and The Crown. The local beers were best, the Ash Blonde winning the day, fruity and very drinkable! As for the bottom news, not much to report other than the fact that despite two pairs of shorts the pain is getting worse. Surely I can't squeeze into three pairs and be able to walk to my bike!

Forecast for tomorrow - the weather will be worse! We were very lucky today, it was perfect cycling weather, tomorrow we may well get wet..again! The ride is 85 miles which seems refreshingly short - I used to think 25 miles was a long ride! - and so hopefully we can make good time and the legs recover in time to allow that to happen! All of us have very tired legs tonight.

No pictures again tonight, need to get my act together but ibuprofen calls!

The Ton Up Club!

When I was young,a long time ago,the Ton Up Club represented those mad (motor) bikers who rode down the motorways at over 100 mph. Nowadays of course a granny can do that in her 1.1 litre VW Polo! Well we joined another Ton Up Club today. For all of us this was the first time we had ridden 100 miles in a day. Why we decided to do this when we had to navigate through the Lake District, including riding over Shap, I don't know! We could have picked an easier 100 miles! Still it's done now, and various parts of my body are confirming that fact!

Other milestones passed were that we have successfully riden through Scotland and we have passed the half way mark, both of which we are absolutely delighted about.

We left the Auldgirth Pub a bit later than planned, after a breakfast we were originally told we could not have as they could not serve any food before 8.30am! Not good if you have to ride over 100 miles! Anyway we ate well and set off. It was of course raining and quite miserable. We had just over 40 miles to ride to get to Carlisle where friends of mine, Chris and Mandy, live. We rode hard and fast, despite the rain and spray, and arrived in Carlisle almost on time, our average speed was close to 16 mph! When you know you can enjoy Mandy's baps you get a move on!

The only stop we had on the 40 mile trip was a photo opportunity at the Scotland/England border. Remarkably as we approached Gretna was saw the four guys we have met many times before crossing the main road in front of us. The chance of that happening must be minuscule. They headed off east and we continued south to Carlisle.


Mandy did us proud and we set off full of fine food and with dry socks etc, thanks Mandy. We were joined by Chris and his two friends Andrew and Simon. These guys helped inject some pace back into our relatively tired legs and the weather started to improve. We rode down through Penrith before Andrew and Simon turned back, Andrew having a buckled rear wheel. I think they knew something I didn't, the size of the climb at Shap! By this stage we had covered over 65 miles and the weather looked like it was closing in. However we took on Shap and conquered it! The downhill ride into Kendal was great fun with speeds approaching 40mph despite a strong wind. The next milestone was achieving the 100 mile mark which we did just before arriving at Carnforth.

It was quite a day.

Now for the facts:

Stats for the day - miles covered 102!!!, with average speed of 14.5 mph, with a climb of over 5,000 feet.


Porridge report - pretty good actually but no Demerara sugar, got to lose points for that!


Ale and Arse report - three beers tried tonight, well it was a big day! Black Sheep, Everards Beacon and one whose name escapes me! It's been long day! The Black Sheep, a beer brewed in Yorkshire gets my vote. The good news is the choice and quality of beer is improving. This of course means I have to put my body on the line by trying them out! All I can say about the other part of this report is that wearing two pairs of cycling shorts was a god send. So much more comfortable and it definitely saved my arse from moving from the passed "sell by date" category into the "baboon" like category! Same again tomorrow I think! As with all great things however there is often a down side. Lets put it this way I now know why toddlers walk bowlegged!

Forecast for tomorrow - well firstly I hope my legs regain some strength! We have c90 miles to go tomorrow and Chris will be with us until Preston. The weather looks better and so its all about how we recover from what has been a big big day for us.

Sorry no photos today, will try to add some tomorrow!