Day 7 - Kendal to Moffat (95 miles)

After munching through the worlds biggest bowl/trough of porridge..

..we said goodbye to the support crew & team mascot..

..and were on our way, early doors!

First few miles were enjoyable, cycling through some winding country back roads into Kendal (very scenic).

Leaving Kendal we realised that the pleasurable (flat) A6 that we had grown a close bond with had finally taken a turn for the worse and we had some serious hills to climb!

I don't think Nick really understands the concept of taking it easy up hills, he seems to go faster up them then down them?! No bother though because once at the top, i just cosily tuck myself in behind him (massively reducing my wind resistance) and coast all the way down while he pedals his little heart out!

We cruised into our first stop in Penrith for a quick coffee.

The drinks were nice, although when Nick asked the barman for a Coffee Mocha, he abruptly replied 'eh, you what mate, a what?!'..must be the posh southern accents, that or the fact we weren't ordering a pint like everyone else?!

Polished off the drinks and pressed on to our next stop in Carlisle where we found a neat little bike shop. Had a quick nose around, worked out what we would buy if we were millionaires and then got back to the saddles. Some more hills and and scenic views later..

..we arrived in Longtown to stock up on food. My back tire had been playing up all morning and decided to get a puncture so i had the joy of fixing that!

Nick was being extremely helpful by taking ridiculous photo's of himself..

Nearing the last 20 miles or so we thanked England for the hospitality..

and Welcomed the land of the Scots!

Was a cool feeling to know that we had cycled the whole of England in just 6 & 1/2 days! Passed through Springfield..

..dropped in for a cup of tea with the Simpson's and then busted out the last few miles to the campsite near Moffat.

Made a few touch ups to the bikes at the campsite and now its Xbox time!

Over and out.

Ian

Day 6 - Leigh to Kendal (65 Miles)

First near miss today. As we were going around a roundabout, with our right of way, some elderly gentlemen thought it was a good idea to pull out directly in front of us. Luckily due to our lightning fast reactions and Ian’s new brake-pads we managed to avoid him and were left unscathed. About 10 miles later through Preston a youth in a Peugeot pulled a sharp left in front of me without indicating. I slammed the brakes on but still roughed him up a bit by going into the back of him, albeit at about 5mph, that’ll teach him. He apologised though so he is forgiven.

Had a sweet coffee on a canal in Barton, south of Lancaster...

...and wasted some money in the ITbox quiz machine.

We had another brief stop in a Tesco somewhere forgettable to refuel and for Ian to down some of his treasured dried cranberries then back to base.

Mainly flat today and didn’t have any hiccups so smashed through to Kendal for 4pm averaging about 18mph. Big day tomorrow up to Moffat on the Scottish border so glad we get a good rest this evening. Legs still feel fine when cycling but they feel a bit worn when walking about. A daily application of chamois cream seems to have done the job ‘downstairs’ but I have decided I am going to invent a much more comfortable seat for bikes and make my millions that way…

No jokes from Ian today, thank god, I think he’s lost his gift.

Nick

Day 5 - Much Wenlock to Atherton (85 miles)

So we're back in the Motorhome now after a MASSIVE shepherds pie cooked by the wonderful support team (Mum and Martin). I don't think Nick's portion even touched the plate! About to go catch the second half of the England match in a pub just round the corner so I'll keep it as brief as I can...

Todays cycle was rather eventful. We started off with some pretty gnarly downhills, wind roaring past, speedo maxed out and only about an inch or two between mine and Nick's wheels. Good times!

Passed a town called 'Homer Wig Wig' which made me chuckle...I'd liked to have been there in the decision process for that one! We later turned up at todays starting point for the Tour of Britain which was a humungous hill that Nick wanted to see how fast he could cycle up.

He managed a whopping 10mph (pitiful). We followed the route for about 2 miles and then danger struck..Nick got a puncture..first one of the trip!

We almost made a bet for £10 before we left as to who would get a puncture first (wish i had taken it up now!). Spent about 20 minutes fixing it and just as we were making the finishing touches the tire blew up?!! Not really sure why but we then had to fix it again! By this point it was only about 30 mins until the Tour started and meant we really needed to get our jog on! Finally we were sorted and back on our way 'tut north'. Got a bit lost in the next town and by then were about 1h30 behind schedule. Not to fear, Nick and I turned on the turbo boosters and, with a bit of help from a tail wind and (oh so sweet) flat roads, powered on all the way to the half way point in Audlem.

A quick bite and toilet stop later we were back on the road with nothing to stop us apart from...wait...another puncture! Nick had done it again.

We pinned the problem on a dodgy tyre and made a note to buy a new one at the next bike shop. As if by fate, the support team had strategically positioned themselves in the Atherton Halfords car park where we ended the day and bought some tyres for Nick.

Tomorrow looks a bit daunting, we're cycling through the Lake District with hills all over the shop, not sure if I'm excited or just really feared?! I'll let you know how we get on tomorrow.

Ciao for now!

Ian

Day 4 – Chepstow to Much Wenlock (85 miles)

Got woken up in the night by the sound of rain hammering against the roof of the motorhome. We were going to get very wet today.



We started where we left off yesterday and sailed through to Ross-on-Wye and had tuna sandwiches and coffee. The waitress gave me a big cup for the price of a small one. She is obviously into wet, sweaty, smelly men in lycra.



Went down a ‘wicked hill’ according to Ian but what goes down, must go up. We got our very own sat-nav later on; a man with a dodgy accent in a blue van initially gave us some directions then after he had delivered some package to someone from the SAS, found us 10 minutes later to give us some more help, then again 5 minutes later and then we were told to follow him, but he was heading off somewhere completely different so we lost him and had to rely on our own (Ian’s) navigation.



In Ludlow, the heavens opened and the rain went crazy so we hid under some market stands and were approached by a nice lady asking about our trip. She wants us in the Ludlow local paper so watch this space. She also told us about how the severe weather had destroyed a bridge which I later tried to cross but the man in the hard hat was having none of it.

A lot of wet country roads later we arrived in Much Wenlock and ate LOADS and had a beer.

Ian’s jokes today : Wye is the river so big? (About the river wye bursting it’s banks). After seeing a ‘Cutting Hedge’ sign: ‘They must use cutting hedge technology’.

Bye

Nick

Day 3 - Bampton to Chepstow (85 miles)

Wow what a long day, I'm shattered! We set off at 9.30am and didn't finish until 6.30pm!



From the off it felt as if the ratio of uphill to downhill was about 80/20! A couple of the hills were practically vertical!



Still, we battled our way through it and ate our well earned lunch at Asda in Highbridge (nothing but the best!).



Came out with a few good jokes along the way... Nick decided to feed some horses in a field to which i said 'Nick, they must think you're horse-ome!'. The horses didn't seem to like it and walked off.



Topped it off later when an Audi nearly hit us and I said 'Aud-he do that?!'. Again, i think it was only me who was laughing.

Other highlights included finding out that the Tour Of Britain (Tour de France standard cycling) is taking place at the same time as our cycle. We actually cycled part of their route today!


We also crossed some neat bridges including the Clifton Suspension bridge in Bristol...



...and the Severn Road Bridge into Wales.



On the hair front, Nick is still ginger but it's more of a strawberry blonde now...personally i think he's been trying to wash it out! I'll keep you posted.



Anyways, we're in the motorhome now sorting out the route for tomorrow and will finish the day off with a head banging session on Guitar Hero! See you tomorrow!

Ian

Day 2 – Camelford to Bampton (70 miles)

After a lot of porridge we headed down the beautiful A39 and smashed into Stratton in good time. Legs were still working so that was encouraging.




The sun came out for the first time this year which was nice as we coasted down some little country roads up and down a fair few hills.







Stopped for lunch on a bench by a river in a little village.


Most thoughts while cycling revolve around food and where the next place we’re likely to get some more is. Clocked a massive 48mph max speed going downhill showing the cars who is boss.

Coming up to our final destination I’m busting my arse off to get up some mammoth hill and I look round to see Ian just taking photos of his legs and a shrub.

Pulled into Bampton for a pint while we waited for Martin and the motor home and made a friend… the village idiot and his dog.

We’re still feeling pretty fresh which is surprising, probably helped by Martin cooking up a storm for din-dins. Over and out.

Nick