A guy, a girl, a pup

Today was always going to be a day of mixed emotions. Excitement that we’d be getting to the finish line, relief that we would not be sitting on saddles for a while and sadness the adventure is coming to an end. I count myself incredible fortunate that I’ve been able to spend this quality time with Tates & Milo, seeing the country from top to bottom.

Anyway, to our final day (and it was a corker….)

Had a lovely evening catching up with mum and dad. (No food and accommodation reviews today for obvious reasons 😉

We planned for a start around 9am, coffee in Penzance and I was shooting for an optimistic finish at 12:30 ish

The met office forecast a dry day, with <5% chance of rain. So as expected, within a few minutes we were cycling into thick, drizzly fog and getting soaked to the skin. I had planned a direct route via Helston, but the fog was so think and the traffic so dicey we took to the back roads and trusted google to find us a route.

Riding down the lanes we had a few false turns with locked farm gates. It then took us down one “road” that turned into an episode from Bear Grills.

Pushing the bikes and climbing over fallen trees, we were even more wet with some nettle stings for good measure.

Odds-on one of us would get puncture and 5 mins later Tates’ back tyre was flat as a pancake. A quick change later and we were on our way.

The next 30 mins were pretty uneventful as the weather started to dry out. We dropped down to the coast and past St. Michaels mount.

Rolling into Penzance we were looking forward to a pasty. As we got near the harbour I spotted a boat that might have belonged to one of my best friends I’d not seen for 11 years. We hot footed it over to the pier and amazingly it was him. He was over from the Isles of Scilly with some fog bound passengers! We had an awesome time catching up before he needed to head back and we needed to push on

(Was great to see you James, We will definitely get over to Scilly soon)

Rolling around the edge of Penzance we stopped for a very quick sausage roll before we climbed out through Newlyn for the last 15km to Lands End.

Hammer down, we wizzed through the last few climbs and before we knew it we were rolling in though to the finish line in Lands End.

Mum and Dad were there to cheer us in and bought the all important bubbles

They even bought treats for Milo

What an adventure… need to write up our thoughts now that it’s all finished

Lessons learned from the last day on the road:

1 – despite the temptation to finish quickly, don’t break your planning rules and drop in an A Road

2 – chance stuff does happen – what was the probably of meeting up with James!

3 – Lands Ends sucks. Unless you’re JOGLE / LEJOG’ing, it’s not a tourist destination worth visiting

Key stats:

56 km cycled (1571km total)

771m climbing (15611m total)

2 lejog cyclists seen (82 total)

Cake of the day: (bummer, didn’t stop for cake today, but did have more of mum’s flapjacks)

epilogue to follow when we have caught up on sleep. Thx for reading and for all your comments

This was our last night staying in a hotel / BnB. Part of me is going to miss the routine of packing everything down into the panniers – although it’ll be nice to have different clothes to wear.

Following the fun and games with yesterday’s route, I had Milo review the plans for the next day. With his approval we had 100km and about 1200m of climbing ahead of us for the day.

Breakie was pretty average. Having now sampled a full Scottish, full English and full Cornish, Scotland wins in the breakfast stakes.

Last review: the Eagle Hotel in Launceston scores an OK. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing to write home about either. It’s pretty dated and expensive for what it is. However the staff are friendly and they’re happy with Dogs and Bikes. Just remember it’s at the top of a hill and the decor is well past it’s “best before” date. (Loving the carpet)

All packed, we rolled out, down the hill and straight into the first climb of the day. Weaving though the backroads, we eventually picked up the old a30 again.

Lots of Cornish lanes later, we had climbed up to Bodmin moor. More sheep than you could throw a stick at and the Cornish mizzle started closing in again. Then the Sat Nav showed we’d be crossing an airfield I knew nothing about. The road ran right through the middle of it, but there were no planes around. We took a cheeky shortcut down one of the old taxiways and knocked a couple of km off the day.

We then had a fast decent down off the moors, only stopping for a quick coffee at “the highest Inn in Cornwall”. Which was lucky as they weren’t going to win the “best hospitality”‘or “best coffee” awards.

It was then onto the famous (ish) camel trail.

The camel trail was a lovely ride along an old disused railway track. (They do make awesome cycle trails). We even found a few other nutters out cycling with their dogs too. It’s a well known part of the LEJOG / JOGLE route. We only saw one couple heading south to north. They REALY didn’t look happy as they passed. Not sure they’ll make it….

Lunch was a pub in Gosmoor. Whilst it was the #1 pub in the area, the quality bar must have been pretty low. One lasagna and cheese burger later. We were on the final push for home.

It was a pretty uneventful run from there to Truro.

One highlight might have been gnome world, but we decided our deadline prevented us from visiting….. shame……

Before we knew is we were rolling into Penryn where mum and dad were there to meet us (the joys of sharing your location via WhatsApp, they’d been tracking us all the way in)

Tea, cakes and the world was a happy place again.

Lessons learned and words of wisdom:

1- when the Sat Nav and the road signs both say “no cyclists”, chances are that’s going to be the case and you’ll need to backtrack

2 – just because trip advisors says something is the number 1 restaurant in the area, doesn’t mean it’s any good (it’s glory days could be behind it)

3 – the UK national cycle routes really are rather good (and I’m going to have a crack at exploring more of them)

Key stats:

98 km cycled (1519km total)

1275m climbing (14840m total)

3 lejog cyclists seen (80 total)

Cake of the day: Mum’s homemade flapjack

Tomorrow – Lands End!

Got a good nights sleep. We were both passed out soon after 10pm having eaten a pizza and drunk a bottle of wine. Tates even managed a soak in the bath.

We’ve decided to make a few changes to the last days of the adventure. Today was slightly shorter – 80km to Launceston and then Monday will be 100km to mum and dad in Falmouth. That leaves about 60km for our final run to Lands End on Tuesday. I spent last night planning out a new route on the iPad (what could possibly go wrong….)

Having had a breakie of eggs on toast and cereal, we hit the road slightly later than usual at 10am. The forecast was for West Country drizzle, so we were expecting to get wet.

Quick review: 100% recommend Chettiscomb Barton. The owner was delightful, our room in the Manor House was spacious and it’s the bed was the best we’ve slept in for ages. Huge thumbs up.

All started fine, then the first of my routing faux pas. It had tried to keep the distance to a minimum and avoid the big climbs. What I’d forgotten is that in Devon and Cornwall not all road surfaces are created equal.

We got to our first valley and sailed past the “not suitable for motor vehicles” sign and then found out why.

20% decent down a rock face. At least the road back out of the valley had tarmac (but was just as steep)…. We had to walk down after nearly going over the handlebars and grounding out the trailer

The weather closed in so it was into full on waterproofs (including milo) for the next couple of hours.

This has been our slowest day so far, you were either climbing or on your brakes coming down a hill.

Then routing faux pas number two. I’d been trying to keep us off busy roads to avoid cars and to have some shelter from the wind by being close to hedges. However, as nobody ever drives down these roads, the surface basically turns into a field. You ride down the tyre tracks trying to keep your bike upright…….(or not)

Lunch was in Oakhampton and the only thing we could find were pubs doing Father’s Day Sunday carvery. So it was a well known cycling lunch of full roast with all the trimmings.

Very full, we climbed out of Oakhampton and picked up the Dartmoor railway / cycletrack. One for you Barn, can you remember this bridge in the pouring rain on our previous adventure….

It was then a fairly uneventful run through to Launceston and into Cornwall!!!. The final cockup on my part was forgetting that a hotel “next to the castle” is going to be at the top of the hill! So one final climb and that was us done for the day.

Milo also seems to be going stir crazy. He is now working model poses for how best to travel in his trailer….

Lessons learned and words of wisdom…..

1 – Devon back lanes are not easily navigable on a road bike and if you see a sign for “not suitable for motor vehicles”, you’re in trouble….

2 – if you bounce the bikes and trailer down insane descents – things come loose and your rear axel can start undoing itself

3 – if you own a hotel, even if it’s a quiet evening, don’t let the staff sit in the bar talking about their love lives…. it’s like a rubbish soap opera or love island (apparently the very camp bar manager is now dating the crazy goth girl and a promotion is on the cards)

Key stats:

80 km cycled (1421km total)

1318m climbing (13565m total)

4 lejog cyclists seen (77 total)

Cake of the day: Chocolate and Berry Torte

After 13 days of eat, cycle, sleep, repeat, I’m feeling physically & mentally exhausted. All stops had to be kept to a minimum as any prolonged sitting may have ended with me sound asleep. I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning & by 60km in I was ready to call it a day, the next 60km were long & any beautiful Devon country side was lost on me.

Once we’d eaten multiple breakfast & managed to pry Milo away from the junior Kent’s & the football, we were on our way.

The run out of Bristol was brutal & vertical, with a few of the gradients pushing 25%, we had to do the unspeakable & push our bikes.

I found it tough enough & I’m not carrying any of our luggage or towing the 15kgs that is Milo & his trailer.

The steep hills & windy roads seem to be perfect motorbike conditions & before we knew it we had been engulfed by a hells angels peloton. We were sucked along for a little while before it happened, we started to descend & descend & descend. We were rapidly dropping down Cheddar Gorge & it was breathtaking, part of me briefly considered turning around & cycling back up it, just so we could do the decent again. It’s definitely on the list of places to come back to.

We found another sign… only another 181 miles to go, oh my knees!

We stopped for coffee & second or third breakfast, before making our way to another canal towpath.

The next few hours were heads down as we tried to get our average speed back up after a morning of hills. The headwind was not helping…

We came across a little Devonshire tea room & decide that it would be rude not to stop & sample some of the local cuisine. Scones, done both ways, so that everyone can be equally offended.

The weather had been kind, we’d only had to stop twice to briefly gear up for the fleeting showers.

Not long after we’d set off, came the distinctive hiss of my back tire & puncture number 4. Unfortunately I’d stopped my bike on top of an ants nest & with in a few minutes the little guys were all over us. Milo wasn’t quite sure of what to do. Ants removed & new tube fitted & we were on our way.

(Milo hiding under my bike after being attached by ants.)

We picked up the pace again as we tried to make it to Leslie’s (cousin not aunt) for tea. It was lovely to catch-up with her and Colin and she’d made her famous fruit cake!! 3 cups of tea & several slices of cake later, we were back on the bikes for the last 20km of the day.

Another mad rush as we had to get to the Tiverton M&S to pick up some dinner as tonight’s BnB is a little remote.

20:00 & we’re done, far to late to end the day that I didn’t want to start. We were shown to our massive room, with gorgeous country side views, but the best part was the unexpected bath!!

Lessons learnt

1 – Not all towpaths are created equally, today’s were smooth(ish) & almost pleasant to cycle along.

2 – If cycle touring keep daily distance to 100km or less, one looses the will to live once you pass 6 hours in the saddle

3 – check you have not parked on an ants nest before changing your tyre

Key stats:

123 km cycled (1341km total)

1355m climbing (12247m total)

5 lejog cyclists seen (73 total)

Cake of the day: Leslie’s homemade fruit cake

There’s an 90’s song reference in there somewhere.

After an amazing home cooked meal & evening with Jade & Luca, we were fully fuelled & rested & ready to make a start.

Banging tunes & sunshine were the order of the day. Thankful the forecasted gale force winds of Hector decided to focus their attention on other parts of the country. Though to be on the safe side we did make sure that we cycled along plenty of hedgerows.

The first 10km flew by & we treated ourselves to second breakfast & coffee in Gloucester. Not quite the picture post card town that I was hoping for. We chatted to a fellow South Africa about his impending cycling adventure across Holland & imparted a few of our learnings before hitting the road again.

Milo got his first run of the day when we hit the uneven & rather bumpy towpath. One of the bridge operators proudly told us that it was in fact it was an official cycling route & that the council had purposefully chosen a rougher surface “to stop you bloody idiots from racing along it”. I feel that said councillors had not been on a bicycle in many years, as half meter wide bit of tar running along the side of a weaving cannel does not make prime racing territory.

We made the mistake of stopping for lunch at the Black Shed for what can only be described as a failed attempt at a school packed lunch.

Once we were off the tow path & Milo was back in Sid we picked up the pace for a pleasant few km of flat country roads.

Crossing the Clifton Bridge

Everything was going so well until we hit the outskirts of Bristol and the hills stated rolling in. I guess this is just a gentle reminder to our legs of what is to come as we prepare to head off into the Devon & Cornwall mountains for the last few days of our journey.

Once we hit Clifton, my blood sugar had crashed & I was in full on HANGRY mode. This was not helped by the gentleman who felt the need to point out that the wall we were resting our bikes against was in-fact not a bike rack. Cake & coffee were consumed & we made the final push for the finishing line.

It was lovely to end the day, welcomed by friendly faces, hugs & a home cooked meal. Milo was in his element as he played football in the garden with the Kent’s.

Lessons learnt

1 – Walls are not bike racks, jars are not glasses & tiles are not plates. Yet here we are, resting our bike against any thing that doesn’t move, drinking our cocktails from jam jars & eating our lunches off roof tiles. And the world still slowly spins while it continues its orbit around the sun.

2 – Trying to have a conversation while cycling down a canal increases your protein intake as bugs will fly full force into the back of your throat

3 – Days of cycling through beautiful countryside & farm land is ready not doing anything for my hay fever

Key stats:

95km cycled (1217.9km total)

680m climbed (10892m total)

0 lejog cyclist seen (68 total)

Cake of the day:

Apple & Raspberry apple slice

We had a lovely evening last night – after we unpacked and showered, it was a 30min walk to the Bulls Head. One of the best dinners this trip; homemade lasagna and a seafood linguine.

Back to bed very full. A quick check of the forecast to see just how wet it was going to be. Fortunately the weather had been downgraded from biblical, to wet and windy.

Woke up to strong winds and a bit of drizzle – it could have been much worse.

Review time:

100% recommend the Dinnys. The rooms were really well finished, the owner was super friendly and even washed our kit for us. Breakie was a top notch, (we have dialed back on the full English now). So if you’re JoGLe’ing or looking for a family weekend away, it’s a huge thumbs up.

so, back to our breakfast….. There were 3 other guests staying that night. A lovely Australian couple and one other bloke who was so surreal, he was basically the role model for Pete Kay in car share.

Sat by himself with a Bluetooth headset on. Eating toast, randomly answering calls and talking to himself at the top of his voice. It was so weird we weren’t sure he was for real….

Usual packing routing complete, we rolled out on cycle route 45 and almost immediately met 4 LEJOG’rs who were 6 days into the journey north. Compared notes on the hills to come and wished each other good luck. They were taking the sustrans route which is essentially cycle routes and off road the whole way….

A few km later and we were winding our way down through the Severn valley. There is a really good cycling track that follows the old railway and I’d completely forgotten there was still a steam railway. Felt like a bit of a kid watching the trains……

A good few hills later and we then had a quick coffee stop in Bewley

We the pushed onto Worcester for a late lunch. Danny, you be pleased to know that Worcester scores an “ok”‘ on my city ranking scale. We found a “locals” pub at the end of the high street for a burger and a shandy.

We were starting to get a bit tight for time for getting to Jade’s house. We picked a fast route to Cheltenham and started motoring. Then a weird rumbling from Milos trailer. He had a flat 😦

Wheel off and found a couple of thorns in there – doh. We didn’t have a spare tube, but did have a puncture repair kit. Ended up fixing an inter tube for the first time in years. The big problem of the day, my bloody cycle pump was leaking and only a tiny bit of air was getting into the tube. We thought we were stuck, but 10 mins vigorous pumping, there was just enough pressure to get by with.

Then complete muppet, I checked the other tyre for thorns. Found one and pulled it out before it punctured in inner. Then pssssst, the air started rushing out of that tyre as the thorn had plugged the hole it had made. Repeated the whole repair and problematic tyre inflation process. 45 mins later, we were back in the road again.

30km to Jades house and we put the hammer down. Finished the days cycling just after 6pm

Super lovely seeing Jade and Luca and catching up. So lucky having good friends who are happy to put up with two smelly cyclists and a dog 🙂

tomorrow we ride for Bristol

Lessons learned and things to make you smarter:

– a bike tyre can stay inflated with a thorn in it and you should properly test your pump before you leave on a trip

– the duration of your bike ride will always grow to fill the available time. Even if the distance is less than the day before.

– Worcester sauce is still made in Worcester

Key stats:

87.4km cycled (1112.9km total)

888m climbed (10212m total)

4 lejog cyclist seen (68 total)

Cake of the day: Peanut Butter cookie Slice

What the hell are my humanzs doing to me?!?

I was quite happy at home, doing important things like chasing cats out of the back garden, laying in the sunshine and keeping my bed warm by sleeping in it lots. Now they have me outside every day, bouncing me around in my trailer and making me do exercise…… yikes!

It started a few weeks ago when the yellow menace trailer that I have now named “side car sid” arrived. They put my bed it in and it was actually a pretty cozy place to hang out in. I made it my own, getting the feel just right by sleeping in for the required 73 hours (dogs rules).

Then strangely the humanz then went put wheels on it…. ok, whatever makes them happy…. and then they took me outside and pulled it along behind the bike. So this is a bit different, on the one hand I’m trying to sleep in my bed and the next the world is flashing by and I’m getting all the amazing smells. Now it turns out this was all pretty cool as it combined my two favourite pass times; my bed and walks. However, on reflection I should have been suspicious as they took me out for longer and longer rides, but I thought it was because they love me…. how wrong I was.

It all began when Auntie Lesley showed up I’m her camper van with my cousins. Mum and Dad were busy doing stuff, but that was cool. With them out of my fur, I was free to chase Bella, steal Mistique’s bed and spend more time sleeping.

Then it started. First they packed us all into a van and we drove to Scotland for TWO WHOLE DAYS….. boring…. I love my parents, my cousins and Auntie Lesley, but two days cooped up with them all is a bit tiresome. I did my best to get through it all by sleeping.

Still it was fun when we parked as I got out to stiff new places and seeing how the smelly accents changed. I also found sheep poo to eat…..

Then it started, Mum and Dad got changed into that ridiculous Lycra and spent hours fafing around with bags and tech.

They then put me in my nemesis, SID and started cycling. It went on and on and on and on….. not like the run down to Walton-on Thames for lunch, this was hours! It was like they were on a mission or something!

After 5 hours, yes 5 hours! We were done and I got sleep off the stress of the day in Auntie Lesley’s van. Thinking the madness was over, I was getting ready for the two day drive back home. But no! The next morning it was into Sid for another days cycling and again the next day and the next day…… I’m now beginning to think this could be my new life?!

Still, there are perks to this lifestyle as sometime mummy hides treats in Sid and I have to spend time conducting a thorough investigation to see what’s around. I also get out for lots of walks now. Anybody would this this is some sort of get fit regime and I do wonder whether mum and dad are having a bit of a mid-life-crisis.

Dad takes me out for a walk first thing.

I get my breakfast and then I’m incarcerated in Sid. They then usually make me run along side Sid,for a bit whilst they cycle their bikes. I mean how lazy is that?!? I’m usually waaaay faster than they are, but on their bike they make me run for miles……

I’m still not sure when this turmoil is going to end. However I do have several things going in my favour:

1- I am incredibly cute and loads of people want to come and say hi and give me strokes and sometimes treats too. Long may this last

2- I have perfected the art of sleeping whilst on the move. Took me a while, but when I’m bored I can sleep and think happy thoughts of my back garden

3- I’ve heard that we might be seeing the Kent’s on the way, so it that is true, it’ll make the adventure worthwhile.

At this adventure stuff is really exhausting, so by the end of the day I’m completely zonked. Right, time for my bed.

Milo x

Another beautiful day, although it’s getting harder to get out of bed in the morning. Woke up at 6am, which is lucky as I fell asleep at 9pm last night whilst I was writing the blog!

Took milo for a walk, loving the quiet of the countryside. We have been so lucky with the weather and it is looking to be another great day for cycling, although keeping a watch out as the Jet Stream is getting a bit bored and is coming back to visit.

Another huge breakfast (can’t make this a habit). It was then into the packing routine and hitting the road.

On the review front, it’s a big thumbs up for the Whitethorn B&B. The owners are super friendly and accommodating, the rooms are lovely and the breakfast is spot on.

The route was pretty good given that I pulled it together over breakfast. Lots of quiet leafy lanes to cycle down although it did get a bit lumpy (and gravely) towards the end.

(Trying a new technique for drying the kit as it was still damp this morning. Bit of free brand advertising on the trailer….)

The morning Coffee stop was courtesy of “Taste of Texas” tea rooms (a bit of a cultural mashup that was made more interesting with the Liverpool accent mixed in).

Cake finished, we cracked on towards Telford. More lovely rolling country lanes and whilst the wind was picking up, we were sheltered by the hedges.

Lunch was a quick pit stop at a pub in Newport (not Wales) and then onto Telford.

We then had a bit of a routing malfunction. The gps was trying to get us to go down Canals and i’d had enough of them. I forced it to take us down the R70 bridlepath and let’s just say it became it bit “offroad’y” and for the first time we had to push the bikes. (Soft sand and road tyres aren’t a great combo)

One of the things I was looking forward to seeing in the area was Telford’s Iron bridge. As we hit Telford, it’s amazing for cyclists, good quality cycle lanes everywhere and lots of disused railway tracks to cycle down. In no time we were rolling down into the Severn Gorge to the Iron Bridge.

Bugger, I’d taken us to the wrong bridge and it was a 1km cycle back up stream to the bridge I wanted to see.

Then bugger, it’s being renovated and is currently wrapped in plastic….

still, we had a coffee and imagined the view. We were able to walk the bikes over it and then it was a 15km ride to our BnB.

More old railway lines to cycles down and we followed them alongside the river. Great to be off the roads, but as the potholes increases we needed to drop the speed right down. It wasn’t fair on Milo and we were likely to break something.

Eventually at 6:30 we rocked up at the Dinnys BnB.

First impressions are lovely, really nice room, owner is super friendly and the bikes are locked up in one of their stables next to their horses.

Lessons learned and words of wisdom:

1 – Kenny Rogers greatest hits are a bit of a mixed bag to cycle to

2 – a lot of the cycle routes around Telford have really annoying “kissing gates” on them. If you have a bike trailer, you need to take EVERYTHING off you bike to get though them and put it all back on again

3 – there is more biting insects down here than in Scotland that prefer me to Tates

4 – although Tates has been cycling a road bike for 7 years, she still gets her legs covered in chain oil every ride

Key stats:

102.5km cycled (1035.5km total)

1114m climbed (9325m total)

(Broken 1000km distance and climbed higher than Everest!)

0 lejog cyclist seen (64 total) – still off the beaten track

Cake of the day: Chocolate Fudge Cake

Today turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag.

We are getting into a routine now. We get into our room and unpack. All of the tech goes on charge ready for the next day.

We then have a shower and have been trying to then do some cheeky kit washing so that we don’t smell too badly. The challenge is then trying to find places to hang it so it dries for the next day.

Then off to dinner for high carb food and a couple of drinks. We must the look like a very boring couple as we are on the iPhones working out where we want to stay the next night, booking the hotel / bnb and then updating the route. Back to the bedroom, write the blog (no pressure) and then bed. Day starts at 6am when I take Milo for a walk. Have breakie, pack and on the road by 9am. Day on the bikes and repeat 🙂 love it!

So today was always going to be a bit gnarly as we needed to route down past Preston and then between Manchester and Liverpool. The goal was to try and avoid the worst of the traffic and get to our BNB in Congleton.

The weather was kind to us again, with dry skies and a tailwind. Breakfast was so very very average that it didn’t deserve a photo.

Keeping up the reviews, the Lancaster house hotel is ok, but if you’re on you’re LEJoG’ing, I don’t think it’s worth the extra. On the positive side, the staff were lovely, but the facilities are average. I’d personally still try and find a bnb

We rolled out at 9:30(ish) and after a couple of backroads we were onto the A6. A’s road go, the A6 isn’t horrible, but it’s busy. We made good time, but it’s wasn’t scenic.

First milestone was Preston and it was pretty forgettable. I realise this blog must come across as me grumbling about northern cities, but I struggled to find a redeeming feature. The council were basically digging up the whole of the centre and we had to walk though the roadworks. We then got cornered by one of the locals dressed head to toe in denim. After asking about the bike trailer he preceded to tell us his life story, which mainly involved knocking of the doors of celebrities houses US. As he finished lamenting the fact that most of them were now dead and that he found hitchiking in the US hard work as he looked like an axe murderer. At this point we made our excuses and left. The route out of Preston was much nicer as we followed an old railway line that was now a cycle trail.

After Preston, we picked up the second canal of the trip and followed the Leeds and Liverpool for a few km. lovely and quiet, but it does slow down the average speed as you rumble down the rocky towpath. We got to one of the highlights for the day, Fredricks Icecream parlour. Mmmmmm KeyLime pie flavour !

Lunch came shortly afterwards at BlackRod before we got into the second half of the day and the next 70km

The afternoon as also pretty uneventful and we pushed on through the north west. It was just pretty sad seeing how run down things where. Having to cycle quickly when a group of 20-something’s who were off their faces saying “giz-us a look at ya dog”

Anyway, the day perked up in the end. We have been very uncivilised and bought ourself a Bluetooth speaker, we were banging out the 80s tracks as we rolled though Knutsford. Past a row of very expensive mansions (footballers row?) and onto our BnB 20km later.

We in an old farmhouse tonight. We walked across the fields to get to the local pub for burger and chips.

Was also fun seeing a hot air balloon being launched from the pub car park.

Ready for a good nights sleep.

Lessons learned and words of wisdom

1 – don’t follow our lejog route today – there must be better ways past Manchester and Liverpool

2 – tractor drivers can be arses when giving you space as they overtake (they clearly don’t get to do it very often)

3 -not so much a lesson, but it did remind me just how run down areas of the north west are

Key stats:

121km cycled (933 total)

502m climbed (8211m total)

0 lejog cyclist seen (64 total) – why would they go the way we did…..

Cake of the day: Birthday Raspberry Cheesecake, especially for Nic

Wow, i can’t believe how fast this trip is flying by. Feels like we have only just started, yet we’re now at the half way point.

We agreed we would take it easy today and went for half distance (although I think Tates would have preferred a full day off the bike).

We have been so lucky with the weather and it dawned sunny again. After a bit of a lay-in, we packed up our stuff and left what was a very average Airbnb. We rolled down the hill to Bowness and found a restaurant for breakie. Having now crossed the border, I felt a full English was required to compare and contrast. Jury is still out on whether haggis trumps black pudding….

We then spent a very enjoyable hour or so rolling along the coast of the lake chatting to a few people and letting Milo have a run and swim. At 12ish we left Windermere and headed for Lancaster. (About 60km to the hotel we were staying at)

The ride today was pretty uneventful. I only got us lost a couple of times! After a quick decent from the lakes, it was down into the Lancaster valley. All very flat, with a lot of hay fields that were doing wonders for Tates hay fever. (Look who’s pulling Milo!)

The final part of the day was cycling down the Lancaster canal, through to the city centre. It was great being off the roads, but I’m not sure Milo enjoyed being shaken around that much as the towpaths weren’t that smooth.

It was all pretty uneventful and laid back. We did end up with our first puncture of the trip as tates picked up a piece of glass in her rear tyre. I tried to get her to change it herself, but no joy. So A quick fix and we were on our way.

Lancaster itself was was quite pretty as we came in on the canal and you could make out its industrial heritage. The viaduct was pretty impressive

However, after a stop for the required pie in the city centre we weren’t as keen to return……

It was then a quick 5km run to the Lancaster House hotel where we are staying this evening up at the university. Tomorrow we are heading for Holmes Chapel.

Lessons learned today:

1 – there are lots of Chinese tourists in The Lake District

2 – having a dog in a bike trailer is a great conversation starter

Key stats:

60km cycled (812km total)

502m climbed (7709m total)

0 lejog cyclist seen (64 total) – so many routes thought the midlands, I doubt we will see anybody for a while

Cake Pie of the day: Chicken Curry (sorry Nicola)