Moffat - Dunoon

Miles 98 today
In 7hrs 35 mins burning 3281 Kcal climbing 6120ft

Miles total 969
In 64hrs 28mins burning 30519 Kcal climbing 43033ft
Most miles in a day : 106.2

Today was always going to be something of a mix, chuck in the wind and horizontal rain, and it becomes much more fun.

Unusually it was dry, but cool as I left the B&B this morning. As there was no transfer from the B&B to the start, I was on the road just after 9am. Back on the old A74. The wind was forecast from the west, but had turned and troubled me as I headed up the valley which contains the railway, river, motorway and old road. It climbed consistently, with relief from the wind coming at intervals from groups of trees beside the road.

It took an hour and a half to reach Abington, 18miles up the road. I called in the shop and bought a couple of cakes, and ate one. Put the other in my pocket. It started to rain heavily so I hid in the porch and text Denise “Abington”. Looked out and she had just pulled up.

I turned north west, still with the motorway, but now it was further away. We had broken our 40 run north together. There were road works the road was being re-laid. I didn’t care I was on the cycle way, which ran some distance from the road. All was well.

At Junction 12 I turned right onto the A70 and thought I had made a wrong decision in planning. It went up to a howling gale and had large lorries on it. Somewhat of a culture shock. I rode on the path for a bit, until giving up as it turned to mud. For 13 miles and an hour and a half I rode on the A70. Most of the time it was head wind, I was riding in my bottom 4 gears, climbing gears on the more or less flat. When it started to rain I tried to hide behind a small tree to get my coat on, but I was nearly blown over. Then I had to go and ride it in, no point in standing there getting cold and wet. There was no shelter.

When it came time to turn off I missed the turn, but realised within 100 yards. I turned slightly north, there were a few more trees, and there was less traffic. It started to rain again, I could see the black cloud coming towards me. I hid behind a large beech. The rain was heavy, water ran in sheets across the road and I leaned against the tree, dry and out of the wind. In 5 minutes when the rain subsided, I thanked the tree, hugged it, and rode on.

This pattern extended for hour after hour, the only change was that I turned north and west, fighting against the wind, then to stay in a straight line. The roads were more minor in nature, but the traffic is really quite kind to cyclists anyway.

Finally I could see a range of hills ahead. I really hoped they were the north side of the Clyde and I wouldn’t have to climb them, but the Cldye was the other side.

Denise was at the roadside 2 or 3 times, I can’t really remember, willing me on and feeding me.

Finally, it was one big drop into Greenock. It is a big place and part way across and with about 4 miles to go the Sat Nav batteries gave up. I rode a bit further and restarted it, I could see which way to go, and then it would pack up after a minute or so. Doing this 3 of 4 times got me to the ferry to Dunoon. Denise was there at the terminal and we put the bike on the roof and went straight onto the ferry

It was all really quite surreal. I knew I would get to the end, there was and is no other option. I just kept eating and drinking and moving forward. I didn’t think it would take quite this long though.

Hawes - Moffat

Miles 102.8 today
In 6hrs 45 mins burning 2813 Kcal climbing 4580ft

Miles total 769
In 56hrs 49mins burning 27300 Kcal climbing 36913ft
Most miles in a day : 106.2

When we got up this morning, there was little wind, but this grew over breakfast and by the time it came to leave it was back to its blustery self. I left into the wind, as it started to rain, and climbed out of Wensleydale. After 6 slow miles I turned north and up. The wind came in as a cross tail wind, and I hide behind the walls as I continued to climb up onto the watershed at 1200ft. Here we came to Cumbria in driving rain. The bee refused to be photographed on this sign. The rain was the sort where you can see the sheets of it hanging in the wind as it falls.

Down to Kirby Stephen, the rain reduced in intensity, and the wind remained behind me somewhere, as I headed onto Penrith and Carlisle. I went the wrong way in Penrith and nearly ended up doubling back on my self, following my sat nav route backwards. Just before Carlisle the rain increased in intensity and I was soaked through, but the wind was behind me and strong. My glasses misted up again so this time I threaded them upside down into the front of my helmet and rode on. I can now see, but not in focus too far in front. Still its better than the vague shapes I had otherwise.

I wasn’t keen on Carlisle. The centre was great, riding in the bus lanes, traffic miles away it seemed. I picked up the A road north, it was very busy, I crossed the motorway and was stuck on the A7 up to Longtown. I didn’t enjoy this. Longtown provided a cake shop. Back towards Gretna and Scotland.

I then had 28miles of the old A74, the M74 keeping me company as I crossed it every 6 or 7 miles. It looks great on paper but is mile after mile of boring tarmac. The fresh southerly wind was cross, cross tail, then for the last 15 miles tail. Again the rain came at me, in the cross wind it was the fast sideways moving drops that sting on bear skin and pings off a coat. The last 10 miles were torrential. The irony is that September is statistically the driest month of the year, not the monsoon season I have been having.

Sorry for the perfuntery style today. I am fatigued, and concentration not at it's best. Normal service will be resumed, just as soon as we establish what it normal.

Please stop whatever you are doing

Me, my bike & a bee have just passed into Scotland. Well, the bee is thinking about it, scared of shortbread bees, apparently. Right, continue whatever it was you were doing. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Sandtoft - Hawes

Miles 97.4 today
In 6hrs 37 mins burning 3044 Kcal climbing 3044ft

Miles total 769
In 50hrs 4mins burning 24487 Kcal climbing 32333ft
Most miles in a day : 106.2

The biggest issue for me is the wind, not the trumpetee personal type, but the blowing in your face stuff. Today was a proper windy day with a fresh wind from the west. It caused me trouble from the start.

Leaving Sandtoft was more of the same flatness, no hedges and real hard work into the wind. The nature of the landscape changed as I headed north with a rounder greener feel and more trees and hedges good to hide behind from the wind.

Going west towards Wetherby I was getting pretty fed up with the wind and saw a cycle track beside the road. I swung across to get in amongst the trees. A man at the start warned me that 200 runners were just about to come up the path. I’ll take my chances I thought. I can always stop, eat and wave at them as they go by. The track was clearly leaving the line on the sat nav. A junction, I asked the man did it swing back to meet the road? Apparently, no it ran beside the race course. Not being local this was of no use to me. At least I established this was where the runners were joining the cycle way. I took my chances and continued down into the town, watching the black line on the sat nav. It worked and I cut a corner of the route.

As I approached Ripon there was more up and down, and more wind. I was hungry and fatigued. It started to rain so I hid under a tree outside the cathedral and in minutes it had stopped. I had a gel. It took a couple of goes to get through the town, as there were a number of one way streets, then it was out and the start of the climbs. Nothing too steep, but long continuous gradients into the wind. I started to suffer, I geared down, and ground on.

The Bee had a bit of a crisis too. I found him on a letter box considering to post himself home. I told him that Denise had a nice fresh supply of honey, and a few of his friends had come to meet him. This cheered him up, and when I got a wasp in my helmet later, he was quickly in there sorting it out. There was a lot of buzzing which seemed to be rather too much of the 'if anybody is going to sting me, it will be my bee' variety!

The way forward was interminable. The mileage to go failed to come down, the route into the wind, and the way up. The hedges turned to walls, and I joined more major roads and the province of the weekend motorcycle warrior. They provided the only light relief as I rounded a corner in Masham. One appeared to have run into the back of another at very slow speed at a junction. I offered to help them pick their bikes up, there was no reply, crowds gathered, coming out of shops. I decided they didn’t need me and rode on.

Into Wenslydale, the wind funnelling down the valley towards me. To the end I suffered like I have not suffered for years. Nothing hurt and it all hurt. I lost the feeling in my thighs. I shouted at myself to keep going and I congratulated myself at the top of the smallest rise. I engaged the cows and sheep in conversations. It was all very hard.

I meet Denise in the Market Square, brought the bike to a halt and sat on the nearest seat, exhausted. I knew there would be days like this, but I had expected it earlier on, not today.

The forecast tomorrow is raining or shower I think. I don’t care, I do care that I am going north west and the wind is forecast south west, and less of it.

Tomorrow Scotland.

 

On a personal note, today I exceeded the most miles I have ever cycled in a year at 5330.

Kings Lynn - Sandtoft

Miles 98.3 today In 5hrs 52 mins burning 2938 Kcal climbing 1060ft

Miles total 671
In 43hrs 27mins burning 21443 Kcal climbing 28773ft
Most miles in a day : 106.2

Today we started early as Dad had to go home and would meet Denise on the way up, passing the baton of my kit. So just before 9, I left the B&B and immediately went the wrong way. This was not irretrievable and soon I was making may way out into the countryside.

I was welcomed to Lincolnshire which was nice as I would be here all day.

There was a moderate to fresh south-westerly, so I had a cross tail wind alternating with a cross headwind. This was a little testing to start with, but as I crisscrossed the main road it wasn’t constant and when I had to ride on the main road to get over the rivers it was a tail wind and I was rolling along lovely outside the white line. So I had a little lane all of my own.

When I came to turn right I started a new pastime of traffic island picnic. It took so long for a gap to come in the traffic coming towards me that I had a drink, something to eat and took off a layer of clothing as the temperature climbed in the sun.

The village of Saracen's Head had a statue of the said saracen, the nearby village of Swines Head had gone for a less obvious option for there village sign.

I noticed that there was no up/down hill. In fact there was only 100ft of climbing in the first 45 miles, must be why it is called South Holland. Then there was a climb up onto the edge of Lincoln, and descent in and across the river, and a climb out onto a ridge, then back down again. By and large that was it for the day. On the way out of Lincoln a road bridge over a cutting for a newish main road had signs for the Samaritans, and high wire fences. It seemed odd that anyone would travel there to jump, but it occurred later that maybe it was the only public feature of any height for miles.

Sprout Anyone?

The last stretch was a dead straight road of 4 1/3 miles long. It took forever. My body seems to be happy up to about 80 miles and then fatigues, not drastically, but noticeably. I can keep going, just slower. Tomorrows ride includes hills and is over 80 miles. It will have to get used to it!