Just rolling

Today was our longest day yet – a grand total of 62 miles, arriving at YHA Chester in fading light at 8pm. Admittedly it would have been closer to 55 except for a slight navigational error which had us riding three sides of a square in Telford. My bad…

Luckily, apart from the first lung-busting hill out of the hostel, today was pancake-flat, so we motored through the midlands (and a small section of Wales) at a blistering average of about 11mph, raising the cruising speed to 15mph for the last few miles when Sophie declared, “I’m bored; let’s get there faster.”

The legs feel ok after 400 miles, and we’re almost north of Liverpool, so we’re feeling pretty proud. Readers will be disappointed to learn that our long hours in the saddle will not be producing any eureka moments of inspirational thinking. We agreed yesterday that in between thinking about hand positioning, bottom positioning, pedalling technique, climbing cadences, aerodynamic efficiency and traffic dodging, there simply isn’t enough time to be devising strategies to save the world.

Finally, a big thankyou to Gail, for finding us a B&B in Preston, Lancs. for tomorrow night. Thanks to my incompetence, we’d failed to find accommodation, so without her help we’d probably have ended up huddled on a park bench wearing all our lycra at the same time to try and conserve warmth. Phew.

Feeling pleasantly warm and well-fed after a three-course dinner for £8.50 each at Coalport YHA. However, today’s cycling was pretty much the worst yet, mainly on account of the filthy weather. Thunder claps and lightning at breakfast time back in Malvern did not bode well. It rained non-stop, drenching us and the roads so that every climb seemed to take twice as long and you had to brake constantly on the descents.

To conclude, 50 miles in torrential rain can seem an awful lot longer than 60 miles in dry weather. The good news: we are about one third of the way to John O’Groats (at least 340 miles). And this hostel rocks.

• Distance covered: 340 miles
• Cumulative climbing: over 21,000 feet
• Average speed: about 10.5mph

• Average bike weight: 9kg
• Average weight of baggage: 12kg
• Weight of “Lance”: 55kg
• Weight of “Fat Jan”: 75kg

• Cornish pasties consumed (by team): 2
• Full English breakfasts consumed: 19
• Cream teas: 4
• Custard Creams: 15,000 (all by Ed)

• Daily calorific intake of team: 20,000kcal
• Daily calorific burn by team: 20, 000kcal

After 2 months of talking about it I’ve at long last started my bike ride and have come to report back on the outer regions of our country. It makes sense to start an ‘End to End’ bike ride at Land’s End but quite why anyone would visit it for any other reason is beyond me. Clearly people do, because someone’s built a theme park styled village at the site – although that may be because it couldn’t get planning permission anywhere else.

In the pouring rain we then cycled inland to St. Agnes, a trip which resulted in us cycling down the hard shoulder of the A30 in the dark. Dodging bits of rubber and road-kill while trying to stay clear of 70mph lorries is something I advise against. At 9.45pm we arrived at a B&B to find a humourless elderly lady who said to one of her staff, “Get them their food, it’ll probably be burnt but that’s not our fault.” “And I’ve gone to bed.” A jolly end to our first day.

Since then things have gone uphill so to speak, in both the topographical sense and morale. Taking on the hills along the northern Cornish coast was a trial but at least the weather held up and pasties make good rocket fuel. Devon has so far been spared the invasion of beach bums suffered by Cornwall but further inland Glastonbury was a hotspot for hippies waiting for the annual festival. Gloucester does not rate well (particularly as someone there suggested Dixons might sell bike tyres), but Bath and Marshfield are highly recommended.

Bike problems have come and not quite gone although so far I’ve been lucky. My panniers weigh 12 kgs (9kg of which belongs to me!) and seem to be getting heavier. We’re averaging just over 50 miles per day which leaves time to eat five meals, have a cream tea and repair bike faults on the road.

There’s not much other news, having cycled through Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and then up through the Malvern Hills I’m now ready for bed!

Day Five and we’re still going strong. Today was a relatively flat 55 miles, a simple task on paper, but after puncturing twice and having my panniers fall off halfway up a hill, finally getting to Bath seemed like a real achievement.

Meanwhile, all our legs are now rock-solid, we laugh in the face of most hills, and we motor along at 16mph on the flat—with panniers. Two days ago we cycled from Treyarnon to Okehampton, a mammoth 57-mile ride that included over 4200 feet of climbing. Yesterday saw us ride over 50 miles from Okehampton to Taunton, where we stayed in a nice B&B called Lowdens House.

Tonight we are staying over with James’ aunt and uncle in Bathford, and are revelling in the luxuries of a three-course dinner, laundry and comfy beds (all free of course).

The days may have been getting easier, but the challenges aren’t coming to an end. Tomorrow, we have 60 miles ahead of us, our longest day yet, and it will also include the delights of cycling up and over the Cotswolds. James (or Fat Jan, as we now know him) is charging his headlight batteries “just in case” we have an evening arrival….

We reached Treyarnon at 5pm after numerous extremely steep hills and a superb cream tea. We’ve christened Ed “Lance”, because of his US Postal kit and Trek bike, and James “Jan”, for his seemingly infinite pain tolerance (or is he just the tubbiest member of the crew?).

Sophie is “Mrs Jan” and Albert has yet to be nicknamed. Suggestions are most welcome.

Sophie and I have finished packing. We have all the train and airline tickets we need. In the morning we head off to Paddington with our unrecognisably heavy bikes. We’re ready.

If only I could find the little wire thing for my bike’s headlights….

The time has finally come. Tomorrow is Day One and I’ve got a bright and early start, hoping to be out the door by 7.15. I’ll be meeting Ed, Sophie and James at Reading station, where I’ll join their train from London to Penzance. I’ve finished stuffing my panniers full of embarrassing lycra, Leukaemia Research merchandise and Savlon skin cream, and I’m ready to go. It’s going to be an amazing trip.

Well, that was a hassle. I’ve booked us a B&B for the first night.

Treyarnon Bay. Night 1, however, is proving a trickier proposition.