Day 11

Miles completed today 71

Total Miles 723

Another lovely day from Tebay to Once Brewed. Day off to a great start with breakfast with Nicky Till who was full of beans as usual. We then had a rather damp ride through the beautiful undulating country around Appleby in Westmoreland, Duftom to Melmerby where we stopped for lunch. The scenery was slightly obscured by the drizzle (no heatwave here!) and High Cup Nick was in cloud but it didn’t spoil a lovely ride or our spirits. 

After lunch we hit the hills around Renwick and up to Hartside - our highest point so far. Sad that the cafe has burnt down and hasn’t been rebuilt. Very grateful to whichever council has resurfaced the road to the summit as we then had the most sublime descent from Hartside to Alston and beyond - road racer heaven! 

The day finished with an Adam puncture near Haltwhistle and a slightly bigger hill than we wanted to Once Brewed. Great accommodation tonight right on Hadrian’s Wall and lovely meal with Mum. 

Here’s to tomorrow’s adventure .. 

Day 10

Miles completed today 61

Total Miles 652

What a treat today - cycling through the Yorkshire Dales. Two huge climbs between Slaidburn and. Ingleton and then again from Ingleton to Sedbergh. Both rewarded with amazing downhills and some lovely views at the top. This rivals Devon and Cornwall as the best area in England to cycle in - all the ingredients apart from sunshine today!!

Highlights - the scenery, the cafes and cakes at both stops and the lack of any mechanical issues (long may that last!). Also not having the record temperatures of down south which would be too much for us on these hills .. we stayed at 21 all day. 

We are now in Tebay (yes the place not the services) and looking forward to heading north east tomorrow ... hilly day but legs feeling ok at the moment. 

Day 9 

Miles completed today 67

Total Miles 591 

Up and down day from Northwich to Whalley - fairly nondescript start into Manchester in grey cloud and drizzle, stopped near where I used to live in Whalley Range where Adam enjoyed some cricket from his deckchair .. then some mechanical issues that were sorted at Harry’s Bikeshop before a slightly bitty ride through Bury and Accrington through various parks and old railway routes. Ride improved immensely once we made it to the Leeds Liverpool canal and the start of the Yorkshire Dales. 

Highlight of the day was our welcoming committee at Whalley - thanks girls for making us feel so special ... it made that last hill worthwhile!! 🙂

Lowlight was losing Adam for 20 minutes near Accrington as we took different turnings ... note to self make sure he has his mobile and it is charged! 

Sad to have missed meeting both Amanda Hutchins and the Jarvis’s in the last 24 hours - times and locations just didn’t work but your kind thoughts were with us on our way. 

Glad to finally be north of home .. roll on the hills and scenery to Tebay tomorrow .. and passing our half way point (at last) ... 

Day 8

Miles completed today 64 miles

Total miles 527

A much more relaxed and shorter day today riding through the rolling fields of Cheshire. A special guest appearance from Rich and Naomi which made it a really fun day. 

Cycling was much easier than Thursday (just as well) but we had our first mechanical issues and were saved by an amazing mobile bike service who diagnosed the issue in Market Drayton and then fixed it in Nantwich. 

Fantastic cafe stops today researched expertly by Naomi! Adam loved cycling with Rich and we now have the comfort of Premuer Inn beds ... what’s not too like. 

Great to see Martin and Toby as well tonight - appreciate everyone making the effort to meet up with us. 

Onwards to Manchester ... 

Day 7 

Miles completed today 90

Total Miles 463

What a day! After a late night having dinner in Bristol with Louise, Kevin and Mum we set off slightly later than normal as we met 2 people at breakfast who were also doing LEJOG and we took some time comparing war stories!!

The ride itself was almost all lovely - wending it’s way through wonderful country lanes to Worcester and then on to Droitwich. There we had a couple of hours off having lunch with Leigh who has kindly organised some tickets for Liverpool vs Cardiff in October which Adam is delighted about!! 

Having left the Gardener’s arms we continued our delightful progress through the Severn valley. The going got a lot tougher closer to bridgenorth - poor signage, bridal ways that were not suitable for any bikes and sunshine that just kept getting hotter - all adding up to about an extra 90 minutes on our day! 

Still we battled through and finally made it to our home for the next two nights ... so looking forward to our day off!! 

Day 6 

Miles completed today 74

Total Miles 373

Another lovely day - starting with a big climb over the Mendips out of Wells. Rewarded with lots of downhill and a lovely route around Bristol that took in Ashton House and went under the Clifton suspension bridge and along the Avon. 

The afternoon was along lovely country roads and some small sections of canal. Very few hills which enabled us to make good progress. 

Highlights today - the food at the cafe at Avonmouth (totally delicious - see above!) and the ride through Gloucester centre which went right through the cathedral gardens. 

We feel as if we are making good progress north now. Tomorrow takes us up to Ironbrodge and a well deserved day off on Friday! 

Day 5 

Miles completed today 79

Total miles 299

A different kind of day - we are not so taken with Somerset as we were with Devin and Cornwall. Hilly stage at the start followed by the flatness of the Bridgwater canal and an old railway into Glastonbury before a lovely 9 miles  into Wells to round the day off. 

Some awards from today: 

Most grumpy bloke - the man who blocked the road off Exmoor and accused us of dropping litter on a road that we didn’t even cycle along ! 

Most annoying woman - the runner on the Bridgwater canal who insisted on not letting us past and let her dogs jump up at adam and almost knock him off! 

Most ugly cycleway - the route in and out of Bridgwater that winds under the M5 and through various industrial estates 

Most hairy moment - meeting a tractor at top speed on a very narrow country lane 

Highlights today include the £5 sponsorship from Zeal farm, the cakes at the cafe in Glastonbury and the ride into Wells. 

Looking forward to tomorrow and meeting up with the “Moats” in Bristol .. shame we have to go over the Mendips first ..!!