Day Seven - (30th May)

Our quest to reach the goal that Land's End continues.

Todays leg of the journey saw team Upside Down travel the 110 miles from Shrewsbury to Bristol via places such as Hereford and Monmouth - and that also meant a brief foray into our third country of the journey - Wales. Since traversing Shap earlier in the ride we have been enjoying relatively flat terrain and thus have (a) made good progress, and (b) been worried about what Devon and Cornwall may have in store for us. In doing so we had overlooked what sort of terrain (and by that I mean the size/severity of the hills) on today's route. From Shrewsbury to Hereford all was pleasant - a little too breezy in the wrong direction if I'm being picky.

Lunch was obtained from Greg's and then taken in the grounds of Hereford Cathedral. We were still hungry - more of which later. Things took a turn for the worse immediately after lunch when the A49 headed skyward. This was to be a pre-cursor for a very undulating ride through Herefordshire, with one particularly nasty climb that required digging deep into the reserves of energy and motivation.

And it is that - energy and motivation - that I feel is the reason why today's ride felt so difficult. Why motivation? Well for the last 6 days we've been heading 'home' ie south from John O'Groats. Now we're heading away from home again - ie south of Shrewsbury.

But moreover today was a story of poor nutrition - and the poor utilisation of said nutrition. Essentially took few carbs taken too late in the ride. A schoolboy error if ever I saw I one - and a mistake we won't be making again any time soon!

Stats the way to do it.....!

Miles done today: 110
Miles done so far: 680
Climb today: 1807 meters (5928 feet)
Confidence score: 9.9!!

 PS - we now have a new 'least favorite road to cycle in the whole world' road - which runs from the Severn Bridge to Avonmouth....

Day Six - (29th May)

Having yesterday spent the day (or at least part of it) 'doing Shap' we'd decided that today would be a gentle recovery ride through Cheshire and Shropshire. This being ahead of our last three days and the hills of Devon and Cornwall that seasoned riders have told us many-a-tale about. And so, soon after 0800, we began the continuation of our journey south.

Today was to prove different to the last five, with Preston, Wigan and Warrington to negotiate and many many traffic signals to hold us up. Indeed a rough calculation would suggest that of the several thousand traffic signals we came across today in the order of 74.6% (give or take) were found to be on red.

Despite the continued interruptions in progress we made good time and arrived at an Upside Down supporters home in Ashton-in-Makerfield at 09:34 - just four minutes behind schedule. A fine and substantial breakfast banquet was provided and amongst much banter and hilarity we dined like Lycra-clad kings for an hour or so. Thank you Sue and family!

Our day progressed well - a combination of strong legs, reasonable terrain and light winds made for good progress. So much so that we even had time to 'join the Cheshire set' of ladies that lunch and take our refreshment stop at a fine cafe near Tarporley. A swift few miles and we rolled into our Travelodge accommodation at around 5pm after a comfortable day of riding. All boding well for the remaining miles ahead it would seem.

Our day was topped off when we were joined by family as friends for a 'table for 25' dinner at the pub. A splendid evening was, I think, enjoyed by all.

Our bikes remain in good shape and reasonably clean. Simon's bike computer battery went flat around Lancaster on day five and he spent the miles since then being thoroughly miserable and guessing his speed, or shouting at Craig and Pete 'how fast are we going?' every so often. They rarely answered! But fear not, Simon was rescued by an RAC man (in said RAC man's garden) with a new battery and a handful of cable ties.

Outrmission to reach Land's End from John O'Groats using pedal power alone continues......

Today's stats look a little like this:

Miles today: 89
Miles so far: 568
 Metres climbed today: 997 (3271 feet)
Today's total time: 6hrs 1min
Confidence score:

Day five - (28th May)

Here we are, Monday 28 May and we find ourselves not only back in England but VERY back in England- in Preston in fact.

So today saw us depart out chill pod after a somewhat unsettled nights sleep. The morning bought sunshine in the sky, a fine dew on the grass and bickering around the car.

No matter, we prepare ourselves for the day ahead with now routine set of morning chores. Despite being now well practiced we once again found ourselves heading off later than had been planned. Clockwork it is not.

With just a few miles done we found ourselves in Gretna and with much excitement and renewed enthusiasm for the miles ahead we crossed into England. A stop for photos and  witty banter and we were once again on our way. Today's route saw us cover Carlisle and then down to Kendal whereupon we were buzzed by two RAF Tornado fast jets. Awesome. At Kendal we met up with Daz who decided, for reasons best known to him, to join us to ride to the top of Shap.

And so it was that we found ourselves on the climb out of Kendal and to the roof of the world that is Shap. The ride up to the village was, in truth, steady - the bit from Shap village to the top was a tough old climb. Nonetheless we made it to the top and then, at speed, we made it to the bottom.

Lunch in Kendal was followed by a very fast 40 or so miles from Kendal to just north of Preston. 40 miles that were, by and large, without incident except for Pete's attempt to join the M6 motorway. Yes, really.

Pasta eaten, blog written, photos uploaded and bedrooms in chaos. Tomorrow is day six and very exciting as we meet friends and family for dinner in Shrewsbury! Yay!!


 Stats anyone? Don't mind if I do...

Miles today: 105
Miles so far: 480
Metres climbed today: 1286 metres (4219 feet)
Time in the saddle today: 7hrs 4mins
Confidence score: 10!!!!
More photos uploaded today
www.utrak.me.uk/jogle

Day four (27 May 2012)

Well, what a day day four turned out to be..... Staying in a guest house last night meant that we had the unusual benefit of being provided with a full Scottish breakfast (essentially a full English but in Scotland it would seem - devolution has its limits). However, being accomplished athletes and now fully fledged mountain goats (see 'Day Three') we opted for the healthier muesli followed by whole meal toast and scrambled egg option. Not the easiest of decisions... Having breakfasted and having applied a selection of creams and potions we were ready to get day four underway - and at 08:03 we rolled out of Dumbarton and over the Erskine Bridge. The next few miles proved something of a culture shock. Having not seen a set of traffic lights or a kebab shop for several hundred miles we were now surrounded by the things - kebab shops shut, traffic lights on red. Whilst this was to prove to be a frustrating start to the day it was in fact representative of a generally tough day overall. Riding into the wind isn't fun, doing so on a road surface that hasn't been maintained since the days of the highwaymen is particularly rubbish! The last nine miles into Abington were a particular low point. Should Martians land and choose that road to do so on then their only assumption will be that the planet has been abandoned by its former inhabitants and the road is now being returned to nature.... Having said all of that we stuck to our task and shortly before 6pm we rolled into Hoddom Castle to find our chill pod waiting. The sun is shining and we've taken advantage of said conditions to give Paul the opportunity to cook for us on the BBQ, and a top job he did too! So, the stats: Miles done today: 96 Miles so far: 380 Metres climbed today: 1135 metres(3,800 feet) Time in the saddle: 7hrs 9 mins Confidence score 9.8 (out of ten) And tomorrow we shall return to England....

Day three (26 May 2012)

Day three of our challenge saw us tackle the route from Fort William to Dumbarton. Essentially this meant getting on to the A82 this morning and getting off the A82 (90 miles later) this afternoon. But such a description simply doesn't do today's ride justice. Oh no! The first 20 miles from Fort William to Glencoe was ridden alongside the staggeringly beautifully Loch Linnhe. The road was flat, the sun was shining, the bikes were humming and the world was good. And then the climbing started - a continuous uphill (up mountain?) taking us ever closer to the snowy peaks that we'd seen and pointed to early in the day. All three of team Upside Down made it to the top - no walking, no car, but by pedal power and determination alone. I'm proud of us all! A quick stop at Bridge of Orchy (with Craig doing some odd stretching manouveres)and soon we find ourselves once again in the climb and rapidly(!??) getting back to the altitude we'd descended from only minutes earlier. A stop for photos at the Rannoch Moor summit (1142 feet) and the big decent commenced. What a ride (oh, and what a headwind - not forecast and relentless). Lunch in Crianlarich (served by possibly Scotland's least cheerful shopkeeper) and a brisk 20 miles later we find ourselves sweeping alongside Loch Lomond. An ice cream stop (and more odd stretching) by the loch (where we were served by Scotland's least cheerful ice cream purveyor) and we were off again, continuing our route south. And so it is that tonight we found ourselves in the Positano Guest House in Dumbarton, pondering what to eat and where to eat it. Day three done.  Today's stats then: Miles today: 90 Miles so far: 274 Metres climbed today: 1,520 (4,987 feet) Time in the saddle today: 6hrs 28mins Confidence score: 9.7 (Pete 7) out of 10 Tomorrow we shall continue our march towards 920 miles and to the goal that is Land's End!

Day two (25 May 2012)

Another day in the saddle (more of which later) another few miles towards our destination.... Today we have travelled from North to South and from East to West. And this is a good thing. As anyone that knows their geography will be aware John O'Groats is in the north east whilst Land's End is in the sou th west - thus our generally north east to south west route today can only be considered a good thing.

There is a general view that cycling over some distance will result in your, let's say, 'delicate contact point' toughening up - eventually. However, the contact point to which I refer is not as hardy as feet and hands and so day two has been a bit tender for us. It is possible to minimise the discomfort for short periods of time - either by shuffling to a slightly different position or else standing up for a while. A further option exists which is to get off the bike completely, however this is not considered either (a) wise whilst moving at speed or (b) conducive to continued good progress towards ones destination. And so today has been one of shuffling, standing, shuffling, standing, shuffling etc. etc.

And so it seems that having reached Fort William we will now be attempting to purchase pampers (or Huggies - either work for me) with a 34" waist. A quest that is unlikely to reap reward I would suggest and thus tomorrow we will be back to amply padded cycling shorts, copious amounts of chamois cream and a layering of Sudocrem for good measures.
 Todays stats then:
 Miles today: 80
 Miles so far: 184
 Metres climbed (today): 1,248
 Time in the saddle (today): 5h 35m
 Confidence score: 9.6

More photos at

http://www.utrak.me.uk/jogle

Day one (24 May 2012)

Here we are then, first day done and we're 104 miles south of where we started - that's 11% of our journey done (and 89% left to do then).  Day one has gone remarkably well. Save for a couple minor issues. One being Simon's sunburnt arms which can be resolved with copious amounts of Boots aftersun product, the other was Pete's front brake caliper coming loose, which cannot! A combination of fine weather, fine cycling, plentiful fluids and plentiful carbs has resulted in what I would say has been one of our best days in the saddle. Ever! Having left John O'Groats (so named after some Dutch chappie who went by the name of John) late - due to a mix up with the man that puts the arms/names on the famous signpost - we were concerned at what time we might arrive at our accommodation for the night. We had nothing to be concerned about, arriving at Blackrock at 6:30pm to discover a rather splendid and reasonably priced bunkhouse!  So, we're on our way. Here are the stat(istic)s then: Miles today: 104 Miles in total: 104 Calories burned: 6,700 Metres climbed: 1,277 Time in the saddle: 6h 36m Confidence in finishing score: 9.4! Tomorrow is a much shorter day, just the 90 miles down to Fort William.... You can see our photos at www.utrak.me.uk/jogle