Day 10

The day we had been waiting for was now upon us - the day we'd cross into Scotland. We knew this would be a landmark moment in the trip, and we'd cross the border in Gretna, in about 10 miles.

From LEJOG Day 10

After a nice bit of cereal and toast, we got on our way. As expected, it wasn't long before we'd reached the sign, taking lots of pictures and feeling excited about how far we'd come. Today the navigation was as simple as it comes - just one road for the entire day. This road had a cycle path as well, which was unusual on such a deserted road, but still appreciated.

The weather was miserable all day, and we got really wet. The clouds were very low for the first bit of the day, so the visibility was really poor and we couldn't see any views. In fact, we couldn't even tell if we were cycling up a hill or not.

Scotland, we thank you for building your roads correctly. Cornwall, Devon, listen up. Build your roads between the hills, not over them.

Towards the end Sam got the only puncture of the entire trip. However, we're pro at replacing inner tubes after the stupid amount of punctures on our practise rides, and it didn't slow us down considerably. In fact, because the roads were so flat, we were going at a really nice speed.

Never trust Scottish cows. There was one standing in the road, about 10 miles from Lanark. It led us down the wrong path for a few miles, and up a hill. The cow then left us on our own and we realised we were lost.

Lanark was a nice town, but was at the top of a giant hill. We knew we deserved one after being spared for so long. We were staying in a B&B (last of the trip), which turned out to be really nice and looked after by a friendly woman. Charles rejoined the group and his dad took us for a curry.

The total distance was 83.3 miles. Our route is here.

Day 9

It was great starting the day knowing we had eliminated 30 miles, transforming the spare rest day into 2 nice shorter days.

From LEJOG Day 9

Getting out of Sedburgh was hilly on windy country roads (again). We realised how difficult this day would have been in one go - as it was we could enjoy the hills and the views. The navigation remained easy, although we managed to get lost when instructions were a bit vague (CTC -1 point). However, no real damage was done and we soon approached our next stop - Carlisle.

Carlisle is about as far north as you can go in England, the last major town before Scotland. The weather was pretty grim, and we enjoyed riding in the busy city center. Somehow through random guesses we navigated almost right up to the hostel (without realising). A helpful man showed me to tourist information, who told me that we were practically there (just had to go across a bridge).

The youth hostel was actually university accommodation, but in the summer it was opened up to the hostelers. This meant we all had our own rooms, which was strange and maybe not so useful for the sleepy among us (we could all hear Sam's alarm, he didn't). We enjoyed a night out, and actually went to the cinema and watched "Take Him to the Greek". It won't win any oscars, but it was light entertainment.

We covered 52.8 miles, and the route for Day 8 and Day 9 can be found here.

Day 8

Here was the first major change in our route plan. Initially, we planned to have a rest day in Slaidburn on day 8, so we were ready for another long day. However, we realised if we just stopped, we might get out of the routine, and our muscles might become very tight and sore. Also, Slaidburn was a village with nothing of any interest, apart from a small pub (that gave us a delicious breakfast).

So, instead we booked into a B&B in Sedburgh, about halfway between Slaidburn and Carlisle. This cut down our day significantly, and was definitely the right decision. The navigation was nice and simple, but there was an enourmous climb up to about 400m, which was the highest point of the whole trip. Strangely, because we were so relaxed and knew we had all the time in the world, we really enjoyed it. The top offered us some great views, and obviously the downhill was brilliant. Sheep on the road did however slow us down on a few occassions.

From LEJOG Day 8

The rest of the day was good, with generally nice weather and a straightforward route. We stopped by a bridge and ate our first and only 99 with flake of the journey. Sedburgh was a fair sized town, and the hotel was one of the nicest we stayed at. We are eternally grateful to Sean (I think) who washed and dried some of our clothes for us. The resteraunt down the road was doing a Thai evening so we all enjoyed curry / noodles, and Mock the Week made us happy before we went to sleep.

The distance was a very reasonable 32.9 miles. The route we followed will be combined with Day 9, so check above for it.

Day 7

After more encouragement from the manager of the hotel, and a breakfast that wasn't porridge (ceral and toast), we made our way out of Chester. Although the roads were pretty major, there was no traffic because we'd set off before the rush hour.

This was the day we'd been dreading from the start, because it was the longest and was fairly hilly as well. It was good to realise that if we got going quickly, miles could be covered and it wasn't going to be as bad as we thought.

The first 30 miles went well, we managed to cover them quickly as the hills were limited. However, we got tangled up in the industrial north around Manchester, which was one of the worst moments of the trip. The roads were now busy and the views uninspiring, and we still had a long way to go.

From LEJOG Day 7

Leigh was a nasty city, probably the most miserable place we went through. We had lunch near the centre. It was now properly raining, and shortly after setting off again we got fairly lost. The misery of the city made getting lost much, much worse. However, the city was partially redeemed by a white van man who magically guessed we were end to enders, and actually pointed us in the right direction, saying he'd done the same route a few years ago. It's a small world I guess.

We then covered 20 miles or so before we got lost, although this time in the middle of nowhere. However, again, we recieved some help from a passing cyclist and we were on our way again. Towards the last 10 miles we were fairly tired (apart from Sam who seemed to have endless energy), and we were faced with a huge climb. Halfway through the climb we met a group of slightly less helpful cyclists, who said we "definitely" had a few hours left of cycling. Thanks but no thanks, our cycling computers say otherwise.

The climb was hard, but we finished the day on a downhill, reaching almost 40mph on a steep bit of hill. Slaidburn was in the middle of nowhere, and the youth hostel was volunteer run, so they were really friendly. One thing we will never forget is the meal we ate that evening. I wouldn't be surprised if on dark gloomy nights, when the moon is full, the people at Slaidburn YH talk in hushed voices about it (see picture).

From LEJOG Day 7

Day 7 was the longest day, standing at 90.1 miles. Take a look if you dare at our route.

Day 6

On waking up we still had the entire dormitory to ourselves. We had a cooked breakfast in a tiny shop, and got cycling again.

The start was slow, but fortunately we had loads of downhill. The road was winding and our brake pads were definitely worn down by the time we had reached Cheshire. Progress was quick as the county was flat and the weather wasn't too bad.

In a small town called Pontsebury we somehow met up with the same group of cyclists we met on the train. The quick reunion definitely made our day. A small shop also gave us free sandwiches after realising what we were doing, and the sandwiches were delicious. I will disclose that by now we were eating a couple of packets of biscuits and a large packet of doritoes as a snack, in between lunch (which was usually 3 rolls). We knew if we ate enough we would always have energy, even if we had sore muscles or felt miserable because of the rain.

The end of the day dragged on for longer than we expected (CTC lied to us consistently on distances), and as a result on arrival into Chester we were tired and grumpy. However, we were staying at a B&B, which would have a TV to watch footie on, and Chester had plenty to offer. In the town centre I managed to spot a pizza express, so we enjoyed a proper 3-course meal that wasn't pasta.

From LEJOG Day 6

In total we covered 72.1 miles, following this route.

Day 5

After another round of porridge and backtracking up the bridleway and across the bridge, we were back on the road and heading for Clun.

Although the day was a shorter distance, the first half was on minor country roads and as a result was very hilly. The scenery probably compensated, although it's harder to appreciate when your exhausted.

Not much of interest happened on day 5, our muscles were sore but coping, the weather stayed reasonable all day. Towards the end there were some large hills, and a head wind made it even tougher. However, we weren't too tired, and reached Clun with a little energy to spare. The youth hostel was volunteer run, and we had a few friendly conversations with the people looking after the hostel, and some people who were camping outside. There was also a large shop in the village for some reason, where we stocked up on dinner and snacks. For tea we had a massive bowl of pasta each with some spicy sause. Nick failed to finish his.

From LEJOG Day 5

The total distance was a hilly 62.8 miles. Here is our route.

Day 4

We started day 4 early as usual, so we couldn't make use of the breakfast at the B&B. Instead, they wrapped up some delicious sandwiches and we ate half before we left, and the rest along the way, before lunch.

Charles was suffering from huge blisters from silver D of E and seemed to be more exhausted than the rest of us, and unfortunately missed the next 7 days of cycling. The rest of us were still coping well. Charles fortunately rejoined us later, so he cycled the majority of the trip. Cycling 675 miles over 9 days is still an amazing achievement in itself.

As a warm up we cycled up Cheddar gorge. The weather was good so views were great, and there was hardly any traffic (a few other cyclists coming the other way). The gorge started very steep but eased off, although it did seem to last forever. Later we were told we were mad to have gone that way, we just looked smug and said it wasn't that bad.

From LEJOG Day 4

After the gorge we had some good downhill, and stuck to really nice country roads that weren't too much of a pain to navigate. The sign posting in this region of Britain was really helpful, as it was thorough and meant we just had to know the weird name of the next little village.

We were all looking forward to the Severn bridge as a landmark in the trip. However, as we approached Bristol we got one of our top views from the Clifton suspension bridge. The area of Bristol we cycled through was really nice, and CTC helped navigate through to some oddly placed villages, so we could join the cycle path to the Severn bridge.

Crossing the bridge was really hard work as the side winds were extreme. Also, on arrival into Wales, it began to rain. We now took "the high road" following the Welsh border, which involved a lot of hills.

To finish off, the youth hostel was across an old, shaky bridge (which had steps either side), and spent half an hour wondering where in the woods the hostel was. After phoning them, we used their directions and arrived at a reasonable time. In the evening we ate a large amount of pasta and watched Top Gear.

Our total distance was 63.4 miles. Our route can be found here. The second half isn't entirely accurate, as we changed our mind to take a different option on the CTC pack we were following.