Pitlochry to Spean Bridge - Day 11

How to climb a mountain without realising it!!

Sue ensured that we had a leisurely start to the day by going to the dentist for emergency treatment on her abcess.

It almost felt like we were on holiday, not starting until 10am, a big plug for the Scottish Parliament, no charge for her prescriptions and very cheap dental service.

Craig had organised a great  route, a 30mile cycle lane from Pitlochry to Dalwhinnie, lovely to stroll along (and we did - averaging less than 10 mph), quiet with beautiful scenery.

 On the way we passed Blair Castle where the Highland Games had been held the day before. we hardly noticed that we had climbed to the top of Drumochter Pass (1516 ft) so a slow and very relaxing start to the day.        

We crossed into the Highlands with snow on the Munro's and a scenic picnic stop (where were the sausage rolls?) at Loch Laggan. We somehow managed to dodge the showers and although we turned west into the wind, it wasn't too bad. The views were awesome as we cycled alongside the Loch, an amazing dam and hydro plant which sounded like a steam engine as it poured water into the lower valley and our first sight of Ben Nevis, the top slopes of which were covered in snow. Finally a very fast descent into Spean Bridge.

Thanks for everyone who sponsored us including today - a donation of £5 from Louise and Fred, £5 from Daniel Moony at Bruar and £10 from Helen and Bob Murr at Ashbank Guesthouse. A great day 786 miles behind us.

Miles covered: 66
Average speed: 11.5  mph
Hours in the saddle: 5.39
Pete's pint of the day: McCaig's Folly
Rider of the Day: Sue for her forebearance!
Guest blog editor: Gareth

Livingston to Pitlochry - Day 10

A day of beautiful scenery .....the sun is shining, no wind and it is not raining!

Started with a MacDonald's breakfast - Malcolm was blown away by the very smart waterless urinals!

Left at 8.30am when we were guided to the Forth Road Bridge by our guest rider of the day Ian Pascall (Marie's cousin's husband).

Great cycling over the bridge, a wonderful sight. Gareth's bike had emergency repairs with new pedals fitted in the Sandy Wallace Cycle Shop in Inverkeithin. The Lejoggers continued on through Cowdenbeath and Kinross while Beverley drove back to Edinburgh to pick Louise up from the airport....

Lunch stop at Perth where we saw the devastation from the high winds in the city parks with massive mature trees blown over. We can highly recommend the Small Talk Tea Shop who kindly gave a donation to our chosen charities.

We battled heavy traffic on the A9, before Craig diverted us onto a B road where we enjoyed calm cycling and truly spectacular scenery in the late afternoon sun on the way to Pitlochry.

Had a superb meal in Pashas restaurant - a lovely end to a great day.

Total mileage: 75.7 miles
Average speed 11.6 mph
Hours in the saddle: 6.29

Pete's pint of the day: Efes Turkish Beer.

Lockerbie to Livingston - Day 9 (29 May)

The best way to see Britain is on a bike, the worst way to see Britain is on a bike!

Today was a day of two halves, with the first half being a real struggle!

We left the homely B&B in Lockerbie with our guest of the day, Alec, and headed to Beatock, which Pete kept calling buttock. En route we had a mini safari seeing a deer, rabbit and meercat,but unfortunately no red squirrels!

After a quick stop with views of the Scottish hills and Malcolm's pants, we set off to rendezvous with Beverley at a services in Ablington.

Little did we know those next 20miles would be the hardest of the trip! With winds hitting us at approx 40 mph andwe struggled to stay on our bikes let alone go forward in it! We have never gone so slowly down a hill!

Taking us about 2hours to do 10 miles, we finally rolled into the services,with Fran having a little tumble off her bike!

We had one more hard slog, wobbling on our bikes for another 7 miles before turning off, leaving the wind behind us! Alec on the other hand left us and headed into the wind, I think he called it good training conditions!

From then on things were easier and we rolled into Lanark, apart the steep hill into the town which Beverley forgot to mention!

The wind then blew us to the Travelodge, although we had a slight detour around Livingston!

We were clapped in by Pete's sister Suzanne and nephew Peter, and Marie's cousin Anne and husband Ian who hopes to join us tomorrow!

Supper was kindly provided by Malcolm 2 and Beth who fed and watered us with some fantastic food!

Total Miles: 75.16

Average speed: 11.2!

Hours in saddle: 6 hours 46mins

Petes pint: he's still taste testing!

Rider of the Day: Fran after surviving a fall off the bike!

Kendal to Lockerbie Day 8 (28 May)

We have made it to the land of haggis and kilts, SCOTLAND!!

We left Kendal early in the morning

as the looming threat of the Kirkstone Pass approached. After a quick fuel up in Windermere we headed for the climb.

Although the 1500ft climb was tough, the views around made it more than worth while. 

We had a quick celebratory photo at the top then rolled down the otherside, which took us no time at all!

Thru Penrith by 12.30, stopped for a quick bite at Burger King in Carlisle (only option open) they are hardy drinkers up north - no pubs serving food...

In Gretna Green by 4.25 - 3 weddings!?! and 20 mins later - back on the road to Lockerbie by 6.15...

Lovely guest house then onto Anne and Alec's house to watch the football (Malcolm) and a good refuelling supper.


Quote from Fran: 'I know we have arrived in Scotland, I have just seen a man with red hair wearing a kilt walking down the street'

Rider of the Day: Craig  (also rear of the day for those behind him while he freewheeled at 35 mph down the KIRKSTONE pass!)

Total miles: 81.07
Average speed: 11.6
Hours in saddle: 7
Pete's Pin: Red Macgregor

Wigan to Kendal - Day 7 (27 May)

Keep calm and carry on cycling..(on Pete's t-shirt today).

Today was a relatively short day providing a variety of views of England. It began with some boroughs of Wigan which led to Morecambe Bay and finally entering Kendal, the gateway to The Lakes.

We started well and ploughed through to Garstang (30 miles) - THE WORLDS FIRST FAIR TRADE TOWN - Sue was in her element! After a quick cuppa, Redbull and beer we were off, heading to Bolton-Le-Sands, our half way point of the whole trip! A big milestone.

 We managed to find a cycle path from Lancaster to Morecambe (no: 69 NCN) and then on to the promenade in Morecambe Bay en route to lunch, providing us with some fantastic views, a long flat cycle with the wind behind us. A nice reminder of the beauty of the British coastline!

For lunch we had some lovely grub cooked by a chef (previously on the QE II and at the Gleneagles hotel) at the Royal in Bolton-Le-Sands, but we failed to see the sands!!

With only 14 miles left after lunch we saddled the bikes and began to spin our legs once more, something we're doing in our sleep now!
We succesfully made it to the Travelodge outside Kendal without getting wet and tucked into Lorry Butler's fruit cake which was delicious!!


Average speed: 12.6 mph
Total distance covered: 62.67 miles
Overall cycling time: 5 hours 7 minutes
Petes Pint: Bowland Dragon
   
Interesting regional fact:We passed a statue of Eric Morecambe in Morecambe even if he wasn't born in Morecambe (born in Luton) and died in Tewkesbury. Also his name wasn't Morecambe!

Amazing fact: Sue and Fran went into Leisure Lakes in Lancaster and came out without buying anything!

Telford to Wigan - Day 6 (26 May)

You'll all be glad to hear Malcolm's new wheels are resulting in him leading the pack!!

After Pete and Sue struggled to put their nice waterproof overshoes on in the morning we set off from Telford.
Yesterdays hills were replaced by lots of wind and rain, however we all agree that rain is better for our legs than hills!

We managed to get a police escort from Market Drayton just outside Telford and then headed to Audlem in Cheshire. 

We found a lovely little cycling cafe which served us cake and some hot drinks to warm us up.
Here we met Neil from Lyme Racing Club, who took a picture of us to feature on the cycling club's website!

Craig's treacle tart

There was also a shopping opportunity which Malcolm, Pete, Sue and Fran made the most of stocking up on some cycling gear.

Beverley waited paitently for us for lunch, in a posh pub! We on the other hand were a tad lost and ended up stopping at the first pub we saw for some grub. Beverley enjoyed the posh pub's soup on her own and then came to find us! Sorry Beverley!!

At the end of the day we managed to gain another special guest, Richard, who kindly guided us through Warrington making light work of the big city!

We made it to our hotel in Wigan, which our Bikes are now safely locked into!

Rider Of the Day: Malcolm for volunteering to sit in the rain and babysit the bikes whilst we sat in the pub!

Average speed today: 12.6 mph

Total distance covered: 73 miles

Overall cycling time: 5 hours 45 minutes

Pete's Pint: Guinness

Interesting regional fact:

"It is illegal for Welshmen to enter Chester after nightfall, according to an old Tudor law."

Luckily Gareth made it in during daylight!!

Cheltenham to Telford - Day 5 (25 May)

Whoever invented hills and put lots of them in Shropshire has a lot to answer for...

Woke up after a good night's sleep in our own beds to the sun shining and headed to Tewkesbury.

Our special guest today was Ed Wragg who accompanied us to Worcester. He was very handy for taking photos of the 6 of us.

 The tuck shop was open in Upton on Severn car park doing a roaring trade before Louise left us and handed over to Beverley at Powick.

Some hefty hills and the weather turned cooler so a quick pit stop at the Rose and Crown at Shrawley was more than welcome then on for lunch at 2.15 at the Eagle and Serpent at Kinlet left at 3pm having had some warming soup and sandwiches.


Emergency snack stop at 4 pm in a lay-by on the outside of Bridgnorth, thank you to Marie for the delicious ginger cake and Maggie Morrison for the amazing cereal bars, well earned after more hills.

 Onto Ironbridge, fantastic views of the landmark bridge, a tea stop at the Tea Emporium where the owner kindly gave us free scones and jam.


Back on the road for the final leg to SHAWBIRCH kindly escorted by two cyclists Phil and Jim around the maze of roads at Telford.

Dinner at the carvery with unlimited ice cream for Malcolm.


Pete won the yellow RIDER OF THE DAY jersey for his positive mental attitude all day claiming "after today we will have done a third".

Quote of the day from Craig - "a toilet seat is more comfortable than a bicycle seat".


Average speed today: 12.3mph
Total distance covered: 78 miles
Overall cycling time: 6 hours 12 minutes

Petes pint: a disappointing Tetleys bitter (not much selection at the carvery).

Diabetes and Exercise

Professor Ann Milward has mentioned Fran's adventure in her blog on Excelsior's athlete and coach development website (http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/) on the topic of Diabetes and Exercise. 

It explains in an easy to read format what Diabetes actually is and how exercise can help!

Definately a recommend read, just click the link below.......

http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/blog/diabetes-and-exercise-guest-blog-professor-millward

Bridgwater to Cheltenham - Day 4 (24 May)

Today we were homeward bound!!

After another special guest, Mike Smith joined us for the day, we made a quick escape from the lovely Bridgwater!

With some new borrowed working wheels, Malcolm led the pack up towards Bristol Airport!

All went smoothly despite meeting a rather large hill up to the airport. We all made it to the top intact and enjoyed the long downhill run into the city of Bristol.

Lunch in Alveston consisted of a variety of choices, including carvery, carvery or carvery. Although Malcolm managed to find the ice cream machine and after 4 servings called it a day.

Unlike Devon and Cornwall it was a nice flat route into Gloucestershire which meant we powered through the rest of the day. The sun shone for the first time which took us by surprise and has resulted in a bit of right leg sunburn!

We finally rolled into Cheltenham to some familiar faces cheering us on, thank you Suzanne, Fi and Daisy! You're all still more than welcome to join us?

Having arrived home we were provided with some much needed physio from family friends Angie and Zoe at Access Physio (www.accessphysio.co.uk). Although a tad painful I'm sure tomorrow we will be zoooming along with some brand new legs.

Average speed today: 14.1 mph
Total distance covered: 83.9 miles
Overall cycling time:5 hrs 50 mins
Pete's Pint: Fruit of the Forest juice and sparkling water!  

Okehampton to Bridgwater - Day 3 (23 May)

A day full of adventure...

The day started with Gordon and Tara joining the LEJOGers for this stage - they set a very fast pace (averaging 17 mph for the first 20 miles to Exeter).  Fran had a quick photo by the Exeter sign just to remember Vickers ( University friend collecting sponsorship for).

From Exeter to Taunton:

• Took a wrong turn for a couple of miles and Malcolm lost a spoke (the first of the day...).

• Crossed into Somerset 

In Taunton Gordon's wife Rosemary laid on a lovely spread before Gordon & Malcolm went off to the 'Bicycle Chain' bikeshop who fixed his wheel and saved the day - at no charge - donating their time and effort to the Headway charity.

1500 hrs left Taunton - 1501 the heavens opened!

Travelled along the Taunton to Bridgwater canal path for 10-12 miles, very pretty but bumpy 

Gareth narrowly avoided falling into the canal when swerving to avoid a cyclist on a pink bike! Finished off with a nice beer at the Boat and Anchor pub right next to the canal.

Average speed today: 13.9 mph
Total distance covered: 68.35 miles
Overall cycling time 4hrs 53 mins
Pete's pint of the day: Otter