Ok, so we didn’t see, or dress up as elves….but that’s all I could come up with! (Thanks Kerrie….I won’t tell anyone – doh!) 

Last night in our lovely B&B with the large lounge and a drying room, we slept with the sounds of a howling wind and heavy rain going on around us, and in the morning we were not too hopeful as to how dry we would be at the end of the day.  But we had a big day ahead of us, so we kitted up and got on with it.  Once again we found we were luck with the weather- on the rain front anyway.  Other than the odd quick shower, we were spared getting completely drenched like the other day.
The wind however was a different matter, and we found that very hard work.  It was coming straight at us, and it feels like you’re cycling in glue.  It reminded me of trying to swim against the tide to grab hold of a shot line you’ve missed when diving.  Not fun, and very energy sapping.  We stopped for a coffee about 15 miles into the leg, and had a sandwich too.  You can’t take on too much fuel I’ve been told.  We were treated by a visit of some wild deer on the front lawn (I think they feed them)  which was quite entertaining. 
My computer just lost a chunk of my blog again – poop!  I’ll try and remember what I wrote….
Oh yes, about all the things I didn’t capture on camera;  the beefy ram with the huge curly horns;  the view of the mountain two minutes down the road that was was more stunning than the one I took having stopped; taken the dry bag out of my pocket; camera out of the bag etc….; the magnificent stag that came across the road just in front of us, stopped to look then leaped over the fence and into the woods on the other side;  the tiny bee hanging on to a flower in a force 9 gale (that’s what it felt like to me);  wing mirror city by the narrow bridge;  the giant’s skate board valley between two mountains; and so much more besides. 

After our first stop we made a concerted effort to draft properly in order to make the best headway we could into the wind.  It’s hard because you have to stay really close to the bike in front of you, and keep and eye out for the one behind so they don’t get dropped.   We all worked hard in the strong, sapping wind, especially David who took the lead.  It certainly got us moving.

Drafting, to help cut through the wind.

Even so it was heads down and shoulders, literally, to the wind.  Their was a fabulous downhill bit after Glenco, goodness knows how fast we would have gone without the wind at our faces!!  We were grateful to get to next town, but chose to continue without stopping to catch John up at Fort William.  He had booked Jackie’s bike into a local bike shop to check out her gears.  When we got there, we were happy to sit in the Mac D’s having a shake/coffee while the bike got done.  We were happier to know that we were only 12 miles away from the B&B.  HURRAH  😉

We got to the B&B, stopping briefly at The Commando Memorial where we met a man who was on his second day from John O’Groats to Land’s End.  He was on his own and was hoping to find somewhere to stay in Spean Bridge.  We wished him lots of luck on his journey.  It’s amazing how many people you meet doing this journey, the same way you’re going or the opposite, it doesn’t matter.  There’s a commoraderie between you that’s quite special.  I didn’t envy him the fact he’s a the beginning of his adventure, whereas we’re nearly at the end of ours.

Us girlies half way up the mountain!

Spot Alex and Jackie….?

While I was writing this blog, the owner of the B&B helpfully switched the wireless off – OMG!  Didn’t see that one coming, so once again, I’m picking up pieces, and trying to remember what I said!! 
We were quite pleased with ourselves for having tackled the wind, and got to our destination.  I think it’ll be more the same today but colder, so wish us luck!   Hopfully there will be un-interrupted wi-fi tonight and I can fill you all in.

Thank you as always for your comments and support, we’re looking forward to seeing you all soon. 

Pressing the button now – fingers crossed,

Beth xx

Yes, for those of you who haven’t been paying attention, we are far, far away from Devon. 
Last night we spent an evening in Glasgow, well The Radnor Hotel anyway.  It was comfortable and I had a bath full of hot bubbly water, so I was happy.  We set off this morning with a smile on our faces, because we’d done the extra mileage last night by mistake so John dropped us off at the point where he had picked us up yesterday(Coach is great 😉 )…..still with me so far?  We were also happy because it wasn’t raining when we started peddling – bonus. In fact over half the ride was in fine weather so we were able to take in the stunning views on the way to and along the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.  

David, Alex and Jackie by Loch Lomond

I thought of my sister Ellen when we cycled past the painted wall showing Helensburg left and Dunbarton right, and of the many times I’ve driven up the A82 on the way to Oban to go dive with the seals.  Mostly though I was taking in the fantastic Scottish scenery – WOW.  You notice so much more too when you’re on a bike going at an average 10 mph!  We stopped a few times today for photos ops, and I’ll try and put a few in.  Touch wood, the last couple of days it’s all been posted as written….  Other than the lack of rain early on today, the wind was quite an issue.  It buffets you from the side and can make you feel quite unstable, a bit scary sometimes.  Also it makes you feel as if you’re not moving very far!   Tomorrow’s forecast is for more wind and showers. Doh!   Snow on the high ground too, that would be exciting.  

Loch Lomond

So what else did we see today on our travels?  The crazy drivers who followed us into the coned off area of road works when we were trying to get out of their way – the angry lorry driver who didn’t like that we could get to the head of the traffic light queue.  He passed by us very close, just to prove a point.  Though which point I’ve not quite worked out. But most of all we saw such magical sights I’m not sure where to start….Loch Lomond was stunning as we approached it first in sunshine and as we stood watching some swans flew across the surface of the water – very elegant.  As we followed the Loch, mile after mile, we caught the changes as the weather changed, dappled sun turned into wind whipped crests, and then grey clouds descended to shower it (and us) with rain.  We saw and heard many waterfalls along the way, big crashing ones and small burbling ones, they were all worth a look.  Not that we stopped for all of them, we had some miles to cover.
By the top end, the sun was reappearing and rainbows formed – we saw quite a few – they really are quite magical in my book.  The final one was over Crianlarich, where we are staying tonight.  It seemed to be welcoming us home.  Jen, our hostess at the B&B also welcomed us as if we were home, and opened up the drying room too.  Bliss, everything is hung up and drying before tomorrows showers.  It’s always nice to start out with dry shoes, even if at the end of the day there like two puddles.   Tomorrow there is more wind and rain forecast too.  Never mind eh? Nearly there now just over 200 miles to go!                   

Rainbow over Crianlarich.

Today we covered 42 miles,  just a short  hop then!  Tomorrow it will be just over 60 again.  We aim to get past Fort William before tea.  Tee hee. Actually we just aim to get there in one piece.  We have covered 627 miles so far, for those who may have thought we couldn’t do it…..here we are, scratching at the back door to get in! 
I can’t wait.

As always, I must thank everyone who has left a comment, we  read them with excitment. Welcome to Brenda and thanks for the support.   Thank you too for those who have sponsored me to support the Alzhiemers Society, it’s not too late if you would still like to.  Check out my Just Giving link on this page.  Also to those of you who are new viewers, you can check out how far we’ve come be scrolling down the page to my previous blogs over the past 7 months.  
May I wish Steve a happy birthday for today -HAPPY BIRTHDAY-  thanks for your words of encouragment too. 
Just a note from David to all his friends, sorry his phone got a little too damp yesterday and is on the blink, so he is feeling lost and has ‘no contact with the planet’  A little over-dramatic I think! 

That’s all for today, I’m off to bed.  Although it’s only 9:30 it feels like midnight!  Wish us luck for the big, windy, wet adventure tomorrow and I hope to catch some wi-fi again to let you all know how it went. 
Night night,
Beth xx

Hey I’m not complaining, the weather has been incrediably kind to us.  We seem to have raced the rain up the British Isle’s!  Well, it caught up with us today…..and for the first time since Day 3 we got soaked.  As I may have mentioned the ‘waterproof’ gear I brought along is only ‘waterproof’ until it rains really hard, all day, then you just get wet!  Hey ho, we set off at 8:00am this morning from Moffat, for our last 60+ mile ride, and we knew the weather was going to be rubbish.  After a 3 mile uphill climb out of town (what did you say about being downhill Kev?)  we settled into mostly flat roads for the majority of the day.  We got up good speed on the downhills and flats to get the day over with as quick as possible.  The scenery was stunning but too wet to photograph, mostly.  I took this one of a suspected slag heap, although we were too far away to see clearly.     It does show the visibility of today.  Not so good really, and not good for taking photos.  Morale was high though, and ticks on the incident sheet were surprisingly high given the rain and all.  Alex got back in the swing on the pee stop list, though David came a close second!  Muppetry was ticked quite a lot today too, mostly for road awareness – or lack of it!!  Jackie did fairly well on the mechanical tick front, though I think it’s unfortunate that he saddle has chosen to be tempermental.  It flew off this afternoon again after developing a wobble after MacD’s stop. 

The nice ladies at MacDonalds gave us a free dessert as we were cycling for charity – and dripping heavily over their furniture and floor!  I wanted to take their picture for the blog, but they seemed a bit shy….
After our stop, the weather seemed to deteriorate rapidly.  We were approaching Glasgow City centre, and the rain got heavier, the traffic more manic and the wind very blustery.  Still we were nearly back, right?  Well nearly.  I was impressed that despite all the downs of today we were still joking and generally  – I think – pleased that we were nearly finished with day ten of or adventure.  I’dgone to being a bit damp, to dripping wet in every conceivable area of my body.  Wet and kinda cold if and when we stopped. 
Try as we might we couldn’t find the A8041 with a right turning.  So when we were well on our way to Helensburg, or so it seemed we stopped and phoned John for help.  It seemed we had gone too far – poop.  Though not poop in the same breath, because that means we took a couple of miles off tomorrows ride, missed the uphill drag to the hotel, and John cam and picked us up.  Tomorrow we will either overlap or be dropped off at the pick-up point.  Oh, my bike had a rest too when I took a place name picture.  See? 
After John picked us up – crazy wet me forgot to take photos of the event…May have been try to keep camera dry at that point.  We heard of his emotional day.  For the first time since John and Jackie have had the camper van, he got a punture.  And unlike Alex’s the other day, it was a little more complicated to fix. 
The jack supplied with the van, was unable to lift it, and it took hours and trips to a tyre place to fix it.  Eventually he ended up driving it on a flat tyre to get it done.  Well done coach, you’re great!  😉

We were all grateful for a hot bath and a drink at the end of the day – all five of us that is.  They were no exciting pictures today, but we saw many beautiful things along the way.  Many cattle and sheep, it’s lovely to see farms in the traditional fashion.  Early in the day, poley poley-ing upthe 3 mile drag, there were somemoody, misty woods with the odd tree on it’s side which was then sprouting mini trees all up the length of the fallen trunk. 

All in all it was a great day, despite the weather.  Who’d have thought I’d have enjoyd being out in the rain?  
In the absense of photos today I’ll try and give you one from the wonderful views up Shap Fell and one of the team stretching after lunch in the early days!  Here’s hoping they take ok………..

View from ride up Shap Fell

  I’m going to leave you now, so that I can get rested up for the push into the wind tomorrow.  The forcast is for more rain and blustery winds.  Oh joy!!  More buffeting from the side.  At least it’s a shorter day.

As always I thank you for checking in, and special thanks to all who send comments.  Sorry I don’t have time to reply to them all, but I do pass messages on and very much enjoy reading your best wishes.  Welcome to a third brother on the comments scene – Steve…I’d love to do some riding when you’re over next year 😉  and Mike Powell, do you think you’ll put this on your list of things to do?   

I look forward to telling you all about tomorrows exploits….if I can get online, thanks Jackie for lending me your dongle tonight…no wi-fi here. 
Take care all you out there, will post blog soon,

Beth xx

What a fine start to the day – the sun was shining, the breakfast was yum and we were all set to go by 9am-ish.  Perfect.  We set off from Penrith, and looked forward to a flat-ish day in the saddle.  Just 61 miles of it – again!
So we were all happy to find it was pretty flat.  Although any up-slope as they are known, seem like hills to me.  Just have to do them poley-poley.  And no Angela, it has nothing to do with whatever you were thinking, it just means taking it at your own pace, and in my book, the slower the better!

The first half of the day the scenery was stunning again, although a little cloudy.  We stopped only a couple of times for photos, pees and de-kitting when it got hotter.  I’m hoping to be able to put some photos on tonight and have the WHOLE thing posted… lets wait and see, eh?  Here goes with the first scenic one, unfortunately the ploughing match one I took was to far away to be any good.  I was thinking Barry N. might like it!

North of Penrith on the A6.

The A6 was a lovely road, pretty straight and flat-ish as I mentioned before the clouds were lovely too.  We stopped for coffee just after Carlisle, were John led us through some back streets which were not sign posted well at all.  Then we were off again, practically mirroring the M6.

The road at this point wasn’t so scenic, and it was very windy.  David led the group so that we could draft behind him.  Thanks David, it made life a little easier.  I found the wind very tiring.  When we reached Scotland – HURRAH – John was waiting for us at the welcome sign.  County/Country border signs have become a favourite photo stop, and Scotland was a must ;-D

We made it to Scotland 😉

It feels so strange to think we’ve actually cycled the length of England, touching into Wales, in 9 days.  Even stranger to think that the length of Scotland will take 6!  It’s going to be such a sense of achievement when we get there. 

Tonight we’re staying in the quaint town of Moffat, which has a rather magnificent statue of a ram as it’s center piece in the high street.  Thanks to John meeting up with us and cracking the whip a bit, we arrived half an hour ahead of schedulewhich gave us extra wind down time. Nice.
Tomorrow though we’re set for an early start; 7am breakfast, 7:45 start.  It’s due to be bucketing down, so we want to get it over and done with in  reasonable time!

Moffat Ram.

I’m getting extra sleepy now, but before I press the button which will surely put most of this post in some strange ether bin somewhere, I must thank all those who comment on the blog, it means a lot to me that you guys are coming along with us.
Welcome to new comment-ers too.  Kevin says it’s all downhill now we’re across the border, but I think he’s in cahoots with John!
Don’t forget too if you’d like to sponsor me, there’s a lik to my just giving page somewhere on this page………..

Night night, I’m off to sleep now, I think I’ve earned it!
Beth xx

Tired but happy in Moffat.

So here we are, day 8 and sleeping (soon) in Penrith.  It was a fabulous day’s riding across Lancashire and into Cumbria, the weather was kind to us and the scenery was breathtaking.  We started off with a fine breakfast from the lovely Hotel we stayed in Friday night and then kitted up with rain in mind.  It was pouring at start time.  Showers, but heavy ones.

Rainy start to Day 8.

As you can see we were kitted out in full rain gear, but it made us pretty focused for the first 20 or so miles of our day.  We worked together, pushed on – fast on the downhills, keeping momentum going on the flats and poley poley in a positive way up the hills.  We constantly have in mind that we in charge of the amount of time we spend out on the road, and try to cycle in a way that means we’ll be back at a hot shower as soon as possible.  Ummmmm, nice after a hard day at the pedals.

About the time we broke for a coffee the weather improved and it didn’t rain much after that at all.  We had another day of taking on/off kit to suit the climate at the time. 

We were going along pretty well as a team today, it’s sometimes difficult to find a balance, but we all look after one another and wait where we need to so that we back each other to finish the challenge.  It helps when it mostly flat I must say.

Rubbish – I spent an hour telling you all about my day and posting 4 pictures, and this is all you’ve got (about 1/4 of it) – sorry bout that.  ~Thanks to Jackie for lending me her dongle in order that I may have achieved this little post…I’ll try and put the beautiful scenery on another time.  Night night for now….

So here we are two days on from my last blog…sorry about that but we had an interesting day yesterday.  Well more last night actually. 
Day 6 ride was good, uneventful and pretty flat.  51.5 miles of recovery ride from the big one the day before.  We stopped at the Lazy Trout for coffee/hot choc in the afternoon, and on to Whitchurch for our ‘half’ day recovery. 
I was quite excited because I was due to meet Caroline, and old friend, at our stop point Thursday night.  I should have got a clue when she advised us to carry flee powder with us if we stayed at The Raven Hotel near Whitchurch.  Though there was a possibility it was an exaggeration, unfortunately it was not.  Suffice to say that after Caroline and Amy arrived, we went to the Indian restaurant next door and at 1:00 am I went to the camper van to sleep due to excessive noise in the next room!   It was however an experience not to be missed, and added a lot to our tales of the journey, and they did give us the price of my room off, some consolation.  It was fantastic to see Caroline again, and she didn’t say told-you-so once!  🙂

Anyhow, we went to the local truck cafe for breakfast – we thought we might give The Raven a miss-  and set off for Preston.  Wow, that far North already!  I can’t believe it! 
We set off in full rain gear as the forcast was not good but after a short while it was pretty warm, stopped to take layers off.  We also had two early stops to  adjust mine and Alex’s bottle racks and several photo ops.  We were pleased when we found the Welcome to Cheshire sign and caught the Welcome to Shropshire sign across the road.  (We hadn’t found one of those the day before!) 
Naturally having taken layers off, the rain started, so back on they went.  The scenery was beautiful as ever, and we all pointed out interesting things to spot as we whizzed past.  It’s just a shame we can’t photograph it all for you. 
What a fabulous place we live in. 

It was to be a long day, so three shortish stops were planned and after 20 miles-ish, John found a super garden centre with a really nice coffe shop in it.  By this time we’d had a bit of rain, nothing like the other day though, and we were grateful for a sit-down.  Good spot coach, this place was great.  The cake was yum too!   I’d post you a picture but I can’t seem to download any at this stop.     Doh!  
At least the Wi-Fi is working, so I can catch up, but I had some fun pictures to show you today.  sorry too to Ann and Deirdre as I’ve been trying to email you pictures too, with no success.  
So off we set, rain gear on and looked foraward to another stop in another 20 miles.  It was very flat again today – I even heard myself saying ‘is’nt it good, it’s been all flat today’, just after a long drag up!  We passed through a set of traffic lights but Jackie didn’t quite make it, so we waited….the lights changed and Jackie set off, the boys set off in front and I looked round to see if Jackie was through ok.  I saw the most extraordinary thing – something exploded off Jackies bike and bits were strung across the road. 
I calle dback to stop the others and ran to gather the bits………….it was only Jackies saddle that had come off.  The bolt holding it on had sheared!  Well that was an unexpected event for sure!!!!!
Jackie was fine and we just had to call on the back up – Coach John – to come and rescue the bike.  He had got a long way ahead so it took a while, but he came back and changed the post and fit the saddle back on.  The sun had been out for our intermission and we were by a garage so we were able to get snacks, drinks and the like instead of our lunch stop, so it could’ve been worse, but we now had to get a bit of  a move on.  We stopped a little later to take layers off again as we began to overheat.  We passed through two big towns –  I want to say Warrington and Wigan – would that be right?  they were both well kept and looked like interesting places to stop and visit.  I don’t know why that surprised me.  Before Preston Jackie spotted a dear little coffee shop with two tiny tables outside for us to stop for our afternoon coffe break.  Two older ladies lept on the outside tables as we were taking helmets and the like off, but they were quite chatty.  I had the most delicious ice-cream while the others had coffee and shortbread and it really set us up for the last 20 miles of the day. 

Nearly finished another long day in the saddle,  satisfying to think we are nearly halfway there and it’s gone so quickly!  The day was getting overcast and it was good to have our lights on (we do all day) and as we rolled up to The Barton Grange Hotel just the other side of Preston, John was waiting and waving in the road.  Hurrah another day done. 
Oh, and those three 20 mile legs actually added up to 70 miles in the end.  What’d’ya know!  So 70 today, 50 yesterday must put us at around 397 miles so far??  And the weathers been pretty kind to us, so far at least.
Even though I’m logging stuff I’m kind of losing track of days, miles and places.  All a bit of a blur.  I see a lot of great places and things along the way too that I then forget the name of….I need a dictaphone or something.

So day 8 approaches and another long day in the saddle, wish us luck….and continued thanks to all of you who have commented, keep those comments coming in, they really help us along our way.

I do hope tomorrow’s wi-fi, if the is some, will let me send you some pictures, keep an eye-out,

Beth xx

We had a fun gathering last night with friends and family getting together to eat yum BBQ supplied by Simon and generally catch up on how things are going.  Sadly all us cyclist’s faded shortly after 9pm, so he party ended quite early, but I’m sure everyone understood  –  we were all knackered!!
This morning they were all there though to wave us off on our 5th day of this endurance ride.  Thanks guys, we were all gee’d on by your support.  Thank you too, to those of you who are new to commenting  on the blog, John from San Francisco – should have looked you up while I was there!! – Diane, who I know is a faithful watcher, Kerrie – I hope it is mostly downhill (who am I trying to kid!), and Jenni, welcome, glad you’re enjoying the fun!  And to all those who found the blog months ago and are still in touch, I can’t tell you how much it helps us to know you’re all tuning in.  Oh, and thanks Angela for Reiki-ing the good weather for us it was a god-send today.

So about today… we were waved off as I mentioned by friends and family, and Great Coach John, as he’s become fondly known, to cycle toward the Clifton Suspension Bridge.  The origional plan was to cycle over it which would have been spectacular, but due to milage and a change of B&B we shifted to another route North. Pity, but we did get some super views of it on the way….on we trekked, keeping to the cycle paths where possible, there were a lot around Bristol way, AND they were actually dedicated bits of wide, smooth tarmac unlike the Horsham variety!  We stopped quite a lot today for camera opportunities which was a good thing I think.  If you’re going to cycle the length of Britain, you ought to be able to take a few pics – eh?  So here is a couple from one of the first spots, just up-river from Clifton;

Jackie and David looking 'hard'!

On we forged, the terrain was mostly flat and the weather was beautiful.  We stopped at the services just before the Severn Bridge (the origional one) and met with John and Alex and Annie Mudge – determined to wave us on one more time.  The day was looking to be a productive one with 64 miles on the cards.  We were up for that, especially we found the route familiar in it’s make up. (Hills, flat bits and the like.)  We wer warned to stop in Monmouth for lunch as there was not much after that in the way of stops.  Nothing actually.  So we did.  As we were due some hilly bits after Monmouth we opted for a cafe, where we had sandwiches and the like before doing a loop of the town – not because we were lost, we just wanted to see the shops…and very interesting they looked too.  I’d like to stop there another time when A/ in a car and B/ have some spare cash to spend!  So, after finding the right route out we were on our way to base camp.  Half-way there, or so we thought.  While we mull on that I’ll try and deposite two more pics that you may like, of us crossing the M5(?) and a beautiful river crossing just before Monmouth……here goes;

Alex, David and Jackie.The river Mon (?)

The river Mon (?)

Lookng at that beuatiful scene has reminded me how stunning it was to cycle through the Wye Valley as we did.  If it was easier to stop, take out the camera from the bum-bag then the protective plastic bag then the camera case, then take the picture…..I would have taken loads.  Hey ho- guess I’ll have to do it again someday!!!!!
You must be crazy – of course I won’t!  

So here we were on the homeward staight, at least over half way.  Now we weren’t distracted so much by photo ops, though I missed a pair of cormorants, various birds of prey and a new born foal…good spots Jackie….I guess I can’t capture it all on film. 
As we got through Hereford – nearly there now – left after the river – a can smell the tea being brewed – right at the monument – ‘where’s the B&B’,I want it now  (Jackie’s words) – not a sign!
15-ish miles later after much gnashing of teeth and a stop at a Rugbyclub for me to use the loo……unfortunately no Rugby players in residence……we finally got to the Riverside Inn.  It was worth the 76.64 miles, at 10.6 mph over 7hours and 9 mins.  No it was.  It’s beautiful, the food, beer and wine were superb (I know Jackie, I wasn’t going to drink tonight. Hey ho we earned it!) and the company great too. 

I make that 277.64 miles so far, not bad eh?  Our computors vary, but I’m sticking with mine for consistancy….

It’s 12:45am now, spose I ought to be getting some sleep, tomorrow should be flat – here’s hoping – and we end up in somewhere begining with W near Market Drayton.  I’m hoping to catch up with my friend Caroline in the evening too. 
Take care, looking forward to your posts, ether permitting, tomorrow,

Beth xx

Here I am, entering North Somerset.

Hurrah another day under our belt.  We were all keen to get started this morning as it is our first 1/2 day.  Only 40 miles then – doh!  That’s a little more than a half day if you ask me.  Still it was a relatively easy ride on mostly flat ground, in fact we stayed on the A 38 all the way to Dundry just outside Bristol.  I can’t quite believe we’ve ridden for 4 days and got nearly to Bristol.  Amazing!  We, once again?!?, hit the Somerset border, just before the biggest hill of the day. 
Yes, who’d have thought, we still get nasty hills on flat days?!   One stop today for coffee and conveniences and we were all excited to get to our lunch stop in Dundry where John, Simon, Chris and Roxanne were waiting for us. 
That was really exciting to have a posse of people to cheer us in to our finishing stop of today.  Lots of hugs, lunch/beer and off we rolled just down the hill to Collitis Farm B&B, an old haunt of  John and Jackie’s where our extended group will all stay tonight.  Alex and Annie are also due to join us from Sussex and Simon’s cooking a BBQ for us all. Yum! 
Today we cycled 40.9 miles in 3 hours 20 mins,

So I’ve been a bit remiss telling you all of the wonderful scenes we see along our route, I’d love to be able to take pictures every few miles, but we’d be at it ’til Christmas if I did that.  We have seen some fantastic wildlife, especially birds along the way.  The B&B yesterday morning not only had a very picturesque stream and bridge as it’s back garden it also had a fantastic bird table contraption.  I saw marsh, coal, great, blue tits, robins, nuthatch, chaffinch, and treecreepers.  It was a wonderful sight.  Also riding in the rain that day we saw a pair of birds of prey, hawks perhaps – very big and sitting side by side on fench posts right by the side of the road.  Too wet to stop for a photo call though.

So now as we have a bit more of a relax than normal with friends we won’t see again for over a week, I’ll leave you to mull over our trek so far. 
As always, thank you to those who are watching this blog, and to those sending best wishes via the comment facility – that really gees me on.  Thank you too to all those who have sponsored me,  I really appriciate it.

Looking across to Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Beth xx

P.S. don’t forget to check out Jackie’s blog link if you want another view of our ride!

Sorry I couldn’t get online last night, we had an epic day out and then the B&B we stayed at was in a dip and NO signal for anything! 

I must first thank all of you for looking in and for all the wonderful comments of encouragement/good wishes that you have been posting.  I love reading them all, I’m sorry I can’t reply to all of them but all of a sudden my world has become rather busy.  I had visions or were the illusions of having balmy afternoons having ridden a couple of hours in the morning, lunch for an hour or so, a couple of hours in the afternoon, then relaxing in a holiday sort of way doing all sorts of things I’d like t do.
Pah!
It hasn’t worked that way so far.  As you know from the previous post, we had a good first day. Long, but good.  A taster of things to come.  It was no taster for day two let me tell you.  The best things that happened on day 2 were; it didn’t rain and we survived.  

I knew it was gong to be hard from the route that had been mapped out months ago by John, I also knew that he had picked the best route he could under the circumstances. 
Cornwall is a beautiful place.  I already knew this from family holidays and numerous dive trips down to this most Southern tip of England.  Indeed we saw many beautiful, nay, stunning views on our cycle through – but I never, NEVER remembered the hills being quite so frequent.  I guess that’s how it goes when you’re in a car. 
When we were training and rode such hills as Devil’s Dyke, Houghton Hill and Duncton Hill, we were reliably informed that we would meet nothing more sinister than these on our trek across this wonderful land that is The British Isles.  I never in my wildest dreams imagined that we would ride nothing but hills such as these for nearly 7 hours in one day!!!
OMG!  We worked hard yesterday.  There were of course hills to sail down too, but I sware te up-hills for out-numbered the down.  If any of my co-riders would like to put me straight, go for it!  

At top of a very long hill on Dartmoor.

We arrived in – of I’ve forgotten the name now – somewhere in Devon, at 7:30, tired, hungry and ready for a sit down.  Our first trial was finding somewhere in this sleepy town that served food – A. on a Sunday night.  B. after 8:00pm.  Finally the White Horse to the rescue.  They were open ’til 9 for food, giving John time to pack our bikes in the van for the trip back to the B&B.  Thanks again John for all your hard work.  We feasted on pizza and beer/wine, piled in the van, back to the B&B and collapsed into bed.  There I would have blogged, but NO signal I’m afraid.
58 miles, in 6 hours 51 minutes – mph ? but low. 

This morning we woke to get ready for a smaller ride only to find it beginning to rain.  I’m afraid this was only to get worse, and despite our best efforts to keep warm and dry, we were all feeling sodden by the end of the day.  At least the ride was more forgiving.  John took us back to where we had finished the night before in the van, and off we set.  Although early in the ride there were two substantial hills, the rest of the day was much more what were used to on our training rides.  It was almost a pleasure – no it was really – to be riding again in what felt like a more manageable way.  I think we all we relieved that it was not a shadow on the day before’s exploits! 
Still no injures, and no substantial falls we’re well on track with our goal.   
In the last two days we have managed to ride between 2 and 3 mph, climb up a 10% hill, ride down a 20% hill and cover another 103 miles, making 161 miles in all.
Phew!  😉 

Tomorrow  we have a half day, stopping just before Bristol to catch up on washing, paperwork and meeting with family and friends.  Should be a hoot, though I suspect not that restful!!  I will try to blog again there, but as always am not sure how the signal/wi-fi access will be. 
Do keep watching, and for those of you who may be new to my blog, don’t forget, you can scroll all the way back to March to see how far I’ve come, or indeed sponsor me through the link on the right or sometimes at the bottom of the page for Just Giving, to help me raise money for The Alzheimer’s Society in memory of my father who had this debilitating disease.

Thank you again for all your comments and best wishes, now I must get some sleep….I’ll try and be in touch tomorrow, stay in touch,

Beth xx         p.s.  sadly no creams teas really!

Sleepy bods after mega day's ride.

Alex, me, Jackie and David at Land’s End.Here we are at the start of our epic journey along the length of Great Britain.  The day was overcast to start, but with the encouragment of Deidre, Diane and John we kitted up and got on the bikes.  Wow. it was good to be on my bike again.  The 3 speed was fab in Berkeley, but this was the girl for the job!!  We set off and for the first third of the journey it was relatively flat.  We stopped at MacDonalds, some for a shake and some for coffee, and felt like we were getting somewhere.  Then the hills came – oh, and the wind too.  I think I can safely say we worked hard on our first day in the saddle, and out for some.  Alex had bravely – or crazily – put on his clippy bits the day before we set out so that he could experience the full excitment of a new toy on the first day of his epic journey.  And experience it he did.  He equalled my first day of clippy excitment with three falls.   Though he coped manfully and we gave him tissues for the bloodshed.  Other mishaps included 2 chains off for myself and Alex, lost gloves foe Jackie and Alex, and general struggling up hills for all.  Well maybe less so for David. It was a relief to stop for lunch with only 15 miles to go, and we had missed the rain too.  After a welcome break we did some stretches before embarking on the final leg of our first day.        I for one thought the final 15 miles would be a breeze, but it seemed as long as the first 43 on many accounts.  Maybe because I’m still jet-lagged from America, maybe because of the wind and hills.  Whatever the reason, we were glad to see  John on his bike to guide us, almost directly to the pub we are staying  in tonight.  We had a delicious meal here after showering/bath soaking and drinking the bubbly we were going to have before the start but forgot!!  Tomorrow it’s breakfast at 8:30, departing at 9:30 for possibly one of the most challenging days of the trip.  Wish us luck,Beth xxps.  Thank you all those who have continued to wish me luck, and for those who maybe new to this blog, don’t forget the page tabs at the top of the page and the previous 9 months blogs you can check out if you scroll down the page!  xxDavid, Alex and Jackie stretching with coach John looking on.

Just a footnote, between the wireless connections not always being totally full on and the way the blog takes over my page setting abilities, these blogs don’t always come across quite how I’d planned.   I hope they’re giving you a taste of my journey though, and that you are enjoying the read ?!!  xx