Month: May 2009

Phew what a scorcher. Boy have we been lucky with the weather? We’ve not had any appreciable rain since Devon. We had a little from Dumfries and bits of drizzle occasionally. The last few days have been unbelievable though. Today was very hot, no wind at all to notice and wall to wall sunshine. The tans are coming on nicely!

Mind you it made cycling pretty warm work at times, we were gulping through the Powerade at a rate of knots (the blue one is my fave BTW).

The first 25 miles to North Ballachulish were easy. The road was extremely quiet, smooth and pretty flat. We were setting a blistering pace. It offered great views across Loch Linhe too. We passed Castle Stalker which was used in the Monty Python film, The Holy Grail. We shared a few choice quotes and took some piccies.

We joined the A82 at North Ballachulish (can’t believe I’ve hust typed that twice using the tiny onscreen keyboard) which was busier but not unbearably so. A few nutter coach drivers that got a shake of the head occasionally. Motorbikes are pretty poor too, they never slow down and never leave much room, they seem to enjoy buzzing you at 80mph. Even ex-motorcyclist Andrew was scathing of their antics at one point.

We weren’t on it for long though and it’s nowhere near anything like the A40 or A420 back home which I wouldn’t cycle on.

By the time we got to Fort William we were averaging well over 13mph. We stopped at a bike shop to get Andrew’s back wheel looked at. He was worried about a ticking noise and a slight buckle from the spoke repairs. The young guy in the shop spent an hour rebuilding the wheel and straightening it and then only charged

I call it a rest day when in actuality it was much more a washing and relaxing day. We’re both in good nick and would have been fine for cycling. No doubt a day off of the saddles and plenty of nourishment will do us no harm.

We were both up pretty early. We usually rise at 7am on cycling days and take about 90 minutes to breakfast, wash and pack up all the stuff on to the bikes. We are usually on the road between 8.30 and 9.15.

It was before 8.30am that we were walking next door to Tralee Bay Park to use their laundry facilities. It really helps to have friends who know people! We bumped into Richard as he was just off sailing and mentioned we were thinking of cycling up to the Sealife Sanctuary later. He gave us a couple of complimentary tickets which was rather decent of him!

We spent the next hour watching clothes washing and lugged it back to Seaview to hang out on the fence next to the tents. A ready made washing line! The breeze and warm sunshine made short work of doing the drying.

We then pottered about, did some bike bits. Read books etc. Until lunchtime when we walked into Benderloch and had a bite to eat at the excellent caf

Our shortest day since Cornwall. Not entirely sure how that happened. I had 62 miles on the schedule but we did do a few of those yesterday and we have stopped a few miles short of Barcaldine. No matter, it was nice to finish a bit earlier for a change.

Cycling in Scotland is so easy. There is virtually no navigating to do. The hills are long but not steep. The A-roads we have been on are smooth and fast. They have also been very quiet, a few lorries and coaches but deserted for long periods.

Most drivers are very courteous, wait and leave plenty of room. Especially truck drivers. Coach drivers are a little less inclined to leave a good space. Worst drivers appear to be the much older ones, some are pretty poor at judging overtaking and for leaving room. Not had anything to be overly concerned about or worth getting agitated over though.

The morning was misty and there was a fine drizzle in the air as we packed up and set off. We used rear random flashing lights for only the second time as we headed for the dreaded Glen Croe climb.

Usually the thought of what’s ahead is much worse than the reality. The climb was continuous and steady. Never steep. This made it easy, no going up a bit, dropping some, having to regain the altitude again etc. Just drop into the lowest gear and pedal for 5 miles until you go into the clouds and reach the top admiring the awe-inspiring scenery as you go. We only stopped once and that was at a red traffic light at some temporary roadworks.

We pulled into Rest and be Thankful at the top and took a few piccies. Absolutely amazing cycling experience, I had a huge grin on my face. Ask me to cycle up that 12 months ago and I would have told you where to go!

Where there’s an up there has to be a down. Six (count them) miles of down with barely a pedal turned. Through the most breathtaking, jawdropping scenery imaginable. Find me another 11 miles of cycling like that.

This took us to the shore of Loch Fyne for a few miles of cycling in the opposite diection to JOG to Inveraray. Just before arriving Andrew broke his third spoke so we had a longer tea/coffee/cake break than usual as he used the last spare bought in Crediton. We were in such great moods from the fab cycling we didn’t even care.

The A819 north to Loch Awe was a mini Glen Croe. This road was very quiet, very little traffic. Five miles of steady up and five miles of steady down. We had the slightly odd view of our route ahead through the Pass of Brander being directly behind us for a few miles as we had to follow the shoreline around to get to it. We stopped for some lunch at Lochawe village.

The A85 through the pass was a little busier but the road is wide and easy cycling. Progress was very rapid. It wasn’t very long before we could see Connel Bridge ahead. We stopped to watch the falls as Loch Etive empties into the sea for a bit and got directions to camp from Red.

Just a few more miles to Benderloch and Seaview campsite. Which has the most powerful shower yet experienced. Now I know what cars in a jetwash feel like.

Thanks to Red (Martin) and his Dad Phil we were welcomed into Tralee Bay park next door for a fish supper, a sit down and a chat. We can use their laundry tomorrow too. Cheers guys for sorting us out and making us feel very welcome.

A pretty easy day all told. Either we are getting fitter or it’s getting easier! I need a safety pin to keep my trousers up in the evenings now BTW so the old weightloss program must still be working!

Second rest day tomorrow, everything in the wash again. Time to practice my Levi’s ad impression again…

Distance : 55.27 miles
Time cycling : 4h42m
Ascent : 1381 m
Average speed : 11.7 mph

By far the easiest day’s cycling we’ve had. Flat (the ascent below is clearly wrong, I’ll need to check the data when I get home), fast and easy.

It’s amazing that we can now get on the bikes and knock out 70 miles and barely flinch!

We started in Troon and got a nice early start to cancel out the 10 miles we needed to do to get back on course. The A759 was about a billion times easier than going back over that stupid hill.

We were setting a blistering pace and averaged nearly 14mph getting to Kilmaurs and Fenwick.

The A77 has recently been replaced by the M77 and is now virtually deserted Not only that but it has an amazing segregated cycle track alongside. Although a gentle gradient upwards to start with the good surface allowed for rapid progress.

The descent through Newton Mearns and into Glasgow was fantastic. Definitely the way to enter the very cycle friendly city as we barely had to pedal for miles and miles!

We picked up the NCN 7 signs to get us across the Clyde via Bell Bridge. Not too bad a route despite it leading us to a fence across the road at one point. A small diversion and we were crossing the river.

Picking up the NCN route on the other side was much harder so we ended up on a road through an industrial area which had different smells at each business. Fascinating place. We got back on the less pleasant NCN route to Clydebank where we stopped for lunch. I really want to try deep fried pizza one day.

Argh. First puncture ever on my bike, not bad for over 2000 miles cycling. Front punctured by a thorn. Easy repair and along the superb Forth and Clyde canal towpath to Bowling. Andrew’s bottom bracket hadn’t been sounding great for a while so he had a precautionary replacement done at Magic Cycles next to the canal. Better safe than have it fail in the middle of nowhere in the next few days.

The NCN route took us through Dumbarton and was very easy to follow. Then along the River Leven to Balloch. Mostly very well surfaced and easy offroad cycling.

We then picked up the West Loch Lomond Cyclepath towards Luss. Using a mixture of path alongside the A82 and little roads the path isn’t too bad. A little rough and narrow in places.

We had a tea top in Luss and continued. Anyone who uses the A82 rather than the cyclepath north of Luss must be crazy. This must be THE best cycle route in the UK. It uses the old A82 road right on the loch edge and is smooth, fast and incredibly scenic. Beats being amongst the trees and traffic on the new road by miles.

Just before Tarbet it returns to a rather rough path alongside the main road. But easy to go on the road for the last couple of miles. We took the A83 out of Tarbet for the easy blast into Arrochar, past the closed campsite there and onto the Forest Holidays site in Ardgarten where we camped right next to the loch edge.

Master Chef Andrew cooked up a culinary delight from what he didn’t drop on the ground and we hastily retreated into the tents to avoid the midge insanity outside.

Another fab days cycling. We went from coast, to rolling farmland, to city, to riverside, to lochside, to highlands all in one day. Just the small matter of the climb up to Rest and be Thankful in the morning!

Distance : 71.27 miles
Time cycling : 6h05m
Ascent : 2522 m (total nonsense)
Average speed : 11.7 mph

What are we doing in Troon you may wonder. And no it wasn’t so we could have a quick round of golf. All will be revealed.

After yesterday’s slog against the wind and scenery today was fab. One of our best days. It rained overnight and was raining steadily when we awoke. Luckily the campsite had a kitchen so we could breakfast in the dry. Apparently we had just missed a cycling rally held there with 450(?) cyclists. Shame we missed it… not. Sounded busy.

So we packed up in the wet and donned our waterproofs and headed into the dull drizzly morning. We needed to head back to route on the B729 at Dunscore where a shop supplied us with drinks and snacks for the day.

What absolutely superb cycling road, almost completely devoid of traffic, no steep gradients and a good surface.Even the short stretch of A702 was the same. From the pretty village of Moniaive to Carsphairn I counted a total of 16 vehicles in 15 miles. Most were going the other way.

This is Scottish scenery as it should be. Loch, moor and hill. Beautiful, even on an overcast day.

The road from Moniaive was basically one long steady uphill to the watershed for about 7 miles followed by 7 miles of downhill on the other side. At certain sections it was like cycling through a grotto.

We timed it perfectly to arrive in Carsphairn for lunch at the Stag Tea Room where there was a signed photo of the Hairy Bikers who had benn there before us. Strange they never asked us to sign a photo to hang next to it.

The drizzle had stopped by the time we had finished lunch and it tried to brighten up for the rest of the day. We still had a bit of a headwind but we had more shelter and better scenery so it didn’t bother us as much.

The A713 towards Ayr was a little busier but still practically deserted. Again it was a climb of several miles to the watershed and the Ayrshire border above Loch Doon. The descent to Dalmellington was in a pretty glen with stream. Sadly Ayrshire clearly don’t spend any money on their roads as the surface was shocking. So bad was it that it shook Andrew’s front pannier rack loose and we had to stop for a roadside repair.

God only knows why they have speed humps in Dalmellington as if you drove at 30mph on those roads your car would probably fall apart. Joking aside, all the A-roads we encountered in Ayrshire were terrible. It makes progress slower, more painfull, more frustrating and more dangerous than it should be.

Luckily the B-roads were much smoother and the B730 past the grey village of Drongan to Tarbolton was brill. Our first attempt at camping near Tarbolton was thwarted as they no longer take tents. They sent us on to a place near Dundonald which was just statics. We rang a place at Cunninghamhead which was the same. All three show as campsites on the map.

The guys at Dundonald told us to try the place in Troon which only shows as a caravan park on the map. They takes tents they insisted. And the way there was just up and over the hill on Old Loans Road. Could they not see we were on bikes?

Climbing hills is fine when they are hills we need to climb to get to JOG. Climbing hills in totally the wrong direction is a teensy bit annoying. Ah well, it was steep but the views across to Arran from the top just about made it worthwhile. We’ll avoid having to go over it again tomorrow by using the A-road alternative.

The campsite is near the railway (a bit noisy) but can take a few tents. The guy who runs it used to play football with an old OUFC player and follows the fortunes of the team! We had a long chat about football in Oxford in Troon, as you do!

So that’s the story of how we got to Troon. We’re a few miles off course, we should catch them up OK tomorrow. So good to have a fandabidozi (sp?) day after yesterday. Glasgow and Loch Lomond tomorrow. Ace!

And not once have I said Donald where’s me troosers.

Distance : 69.02 miles
Time cycling : 6h42m
Ascent : 1476 m
Average speed : 10.3 mph

This was, on the schedule, the least hilly day on the entire route. It should therefore have been the fastest day. Sadly it was the first day we failed to beat the 10mph average. Doh!

Why was this? It was flat, very flat for large sections. It was because of the darned wind. We’ve been lucky so far and had tailwinds or light winds which didn’t matter. Today was a strong blustery northwesterly veering westerly later. It also brought a few hefty showers.

It was straight into this wind we started the day in on the undulating road following the River Eden and Settle-Carlisle railway towards Carlisle. In Lazonby we stocked up on drinks and snacks and had a chat with three women doing the Coast to Coast. I also saw my first Google Streetview camera car here.

The wind made it slow going as it negated all the downhills. Having to pedal downhill should be against the law! But we eventually got to Carlisle and the hunt for the gas cylinder began. Millets didn’t have any so they sent us to Trespass who didn’t have any. Repeat process 3 times and eventually in the 4th shop we could buy a cylinder. So many camping shops, so few cylinders.

We had lunch in Carlisle whilst we were there. We used NCN 7 and the new road alongside the new M6 to get to Gretna, a smooth fast road without a headwind.

Scottish border! The first house is a lot rundown from what I remember. Picture taken it was off westwards to Annan and Dumfries. Lots of very straight, very dull roads which were hell in a galeforcd westerly wind. Stupid unnecessary loop in the NCN route at Annan to Newbie added on some pointless distance. The diversion to Powfoot is possibly worth it though the road is rough in places.

We struggled on and eventually got to Dumfries to find the only camping site marked on the map had closed down. We had to do another 5 or so miles to the next one near Shawhead which is very nice.

Afraid the day was spoiled by the wind, but as I said we’ve been lucky up to today. Better luck for tomorrow hopefully although the forecast is for rain apparently. BTW I lost about a mile or so of data due to GPS battery failure.

Distance : 74.52 miles
Time cycling : 7h40m
Ascent : 1205m
Average speed : 9.7 mph

First things first. We’ve had literally a few emails and texts asking us about chaffing. Let me assure you that neither of us (as far as I know) have issues of that nature.

Thanks to my Udderly Smooth chamois cream (or as my wife dubbed it Udderly Butterly, you can’t spread a better bit of butter on your #%$*) and Andrew’s daughter’s Sudocreme we’re well sorted. Please let me know when it’s TMI. And apologies to my daughter’s school if you are now having to explain what chaffing is to the children!

Let me tell you about hills. Bloody great big ones that go on forever. I thought everone said Cornwall and Devon were worst for hills, they were easy peasy compared to today.

We left Clitheroe via Bashall Eaves and a nice steady climb followed by our fastest descent yet, I clocked 70.0 kph on my Geko. Whatever that is in proper money. Up and down again into Slaidburn.

Oh. My. God. The next hill went on and on, mile after mile. It even had the audacity to show us its entire length just to rub it in how long it was. That just about did our legs in and we coasted down the other side into Bentham where we collapsed on a bench. It was not looking good for beating the 10mph average. We were down to 7.

The community shop in Burton in Lonsdale sorted us out with some hot sausage buns though. Thanks to us it is now officially the halfway shop for end to enders as we had our photo taken outside for the shop’s website.

The pick me up got us along the flattish A683 (please could someone fill the potholes in along there?) to near Sedburgh. This is where the second nightmare climb started up to above the M6 above Tebay. That was really tough, the legs were very tired.

We dropped through the famous cutting to and through Tebay to Orton. There was a village festival in progress and the guy in Burton had warned us about the hill out of Orton so we stopped for a cream tea in the church and a rest. We put our names on a couple of balloons and saw them released. Mine’s a winner I tell you.

I’m not sure what they put in the tea in Orton but we were back on track, the hill was steep but not too long and we were soon looking back along the day’s route.

The drop from the top made all the day’s hardwork worthwile. Through amazingly picturesque villages by streams, fast smooth cycling in the sunshine. Brill! We even managed to get the average up from 9.4mph at the top above Orton to 10.0 at the bottom! Ace!

Nit a bad little campsite near Temple Sowerby just off the hideous A66 but far enough away not to be too noisy. We tried to eat in the depressing village of Kirkby Thore without success. I know you have lorries thundering through constantly ignoring the 40 limit but you need to learn to love your village again.

We ate sandwiches and stuff from a BP garage. Sad innit?

So rwas a hard day, glorious scenery. A few long hills rather than lots of short ones. Think we found the latter easier.

Officially halfway (as everyone we met since Clitheroe insisted on telling us) and Scotland tomorrow.

Distance : 64.19 miles
Time cycling : 6h25m
Ascent : 1826 m
Average speed : 10.0 mph

Cut off again, weird. It shouldn’t do that! Tch, you just can’t get the staff…

Worst road : No competition. The B5074/A530 between Nantwich and Middlewich Just awful for cycling. The old A30 between Launceston and Okehampton was pretty grim too, but it was pouring with rain.

Worst hills : Bristol. Avoid. Should have stuck with the more westerly route through Avonmouth I had originally planned.

Summary : We are both loving it. There’s no pretending that it isn’t hard work. It is physically demanding and tough at times. Fully laden with kit even small gradients see us down into the lowest gears, you just have to let the gears and legs ease you up the hills. But it’s fab all the same. We are measuring progress by regional accents, it’s amazing how much they change each day over relatively short distances!

It’s been odd not to cycle today, kept touching the bikes, can’t wait to get going again in the morning.

Our first day off just short of halfway. We spent the morning washing our clothes (everything I have apart from what I was wearing). The weather was warm and sunny, great for drying and solar charging everything.

We also gave the bikes some TLC. New rear brake blocks for me, now fully adjusted I might have good working brakes for the first time since Devon! Andrew cleaned, oiled and adjusted his gear indexing. Mine got a wipe, oiled and derallieur degritted and lubed (ooer).

In the afternoon we lazed, ate some lunch, stocked up on chocolate and gatorade. We then spent some time people watching next to the river sat in the shade on a bench. Having somewhere to sit with a back is nice occasionally. I may or may not have had a go on the little train ride.

I though I’d do a halfway summary.

Best campsite : Clitheroe, for facilities, friendly staff and location. Huntstile close 2nd with best hosts.

Worst campsite : Middlewich. Easily.

Best shower : Okehampton Filter House YHA. Proper bathroom and a shower that could knock you over.

Worst shower : Ludlow, more a dribble in a cold stone floored room.

Best road : Lots to choose from in the southwest. We’ve both picked the Cheshire Cycleway between Northwich and Lymm though. Smooth, flat, quiet with good scenery. B4361 between Leominster and Ludlow was hillier but also good

Why does my schedule say 59 miles for this day? That’s what we were expecting but ended up doing over 70 again!

This was a day I hadn’t really been looking forward to. Getting through the cities and towns of the northwest can be tricky. But in fact I loved it, Andrew was less keen on the cycling through the gritty towns as I was.

We did have our earliest start today, probably as we were both woken by 5am by the traffic noise. Nice old couple that run the site, but it has seen better days I feel.

First stop was Northwich (after an unplanned visit to Middlewich due to a missed turning). I wanted to get my bottom bracket replaced. The first shop (Grays) had closed down so I rang the other (Dave Hinde) to confirm that they could do it.

They are a specialist racing frame builder but kindly stole a bracket from one of their very expensive showroom bikes to fit to mine. Thanks guys, much appreciated.

Just as I was paying up my mate Red (Martin, and yes I realise that none of my friends appear to have proper names!) came with his Dad to say hi. He’d brought tea and chocolate with him which were very welcome. The choc kept us going chunk by chunk all morning. Red’s Dad runs a caravan park near Barcaldine and will be able to sort us out some camping nearby when we stop there. Thanks for coming to see us guys, it’s great that people are taking the time and trouble to wish us well.

After getting back on route we had a quick look at the top of the Anderton boat lift and headed into green leafy flat Cheshire lanes. Superb cycling country. The roads were very quiet too, it was good that we were here on a weekend. We crossed the Manchester Ship Canal by a wonderfully rickity looking bridge.

It wasn’t until Leigh that we encountered any built up areas. I thought Leigh seemed a nice enough town. Westhoughton was far less attractive. We only cycled the outskirts of Bolton.

Up to here I can’t see how you could improve on the route we took. Fast, smooth and quiet.

We had our first real proper hill since Bristol onto the moors above Bolton The contrast in scenery was stark from the morning. This was proper bleak moorland. Long climb through Belmont where I had the pleasure of overtaking a guy puffing away on his unladen racer.

We were pretty tired above Blackburn and took a few minutes to recover. We lunched in Glazebury before Leigh by the way. The drop down into the town was spoiled somewhat by stupid speed humps.

Blackburn was OK, a very cycle aware town with proper lanes and markings. The oneway system was a bit of a pain though. We didn’t dally and made our way to Whalley and the much further than expected stint to the Camping and Caravanning club site in Clitheroe. Proper clean facilities and a laundry. A laundry, bliss. I might have to go naked tomorrow as I need to wash everything I have!

Much needed rest day tomorrow. My neck and shoulders our causing me most discomfort but our bums will be grateful for a day off of the saddle.

Distance : 71.50 miles
Time cycling : 6h22m
Ascent : 1388 m
Average speed : 11.2 mph