Well, i've been a bit slack with my updates, this is because by the time we get to the hostel, shower, eat, wash up, wash the kit, etc, i've been too knackered to even think about writing anything.
However, as i write this we have completed 890 miles and are in Nethy Bridge. We have been fully fed with a wonderful meal prepared by Sandra, and have just two days and 175 miles standing between us and John O'Groats.
The weather has actually been too good, not something i actually thought would be a problem, but the heat on the road has just been exhausting for the past 4 days.
Day 8
In my last update we had just got into the Yorshire Dales, and were in Kettlewell. The next morning we headed into the heart of the Dales, cycling along the river Wharf before the assent over Wharfdale and the descent into Wensleydale. The climb was ferocious, taking about an hour, and i'm not ashamed to say it involved a fair amount of pushing, but the descent was the thing of dreams. Starting with a stunning view down into Wensleydale, the first few 30mph twists and turns belie the sheer speed of the slopes that. Like a well designed roller coaster after a false summit the road just drops. With a clear view for about a straight mile to where the road snakes up the dale, its impossible not to release the brakes and let gravity do what Issac Newton invented it for. I hit a top speed of 50mph, and can only describe it as like bungee jumping with a bike between your legs.
Next we had to tackle Hartside Summit, 1900 ft at the top and about a 5 mile climb. What i can only describe as an incredible climb, that i will go back and do on my road bike at some point. The views over Cumbria were amazing and something i will remember for a long time.
We had a quick stop in Wensley Dale, where Anna was given £10 towards MSF by a random person after explaining what we were riding for, before pushing on to Alston YHA arriving just in time to have a row with a pub landlord about ordering food at 8.50pm when food stopped at 9.
Day 9
This was a slog of a day through Northumberland. probably the highlight was arriving a minute or so ahead of everyone else at The Gate pub just south of Rothbury, where on arrival one of two women sat outside smoking announced in a broad Newcastle accent 'bloody hell, it's Alberto Contador!' (as i was wearing an Astana jersey that Contador did race in two seasons ago),To which the other replied in an equally broad accent as Ian arrived after 'Is this Cadel Evans now?'. They then proceeded to discuss who Contador was riding for now, then as Rich arrived in his Radioshack Jersey they said 'and here's Andy Schleck!'. They updated us on the Tour results and then both gave us a fiver towards MSF as we left (but refused to give it to 'Andy' as they didn't trust him)... proof if any was needed of cyclings growing popularity i suppose!
Day 10
The big one, going into Scotland. Yet another glorious morning and we knocked off the 15 miles to the boarder along sun-soaked country lanes in 55 minutes, we then spent about an hour in Duns eating ice creams and feeling pleased with ourselves, forgetting that we still had another difficult 50 miles to complete. Luckily, we spoke to a guy in the local sandwich shop who told us to go a different way to the one planed into Edinburgh, and the decision was definitely the right one. The day got hotter and hotter and as our new route stuck to the valley, we could see my plotted alternative road going over every miserable hill you could imagine. A beautiful day that wasn't too hard, apart from that bloody big ball of hot up in the heavens that is.
The hostel was staying in in Edinbugh made us feel a bit old with lots of young people sporting 'Images', such as large beards, strange hair cuts and unnatural sitting positions. The common room was like something out of the matrix with about 10 20-somethings hooked us to phones, ipads and laptops like the rest of the world didn't exist.Ian got cross (as things like this generally annoy him) and made some comments, but as all of then had earphones in his witty rye remakes were met with no response whatsoever.
Day11
Edinburgh to Pitlochry. It's fair to say i've had better days. Everything started ok, we found a lovely off road route that took us down the South bank of the Fourth past the Fourth rail bridge and Queensferry and safely on to the road bridge. We then managed to get to Perth without too much issue and that's where my brain seemed to check-out on me for the day Firstly my plotting went a bit wrong taking us onto the A9 a dual carriageway. I managed to navigate a hugely difficult detour which then took us onto a cycle path a bit further up on the A9. Trying to make up some time i decided to take to a large grassed area to overtake a dog walker, so as not to have to make them move out of my way, this was a mistake. the grassed area was hiding a rather large kerb, which i hit at about 20mph, my first thought when i relised i was coming off the bike was, 'oh well, this will be ok, grass is soft'. This is true, however, i managed to land on my side digging my elbow into my ribs, the pain was instant and i'm still not sure whether i've cracked a couple of ribs. They hurt like a ... sod. My bike was a bit mangled but Richard and Ian managed to sort it out as Anna told me to stop being a wuss and get up.
Pitlochry is like something out of a film set, the view from the hostel dining room made it look like a model village. I'm certainly going to come back to this part of the world and explore it properly, Perth looked great too.
Day 12.
Today. Couldn't get out of bed to turn my alarm off at 6am, much to the annoyance of everyone else. Another scorcher. We used the old A9, which is now disused and has become a cycle path. Ian and i discussed the eeriness of what appeared to be a major road, catseyes and white lines still there, slowly being reclaimed by nature. It could be used as a film set for The Road, we argued, then we though 'why didn't they use a cycle in The Road', coming to the conclusion that the whole book/film was fundamentally flawed (12 days together...). We then slowly climbed over 25 miles to the summit on the A9 before descending into Scotland proper. Forests, mountains, glens, Lochs, this is what Americans think all Scotland is like before landing in Glasgow. Truly stunning. I'm going to bed now as it's 10.30 and i've got a very very early start tomorrow. Just time for a quick thank you to Sandra and Dick for feeding up, watering us and putting us up for the night, it's really appreciated!
I'll post up some pictures from my phone tomorrow to accompany this bland rambling. I'm not checking this for grammar, spellllling etc, because i haven't got time, so don't bother complaining. Good night x
No comments:
Post a Comment