Day 9, Gretna Green to Cambuslang

Yet again it rained during the night but cleared by breakfast. Great, no need for waterproofs ... until I opened the door to find the clouds had burst. Quick change then left at 09:00

I hit the road with a vengeance as I was determined to stretch today's mileage past the planned Larkhall stop. It was a fairly uninteresting ride as it followed the NCN74 route that was virtually never out of earshot of the M74, but at least the gradients were gentle. I tried for a coffee stop at Beatock village but despite proudly displaying a huge 'Local Services' sign there was nothing but a dozen or so houses and a pub that didn't open until noon. I cracked on and phoned Base Control at 13:10 from Beatock Summit to big up my performance and discuss tonight's accommodation. Whilst Anne was on the case I continued to Abington for a sandwich and pint (of milk!) in the sun at the general store.

As I continued, Anne booked me B&B in Cambuslang (thereby bagging an extra 12 miles). Parts of the route were on a cycleway that was part of the old road and enabled a quick pace with no traffic (see picture), but South Lanarkshire roads use the coarsest roadstone imaginable and soon my vision was blurred and my fillings shaken loose. I'm sure it costs at least 2 mph.

The final bit of the day's run was on new cycle tracks from the Chatelherault Country Park which was great whilst it lasted but not when it stopped without proper warning. This, combined with road closures delayed my arrival at the B&B until 18:15. Overall the day was a good one with light headwinds and punctuated by showers, but the rain did start as I approached the Glasgow area ... no surprises there, then.

A good curry completed the day. Didn't really want to try out the pubs in Cambuslang!

Stats for the day : 84.1 miles at 11.2 mph avg ; 7hrs 29mins in the saddle ; 774 m ascent

Day 8, Barbon to Gretna Green

The weather luck continues! Every time I woke in the night it was lashing down, as it still was at breakfast. This fell away to a drizzle that persisted as I bade farewell to Joe and Maeve who returned to Inverurie today. A few miles up the road I started to shed waterproofs and never saw another drop until 5 minutes before arriving at Gretna. Even the wind seemed to remain, generally, a tail wind

It continued to look very threatening over the hills and I had 2 big ones to climb by Tebay and past Orton so I planned to avoid a coffee stop. This was a good thing because I found no coffee shops anyway! I carried on apace as I'd arranged to meet son Rob at his flat in Penrith. I got there at 12:30.

After a blether and a lunch he donned his kit and accompanied me for 6 miles to escort me out of town. He looked the part on his new Trek road bike and was naturally way faster than me, but then he was younger, fresher, and not riding a fully loaded tourer! We should have swapped bikes!

After that point the ride was a doddle as it was all generally losing height. The guest house is very nice, which is about the best thing I can say about Gretna. The whole town seems to be geared purely for quickie, low-end weddings; the pubs are dire and real ale absent (not surprising after observing the typical clientele). The food was, well, think of it purely as fuel for the journey.

But it's not all bad news: I'm back in Scotland! Just.

Thinking of cranking up the pace a bit, but weather forecast not great and I can't get breakfast earlier than 08:00 (and that is a special dispensation!). Oh, and I've got Beatock Summit tomorrow as well, so will see how things go. And today is the longest day!

Stats for the day : 70.9 miles at 11.2 mph avg; 6hrs 17mins saddle-time; 1236m ascent

Day 7, Westhoughton to Barbon

Well, the Mercury didn't serve breakfast 'til 09:00 so that was not an option. I set the alarm for sunrise and, after a room meal of humus wrap and a yoghurt, I hit the road at 05:45 happy to leave this part of the Midlands behind me. This was to ensure I completed the 10 miles to Chorley on the A6 well before rush hour. This put me on to the back lanes by 06.30 and what a pleasure it is cycling at that time of the morning. It was fine and windless and quiet.

Trouble is, nowhere is open at that time and I had over 3 hours cycling done before I could stop for breakfast at a sandwich bar in Whalley. A full traditional, a mug of coffee and insurance pork pie (yes, again, Steve) all for £6, eaten outside in the sun. Feeling rather stuffed, I continued, circling Clitheroe, then started the big climbs across the Forest of Bowland to Slaidburn, then up again for a loooong way until plunging down into Bentham

Here I met up with Anne for a lunch stop and a much appreciated resupply drop.

Then it was off again on my own for the final miles to Barbon just north of Kirby Lonsdale. The weather has stayed remarkably fine, plenty of sun, not too warm, and no wind or rain. Too good to last.

The really good news is that Joe was discharged today as his heart flutter has normalised, so he and Maeve reverted to the original plan of staying here at the B&B. We had a great meal at the local pub to celebrate. He's under doctor's orders not to continue with LEJOG, but it's good to see him back to his cheery self. The photo is proof positive that he's feeling a lot better and has his appetite back!! They'll be heading home tomorrow.

Meanwhile I'll continue heading north, not quite so early this time.

Stats for the day: 68.9 miles at 9.5 mph avg (the hills!); 7hrs 13mins saddle-time; 1613m ascent

Day 6, part 2, Nantwich to Westhoughton

Once Maeve had arrived at Sainsbury from her drive from Wales, we loaded Joe's bike into the car and she departed to see Joe at the same time as I departed to complete the final 44 miles to Westhoughton. Happily it was a level, steady run and fairly quiet, being a Sunday evening. The clouds were left behind and the sun came out.

The only notable event was the first physical assault of the trip. As a car load of youths passed me on the Manchester Ship Canal bridge, I received a double slap on the bum! I'll generously put it down to horse-play, but it was quite a shock and left a sour taste! Just as well they weren't wielding a knife!

Soon after I passed through Leigh on the Bollton/Wigan interface. What a grim place (like Shirley but much more extensive, Em). I felt uneasy passing through. English folk who have preconceptions of Glasgow should check out this part of the world ... I know where I'd feel more comfortable!

I arrived at the Mercury Hotel at 20:00 with a bit of a shock. It is dire from the outside (looks like a load of outbuildings attached to a garage - like Stracathro, only worse) but the folk here could not be more helpful, and once inside, the room was clean, basic and comfortable. The manager is even a biker! So I can't complain at all. It has a bar, though the karaoke persuaded me back to the room early! Happily I stocked up with food at Sainsbury so, as you can see, had a gourmet pasta salad on 'room service'.

The 'hotel' is on the A6 to Chorley so it will be an 05:00 alarm tomorrow ao that I can get the 15 miles done before rush-hour, then on to the back roads towards Clitheroe. (if you're around, Steve & Lynda, I'll drop by briefly ... If not, then we'll catch up later).

Right time for an early night. Joe's probably getting one too as he's wired for sound in the cardiac ward of Leighton Hospital, Crewe, in good hands and and in good spirits. I miss you, Joe! Just think of all those bags of flapjacks, bananas, & energy bars that Maeve can now give you!

Day's stats: 61.6 miles at 12.1mph avg; 5hrs 4mins saddle-time; a paltry 398m ascent

Day 6, part 1 : Market Drayton to Nantwich

Well, not the normal start to the day! Joe woke up not feeling too good and blaming over-eating the Chinese meal. We left the fantastic Hermitage Cottage after a hearty breakfast and took it very slowly to see how things went. Joe's heart rate was elevated and he still felt washed out so we soldiered on slowly aceoss the flat, pretty back-lanes until we reached Nantwich (at 18.4 miles)

We searched out the pharmacy at Sainsbury on the edge of town where he had a BP check and a precautionary call was made for an ambulance. To cut a long story short, Joe will be kept in Crewe hospital for a few days for tests so it is with great sadness that we have to announce the end of the tour for him. It is worth stressing that it's nothing serious, but is sufficient to keep him off the bike for a while (especially with the Lancashire Dales looming tomorrow).

Maeve is still in the vicinity and so is on hand for the medivac and cycle recovery. From now on this will be a solo ride.

Joe is bitterly disappointed so I'm sure he will appreciate all your good wishes for a speedy recovery and repatriation (he's not supposed to have his mobile on, but can probably read a sneaky text, or a comment on this blog). I shall miss his company and the whirr-clickety-clickety-clickety-clickety-clunk of his maladjusted front derailleur as he tries to engage the granny-ring (often followed by a curse as the chain overshoots and droops off!)

Finally: a huge vote of thanks to Julie and the pharmacy staff at Sainsbury, Nantwich, who were fantastic in the help and support they gave us. You should all buy your groceries from Sainsbury!

The journey continues ...

Day 5, Fownhope to Market Drayton

We headed away from the beautiful 15th century Bark Cottage B&B at around 09:20 with the promise of heavy showers all day. It was to be the longest day at 80 miles so we cracked up the pace, helped by a wonderful tail wind. The roads were generally great and the Herefordshire and Shropshire countryside beautiful. The picture shows Joe with a Wenlock Edge backdrop. A welcome coffee stop in Leominster was just what we needed at 19 miles and I bought an insurance pork pie (n.b. Steve!) which was to be a life saver later! We planned for a lunch stop around 13:00 but were so rural that no shops or pubs were on the route. We found one ex-pub that had turned into a snotty, pretentious restaurant that said they'd stopped serving food as soon as we stuck our rain-soaked heads round the door, so we pulled over into the next farm entrance and, using the farmer's wheely-bin as a dining table, divvied up the pork pie. It was fabulous!

Much Wenlock was the next treat as we found a coffee shop still serving the day's special of a big bowl of spag bol at 15:00. Fully fuelled, we sailed up the Wrekin hill by Telford and beasted the last 20 miles to Market Drayton arriving about 18:20.

We ended up at the overflow accommodation (Hermitage Cottage) for the B&B we'd booked which was a huge treat as it was lovely. We spent a pleasant evening with the hosts after sharing a beer and a Chinese take-away and retired to bed replete.

Lesson of the day : don't ride an extra 1.5 miles of trunk road to save 3 miles of detour to Ironbridge without checking that the road you want to turn off onto isn't 30m above you on a fly-over; doh!

Stats: 80.3 miles at 11.2 mph avg; 7hrs 9mins in the saddle; 1225m ascent. Only 2 light and brief showers!

Day 4, Lower Langford to Fownhope

A delayed blog post, I'm afraid, as there was no reception at Fownhope:

After the best full cooked breakfast yet, and an amazing home made compote, we set off from York Cottage B&B with a deep sense of foreboding based on the appalling weather forecast. We were expecting a drenching!

Waterproofs were donned on the edge of Bristol when we stopped for a mug of tea at a roadside burger van, but we only had a steady spit of rain and nothing more. They soon came off again. We took the scenic cycle way around the north east edge of the city (see photo) and kept off the roads almost completely, then continued along the route all the way to the Severn Bridge on back roads.

Here we met up with Maeve for a tea and snack and a pannier-content adjustment for Joe. Leaving the service area we firstly met a group of 3 ex-military riders cycling a JOGLE in 6.5 days for Help For Heroes (they'd already done a LEJOG!), and then ran into the James Cracknell Ride Across Britain tour group who passed us coming the opposite way from Severn Bridge all the way to St Briavels! That was an awful lot of cyclists to wave hello to !!

A sandwich stop around Coleford kept us going for the rest of the journey and the waterproofs were needed in anger for the last 10 miles. Even so, it was a great day and the constant light tailwind really helped (even if it wasn't the southerly gale that was forecast!). The last bit all the way up the Wye Valley on a single track road was great.

We got the last available table at the pub and pondered the 80-miler we have to look forward to tomorrow. Hmmm!

Stats : 69.9 miles at 10.5mph avg; 6hrs 38mins saddle-time; 1150m ascent