Dukes Place Harrogate
On arrival, again our hosts greeted us with tea and biscuits and suggested a nice pub for dinner, even offering to drive us. We were given a small holiday cottage for the 3 of us with a double and a single bedroom, a lounge, kitchen and bathroom. Not only were they fantastic hosts and provided everything we needed and more especially over a wonderful breakfast they did it all ad a donation to Help for Heroes! Truly generous.
Host: 5
Bed: 5
Shower: 5
Breakfast : 6
Drying Facilities: 5 lots of radiators
Extras: 5 a free stay who could ask for more?
31/30 this may not be beaten
John O'Groats to Lands End
Thank you for visiting our blog. We are going to be cycling from John O Groats to Lands End in August 2011. It's a total of 945 miles and should take us 12 days to complete. Dave did a 6 month tour in Helmand with 2 Rifles in 2009 and it has inspired us to help to raise money , and support awareness for our injured military Heroes. We would like to thank you for your support and will keep you updated with our progress! Ed Coy, Andrew Cracknell and Dave Wallace
Saturday, August 13, 2011
LSD
Although there have been several hallucinations on today's ride I'm not referring to the acid trip, but the long slow distance that we've been working hard at. It was a long slog from Hexham to Ripon over the Penines with a head wind and even more rain early on.
The roads out of Hexham were tough with some long drags, again on our new best friend the A68. We put our heads down and pedalled hard as we knew it was the o my way to make any headway. The wind was making things very tough and was reducing our pace dramatically which was both energy sapping and psychologically detrimental to our progress.
We managed to near Darlington before letting Garmin take over and guide us down the 'B' roads towards our destination.
By 50 miles our legs were feeling heavy and we were in desperate need of a rest so we found the nearest pub just outside of Richmond and got some food. It was like stepping back in time and felt like we were in the Aidensfield Arms on the set of Heartbeat, but the staff and locals were hospitable as always and provided some good food to refuel our weary muscles.
We got ourselves up and on our way, however the wolfpack was not as aggressive as before and was sounding more like the three blind mice as we squeaked with each revolution, mainly as a result of our chains resembling some gold bling Mr T would be proud of!
As we made our way through North Yorkshire across more hills Harrogate seemed to get no closer and we were all feeling tired. Eventually we arrived at our B&B for the evening; Duke's Place just outside of Harrogate where we've landed on our feet once gain and have got a quaint little cottage for the 3 of us. In addition, Martin has joined us and the wolfpack had grown by 1 for the next day and a half! We will be strong tomorrow, let's just hope Martin has a route planned and can drag us to Northwich with relative ease.
Lauder B&B
A quick delayed review of the B&B from Lauder, Scotland. The house was a beautiful cottage right in the centre of the village near the clock tower, where we had a double and a twin for the night. We were also treated to a lounge with a fire, which after the day we'd had was what we needed. Scores are:
Host: 5 excellent service and they went out of their way to help us feel at home
Shower: 3 a great bath but no shower as such
Bed: 4
Breakfast: 4
Drying facilities: 5 tumble dried socks in the morning
Extras: 5 (tea and cake on arrival, a warm fire and a mint on the pillow)
26/30
We paid £75 for the 3 of us here
Thursday, August 11, 2011
More rain
The 3 man wolfpack again rode through the rain all day today, however we made a huge psychological advancement today as we crossed the border and finally left Scotland behind us. We were hoping to be met with blue skies and high temperatures, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
We were riding from Lauder to Hexham and we clocked up 69 miles 60 of which were along the A68. If anything this has given us a solution to famine in LEDC's. If we were to box up every bit of roadkill on the A68 I imagine there'd be a few less hungry people, it even started to make me feel hungry the amount we passed.
The peleton rode as a tight unit today mainly to try and gain some warmth from one another and there was only one early breakaway from Dave 'Pace-man Loves to be the lead out train' Renshaw which was quickly closed down by Eddy 'speedster my money's on him in a sprint finish' Boasson Hagen and Andy 'The lung - I love to attack a hill' Schleck. The nicknames are a result of a tv program we saw last night on Extreme Weather chasers. This seemed very apt as we seem to be in pursuit or are being followed by just the same wet micro climate across the country.
We did ride hard and ended up reaching Hexham by 3 with just one quick stop on the A68 for a bite to eat and some warmth. We hit a top speed of 39.6mph, which considering the conditions and the oncoming car was quite spectacular. We are very kindly being hosted bu Dan and Sarah Gray, Ed and Wally's uni friends. we'll try and not be too harsh when we rate them.
Tomorrows ride takes us to just outside Ripon where the wolfpack will grow by 1 as Martin joins us to cycle to Northwich. Let's hope the rain as ceased by then, although the forecast looks doubtful.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
A ring road, relentless rain and a soon to be ruined chain
A new take on the 3 R's today as we discovered much about ourselves, Scotland and mechanical problems with bikes. After having refueled on a large breakfast and listened to rain for most of the night we were ready to set out. The conversation Ed and I had regarding a base layer under our shirts and deciding against it would come back to haunt us!
The moment we stepped out and onto our recently lubricated bikes the rain was relentless. We'd decided, based on the contours on an OS map to take the A roads into Dunfermline and through to Edinburgh. This was a great decision if we were riding through yesterday's weather, however the skies were against us and not only were we soaked through within 5 minutes we were freezing cold and a long way from our destination of Lauder some 70 miles away. I told you Ed that a base layer would be a good idea! The first time trains and taxis had tempted us, but we stayed strong. The cold was starting to become bearable with sharp bursts of speed to warm ourselves and a blistering pace of 20mph+ kept us going until the first technical glitch set in. Dave's chain decided to kink itself over 4 times which left Ed and I bemused as to his whereabouts. Some missed calls and a search party later and Dave appeared. We then ploughed on through the rain towards Dunfermline. By now my malnutritioned body with 0% fat and even less muscle was really starting to suffer and I was close to tears but the thought of tea and a cake somehow managed to keep me pedalling.
Once reached Dunfermline we had a brief stint on the M90 which left us all in need of some new pants, I think it was a combination of near misses by 10 tonne trucks and the constant horns from irritated motorists trying to pass us. We thought we wouldn't have that issue again, how wrong we were 2 hours later in Edinburgh we repeated this once again!
Dunfermline came and once again I'd re come d this lovely Scottish town to absolutely no one! A small cup of tea and aboost got us Luke warm for all of 2 minutes and then my shaking started again.
We got ourselves up and headed for the bridge towards Edinburgh. The maze which we found ourselves to cross a small pond was bewildering and if it wasn't for our guardian angels Colin and Pam who are also on the same journey as us to guide us onto the bridge we would have still been looking. Once on the bridge Dave rightly pointed out it was as if we were at the gates of he'll. Not only were we entering yet another Scottish town, but we were getting hit in the face by torrents of rain and Dave still hadn't reached for his jacket. A real man.
Once in Edinburgh we took the cycle path which we thought would miss out the majority of the ring road and spit us out the other side. We had to go round huge piles of chopped branches and even through a farmers field to make our way around a fallen tree, which had probably dropped moments before in the storm we were in. Then came our next 2 mechanical issues. Ed's chain decided to slow us and then Dave got a puncture, nothing like stopping when you feel cold. We quickly resolved our problems and after another impromptu meeting with Colin and Pam we continued on our way and thought we were in the centre of the city so stopped for a quick bite. We popped in Scopey Cafe and were met with some odd looks, however other than the regulars the waitresses were excellent to us and dried our jackets In their oven and gave us towels and a hot chocolate on the house. Note to self, always walk into an establishment looking miserable and cold!
We then checked our location and discovered we were north of the city and had to ride half way around the ring road which makes the M25 look straight forward. After another stint on the motorway we reached the A 68 which would take us into Lauder and to the dry. We rode hard for 21 miles up and down hills on a busy road, with another slipped chain for Dave to eventually reach our rest for the night where we found bath robes, tea and cake waiting for us. A quick bath and riot watch later and were all set to head out for some well earned food before another 9 O'clock curfew no doubt.
The moment we stepped out and onto our recently lubricated bikes the rain was relentless. We'd decided, based on the contours on an OS map to take the A roads into Dunfermline and through to Edinburgh. This was a great decision if we were riding through yesterday's weather, however the skies were against us and not only were we soaked through within 5 minutes we were freezing cold and a long way from our destination of Lauder some 70 miles away. I told you Ed that a base layer would be a good idea! The first time trains and taxis had tempted us, but we stayed strong. The cold was starting to become bearable with sharp bursts of speed to warm ourselves and a blistering pace of 20mph+ kept us going until the first technical glitch set in. Dave's chain decided to kink itself over 4 times which left Ed and I bemused as to his whereabouts. Some missed calls and a search party later and Dave appeared. We then ploughed on through the rain towards Dunfermline. By now my malnutritioned body with 0% fat and even less muscle was really starting to suffer and I was close to tears but the thought of tea and a cake somehow managed to keep me pedalling.
Once reached Dunfermline we had a brief stint on the M90 which left us all in need of some new pants, I think it was a combination of near misses by 10 tonne trucks and the constant horns from irritated motorists trying to pass us. We thought we wouldn't have that issue again, how wrong we were 2 hours later in Edinburgh we repeated this once again!
Dunfermline came and once again I'd re come d this lovely Scottish town to absolutely no one! A small cup of tea and aboost got us Luke warm for all of 2 minutes and then my shaking started again.
We got ourselves up and headed for the bridge towards Edinburgh. The maze which we found ourselves to cross a small pond was bewildering and if it wasn't for our guardian angels Colin and Pam who are also on the same journey as us to guide us onto the bridge we would have still been looking. Once on the bridge Dave rightly pointed out it was as if we were at the gates of he'll. Not only were we entering yet another Scottish town, but we were getting hit in the face by torrents of rain and Dave still hadn't reached for his jacket. A real man.
Once in Edinburgh we took the cycle path which we thought would miss out the majority of the ring road and spit us out the other side. We had to go round huge piles of chopped branches and even through a farmers field to make our way around a fallen tree, which had probably dropped moments before in the storm we were in. Then came our next 2 mechanical issues. Ed's chain decided to slow us and then Dave got a puncture, nothing like stopping when you feel cold. We quickly resolved our problems and after another impromptu meeting with Colin and Pam we continued on our way and thought we were in the centre of the city so stopped for a quick bite. We popped in Scopey Cafe and were met with some odd looks, however other than the regulars the waitresses were excellent to us and dried our jackets In their oven and gave us towels and a hot chocolate on the house. Note to self, always walk into an establishment looking miserable and cold!
We then checked our location and discovered we were north of the city and had to ride half way around the ring road which makes the M25 look straight forward. After another stint on the motorway we reached the A 68 which would take us into Lauder and to the dry. We rode hard for 21 miles up and down hills on a busy road, with another slipped chain for Dave to eventually reach our rest for the night where we found bath robes, tea and cake waiting for us. A quick bath and riot watch later and were all set to head out for some well earned food before another 9 O'clock curfew no doubt.
Kilrymont B&B
Never has a B&B been so welcomed. We got to Kilrymont around 4:30ish yesterday with the sun on our backs and what a pleasant sight. The house is huge and the interior resembled something like an exotic summer house. We were thrown in one room which left Ed dealing with the camp bed. All the usual amenities; tea, coffee, biscuits, sky news as well as the best shower we've had so far with room to run around in. We were even treated to shampoo AND conditioner for our beaten barnets. Breakfast was pre ordered last night with us all opting for a 'Scottish' breakfast. There was a very nice lounge but our fatigued bodies were too tired to put our feet up there last night.
Host: 3
Breakfast: 5
Drying Facilities: 2 (not really needed)
Bed: 4
Shower: 5
Extras: 5 (cotton buds, shampoo/conditioner, moisturiser, shortbread)
24/30
Host: 3
Breakfast: 5
Drying Facilities: 2 (not really needed)
Bed: 4
Shower: 5
Extras: 5 (cotton buds, shampoo/conditioner, moisturiser, shortbread)
24/30
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Stats for our fans
Distance: 96 miles
Average speed: 13.0 It was the hills honest
Top speed: 42.5 watch out Mark Cavendish
Metres climbed: 1583 basically from 2 climbs, my calves have doubled in size
Distance travelled so far: 263.05miles in 19 hours 24 minutes
We are over a quarter of the way there and still have two days left in this strange country
Average speed: 13.0 It was the hills honest
Top speed: 42.5 watch out Mark Cavendish
Metres climbed: 1583 basically from 2 climbs, my calves have doubled in size
Distance travelled so far: 263.05miles in 19 hours 24 minutes
We are over a quarter of the way there and still have two days left in this strange country
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