This is definately Day 9!
Today it rained BIG TIME and we feel thoroughly muddied by this rite of passage now.
We set off at 8.55 from our delightful B and B in Greystoke in absolutely horrendous weather.It was cold and the rain came at us sideways, the clothes we had hoped would stay at the bottom of our panniers had to be hauled out but we set off for Carlisle on an easy ride.
Half way there Doron's gear cable snapped so we limped the last few miles and engaged our back up team in Bedford in finding us a cycle repair shop open on Sunday. Several calls later they found us a brilliant guy called Steven, a real enthusiast who runs Mystery Cycles 5 miles south of Carlisle at Buckabank on the B5299. He actually cycled out to meet us as his place is off the beaten track. His kids swarmed round and the whole repair job became a family event. Thank you to a really nice man, who knows bikes.
In no time we were heading back to Carlisle and through driving rain (no good for photos of Hadrians Wall or the Scottish Border I'm afraid) on the A7 through Longtown and Langholm then on up to Hawick (pronounced Hoick). We had been warned off this main road but being Sunday thought we would take it . Found it very quiet and (were it not for the rain) a great ride.
From Hawick we went to Selkirk and nearly made it. Doron had a puncture , his first, so we had a quick patch up job and will have to find a new wheel in Gallashiels tomorrow. We only had a few miles to go to our nightstop, Broadmeadows YHA. Not knowing anything about the YHA we hadn't realised we needed to bring our own food! Happily some mountain bikers staying there cut us a deal, share their spag bol in return for washing up...a done deal if ever there was one. The ideal food after a thoroughly wet and cold 88 miles!
This rain business has been a bit extreme. I decided once I was wet through (after the first 5 minutes) that I couldn't get any wetter and I might as well enjoy the extra feeling of adversity it engendered, it sort of felt like we were REALLY being challenged at last after all those days of gaily sauntering along on our bikes through merry sunny England. Doron got pissed off and stayed pissed off. I hope it doesn't rain again tomorrow!
It has been a day of extremes everything soaking but some stunning scenery and, seen in its own element, its beautiful. Remote farms, rolling hills, nice gradual climbs that you can relax into, much easier than the short steep ones in Cornwall and Devon. And then at the end of the day the sun came out, the sky turned blue and we felt this wonderful southerly tailwind that just lifted us along.
Short day tomorrow after repairs only 40 miles to Edinburgh where we stay with friends for the following day and I take "Scottish "photos to prove we got there!
Statistics
Miles today 88.58
Miles so far 642.98
Hours in Saddle 6 hours 26 minutes
Average speed 13.7mph
Max speed 29.9mph
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Hi Guys. It's Pat here, Doron's mum. It's been great following your progress. His Gran in Adelaide is really interested too and so proud of her grandson. I hope he is not too pissed off today. Keep it up guys, you are both tremendous! x
Hey Kieran, you and Doran are amazing! Sitting in a comfortable armchair reading your blog is amusing me no end. I wonder where you find the energy to be humorous after all that cycling!
I can just see the pair of you freewheeling down a massive hill at 37 mph and whoever's in front hitting a "cowpat" ! Rather you than me - good on you both.
You can be very proud indeed of the courage and resilience of your young man - a huge challenge which they are clearly rising to!
Lots of love Della
Message from Annie and Philip, well done really impressed with the distance yu have both made in the time.
Hi guys very pleased to hear you are both getting on ok and enjoying the trip especially if the rain has stopped. I don't expect you are seeing much of the scenery but now you are getting into Scotland take time to look up ts very beautiful.Take care and enjoy the next art of your journey Lts of love Nan
Well done Kieran and Doron. I've still got sponsorships rolling in so it looks like a great success. The teachers here were most impressed - though they didn't have a clue where Lands End or John o'Groats are! From Margaret Kiloh in South Africa
Post a Comment