Finished! (Sarah) - August 23rd, 2009

Sorry about the big gap in blogging – none of the hostels south of the Lakes had an internet connection!  Here’s a brief summary of the last bit, and I’ll put up a proper front page later with a day-by-day account :

Wales : Northern bit (Welshpool to Ross) really nice but getting progressively hillier – that granny ring came out to play! Fantastic B&B at Welshpool (Severn Farm) which I’d thoroughly recommend if anyone’s in that area. Ross was VERY hilly but a great stopover at Phil’s mate Neil’s house (thanks Neil) made up for it. LONG cycle back to Shepton the next day, not helped by Phil leaving a pannier at the Severn services and none of us noticing for 8 miles…!!!

Shepton to Minehead YHA : Quick and easy tootle down main road. Not especially scenic but a nice break.

Minehead to  Elmscott : HELL.  Decided when route planning to take the scenic coastal route through Somerset and Devon, rather than down the middle, but VERY hilly (I did realise this but kind of put it out of my mind..) Plannned to ue toll road to get up from Porlock but took wrong one (old toll road rather than new one) so not a lot flatter than main A39! Then decided to use Oare back road to avoid coming all way down to Lynmouth, but this involved a 1/4 and a 1/5 hill at Brendon, folowed by a huge descent to pick up the Barnstaple road and a climb all the way back up! No signposts with distances all way to Barnstaple! Used cycle path to Bidefors, which was a welcome relief. Lots of lanes into Elmscott YHA amd no signage. GPS vital.

Elmscott to Tintagel : Another short day, counteracted by a lot of hills. Tintagel YHA not open until 5pm, and town a bit of a tourist nightmare. Would have stayed in Boscastle YHA instead if had realised it’s re-opened.

Tintagel to Perranporth : Longer and still hilly, but stayed on a few more main roads to shorten time (the A39 rocks!) Used Camel trail from Wadebridge to Padstow, which was delightful but full of grockles! Padtow pasties ROCK, especially the banana amd chocolate ones from Presto. Perranporth YHA nice but kitchen locked all night due to teenagers wrecking it. Huh.

Perranporth – Lands End : Used A30 to get a rapid start. NOT recommended (horrible horrible road). Got off at Hayle onto cycle route 3, which was fantastic.  Lands End predictably tacky, and didn’t pay £12 for photo!  Can’t quite believe it’s all over. 6 mile cycle to finish at Lands End YHA, which is NOT at Lands End but at St Just. Only hostel on whole trip that WASN’T up a big hill!

Day 13 (Sarah) – August 11th, 2009

Ross (Hoarwithy) to Shepton today. All going swimmingly until Avonmouth when we realised Phil only had one panier. Oops! Cue frantic reverse cycle by Phil to locate pannier whilst I spent a hectic hour lying in the sun by an industrial estate. Hmm. Split up at Bristol to go quickest routes to Frome and Shepton. A37 NOT NICE. Got held up for a while at Gurney Slade by sheep on the road – it’s good to be home! A night in my OWN bed tonight – bliss.

Day 12? (Lost track!) – Welshpool to Ross (Sarah) August 10th, 2009

OK – I have now NO IDEA what day we’re on.  We definitely cycled to Hoarwithy near Ross today though. Was meant to be a nice flattish 63 miles but we were so deperate for a coffee stop that we accidentally went to Clun which is miles off route, so had to cycle up the biggest hill in Wales (really!) to Knighton and back onto route. 10 extra miles and about 1000ft of extra up.  Great. Met up with Phil’s mate Neil (Neal?) just outside Hereford for an escort to his gaff. Lots more hills.  WHY DO WE NEVER FINISH ANYWHERE FLAT?! Apparently tomorrow we’ve got another huge hill. Can’t wait.  Still, cider and lasagne plus a hot shower may help.

Day 11? : Wigan to Welshpool – Sarah August 10th, 2009

Getting very confused as to what day we’re on : anyway today was Wigan to Welshpool (Severn House B&B : £26 / room and bleedin’ marvellous!) Pretty good day except for Runcorn, which we seemed to spend about an hour trying to get out of. Eventually ended up on some sort of expressway with a hard shoulder and trucks doing about 90mph. Fun eh?! Escaped onto ‘normal’ dual carriageway and made such good time we detoured via Chester (which is lovely). Got chatting to some visitors about our trip and found we’d pretty much cycled past one chap’s house on the way to Gretna.  He gave me £50 donation for Alzheimers Appeal – ta very much ‘Old Tom’!  Back onto the A-roads to Welshpool. KNEES HURT!

Day 10 (I think -Sarah) August 10th, 2009

Down to Wigan today, to stay at Phil’s mum’s. Road surfaces out of Windermere left something to be desired (think they may have imported them from Scotland) and lots of A road cycling.  Stopped in Lancaster on way at lunchtime for a cider shandy (what else?) and a picture of the castle Phil said it didn’t have. More A roads to Wigan. (We’ve pretty much abandoned cycle paths as too slow and faffy)

Rest Day (Sarah) - August 10th, 2009

Hmm..not sure what Phil means about the granny cog : surely all the experts agree that spinning is better!  Lovely to have half a day off : did a bit of retail therapy in Keswick and replaced the lost trousers (which will obviouly now reappear in the bottom of a pannier..) Nice easy cycle over to Windermere via picnic at Rydal Water (excellent fruit pasties from Cornish pastie shop in Keswick – thoroughly recommended).  Windermere hostel NOT IN WINDERMERE.  At Troutbeck, about 3 miles up whoppingly huge hill. Thanks Phil. Still, superb views and a full restuarant plus bar made up for it.

Day 9 Phil - August 7th, 2009

This was our rest day – only 22 miles which would have been absolutely perfect if it were not for our steepest climb yet up to Troutbeck which was painful to say the least – BUT I HAVE STILL NOT USED THE GRANNY COG )Which I have now decided is for girls – much to Sarah’s annoyance) The hostel is newlty referbished and has spectacular views another welcome stoping point. Off to the home town tomorrow Wigan and Meat and  Potato Pies

Day 8 Phil - August 7th, 2009

Eighty three miles and both of us finishing strong Lots of A roads though and not very pleasent – but fast. Got to Gretna in no time. Both of us find the lakes fab and the scenery is something else. Keswick a welcome break!

Day 7 Phil - August 5th, 2009

We started the day off with a nice 1 mile climb, but that was ok because this was followed by an hour on a ferry our first un-assisted travel in the right direction! It is something that we all should perhaps be made aware of – that is how good engines are – fear not I am not aboput to go all Jeremy Clarkson but simple want to make the point travelong whilst seated without your legs pounding pedals is a wonderful thing. Today was our hardest yet both Sarah and I feel more tired than on any previous day (We have done over 450 miles now) although I may add that neither of us feel worse than on the welsh training trip day 2! (Welsh hills out ouch scottish hills so far). However I did discover in a very curious way that the reason for the my tiredness today was down to inadvertently picking up a hitch hiker? I discovered this stowaway as I was plowing up another hill when he came into sight – two little antena popped into view above my glasses on the lip of my helmet – was confused at first but then realised it was a slug – he loked perplexed and a little lost. So I stopped deposited him on the grass verge and continued on my way – he has now a long slime home! Hostel is fab big day tommorrow so another early night bye for now

Day 6 Phil - August 5th, 2009

Wet windy and pretty misserable- Arran lovely Lamlash is a great sounding name? First pint of Heavy – very nice!

Day 7 (Sarah) Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Well we knew it would be hard..and it was! Nice quick blast to the ferry then an hour’s sit down, but lots of faff getting from Ardrossan to Ayr (took cycle route 73/7 to avoiud horrible main roads and it took forever) Lunch in Ayr (biggest town we’ve seen) and then out on the A713 towards Castle Douglas. Lots of up. More up. Got a bit tired of up to be truthful! Did end with quite a lot of down though, so not ALL bad. BTW, a big ‘Hi’ to Matthew at the shop in St John’s Town, who was lovely and really interested. Great shop too – call ion if you go past! Urr Lodge is our end point tonight – really nice place AND they’re doing us a special charity room rate. Ta Lots and again, I would happily recommend them. Another 80 miler tomorrow to Keswick, but then we get a half day – Yay!

Day 5 (Sarah) - Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Well today would be a whole lot better if I hadn’t managed to leave my one and only pair of trousers at Glen Coe YHA. That’s what happens when you pack in the dark whilst trying not to disturb anyone. Next time I’ll switch all the lights on. Other than that (and persistant drizzle) today was pretty good. Starting to ache a bit though. We’re up to over 14mph average speed, which is pretty good for us when you include hills and luggage. Decided to have a quiet night in, cooking for ourselves, as Inverary has that height of sophistication – A Co-op ‘Good with Food’ store. Wahey! Phil rustled up a mean salmon and prawn pasta dish and I helped out by eating it. Seems a fair division of labour to me…. Iverary YHA is pretty much the smallest hostel I’ve ever been in, but nice and cosy. One important tip for anyone doing this route, btw – there is no fery at Tiynault, despite what the OS map seems to show. It finished in 1966! (Fortunately we found this out before we set out today). Right that’s enough typing – off to play some games and go to bed in the tiniest room ever!

Day 5 Phil - Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Well today was a real confidence booster, not quite our biggest day so far but close to it. We set off at 9am and had done 40 miles by the time we stopped for lunch – the whole trip wass done in four and a half hours. Things of note the scenery was again fantastic Some of the road surfacs are appauling, passed another dutch man Our 4th so far cycling with his kitchen sink and delux shower!! They all seem to carry far too much kit, dont they know we have hills! – not quite as breath taking as Glen Coe, Invernaray is nice, quiet night in hostel (room is cell sized!) But had lovely cheesy pasta for dinner and an alchol free day! Is this the kind of thing I should be writing here – not hard core biker is it? Ok thats it for now :)

Day 4 (Sarah) - Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

A day of 2 halves, as they say. Morning wet and a bit grim, though nice easy cycling along Caledonian canal, A82 and back roads to Fort William. Had company from Dutch cyclist Jasper. Afternoon – progressively sunnier until georgeous last bit up valley to Glencoe YHA (which I thoroughly recommend!) Avon Skin-so-soft appears to be keeping most of the midges at bay so far! Legs coping too. Just discovered the ferry we were planning to use at Bonawe tomorrow ceased in 1966 – still, as least we found out tonight!

Day 3 – to Lock ness Saturday, August 1st, 2009

Was a frustrating start to the day – flat tyre and faulty spare so despie good intentions of an early start we only set outat 9.30. Was quite cross and took it out on the first hill which was a considerable climb -very steep very long. However we flew up it (relatively speaking – between 7-10miles/hour) But the two down hills we had today wee exhilerating (got clode to 40 miles an hour on the last one and nearly over took a sports car on the corners!!) Arrived at Fort Augustus in good time and had fab fish and chips and the best piece of Cheese cake I have ever tasted (at the Lock Inn if you pass this way. Cant upload Photo’s don’t know why – yoy will all have to wait for the slide show or power point (also refered to as the Poo point! By for now.

Day 3 (Sarah) Saturday, August 1st, 2009

MUCH nicer day…despite starting an hour late due to a certain person having a puncture and then discovering that their spare tube also had a puncture… Pretty scenery and only 2 hills (but they were fairly BIG hills) plus Urqhart Castle and a killer descent in to Drumnadrochit (which lost LOTS of points for having no cider shandy) made for a good day. Struggled a bit on the last strech along Loch Ness (no Nessie either) but cool hostel at Fort Augustus (Morag’s Lodge) and fab food at the Lock Inn to end. Sorry no pics but hostel PC has no USB!

Day 2 ; much better than Day 1 Friday, July 31st, 2009

Well THAT was a whole lot nicer… Loads less headwind plus scenic views all morning = happy Sarah. Steady up to lunch point (cue pub and cider shandy) then down to Lairg and along Loch Shin. Took the back road along the river to Invershin past the Falls of Shin (which sound like they should be in LOTR) where we saw an otter (well either that or a REALLY big rat). Staying in a castle tonight – all for £18 (good old SYHA) Weather now pants though so fingers crossed for big long day tomorrow.

The first Day! (Phil) Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Well all I can say is lands end seems a very long way away. Today was suppossed to be an easy day but sadly a strong wind in the opposite direction said different! We retraced our steps to Thurso the outward journey took an hour average speed 18miles/hour Our return took 90 mins average speed 11 miles /hour! Both of us aching a bit – have new aches that I cant mention on this blog. Another short day tomorrow allow we climb 900' !!! Praying the wind will have subsided thats all for now Phil :) Ps Thanks to all of you who have sponsored me.

End of Day 1! Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Made it alive to Bettyhill (just…) Appalling headwind and rather bigger hillls than anticipated (they looked much smaller on the map anyway). About 55 miles but hard to tell as Satmap’s batteries failed so had to navigate with a free visitors map!Very glad to reach Bettyhill hotel, which is a bit 50’s but really cute and with a killer view and amazing showers.  Hot choccy much appreciated! Only 17 days and about 950 miles to go now… P.S Thanks for sponosrship from Tim from Harrogate.

Packing List (Sarah) Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Since every E2E website I’ve ever seen has a packing list, I thought I’d put mine in too.  I appear to have all the stuff in the world, although in my defence it does pack into my Altura rack bag and it’s miniscule fold-out panniers. I’ve deliberately used this as I thought it’d stop me packing too much, but we’ll see…I may still unpack it all and bung it in panniers after all at the last minute!

Cycle stuff (in spare water bottle on frame) :

Lock, spare inner, tyre levers, CO2 pump, patches, multitool, spare SPD bits, chain lube, cable ties, gaffa tape, chain tool (anything beyond this level of repair is quite frankly beyond me so it’ll be taxi to bike shop!) plus lights (on bike) and Satmap GPS (on bike – fantastic bit of kit that got me to Wales and back on training run)

Clothes :

Cycle shorts + padded pants, Falke sports vest, Alzheimers Society vest, l/s cycle jersey, microfleece, 2 x very thin dresses (so I can pretend I’m still a girl in the evenings!), leggings (becuase the UK summer is too cold without them), 2 x thin l/s tops, vest top, lightweight silk PJs, 2 x undies (wash’n'wear), 2 x socks (likewise), bikini top (doubles up as bra), Gore cycle waterproof, windproof, fluoro gilet, Shimano SPD shoes, Teva sandles, Craghopper zip-off trousers, arm gloves + cycle legwarmers, cycle gloves.

Other stuff :

Cycle helmet, sunnies (yeah RIGHT), chargers for phone, Satmap and camera, camera, phone, travel wash, basic toiletries (including all-important talc and Sudocream) Nuun electrolyte tablets, water hoser and carrier (doubles as daysack), cards, notebook, pen, mini radio and headphones, eyemask + earplugs for hostels, packtowel, emergency rain poncho and survival blanket (don’t ask me why..), Go bars and gels (yuck!), flapjacks (Mmmm) and portable ktchen sink (OK – I lied about the sink).

This really DOES fit into the rack bag and a daysack. AND I can still lift the bike. Yahey!