Land's End to John O Groats - The photos and the LEJOG song...

This last post is just for you regular readers. It will be dissected and split between the individual day blogs shortly so get reading!!

In summary, it feels odd having finished. Not sure if the last ten days have flown by or dragged on. People keep congratulating us and neither of us feel like we've done anything spectacular, I guess because we've had to break it down and concentrate on one day at a time rather than the whole thing it's not really sunk in yet.

It was pretty weird flying back from Inverness to Bristol thinking "We cycled further than this plane is going"

The LEJOG song and a few pics are below.

LEJOG Song Lyrics (to the tune of Nellie the Elephant)

Debbie and Gareth did LEJOG riding on their bicycles, Off they went from bottom to top. Top. Top. Top.

Day 1 they went through Cornwall, A30 all the way, With ups and downs, hills and dips and a starbucks on the way!

Day 2 they went through Devon, back to Portishead, With the Irish Crew and the Wooden Spoon and a takeaway before bed!

Day 3 they went through Wales, they saw lots of sheep, They ate a giant tea cake and the hills were really steep!

Day 4 took them through Cheshire, they didn't smile like the cat, because the roads were really busy and Gareth's tyre went flat!

Day 5 they went through Lancashire, all the way up Shap, 15 miles of hill climbing made them feel like CRRRRAAAAAAPPPP!

Day 6 was just a short one, only 87 miles, but the wind, the rain, the hills, the pain... Didn't leave them with many smilessssssssss!

Day 7 detoured in to Glasgow to stock up on chamois creme, without this bare essential, the chafe would make them scream!

Day 8 they went from Glen Coe all the way to Loch Ness, The views were just fantastic, the scenery the best!

Day 9 they had a support crew from Gareth's Dad and Mum, Jan's yummy home made sarnies, really filled their tums!

Day 10 they finally made it, to John O Groats from Land's End, and this my dear listener, is where this song must come to an eeeennnndd!

Debbie and Gareth did LEJOG, riding on their bicycles, off they went from bottom to top. TOP, TOP, TOP!!

Route Summary for anyone seeking opinion for their own LEJOG journey:

The "A road all the way" option worked out pretty well for us, it's a bit hairy in patches especially the A49 which, if we did it again, is the only one of the A roads I'd definitely avoid if possible. Too many lorries on a narrow, badly surfaced road. It was also where the nutter who crashed his car into a bollard next to us was.

A30 through Cornwall was fine, the road surfaces lovely and smooth made the hill climbing a dream and the hard shoulder mostly wide and clear enough to cycle in safely, we were on it in the last weekend of school holidays too so it was super busy and it was still no where near as scary as we'd heard it should be. A38 through Devon and Somerset is fairly quiet as it runs next to M5 mostly and largely flat. Also pleasant. A49 - HORRIBLE. A6 from Preston to Carlisle, A75 and A76 busy but ok and picturesque. The A82 is quieter than the other a roads and just so pretty. There are some patches of bad surfacing but mostly lovely and smooth which really helps around the Crianlarich/Glen Coe climbs. We avoided the A9 past Inverness by getting the ferry from Cromarty to Nigg (about ten mins) which was well worth it, a lovely quiet cycle way all the way from Inverness to Cromarty,we rejoined the A9 at Tain and stayed right to the A99 via Wick to the end. There are only three memorable hills on the route we did. Shap Fell for its length (though it's not steep at all really) and then the two hills outside of Helmsdale (Berriedale) - both really steep buggers and by far the hardest going of the whole trip but not impossible. Overall none of the days were as hard as some of our mendip and black mountain training rides so I was pleased.

A Selection of Pictures! (these will be removed and added to each days post shortly)

You can see the LBonB's blog here: www.lejogwithtfatblokes.blogspot.co.uk

Day 10 - The final day!

Breakfast was a lovely leisurely affair this morning, porridge, scrambled eggs, freshly baked bread rolls and smoked salmon and a bacon sarnie for Gareth. We were even more grateful for the 4 miles grace we'd accumulated yesterday due to gps error when we realised that exactly 4 miles in to today's ride came the start of one of the biggest, steepest hill climbs of the entire journey. Luckily we were just warmed up when we met the wall that they called a hill. The Legendary Blokes on Bikes were not so lucky, having stayed in Helmsdale they had no chance to warm up before hitting the hills. Unfortunately my morning ritual excluded the daily dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen for the knee so having taken them late the first climb of the day out of Helmsdale was slow and painful. Buoyed by Jan and Ivor cheering us on at the Caithness sign we rode on to enjoy the lovely fast, smooth down hill stretch only to immediately face another seemingly vertical (alright, only 13%) incline. This one went on FOREVER and seemed to just get steeper with each turn. I thought switch backs were only employed in mountains in such places as the Alps.... it appears not. The LBonB's caught up with us at the top of the Berriedale (the 2nd monster hill) and we all pulled in to the layby to enjoy a cuppa and give us all a chance to chat (the first time despite seeing them and waving and shouting hello every day since the start!) The LBonB's left whilst we arranged where to meet Jan & Ivor (next stop Wick). We were adamant that we werent going to let these guys beat us to the finishing line today, so with a bit of friendly rivalry behind us we pushed on to catch them up, rested behind them for a few minutes then with a bit of a cheeky grin from Gareth and a nod of ascent from me we overtook them and knocked out the next 18 miles in around 56 minutes. We stopped only briefly at Wick, maybe a little worried they'd catch us up despite passing their support vehicle 5 miles back, before pushing on for the last 15 miles to John O Groats. The last 15 miles were relatively flat, only one long but gentle climb up before a long descent into John O Groats. We passed the finishing line together with huge smiles on our faces (having narrowly avoided the skid pan effect of the gravel in the car park)and I promptly burst into tears... Having had the official photos taken and messing around posing with the bikes and trying to come to terms with the fact that we'd finished it, the LBonB's came in just half an hour after us. We clapped and cheered them across the line and their support guy handed around the beers. A bottle of bubbly was opened and shared. After a swig of bubbly, half a bottle of beer (at 2pm) I was ready for bed so we said our good byes, topped up the caffeine levels and headed back on the 3.5hour drive to Jan and Ivor's house. I slept most of the way after exclaiming about how steep those two damn hills were that we'd just cycled up. We stopped in on the way back to visit Isla, the little girl for whom's cause we are raising money (Gareth's cousin's daughter). After proudly showing us her newly made strawberry hat for a playgroup version of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" she was given two medals to give to Gareth and I for completing the challenge (Thanks Jan and Ivor, for the medals, the support and everything else you've done to help us out on this trip - you've been invaluable). So I will write again, for anyone who's interested, maybe in a couple of days time, to summarise the route, hints, tips, and most importantly of all the LEJOG song lyrics (also on youtube if I can persuade Gareth to perform!) Thanks again to all those who have read the blog, donated or supported in any way. I can honestly say it's down to you that I got up some of those hills. It's been so touching to see how many people even care about what we're getting up to, let alone take the time to comment or send messages of encouragement. Food diary Porridge, bacon sandwich, smoked salmon, scrambled egg, tomatoes, toast, energy bar, shortbread, energy gels (had to use them at some point!), butteries, cheese, pasties, crisps, percy pigs, jelly sweets, cake, curly wurly, mince & tatties, scone & jam.

Day 9 - the penultimate

I cannot believe we've made it this far, I type this to you just 70miles from our final destination.

This morning we left the Siamese B&B at around 9ish excited about the imminent catch up with Jan and Ivor, Gareth's parents who met us just by Inverness. You don't realise how much the support of family and friends matters until some of it is there right next to you. I don't mind admitting I nearly cried. We scoffed one of Jans yummy home made sarnies and set off again, this time ( and for the final leg) without all of the luggage attached to our bikes. We finally knew how easy those guys who had support vehicles the whole way had it!!

After overtaking the 'legendary old blokes on bikes' heading out of Inverness we made our way to Cromarty and hopped on the ferry over to Nigg where we used the trip to feed the friendly 'pigeon' (actually a seagull but the captain was insistent it was a pigeon - not sure what they feed pigeons in Scotland!) and watch a seal bobbing around and yes, scoffing more food.

we arranged to meet up with Jan and Ivor a few miles down the road for a coffee break before leapfrogging the guys on bikes again and again.

A relatively quick average speed and buoyed by being so close to the finish, and all of the support we rattled on toward Helmsdale arriving at Culgower House a full 4 miles before we had expected to reach it. A lovely surprise and we were so grateful to Ivor for pointing it out to us or we may have blindly followed the Garmin off down the hilly road for another 4 miles!!

Tea and cake awaited us and a properly beautiful free standing GINORMOUS bath which I promptly filled with bubbles and jumped in.

4miles back to Brora and the Sutherland Inn pub for the biggest roast ever (the slabs of meat were the size of my face!) and a couple of pints were just what the doctor ordered. First time we've finished a ride before 6pm since day 1 too.

All ready for the last day and the worst hill of the whole trip tomorrow. Looking forward to writing the finishing story as well as giving you all full access to the LEJOG song lyrics (Gareth still taking bookings to sing to live audience upon return)

Thanks for reading peeps! Tune in tomorrow for the final entry and to see if we actually make the epic cycle ride from end to end...

Food Diary

Muesli, wheetabix, toast, Jans sandwiches... Lots! Chicken and mushroom slice, 4 crispy chicken fillets, cake, more cake, roast beef, roast pork, roast chicken, roast lamb veg and tatties, shortbread, pâté, toast, salad.

Day 8

Before I start We want to thank Ian and Deb at ewich b&b. Ian has done JogLe and gave us lots of helpful and useful tips about the local route, he was so understanding of our needs and just a totally great host. He also happens to be a Devon lad... Come to think of it, there were more Devonshire peeps in Crianlarich's local pub last night than Scots!!

Woke up this morning to scrambled eggs on toast and after borrowing Ian's track pump we set off into the mist of the highlands!!

The views were totally fantastic, spectacular, breath taking!!! There was even a bagpiper on top of one of the climbs, brilliant. The 6mile down to Glen Coe was fantastic too!.
Almost made the whole thing worthwhile. That and the Morrisons fizzy worm sweets, cheese sticks and egg mayo sarnies . (it's got to come back to food somewhere along the line)

Today I have been eaten alive by midges and discovered the most horrendous case of cyclists tan lines. I'm going to apologise to Sarah and Leo in advance for not having time to sort out the appalling looking tan lines in time for your wedding. We promise to stay out of photos so as not to ruin them ;-)

Back to the ride.. 104miles today seemed to fly by, must have been the scenery but even chronic dehydration, cramp and knee pain didn't seem to slow us down too much today.

Over the last 5 or 6 days we have been playing leap frog with the legendary old blokes on bikes group who seem to be doing the same route as us, it always lifts our spirits a little to wave at the chap driving their support van who we usually pass as he's setting up in a layby waiting for the group to arrive. We haven't actually seen the cyclists the last day or so, just the driver who always beeps and waves if he sees us. A strange camaraderie!

Just over 7hours of cycling (plus a few breaks) had us arriving at Drumnadrochit Great Glen B&B. The local pub landlord picked us up from the B&B in his minivan along with a handful of locals and after a hair raising drive, dropped us off to eat and grab a pint or two before jumping back in the free shuttle taxi with a slightly tipsy, lovely NZ/scot couple who after 2 minutes chatting to us whipped out a £20 note to donate to the charity... Such a nice couple!

Shame we didn't get to check out the hot tub but very pleased there are only TWO days left!!!

Food diary

Scrambled egg, lots of toast, cereal, pepperami, cheese, mcdonalds, cake, energy bar, flapjack, fish n chips, casserole, sweets

Day 7

Firstly, wow. I did not think I would make it this far but I have and I'm chuffed to bits. Just 3 more days to get through now.

It's strange how we've stopped aching, like our muscles have just given up! Now it's just the delights of pressure points and chafe to deal with which is why today, after a full Scottish, we detoured into Glasgow to find a bike shop to stock up on Assos chamois creme. An absolute MUST for any lengthy time in the saddle.

Whilst there Gareth bought and fitted a new tyre, following yesterday's puncture on an already ripped tyre, thought it best not to take chances. Just as well really as we ran out of spare inner tubes today when I got caught with the third puncture of the trip!
Luckily for us this puncture happened to see us having to stop on the shores of loch lomond. It was raining but the mist over the loch just made for an even more beautiful view. A simply stunning ride today, even the view coming down into Glasgow was nice.

Today's ride profile was bath tub shaped, a lovely down hill stretch to Glasgow, flat (ish) along cycle route 7 to loch lomond where Gareth sunk into the muddy bank up to his ankles whilst posing at the county sign, then up 8miles to Crianlarich to our lovey b&b, ewich house run by Ian and Deb who are so helpful and friendly that Ian even
gave us a lift to and from the local pub for dinner. Ian even loaned us his car when I discovered, upon returning, that I had left my mobile phone at the pub!

The last BIG ride tomorrow. Fingers crossed that the knee holds up again and the weather is kinder than today.

Food Diary

Fry up, cereal, toast, egg sandwich, chicken & bacon sandwich, pepperami, cheese, loaf of soreen, bag of sweets, bag of double chocolate cookies, fridge raiders, bag of dry roasted nuts, chicken curry with rice, naan & chips, lots of midges and Mosquitos... Extra protein!

Day 6

Gretna to Stewarton today. Over the last 5 days I've developed a healthy scepticism about Gareth's routes. He sees avoiding busy A roads, I see unnecessary additional hills. This morning I made a joint decision to ignore the 92 mile route in favour of following the A road the whole way as they are generally less steep (easier on the knees) and quite a bit more direct (took off 5miles in this case)

The proprietor at Alexander House where we stayed in Gretna showed us a lovely restaurant last night (where I wish we'd stayed) and on returning announced that they wouldn't be getting up early to make our breakfast so we'd have to wait until nearly 8 before we could eat which meant a rather late set off time this morning.

Rather late and really really chilly! Arm and leg warmers on as well as windproofs and wooly socks! iPods plugged in and off we went, Gareth listening to the radio before he lost signal and I to an audiobook. Think we had reached the point when we were too tired to continuously try and strike up conversation. Saying that, verse 6 of the LEJOG song didn't come easily to us today, it was too tempting to include swear words to describe the day!!

After a quick supermarket restock at Morrisons in Dumfries where Gareth bought enough food to keep us going for three weeks ( I'm not convinced he thought about how we were going to carry all of it!) we set off up and down the Scottish hilly lowlands...

Lunch saw us stopping at the 'Happy Potter' cafe (do you see what they did there?) before continuing.

Today wasn't particularly tough, or long but mentally it was hard going. My knee is officially knackered, it has hurt constantly for 4days now and is at the point where I can hardly walk on it but I will keep taking each mile as it comes for now. Our average speed has dropped due to my slowness up hills with not being able to put pressure on the knee but I remain sure that I'll get through it. Gareth is suffering with sore hands and knees too but he is more of a soldier than I and never moans!

We got our second puncture of the trip today, at the highest point between Cumnock and Kilmarnock, very open to the elements, when we set off 20minutes after we were soaked and very cold. It rained pretty much all day today and we had a very strong head wind but the views were amazing at times. Simply stunning.

In addition to the rain, wind and beautiful scenery I can tell we're in Scotland, the midges are out in force and have all had a go at me. We also managed a haggis, neeps and tatties supper whilst watching team GB win medal after medal at the Paralympics at a lovely pub/ b&b in Stewarton.

Finding it increasingly difficult to write this blog as time goes by. Most evenings I'm struggling to keep my eyes open and to remember what we've done, let alone stay positive, or even interesting! I hope you're enjoying the entries. I love reading the comments during our cake/lunch breaks!

More tomorrow from Crianlarich! Night peeps!

Food Diary

Scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, sausages, black pudding, toast, egg sandwich, 4 pork pies, a bag of cookies, Babybels, mini salami, ham salad baguette, cheese baguette, coleslaw, biscuits, sweets, cheese sticks, ginsters pasty, haggis, neeps, tatties, veg and dry roasted peanuts, banana, fridge raiders

Day 5

Finally half way!

We bid farewell to the dogs, cat, chickens and goats at the b&b this morning and after getting lost got onto the a6 , where we stayed until Carlisle, we got on our way.

A really slow start today thanks to a raging knee pain and Gareth's persistent need to pee.

You'll have to excuse the lack of humour or witty banter today, after 8 hours in the saddle we're both well passed tired!

Some good news however, no lost money, we made it up Shap Fell (12miles of climbing) unharmed, we finally hit Scotland and most importantly we finished verse 5 of the LEJOG song!!! Tired, looking forward to the short day tomorrow.

Stats

96 miles, 12.5mph ave (headwind), 3500ft climbing, nearly all up over the lake district

Kerb trash and dead things

Slinky, 2 spanners, 3 odd gloves, lots of squirrels, smell of badger, rabbits, few birds, and some road pelts (animal unknown)

Food Diary

Lots today! The best Full English, cereal, toast, cake, panini x 2, crisps, cake, cake, mcdonalds, energy bar, energy gel, cake, haggis & steak pie, lasagne, couple of pints, packet of jelly babies.

Day 4

Gareth here, Deb throwing out Zzz's so thought I should take my turn blog writing...
Today was a good day! Shrewsbury to Preston.

We left the Travelodge after finishing off a packet of jaffa cakes and some milk we had managed to keep cool in last night's ice bath water.
Team "Fat Guys on Bikes" were in the car park, having loaded their suitcases in to their support vehicle. Deb and I are still wondering why they have so much luggage, we're managing well with the little we have... Pleasantries and routes were exchanged, and we set off behind them in search of some breakfast.

Asda in Shrewsbury happened upon us first, where I trusted Deb, cash in hand, to go source a suitable feast. She returned with cake, yoghurt, scotch eggs and jelly babies all washed down with ice coffee. Rest assured, only rubbish was disposed of :)

The next 35miles passed relatively quickly and uneventfully, with our bellies grumbling we searched out a cafe for cake and coffee, adding a couple of mile detour on to todays 'short' route.

We set off in good spirit, knowing we had less than 60 miles to go, passing the fat guys along the way lifted our spirits,  having stopped at Asda and the cafe, they should have miles on us as their breaks are conveniently provided in lay bys by there support crew...luxury!

60miles saw us at a pizza hut, where we made best use of the all you can eat pizza/pasta/salad selection only to regret that decision shortly after!

More flat miles brought us north of Preston where we have settled in a fantastic B&b for the night, the owner dropped us up t'local where we ate more and managed a few well deserved pints. Having cycled 400+ miles without getting lost, its amazing that we managed to get lost, with directions on a one mile stroll home from the pub!

Food Diary

Combined

Asda breakfast, cake, yoghurt, scotch eggs, jelly babies.
11's tea cake, crisps
Lunch, pizza hut fill your boots
Dinner, g sausage egg chips, d steak ans chips

Stats 96 miles, 13.5 average (traffic), max 39.9mph

Day 3

My oh my What. A. Day.

The comfort of our own bed was too much! Slept in, left 2hours after we'd planned.

A slow, slow SLOW Journey through avonmouth to the Severn bridge left us even later than anticipated! Luckily the worlds biggest tea cakes are served at Tintern Abbey, our first cake stop. The sun came out at this point and the paracetamol kicked in, my earlier strapped knee no longer made me cringe with each pedal stroke... For the time being.

Once past Tintern the pace picked up a little but the sometimes steep undulation of the welsh hills avoiding the a49 felt like hard work with 2 long days under the belt and the sun beating down on us but we soldiered on, our spirits lifted by the good weather.

We stopped at an asda for lunch thinking that would make a cheap quick alternative to a cafe... It would have done if I hadn't had thrown all of our cash and bank cards in the bin along with the Sarnie rubbish... Booooo!!!! I didn't notice until we reached our hotel. doh!!
Some very lucky tramps somewhere near Hereford today!!

Further along the route and back on the a49 for a stretch. The a49 is a busy road and just minutes after I'd commented upon how courteous the lorry and majority of car drivers were some total TOOL tried to kill us both by overtaking in a chicane, you know the kind, the ones with bollards. Just as I was about the throw a loud curse his way the fool mounted the kerb of the chicane, bounced off the bollard and smashed his wing mirror off which then, now in a million pieces, bounced all over the road. Whilst avoiding having our legs shredded by flying glass the driver then overtook us (going down hill at around 35mph) only to pull in abruptly in front of us forcing us to slam on our brakes. I can only imagine he wanted to examine the damage he's done to his car. Near miss number 1 for today at least.

Today was a constant stop start battle and just to make sure we knew what sort of day this was, as we hit a lovely long downhill stretch I heard an almighty pop and Gareth shouting 'puncture'! At 35mph that was hairy. 40minutes to sort the ripped tyre and replace the inner tube. Whilst waiting I was bitten by an army of red ants... On my bottom!!!

Wheel fixed the last 30miles were long and when we overtook a group of LEJOG'ers having a BBQ by the side of the road it became increasingly difficult to keep spirits up but we continue to support each other and are in the process of writing the Debbie and Gareth LEJOG song. Gareth has promised to perform this upon request when we get home.

A 6mile down hill stretch into Shrewsbury took us to our hotel for an ice bath, shortly followed by burger king. Sleep time now!!

Stats

1 puncture, 105 miles, 14mph ave, 4500ft climb


Food diary

Gareth & debbie

Porridge cake sandwiches and burger king, banana, more cake.

Day 2

Hello from Portishead!

So this morning wasn't too bad, muscles fairly relaxed and nothing too painful going on... always a good start!

We stayed at a Travelodge which happened to be in a service station (you know the type) and so the only place to eat was the Esso garage or the Little Chef, which, by the way, deserves it's "Little Thief" nickname. £18.55 for two breakfasts each consisting of coffee, 2 toast, 1 sausage, 1 egg, 1 slice of bacon, 2 hash browns and a spoonful of beans. Maybe I'm a scrooge but it just seems ridiculously overpriced for what was a basic, bog standard breakfast!! HARUMPH.

2 miles in and I was incredibly pleased to note an average speed of 28mph... (the A30 is downhill from Okehampton for the first few miles!) 40 rolling, beautiful, lush, green hills and a lovely 5mile down hill stretch aptly named "5 mile hill" took us through Exeter to my parent's house in Cullompton (average speed having now dropped to 16mph!) where we were greeted with fresh cream sponge cakes, flapjacks, brownies, scones and our very smiley niece and nephew. The highlight of my day was 3 year old Oliver announcing very loudly "Garuff, take your hat off, it's silly!" then proceeding with the same request until we were both without gloves, helmets, shoes and windproof's. Ollie obviously disapproves of lycra clad cyclists as he looked most put out when we refused to remove our "silly" jackets too!

I couldn't agree more though Ollie, lycra isn't a good look, though a 2 hour break from cycling in your company was just what the doctor ordered, thanks little man!

Refreshed and ready for the familiar 65 mile route home (staying in Portishead at home tonight) we set off! Cue painful right knee and the beginning of saddle sore...

Apart from passing a group we'd seen yesterday, here in known as the "Wooden Spoon Crew" The journey between Cullompton and over the Somerset border into Bridgwater was uneventful and relatively flat, disregarding a few minor bumps. We stopped at the usual Costa Coffee shop for lunch, coffee and another piece of Mum's magic flapjack!  Cue the rain...

We stopped for the obligatory photo at the "Welcome to North Somerset" county sign where we met a couple of chaps who were also doing LEJOG but were going the wrong way having missed their turning. They were fully laden with panniers, front packs and saddle bags, maps, the lot, and they were rather bemused at having been stuck on a hilly, all over the place route recommended to them, all day. After waving them off and watching them take their missed turn we felt a little bad that we didn't point out that the way they were going originally would have been A LOT shorter and would've been down hill all the way, the benefit of local knowledge! Oops.

At Congresbury we met up again with the Wooden Spoon Crew and as they were heading to Gordano and the route they'd arranged took them up Tickenham Hill (not very pleasant) and we, as locals, knew a much nicer way, we joined up for the last 10-15 miles, we even went out of our way to drop them at Gordano to meet their support vans.

Thanks to Jago who thoroughly lifted spirits by meeting us on his bike (in his flip flops) with his little girl on the back for the last few miles! It means a lot to have the support, the morale boost is priceless! Finally made it home. Aaaaaand SLEEP!

Stats

108 miles, 15mph average, 7h11min moving, 10h21min total

Food Diary

Gareth

Breakfast - Little Thief Fry up
11's - Grandma Sally's home made cakes
Lunch - Half an Egg Mayo sandwich & Cheese and Ham Panini
Dinner - Dirty chinese takeaway
Other - Hmmm, more cake and one energy gel

Deb

Breakfast - Little Thief Fry up
11's - Mum's home made cakes
Lunch - Half an Egg Mayo sandwich & Cheese and Ham Panini

Dinner - Dirty chinese takeaway
Other - Cake

Day 1

Hey Peeps!
Woke up to the alarm at 6.30am absolutely dreading today having firmly identified it as the hardest day in terms of hills and ft climbing, but, being a soldier I swallowed the fear, hit snooze and drifted back to sleep. Precisely 15 seconds later Gareth pipes up 'I've been awake since 4, can we set off?'
After waving off the 'coast path' crew and the guys who wiped out yesterday we threw breakfast down, packed and set off ourselves at around 7.30am, fully expecting a super tough and hilly day ahead.
Today's route followed the a30 aka the Cornish motorway to Launceston then the a388 to sourton cross.
Note to future 'lejog'ers... AVOID the A30 on the last weekend of the summer holidays as it will be rammed full of caravans, trailers and mostly at a standstill leaving you to dodge the jams whilst those in the traffic jam play dodgems trying to swerve lanes to get ahead!
It only took 10miles to Penzance before we overtook the wipeout guys and to be honest, I don't think we'll see them again. Another 15 miles and we had caught up coast path crew. By the time we stopped at Starbucks for coffee, cake and a sarnie we were feeling quietly confident that our training programme was a)more than most others had done and b)good enough to get us through today at least!
Then the 'ireland crew' tanked past us at a rate of knots followed by their support van.
Over the next 60 miles we played leapfrog with them, they are doing LEJOG via Ireland which is nuts but they aren't carrying any kit so... ;-) just sayin.
The girls in their support van were fab, cheering us on and offering refreshments every time we passed then whilst they waited for their boys to turn up. Really kept morale high throughout the day! Thanks guys and girls!
It's a good job sourton cross Travelodge is next to a garage so we could stock up on crisps, jaffa cakes, chocolate milk, macaroons, peperami, digestive biscuits and milk to eat/drink as soon as we got to our room.... (purely recovery you understand)
Searing hot bath for the muscles (yes, I know those sporty ones amongst you will say it should have been an ice bath but that seemed cold and unappealing) and a walk to the only pub in the vicinity to avoid the neighbouring Little Thief restaurant followed, for cottage pie, pasta and CIDER!

Stats

93 miles, 14.5mph average, 6h24min moving, 8h 41min overall

Food diary

Gareth

Breakfast - Porridge
11's - shared banana cake, cinamon swirl & egg sandwich
Lunch - sausage bap, rubbish!
Dinner - Pasta and pork + 2 pints of cider
Extras - half a pack of jaffa cakes, macaroons, digestives, crisps, clif energy bar and pepperami.

Deb

Breakfast - weetabix, only 2!
11's - shared banana cake, cinamon swirl & egg sandwich
Lunch - sausage bap, rubbish!
Dinner - Cottage pie & 4 pints of cider
Extras - half a pack of jaffa cakes, macaroons, digestives, crisps and pepperami.

Day 0

Right peeps,

So after a disastrous start, and not being able to get the bikes booked on the train we picked up the hire van to get us to Cornwall... Drama number 1.

This morning Gareth announced that we were expecting the gas man to come and service the boiler 1hour after I had planned to leave the house... Cue Debbie Panic. Drama number 2. Whilst Gareth looked thoroughly relaxed and played on his tablet I paced the kitchen trying to hurry the gas man along, who knew there was so much to say about a hot water switch!!
Once we managed to get rid of him I stopped panicking and Gareth packed the bikes in the van. A quick visit to the parents in Devon to meet my cousin Kimberley who's over from New Zealand and we were well on our way to Penzance.

Upon reaching Penzance, 'Mission Cornish Pasties' commenced. We sat on the seafront with our 'King Kernow's' and a Costa and got munching... Our first taste of 'real' Penzance came when 2 young, eh hem, 'ladies' came to sit on the bench next to us and started yacking away about 'er over there oo wuz a proper crack whore' oh and followed by the way 'av you got a fag mate? Connor nicked mine when he went to court this morning'...... Delightful.

A quick change into lycra in the back of the van and we dropped the hire car off and went on our way to start the 10mile journey to Land's End.

We are staying at Land's End Hostel and B&B where an INCREDIBLY helpful Susie (owner) greeted us warmly. A quick jaunt down to land's end to do the photo bit before morning had us bumping into 5 fellow LEJOG'ers who happened to be staying at the same place. 'Follow us' we declared after taking the obligatory photos and finding out they didn't know the way.
Half a mile up the road and I was pleased and surprised to find I was obviously quite a lot quicker up hills than some of the guys! Confidence thoroughly boosted we turned into the driveway of the B&B, slowing, Gareth shouts 'be careful its a loose surface' quickly followed by one of the other guys pelting round the corner, losing control, falling off and taking out his mate at the same time...ouch. not a good start for them!

Evening fell and we strolled to 'The First and Last' pub for a pint and some food before hitting the hay.

With 95miles and A LOT of climbing tomorrow, I'm really praying Gareth is right and that I'll be fine... We'll see.

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Debs & Gareth

Debs packing v Gareths packing

All set for our little cycle challenge, transport, accommodation and rain all booked. 1000's of training miles peddled, punctures repaired and cake eaten. All thats left to do is to get to the start and knock the first mile on the head.