The BIG bike ride - Land's End to John O'Groats

Some of you may already know that I'm cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats from 5th to 20th of May.
  I'm cycling with a friend of mine Rob Dentry who is 14 yrs my junior and a whole heap fitter, however he currently has the scars of a paintball pellet to the bum which makes sitting on a saddle extremely painful :o)
  1000 miles of pure hell I'm sure, but it will be for charity. Before you all reach for your wallets I won't be asking for your money. What I would like you to do is to donate a bit of your time to a charity or worthwhile cause.
  You'll be able to track our progress via this blog. Please feel free to leave some words of encouragement :o)

I'm not asking for your money!!(but...Rob is!!)

Fed up with the usual "give me your money" approach to charity. An idea came to me one day of asking people to donate their time instead. I thought my idea was unique until I found a whole host of sites and organisations who do such a thing. One such organisation can be found at
  http://www.volunteering.org.uk
  You will be able to find your nearest centre. There are a large number of different ways of donating your time. So don't feel that you will be pushed into something you're not comfortable with. Alternatively you can give blood for the first time or help out at a local youth group. The options are endless. There is no time limit on when to do this. Anytime from now until whenever. Your help will always be invaluable.
  It would be fantastic if you could post a comment on the site to say what work you would like to do and how many hours you have donated so that we can keep a running total. If you prefer send an email info@donatemytime.org.uk . If everyone I know can donate even just 1hr of their time to a worthwhile cause or charity then we would have achieved a great deal.
  If you'd prefer the easy option of giving money, Rob is cycling to raise money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and you can visit his fundraising page here.
  Thanks
  Peter & Rob :o)

Day Nine - Slaidburn to Greenhead

May 15, 2009

Day 9

Slaidburn to Greenhead

Distance  95.81miles

Average 10mph

Time 9 hours 17 minutes 23 seconds

We left Slaidburn today at 09.00 and ventured through Lancashire and along the Yorkshire Dales.  It was a long, tiring ride luckily with the wind behind us at the beginning of the route.  We saw some spectacular views over the Yorkshire Dales.  Coming down the other side of the Dales we had a wicked cross wind which made the descent very hairy.

Rob’s leg is a lot better so he’s managing to keep a good pace and got up to 48.9 mph going down the hills.  I only managed 42 mph until the cross wind caught me and I slammed the brakes on because I am a chicken!  We stuck to very very quiet roads today with not a built up area or City in sight.  There were plenty of sheep, cows, ponies and hares but not too much else!  We kept bumping into a couple of guys along the way that we met in Slaidburn who are doing the same route as us.

We went through Kirkby Lonsdale and up towards Appleby passing the Pennines on our right hand side which gave us spectacular views.   We carried on up and down hills mostly with side winds and on occasions a head wind which made the going very heavy.  We ventured up to Carlisle where we were originally going to stay but had to go further along the route to Greenhead adding an extra ten to twelve miles to our journey based on the Cycling Touring Club (CTC) route.  Just before we got into Greenhead, about a mile before we got a picture of Hadrian’s Wall.

Rob pointed out a helicopter hovering over head and as I was looking up watching it I found myself drifting across into a grass bank.  I was lucky enough to have realised it before it was too late and I ended up in a heap and I steered back out onto the road after about 20 metres.

We arrived at 20.30 at the Greenhead Hotel which used to be a youth hostel and we are staying in the part of the Hotel that used to be a hostel so still in a dormitory.  Rob told the guy at the Reception that I snore so we managed to get our own room yet again.

We went into the hotel restaurant/bar to eat and I had a steak and vegetables and need I say, it still wasn’t a patch on Anne’s cooking!

I found today exceptionally tough and seriously need to have a shower and get to bed.  Each day is now getting harder and harder and this tour is certainly taking its toll on me.

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Comments

One Response to “Day Nine - Slaidburn to Greenhead”

  1. Anne on May 15th, 2009 10:12 am

    Glad you managed to stay on your bike today babe!!!

    It’s good to hear Rob’s leg is better - let’s hope it stays that way so you don’t find yourselves in an further compromising positions!!

    That’s another day over and done with so you’re one day closer to your final destination.

    Well done guys xx

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