Day 7 - Youlgreave to Outlane ~ Erwan Rides Land's End to John o' Groats!

It's now officially been a week since we first set off from Land's End, making our way from the South to the North of the UK! Powered by our own legs, no less.

We kick-started our day with a beautiful view from Monsal Head, one of the most popular viewing points in the Peak District. I've always been impressed with how accessible the countryside is by bike but damn, we're really doing some work here!

A short climb later I managed to get a shot of what we were going to have for dinner later.... I don't think I've ever seen a turkey that HUGE!

This was followed by a short section of the Tour de France - smooth tarmac, but a gradient of 25% at some points!! We would've struggled walking up that, never mind doing it on the bike.. Yesterday, my room-mate for the trip gave me a great explanation of what it means for me to have a compact chainset (50/34) and a 12/28 range at the back, gear-wise. This has just made me more stubborn about giving up climbing than anything else..!

After a well-earned descent, we stopped by at the Bank View Cafe for our 'lunch'. Why the inverted commas? Hot food would've taken 45 minutes, they said - us cycle tourists didn't have the time for that. While chatting away, we realised that none of us could've predicted who we'd be sat with today. A guy from Yorkshire, another from France, one from Las Vegas, and finally, myself all the way from Malaysia!

Jonathan's hot food ended up arriving in 15 minutes, at which point I was beginning to struggle with my cream tea - or, as the others referred to it as I slopped the cream on to my scones, "THE TEMPLE OF FAT". I'm sure I heard people whispering in the distance that it should've been elected the eighth wonder of the world..

Today was the first day I've genuinely needed to wear my soft-shell jacket. I've been perfectly happy in my shorts and jersey prior to this (and have the tan lines to prove it, believe it or not!). The temperatures have started to plummet and the sun seems to have gone back in to hiding behind the clouds. Who knows when we'll see it again? Not good news when you're up in the mountains, but hey, what can you do!

We've decided that this is our favourite part of the day - the daily deed of being on the bike has been done, and we're just chilling out in our hotel rooms. Catching our breath, rather..!

51 miles, but definitely some tough ones.