Day 6 - Shifnal to Youlgreave

Day 6 LEJOG

Another 60ish miles today! Everyone seems to be getting a little fatigued now. A few tough climbs but worth the views from the moor. Some sadistic part of me seems to enjoy tearing up hills for some reason... Heart pounding, feet spinning, thighs burning - There's just something about it that makes me feel so.. ALIVE! Life is for the living, after all :) 

I've probably been eating double the amount I normally eat just to keep up with the amount of energy we're using - in fact today my "food diary" was something like this:-

• 1 weetabix with banana chips, almond slices
• 2 croissants
• 2 poached eggs
• Smoked haddock
• Peanut brunch bar
• Ham butty with mayo and salad
• Scone and butter
• Coffee and Walnut cake
• 2 hydration tablets
• 2 Sausages and 4 portions of mashed potatoes, salad (lettuce and tomatoes), 1 slice buttered bread

I have a feeling that's the only reason I've managed to cope reasonably well so far! It's a little hard to make yourself eat a full English breakfast in the morning but it really does fuel you for the day. Not to mention the odd energy bar I try to eat every hour or so. And the 3-4 litres of water every day.. 

We've managed to arrive at our youth hostel in Youlgreave at about 5pm today. It does feel a little exhausting at times practically living on the bike, but the company makes it enjoyable. 

The final picture is a view of the small village from our room for the night. 

Now to try get some sleep in a room of 4 snoring men.. 

P.S. I can now highly recommend Youlgreave Youth Hostel. Excellent service from reception, from offering to wash our clothes, letting us hang dry them, showing us to the bike storage area, and preparing our meals..

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Day 5 - Hereford to Shifnal

Day 5 of Land's End to John o' Groats!

A 'short' recovery ride today of relatively flat 60 miles to Shifnal in Shropshire. Today I've been riding with Jack from Las Vegas - ex-racer, now seasoned bicycle tourist. He's been on over 30 cycle tours, and counting! This is his second attempt at LEJOG after an unfortunate accident that forced him to abandon it in 2008 relatively early in the tour (in fact, it was where we made that crossing on the ferry..)

Lovely stop in Ludlow, one of the most beautiful towns I've seen so far in England. They also happened to be having their weekly produce market on, which gave a lively feel to the town centre.

Bob had a puncture today as we left Ludlow on a good distance of gravel. Most of us have come to expect a puncture at some point by now, instead of dreading it. Just a case of dealing with it and moving on! 

I learned the hard way a few days ago that I should always carry spares on me. Thankfully I was saved a while later by one of the other cyclists, Barney, who was fortunately much more prepared than I was.

We have once again crossed the Severn River, this time over Ironbridge (now a UNESCO World Heritage Site). A few pictures later and we were off to continue our journey to Shifnal - soon discovering that we were the first ones in! It's far from a race but at the same time I feel like we've done well today. It's definitely the earliest I've arrived at our stop - about a quarter past 4 in the afternoon.

Looking at the map today we've certainly already covered quite a fair bit of the UK and it amazes me just how far we've come. I've finally created a Strava account so do follow me at http://www.strava.com/athletes/1262243 if you'd like to see our rides as we go along.

Let's see what tomorrow brings us :D

Linda and Ray pushing on

Jack looking for some spare parts..

Exciting day in Ludlow

Jack posing for a picture for his journal..

Still can't believe the weather - bright enough for sunnies..

Bob fixing a puncture with some help

Ironbridge

Jack and I on Ironbridge

Route details
(I've finally figured out how to pause the Garmin without losing my data..!)

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Day 4 - Sidcot to Hereford

Today has been absolutely AMAZING! After going across the Welsh borders, we are now in Hereford. It’s been a long 78 mile ride today but definitely some of the most fun I’ve ever had. With a long day planned, I thought I’d just go at my own pace to make it through. By some miracle I managed to catch up with the faster group ahead, and eventually, sunk my claws in! Loads of laughs blasting down hills (and back up again). I’ve never done much group riding but it was great to have a chance to lead the pack of 6 of us and calling out holes, cars and the odd squirrel (or badger, even) that’d unfortunately been run over.

I feel like I’m getting stronger by the day and today somehow felt almost invincible. Maybe it’s all the coffee we’ve been having at the rest stops but my God I just felt like tearing through all the hills we could find.

Managed to get some beautiful shots of the Wye Valley after crossing the Severn Bridge to Chepstow.

Would just like to do a plug for the charity I’m raising money for, Alzheimer Scotland. I’m aiming to raise £500 in total – at 50p per mile, I’d call that value for money!

Please consider doing so here:-

www.justgiving.com/erwanlejog

Thank you everyone who has been supporting me so far with Facebook likes, messages, donations and everything else. It’s been so great and is definitely keeping me going!

Until tomorrow :)

We've been really lucky with the weather..

Crossing the Severn Bridge

We were making good time today, so stopped for some sight-seeing.

A lovely shot of the Wye Valley

All smiles!

Through a park.

Home for the night..

Route details:-

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Day 3 - Exeter to Sidcot

Plodding On

Today we are in Sidcot after some relatively flat cycling, pushing our average speed to about 12.5mph over the day. It's meant to be a 'rest day'. I don't know about you, but 5-6 hours of cycling is far from rest!! Most of us were relatively burned out after yesterday's struggle, so we did still welcome the 'easy' cycling with open arms.

I had the pleasure of visiting the pretty village of Axbridge and got some nice shots of one of the churches there. I did not, however, get to stock-up on energy bars because the guy at the local Co-op wouldn't let me take my bike in :( I sure as hell wasn't going to leave it outside, so I thought I'd just pick some up at the next place.. They're not something I would go without for too long, though. I think the only reason I've made it this far is because I've been making an effort to eat one every hour or so!

The Strawberry Line is a former railway line that I happened to come across by accident. One section of it holds the Shute Shelve Tunnel - a 180m tunnel which changes from soft marl to hard limestone towards the other end. It is pitch-black inside, save for the dim solar-powered lights. It felt surreal going through it on my bike - and a bit eerie as well with the sound of water dripping from the walls and ceiling.

Another rider has decided not to carry on today, which is quite disheartening, especially since we've got our little group that has been getting along so well.


It's hard to even entertain the thought of going through another two weeks of this, but day by day, we will get through this :) Painful as it is... my god I've never felt better about myself :D

The final picture is a view from our home for the night, in Premier Inn.

That's another 68 miles down. About 790 to go :)

Pictures below as usual.

More sunny weather

Quick break..

Someone looks tired..

Jonathan looks well-coordinated with the greenery around him!

Lunch break - Peter met one of his friends who happened to be nearby. I was hoping to do the same at multiple points throughout the trip, but being from Malaysia, my reach of friends didn't go very far in the UK!

A church in Axbridge

The Shute Shelve Tunnel on the Strawberry Line

Pitch black! I didn't stick around long once I got this picture..

The best part about cycling is discovering little things like this.

Unfortunately what I didn't realise was that Chris had mentioned we weren't supposed to come through here! Some back-tracking wasn't going to kill me, but I took what looked like a shortcut (kind of) by carrying my bike up to re-join the main road.

Our view from the hotel

A very spacious room for the night!

Some drinks before dinner.

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Day 2 - Lostwithiel to Exeter

The Road is Ours

We have arrived in Exeter. Today has been the hardest ride I've ever done in my life, going through the highest village in Cornwall and through Dartmoor National Park, with over 6000ft of climbing in total (Mt Everest is 8848ft tall). We left our hotel at 8:30 in the morning and arrived at 6:30 in the evening.

Unfortunately one of our cyclists has decided not to proceed with the tour and it's hard to blame him at all. I've found it as much a mental battle as it is physical and there's just no point going on if you're not in the right state of mind to get some pleasure out of the ride.

Thankfully I've managed to keep up OK so far but I can understand how easy it is to feel like everyone else is just breezing along miles ahead. You've just got to keep reminding yourself that it never gets easier for anyone... you just go faster ;)

Another 62 miles down, 860 to go.

Pictures below:-

Preparing for departure

Chris's white van

A rude awakening

Nearly at the top..

Cute name for a village!

Cafe stop.

Horsebridge

My little victory!

A few of us together at Horsebridge.

Lunch stop

A beautiful view - it's amazing how high up you can get if you ignore the sweat and tears..

Chris making sure we're all still making a move!

The road ahead

The Dartmoor ponies - they're talking about farming them for meat now..?!

Lovely look-out spot. I stopped for a break at this point to stock up on water at the pub opposite. I'd been riding alone for the most part - when you're struggling, you just need to go at your own pace..

Our destination at last!

Tonight's home

Room for the night. The double and single was a bit of a surprise, but I made an arrangement with Jonathan (my roommate for the trip) such that we'd alternate on the larger beds!

Route data:-

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