Day 13, June 29th, Edinburgh to Perth

After our two nights at our respective homes, on Sunday Martin and I did the the return (and last of LEJOG) rail journey north to Edinburgh to recommence our ride. Prior to LEJOG I'd never taken a bike on a train, although Martin had, and each time it has gone very smoothly, with the rail staff very helpful on each occasion.

We arrived at Waverley Station around 2.30pm on a dry, mild afternoon and with 45 miles estimated for the last of our three "half day" rides on the trek to take us to our B&B in Perth. Despite the shoppers and tourists, the traffic in the centre of the city was a little lighter than it had been on Friday and we were soon heading out to the Forth Road Bridge crossing at Queensferry, where, as the discerning reader can no doubt see from the photo below, I made light of quite a strong headwind. 

The ride over the road bridge gave us some superb views of the original Forth Bridge:

Once over the bridge we continued to make decent progress and as we cycled into Hill of Beath, we came across the statue of one of its famous sons, Jim Baxter, one of Scotland's football greats (apologies for the lighting - the sun was right behind it).

A relatively uneventful ride took us into Perth and our B&B for the night, from where we went into the city centre and found a really good restaurant, the Grand Italia. On leaving to make our way back to our berth for the night, we came across a new twist on (a) Scottish national dress:

For those struggling to see the detail, the sporran in the window might be clearer to read!

The final photo opportunity for the evening came as we were about to walk back over Perth Bridge, which spans the River Tay. In full daylight the bridge and the river views were superb, but in the fading light they were augmented by the bridge itself being illuminated, as well as the trees by the water's edge, as you can see from the picture below. It was really impressive and if you added a bit of snow it would look even better!

A good end to the start of the last week. The mileage came in spot on estimate at 45 miles, making a total of 865 miles to date, with an estimated 253 to go.

Day 12, June 27th, North Berwick to Edinburgh

Friday morning was relatively overcast, but Martin was still able to take some stunning photos from the close at the end of which Steve and Lisette live:

We then set off for what turned out to be a speedy (by our standards) ride into Edinburgh, with the aim of being there in good time for our 11am meeting at the Royal Infirmary and, for possibly the first time on LEJOG, we were early! We had the luxury of killing a bit of time near to the hospital, before arriving on time and we then spent over an hour and a half chatting to Professor Garden, my liver surgeon, and the time he gave us was hugely appreciated. I had seen him in 2004 when I had been to Edinburgh on business, but just as when I contacted Mr Morgan at the Royal Infirmary in Lancaster, I had disappeared off his "radar" and so he was unaware of my current well being.

Again as with seeing Mr Morgan, it was great to be able to meet again in such positive circumstances someone who I had first met in challenging times. We were able to talk, amongst other things, about my own medical history, developments (and the greater success it has brought) in medical techniques since my treatment and of course our current expedition. It was a delight to see him again and this is reflected in the photo below:

This year being the 20th anniversary of the surgery by Professor Garden, hopefully the 25th will present a similar opportunity!

We eventually headed off to a shop in the west of the city as Martin needed to try to pick up a spare part for his bike from a specific shop. The visit was successful and we then dashed back to Princes Street where we had arranged to meet Fergus (the younger son of Rob and Joyce, who we had seen in the pub in Hallbankgate) by the Scott Monument and after a quick coffee and a chat (plus photo at at slightly artistic (for which read "odd") angle, below), we boarded the train south from Waverley Station. By the way, Martin admitted that as the day went on his usual standard of navigating our route was a bit off the pace. This was following the phone call he received at lunchtime from his son Jamie to say that he had been awarded first class honours for his degree - sitting opposite Martin and watching his reaction when he heard the news, I'm not surprised his mind was elsewhere!

The journey south was to enable me (apart from to have a rest!) to attend with my family the wedding of my nephew Brendan to his bride Kate in Cheshire, with a return to Edinburgh planned for Sunday, so we could pick up where we had left off.

By the time we'd reached Waverley Station on Friday we'd done 41 miles in an abbreviated day, bringing our total to 820 miles to date and with an estimated 298 remaining for the final week - in theory it would be an easy last few days, certainly in terms of overall distance. We'll see what transpires!

Day 11, June 26th - Gordon Arms to North Berwick

A short blog for a shortish day. It was a great start, not least because the blogs were up to date at last and we only had an estimated 55 miles to cover in the day to reach our next stop in North Berwick.

We had had a really good stay at the Gordon Arms which we can thoroughly recommend - it ticked all the key boxes - the welcome, the value, the comfortable room, the food + the generosity of the people we met with all the cash donations we received there (including many thanks to Tom the owner - in the picture below):

It was a cool but fine morning and we set off at a good pace, with our first stop after a bit of climbing being Innerleithen, enabling a stock up on medical supplies (see blog for day 7 and the Morrison's "incident").

Heading for the coast from an elevated start meant (as we knew!) that overall we would be losing height over the day, so the cycling should be relatively gentle and so it proved. Also, for once, we were not under time pressures. We stopped for a non-alcoholic lunch in a pub in Pathhead and shortly after we left came across a magnificent poppy field:

The rest of the afternoon followed with easy cycling through lovely open rolling countryside, broken only by a stop for refreshments in Haddington, before arriving at my long standing friends Steve and Lisette's house in North Berwick shortly after 5pm - which was slightly disorientating - we're not used to reaching our destinations so early!

This left us in the unusual position of a having time for a long relaxing evening - sufficient time to talk about friends, times gone by, Steve & Lisette's home which is in a superb position (hopefully a photo of the view from their house will be in Friday's blog) and which they have transformed since moving in less than two years ago, plus Lisette's increasing insistence as the evening went on as to how much I look like my Mum - that'll do for me!

The mileage for the day was a modest 59, meaning that we're up to 779 in total - it looks like we will have cycled over 800 miles by the end of this week. Bring on Friday's even more modest distance into Edinburgh, but the significance of the day will be the expected meeting at the Royal Infirmary with my liver surgeon, Professor Garden.

Ian

Day 10, June 25th - Hallbankgate to Gordon Arms, Yarrow

Day 10 started well in Hallbankgate. We had stayed at the Old School House B&B and it was superb - great welcome, great room and great food.

The estimated mileage for the day again wasn't too bad (60) miles and the weather was looking ok, with more cloud than we have been used to, but a moderate temperature.

After steady progress, albeit over quite undulating terrain, we were both surprised by the speed of our arrival in Scotland, 21 miles into our ride for the day and a mere 676 miles since the start of our adventure (as you can see, Martin has got over his surprise in the photo below):

Lunch was taken in a cafe in Langholm and we were given the first two of several cash donations during the day. One motorcyclist using the cafe and who was out biking with friends had lost someone to bowel cancer and kindly made a donation, as did the lady who owned the cafe. She also would not accept payment for our lunch and realising we had already paid for it returned the cash which became a further donation - many thanks to both if them.

The afternoon saw us cycling into the most remote countryside we have encountered so far, towards Eskdalemuir and the Ettrick. Much of the area we went through is coniferous woodland, with logging going on on a huge scale. 

One thing we did not expect was the Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery and Tibetan Centre at Eskdalemuir, which we were told, when we called in, was founded in 1967.

You will notice from the photo that I'm wearing something which may look unusual - something to keep off the rain, which is the first time that has happened since we started the ride.  The weather closed in as the afternoon progressed and it was fairly continuous for the last 2-3 hours cycling. It gave an added sense of urgency, helped also by improved roads with fewer climbs for much of the afternoon. With the poorer conditions, Martin was sufficiently inspired by the sight of our accommodation, The Gordon Arms, in the distance that he had to photograph it:

It was great to get there and get rid of our wet clothing and the evening was made even better (on top of the good food) by three cash donations from people we met in the bar, including some who had lost someone to bowel cancer. It's been one of those days when again you come across people who have been affected by the disease and also people who simply recognise what you are doing and want to show their support - a good day, which makes what we are doing feel really worthwhile. 

Ian

Day 9, June 24th - Kendal to Hallbankgate

A slightly cooler morning, and today we are four, plus we are travelling lighter than usual.

We were joined by Martin's friends Sam Clifford (unfairly young and indecently fit) and Simon Kent (closer to our age and taking that into account, similarly indecently fit - it was Simon who had kindly given us the lift to and from the Brewery last night).

By the way, the above photo has me at the front of the pack for the only time in the day, with normal service being resumed once we had set off, although, to be fair, much of the time we we also riding as pairs, giving me the opportunity to chat (when I wasn't out of breath) with both Sam and Simon.

Simon's wife Annie also arrived to pick up the kit we didn't need during the day, which she would return to us that evening, when she met us to take Simon home. 

We set off at a very civilised 11am - almost certainly the latest start we will have on a full cycling day and left Kendal to do the long climb up to Shap Summit, which wasn't as bad as I had feared. Shap of course (as did Kendal) used to be on the main western route up to Scotland before the building of the M6 and a pig of a journey it must have been, particularly in bad weather. We stopped at the summit for a photo at the memorial to everyone who used the road, maintained it and provided shelter to travellers over the years.

We duly reached Shap itself and stopped for lunch (not a huge number of miles done, but we had set off late and it was certainly lunchtime. A really good lunch followed in the Abbey Coffee Shop in Shap (I branched out - I had jacket potato with coronation chicken), which we can highly recommend. One of the features was the range of tea cosies on display on the various tables, witness Simon's 'friend' on ours:

When settling up, I got chatting to the owner Derek about what we were doing and he very kindly made a donation, which was very much appreciated. All in all, an excellent place (and I'm not just saying that because of Derek's generosity!)

A really pleasant afternoon's cycling followed across the high countryside to the north east of the Lake District, with Sam leaving mid-afternoon to try to catch the train south from Penrith as he had a cycling event in the evening! 

Simon, Martin and I arrived in Hallbankgate just after 6.30pm where we met Simon's wife Annie, plus Rob and Joyce who lived opposite in Kendal when I was having my medical problems in the 1990s. They were on their way back from a wedding in Poland and were heading home having landed at Prestwick in the afternoon and had wanted to see us en route - as ever it was much appreciated that people should go out of their way to see us.

Martin and I were left to have our quiet pub meal - apparently there was football on the television in the main bar, but nothing of interest! Afterwards it was back to our excellent b&b for a really good night's sleep with, hopefully a not too taxing day tomorrow.

Day's stat (note there is never any reference to average mph or similar - we're not stupid!) - 55 miles (bang on the estimate), making a total of 655 covered and less than 450 (estimated!) to do. We're getting there!

Day 8, June 23rd - Littleborough to Kendal

A long day ahead, with the Trough of Bowland to negotiate and a commitment to be in The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal from 9pm onwards, and so we had decided to set off from Nigel and Sheila's by 8am. 

So after the necessary photos (thanks to Nigel and Sheila for their welcome and their hospitality)  we set off bang on 9am, so only an hour late from the start!

All was ok for the best part of 7 miles, until the first (and hopefully last!) crash and boy was it spectacular (not).

We'd just stopped briefly at Morrison's in Todmorden, and were setting off. Martin launched himself forward on his bike, I, immediately behind him did the same pushing on my right pedal, immediately running into his back wheel and then toppling over. I must have been doing the best part of 2mph, but with my panniers on the back I just tipped over sideways, managing to land on the ground with my left knee and right hand, but inconveniently my left shin landing on the chain wheel, which made a lovely mess!

What a great way to lose another half hour. Having tried to clean the shin in the gents, we decided it could do with a more thorough cleaning, especially as there was oil everywhere, and Martin had the bright idea of asking the store for assistance from a first aider. Tammy proceeded to very efficiently tidy things up, whilst Martin took photos to record the event for posterity. 

Anyway, that was an hour and a half behind schedule and we'd still only covered 7 miles.

We successfully, this time, negotiated the exit to Morrisons and set off, again with the great weather continuing so we could enjoy the route at its best. 

A jacket potatato stop at Sue's Sandwich Bar and Take-Away in Padiham (good food and best mugs of tea so far on the trip in my humble opinion) gave us the opportunity to meet Molly, a delightful German Shepherd pup, only a couple of months old:

It was then onward to the isolated beauty of the Trough of Bowland, which was a slog for me in particular (Martin observed that every afternoon I have an energy dip, before picking up steam late in the day). Anyway I followed instructions about the pace of my climb as can be seen below:

By now, unsurprisingly we were beginning to wonder if we had time to get back to Martin's house in Kendal, eat, clean ourselves up and get to the Brewery by 9pm. Martin started to think about a "Plan B" and said one possibility would be to finish cycling for the day at Kirkby Lonsdale, get a lift into Kendal and then a lift back to Kirkby Lonsdale the following morning, thereby lengthening Tuesday's ride. We decided to push on and see what progress we made and as we approached Kirkby Lonsdale we concluded that with a slight change of route, risking the main A65, and pushing on hard, timings might just work out. I obligingly got my second wind and we eventually arrived at Martin's at 8.25pm. 

We managed to fit in part of our evening meal and an abbreviated clean up and dashed on to The Brewery (aided by being spotted en route by Martin's friend Simon, who was able to give us a lift, and we arrived "only" 20 minutes late.

We were delighted to see outside the crowd of friends and my in-laws, Madeline and Gary, who had all turned out to see us. We had a really enjoyable evening with them and completely forgot to take any photos of the assembled group (I remembered the following morning), but fortunately some photos were taken of us, the one below courtesy of Don Shore, who sent it to me the following day.

Two reasons for looking happy were that the 75 miles we had done that day brought our total mileage covered to precisely 600, which over 7.5 days meant we had averaged 80 miles per day, but also we were now clearly past half way and only had an estimated 55 miles to do the following day - which could mean a lie-in! 

Ian

Day 7, June 22nd - Hartford to Littleborough

Well here we go again (in more ways than one - I've just managed to lose everything I drafted - failed to save what I had typed and then switched out of the blog to check something - what a xxxx!).

Week 2 and we set off from my home in Hartford with a good weather forecast, although things are expected to change in the second half of the week. We headed for Macclesfield on a lovely morning, with easy cycling and made good progress, enabling me to take time out to photograph a hedge:

You may well ask why I photographed this hedge, given that we've passed quite a few on our journey so far. The answer dear reader is that behind that hedge is a link (some might say a tenuous one) to the world of cycling greats and a story of what might have been. Behind the hedge a few miles before Macclesfield is a field where I spent many a happy hour (and some not so, in bad weather) lifting and stacking sods (of turf, for laying in gardens). As a sixth former and a university student I spent much if my holidays working in landscape gardening and the field was a prime source of lawn turf.

In June 1971 we doing work in the garden of Reg Harris (if that name means nothing to you, Google, or equivalent, his name). Reg had been a multiple world champion and when we were working at his impressive house, Reg would arrive home during the day in his Porsche, get on his bike, no doubt cycle a very long way very rapidly, and then head off again in his car. The training clearly paid off as three years later he won a British title in his 50s (if only I was just a few years younger!). What I saw as an impressionable teenager (including the Porsche!) and if only Reg had given me some advice as to how to emulate him, who knows how my cycling career might have developed. Unfortunately, before the job was finished I headed off to spend the rest of the summer working in Canada,  Reg and I never had the chance to have that conversation and my cycling dreams were never pursued - until now.

Anyway, back to more sensible reminiscences. Our good progress continued and we actually arrived in Macclesfield  ahead of schedule. That gave us the time to do a tour of the town and take a trip down memory lane, particularly for Martin's benefit. First stop was our old school King's which like everything in the the town Martin was seeing for the first time since June 1969:

The buildings at the front of the school, from the outside at least, are exactly as they were in 1969, it's just a pity we aren't!

We also managed to fit in a visit to Martin's old home, follow his route to school and even see the shop (now used for a different purpose) where Martin bought his Three Castles cigarettes - a sophisticated brand, for a teenager, like so many, desperate to appear sophisticated and mature. By the way, he saw the light and gave up smoking years ago.

The main reason for going via Macclesfield was actually to see my Mum and we arrived, remarkably, on time and to the first bunting in our honour (I don't think it was outside Mum's for the World Cup). Lots of friends and relatives were there, and in terms of reunions, it was a little like our visit to Wedmore the previous Wednesday, with people variously seeing each other for the first time since the 90s, 80s and even 60s. One of our scout leaders from the 1960s, Peter Hibbert, couldn't be there, but kindly gave a letter to my Mum with reminiscences of our time in St Paul's. 

Most of those who made it are in the photo below. I'll just pick out my Mum, who is just behind me in the photo below (where I hear you ask is the bunting? I didn't make it up - it's off camera to the right)

We had a smashing hour and a half at Mum's with plenty of refreshments and we then took our leave to head north towards our destination in Littleborough. The cycling remained easy, particularly as we cycled along the Middlewood Way, a lovely walking/cycling/riding way north through Poynton, with lots of people doing all those activities and enjoying the weather:

Ok, there's only me on this bit, but it really was lovely. After a short while it dawned on Martin that what we were cycling on was actually the old railway line that he had used very day during his last term at school. His parents had moved at Easter 1969 when his father became manager of a bank in Rochdale and Martin had spent weekdays for the last term in digs in Poynton. In 1970, the year after he left (coincidence?), they obviously decided there was no longer any need to keep the line open and the Middlewod Way was born.

That's enough of reminiscences and related fabrications, at least for now. Sunday afternoon remained glorious as did many of the views as we continued north up into the hills to the east of Manchester and on the western side of the Pennines. There really are some pretty villages up there (the stone may not have the softer, more honeyed appearance of, say, villages in the south west, but they looked good to us!), as well as some cracking looking pubs, almost invariably with lots if people outside enjoying the weather.

You might actually think from the above photo that where we were was quite isolated, but actually, apart from being able to see across to Manchester and be among the hills, we just kept coming across pub after pub, and you can't be isolated if you're near a pub!

Our progress inevitably slowed a bit up in the hills, but we still made reasonable time, until the approach to Littleborough, when for the first and to date only time we got split up. It would be wrong to apportion blame, particularly as Martin and I will both see this blog before it's published and we can't afford discord, but the upshot was that we probably added about 20 minutes to our final descent into Littleborough to Nigel and Sheila's house and the funny sight of a very helpful couple giving us the thumbs up, with big smiles on their faces as we cycled passed them, that being the third time I had seen them in under half an hour, having asked them for directions after I'd lost Martin.

Arrival at Nigel and Sheila's (old friends of Martin) followed shortly after, as did a very convivial evening with great food and, with hindsight, a tad too much alcohol!

And the stat for the day - 75 miles against an estimate of 72. It's getting more accurate, as we'd expected. 525 miles done, an estimated 552 to go - nearly half way!

Day 6, June 20th - Norton to Hartford

Remember the estimate of 93 miles!

Back to the start of the day. After a really good breakfast, addressing cycling related medical matters (enough said!), a tour of the delightful garden and a photo opportunity with our hosts Chris and Jack,  (see below), we set off only an hour behind schedule. 

The timing would have less of a problem, apart from having already arranged to meet up with Archie Scott, a distant relative of Scilla (we're staying with Scilla and Graham in Golspie the nights either side of our planned arrival in John O'Groats) and a lunchtime meeting to the west of Shrewsbury with Helen Crofts, an actuary I know, having indicated times to each which were to say the least at risk. To add complication (did we need any?) we had no mobile phone signal for much of the morning. Oh, and by the way, we also had to get back home to Hartford to call in to see elder son George at his 18th birthday party at a local golf club, today also being the day of George's last A level exam.

We managed to meet up with Archie, who has done LEJOG a couple of times, in Knighton and we had a really enjoyable couple of hours cycling with him. 

Fortunately most of our cycling was over gently undulating terrain, although the difference in cycling capability became horribly obvious going up the first significant incline. Archie hardly slowed down at all, Martin did so noticeably more and I just watched the two of them disappear into the distance.

Before going our separate ways I did suggest to Archie that, given a couple of years' training on my part in particular, he might be prepared to join us again for a day out on our bikes. In any event, it was really enjoyable cycling with him and we were grateful for him taking the time to join us.

We then set off to meet up with Helen in a place which didn't exist on our map and for most of the time without a signal to enable us to harness satellite technology to track down the precise location. Gradually our likely time of arrival at the pub Helen had selected slipped back and the only consolation was the countryside we were cycling through (the Welsh border counties have really given us some beautiful views - note Martin has caught my good side in the photo below).

Finally we met up with Helen in Coedway at 3pm, a mere three hours after the time I had indicated the night before (sorry again, Helen!) and we then had a good lunch, but not before Martin had come across the vehicle of his dreams - that dear reader is a Triumph motorbike (with Helen and the bike owner standing behind) and it has a 2.3 litre engine. Martin used to motorcycle in his younger days - what does that look tell you?

Thanks also to Helen for coming out of her way to meet us (and for waiting a very, very long time for us to appear!).

By the time we left Helen, we still had 50+ miles to go (how "+" we didn't know) and the risk of us not making last orders was becoming an increasing possibility. We rattled along at what by our standards was a very good pace, aided by terrain which was kind to us. We stopped in Ellesmere (more of that later) after 7pm for refuelling (I was certainly starting to fade a bit by them) and then made good time hampered only really by the gathering darkness. Whist we both had lights, when you are cycling along back roads, particularly with a lot of tree cover, seeing the road surface and being able to spot potholes becomes increasingly challenging. 

Eventually we arrived at Hartford Golf Club at 11.05pm (it's a good job there was a late bar). Unfortunately the gloss was taken off the occasion, because Martin could not find his wallet, which amongst the usual items in a wallet also had things relevant to our trip. He quickly concluded that he had almost certainly left it in Ellesmere.

The end result was, after Martin had made the necessary phone calls, early Saturday morning he went down to Ellesmere and also Malpas, to see if he could retrieve the wallet (to date to no avail), and then making his planned journey back home to Kendal, before returning for the start of week 2 from Hartford on Sunday morning.

It was a bit of an inconvenience, especially for Martin, but otherwise it has so far been a marvellous experience. I'm typing this without Martin's usual input, but he may well add his own thoughts later.

A few observations from me:

1. We cycled, taking the mileage from Martin's computer, which gives more conservative figures than mine, 462 miles against the first week estimate of 413 miles (I omitted to mention that Friday's total distance came in at 112 miles, versus the estimated 93 - no wonder I was tired!)

2. That means, especially as we expect actual distances over the remaining two weeks to be somewhat closer to the estimates (with possible exceptions!), we have done over 40% of the total mileage for our route for LEJOG and it is likely that we have already had the two longest days by distance on the whole trip.

3. The weather so far has been really kind, with no rain since we started.

4. The weather has also helped us enjoy some stunning scenery, particularly the Welsh border counties.

5. Much as I love Cornwall as a county, from the perspective of LEJOG, with its hills, a number of people have said the first couple of days through Cornwall are the worst. Agreed!

6. The people we have met have been great, including all our hosts wherever we have stayed and those we have just met along the way. What has been clear through conversations has been the number of people who have known or been related to someone who had been afflicted by bowel cancer. Hopefully there has been the odd conversation which will prove useful for someone in the future.

That's enough for week one. Week two starts Sunday morning with a vist to Macclesfield to see my Mum and for Martin to see his old school for the first time since 1969 (to put that into some kind of perspective, when he last saw King's School, man had not yet landed on the moon, the UK still used shillings and pence and England were holders of the World Cup - now that certainly makes it seem a long time ago!).

Ian

Day 6 - Holding Update UPDATED!

Dear Reader,

Just a quick comment. The blog for Friday June 20th will follow later. In the meantime, to hopefully avoid any confusion, if you read down the blog, you will see that the post for day 4 now comes after the post for day 5. I made some tweaks to the blogs for both these days and they have switched order. Don't be confused and if I work out how to I will correct the order in which they appear.

PROBLEM NOW RESOLVED, WITH GRATEFUL THANKS TO PINNINGTONS OPTICIANS! 

Ian

P.S. Rest day today! (Actually, there are lots of things to do, it's just that they don't involve sitting on a bike.)

Day 5, June 19th - Bristol to Norton

Day 5 started a bit like days 2-4, namely, sleeping like a log, struggling to get out of bed, but after a good breakfast feeling surprisingly ok. Also, it is an increasingly mad dash to sort out the blog (late arrivals the night before mean it's being carried over to the following morning - must be better organised!).

The weather was glorious this morning in Bristol, and after an early departure for work of one of our hosts, Pam, we were joined by my cousin Julie, who also lives in Bristol, to send us off for the day. After I'd at last finished the blog, we were able to set off only 20 minutes behind schedule, but we did manage to fit in plenty of photos, the one below being with our other host, Mike. By the way, thanks to Mike and Pam for their generous hospitality - great hosts.

Note that artistic composition has taken precedence over the need to actually see people through the shadows in the photo!

What followed was what was arguably the best day so far in terms of weather, with light clouds and pleasant breezes, plus some stunning views. We made good progress out of Bristol (despite the odd big hill!) towards the two Severn bridges, the older one of which took us over towards Wales. 

We then spent the rest of the day cycling through the (largely) gently rolling countryside of Monmouthshire and Herefordshire and some of the views really were stunning, the one below, with Martin looking wistfully on, towards Hay-on-Wye and beyond.

The route kept us close to the England/Wales border and we ended the day just in Wales, in Norton, which is close to Herefordshire and Shropshire, but is in Radnorshire (officially Powys these days, but we'll stick with the traditional name). We arrived, with the original estimated 75 miles turning into an actual 86 (is their a theme here?) and we were really well looked after by Chris and Jack Ruby at Corte Cottage (including home made cider!).

Right, it's Friday morning and we have an estimated 93 miles today. Given the actuals v. estimates to date, will this be the first 100 mile day? Watch this space!

Ian

P.S. Note the lack of mention of last night's football!

Day 4, June 18th - Westcott to Bristol

An early start today, as we had an afternoon appointment in Wedmore.

I typed up the blog update for yesterday, while Martin sorted the bikes out and after a couple of biscuits and a mug of tea we were on the way before 8am. 

We got 10+ miles under our belts on a lovely morning and we came across The Strand Cafe in Culmstock, where we had a proper breakfast and very good it was too - a highly recommended refuelling stop. 

We arrived in Wedmore, having done about 55 miles and we met up with friends and family (more photos will be put in the photo gallery, when I get that updated, which will now probably be at the weekend). Most significantly for the cause we are supporting, the two most important people we saw were Avril Vaughan-Lee and Jeremy Lambart, who are with us in the photo below.

The story behind the photo is that I, together with two friends, Joan, who joined us today, and Jono, who we sadly lost in 1998, met Avril and her friend Susan (again sadly no longer with us) on a skiing course in 1994. We have always kept in touch, although we haven't met in person for about 10 years.

When I told Avril about the planned ride she said she would start raising money for the cause. She also mentioned her friend Jeremy, who not very long ago lost someone to bowel cancer. I'd told Avril we would make sure our route went through Wedmore where she lives and so this week we were able to meet up. Avril and Jeremy had raised between them over £400 and they each gave us a cheque for their very welcome and much appreciated donations (now added to the JustGiving page!)

We spent longer than planned in Wedmore, but for very good reasons (Also my sister Kate, who has like me has known Martin since our schooldays, was catching up with him for the first time since my wedding in 1995) and we then bade our respective farewells and headed off towards our overnight stop with Martin's friends Mike and Pam in Bristol.

Not far out of Wedmore, the first surprise (to me at least) of the last leg of the day was the need to get over the Mendips rather than round them. One of the roads over them was closed so Martin asked a lady who was gardening for an alternative route, which she helpfully gave us. Unfortunately, she chipped in at the end, "they're called the cardiac hills", for which I thanked her, and we set off doing our best to ignore that parting observation.

As it turned out, we could understand why she said what she did. The ascent was steep and long, plus it was very warm. Martin, of course getting to the top well ahead of me, had time to snap me as I toiled along, the evidence of which is here.

The only consolation is that in still photos I look as if I'm cycling much faster than I really am!

Once we were over the Mendips (great views from the top!) we had some lovely cycling on towards Bristol, apart from a severe hill to get us to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, where one of our hosts, Mike, completed the photography for the day.

Can you spot the look of relief after another long day? 82 miles, warm weather, some big hills (but not as bad as those in Cornwall!) and off to Mike and Pam's for a well earned rest.

Ian

Day 3, June 17th - Stoke Climsland to Westcott

After the rigours of Monday, the prospect of "only" 55 miles on day 3 was quite attractive. After a good night's sleep and a leisurely start (many thanks to Phil and Lesley for looking after us so well) we set off just after 10am and within a couple of miles we had left Cornwall behind and crossed into Devon, where Martin was given an enthusiastic welcome by one resident. It was just a pity that in his excitement (not Martin's) he forgot to face the camera.

By the way, this was at the start of yet another long climb. The day, albeit with some headwinds against us (where are these prevailing south westerlies?), was characterIsed by lovely weather and some marvellous views. After a steady climb past Brentor and after Lydford, we arrived at the Granite Way, with yours truly below at the start of it.

This photo was just after we'd fallen into conversation with a couple of chaps, one of whom said that the hills in Devon were worse than those in Cornwall. We decided, if only for our psychological well being, to ignore that comment.

As it turned out, on Tuesday at least, the hills weren't as bad as Monday's (perhaps we were just lucky with our route) and we were treated to some lovely views, such as beyond Martin on a (very high) viaduct on the Granite Way.

The Granite really was lovely flat cruising and we had a gentle descent into Okehampton, where we met three ladies who were cycling from Ilfracombe to Plymouth using cycle route 27. We then stopped at a cafe and had a good lunch (jacket potatoes with lots of filling), which set us up well for the afternoon. Martin was getting increasingly confident about the day's distance and we eventually arrived at our accommodation in Westcott in daylight and with just 54 miles on the clock. We had a superb meal in the Merry Harriers pub and after phone calls to several people about meeting up on the way, we retired for yet another really good night's sleep.

By the way, it looks like it will be the weekend, when I have access to my laptop, that I will be able to update the photo gallery.

We're now about to make an early start, as we're due to see friends and family today and we don't want to be late!

Ian

Day 2, June 16th - Hayle to Stoke Climsland

I mentioned this morning to Phil, one of our hosts (Many thanks to Phil and Lesley for looking after us so well), I need to write something positive for the blog for yesterday. "Well, you got here!" Was the reply.

Actually, most of yesterday was great, but it just went on and on and on!

Anyway, back to Hayle. Thanks to the two who looked after us in The Italian Kitchen on Sunday evening. We had a really good meal and friendly service. Thanks also to Pauline at the Mad Hatter's B & B - a great night's sleep and a cracking breakfast - a full English + lots of fruit - that's what I call a balanced diet! Anyway, we can happily recommend both places and great for anyone doing LEJOG (or JOGLE).

Back to the cycling. The estimated distance for the day was 76 miles, so double the previous afternoon's distance, and after a leisurely start, refreshed after day one, we initially made good progress, although we were quickly into the fun of Cornish hills and the challenges (for Martin) of following the route through a rabbit warren of obscure lanes. We had the odd detour, stopped several times to ask directions and probably added the odd mile to our route. We stopped in Perranporth for toasted tea cakes and decided that we would have Cornish pasties in Padstow. I was having occasional problems with my chain coming off (v messy), but we dully arrived in Padstow having just made 50 miles for the day.

Having consumed our pasties we just had time for a photo opportunity, the evidence of which is below (sorry Roz if this makes you envious!)

I was feeling pretty happy as we had less than 30 miles to go and we had the flat 13 mile Camel Trail (courtesy of Dr Beeching) ahead of us to take us to Bodmin.

It was fine to Bodmin, but by then reassessing the route, the remaining mileage (and time) started to rise.

The end result, after what seemed like an ever increasing number of mechanical problems (one broken chain then one chain off) and hills (the more tired I got, the more frequent they became and the slower was my progress up them) was that we arrived at Phil and Lesley's in darkness, both front lights having expired (Martin's head torch was used as back up) with our hosts worrying where we had got to. 

And the main reason? Remember the estimated mileage for the day at outset was 76 miles. As it worked out, the official, i.e. Martin's recorded, mileage - a mere 90.4! And if you went by mine (my computer's working again) 91.9! So we were about 15 miles over the estimate for the day and about the same distance further than I had ever cycled in one day. Throw in the Cornish hills and it's no wondered I was tired (Martin was fine, but then again he's younger (those 13 days really count) and more importantly, a lot fitter than I am. 

Anyway, after beer, wine, a tasting of home made cider under development, lasagne and strawberries and clotted cream, with yours truly struggling to stay awake throughout, we retired for yet another great night's sleep. 

Tuesday morning - refreshed and only 55 miles estimated for today (I'll believe that when I see it!). Surely today will be easier. Read the next blog to find out.

P.S. Still having problems uploading photos to the gallery - bear with me!

Ian

The first objective achieved - we've started!

Thankfully, everything went ok for our scheduled start. We reached Birminham New Street in plenty of time for our train to Penzance (and for Roz to take photos) and five and a half hours later, at around 2.45pm, we arrived to a pleasant sunny afternoon. After the official photo on the platform before we set off for the Prologue (as they say, for technical reasons, I can't upload the first photos tonight, but hopefully will be able to tomorrow evening), we were underway just after 3pm. Everything went fine for all of about 800 yards (for younger readers, I think that's about 730 metres), when I realised that I was either going at 0 mph, or my bike computer wasn't functioning - having had all of three and a half  hours sleep Saturday night and no lunch, as we'd guessed incorrectly when the refreshment trolley would make it's last appearance on the train, it was a close call as to what the problem was. In the event, having stopped and fiddled with sensors, I gave up the computer and will try to sort it out for Monday morning.

We duly arrived at Land's End 12 miles later and before anything else we rapidly consumed a Cornish pasty each - very good they were too.

After the obligatory photos in front of the signpost, we set off again and duly arrived this evening in Hayle, where I typing this sitting outside an Italian restaurant feeling a lot better after a proper meal.

Hat's off to Martin's estimation of mileage for today's afternoon first leg - he'd estimated 38 miles and it came in at 37.62 (it may have been short, but there are a heck of a lot of hills!). Tomorrow, we're expecting to do double today's distance 76 miles and lots more hills - deep joy!

That's it for day one and many thanks from the two of us for the interest, the good wishes and the donations that have been coming in.

And so to bed.

Ian

Well, after 18 months of intense hot weather/cold weather/altitude/track/road/gym training we're nearly ready to start our attempt at LEJOG. Actually, to be more accurate, the training of any consistency and frequency only really got underway around the beginning of April, in Martin's case because in February he spent a week in hospital in Dundee, after significantly overestimating his freestyle skiing capabilities up in Glenshee! In practice, the interruption in his cycling activities was helpful to me as his fitness was so far ahead of mine, that it (marginally) narrowed the fitness gap between us.

Since the beginning of April we've managed to cycle most weeks together, although in my case the training is reminiscent of when I was running marathons in the 1980s and the final preparation always seemed to be when doing the event itself!

We have a route, which for reasons mentioned elsewhere in this blog is a bit longer than the classic distance for this ride and will involve the two of us (plus anyone who wants to join us en route), with stopovers arranged, mostly by Martin, at B&Bs or with friends or relatives (thanks in advance to all for their hospitality).

Last week (June 4th) I'm really pleased that we were able to call in to see Mr Morgan, my bowel surgeon at the Infirmary in Lancaster, who I had not seen for around 20 years (see the Photo Gallery). The hospital had issued a press release prior to our visit and, as a result, I was interviewed on Radio Cumbria on the morning of the visit and when we arrived at the hospital there were representatives of Radio Lancashire, the Lancaster Guardian, the Westmorland Gazette and Granada Reports.

Even before we have started the ride, the profile we have been given by the media has been remarkable and we're grateful to the various organisations for this. An example of this is the piece on Granada Reports, which was broadcast that evening, the link to which is below:

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2014-06-04/man-returns-to-thank-surgeon-after-20-years-of-being-cancer-free/

Hopefully we will make good use of the publicity we have been given to help raise awareness of bowel cancer and its symptoms, as well funds for Beating Bowel Cancer.

That's probably just about it until we've actually got underway next Sunday. I'll do my best to provide frequent updates en route and we look forward to meeting as many people as possible along the way. If anyone when looking at the route thinks we may be cycling in their area, if they would like to join us on their bikes or would just like to say hello, you will be very welcome and if they would like any more information, please get in touch (Our email addresses and mobile phone numbers are on the Contact page).