Yesterday it seemed I could cycle at whatever speed I fancied. My legs were bionic, the wind was at my back and all was well with the world. Today – oh deary me no !
It started off OK in Carlisle, although a bit wet. After a few miles I got out on the open road and for the first time felt the full force of the wind – in my face ! It was ridiculous how difficult it was to cycle and then it started to lash it down with rain. At one point I stopped and hid under a tree whilst a brief but painful storm came through. I’m clearly a Southern Jess because almost horizontal hail had me running for cover whilst I watched three chaps far hardier than I cycle passed. It only lasted a few minutes and then I braved the road again and set off towards our first food rendezvous; only to find those three hardy types huddled under a hedge. Clearly cycling passed me had been an attempt at one-up-manship but I rumbled their game J.
Yesterday afternoon I averaged almost 20mph, today it was at 10mph again. So 2 hours of straining every peddle stroke before slumping to the side of the road and downing hot drinks and many calories. One landmark during this trial of a morning was that I entered my third country – I was now in Scotland !! And didn’t my backside know it. I have seen more rough tarmac and potholes today than at any other point and have the bruises to show for it should anyone wish to see.
The route today followed an old road that zigzagged alongside the current M74 so all day I had the noise of wind and the noise of traffic in my head. Through the rest of the day the wind remained fairly constant and was always across me or into my face. The only change to that came late on as I approached the end of the day when the wind started picking up even more. I’ve just watched the weather forecast for tomorrow – oh joy ! The met. office has a severe gale warning out for......yep, you guessed it, for southern Scotland. I’m to expect gusts up to 70 or 80 mph tomorrow ! I can see my Anglo Saxon vocabulary coming out again. On a more serious note, it may also affect whether I can climb Ben Nevis later in the week.
A quick aside, I heard from someone i met on Snowdon the other day. When I was coming down we stopped and had a quick chat (never miss the chance to say hello to someone). We chatted about this challenge and he promised to remember the name of the website and donate. Well he clearly has a memory way in excess of mine as he made a donation today. Thanks Ian, you're a star !!
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| Wind.........what wind ? |
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| Seen enough of these and what powers them to last a lifetime !! |
Time to rest very weary legs now and look forward to a short (albeit possibly hard) day tomorrow.
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