Dungeness to Durness

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mcshroom

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
Day 3.

Today there's no trains, no ferries, just actual cycling :smile:

I started off by visiting a bike shop in Girton as my rear hub was starting to loosen. Then it was onto the Guided Busway out to St Ives. Unlike the central Cambridge section of day 2, this was a quiet stretch, with the occasional roar of a bus flying past. It started raining so I pit on my waterproof for the first time on tour, which stayed on for the rest of the day.

The black and white rudor houses were still present, but more and more there were thatched buildings dotted among their more modern neighbours.

Riding into Huntingdon the view from the cylists bridge showed workers repairing the town's much older stone bridge. Then I had a nice walk through the town centre past a very old looking church.

After Huntingdon the hills started and the road was pretty busy until, after passing RAF Alconbury, I was released onto little country lanes through the fields and hedges.

This would have been lovely cycling country, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier. By Stilton it was so wet I hid under a bus shelter for a while and rung out my gloves.

Then I passed a memorial to French POWs from the Napoleonic wars and pucked my way through the maze of cycle ways in Peterborough, before leaving through a country park with swans and barges in a lake.

Leaving the lake it was back into the rolling hills, and still raining hard. I stopped for a late lunch at a tea shop and changed gloves. It's amazing how good a dry pair of gloves feel when you are soaking!

Back into the rain I carried on to Stamford, over another historic bridge and, after negotiating the rush hour traffic, released again into soggy countryside. By now it was becomming a case of picking your line on the bits of road above water.

About 10 km from Grantham I met some marshals for a club TT. Apparently the rain had put people off so there were only 10 entries. I was also invited to enter (er - no). Then after one soggy pathI reached the highest point of the day (only 148m), and rolled down into Grantham.

The last bit came as a surprise. After picking my way through the one way system I thought I was almost done, but I hadn't realised that the Travelodge was the other side of a steep hill. This last hill with 137km in my legs was the steepest of the day up to Great Gonerby. I had to switch to the tiny granny gear - but at least the rain stopped.

From Gonerby the road then plunged back down and I rolled into the services, booked in (confusing the receptionist by not having a licence plate for the ar park), and hung all my wet gear up to dry.

The next stop is mum and dad's. I don't think I've cycled there for about 20 years.

Day 3s route - https://www.relive.cc/view/1529731495
 

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mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
I did think of you yesterday as I watched the rain lash the fens from my lofty perch of 6m. Good move to stop in a bus shelter for a bit: there's precious little cover on the fens but also not many buses either now so I doubt that you were in anyone's way.

Was the busway passable to St Ives again now? Last report on https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/guided-busway-cambridgeshire.232432/ was that part was still flooded.

May today contain fewer surprises!
 
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mcshroom

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
Right. Bit of catching up.

Day 4.

This was a short day, and I was finishing at my parents' house in Rotherham.

I set off about 9:30, being glad that my cycling gear had dried out on its hangers in the hotel room (I'm not sure what the cleaning staff would have made of the smell). Immediately I found a road closed sign. As the only other options were to head back south or ride on the A1, I decided to ride passed the sign and carry on. Having reached the road closed sign at the other end without seeing any roadworks, I have no idea why it was clossed. Then I decided to avoid the muddy drove road on my planned route and take a parallel road back towards the A1. Unfortunately that didn't cross the A1, and I ended up running with my bike across the dual carriageway into Foston.

From Foston the excitement settled down. I rode through fields of rapeseed and young wheat before picking up an old railway cyclepath into Newark. Stopping outside the impressive town church to add my arm warmers in the cold wind.

After crossing the Trent at Newark, I then jumped onto a big rural A road, the A616 as the most direct route towards Sherwood Forest. It was actually pretty lightly trafficed for an A road; less busy than some of the B roads I'd used further south, and I quickly rode along the well surfaced road until stopping for lunch in a village called Kneesall.

From there the heavy showers started, but after a short nusy stretch of road I turned into the tranquil tracks of NCN6 through Clumber Park.

From Clumber Park I then passed though Worksop along the canal in the sunshine, before being caught in the open a little further down the canal by a ridiculously heavy, hail/rain mixed squall. The little tree I tried to hide under didn't really help much.

Heading into Rotherham is hilly in just about any direction. I climbed from the canal up to Thorpe Salvin, before bouncing over 3 different hill ridges, and crossing the M1 and M18 before riding into a showery Rotherham at about 5pm.

This just left the final challenge. There was a reason I didn't cycle much when I was younger - we lived at the top of a hill and the roads up were steep. I can confirm they still are!

I slowly trudged up in a very low gear, but for the first time ever, I cycled back home to mum and dad's. It's only taken me 34 years!

www.relive.cc/view/1533479283

Day 5 will have to wait until tomorrow. Time for bed
 

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mcshroom

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
Day 5

This was the longest day of the trip, at almost exactly 100 miles. It started off with areas I knew from growing up in Rotherham, such as riding past the edge of the Wentworth estate, but I never really cycled much when I lived there, so it was strange how everything felt slightly different. What wasn't different was that there were still hills. Nothing too tall, but short stabby hills that take you from 40 km/h to 10 km/h in a few seconds.

What was also noticeable was that the thatched buildings had almost disappeared, being replaced by slates on yellow sandstone buildings. The names also start to change. For example I rode through three different villages with the name 'Thorpe', such as Thorpe Hesley. This is a norse word for a village or hamlet, and showed that I had entered the area of ancient Danelaw, where Vikings had settled, and had their effect on the names and the language. Everything felt a little more familiar now, for some reason the North of England, even places as far flung as Newcastle and Whitehaven, feels like my country, whereas, despite living in London and Reading for years in the past, or some reason I still feel like a visitor in the South.

Heading through South and West Yorkshire also took me through the most urban and industrial part of my trip, and the roads were bigger and busier as I cut through the northern outskirts of Barnsley, Doncaster and Pontefract. Slowly dropping down to the flat lands, eventually almost reaching sea level at the Aire & Calder Navigation. Crossing this canal I was also crossing the line of massive coal power stations dotted along the Selby coal seam. None of which appeared to be in service as I passed.

There was a strong Westerly wind, which was hard work on a small section I turned into it, but for most of the day it was helpful. What also helped was that the showers started to get less frequent as the day went on.

I was in Audax mode though (which explains the lack of pictures), needing to keep riding to make the distance. I had broken back into the countryside though, and onto roads used for many audaxes around North Yorkshire. I ploughed on through the fields, before stopping for lunch in Boroughbridge. A strange thought I had while sat in the bakers, was that I had already ridden further than yesterday, but still had 60k to go. After lunch I passed over the bridge, and either rode or shadowed the A167 all the way to Darlington, with a strengthening tailwind meaning I was feeling less tired than expected.
 

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OP
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mcshroom

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
Day 6

After a long day on Day 5, today was the day that I was to cross the Pennines. It was also the day I got to go home and re-supply for the Scottish leg.

I set of early from Darlington, out into the land of the Price Bishops, and headed slowly but surely uphill out towards the ridge of hills on the horizon. It was cool but dry, and the slow rise through the countryside meant I kept nice and warm. After a brief busy stretch of A road through Staindrop I turned onto the ominously named 'Moor Lane'. The houses receded again and I rode up, and up, over 300m, before a fast (cold) descent towards Middleton-in-Teesdale. Just before town the road was closed for (as the sign said) 15 minutes while workers were pulling a blue rope through underground pipes, but I was able to walk past and ride the rest of the way into town. It was time for breakfast :smile:

After breakfast it was out onto the Yad Moss road. This crossing of the pennines between Middleton and Alston is a signature section of LEL, and as I rode up the pass I could see why. The views and sounds of Low and High Force waterfalls give welcome distraction from the climb, before the land opens out into high moorland, with farm cottages scattered amongst seemingly acres of space. The road keeps rising, past 300m, 400m, then gets stuck at this height for about a mile before smashing through the ceiling and climbing on, past 450, then 500m and all the way up over 600m before reaching a summit just inside Cumbria. This was a long, low gear slog. My initial intention of reaching Carlisle station by 4.30 seemed to recede into the expansive moorlands.

However the top came, and then it was time to tuck in and enjoy the ride as I quickly lost over 200m that I had climbed, before plunging off down a very steep hill into Garagill on the C2C route, lining up for the second climb of the day, up to Hartside. Climbing out of Garagill there was a short sharp uphill section, and I jumped out of the saddle aiming to power my way up the short bank. UNfortunately by back wheel lost traction and I jarred forwards. As I did, I felt an ache in my right achilles. I got off and walked the rest of the hill.

I also found the hill out of the Garagill valley up towards the Hartside pass road too steep and it was back to walking again. I could tell that the flatlands of the SOuth of England were well behind me now. This was hilly. Reaching the A686 the gradient relented a bit, and I could get back on the bike. Every pedal stroke I could still feel a bit of pain in my right achilles, but I eventually made it to the summit, where unfortunately the cafe had burnt down, so I had to satisfy myself with a picture in front of the sign.

As I was about to set off down the hill, I was caught by Yoav from the YACF forum, who had ridden out from Carlisle to meet me (I'm not sure he expected to get all the way up Hartside before he did so). It was great to have someone else to chat to on the road, and we rode the almost entirely downhill 30kms from Hartside summit to Carlisle (with the exception of walking over the Wetheral Viaduct footbridge, the miles flying by.

Bidding him farewell at the station, I jumped on a train back to St Bees, and climbed the hill home, which felt weird part way through a tour.

https://www.relive.cc/view/1535439748
 

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OP
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mcshroom

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
Day 7

Unfortunately this was the day it all fell apart, though it started with a rush to the station. Dithering over what kit I wanted to change, I left myself less time than I really should have, and ended up pushing hard on the 5.5 km back to the station. I was too late to use the road crossing, with the barrier down, so I hoisted my bike on my shoulder and went to run over the footbridge. Somehow I missed the step the first time, jarring my right leg a bit, but after regaining my balance I carried the bike quickly over the bridge and jumped onto the arriving train.

I arrived in Carlisle, picked up the tickets for my journey home from Scotland at the end of the week, got some breakfast and then set off north, past the big Kingmoor rail yard and onto the road parallel to the A74M that takes you to the border. It was obvious that something wasn't right. My right ankle hurt on any hill, and I was getting slower. I did at least rach the border - I had ridden from the SE of England to the NW corner of the country :smile:

I sat on a bench in Gretna Green, not far from the famous Blacksmith's shop where people used to elope over the border to get hitched, took some Ibuprofen and started to consider my options. The pain in my right leg seemed to be a couple cm above my heel, and hurt at the point where I switched from pushing down to pulling up on the pedal. Before long I was going to be riding into the Borders, and a lot of hills with little in the way of public transport, and if anything the right leg felt like it was spreading.

In the end, after ringing my Dad (an ex marathon runner) who basically advised me I was probably risking further damage, I decided i would set off riding again, and hope the pain would settle down by Lockerbie. Unfortunately, not far out of Gretna Green it was obvious that the soreness/pain was getting worse, and it felt like my left achilles was starting to come out in sympathy. After standing staring up the long straight B7076 longingly, I reluctantly concluded that carrying on wasn't a good idea, and turned back south to Gretna Green, where I caught a train home. :sad:

It's taken me a few days to feel like writing the rest of this blog. If anything I was sulking for the last couple days I was also looking up what could cause such a feeling, and I'm pretty certain I had too high a saddle, and I was ankling when climbing steep hills. My achilles tendons were becoming inflamed, and I've had them on ice and elevated trying to sort them.. Today I went out for an 8 mile ride, still with my right ankle strapped up. It didn't feel too bad, but there is still some slight soreness.

I'm intending to finish the ride. I've not decided yet whether to head back south and do the lot, or just ride the Northern section I didn't manage. I'm still annoyed with myself if it was the saddle height.
 

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robjh

Legendary Member
Sorry to hear about your leg problem. Rest up, and I look forward to reading about the rest of our trip whenever you are able to complete it.
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
Day 7

Unfortunately this was the day it all fell apart, though it started with a rush to the station. Dithering over what kit I wanted to change, I left myself less time than I really should have, and ended up pushing hard on the 5.5 km back to the station. I was too late to use the road crossing, with the barrier down, so I hoisted my bike on my shoulder and went to run over the footbridge. Somehow I missed the step the first time, jarring my right leg a bit, but after regaining my balance I carried the bike quickly over the bridge and jumped onto the arriving train.

I arrived in Carlisle, picked up the tickets for my journey home from Scotland at the end of the week, got some breakfast and then set off north, past the big Kingmoor rail yard and onto the road parallel to the A74M that takes you to the border. It was obvious that something wasn't right. My right ankle hurt on any hill, and I was getting slower. I did at least rach the border - I had ridden from the SE of England to the NW corner of the country :smile:

I sat on a bench in Gretna Green, not far from the famous Blacksmith's shop where people used to elope over the border to get hitched, took some Ibuprofen and started to consider my options. The pain in my right leg seemed to be a couple cm above my heel, and hurt at the point where I switched from pushing down to pulling up on the pedal. Before long I was going to be riding into the Borders, and a lot of hills with little in the way of public transport, and if anything the right leg felt like it was spreading.

In the end, after ringing my Dad (an ex marathon runner) who basically advised me I was probably risking further damage, I decided i would set off riding again, and hope the pain would settle down by Lockerbie. Unfortunately, not far out of Gretna Green it was obvious that the soreness/pain was getting worse, and it felt like my left achilles was starting to come out in sympathy. After standing staring up the long straight B7076 longingly, I reluctantly concluded that carrying on wasn't a good idea, and turned back south to Gretna Green, where I caught a train home. :sad:

It's taken me a few days to feel like writing the rest of this blog. If anything I was sulking for the last couple days I was also looking up what could cause such a feeling, and I'm pretty certain I had too high a saddle, and I was ankling when climbing steep hills. My achilles tendons were becoming inflamed, and I've had them on ice and elevated trying to sort them.. Today I went out for an 8 mile ride, still with my right ankle strapped up. It didn't feel too bad, but there is still some slight soreness.

I'm intending to finish the ride. I've not decided yet whether to head back south and do the lot, or just ride the Northern section I didn't manage. I'm still annoyed with myself if it was the saddle height.
I'm giving a like for the write up and for the determination to complete it when you can.

Such a shame to finish the trip like this. I hope you heal quickly and look forward to hearing about the restart.
 
I think you did the right thing, when we are young we tend to ignore these incidents, but as you get older they tend to return to bite you on the arse. the way North depending which route you have planned can be a nice ride, however I was tending to pick off road routes, when I was riding south I used the B7076 (NCN74) from Abington to Carlise. I had camped at Abington and had used the C Road that the campsite was on it is on to ride south to Crawford where I rejoined the NCN74. personally I would restart the ride at Carlisle. there is NCN 7from Carlisle to Longtown with a campsite just outside of the town.
 

Pat "5mph"

A kilogrammicaly challenged woman
Moderator
Location
Glasgow
@mcshroom get well soon!
I really enjoyed reading your report: well done, stuff happens, don't beat yourself up because you're injured.
When you're up to it again, I would just carry on from Carslisle along route 74, it's a nice stretch, quite flat, very quiet apart the occasional, well behaved log lorry.
You will end up in Hamilton, where @flyingfifi lives: her and I started our Lakes tour from there.
I am just 9 miles down the road, even if you're not planning to pass Glasgow, the three of us could meet briefly for a cuppa :hello:
 
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