Forty plus miles cycling and 1 mile pushing - Day 3

Let's get the pushing mile out of the way - Warkworth.  Looks a lovely place, on the river, by the sea, castle, near our destination and ... ample benches to be able sit and change an inner tube not once but three times!

Anyway, cutting short a very long story - puncture, brilliantly fixed - cycled 50 metres, pop, hiss - big hole (a piece of the tyre lever had broken off in the tyre.  2nd change pump, pump, pump = hiss, hiss, hiss.  Hmmm, puncture kit to the rescue, pump, pump, pump = hiss, hiss, hiss.  2nd patch on pump, pump, pump = hiss, hiss, hiss (and that was just the team!) = walk, walk, walk.  

Philip - knight in smelly lycra.
Panniers on the other 2 bikes, Philip lifted the back & pushed.

A more than disappointing end to a great day's cycling.

Mill House, Kirk Yetholm was great; Clare, David, Hannah & Logan were all excellent hosts, the breakfast was fantastic and we were so lucky to be able to wash the bikes, wash our clothes and have a great shower.  We were also £15 to the good after Hannah & Logan donated £5 each and Molly, a mum at the school also donated £5 after Jake accompanied Logan to school.

We headed off with a promise of coffee in Alnwick, crossed the border just a few miles down the road but the 2 Phipps members hadn't got much umph to their pedalling.  So the team fuelled up on caffeine in Wooler.

Great run to Alnwick with a bit of a grim hill going towards Chillingham and their wild cattle (which we didn't see!) and an incredible amount of roller coaster roads.  Alnwick was in the middle of celebrating London 2012 and the Olympic Torch Relay, so we stopped and met up with Barry Greaves who turned out to be an ex-road racer and gave us the low-down on the local roads.

Have a quick look at the day's ride here.






From Alnwick to Warkworth was great; checked out the sea at Alnworth and hooked up with the off-road National Cycle Route 1 - then the puncture.....

Could go on and on about the scenery, the wildlife and the great villages but ... bed time in Amble, bikes into the kitchen, power cut and a weird mix of mixed seeds, prunes and peanuts for supper (we know how we're going to be powered tomorrow!)

Where's the map? Day 2

Winkston Farm, Peebles - great place to stay however, it would appear to be a black hole for maps.  We turned the whole bedroom upside down - emptied panniers that were packed and on the bike ready for an 8:30 am start.  No sign of our map or our written instructions. Jan, our hostess, did however soften the blow of the map by donating £5.  This reminds us - thanks to Sophie and Freya for their donation via the virginmoneygiving site - readers are welcome to do the same by clicking on the button to the left of this post.

Our suspicions lie with Micky, the cat, his markings
tell us that he's an unusual cat.....

Anyway, we found a page of map that would get us there and then the team were relying on Nic's memory for the written instructions.

We really love this part of Scotland, great scenery,quiet lanes, respectful drivers.  It also an acknowledged centre for lovers of mountain biking.  Hooray! thought Nic we're passing Traquair there'll be bike shops, there'll be arm warmers.  Arm warmers are a complete necessity - we've discovered - goosebumps on goosebumps with a short sleeved jersey and sweaty and uncomfortable with a jacket on.

This seat and one portaloo are the total amenities at Traquair!

No arm warmers then with big dark clouds rolling around the hills - brrrr!

National Cycle Route 1 took us along the Tweed before it then took us on a restricted road at Yair - hmm, bumpy but good cyclo-cross training for Jake.  The end of the bumps brought conciliation of The Airy Fairy - outdoor, self-service coffee stop - thank goodness.

Lack of detailed directions meant we ended up in Selkirk - another unscheduled town and another climb - to over 1000ft. Nic dropped her phone - disaster, smashed screen, sad face. We were put right by Sandy Bruce, a fellow cyclist who also donated £5. The plus point, as with Lanark, is the fabulous scenery and Jake met up with Molly, the puppy and we had a collective photo opportunity.

Almost at top of Selkirk ascent - 11 week Molly
probably a better climber than us!

A well recommended route, beautiful.  We dodged ominous grey clouds all day, bar one shower, and even needed the sun-cream on one occasion.  Met up with fellow cyclists en route to Crailing (they'd been staying at the B&B in Kirk Yetholm - small world).  Crailing to Morebattle was a hard slog with tired legs - probably need to return with fresh legs because views and hares spectacular.

Fantastic welcome at Mill House from Clare, David, Hannah & Logan.  Jake disappeared for a couple of hours, playing with Logan & came back even grubbier - brilliant, just what he needed.

Footnote, for those in the know:  After 57 miles cycling, who would insist on wide open windows because "It's a bit stuffy?"

Off to the seaside tomorrow.

The kindness of strangers - Day 1

If this blog post makes no sense then blame 73 miles of cycling and an unscheduled steep climb into Lanark that added 10 miles and an hour onto our journey. The fiddle factor of getting out of Glasgow was a fiddle and did entail stopping, map checking, asking for local knowledge so the cycle speed was slow.

Click here to see 66 miles of the 73 before the phone ran out of battery.

The crowds were out in force along the route - sadly not for us but for a couple of Town Galas.  Having consulted with 2 people from Carluke, who donated £4, we set of towards the haven of Carstairs Junction where we were to join a cycle route.

Having come down a long hill on the B7056 we discovered we had, in fact, gone the wrong way along the B7056.  There ensued a 'domestic' with Nic point-blank refusing to return up this very long, long hill and Philip reluctant to continue the descent.  First points to Nic as the team headed into Crossford on the river Clyde and stopped at another T-junction to consult the map - again.

Ben came to our rescue and pointed us in the direction of Lanark, warning us of an 'uber' hill into Lanark.  Instead of the team tipping Ben, Ben donated £10 - Top Man!

Mark and Alan came to our rescue as we contemplated the 'uber' hill from the safety of the bridge over the Clyde.  Offering to see us back onto our intended route there was suddenly no escaping the climb.  Jake was awesome up he chugged, aged 12 with 2 panniers on his bike accompanying 2 adults on their unencumbered road bikes!

They stayed with us until 4 miles before Biggar and were complete stars, reuniting us with the intended route and helping us to pick up the pace as Jake and Philip bowled along through beautiful countryside chatting away and Nic huffed and puffed with any leg strength completely dissipated by Lanark, not enough training and probably not enough water.

 

9:00 Departure from Hampden

Alan and Mark - Are you sure you wouldn't like
to do another 1200 miles?

Stunning countryside and a great cycle route (once found).

At Winkston Farm in Peebles  - they understand cyclists (what a great shower) and very yummy biscuits in the room too.

Chuffed but tired & Nic sunburnt (stupid) but another interesting day beckons so Goodnight.

All thoughts of rest on our last day in Glasgow evaporated but we had a fantastic time and met some great people.

The day started with a photo shoot, arranged by Sarah from Holiday Inn and Mary-Jo. Lewis seemed to quickly appreciate that, when dealing with non-photogenic subjects, the answer is to take as many pictures as possible and hope that one comes up trumps.  Craig, from The Daily Record also seemed to work on a similar principle.  Let them talk for long enough and maybe there would be a sentence that makes sense.  All the fuss prompted £1 donation from a hotel guest. The proof will be in the reading, i;e do we make The Daily Record, given all the excitement of The Olympic Torch Relay coming to town.

As the excitement of being interviewed was ebbing away, Philip decided to get things going again by spectacularly falling in the foyer of the hotel.

Next excitement was the meeting of a giant Corgi 'Destination London 2012 Taxi' in Buchannan Galleries..

There was an instant bonding between Jake's Road Cycling mascot and it's big blue brother Track Cycling.  How amazing to be in the same place at the same time as the only full livery Destination London 2012 Taxi Cab outside London!

The day didn't stop there - on to the famous Renee Mackintosh Willow Tea Room for a slice of gingerbread and a cup of tea to be engaged in conversation with a fellow charity fundraiser from Ohio.  The charities were recipients of £15 from a chance meeting in a tea room - wow!

Then on to the Torch Relay City Celebration in George Square.  Photo opportunity with a torch...

and large Olympic Rings

Before the highlight of Jake's day, the lighting of the big cauldron on stage followed by - Eliza Doolittle on stage - swoon!

The day has ended with the first QR code reader - a Business Studies student from the University donating £1. 

Memorable day on many fronts - too tired to cycle tomorrow?!