Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
With:
Chris Barratt Aka: Baz, Barry, Johnny Mapface or Barry Mapface Alex Stone Aka: Stone, Stoney or ADHD (Bazs nickname for him on account of his affinity with caffeine and its ability to make him fire off like a bullet before crashing shortly afterwards and needing more to keep him going.) Tom Wilson Aka: Wilson or Tom (imaginative I know) Michael Barratt Aka Mike Edward Cohen Aka Ed
We woke up at about 8am and had ourselves some porridge, divvied up the cereal bars, loaded-up the camper and set-off for Lands End. The woman on the gate didnt charge us the 5 to get into the car park and showed us the start line (yes theres a start line!) where we lined-up for a photo and set-off. Immediately we were called back by Stoney whod discovered that his speedo had been a casualty of him washing his bike shortly before the ride so we had a further 5 minute delay. After establishing that we couldnt fix it, we were off again at a leisurely 11mph as Baz and Stoney were both carrying injuries (Baz had a dodgy knee and so did Stoney.) The ride itself that day was pretty uneventful for me: I got a pinch puncture about 30 miles in due to having rubbish pressure in my rear tyre, we met Bazs dad at the roadside about 45 miles in for some lunch and the weather was ok but there was a horrible head wind that whole day so any downhill descents were nullified and we had to pedal basically all of the way to the finish 72 miles away. We were introduced to the hell that is the A30 aswell and had to cycle down it for pretty much the whole day. The A30 unfortunately for us is the quickest route out of Cornwall and is a hilly, poorly maintained dual carriageway with lorries, caravans and cars cruising by at about 60-70mph as you try and cycle on the pitifully small (less than a metre in width at points) hard shoulder that is strewn with stones, glass, potholes, discarded bottles and rubbish from passing cars and roadkill (we even saw the kitchen sink!). The route itself consisted of frequent hills and dips that varied in incline and length. I thought that both Baz and Stoney had been ok during that first day aswell but it turns out that both were struggling with their injuries and Baz had even considered pulling out of the second day because of the pain his knee was causing. We reached our first campsite called Rising Sun just outside a place that looked like it was called Ultranun at about 7:30-8pm. The site was nice and secluded (only one other tent there) and it was opposite the rising sun pub which was great as we wanted a nice victory pint of local ale and a good pub meal to celebrate our first day. The ale and meal were brilliant and I went to bed at about 10-
11pm that night I think but Baz and Stoney were kept awake by the people in the other tent talking into the night as they stayed-up a bit longer making final arrangements.
Rising Sun campsite (the pub was just past that fence behind the camper)
Thornleigh campsite
After a shower, Stoneys parents and sister joined us for a pub lunch at a nice local pub. I opted for orange juice this time as I was concerned that I hadnt been sleeping well drinking 3 pints of ale per night. The meal and company was great and we got into bed at about 10:30.
Leaving Milton of Fonab in the morning. (Thats Mike on the right seeing us off) . Monday 20th August (Day 10)
Surprise surprise it was raining as we left again that morning. I had tried in vain to do some physio on my achilles to prepare it for the ride but it was too painful so I had to stop. We all mounted our bikes like war-weary soldiers (Bazs knees were crippling him and he had taken to downing Ibuprofen at regular intervals during the rides, Stoneys knee problem remained but he didnt seem to mind it much and he still had a pain in his neck. We were all slowly falling apart.) and set-off for the days ride that promised a full day of 79 miles down the A9. (Oh joy!) To my surprise, the stretch of the A9 we had to cover that day was beautifully picturesque and Baz gave me some of his Ibuprofen to help ease my suffering which helped massively. We were also given a nice surprise in the form of about 15 miles of descent that allowed us to freewheel at about 25-30mph and take in the scenery whilst enjoying the beautifully smooth road. We stopped off at a local town called Aviemore(local skiing mecca) where we had a pizza each before heading off back to the A9 for the final 20 miles of our ride. We reached that nights campsite (called Aucnanilhillin)in a placed called Moy at about 5:30-6pm and were in the middle of nowhere so the campsite owner kindly offered to drive Mike and Ed to Inverness to get some takeout of Thai food and beer for us all. The beer and food went down nicely and we had the rare opportunity to sit in the camper and have a good old chat amongst one another. Sitting outside of the camper wasnt an option at this point as the midges were coming thick and fast and were out for our blood. I went to bed at about 10:30 I think before being awoken shortly after by a domestic happening in the camper opposite us. It sounded like someone was being beaten up inside but it turned out it was their kid having a paddy. Haha.
ladies that was serviced by water from the local hills which was a browny colour (we avoided drinking any.) It was also about 2 miles away from the main road so once again we had to trudge down another shitty dirt road carrying our bikes and ruining our expensive road shoes and cleats in the process. The local pub was about 6 miles down the road but the man in charge (an ex army driver from Lancashire who seemed a bit tapped to me) very kindly offered to drive us to the local town to get some food. He had a Volvo which seated 4 comfortably but there were 5 of us so we packed ourselves on top of one another into his car and set-off. The only place open was a local favourite called La Mirage which was a local favourite and a curious place in that it had no central theme. It obviously served seafood on account of the large picture of a seafood platter on the wall but had the most random decor I have ever seen in a restaurant. In the centre of the restaurant they had erected a fake tree which was adorned with odd lights and flowers and the restaurant itself was decorated with random objects and trinkets the most noticeable of which was a waist high lamp in the shape of the legs and skirt of a burlesque dancer wearing red knickers that theyd placed next to an archway. Despite the decor and the staffs strange demeanour (they seemed afraid of us) we were served the finest local fish and chips we had encountered the entire trip and were given absolutely colossal portions of both haddock and chips (2 battered haddocks each and a mountain of chips and salad.) Johnny Volvo face (the nickname I had given to our campsite man from Lancashire) had offered to drive us all back to the campsite and had been dozing in his car in a car park nearby so we roused him and all piled back into his car for him take us all back to the campsite. We went straight to bed at about 11:00 knowing full well that the following day was all that remained between us and completion of our journey!
I had a great time during my LETJOG experience. There were times when I felt that it just wasnt worth it (rainy days mostly) but the thought of the people I would be letting down and money Id already raised helped to spur me on to finally complete all 932 miles in 12 days raising about 1500 in the process (my sister had been working behind the scenes organising other sponsors outside of the justgiving site.) Two things that really struck me about the whole journey were: the beautiful scenery that the UK has to offer if you get-off the motorways and use the A roads and the friendliness and sincerity of the people that you meet on the way.
Massive thanks to Mike for being the best support vehicle ever and getting our food-in aswell as booking us into campsites etc, Ed for providing endless knowledge and some seriously sweet scotcheggs, sausage rolls and pasties, the manager of the pub we found in Cornwall on that cold,wet day (you saved my life!), the staff at the cafe we found on that day it rained all day who allowed us to eat our soggy pasta whilst dripping all over their floor, Johnny Volvo face for being truly outstanding in his hospitality driving us to the local town and allowing us to stay at the campsite that night for free and to Baz and Stoney who helped make this an unforgettable experience. I think coast to coast will be the next challenge ;) Tom Wilson If you like what youve read and would like to make a donation then you can do so at: www.justgiving.com/teamslice1
My ruined cleats
Things Id change:
Use a hybrid bike with a wider range of gears and fatter tyres capable of eating the potholes and things you encounter on the shittier roads COMFY SADDLE! Ensure that my waterproof clothing is actually waterproof. Buy a pannier. I had a relatively small bag thing (pictured above) I bought that sat under my saddle that was big enough for a coat and jumper but Baz and Stoney both had these large panniers (also pictured above) that they could carry all of their stuff in and served as decent mudguards attached to their seat stems. Fit the bike with mudguards. Its bad enough being on the bike in the rain without having to put up with a wet arse aswell Smaller airbed. The airbed I took with me was comfy and everything but when fully inflated it took-up a large portion of my tent leaving little headroom or room for maneuvering. Bring a tarp to cover the bikes overnight as they had to sit in the rain a lot of the time on the campsites.
Bring something to fix your GPS / phone to your bike so that it can be easily viewed. It rains frequently so a waterproof container is essential. Billy no mates had one of these and I was well jealous Bring some waterproof overshoes. I tried desperately to get hold of some a week before we left but all the shops were out of stock and I didnt have time to wait for delivery online so had to put up with icy feet when it rained.
Essentials to bring:
More than 3 cycling Jerseys (it takes days to dry things in the wet so bringing lots gives you more chance of wearing something dry each day) More than 3 pairs of cycling shorts (I also bought some cycling leggings that proved useful on the windier days but soon weighed me down and kept me cold when they got wet) Pair of good quality cycling gloves with padding in the palms. (I bought 2 pairs; 1x open finger and one closed finger pair for wet weather.) Cycling jumpers (I bought 2 with me) WET WEATHER COAT ( I cant stress this enough. When you hit Scotland expect a heavy shower at least once per day) A tool kit and bike tool. The tool kit lived in our camper and proved worth its weight in gold for tinkering with the bikes and the bike tool was useful when we were on the rides and needed to make adjustments to headsets and cleats. Cycling glasses. I bought some with interchangeable lenses that proved worth their weight in gold when it rained as bombing hills at 30mph whilst blinded by rain is never going to end well.
Bikes we used:
Me: Boardman Team Pro 2012 Carbon Stoney: Fuji (Road) Baz: Orbea (Road)