With Charles away, it was back to just Stewart and I, and an early start from near the hotel in Tebay where we had staggered in, soaking wet from the torrential rain the night before. It was a dark, and overcast morning, with dreadful storms forecast for the Carlise area. The BBC forecast promised us an 80% chance of heavy rain and an almost guaranteed prospect of thunder and lightning. We were, however also promised a strong tailwind! A 90 mile day was planned, so we had a decent breakfast before hitting the road!
We picked up speed soon, and with Stewart's timer on 2.5 minute turnrounds, we alternated at the front, working hard and resting in the other's slipstream - and pushed our average mph up - and we soon chewing through the miles. Our planned route went on tiny roads over the hills, but with an early start and not much traffic about, we hit the A6 for a fast blast - hoping we could outrun the weather! As we ran through Shap, we spotted Tim Farron MP filming at the side of the road. He obligingly eaved back as we shouted, 'Hi Tim!' and then emailed him later to explain who we were, and why we waving at him as we sped past!
Our route then crossed and re-crossed the M6 - many times, and ran alongside the London - Glasgow railway line. Penrith came and went, and still the rain had really caught us - and the tailwind blew! At Newton Reigny, my wife was waiting for us at Newton Reigny Trailer Centre, where the lovely owners let us use their car park to have some food, a rest, use their toilets - and they donated to the Julia McLean fund for Vine Trust!
Carlise was soon in sight, and the national cyle route took us up river banks - missing most of the city. The eden took us out of the north west of the city and out onto lanes - which all pointed North to Scotland! First we crossed the River Esk at Metal Bridge, alongside the M6. The border itself was found at Gretna. It was predictably raining when we crossed, and my wife was there to filmn the moment!
Safely back home in Scotland we had a good feed in the van, and watched the rain soaking out bikes, and running down the windows. Eventually we thought it was easing a little and so we hit the road again - it felt as if we might be actually achieving this LEJOG now! It had felt almost impossible in Cornwall, now even I at my usual pessimistic worst, thought 'we are actually going to do this'!
We had a bit of headwind as the route went westward through southern Scotland, before turning northwards again at Annan. We still however didn't have any torrential rain or thunder storms! Moffat, our destination was due North, and not far away - when the weather did catch up though. We clocked 90 miles for the day in torrential rain and had a hard time finding out AirB&B. Eventually we dripped and shivered our way into the place, got the hot water on, and cooked up a feast.
The perils of modern cycling seem to be that everything needs to be charged up. Phone for navigation, with a battery back up. Lights, front and rear. Then the SRAMM batteries for the bluetooth gears. Moffat was a night for recharging everything. And making another end of day video.
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