Eric and ernie are pleased to have completed 500 miles!

Day 6. Stat report

85 miles
11.1 mph
Granny gear rating 2.5/5

Navigation difficulties around Manchester contributed to slow morning progress. With rain pouring and darkness falling we three decided to get a taxi for the last 20 odd miles and get a taxi back tomorrow to start from where we left off. Laughlan leaves us tmo morning to get a train back to London.

So it will need to be a big day tmo to get us back on schedule.

That's all for today, more tomorrow.

Quote of the day
Laughlan "I'm really quite enjoying this apart from the rain and the cold...and the hills"
Gav "I thought the king of the mountains points finish line was the top of the hill"
Jim "yes it is, but we weren't at the top of the hill yet!"

Sent from my iPhone

Lejog blog caption competition ...

Mystery prize for winner. The judge will be mrs gav (Hilary)

Day 5. Stat report.

90 miles
16 mph (SMMMMMOKIN!)
Granny gear rating 0.5/5

This is more like it! A leisurely 9:45 start and a finish before 6. We actually managed a very respectable 16.7mph for 53 miles in the morning session. What was the difference...? Flatter roads and easier navigation. We could just get into a rhythm and eat those miles up.

It was initially tough to get going after a long day yesterday. But once we got into our stride it was a joy. However, we now realise there are 3 rules of lejog.

1. It's always later in the day than you may think
2. You've always got further to go than you may think
3. There's always at least one more cruel climb to be negotiated.

That brings me to the unexpected rule 4...
4. Expect the unexpected
With about 12 miles to go the heavens opened. Deluge. Puddles masking potholes. Squelchy feet. Deluge.

If there was a fifth rule it would be
5. Be thankful cos things could be EVEN worse.

Aside. Kit review.
Here's the top 3 bits of kit we'd recommend to future lejoggers

1. Pock rock (recommended by Alan Hogg - cheers Hoggy!) light weight, rolls up to almost nothing and very good at keeping the rain out. Very fashionable too ;)
2. Tennis ball (Paul, jims physio takes the credit for this. A wee roll on this loosens your itb and prevents knee pain)
3. iPhone (jim is taking the credit for seeing the genius in this little beauty for navigation. It's a wee gem)

Chamois cream isn't in the top 3 as it is 100% essential and therefore not classified as "kit" here. If you don't have chamois cream, don't try lejog.

Gav's cousin laughlan is joining us for our longest stage of the trip tomorrow. Look out for tomorrows blogging to see how we get on.

Quotes of the day
Gav "it's cancellara time!"
Jim "these bikes ain't going to pedal themselves"

Sent from my iPhone

As rare as the dodo...

Pictures of Jim eating sticky toffee pudding. Desperate times...

By the was it was tremendous!

"High viz" yellow is the new black!

Actually who cares when it's raining like this?!

Day 4. Stat report.

102 miles
12.5mph
Granny gear rating 3/5

Without wanting to sound like a stuck record...this was a very tough day.

We set out at 0845 and finally got to b&b at 2020. This is the latest finish of the tour so far...1830 on mon and circa 1900 tue and wed.

The lejog blog also wanted to give some context around the granny gear rating for those back home. Equivalent ratings for popular cycle trips near Edinburgh...

North berwick and back... Zero
Edinburgh to st Andrews via cleish hills... 1.5/5
Edinburgh to Peebles and back 1/5
Edinburgh to Crieff...2.5/5

After a very nice stay in a b&b in compton dando (cottage garden - highly recommended) we trucked off merrily with satisfied bellies and well stocked paniers (smoked salmon sandwiches - yum yum!)

Aside- apologies to all the b&b people who try to make polite conversation with us when we arrive...we are not in a fit state to do so and sincerely hope we are not rude as we quest for a hot shower and meal as soon as is humanly possible.

Day 4.
The day Jim bonked (before anyone gets excited, this is a cycling term for not eating enough and having no energy). This is despite polishing off my entire packed lunch by midday.

The route we are doing is designed to avoid main roads. This is good cos we avoid most of the traffic. But bad cos it's much hillier and the navigation is much much harder (iPhone gps, we are not worthy!). Anyway despite iPhone it means we need to stop and check we're ok every so often as all the lanes look the same and have no markings. This leads to snail pace and tiresome navcom activity.

So Jim ran out of energy somewhere near Chepstow (tintern abbey) and had to dig deep to pedal all the way to coleford for pasta lunch.

After lunch things were much more rosy till we stopped at a post office in fownhope at 5 ... With over 30 miles to go. Tracker bars procured and easier route defined we fairly "gunned it" into Ludlow just in time for a curry and cobra!

Quotes of the day
Jim "it's all part of the legend"
Gav "these pedals ain't going to turn themselves"

QOTD outtakes...
Jim "I'm really suffering today"
Jim "I think I've hit the wall"
Gav "my legs are sore"

Highlight of the day...
Laughing so hard in the face of adversity we had to get off our bikes :)

Sent from my iPhone

When do we get to Wales?

...very soon. By the way it's very hilly!

Darth lejogger...

On Severn bridge. Check out my imperial stormtrooper shoes...!

Special thanks to Hilary (mrs gav)

Jim and gav would like to send a special thanks to Hilary for making this trip possible. We appreciate it's not easy looking after 2 wee boys at the best of times. And 5:20am risers are not a joke- and that's not even the wee one!

This challenge is as much hilary's as ours.

Sent from my iPhone

Stat report supplemental - fuel intake data

There's nothing more important for the long distance cyclist than keeping energy and hydration up. For those interested here's what we hoovered up yesterday (day 3)

Breakfast
1 glass oj (both)
1 pot tea (jim)
1 pot coffee (gav)
1 bowl fruit and fibre (both)
1 full English breakfast, comprising bacon, 2 rashers, 1 sausage, 1 egg, 1 tomato, mushrooms.
Toast (2 slices for gav, 4 for hungry Horace)

Morning snackage...
Jim - 2 frusli (red berry), 2 bananas, 1 tangerine.
Gav- 3 tracker (raisin), 2 bananas

Lunch...
1 bowl pasta each (large)
1 small bowl olives, 1 portion ciabatta.
1 coffee each

Afternoon snackage...
Jim, 2 raisin trackers
Gav, same.

Half a packet of tooty fruity each. A wee brucie bonus!

Drinks
Jim, many water refills and 1 isotab (orange) - thanks for the recommendo mr Hogg!
Gav many water refills and 2 isotabs

Dinner...
Gav - chicken supreme with potato gratin and seasonal veg
Jim - pan fried sea bass with boiled potato and veg
1 cheeseboard shared.
Gav - 2.5 pints of butcombe bitter
Jim - 2 glasses Sauvignon blanc

And we're still hungry ...!

Day 3. Stat report.

88 miles
13.1 mph
Granny rating 3.5 out of 5.

Day 3 began with a serious case of mishandling of expectations. B&B hosts (who couldn't have been nicer otherwise) and bike shop owner (who didn't have what we needed) both said it'll get easier from here. What they should've said was that it'll get easier after about 30 miles. The first 30 had another 20%er and some other real stinkers that unfortunately were on wee lanes and so well never know how steep (only gav and jim know how tough). However after the first 30 it did get easier. And the sun was shining. And it wasn't windy.

We sneaked out of Devon un-noticed (otherwise there may have been some more silly pics with the sign- very disappointing) into Somerset early doors. This is a lovely part of the world. With rolling hills and....hundreds of pheasants! We passed a sign warning of pheasants in the road...yeah yeah, we'll maybe see one or two. Without a word of a lie we turned the next bend and there was at least 40 galavanting on the road. Jim tried to grab one on the way by for a wee snackette but to no avail.

After the hilly start we fairly gunned it to Bridgwater for a delightful Italian lunch. Bike shop located and plundered we headed on for the afternoon session with spirits high. No real climbs to note ( even cheddar gorge was a breeze) and we spinned on home for just before 7. The pock rocks were on again as there was a wee shower at cheddar but otherwise an enjoyable, hard but fair day in the saddle.

Quotes of the day...
Jim "twice daily application of the chamois cream from now on"
Gav "this is my Waterloo" (struggling first thing in the morning)

QOTD outtakes
Jim "any day we finish before 7 is a bonus"
One from Hilary - "choose your food wisely" - very good advice- today was much better after a quality pasta lunch
Gav "let's go home and rub our legs"

Sent from my iPhone

He just doesn't want to take the pock rock off

Poetry in motion...

Cheddar gorge?

This is childs play after the 30%ers of Cornwall

A tired but happy cyclist...

51miles in the bag followed by a rather sophisticated Italian lunch...in our latex. D'ya think they'll let us in? Let's brass neck it.

Day 2. Stat report.

78 miles
Afternoon mph 14.4 for 46 miles. Morning - technical issue means unofficial rate of c8mph is all we can report.
Granny gear rating 5...again

When you're sitting down to lunch at 2pm after setting off at 9, have covered only 32 miles and have c45 to go, doubts can surface. Add in pouring rain, mist for low visibility. Thankfully we weren't heading into a strong headwind as well. You have to look for the positives! You also have to be thankful for mr iPhone who can plot a more sensible afternoon route!

Admission...we had to walk it up the 30% (thirty) ascent...and walk it down the odd 20% and 30%. But we stand proud having come back from 3 nil down at half time we scored a dodgy last minute penalty to win 4:3.

This was the archetypal game of two halves.

Quotes of the day...

Gav "This feels like napoleons retreat from Moscow"
Jim "Gun it!" (this was me telling gav to make the most of the first non-dangerous descents of the trip)

QOTD outakes
Gav "I'm ready to go to bed now"
Jim "we need to take this one day at a time"

Maintenance update...
Gav
3 schleck chain moments
1 set back brake pads. Replacement complete.

Jim
1 schleck chain incident
Some gear slippage (no time to adjust)
Rear brake pad replacement imminent.

Sent from my iPhone

A happy man!

Jimbo is very glad to make it out of Cornwall and still pedalling. Tremendous!

Welcome to Devon

Gavster has conquered Cornwall.....finally!

Pocket Rocket

Altura's pocket rocket jacket comes to the rescue. Day 2 is rainy :(

You little beauty!

Even after 82 blistering miles Jim still drinks his tea with a touch of class

Check out the pinkie!

Ah, a cup of tea.

Day 1. Stat report.

Total 82 miles
12.2 (hard) mph - we were NOT taking it easy.
Granny gear rating 5 out of 5 (for non cyclists bottom gear is aka the granny. I have used my granny gear more today than in the last year...fact.)

Quotes of the day...

Gav "eventually this will end"
Jim "remember we're eating for tomorrow and the next day not just today"

Quote of the day outtakes
Jim "gav, resign yourself, ALL of Cornwall is like this"
Gav "Cornwall is a wonderful place to visit...in a car!"

More of Cornwall tmo although we finally make it to Devon before the end of the day.

Time for a pint...

Sent from my iPhone

St Michael's mount

We even managed a bit of sight seeing. Little did we know what lay ahead...!

Errrrm...........LET'S ROLL!

LET'S ROLL!

How come my bike is loaded?

Or, how did gav get all his kit in his rooksack?!

10 miles....

To the start!

Game 1 in the LEJOG masters series...

Goes to grand master jimmy menchov (but only after a very very silly move was given mulligan status)

J 1 : 0 G

You can donate at the following website...

www.justgiving.com/JimandGavs

Many thanks to those who already have!