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