After the three previous days of 117, 108 and 116 miles, today was supposed to be a day to recoup.
As much as I wanted to set off early, by the time I’d eaten a hearty campfire breakfast of porridge, coffee, sausages and beans, a can of coke and some of Helen’s Gugelhupf cake and packed up camp it was 10.30am.
After 10 miles riding I met my Dad to say our farewells and ended up spending an hour drinking an iced frappucino in Starbucks. By the time I properly got going it was 12pm.
With the wind still blowing from the south I made quick progress over the first 50 miles. My legs were beginning to ache and I didn’t have much zip in the hills but I could still churn out a comfortable average speed of 19mph.
Despite the big breakfast hunger was getting to me. I tried to eat every ten miles but I’d eaten two cereal bars and a banana by 40 miles. With five miles to go until I met Helen I felt weak and in need of some sustenance.
I realised that as tired as I’d been feeling all day, it wasn’t in anyway comparable to running out of energy. This type of exhaustion can just stop you in your tracks. I eeked out the final few miles then feasted on left-over breakfast sausages and half a loaf of bread.
I stopped with Helen for an hour and by 3pm I felt revived enough to carry on. Following some advice I decided to change my route again. I chose a more direct path along the A49 through Warrington, Wigan and Preston. Unfortunately my afternoon was punctuated by countless traffic light stopped which really slowed me down. My average speed dropped from 19mph to 17.7mph by the end of the day. All I could think was how disappointed Phil and Ed would be (they chose the two fastest daily times in the sweepstake)!
Ten miles from the finish, just before Preston, it started to rain which provided a pretty crap finish to the day’s riding.
I arrived at the Olde Duncombe House B&B and sat in the bath for half an hour before heading out in search of food. The nearby chip shop closed at 7.30pm so we ate in a pub instead. I ate mushroom soup, steak and chips and ice-cream then came back and went straight to bed for a nine hour sleep. Exhaustion is now beginning to take its toll.
Song of the day: Jurass Finish First by Jurassic 5 – it came on three miles into the journey and provided a nice summery soundtrack to the brief morning sunshine.
Weirdest thing to see en route: a whole trout on the hard shoulder of an A road.
Most comical moment: Dropping my map on the A49 and chasing it down the road as passing cars blew it further and further away from me.
As much as I wanted to set off early, by the time I’d eaten a hearty campfire breakfast of porridge, coffee, sausages and beans, a can of coke and some of Helen’s Gugelhupf cake and packed up camp it was 10.30am.
After 10 miles riding I met my Dad to say our farewells and ended up spending an hour drinking an iced frappucino in Starbucks. By the time I properly got going it was 12pm.
With the wind still blowing from the south I made quick progress over the first 50 miles. My legs were beginning to ache and I didn’t have much zip in the hills but I could still churn out a comfortable average speed of 19mph.
Despite the big breakfast hunger was getting to me. I tried to eat every ten miles but I’d eaten two cereal bars and a banana by 40 miles. With five miles to go until I met Helen I felt weak and in need of some sustenance.
I realised that as tired as I’d been feeling all day, it wasn’t in anyway comparable to running out of energy. This type of exhaustion can just stop you in your tracks. I eeked out the final few miles then feasted on left-over breakfast sausages and half a loaf of bread.
I stopped with Helen for an hour and by 3pm I felt revived enough to carry on. Following some advice I decided to change my route again. I chose a more direct path along the A49 through Warrington, Wigan and Preston. Unfortunately my afternoon was punctuated by countless traffic light stopped which really slowed me down. My average speed dropped from 19mph to 17.7mph by the end of the day. All I could think was how disappointed Phil and Ed would be (they chose the two fastest daily times in the sweepstake)!
Ten miles from the finish, just before Preston, it started to rain which provided a pretty crap finish to the day’s riding.
I arrived at the Olde Duncombe House B&B and sat in the bath for half an hour before heading out in search of food. The nearby chip shop closed at 7.30pm so we ate in a pub instead. I ate mushroom soup, steak and chips and ice-cream then came back and went straight to bed for a nine hour sleep. Exhaustion is now beginning to take its toll.
Song of the day: Jurass Finish First by Jurassic 5 – it came on three miles into the journey and provided a nice summery soundtrack to the brief morning sunshine.
Weirdest thing to see en route: a whole trout on the hard shoulder of an A road.
Most comical moment: Dropping my map on the A49 and chasing it down the road as passing cars blew it further and further away from me.
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