Day 5: England done. Scotland watch out

I arrived in Preston yesterday feeling pretty whacked out. It'd been a long day and I didn't have a good sleep on Friday night. I woke up on Sunday morning with my voice in my boots. I sounded so tired even after a nine-hour sleep.

The breakfast at Olde Duncombe House included a choice of cereal, fruit, toast and a fried breakfast. I ate everything going. Frosties and Weetabix to start, two pieces of toast and jam, a full fried breakfast and a bowl of grapefruit to finish.

Fueled up I got dressed and ready only to find that the wind had changed direction. A stiff wind was blowing and I was riding into it for 96 miles. I decided not to battle against it in search of a fast time. I rode at 16-17mph for most of the morning trying to ease my legs into another day of long distance riding.

I set off at 10.45am and hit Lancaster at midday, at around the same point I hit to 450 mile mark - half way into the journey.

Completely ignoring the significance of this I rode on into Kendal and passed from Lancashire into Cumbria. No sooner had I done so the horizon became crowded with mountain peaks. I counted at least ten before fear stopped me counting further! This was Lake District country and I was in for a hilly afternoon.

Lunch was at the top of the Kendal-Shap pass and came after an eight-mile climb. The start wound through farmland but the top became open, barren and very windswept. A lunch of pasta, bread, coke and a surprisingly tasty Kendal mint cake was very much welcome.

I added a few more clothing layers before starting a cold and disappointing descent towards Shap and Penrith. The wind stopped me from building up any real speed.

I plodded on to Carlisle and met a fireman on his way to work by bike. He guided me through the city to the A7 and before I knew it I was on the home straight to Gretna. Despite the wind I raced the last 10 miles and made it to Gretna by 6.30pm.

I rode 96 miles in a painfully slow 6hrs 20mins (which is an average of 15.1mph - about an hour slower than I'd normally aim for) but I'd cycled the length of England in five days which was immensely satisfying.

That night we were camping at Braids Caravan park. It was a pretty average place to stay but we did eat a very tasty camping stove dinner of carbonara pasta, courgette and bacon, and we watched half of 3:10 To Yuma before tiredness took hold.

My sleep was punctuated by weird dreams and the nagging thought that the bottom bracket on my bike was in need of a service. I was hoping a soaking in GT-85 would sort it out for the 90 mile ride to Cumbernauld.

Song of the day: Respectable for the Respectable by Super Furry Animals got me singing along. My surprise discovery of the day was Chemical Calasthenics by Blackalicious.

A super furry state

... which isn't a reference to having hairy legs but a nod to one of the bands that got me through yesterday's riding.

I listened to the whole of the Super Furries' Dark Days/Light Years album and very much enjoyed it. I didn't rate the album when I bought it last year but listening to it on yesterday's ride to Clevedon gave it a new lease of life.

I even stopped to replay Inaugural Trams, which has a great German spoken word section by Nick McCarthy from Franz Ferdinand. It seemed quite apt after my weekend in Germany (where I barely spoke a word of German).

My flight from Berlin came in at 11.30pm on Sunday, which meant that I didn't get to sleep until 2am on Monday. On top of three days of heavy drinking and going to bed no earlier than 5am, Monday's riding was a real struggle.

In the morning I rode 10 miles to pick up a new steering wheel for my van and it was incredibly tough. I felt so sick with tiredness! After a lot of water and food I rode 38 miles in the afternoon, including two killer hills (Wraxall Hill and Naish Hill). By the 25 mile mark I knew I was on a recovery ride so I coasted home the final 13, spinning fast up the hills and pedalling gently on the flats.

Today (Tuesday) I rode 11 miles after work but still didn't feel right. My legs and body felt tired and mentally I was shattered too. My average speed was horrible (16.4mph) and I think my riding will all be at that pace this week. I'm looking at two 100 mile rides on Saturday and Sunday so there's no point trying to prove anything with fast sprints this week.

This is my final weekend of long distances before my training tapers off, which means that my start date is now only two weeks away (gulp!).

Almost all my accommodation is booked, all my maps are printed, my bike is working well and hopefully the van will be sorted at its MOT tomorrow. All that's left now is to pack my things and draw attention to the ride with a press release... which reminds me. Yesterday I asked Helen to take a few pics of me in my Cancer Research t-shirt (see right). Watch out for this appearing in a newspaper near you soon...