At last, we’re half way there: 7 days down; 7 to go. We celebrated by treating ourselves to a pub dinner rather than cooking over a gas stove.
This morning, however, things were not looking so rosy. We awoke in the warm, dry Scout building to the sound of rain hammering on the windows, interrupted only by the occasional roll of thunder. Having turned the heating up to dry all our clothes, the hot, humid air made it very difficult for us to motivate ourselves to do anything at all, and for a few hours we sat and watched the hourly rainfall radar plots on the Met Office web site, comforting ourselves with the thoughts that we were using the opportunity to get all our kit sorted, and besides, we were resting.
We finally left the site at around 12:30, and I got a puncture at around 12:32. Fortunately, the self-healing inner tube worked as it should and with a quick shower of green gunge, we carried on.
Cycling through towns and industrial areas is mentally tiring – constantly stopping for red lights, keeping an eye on the traffic emerging from every direction, more demanding map-reading and holding your nerve in the third lane with lorries on either side of you – but as we crossed the M55, just north of Preston, suddenly everything changed and the buildings fell away to reveal green fields.
Before long, we met another group of people who were also cycling from Land’s End to John o’ Groats (but faster than us: 10 days’ peddling plus 1 day’s rest in the middle). We cycled with them for a few miles up the A6 before stopping for a sandwich break, but we soon met again when they stopped for a break – and then when we stopped, and then when we stopped! We waved hello and goodbye for the last time at Lancaster, when we turned northeast on the A683 towards Hornby, Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh, while they continued north up the A6 for Kendal. Best of luck to Gill, Pip, Dave and Nick.
We arrived at our campsite late but dry, to the good news that Holme Open Farm were allowing us to stay free of charge. It’s a nice site, complete with a nature trail and friendly staff.
Our timings have slowly been slipping – as we arrive later, we don’t get to bed until later and then get up later – and last night I didn’t get to sleep until gone midnight. (By comparison, during he first two nights I had 10 hours’ sleep.) I began to experience the first signs of falling to bits today, considerably earlier in the trip than I’d been hoping to. I’ve known for a long time that the first thing to go when I get tired is my temperature regulation and, sure enough, today I just could not get it right – the sun was too hot and the shade was too cold. After that comes concentration: our decision-making and general ability to organise ourselves has become noticeably slower recently, especially in the mornings, as our mental processes slow down. Finally, today I began to lose my appetite (anybody who knows me will know this is extremely unusual!) and with that, so fell my performance, endurance and morale. I don’t think it’s anything that a good night’s sleep won’t cure, though, and I’m very grateful to the friendly ear with whom I had a good chat on the phone this evening.
Just to add injury to insult, the bee-sting that we dismissed as trivial a few days ago has made my left leg swell up in quite spectacular fashion. It doesn’t hurt but the skin is quite tight when I move it… like every time I pedal. Let’s hope it doesn’t explode.
My exploding leg
