And somehow it’s Day 5 already! We’re halfway through our challenge on hump day and Kenny has surpassed everyone’s expectations and bets on when he’d hitch a lift in the support van for a wee break (still no sign of that)! It was looking to be another warm one so had to keep an eye on hydration levels.
We had a bit of a different start to the day today. Firstly we actual had a proper breakfast at the hotel as they were the first place to start serving by 6.30am! We then had to battle with rush hour traffic around the Manchester area; something we’ve not had to contend with on our wee country lanes so far.
Despite some shonky overtakes (mostly drivers which we then caught up with in the next queue of traffic…) we made it to first stop at The Barn in Scorton. What a pick of a place! They had 44 different flavours of home made icecream on offer along with a HUGE selection of cakes including a Percy Pig inspired Cookie Pie. Between the coffee and the sugar we were flying!
Next up we followed the M6 north, criss crossing it too many times to count on the adjacent country roads. This was much more like the roads we’re used to up north and we really enjoyed flying though all the little villages with amazing views across the landscapes. The final push to lunch involved a bit of a head down slog across the A6 with busy traffic which took us up to Milnthorpe and then onwards to Kendal for lunch.
Kenny contemplating his lift choices after Shap Fell
Next we had the big event of the day: climbing Shap Fell. Comprising 5 miles of constant climbing this is a relatively big ask on any day. The heat today (Garmin was reading 30 degrees) made this even more challenging! But all the team made it up and were greeted by the support van offering gifts of water and jelly beans!
On passing through Shap itself we met some fellow end-to-enders (Jess, Louise and Clara) who were tackling their challenge self supported over 21 days. They started on the 2nd of June and aim to finish on the 23rd and we can confirm, have some very heavily laden bikes! After swapping “war stories” we wished them the best in the rest of their journey.
Norman met us on the way
Heading on we got to Witheral just outside of Carlisle where we were greeted by an old friend and ex colleague of the team, Norman Craik and his wife Mary. The Craiks offer of bed and board to the team couldn’t be turned down and the team went to bed with their bellies full of spag bol and homemade cake and ice cream.
After a stormy evening in Ludlow, we thought the air would have cleared and made for a cooler start, but no, it was still warm to start. Coming out of Ludlow we had a slight medical challenge, Kevin’s Achilles Tendons nearly popped, every pedal stroke was agony! But though this was a medical issue, it was potentially self-inflicted, by not setting up the bike seat at the right height for the previous 300 miles, dropping the seat a little made a huge difference and the rolling hills could continue. (Some say this was a easy error to make, others would say he was a fool for taking 300 miles to work this out…)
The first stop was to be at a pub for coffees at Long Water, but we found out this was closed, so it was a pit stop in the car park – where Dave our support team managed to put some refreshments out…
Puncture Repair Time
Then onward onto Nantwich, and the day was hotting up….just as we were reaching Nantwich, we suffered out first puncture…which tested our preparation of spare parts, and we were back on the road again in no time!
Nantwich was a very much appreciated stop, once again Dave did a great job in finding a suitable lunch venue, with some great food!
After lunch, it felt like heading back into the furnace…the hottest day so far…the only saving grace was the lack of hills, but it was definitely a sapping section of the ride, one nice part was that we were hit by a rather large rain shower which made for a refreshing end of the ride.
To finish off the day, we managed a swim in the hotel pool which was a surprise, but a welcome cool down.
‘Richard of the Day’ goes to….yet to be decided….we will potentially collate a few, but I am sure you will have a guess who is leading the nominations.
So after a lovely run down into Bath on Day 2, we had a delightful early morning climb back out of the city! Well, that was certainly one way to get the legs loosened off and the blood pumping again!
We quickly ticked off another two counties – Wiltshire, very VERY closely followed by South Gloucestershire and made our way through some delightful wee villages en route to our first coffee stop just short of the Severn Bridge.
At which point…the Richard of the Day award was promptly won by none other than our Kenny again! On leaving the coffee stop he got “attacked” by a tree which nicked his glasses (the tree was feared of both Kevin and Stuart and left them alone) meaning he got split up from the other two. On realising Kevin and Stuart stopped on the bridge to allow Kenny to catch up. Cue a call from Kenny informing them he was lost (within 400m of the restart point) and when told the others were waiting on the bridge, Kenny asked “What bridge”? The answer given cannot be published here…
Red = Start Blue = Kevin & Stuart. Where’s Kenny?!
Once regrouped the team continued over the Severn Bridge into Wales annnnd then back out again shortly after, heading through the Wye valley and Forest of Dean. One of the three countries of Great Britain ticked off! Further on through the Wye valley we came across Kevin’s best man, Ander and lovely wife Jo and wee boy Max with their Wheelie Big Ride support sign. We were very kindly offered lunch at their house which the hungry riders jumped at. Slight catch, it was up a HUGE hill! But we will do anything for lunch!
Fraser the legend
At least what goes up has to come down so we enjoyed the downhill and rest of the journey through the very scenic and picturesque Wye Valley. After a much needed coffee stop at Leominster (the only coffee shop in town which was still open was sniffed out by Dave, and it was smashing, top marks!) we continued on to our stop for the evening at Ludlow. And what a place to stop, Ludlow looked amazing and will definitely be worth a visit when we’ve got more time! But we had to get on to the hotel where we met Kevin’s family – mum, dad, sister, brother-in-law and the main man Fraser who is the inspiration behind this trip for Kevin. A fantastic evening followed with great company and food!
The updates and pics have been flying in over the weekend! Let’s check out what the trio have to say about their second day…and their visit from Sally Dale from our partner NSSLGlobal!
🚴♂️ Starting Oakhampton, the lovely Sally Dale from our partner NSSLGlobal joined us for the first leg. It was lovely to catch up, share the journey, and it was a real boost to the team!
🚴♂️ We are getting into the swing of things; the X1 and the antennas were up and running, Dave Inglis was brilliant at setting up all things DDK ready for David Mckay at DDK HQ to track us to accuracies of less than 5cm!
🚴♂️ When we stopped off at Tiverton and Bridge Water, we met some lovely locals who donated to the charities. We can’t thank them enough!
🚴♂️ Climbing Cheddar Gorge was a real highlight of the day, with stunning views easing the pain of the climb.
🚴♂️ A few hours later, we descended to Bath, and the descent was amazing until we realised we had to climb it again the next morning!
🏆 ‘Richard of the Day’ goes to…. Kenny! For forgetting his GoPro at the beginning of the Cheddar Gorge, he turned back to pick it up; on his return…. we found out it ran out of battery! Worthy of a Richard moment for sure – there definitely seems to be a recurring theme here Kenny! 🤣
Well, folks, it’s somewhat been a bit of a learning curve for the dynamic trio over the past few days! Let’s check out what they have to say about their first day…
🚴♂️ Cornwall is hella hilly!⛰️ We knew there was a fair amount of elevation to cover but were not prepared for how relentlessly up and down it was.
🚴♂️ Our training ride speed of 25km/h is ambitious! We ended up with a long 12hr day (including cake breaks! 🍰)
🚴♂️ Garmin navigation is pretty good…when followed (more on this below)
🚴♂️ Don’t clasp your hands in front of you when posing for a photo of the back of your tops; it can have unintended consequences!
Overall though, it was a really good day; after the initial push through the weather, the hedgerows of Cornwall thankfully protected us from the majority of the wind!
David Inglis (Bailey) Inglis played a blinder at getting ahead of the “peloton” and snapping us in action 📸. And at the end of the day, we crossed into the “Sally Dale” territory of Devon and rolled into the hotel in Okehampton.
To celebrate all aspects of the challenge, we decided that each day a special shout-out should be made to the biggest doughball of the day…aka the Richard of the Day🏆 Today’s award goes to…Kenneth Anderson for ignoring his Garmin and his two colleagues shouting at him as he went the wrong way, then proceeding to crack on for a good mile before realising he was on his tod!
Despite some shonky overtakes (mostly drivers which we then caught up with in the next queue of traffic…) we made it to first stop at The Barn in Scorton. What a pick of a place! They had 44 different flavours of home made icecream on offer along with a HUGE selection of cakes including a Percy Pig inspired Cookie Pie. Between the coffee and the sugar we were flying!
So after a lovely run down into Bath on Day 2, we had a delightful early morning climb back out of the city! Well, that was certainly one way to get the legs loosened off and the blood pumping again!
At which point…the Richard of the Day award was promptly won by none other than our Kenny again! On leaving the coffee stop he got “attacked” by a tree which nicked his glasses (the tree was feared of both Kevin and Stuart and left them alone) meaning he got split up from the other two. On realising Kevin and Stuart stopped on the bridge to allow Kenny to catch up. Cue a call from Kenny informing them he was lost (within 400m of the restart point) and when told the others were waiting on the bridge, Kenny asked “What bridge”? The answer given cannot be published here…
Fraser the legend
