LEJOG - Days 7 & 8

Day 7: Tewkesbury to Kidderminster - 44.89miles 1598ft climbing
A lovely sleep in the Weatherspoon’s pub in Tewksbury followed by an American breakfast (bacon, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, maple syrup etc - yum!!). 

I love pancakes!

We got our bikes ready to find my mum’s friend Jules’ parents (they live in Tewksbury) waiting for us outside the hotel. That was a lovely send off and we began our ride north. Unfortunately my legs were tired this morning so I was struggling with the small hills we found. 

Uncle Andrew left us yesterday and Auntie Natalie joined us today, having driven down from Manchester with the family. Uncle John took their two daughters off for the morning with a plan to meet in Worcester. 

Auntie Natalie and me stuffing our faces!

We continued riding through the lovely Worcestershire countryside (having left Gloucestershire, yay!); lots of country lanes and the occasional tow path but all very pleasant. It soon became apparent though that Auntie Natalie doesn’t like hills. More particularly, she doesn’t like going down hills! Very weird, that’s the fun bit! Dad and I would tuck up and go as fast as we could while Auntie Natalie would come down at a snails pace and frequent get off and walk! She does live in Manchester which is pretty flat I suppose!
We arrived in Worcester which seemed very pleasant and found and set about finding a cafe called Foley’s, recommended by Jules’ parents. Don’t be put off by the outside (a bright orange box attached to the cricket ground). You go inside and the whole back wall is a panoramic window overlooking the cricket pitch, with a big balcony too. Pity the only thing going on was grass cutting but it was pretty amazing. And the food was great too!

Cafe overlooking the cricket pitch

After lunch we continued towards Kidderminster. We spent a lot of time on a lovely old railway line which was mostly smooth and relatively flat and then switched onto a canal tow path (lots of these in the West Midlands).

Mum had driven to meet Uncle John at an ice cream factory and then they all came to meet us. We’d found a Costa in Kidderminster and we’re selling in when John and the girls arrived, closely followed by mum in the campervan. This was the first time we’d seen mum driving it and she already looked like a pro!

Trixie the Camper van also named 'Doris' by my friend Evie!

Auntie Natalie and family headed off home to Manchester while mum drove to a pub she’d found where we could park overnight. Thankfully it was only a couple of miles away because we had to cycle!
A lovely pasta meal was waiting for us on arrival and our first night in the van and a beer for dad!👍🏼

Day 8: Kidderminster to Stoke-on-Trent - 64.84miles 2589ft climbing
Today was meant to be a relatively straightforward 52 miles to finish in Stoke-on-Trent. We dropped (quite literally, it was a very steep descent!) onto the canal tow path. This was quite pleasant at first but after a few miles became muddy and bumpy and our progress slowed right down. After a few miles it became almost impassible but we were able to ride a lane almost parallel to the canal and then an old railway track cycle path which were much quicker.   

Some of the less muddy Canal path today

We eventually ended up in Wolverhampton. I needed the loo so dad found the nearest toilet which was in a supermarket a couple of miles away and we had another diversion. Following the toilet break (and opportunity to top up the mini-egg supply😁) we hit the road, or more correctly, the canal path again. Wolverhampton seems to be criss-crossed by canals (dad says there are more in neighbouring Birmingham than in Venice. I’ve never been to Venice so I’ll have to believe him!). 

We had a couple more diversions this afternoon just to frustrate things. We arranged to meet mum at lunch in Brewood but had to divert off the canal path going directly there due mud onto the road and added our first lot of a extra miles to our day. At least lunch was waiting though!  The second came in Stafford which proved quite difficult to cross - google maps apparently doesn’t recognise a road as a one way street if there’s a cycle lane coming the other direction. So dad had to find a route around. Worse came later on though again as we were following a lovely cycle path north of Stafford which we found was closed due a housing estate being built. So we had to back track a couple of miles. 

Mud - Cycle path????

More mud and definitely NOT a cycle path google maps!

By this stage, mum had the camper in Stoke-on-Trent looking for somewhere we could spend the night. She didn’t have any success but did find the Rose and Crown Pub in Stockton Brook to the east of Stoke where we could park. 
This turned out to be a lovely pub bit and extra 7 or 8 miles for us to ride and (thank you once again google maps) took us over a completely unrideable moor. It was fun but by that stage we’d done more than 60miles! 

More stroking of animals!

Food was waiting for us when we got to the camper however and a long sleep!

Yum! Pasta is my staple diet this trip!

LEJOG Days 5 & 6

LEJOG Days 5 & 6

Day 5: Burnham on Sea to Bristol 39.6miles, 784ft climbing
 
We had a lovely cooked breakfast (although we’ve had so many recently, I’m starting to crave cereal!) in the pub where we stayed last night. Before we realised, it was half past nine so we got our things together and headed off. My Uncle Andrew (my mum’s twin brother) had driven down from London and was cycling from Bristol to meet us. We’d planned to meet somewhere near Weston-super-Mare but to get there we had to cycle out of Burnham (google maps seemed to want to take us along the beach, which we thought probably wasn’t a good idea) and get to the new Brean Down cycle track. It was lovely, very picturesque with an amazing ruined church on a cliff top at Uphill Park. Uncle Andrew wasn’t far away so we met on the sea front.

Meeting Uncle Andrew at Weston - Good to have someone else riding with us

We decided to have lunch in Clevedon so set off. The A390 was very busy but we were able to turn off onto the Strawberry Line (which I’ve cycled lots with my family and is lovely) to Yatton and then on back roads to Clevedon. Unfortunately the rain started and the temperature dropped and we all started to get very cold, even with our waterproofs on. So lunch in a cafe in Clevedon became a sandwich from Tesco’s and we set of to Portishead. The wind must have been behind us because I felt like we were flying along, dad was setting a good pace all the way to the M5 bridge. By this time I couldn’t feel my feet (I didn’t put my overshoes on!) just wanted to get home. So over the bridge, along the Portway and home!  I ran inside and jumped in the bath to warm my feet up. Then I had a shower!  Then I lay on the sofa, under a blanket catching up with my friends until tea. 
A shorter day, only about 40miles and less than 1000ft of climbing. But incredibly cold in the wind and rain so not looking forward to tomorrow. The forecast is rain all day  😫


Day 6: Bristol to Tewskebury - 48.06miles 1135ft of climbing

Today was a day I was really looking forward to but also really nervous about. More of that later though!
My best friend Evie got to our house at 7:30am. She’s a master at french plaits, which are perfect for when I’m riding so I’d arranged for her to come and redo my hair (and a gossip of course!). 
Dad and uncle Andrew got the bikes all ready, we said goodbye to the twins who we won’t see for about a week and then we cycled off to my school, Redmaids’ High School. Mum (who is also a teacher there) had told us to be by the gates at 8:50am OR ELSE!  Luckily we were and we were met by lots of other pupils and staff on bikes (some of them not really the right size, Mr Wyatt!), including my mum!  And then Oli Beckingsale, the Commonwealth and Olympic mountain biker turned up too!  He’s one of dad’s local heros (he’s a Bristolian, like all the best people😉) and he had a lovely road bike which uncle Andrew and dad were both drooling over🙄🙄. I could imagine my mum shaking her head and saying “men.....”. 

There was loads of noise coming from the front of the school building and after a few photos, we were told to cycle up the drive in a big convoy. We came around the corner and the WHOLE SCHOOL was lining the drive, despite the rain, all cheering and waving banners they’d made. I was really embarrassed but also incredibly proud too. 

The school has really got behind my ride. Loads of people had cycled in that day. They had a bike that made smoothies  and 4 spin bikes in reception. All day teachers and pupils were riding two of them to try and ride more than 247miles in a day which was our total for the last 5. Miss Owens-Powell, my drama teacher had come in at 7am and had already done 25miles before we got there!  
There was a huge Wallace and a huge Gromit character there (I think two of my teachers were inside, mum said they were all desperate to dress up!!) and a representative from British Cycling. It was really, really cool!

But, we had to leave all the fun and start our ride. We had one more quick stop first though. Mrs Wright, the headteacher of Elmlea Junior school (my old school) had invited us down to say a quick hello before we set off. We got there to find all three of the year five classes in the rain, ready to wave us on our way. My brother and sister are in year 5 so we got to say goodbye to them again, answered a few questions about our ride and then off we went. I think we all felt a bit sad to be leaving all the fun behind and to set off into the rain!

Dad and uncle Andrew had plotted two routes, a quiet road one and a busy road one. Usually we go for the quiet roads but it said it’ll would take nearly an hour longer so as the weather was so miserable, we’d go along the A38. It was a quite busy road but was fine. There was lots of water on the road so lots of spray though. It was hilarious at one point when a lorry drove past dad who was leading and made loads of spray. Dad disappeared completely but all we could hear was him laughing really loudly!! 
We got to Slimbridge and decided to find some lunch. We found a nice cafe by the canal. Dad had the biggest cheeseburger ever, though my hot chocolate was pretty enormous too!  

Dad's lunch was enormous!

So was mine!

Back to cycling - we tried the tow path but it was slow, bumpy and muddy so gave up and went back to the A38. 




This took us through Gloucester in the pouring rain, to Tewkesbury in the still pouring rain!  
We were booked into another pub. Uncle Andrew stayed for a coffee and some food then rode off to catch a train back to Bristol to then drive to London😟. They’ve put our bikes down in the cellar out of the weather, which is cool. Dad has turned the radiator up to max to dry the gloves and socks (the rain resistant leggings and the jackets dad left in Cornwall but which were returned to us kept us really dry). Still had ice cold feet though, despite two pairs of merino socks AND my overshoes. 

Oh - and mum said they absolutely smashed our 247miles at school today.

Day 3 - Launceston to Tiverton - 55.5 miles 3990ft of climbing

Another great breakfast

New hair brush

Today was tough. At least, this morning was tough. We left Launceston (after buying a new hair brush!) going really fast downhill and also left Cornwall. Yay, first county done!  Hello Devon and hello hills😫.

Into our second county

All morning it was one after another after another. And some of them were really steep, far worse than anything we’ve seen so far. However, at one point, we found the most amazing long straight downhill. My I’m sure my Garmin hit 40mph but dad was recording it on his which said 37mph maximum. The big chicken!😂. Dad burst out laughing when we got to the bottom because apparently I turned to him with a HUGE grin and said “that was AMAZING!!!”  I would have done it again if it hadn’t meant climbing back up the hill. 

It took us about three hours to ride 20miles (despite the speedy descent!) to Okehampton where we had lunch and recharged the batteries.

Both of us were really hoping the afternoon wouldn’t be the same though dad assured me that although there would be a few hills, they’d be much smaller. He was right thankfully. We cycled in beautiful weather through gorgeous Devon (I got lots more pictures of new born lambs, I think dad was beginning to despair in the end😁). 
3 hours and 35miles later we arrived in Tiverton. Done with hills for a while, been there done that. And dad says the Somerset levels are accurately named. Double YAY!👍🏼👍🏼
Dad rather over catered for tea at Tescos! but I did get a cream egg which was well deserved

Left overs!

Cadbury's Cream Egg!

Day 4 - Tiverton to Burnham-on-Sea - 48.5 miles 1243ft of climbing

Getting rather used to these lovely full English breakfasts!

We stayed in a lovely hotel in Tiverton. They said we could put our bikes inside one of their conference rooms and locked the doors which was nice because it rained overnight. Dad checked the forecast and sure enough, it said we’d have showers all day. So he had to unpack the bags to get the waterproofs out the bottom (they’ve been hidden away because of the constant sunshine so far). He was scratching his head, I’m sure he then said some rude words and he admitted he’d left the waterproof jackets hanging in the wardrobe in Launceston. Why, I don’t know, he usually throws everything on the floor. See where I get it from, mum??

Top of one of the only big hills today and nothing like the last three days

Today was mostly on canal tow paths. Nice to be away from traffic apart from dodging happy dogs but they’re bumpy and a bit thin in places so again, we didn’t go very fast. But we made Taunton for lunch and also a quick stop at mountain Warehouse where dad got us some cheap waterproof jackets and also a fleece for me. It’s really cold today!  

Mum told dad it had to be bright so I'd be noticed - We took her at her word!

Next stop was Bridgewater and then the last stretch to Burnham-on-Sea where dad has booked a room in a pub. As we got near the sea, the winds really picked up. I could barely move sometimes but then as we turned onto the seafront, they became tailwinds and dad said we broke several speed limits (😉).

Beautiful country lanes of Somerset

I had an amazing steak pie and Tuesday is free dessert night!  I had a caramel fudge brownie sundae (well it was free). But dad said it was bigger than my head and even with his help we couldn’t finish it.

Really lovely hotel room tonight, best yet in a pub

Steak pie!

MASSIVE FREE sundae

Days 1 & 2

Friday 29th March drive down to Cornwall 

We had a slightly eventful Friday.

After a very long journey down to Penzance. Accident on the M5. We, the kids, had the DVD player which helped, but kept arguing about which film to have on until mum threatened to take it away! Into Cornwall, we kept complaining about being hungry, but we had eaten all our snacks. Mum and dad were holding out for a food M&S which they remembered being great from camping holidays. Eventually we found it and filled up on salads and pasta. After about 4.5 hours we arrived at a very quiet YHA, only to have 80+ adult and kids rugby players arrive dressed fully from head to toe in pirate gear! Needless to say they went straight to the bar and were very noisy all evening. The children were running all over the building. Then mum realised she had left all her medication at home! She has never done that before. Luckily a pharmacy which was open late until 12 was back 20mins where the M&S had been, so mum got out of her pjs again and headed out while we tried to sleep. Dad spoke to the rugby lot and eventually we all got to sleep.

Day 1 30th March - Lands End to St Columb Major - 58.9miles 4400ft climbing

We were up by 7am, car packed by 7.30 and we had our breakfast in the YHA dining room crammed with pirates! Bottles everywhere from last night! They must have drunk the place dry - I don’t think the staff were very happy!

A short drive to Lands End which was deserted at 8.30am in the morning. Mum took LOADS of photos by the sign - I suppose she needed to to prove I was actually here. It was really exciting to eventually be heading off, if a little nerve wracking... there was definitely no turning back now! I felt good though, except mum made me take off all my warm clothes to get pictures of the Grand Appeal cycling tops. I’m always cold at the start of a ride. The weather was glorious and the views over the sea amazing. We said our goodbyes and dad couldn’t believe we were leaving at 8.45!

Setting off from Lands End

We cycled out of the attraction past a mini Stonehenge... I know! Random! But then realised we had forgotten to get all our snacks out of the car and get the LEJOG association paperwork stamped at the hotel to prove that we’d started. So Back we came to sort that. We were still away by 9am though. The twins were already at the adventure playground. They also went swimming in the sea at Sennen beach - rather then than me as it was freezing apparently!

Emily and Tom on Sennen beach

We covered lots of miles quickly in the morning. Not too many steep hills yet. People have been telling us about the first few days being the worst because of the amount of climbing, but I think living in Bristol helps as we are very used to hills! There were a couple of big ones today, but nothing worse than our training rides.

Typical Cornwall sight! This one is quite intact, many are much more derelict

Mum met us for lunch in a lay-by outside Redruth at the 35mile mark. Which was good as I really did need pasta fuel!

Random Lay-by - stripped off our legs as it was getting hot!

The afternoon was much tougher with more climbing and I was just tired and achy and a bit sore!

One of many hills

We did see Alpacas though and a Go-karting track!

We finished just outside St Columb Major in a farmhouse AirB&B. And the best bit was there were two boarder collies and baby lambs to play with!!!!

I had a quick shower! I know, very unusual - mine usually take ages - must be practising for the camper van! And then we drove to the local pub for a meal. I ordered lasagne, but could only eat the garlic bread and at one point thought I was going to be sick! Pure exhaustion- all I wanted was to go to bed.

We left quickly and I was asleep as soon as I got into bed with mums hot water bottle!

Day 2 31st March - St Columb Major - Launceston - 44.37miles 2290ft climbing

We woke up early and read books while we waited for mum and dad to get up. We are a massive farmhouse fry up in the B&B and the weather was amazing again which bode well. We left half an hourly later than we’d planned because I was playing with the dogs and stroking the lambs.

The riding was mostly lovely today. We cycled along the Camel trail (which we have done various bits of lots of times before) from Wadebridge to the base of the only big hill today leading up to St Brewards. Apparently this village is the home of the highest Inn in Cornwall. It was definitely a climb to get up there. 

Then across Bodmin Moor which was spectacular in the sun (except for the continuous headwinds - dads drafting me so it’s much easier for him!) with lots of stops to look at tiny lambs, calves and foals. Dad lost interest after the third or forth one, but I never got bored of them, they are sooo cute!

Mum had found a nice spot for lunch off the road on the moor and we found a pond full of tadpoles which we caught in a drinking bottle before releasing them again.

Catching tadpoles

2 inquisitive horses came bounding over at one point which was slightly worrying, but they then wandered away. Dad loaded up his panniers with all the stuff we will need for the next 3 days and then mum and the twins said goodbye and headed back to Bristol leaving us on our own. Dad says the panniers are heavy... serve him right for all the drafting he’s been doing while I work hard!

The afternoon route had us joining the extremely busy A30 dual carriageway at the base of a long steep hill where there was no verge to ride on which I didn’t like the idea of, so we took a detour on safer roads doing an extra 3 or 4 miles riding but got us much more safely to the hotel in Launceton.  Don’t come here! There is not much of a town and the hotel is quite shabby. We got takeaway pizza to eat in our room.

I realised that I had forgotten to bring a brush and shampoo/conditioner and the amazing plaits which my best friend Evie had done on Friday for me were needing to come out, so I'll just  have to deal with the mess tomorrow! Tired, I headed off to bed early.

PS... My hair is usually completely straight!