Success

I made it back home around 7pm last night. As I approached Crewe, my instinct was telling me that I'm nearly home, but in reality there was still 15 miles of pedalling, and the last stretch was a real slog, especially as a headwind picked up.

I was really quite exhausted by the end of it, although glad to have completed what will be tougher (I hope) than any two day stretches when I do the real thing.

The combination of quite a long distance (79 miles on Saturday, 76 on Sunday) and the big hills of Wales is not something I'm planning on doing over the two week tour. I deliberately planned so that any hilly parts (eg. day 2 in the Lake District) will be a shorter daily distance.

Saying that, I've revised my route slightly so that I'm now stopping in Kewsick instead of Cockermouth, knocking 10 miles or so off both days two and three. After the 80 mile stint on the first day, I think it's going to be for the best so that I don't burn myself out right at the beginning of the trip.

I did get a bit saddle sore, and that's something I'm going to do all I can to try and avoid on the main trip, but the main problem I'm facing today is from midge bites all down my legs. Obviously I'm going to have to re-apply the repellent as I'm going along.

There were a few lessons I learned that made the trip worthwhile (not that it wasn't anyway - I saw some great scenery and in general enjoyed the experience):

Lesson one, well everything I've read told me to avoid carrying much/anything on a backpack and I'm inclined to agree. I didn't have much, but even the weight of the hydration bladder in my backpack was taking it's toll after 30-40 miles.

Lesson two, I think I need front panniers. I had around 12kg loaded on the back of the bike, and it was generally OK once you get going, but it made it quite a slog going uphill with all the weight on the back. If I can move a few kilos to the front I think it will make things a bit easier.

Lesson three: don't use the snooze button on my alarm! I promised myself I'd be out of bed by 8.30am, but by the time I'd hauled my ass out of the sleeping bag (after 9), eaten, got washed, changed and packed the tent away, it was 11.20. I was still home by teatime, but it meant I didn't have as much time to stop as I'd have liked, and also meant that I was stopping for lunch only an hour and a half into the trip.

I was pretty lucky to avoid any dramas - no punctures or other failure, and only one rain shower. Despite the predictions of some, it's not put me off the trip, and I'm all set for going in less than two weeks. Hopefully these damn midgie bites will have cleared up by then!

I think this is why people cycle in France...

Did I say the weather was perfect? Oh dear, literally as soon as I passed the "Croeso y Cymru" sign, the heavens opened and unleashed the full fury of British summertime on me.

It didn't last too long, but just long enough go give me squishy socks for the rest of the journey.

Anyway, I'm here now. The last 30-40 miles were incredibly hilly, meaning progress was slower than I'd hoped. In particular, the lung-busting climb into Coedpoeth seemed to go on forever, although I guess this offered some explanation, just a little further up the road:



I'll have the climb back up there to look forward to tomorrow. On the plus side, there was quite a spectacular view at the top.










I finally made it to Bala around 7.45 in the evening. That missed turn at Nantwich had added a few miles on, and the entire trip ended up being 79 miles.

It also meant I missed closing time at the local chippy by the time I'd set the tent up and made my way into town. Curses! Scampi & chips out of a kebab shop isn't exactly the same, although I guess at least I could eat it by the lake, as the weather had improved a lot by this point.




Now for a good night's sleep to get ready for the return leg tomorrow. I hope the person in the next tent stops snoring soon!

The practise run to Bala

I'm now about halfway along the road to Bala, at a garage somewhere near Wrexham.

It's been very enjoyable so far, with only one near-death experience with a stupid 4x4 driver. I also managed to take a wrong turn somewhere and did a nice little circle around Nantwich bypass, adding 3 or 4 miles onto the journey.

As I get closer to the Welsh border, the roads seem to be getting a lot more undulating and there was a beautiful moment as I came over the crest of a long climb, starting to flag quite severely, and had almost a mile of downhill followed by a sign at the bottom advertising home-cooked bacon butties! I feel quite justified scoffing a double portion.

Remarkably, given the weather forecast, the weather has been almost perfect - not too hot, not too cold, and the rain has stayed off so far. There was a bit of a headwind an hour or so ago, but that seems to have died down now luckily.

There are some fairly ominous clouds lurking on the horizon, however, so the waterproofs might have to come out yet...

Panic!

Argh... I really don't have enough time to prepare as much as I wanted to.

I'm setting off on my practise run to Bala on Saturday morning, and have wasted a good hour and a half this evening trying to fit a set of mudguards with the most incomprehnsible instructions I have ever seen.

On top of that my left leg seems to have doubled in size where I got stung by a wasp yesterday...

24 days to go

Reading articles about the danger of UK roads and people getting knocked off their bikes probably isn't the best thing to be doing at this stage but that's indeed what I was reading this morning.

I guess I've sometimes not fully considered how lucky I am with the facilities for commuting into Stoke. Say what you will about the place, but the cycling facilities are pretty awesome, with off-road NCN routes approaching the city from the north and south, and going across the length of the city.

It's obviously still not perfect, but the council/SUSTRANS/whoever have clearly put a lot of effort into improving the paths over the last couple of years, with new surfaces, a new bridge over one of the busy roads, and a nice cycle-friendly ramp replacing a set of stairs that had to be climbed. I think we all give the authorities a pretty tough time over everything in general, so can I just give a thumbs up to whoever's responsible for these!

It's only 3 and a bit weeks now until I set off, and it would be pretty foolish of me to set off on an 800 mile trip without doing some practise runs that are longer than 30 miles, so I've decided to do a bit of a dress rehearsal the weekend after next down to Bala Lake on the edge of Snowdonia, panniers and all, and camp there for the night.

It's roughly the same distance I'll be covering each day on the main trip, so I should be able to see if if there's anything I've not considered.

It's a beautiful part of the world so all being well that should be something else to look forward to!

Map of my route

Click the image to see a larger version...

Lights vs. wireless computers...

I've been buying a few bits and pieces over the last few weeks in preparation for the trip and it all adds up to quite a bit in the end.

Last night I thought a new cycle computer was going to be the next thing on my shopping list when my existing unit started going mental on the way back from Knutsford - constanly yo-yoing up and down on the speed.

It's only when I was reading some reviews on computers that I came across a snippet about one unit "not being affected by high-powered LED lights" that I realised this problem had only started once the sun started to set and I switched my lights on.

So basically, the computer was being messed up by intererence from the light.  Weird, who would have thought it.

While I'm talking about new purchases, I thought I'd write about how impressed I am with the Ergon GR2 handlebar grips I fitted last night - they have an ergonomic design to dissipate the pressure on your hands and they made a big difference for me, cycling 30 miles last night with no problems of numbness in my hands.

That said, the only problem I have this morning is a massive blister on one hand from pulling off the old rubber grips that came with my bike.  I'm going to try and resist the urge to burst it!

Ergon GR2 magnesium handlebar grips - £36 from Wiggle