Team Dave

It was slow to get moving this morning even though we had to sort out extra and different kit for the trip north – crampons, skis, you know the sort of thing. Sue laid out all the breakfast things , it was like being at a b&b. Dave Hazelton and Phil Thompson called in before we left to offer us good luck on the journey. We eventually got on the road at 10am – bit late really considering another 100 miles was on the cards today including a few stops for folks wishing us good luck on the way. Ruth and Dave at Stretton, Steve at Bayston Hill, Moes Tavern at Shrewsbury. sue had agreed to carry our heavy panniers a few miles to help us catch up a little lost time, so we got our heads down and cracked on with the miles. We caught up with Sue at Tarporley, she had carried our luggage 60 miles, diamond. We said our goodbyes and pushed on with 40 miles still to go and navigation thro Wigan, Warrington and Ashton makes for slow progress. The panniers full of kit certainly make a huge difference to the effort put in and the speed you get out. Getting to our B&B at 8pm we were shattered and another 100 miler coming up tomorrow thro the Lakes. Romantic Italian tonight – Pricers paying.  :-)

And it’s fantastic! We haven’t had any oppertunity til now to update the site with any more posts. So more detailed write ups of the missing days will be posted at some point! It feels like the adventure has only really started coming into parts of Scotland yesterday, with big quiet roads, breathtaking scenery & wilderness between towns. We’re into a couple of shorter days on the route now with a mere 80 miles or so yesterday & only about 70 today. We have both felt we needed some shorter days because we have both been feeling really shattered from almost 900 miles we have covered so far. Apart from a stint of punctures & some niggley aches & pains, all is going well at this stage.

So glad that damned A30 is well behind us, anybody who rides a bike on that road is deserving of some kind of trophy. An easier day of 80 miles yesterday allowed the legs and body to recover a little bit. We had a huge meal at The Bath Arms in Cheddar last night and a game of pool, its not just about the bike you know. I will let you know Pricer did not have a misspent youth. We had to be on the ball this morning as we had another big day in the saddle, about 105miles today. We had breakfast in the Youth Hostel, give the legs a good rub down with some potion out of a tube and we were off. Headed in the direction of the Severn Bridge cutting across diagonally. Pricer was almost taken out by some retard who clearly couldnt drive properly in Nailsea. We crossed the Avonmouth and Severn Bridges alongside the M5 and M48, superb pieces of engineering. After crossing the Severn Bridge we turned for Chepstow climbed up high then descended down into the Wye Valley for dinner at Tintern Abbey. It always makes the riding that little bit easier when riding in a great location like the Wye Valley all the from Chepstow right up past Monmouth towards Hereford. Then a quick call in at Pricers place of work. They seem like a great bunch of lads, one or two of which tried to bribe us with lifts back home to Leominster or Ludlow. We also met Mr & Mrs Price just outside Hereford for a drop of moral support(on our best behaviour in front of Mrs Price). Anyway we had to truck on, so on we pushed, then the heavens opened. At this point it got very cold and when we got to Leominster i felt The Bonk coming on.(cycling term for run out of energy). So a quick seven quid spent in Spar and we were off again. Then just out of Leominster the heavens opened again but like a knight in shining armour James Williams turns up in his red camper van for us to shelter whilst the shower past over, and by complete luck he had brought along with him the rest of the bits and pieces that we need for the rest of the trip……….energy drink, chamois cream, brake blocks, muscle rub, spare legs. Eventually getting home at 7.40pm, a very long day indeed. My wife Sue had cooked us taters, veg, chilli and Xmas pud with custard and cream. I love her to bits.

The thought of a slightly shorter day today has been a mental boost considering the tough conditions of days 3 & 4. The weather has been kind to us with mostly fair skies and a tail wind. Some really enjoyable moment through sweeping bends and quaint villages and over river and canal bridges. The most shocking moment for me was when Sparky burst into hysterics at the sight of a swan with it’s ass in the air in a canal!

It feels great to be at cheddar again and the thought of stopping back at home on the way north tomorrow is great! Hope to catch some of you as we come up through Herefordshire and Shropshire, hopefully arriving in Westhope around 18:00 pm

We had a short stint into the head wind today from the hostel to lands end! Turning about it was utter bliss! The average speed for the day was 14.4 mph. This tailed off towards the end with Sparky feeling the fatigue setting in. To the contrary, I have felt less niggles today and almost a hint of improved strength showing…

Bad points of the day have been the A30 (lots of traffic) & steady wet rain as the day went on!
High points are the family size cornish pasty & a meal in a pie at a bakery in Chasewater, as well as an encounter with a stereotypical Irishman, we could have spent all day talking with him!

The relentless ups and downs of Cornwall are now behind us and we retrace the route of day 2, a slightly shorter day across the flats of Somerset that will hopefully give our bodies a little easier time of it and feel stronger for forthcoming days!

Pricer

Today didn’t present itself brilliantly with Sparky having a somewhat upset stomach following breakfast! With a sizeable point to give the day a good incentive to finish on, we pressed on regardless spinning nice gears. Today took us along the A30 which neither of us were looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint! To the contrary, it was torturous with a firm head wind for the best part of the day, putting us somewhat behind on schedule. Dinner on Bodmin Moore was the only proper stop we had with only minor pauses for navigation and cramming. Both of us plugged into our music today and tried the best we could to hear it over the howling wind and traffic. There has been many stints for both of us today where we shut our minds off to the cycling and let the legs do their thing. As a result we reached Lands End youth hostel at 19:05, just in time to persuade the chef to rustle up one last meal which we appreciated no end!
We both feel pretty shattered after today and amazed how we have been feeling stronger as each day goes on. For me, saddle comfort is better but my shoulder is shouting up about it’s lack of strength following the operation I had in June.

Gentle start today with a flatish 30 miles across the Somerset flats towards Taunton. This area looks much like Norfolk with large drainage ditches cut into the verges and fields{I think the accent is pretty similar too}. We are still having to contend with quite a strong headwind but nothing to grumble about, it is to be expected as we normally get south westerly’s throughout our summers. After such a big day yesterday our legs were feeling ok, the first hour was easy spinning a smaller gear than usual in the knowledge that we only had to complete 80 miles today. We both agreed the most uncomfortable bits were our arses. After Taunton we were into the hills again thro Tiverton and Crediton and as we approached Okehampton the hills got longer and steeper, and legs just kept on spinning. We took turns on the front to give each other a rest from the headwinds regularly but being behind Pricer was was not so much in his slipstream but more like his sh#*stream. Big day tomorrow, try to be on the road about 9ish with lands end the target at about 95 miles. One more day to go then we may get a tail wind……. yippee. Anyhows gotta go now and don’t forget to spread the word and lets raise some more cash for air ambulance. X

Day 1 Westhope  to Cheddar

We decided to start at 8 this morning rather than 7 following a hectic week on both parts. So off we set & a minute down the road Sparky’s front wheel starts to rub on his mudguard. As soon as we stopped to check it out, it blows off the rim like a gun shot! A fair bit of laughter in disbelief as we walk back to replace the brand new conti tyre see’s us starting at 9. Too much chit chat at the bike shop on the way into Ludlow puts us about about 2.5 hours behind our original start time already.

Maybe this could have been a blessing in disguise, despite the irritation, as we approached Hereford, it was blatant that a heavy shower had been through not long before. It was a surprise that the head wind (we had it for the best part of the day) hadn’t blown it over us! A lovely sunny day followed as we headed to Monmouth and on to Chepstow with lunch at Tintern Abbey. Riding down the Wye valley through the woodland was one of the highlights of the day, as well as riding over the Severn & Clifton suspension bridges, a bit of off roading on the road bikes and reaching the B&B in Cheddar.

Mileage – 109.90 not including the false start
Ride Time – 8:03:57
Max Speed – 36.6 mph
Avg Speed – 13.6 mph
Calories used by Sparky – 5600

A big pub meal was a warm welcome tonight!

Ps from Sparky. Dave Oliver  y not try these new Michelin Krylion tyres? they are quite good you know!

Team Dave coverage can be seen on Thursday 9th Septembers Hereford Times, pushing Tracey Moseley to the back page from page 18!

Well done Tracey, can’t think of a nicer thing to happen to such a lovely lady!

In the last 3 weeks leading up to our ride we have both been getting some big miles in!

Sparky has been getting in some tough mountain bike rides up & over those picturesque Shropshire hills, with rides averaging about 2 hours. but of course, mountain bike rides can easily be twice the rigor of road rides!

On 22nd August a group of us rode out to lake Vyrnwy from Craven Arms in memory of Russ Oliver (I’ll be riding his old training bike on the End to End ride) & rode back, clocking a hilly 113 miles with some extra luggage for Pricer & Sparky!

Remembering Russ Oliver

Bank Holiday Monday & Pricer tagged along with Jim Williams & Alex Much (both rode end to end earlier this year) on their ride from Shobdon to Aberystwyth & back. Putting in a whopping 127 miles, averaging 16.3 miles even going over the mountain road on the outward leg!

The following day Pricer entered the Ludlow CC hill climb to score a 5th place finish!

Now the last minute bike prep is underway  & so the tapering begins! Or is that cramming (food)?

Elan Valley Mountain Road In Fantastic Weather!

Team Dave