From: Ludlow
To: Nantwich (north of)
Miles today: 78
Miles – running total: 379
There is a chill in the air as we set off at circa 9a.m. each morning, but the sun is rising and warms us up soon enough. Today has seen our best weather to date. It was in many ways the perfect day. Well, not quite perfect because it wasn’t all downhill and it still hurt. As Stephen observed in the late afternoon at our final break, “There is no easy way to cycle 80 miles a day”.
Aches and pains aside we have been through some beautiful countryside today, crusing through Shropshire from bottom to top, passing by Telford, going round the outskirts of Ironbridge (where we faced a significant climb). What made the scenery better was the fact that for the most part it was not very hilly. It rolled rather than rose up. I may moan about hills, but actually we have come to accept them. They demand much more effort, they hurt our legs, the lactic acid burns on the steepest, but most of the time we work up them slowly, each at his own pace and then re-group at the top.
Today was more about grinding out the miles. One tries to enjoy the scenery around and indeed we were treated to large fields on gentle hills, crops still being brought in, tractors trailing their loads and some big skies. But for all that I have to admit the focus, necessarily, is on the bottom in front. You need to keep it close in order to minimise the amount of effort you have to put in; but too close. You have to anticipate what they’re going to do – will they move out suddenly for a drain cover, go hell for leather down the hill etc. Look at it any which way but it all boils down to looking at a man’s bottom for six plus hours a day. To their credit all my fellow cyclists have shapely bottoms but this doesn’t help. I have tried NLP and other techniques to deceive myself into believing I am actually only three feet away from Rebecca Romero’s bottom (who tried and failed to complete the Land’s End / John O’Groats route last month). None works. Stephen’s bottom is Stephen’s bottom and not very entertaining as a result.
Another thought occurs to me. If you are really into environmentalism, then surely it is only sensible to pick up and take home roadkill for the pot. We have seen plenty. The rabbits are endless; pheasants are plentiful; squirrels abound; hedgehogs hardly rare; the odd fox, a couple of badgers and even what I think may have been a mink. Some I am sure would make for very good eating, the badgers and the mink would make for a very good hat and gloves. Clearly there is a social stigma here that we should try to overcome in the interests of the ultimate in recycling.
To: Nantwich (north of)
Miles today: 78
Miles – running total: 379
There is a chill in the air as we set off at circa 9a.m. each morning, but the sun is rising and warms us up soon enough. Today has seen our best weather to date. It was in many ways the perfect day. Well, not quite perfect because it wasn’t all downhill and it still hurt. As Stephen observed in the late afternoon at our final break, “There is no easy way to cycle 80 miles a day”.
Aches and pains aside we have been through some beautiful countryside today, crusing through Shropshire from bottom to top, passing by Telford, going round the outskirts of Ironbridge (where we faced a significant climb). What made the scenery better was the fact that for the most part it was not very hilly. It rolled rather than rose up. I may moan about hills, but actually we have come to accept them. They demand much more effort, they hurt our legs, the lactic acid burns on the steepest, but most of the time we work up them slowly, each at his own pace and then re-group at the top.
Today was more about grinding out the miles. One tries to enjoy the scenery around and indeed we were treated to large fields on gentle hills, crops still being brought in, tractors trailing their loads and some big skies. But for all that I have to admit the focus, necessarily, is on the bottom in front. You need to keep it close in order to minimise the amount of effort you have to put in; but too close. You have to anticipate what they’re going to do – will they move out suddenly for a drain cover, go hell for leather down the hill etc. Look at it any which way but it all boils down to looking at a man’s bottom for six plus hours a day. To their credit all my fellow cyclists have shapely bottoms but this doesn’t help. I have tried NLP and other techniques to deceive myself into believing I am actually only three feet away from Rebecca Romero’s bottom (who tried and failed to complete the Land’s End / John O’Groats route last month). None works. Stephen’s bottom is Stephen’s bottom and not very entertaining as a result.
Another thought occurs to me. If you are really into environmentalism, then surely it is only sensible to pick up and take home roadkill for the pot. We have seen plenty. The rabbits are endless; pheasants are plentiful; squirrels abound; hedgehogs hardly rare; the odd fox, a couple of badgers and even what I think may have been a mink. Some I am sure would make for very good eating, the badgers and the mink would make for a very good hat and gloves. Clearly there is a social stigma here that we should try to overcome in the interests of the ultimate in recycling.
I had hoped to enhance your enjoyment with a video of the team cycling together, taken from on board the bike, going down a hill at a good clip. This feat of derring-do to rival anything that Ski Sunday has to offer, unfortunately runs to so many megabytes it is impossible to upload. I can hear a collective sigh if disappointment even from up here in Cheshire. Here's a photo instead, also taken on the move.
And on that thought, dear reader, I shall leave you, just as today we have left the Midlands and moved into the north. Tomorrow we progress up through the mill towns of Lancashire, threading our way between Manchester and Liverpool. The countryside is due to give way to a more built up environment. Can’t go over it, can’t go under it, will have to go through it.
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