We got up on the third day of our trip feeling a little exhausted. This would be the first time I'd ridden 3 days in a row and my legs were screaming in protest after the heroics of the previous day! But we set off in decent time and stopped in Keswick for a hearty Greggs breakfast, which gave us the kick-start we needed.
From the moment we turned South we were cycling straight into a vicious headwind. It seems the change in wind direction we'd spent the last two days praying for had showed up a day late, and the thought of spending yet another day fighting against the wind was a definite low point for me. This wasn't helped by the fact that we spent much of the morning climbing uphill towards Thirlmere. It was really tough going, and our pace slowed considerably. What goes up however, must come down, and as we coasted down through Grasmere at 40+mph my spirits picked up and I began to enjoy myself again. The rest of the morning turned out to be really enjoyable, and we cruised into Windemere for a hard-earned pub lunch at about 12:30. Having covered just 25 miles that morning, it began to dawn on us that while our 'slow and steady' mantra was ideal for 50 mile days, it might not hold up during an 80 mile day on the LEJOG trip itself. We decided that pub lunches should be restricted to special occasions (a decision that also makes financial sense, given that I spent about £200 on the weekend trip!).
The afternoon saw us take to the quieter country roads as we headed back towards Kendal. This started out fine, and we made great time as far as Crosthwaite, where we decided to cut straight over to Kendal via Underbarrow in order to give us plenty time to get showered and have some dinner before I drove back up the road...
Mistake. By choosing the more direct (read: lazy) route to Kendal, we had unwittingly signed ourselves up for another brutal climb, that took us up over 600 lung-busting feet in under 3 miles. Nightmare! A slice of particularly cruel and ironic justice from the cycling Gods, but our suffering and repentance was rewarded with ice-cream at the top! Result.
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| A photo op can be a great excuse for a break on a tough climb... |
All that was left was a gentle coast down the other side into Kendal, where I left to cycle back to Oxenholme station to pick up my car, before getting a shower at the local swimming pool and heading back into town to meet Malc for some food.
Here's the stats for the day:
All in all I think we both thoroughly enjoyed our weekend and found it to be a really worthwhile exercise. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed it as I was expecting the physical demands to overshadow pretty much all other aspects of the weekend, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this wasn't the case. I think we learned a few crucial lessons that will stand us in good stead for the LEJOG trip itself, and if anything I'm looking forward to it even more now.
BRING ON LAND'S END - JUNE 26th!
- Cal
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