We were up nice and early on Day 13 as we knew we would take a bit longer to get ready as we were expecting Danny and his fella Ben to drop Ant off with us. I was looking forward to having Ant back with us, I really enjoy chatting to him and he makes a good brew! It was good to see Danny when they arrived, I'd not seen him for a while. He tried his best to congratulate me but Danny suffers from an extreme form of lack of enthusiasm and is just as blunt as me. It was nice to get a "you're doing well." out of him! I have a lot of time for Danny, I like people who's faces can't hide what their minds are thinking! I'd not met Ben before, he seemed nice but I was a bit embarrassed shuffling about in my lycra the first time I met someone!
It wasn't long after they arrived that my dad and Elouise arrived at the campsite. Elouise was just here with us for the day, she was going to cycle the full day with me and then get a lift back to her car with Nick when his dad was taking him home. Dad was staying until the end of the challenge to share the driving with Ed so that Ed could do some cycling. When Dad and Elouise started unpacking the car I noticed there were two bikes not one. I asked dad who the other bike belonged to
"It's mine, do you like it?"
My dad has a serious damage to his back that has resulted in him having two operations on it. Some days he can't get out of bed, quite often he can't stand up straight and walks like he's crapped his pants. Here he was with his bike telling me he was going to cycle. My dad won't be told when he has an idea in his head. Luckily, with Elouise cycling I needed someone helping coordinate the other people coming to see me that day. Nick's dad was coming to pick him up, my mum was coming to see me after the push and an old running friend Vicky Breeze was also coming along to see me at the end of the day. Dad agreed to help Ed coordinate and to take some photos too. I was worried that he would hurt his cack and then not be able to drive which would hinder my progress plus I just didn't want the bloody minded old git hurting himself.
We needed to set off to the start as I was getting an escort to Scotland by some cyclists from Carlisle Reivers Cycling Club, this was what I'd hoped every day would be like but with everything that had gone on that resulted in the date change I hadn't had time to contact cycling clubs and ask for help. This had resulted in one big advantage, I hadn't needed to stick to a time table, I could stop for a rest when I needed to and push miles further each day when I felt like it. I now know that Amanda for Carlisle Reivers had been messaging the dream team quite regularly trying to pin down when I was going to be in the area, thankfully it landed on a day she wasn't working and she was able to gather a little team to ride with me. At the start point I met the Reivers and introduced them to Bonnie and the gang. We posed for photos and then got ready to leave.
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| My little crew at the start. |
I let every one know all the do's and don'ts of riding near me. Don't get too close to my hands, don't stop suddenly if I am behind because I can't stop quickly and more things like that. I also warned them all that I am very slow on climbs but quite fast on downhill sections. I told them I wouldn't wait for them on the descents because they would catch me easily as soon as the downhill ended. With that we set off. I quickly learnt that I was actually further from Carlisle than I thought. I needed to push almost 10 miles to get to Carlisle. The road was an undulating one so I soon demonstrated how slow I was on the ups and how I could drop my little pack of cyclists on the downs.
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| Amanda waiting for me as I struggle up a hill with Nick and Elouise |
We spent the morning getting to know each other. I really liked all of the cyclists from Reivers, Amanda was nuts but in a good way and she had me laughing quite a few times. There was a lad called Dan who had a stutter or another similar speech impediment, I had plenty of time to let him get his words out so that didn't matter to me. I enjoyed chatting to him. Then there were two more lads who were really interested in how the chair worked and the technical side of pushing and racing in general.
As we started to get into a busier area I gave Amanda one of the collection tubs and she was brilliant at collecting, waving it at cars and stopping at bus stops and asking folk in a really happy, bubbly way. When we got in to Carlisle itself there were large numbers of people doing the Sunday morning walk of shame. Amanda was straight on to them and in their still drunk, bewildered state she managed to get them donating. In the busier areas of the city I had three cyclists collecting donations and another three keeping me company.
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| Carlisle with my crew. |
Carlisle looked like a lovely place, somewhere I'd never been before but somewhere I do want to explore again in the future. Not long after Carlisle I was pushing really well on some super smooth roads. I was really enjoying my day and showing off a little bit. I upped the pace slightly on a relatively flat road. At one stage I was flying along at almost race pace, I was at the front of the group and I missed a turn off I should have taken. I had no idea and I was pushing hard. Dan appeared at the side of me trying to talk to me, he was struggling slightly so I just carried on pushing whilst he found his words, I didn't want to put pressure on him. Eventually he said
"Wrong way"
I looked behind and it was just us two the others were at the turning waiting for us to go back. Fancy sending the lad with the speech trouble to hunt me down and stop me! It's like asking me to teach someone the Argentine Tango! What a cracking lad for actually doing it and stopping me. I could have gone miles out of my way if Dan hadn't stopped me.
With that little drama over, the local cyclists told us we were very close to the border so Ed, Ant and Dad left us to drive over the border and get ready to take photos as I crossed the border. I was really excited, I'm not sure why. I knew nothing would change over the border. It was just another big step forward and another landmark ticked off. Maybe I was excited for Nick to reach his target in memory of his son Charlie. I was really happy for Nick, cycling the whole of England with no experience and no training wasn't easy. I was relieved that I'd got him to the border but a bit upset that I knew he'd be going home in just a few hours time. We spent 10 minutes or so at the border taking photos with the various landmarks, we were a bit longer than I wanted to be as when Nick and I were posing for a photo with the way marker signpost that matched the one in Lands End and the one in John O'Groats some dizzy mare wondered into the back of shot just as My dad was about to take the photo. She was reading an information board but kept stopping to gawp at my in my wheelchair. After a few minutes I was getting bored of waiting for her to bugger off and dropped a few hints, she still didn't bloody move so after another few minutes I asked her if she was waiting to be in our photo. She tutted a walked off. There was a queue of traffic on the England-bound side of the road so just before we left Amanda ran down the traffic jam with the collection bucket, I think she got plenty of change but she did get a telling off from one guy, you always get one miserable sod.
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| Me and Nick at the way marker signpost. |
Photo's taken, photo bombers and tight arses upset we got back on our way, passing through Gretna Green and seeing the famous buildings of the town. Nick hadn't heard of it but when we explained the history of English couples popping over the border to get married without all the English red tape he seemed to be taping note, maybe he was planning his own hasty wedding! We crossed over the motorway bridge and joined the old road that ran parallel to the motorway, it was here, not yet 2 miles inside Scotland that I was introduced to Scottish tarmac! Who knew it would be so different to the English stuff?!?! It had lots of stones in it which made the surface really rough, at the time I didn't know that most of Scotland is covered in the stuff, I thought it was just a stretch of shoddy workmanship. The stones were vibrating the whole chair and making the push uncomfortable. My bust ribs and my shins were hurting due to the vibrations and my speed dropped too.
After 4 or 5 miles of being shook about whilst trying to climb I decided it was time to have lunch. Nick spoke to Ed, Ant and Dad as they overtook us and asked them to stop at the next available spot. When we caught them up they were in a layby busily brewing up and preparing cheese sandwiches. They were being eyeballed by some cows and half the team were straight over to the fence to pet the cows! Not me, I was gagging for a brew. With Ant being back I was handed recovery drinks, a recovery bar and a brew within seconds of finishing. Top notch service! Dad was trying to work out how many sandwiches were needed but Amanda and her team were turning back at this point. I wish they could have done more cycling with us because I'd had such a good morning with them. We said our goodbyes and waved them off back to England. Elouise, Ant, Ed, Nick, Dad and I sat down for lunch.
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| Amanda, Elouise and Dan petting the cows. |
Day 13 Morning Stats
Miles: 23.35
Time: 2:12:30
Average Moving Speed: 10.6mph
Top Speed: 38.9mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 4 - 7:52
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 3 - 2:44
Total Ascent: 978ft
Average Heart Rate: 140bpm
Max Heart Rate: 161bpm
Day 13 Morning Progress Maps
Day 13 Afternoon
It had started to rain during lunch so we waited a while longer hoping it would dry up but it didn't. It'd been a really sunny morning so I don't think any of us expected rain. We finally plucked up the courage to go out and start the afternoon session. It felt much quieter without Amanda and gang at first, it was just Elouise, Nick and I now. They soon got chatting away and we were laughing about the conditions, it was meant to be summer!
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| Wet through! |
5 or 6 miles in ant the end of a dragging climb I could see a group of people stood watching me, I assumed it was just people from a layby that Ed had got out of their cars to cheer me on. I put my head down and gritted my teeth up the hill and as I got closer I could hear that it was Mother Hubbard screaming like a woman possessed. When I looked up she was waving her McLeod tartan scarf around. I pulled over for a quick chat with her and Ste my step dad. I posed for photos with mother hubbard and of course the tartan scarf. She said she didn't think we'd stop so I think that cheered her up. I didn't know she was coming to watch me push I thought that she was just coming to the campsite after I'd finished.
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| Me, Mother Hubbard and the Mcleod Tartan scarf. |
"Your mum's nuts"
"yep I know!"
After around 10 miles the rain became very very heavy. We were soaked and cold but we had another boost to morale when at the side of the in the pouring rain my bosses wife Liz, her sister Fran and some of their friends were cheering and beeping as I passed. They were on their way back to Lancashire after a night out, I had no idea we would pass them! I would have liked to stop and chat but we were going downhill at the time and there is just no way my brakes would have stopped me in that weather so I just tried to wave whilst also trying to keep control of the chair.
We carried on until almost 17 miles and then called it a day. Ant had a brew and my recovery stuff waiting for me, we all tried to get a little dryer before setting off. I was cold, wet, tired and hungry so I just wanted to get to the campsite. We had another free pitch this time it was at Moffat Manor Country Park which was a huge campsite, a lot of the caravans had gardens so they must have been owned and used by one family. The touring pitches were all in the centre of the park which was on a bit of a hill. When we arrived Mike, Nick's brother was stood waiting for us near reception, his dragon must have let him out for a few hours. The thing is, I think she must have dressed him too. He was wearing one of those extra long T-Shirt things. I wound the window down and asked him why he was wearing a dress. I don't think he found it funny but Nick did! Nick's dad Pete had already found out where our pitch was so Mike told us to follow him round. We parked up and Pete parked behind us followed by Ste and Vicky who had just arrived. It took a few minutes to work out what the next step was but Nick started to collect his things (and some things that weren't his the little tea-leaf took some cycling shorts and so 51 foundation kit that left us short) he packed them into his dad's car. I gave him a hug to say thanks for everything and he told me off! haha! Elouise decided to stay a bit longer and come to the bar with the rest of us... So it was time to say goodbye to Nick, he'd kept me entertained the whole way so far, saved me from rolling back down hills in Dartmoor, saved me from rolling off the edge on the old railway path, followed me around the ring roads of Gloucester and Shrewsbury, he'd kept my gloves in working order and just been a good mate. We waved them off and I went for a shower whilst the others sorted themselves out. The shower room was absolutely freezing and the shower didn't let much more than a dribble out so even after my shower I was no warmer.
When I got back to the motorhome I was met with Ed, dad and mum all trying to pack away the cakes biscuits and sweets everyone had brought with them. I'd mentioned that I had a craving for sweet things so all my visitors had brought bags of sugary, cakey, goodness with them! The only trouble was we didn't have enough cupboards to fit it all in! Elouise didn't have a change of clothes with her so she was in borrowed trackies and a T-shirt way too big for her. I ushered us all along to get to the restaurant, I was starving!
Elouise, Vicky, Dad, Ste, Mum, Ant, Ed and I found ourselves a table in what was the nicest campsite bar and restaurant we'd visited. We had a really good evening, lots of laughing and story telling. I had another pint to celebrate getting in to Scotland. People were making bets on the day I would reach John O'Groats. It was nice that it had gone from 'if' to 'when' now. Before too long it was time for Elouise, Vicky, Ste and mum to head off home. I tried to talk dad through the morning routine and then got in bed. It had been a long day and the weather had made it hard work but it had been a good day because of the people involved. I ended my diary for the day with:
Great Day!
Day 13 Afternoon Stats
Miles: 16.87
Time: 1:38:01
Average Moving Speed: 10.7mph
Top Speed: 28.0mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 5 - 8:34
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 8 - 3:05
Total Ascent: 697ft
Average Heart Rate: 147bpm
Max Heart Rate: 170bpm
Day 13 Afternoon Progress Maps
Total Daily Mileage: 40.22
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