Lands End to John O'Groats, Day 14 - Hearts of Gold.

Day 14 Morning

Day 14 morning was very different to the others, Dad was up before the alarms went off, he walked Bonnie and had the kettle on before the alarms woke Ed, Ant and I. We got through the morning routine quite quickly and made our way to the start. At the start line we were quick off the mark, dad has had my wheelchair in bit dozens of times so he was quick to get it set up and ready to go. Ant packed a rucksack with the Myprotein products to keep me fuelled up during the day. I left the motorhome to see my dad in kit ready to ride. I wasn't comfortable with him riding with his back in the state it was. I didn't want him to be in pain, if he couldn't carry on we'd be a man down for the rest of the journey. I told him I wasn't happy with him pushing himself and damaging his back even more. I also told him if his back went we wouldn't have time to take him to hospital so he'd need to pay for his own taxi. We'd pick him up on the way back from John O'Groats. A bit of tough love. He was still adamant he was joining in.

My new cyclist Ant

Ant was looking very nervous, he isn't sporty at all so I guess he had no idea what to expect from the day. He was going to take Nick's roll of filming me from behind to prove I wasn't getting any help. Elouise had lent him her bike, whilst adjusting the seat dad broke a flimsy little clip. We did replace it when we got home but with nothing on us that could replace or repair it we had to use lots of gaffer tape to hold the seat up. It didn't add much time to the morning routine, we started fairly early. The morning push was really tough. I climbed for over 18 miles, it was so much harder than Shap. I had a nasty headwind so I was forced to try and keep my head as low as possible to make me more aerodynamic. The horrible Scottish tarmac was shaking me all over and making my back hurt as I fought to keep my chair in a straight line.

The road looks smooth but it wasn't!

 I found the morning push really hard, I was missing Nick, dad and Ant were very quiet. With them having to cycle behind me I couldn't see them, after such a lively day on day 13 this was a bit of a comedown. The hill that I was on was a long dragging one but as soon as I saw mountains in the distance I was pretty sure we were heading straight at them! They looked stunning but I didn't want to have a closer look.

Heading for the hills!

The Scottish tarmac, the hill and the headwind were killing my speed, my average speed was way down on day 13 and the same conditions were robbing me of a break from pushing on the downhills and flats. It turned one down hill what would have been 35mph without pushing into a crappy headwind in to a 20mph downhill where I was needing to push to keep the chair moving. I even got out of the chair at one point to check if my wheels were rubbing on the side of the chair or maybe my wheel bearings had gone, I thought there must have been a reason other than the hill, the tarmac and the wind that was making me so slow. The chair was fine so I just had to get on with the push and grind out what mileage I could that morning. I managed 23.07 before boredom and the conditions finished me off.. We stopped for lunch in another layby, whilst Dad and Ant sorted out the bikes and chair, Ed asked how the morning had been with the new cyclists. I was really honest and said that for large parts of the push it felt like I was on my own, with them being behind me I couldn't see them and as they weren't talking I couldn't hear them. I had really missed Nick wittering on like he'd lost his marbles and the way he would take the piss out of me whilst trying to motivate me on the steeper hills. Ed said he'd have a word with them, I told him to do it gently as I didn't want to sound ungrateful for the help. I just needed to hear that there were people with me.

The grey shows the morning hill, the blue line represents my speed

Knackered and bored after the morning push.

Day 14 Morning Stats

Miles: 23.07
Time: 2:43:26
Average Moving Speed: 8.5mph (slowest for a while)
Top Speed: 20.0mph (slowest of the trip)
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 17 - 12:31
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 7 - 5:15
Total Ascent: 1033ft
Average Heart Rate: 138bmp
Max Heart Rate: 157bpm

Day 14 Morning Progress Maps

Day 14 Afternoon

After lunch I again tried to get dad to stay in the motorhome but he wasn't having any of it. During the afternoon push we reached the mountains I'd been looking at all morning. The route through them wasn't flat at all but it was better than I had been expecting. We met the River Clyde and followed its path through the hills. Even on a grey day when I was missing my best pal and the gaggle of cyclists I'd had the previous day the area was beautiful all be it in a rugged way.

Heading north.

Dad and Ant did a little bit better at keeping talking to me and getting me motivated on all the hills. We had a conversation about the place names we were passing and how they sounded like something from Lord Of The Rings or Game Of Thrones. We passed by Elvanfoot, Quothquan, Biggar Bridge, Eastshield, Ravenstruther and Crookedboat. Each time we passed a road sign we were looking for the oddest place name and having a giggle, I was trying to imagine what Nick would make of the place names. Probably something like 'someone was taking the piss when they made up these names'!
  The hills and mountains seemed to be sheltering me from the worst of the wind that had made the morning so difficult, I did keep getting the odd gust which meant my lower back having to work quite hard to keep the chair straight. I managed to grind out almost 24 miles which was the first time my afternoon push was further than my morning push.

A bit of sun.

We then made our way to Helen and Ru's house, we'd been offered home cooked food, a bath and a bed for the night. Helen was my boss's sister in law but I had never met her or even spoken to her but I knew she would be lovely as Liz, my boss's with and the whole family that I had met so far were really kind and caring people. The house was maybe a 5 mile drive from where we had finished I made sure dad knew not to talk politics or anything else he could start an argument over, he promised to behave. When we got to the house Ed went and knocked on the door to ask where to park and Helen said to bring the motorhome on to the driveway. The gate was pretty narrow for such a large motorhome, I was worried Ed was going to hit a gatepost, What a great start that would have been! He managed to get the motorhome on the drive without any damage, I should have more faith!
  Inside Helen got the solid fuel fire roaring and brought a tea tray through for us, I was in my element! A brew and a fire in a lovely house! Helen had organised for her sister in law also called Helen to come and give me a massage. It wasn't long before massage Helen had arrived, she set up her massage table and began working on my back, we spoke about the challenge and how I'd only had one massage up until this point, one massage in over 500 miles! I was so glad to be getting a second massage done, especially with my lower back having to do so much work in the wind that day. We spoke about our experiences of working in massage and running our own little businesses. Helen's company Massage Therapy By Helen was quite similar to my own. Whilst 'massage' Helen was working on all of my niggles 'home owner' Helen was in the kitchen cooking our dinner. What total luxury this was! I'd got used to making do in the motorhome not being pampered! After the massage I even had time for a long hot soak in the bath before dinner was served.
 For dinner we had homemade cottage pie and home grown veg including chard which I love. For pudding we had home grown and homemade rhubarb pie, my favourite, rhubarb is the greatest. I loved chatting with Helen and Ru, we spoke about all sorts of things. They had even had a look at my route onwards and thought I was going to find a gorge the next day difficult and said that I should head for a bridge instead. As local knowledge had served me so well up until now we decided to take their advice, out came the map! We spoke about classic and vintage cars, Helen and Ru had one and my dad used to drive classics. We spoke about gardening and growing your own, travelling, work, global warming - all sorts of things! We got on the subject of the broken clip on the bike Elouise had lent to Ant; Ru thought he might have something in the garage that might fit so him and dad went to look at the car and find a jubilee clip in the garage. Ru didn't have a spare jubilee clip that would fit but remembered there was one on the car that would do the job. He took it off the car and put it on the bike. These people had let us into their home, made us brews, got me a massage, let me have a soak in their bath, fed us and now taken parts off their beloved old car to give to me! Hearts of gold!
  As the company was so good and the conversation flowing I think this was probably the night I was up the latest on the whole trip but I did have a big cosy bed to sleep in! Dad took the other spare bed and Ed and Ant stayed in the motorhome with Bonnie. Helen even volunteered to get up early in the morning to make us breakfast. What an absolute star!

Day 14 Afternoon Stats

Miles: 23.82
Time: 2:23:17
Average Moving Speed: 10.0mph
Top Speed: 24.4mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 23 - 8:22
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 5 - 4:09
Total Ascent: 1100ft
Average Heart Rate: 139bpm
Max Heart Rate: 161bpm

Day 14 Afternoon Progress Maps

Total Daily Mileage: 46.89

Lands End to John O'Groats, Day 13 - Goodbye Nick

Day 13 Morning

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Me, Mother Hubbard and the Mcleod Tartan scarf.

After a quick chat the three of us got on the road again but now with Mother Hubbard and Ste joining the motorhome bunny hopping us. Mother hubbard was screaming out of the window every time Ste drove her past us. It had Elouise and Nick in stitches.
"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

Lands End to John O'Groats, Day 10 - Thank God There Were No Turds.

Day 10 Morning

We were up nice and early on the 10th morning and everybody got on with the morning jobs, we had almost finished everything we could get done at the campsite when Amy and Dave from The 53 Foundation arrived. I'd spoken to Dave on the phone quite a few times, even before I decided to ditch the other charity he had contacted me to ask if there was anything he could do to help. His offer of help without wanting anything in return is why, when I ditched the other lot, there wasn't a second thought about who I was going to raise money for. The 53 Foundation fits right in with what I wanted my sponsorship to go towards - getting disabled people out of the house and using the abilities they do have rather than dwelling on what they can't do. Amy had set up the foundation with an epic 53 marathon challenge so both her and Dave had expert advise to give during the planning stage of my challenge, only each time Dave phoned me I was being messed about and waiting for something from the original charity. How he never gave up trying to help I will never know! Day 10 was the first time I had met either Dave of Amy face to face. It was lovely meeting them, just having smiley happy people around in the morning was nice enough. They had brought some vests, training tops, wristbands, stickers and collection buckets and tubs so Nick thought it was Christmas day. We had a little chat at the campsite but then we drove down to the start point.
 At the start point Ant, Ed and Nick sprung into action like the finely tuned pit crew that they were. Chair and bike un-racked, wheels put on, drinks mixed, bag packed with snacks, fluids, tools etc, cameras fitted, gps unit fitted. I'm not sure what Dave and Amy thought but I was pretty impressed.

Getting ready for the off!

Whilst all this was going on I was busy plastering my ribs in painkilling cream and changing in to our new 53 Foundation kit whilst talking to Dave and Amy about everything that had happened so far. Amy was made up that Shropshire had been so kind to us, it's her home county. Both Nick and I told her about the man with the water and the ladies giving us money on the dual carriageway, you could tell she was as touched as we were because she has done her own mad challenges. To anybody that hasn't done something similar it must seem odd that a man buying you a bottle of water makes you well up but if you know, you know. We posed for some pictures with Dave and Amy, Dave took the first picture of all of my little team and I together - the first one of the trip! Then it was time to set off. It would have been nice if Dave or Amy could have cycled with me for a while but Amy had run 49 miles the day before and the logistics of getting them back to their car after cycling were not easy. They bunny hopped us for a few miles, pipping and cheering as they passed.

Me and my crew!

Dave, Amy, Ant, Nick and me

Nick was cycling in a 53 Foundation top and carrying the donation box on his handle bars but we didn't get a single donation in Cheshire - the rich don't get rich by giving their money away!

  It wasn't long before we were in County number 11 Merseyside, we crossed the River Mersey at the Runcorn/Widnes Bridge which had major road works going on. We slightly held up the traffic here just as I climbed on to the bridge. This was the first time in the entire trip so far where we didn't let drivers pass. It wasn't far, probably only 300m or so but I did feel guilty. It wouldn't have been safe to let drivers try to squeeze alongside me. The road cones made it impossible to get out of the road. Straight after the bridge the road became two lanes again. Ed stayed behind me with his hazards on and the traffic streamed past us. We had lots of encouragement and even people handing cash to Nick for his collection box, whilst moving. All of Nicks practice of riding hands free for the photos came in handy as car passengers were handing him money out of the car windows whilst still driving along the dual carriageway. We even had a police car come past us, I was convinced it was gonna pull us over and ask us to leave the road but as they passed the lady copper in the passenger seat was clapping away at us and the driver gave us the thumbs up. Like on other fast busy roads that I had used I pushed as hard and as fast as I could just to get out of danger as soon as possible.

 That fast pace to get off the duel carriageway set the tempo for the morning, my pace was quick, almost race pace. I was enjoying the most comfortable day with my ribs since Bristol. The sun was out and I was already in the old county of Lancashire and not far from crossing the border in to the modern county of Lancashire. I'm a proud Lancastrian and I felt like I wanted to be in my home county as soon as possible.

Coming home.

Nothing actually changed when I crossed the border, I felt great to be home but it felt odd I wasn't actually going to see my house or even my hometown. At about 24 miles I started to feel like I was going to bonk again. We had a quick break for me to take on something other than energy gels. Of course a brew was needed, a couple of energy bars, a handful of jelly sweets and an electrolyte drink seemed to work together to perk me up. If I'd have been thinking straight I would have stopped there for lunch but I didn't think 24 miles was enough so I got back on the road. At about 25.5 miles we left the main road on to a country lane. It looked a normal lane at first but it soon turned into a tiny one track lane. I was trying to push myself to keep the traffic moving but I was what's technically known as fucked. Nick dropped back to tell the lads in the motorhome that I needed to stop ASAP and for them to overtake us so they could find a layby and also the other people stuck behind us could start to filter past us. This single track lane went on and on and on. I was starting to get into real trouble when the lane gave us something else to tackle; three humpback bridges. I swore my way up each of them.
 It was over 30 miles before we got to Ed and Ant in the motorhome. They'd started making lunch and already had a brew waiting for me! I needed help to get out of the race chair again. Ed and Nick lifted me whilst Ant pulled the chair away from me and replaced it with a deckchair. I was numb from the effort I put in. I didn't even have the energy to make much conversation but I was happy and content that I was in Lancashire.

On the way towards Southport

Dinner stop

Day 10 Morning Stats

Miles: 30.28
Time: 2:31:26
Average Moving Speed: 12.0mph
Top Speed: 32.2mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 4 - 8:51
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 6 - 3:01
Total Ascent: 964ft
Average Heart Rate: 143bpm
Max Heart Rate: 170bpm

Day 10 Morning Progress Maps

Day 10 Afternoon

In the afternoon I was a bit slow to get going, if you bonk as a runner in a race you would take a minimum of two days off - most would take longer. Without doubt you would never go out for a run an hour and a half after you'd bonked. I had to get back out there to get Nick to Scotland. I started off slow not because I was trying to be sensible and not cause myself anymore damage.

It was a roasting hot day, there were lots of people out on the streets and many of them were stopping us to make donations. I stopped for the first few to say thanks and talk to them about the challenge. Each time I stopped I found it hard to get going again. With that in mind Nick and I decided I would just shout thanks or cheers from now on but he would stop to tell them about the 53 Foundation and what I was doing to raise money for them. I think Nick enjoyed chatting to people donating, especially one little lad of about 5 who put all of his pocket money in the box. When Nick caught me up after that I could tell it had made his day meeting and chatting to this little lad.

Nick being Nick

When we travelled through Much Hoole Ed had been to a pub to ask some witnesses to sign to say they have seen me pushing. The people in the beer garden all shouted me on as I passed. I felt like a rock star. The people in the pub had made some large donations too.

On the approach to Preston a woman shouted out of her car
"I follow you on Facebook"
I loved that, it felt like I was starting to get somewhere with letting people know what I was doing. Also on the approach to Preston I had a little race with a couple of school lads on bikes, they stuck with me or a couple of hundred meters but then started to fade. The shouted to me that I was quick and then asked how far I'd been, I told them it was around 400 miles. They were pretty shocked and started cheering me on, calling me a legend. I probably shouldn't have got into that race with them, I do it all the time when I see a cyclist travelling at a similar speed to me I like to hunt them down. Overtaking people using their legs to power a vehicle that has gears shouldn't really be possible in a wheelchair without gears powered by arms on the flat so it feels great when you do it. Myself and Nick decided the next time Ed was taking a photo we would do a superman pose just for a laugh, it became one of the most shared photos of the challenge.

Supermen

 As we got to Preston I started to feel a bit crappy again, I'd been pushing hard all day. The hot weather and hundreds of people supporting me had got me all fired up but now I was feeling it. I had a pain in my wrist and I was just generally shattered.

In Preston

I crossed the River Ribble in Preston, I think that was the point I was closest to home during the push. Ant and Ed did a brilliant job of directing Nick and I through the centre, Ant was jumping out of the motorhome at points Ed couldn't park and he'd then point us in the right direction before running back to the motorhome. In Preston I met my first hills of the day. They weren't anything spectacular but it was enough to finish me off for the day. I did make my way through Preston before stopping, I didn't fancy pushing through the centre during the morning rush the next day. I quit for the day at a pub just on the north side of the city centre and we made our way to the camp for the night.
  Ed had found a campsite  with a Preston postcode, unfortunately it was bloody miles from Preston. It was actually quite close to Blackpool Zoo. It took a while to get there but it was a cracking little site once we arrived the receptionist called the owner who drove down to the site to meet me and have a few photos taken. I had to get back in my chair and do my interview with Ed, which was slightly easier today, I knew where I had been because we were in places I had been to before. Video boxed off we made our way to our pitch which was close to a Lynx helicopter! How cool! You could spend a night in a Lynx helicopter instead of a caravan at this site. The site was a lovely one, really well kept and with great facilities. The staff were really friendly, even opening the laundry room up late so we had time to wash and dry our kit. Ream Hills Holiday Park is definitely worth considering if you are looking for a site near Blackpool.

Campsite owner.

Fancy a night in a Lynx anyone?

 When hooked up we started to clean the bathroom which had started to smell really bad. We'd not really used the bathroom because we'd been using the facilities at the campsites. We'd mainly used the bathroom for storage, cleaning our teeth and a quick pee when we weren't on site. We cleaned the bathroom but it still smelt like a lift in a multi-storey carpark. Who is it that pisses in those lifts? - I've always wondered that! Anyway Ed and Nick went to investigate and opened the hatch that was used to get to the piss collection box. When the fella at the motorhome place had showed us how to empty it he hadn't reattached it and our piss had been leaking everywhere! 10 days worth of piss. It stunk! Ed bit the bullet and cleaned it all up, what a star! I don't think my stomach would have been strong enough to be cleaning up my mates stale piss! Thank god there were no turds!
 Nick's mum and dad came to visit us at the campsite,  they stayed for a while and chatted with us sat out in the sun outside the motorhome. You could see how proud they were of Nick for cycling most of England already and even better to see was that Nick was proud of himself. He reverted back to a little kid telling them all about his journey so far. I was dead chuffed for the lad, going from never cycling more than 15 miles before to cycling over 400miles is impressive stuff. We had a laugh with his parents before they left and then got on with the evening jobs. Food, wheel and glove repairs, laundry and the like. We had carbonara for tea, made by Ed, I was a little worried about what Nick would eat, his dad had told me to keep nagging him to eat properly, I even had parental permission to give him a slap if he didn't eat what the rest of us were eating. Nick shocked me by saying he would try it! We were definitely making progress with his eating.... but then again carbonara and spaghetti are both beige so they fitted in to his colourless diet haha!
After tea, all three lads went to walk Bonnie whilst I got on with transferring some of the GPS and heart rate data onto my external hard drive so I had copies in case anything went wrong. When they got back they sat down with me and said they'd been a bit worried that after day 14 all of them were due to leave me and that would have just left me pushing with no cyclist and my dad joining me to drive the motorhome. Nick had to go back to work or risk losing his job. Ed and Ant had decided they were staying with me for the full trip. I was fighting the tears! Two lads giving a months wages up just to keep me safe and get me to John O'Groats. I was worried about their finances and if they would both keep their jobs but they assured me they would be fine and that they wanted to stay. Nick also wanted to stay and was a bit upset that he couldn't. Ant would need to go back home the next day and spend the night there to sort a few things out and bring some more clothes etc for himself and Ed, he would get a lift back with our other mate Danny.
The night wasn't the most comfortable of the trip as both the fridge and the air-conditioning had stopped working. The motorhome was very warm that night making sleeping difficult.

Day 10 Afternoon Stats

Miles: 14.77
Time: 1:22:12
Average Moving Speed: 10.8mph
Top Speed: 25.4mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 13 - 8:04
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 2 - 4:40
Total Ascent: 397ft
Average Heart Rate: 142bpm
Max Heart Rate: 157bpm

Day 10 Afternoon Progress Maps

Total Daily Mileage: 45.05

Lands End to John O'Groats Day 9 - The History Lesson

Day 9 Morning
Both Ant and Nick were slow to get out of their pits again on Day 9 and with me next to useless because of my rib pain I couldn't help Ed get things ready. I was struggling getting the footage downloaded from the cameras because the table was still full of spares, luggage and racing kit. The tables couldn't be cleared because the stuff was put on the beds during the day and Ant and Nick were still in the bloody beds. Ed and myself kept making a lot of noise and throwing hints to get them up but they took their time. When they eventually got up I told Nick he'd have to set his alarm 25 min earlier than the rest of us in the morning and Ant would have to get up when Ed got up and not 20 minutes after. Nick had a strop about me asking him to get up earlier when Ant was late up too. The difference was that Ant was running round shifting the kit where as Nick's getting up was him leaving his bed, to sit on my bed whilst he rolled a fag, then go out and smoke his fag whilst the rest of us got on with the work, he'd then come back in to his breakfast on the table waiting for him. It was our first bit of agro. The younger two were shattered so struggling to get up, I was sleep deprived, in pain and suffering from my med withdrawal like every morning. I was being a grumpy sod but I've been brought up to make sure the work is done before I sort myself out and I've never thought that smokers should be treated differently. I've always thought its a strange habit anyway, let's get some dead leaves. wrap them in paper, set fire to it and then suck it. Who thought of that?
   I'm not very tactful at the best of times, you might have noticed whilst reading my blog, but when I'm in pain I can be a bit of an arsehole. That said, I'd say the same again. We didn't get to the start on the A49 in Shrewsbury until gone 10:00AM, The day I pushed my biggest total I was in my chair and pushing before 8:30AM so we'd all let things slip.

I'm looking really tired in the pre push pic.

Once on our way we were back chatting normally again, I get on really well with Nick so we can be pretty honest with each other and it just blows over. We passed through an place called Battlefield just after setting off which was pretty apt with my morning rant. I was battling pain again on this push it was pretty bad and the same as the previous day I had to pull over for more pain relief at the 6 mile point. The pain killers I am on are very strong, they give you the good ones when you have a tumour made of bone playing havoc with your pelvis. The downside to having very strong painkillers is I had to stop pushing, get out the chair and eat something whenever I took one. So we had a brew and some toast, popped a pill, and got on our way again.

A59 times.

We were travelling through some lovely countryside, there were hills but they weren't steep or too high, it was good pushing. I didn't know it at the time but we came within 1 mile of the Welsh border. If I'd have known I would most definitely popped over the border just to say I'd visited all three countries on our little island. ... I say little, it felt like a bloody big island so far on the challenge and I wasn't even half way yet! Not long after our close encounter with the Welsh I needed to stop again. We were near a place called Whitchurch. This time I thought if we put some more foam under my knees to raise them up it might cause another part of my rib cage to bang on my knees rather than my broken ribs. Anything was worth a go at this point. I guess it did work to some extent but I'd also eased back on the effort and was enjoying the views and chatting to Nick rather than stressing about my speed.

Me and my shadow!

Once I'd passed the Marathon mark in 2:25 I decided we would stop in the next suitable place so Nick spoke to Ant and Ed and asked them to pull in at the next layby they found. The layby was only half a mile away but they already had the deckchairs out and the kettle on when Nick and I got there. Although a marathon is a lot further than I had originally planned to do in the mornings it was less than I had been doing for a good few days. I still had the thought that I needed to catch a couple of days back to make sure Nick made it to Scotland for the reasons I explained in an earlier blog. I knew I couldn't push myself much harder at the moment because if the ribs got worse it risked me not finishing. I felt like I was on a tightrope walk, too many miles and I'd fall off on the injury side and too few miles and I fall off on the no haggis for Nick side.

Nick attempting to take off!

Day 9 Morning Stats

Miles: 26.74
Time: 2:28:06
Average Moving Speed: 10.8mph
Top Speed: 31.2mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 6 - 9:17
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 22 - 3:29
Total Ascent: 986ft
Average Heart Rate: 137bpm
Max Heart Rate: 160bpm

Day 9 Morning Progress Maps

Day 9 Afternoon

Shortly after lunch we passed over the border into Cheshire, I was very close to home now. It felt strange to be in a county that I hear about on my local news reports. It seemed a bit surreal. The west country had taken what seemed like an age but just a few days after leaving Bristol I was making great progress up the country.

Nice gaff like.

Me being a tit outside a pretty little cottage.

Whilst still on the A49 we passed a town called Tiverton, Nick recognised the name from the Tiverton we had passed in Devon. He asked me why people would call two separate towns the same name. History geek Gotts came out and told him it was pretty unlikely the people that settled in both areas had ever visited the other area when the towns were founded and that the name probably means something in a language older than English. I told him that the 'ton' bit meant town so whatever the start of the word meant probably described something that was in both locations. I could tell from the look on his face that I'd just completely confused him. I was waiting for it, I knew without doubt the response was going to be ridiculous.
"A language older than English, in England? So they didn't speak English here?"
"Oh god! Nick you do know it hasn't actually been called England for that long don't you?"
"What!!!!!!??????"
I tried to explain that we weren't really a country until Alfred the Great and before then England was broken up into smaller kingdoms but before the Romans a lot of the counties we have now were little kingdoms that were really just big clans. Nick was just smiling and nodding, much like I do when Ed talks about space to me. I find it interesting but I don't take it in because I don't understand it. Anyhow, I gave up trying to teach Nick history because whilst confusing him more and more we'd been directed by Ed and Ant onto the B5152 a tiny country lane. It cut across country towards Frodsham. It would save us a lot of time compared to sticking to the main roads.

Ant Pointing us in the right direction

Cross roads in Cheshire

We were getting the odd glimpse of Warrington in the distance. Warrington is only a 40min drive from home so it gave me even more of the surreal 'home' feeling. Almost like I had nearly finished but as I said earlier I wasn't even half way yet. Unfortunately Cheshire lived up to its reputation for attracting people who think they are a cut above the rest. We hadn't had a single donation and very few people had waved or cheered us on. What Cheshire had provided us with is tons of arsehole drivers in ridiculously big and expensive cars driving in an aggressive way. I think Nick's middle finger was probably getting sore from all the use it was getting. We weren't in a different position on the road than we had been on the previous 8 days, the road was no narrower than any we'd already passed, we were acting in exactly the same way we had for the hundreds of miles so far. The only thing that was different was the drivers, we were being blasted with horns and we had people driving way too close to try and scare us. It was such a huge contrast to the day before and the people of Shropshire.
 Ed had found us a campsite for the night, another freebie, that's 9 free pitches in a row. This one was in The Delamere Forest. Right on the same road I was pushing along. When we got to the campsite I spoke to the lads and said I was feeling good, my ribs had eased slightly so I wanted to do a few more miles as I didn't know how I would feel in the morning. The lads agreed to make an effort in the morning to get up on time so we could accommodate the extra time we would need to travel from the campsite to the start. I ended up pushing another 6.5 miles, I thought any further would make the drive in the morning too far. Plus at that point we had reached a pub called The Traveller's Rest, it seemed the right place to end the day. I was reasonably happy with 43.5 miles for the day. 10 more miles than the original plan that my ex club thought was too far for me to manage.

Seemed an appropriate place to stop.

Dave from The 53 Foundation had asked Ed to get a short video interview of me each day for facebook. This was our first day doing the video and I'm really not good with being filmed, I even struggle with being photographed. It took about five attempts for me to stop laughing. On the take before the one we used Ed had asked me where I'd been that day and I answered with
"absolutely no idea mate"
My brain wasn't switched on, I had genuinely forgotten where I had been so Ed had to remind me of the towns and then start recording asking me where I had been before I forgot again! I stumbled through the interview and then we made our way to the campsite.

Delamere Forest Camping and Caravan site was one of the very few with disabled facilities and I was really glad of them. It was nice to have a proper shower seat and not have to sit on the floor. After my shower I rang Mother Hubbard to tell her how far north we'd got, she wasn't best pleased because she had booked a day off to come and support me through Lancashire but I was likely to be in Cumbria on that day now. I reminded her that I was trying to set a world record - I wasn't just on a jolly and told her just to come and see me after work instead. Showered, fed and told off I got in bed very early again, I was hoping for a better sleep so I would wake up in a better mood the next day. I couldn't sit up because of my ribs anyway so I didn't really have any option other than going to bed.

Day 9 Afternoon Stats

Miles: 16.79
Time: 1:37:17
Average Moving Speed: 10.4mph
Top Speed: 36.2mph
Slowest Mile Split: Mile 8 - 12:08
Fastest Mile Split: Mile 9 - 2:29
Total Ascent: 854ft
Average Heart Rate: 143bpm
Max Heart Rate: 163bpm

Day 9 Afternoon Progress Maps

Total Daily Mileage: 43.53