LEJOG DAY 21 Kirtlebridge to Leadhills 75 km, 828m.

Today we had a first. John F revealed that he is a closet literist. 8km into today’s ride he made a beeline for a monument(first time he has shown interest in …

A effort getting up the 400m steep track out of Saughie Rig farm after a big breakfast of bacon/eggs/haggis/black pudding and hash browns. But some of us made it.

A cool day …

Had to fix our own breakfast in Wetherall. Left the house clean and tidy and off. Fine weather for the first hour or so then back to cold, windy ( thankfully as a strong tail wind) and occasionally wet.

Good …

A secret: While we were eating our late lunch while cowering in a bus shelter from the wind, rain and chilling temperatures I looked down from my roast beef and cheese with Bramston pickle roll at my sodden, CTAWA sock …

HALFWAY!!!!!!! To John O’Groats

Highly recommend the Bulls Head in Milnthorpe; comfortable, excellent dinner and breakfast, very helpful staff (barman-do-everything a young thirties guy married to a Brisbane girl).

LEJOG DAY 16 Blackpool to Milnthorpe (near Lakes District), 52 km, 435 m.

Had to get going early to get the Fleetwood Ferry across the Wye. If we missed the 500m ferry crossing it was a 25 km detour around …

Big sleep in till 8 am, wash the bikes, adjust my gear cable ( barrel adjuster had been moved out of the screw as the cable stretched and wouldn’t go back in).

Then a walk up the Promenade, along two …

The ‘quaint’ Park View Hotel and BnB (without breakfast in St Helens was memorable – helpful staff lady eventually let us put our bikes in dining room as arranged, room was cramped but clean and bathroom spacious. The Bird I’th …

Cold, windy and occasionally wet.

Across the Mersey at LIverpool (that river stinks!!!) and through pretty uninteresting suburbs to an uninteresting suburb at St Helens. A bit of overgrown Google Maps bike path on the way from Liverpool proper to …

LEJOG DAY 12 Ironbridge to Witchurch 51 km, 413 m.

Not a quick start today. Some listened online to a friend’s funeral in Perth, others straggled out to get milk and organise their kit.

Pretty basic ride today starting with …