Day 11 - Drookit at Bucknell

A shortish day overall, which was a welcome change. Set off towards Whitchurch as fast as I could, just incase Nick and the guys (http://www.jogle.eu/) had slept in or had a bacon stop. Their day yesterday was a lot worse than mine, since they didnt finish untill 10:30 last night. Unfortunetly I didnt catch them.
Chose the A49 again today instead of the lanes. Still didnt see much as the countryside is quite flat and the rain came down in buckets for most of the day, hence drookit in the title. Saw a sign for a village fayre advertising the Wurzels. Are they still going?
Got to Bucknell early and ate at the Baron of Beef, a great country pub. Obviously I had cow.

Hamton Heath to Bucknell
Distance: 58miles
Rolling time: 6hr 5min
Max: 25mph
Av speed: 9.6mph

JOGLE Miles: 710

Day 10 - Garstang to Hamton Heath

Had a quick chat to a couple of Lejogers who were also staying at the B&B before we headed off. Cycling was fairly good, but ignored the route plan as I was spending far too much time getting lost and having to check the GPS. In the end I pretty much followed the A49 down from Warrington. I'm glad I did as I think my planned route was going to a lot longer than I had estimated.
Tried to meet up with Nick and the guys of Jogle for Alzheimers but our timings were off.

Garstang to Hamton Heath
Distance: 77miles
Rolling time: 7hr 52min
Max: 31mph
Av speed: 9.7mph

JOGLE Miles: 652

Day 9 - Hesket Newmarket to Garstang

Nothing much to report on route today as most of the time I was cycling between hedgerows. I had expected a fairly easy 2nd half to the day, but the route from Map My Ride was under by 10 miles and the terrain was definitely not flat.
Bust a spoke today I think near Lancaster and will have to call ahead to some bike shops to see if they can fix it.
Also passed my Jogle half way point somewhere south of Kendal.

Hesket Newmarket to Garstang
Distance: 83miles
Rolling time: 8hr 31min
Max: 35mph
Av speed: 9.7mph

JOGLE Miles: 575

Day 8 - Glenlair to Hesket Newmarket

I really appreciated my day off yesterday, but I was a bit apprehensive setting off this morning as I had damaged my achilles on Saturday. I did some research and found that it was probably my foot position or seat height that caused the problem. Today I moved my seat down half an inch and removed my toe clips. That and riding on my arches has helped a lot. It was my own fault for fitting my smaller toe clips before I left on this trip.
The cycling was great today with nice sunshine. It was fairly flat all the way to Carlise and a bit of a steep climb towards the end. I deviated from my route slightly today after Longtown through the country lanes as the A7 was a bit busy.
Tonight I am staying near Hesket Newmarket and an now off to the Old Crown for some food and some of their own brewed beer.
At some point tomorrow I will pass my half way point.

Glenlair to Hesket Newmarket
Distance: 74miles
Rolling time: 6hr 30min
Max: 35mph
Av speed: 11.4mph

JOGLE Miles: 492

Day 6 - Hamilton to Glenlair

Last night I stayed at Glenlair, Emily's parents house and today I'm having a day off because Emily has come down to visit. Yesterday was pretty tough. Initially there was a 40 mile climb all the way from Hamilton to the top of the Dalveen Pass. Then there was a fantastic 5 mile downhill on the otherside of the pass. After that the rain came down and by the time I climbed onto the moor above Dunscore the rain was coming down in sheets and I swear it was bordering on sleet. Anyway I'm glad to be having a day off as the rain is still coming down. Thank you to Henrietta and Duncan for kindly drying me out and feeding me up for the weekend.


A bit about Glenlair. Glenlair is famous as the home of James Clerk Maxwell, one of the greatest scientists who has ever lived and yet he is still relatively unknown. His greatest achievement was his theory of electromagnetism which today forms the foundation of electricity, electronics, television, radar and communications, for which he is rightly acclaimed as the father of modern physics. Einstein said "The special theory of relativity owes its origins to Maxwell's equations of the electromagnetic field." He also made fundamental contributions to mathematics, astronomy, engineering and took the worlds first colour photograph.

Maxwell's home was largely destroyed by fire in 1929, but today "The Maxwell at Glenlair Trust" is in the process of stabilising and preserving as much of the remaining structure to guarantee far as possible its continued existence and by so doing establish a permanent monument to the life of James Clerk Maxwell.

Hamilton to Glenlair
Distance: 74miles
Rolling time: 7hr 36min
Max: 32mph
Av speed: 9.7mph

JOGLE Miles: 418

Day 5 - Lost in the Trossachs and then Hamilton

What a day! I was tanking along in the sunshine passing Crainlarich and missed the turning to Loch Lomond. It was 15 miles before I noticed. I made the decision to find another route, rather than re-trace my steps. I wished I hadn't. Instead of the nice easy flat route, I ended up with a huge climb over the Campsie Fells and a tricky route through Glasgow.
Because of the route change I wasn't able to meet up with Geoff Preston who is doing a Lejog. The hardest part of today wasnt physical, but mental. This is what most people say about this type of trip.
Today I heard that a fellow Jogler, Regie has had to pull out because of back problems. I hope your back gets better soon, so you can have another go sometime.
Today was also day one for Nick and the guys of Jogle for Alzheimers. Good luck and hope you have better weather than I've had.

Bridge of Orchy to Hamilton
Distance: 90miles
Rolling time: 8hr 19min
Max: 36mph
Av speed: 10.8mph

JOGLE Miles: 344

Day 4 - Drookit at Bridge of Orchy

A day of hills and at least 5 types of rain. Set off from Foyers in the rain up a steep hill, followed by another steep hill and then a 5 mile hill. After the initial slow start I managed to make up time all the way down to Oinch, which was my half way point through Scotland.

While cycling up Glen Coe, I could feel I hadn't eaten enough and had a banana, 3 slices of Soreen Malt Loaf and 2 cereal bars just to get back on an even keel. The sun and a rainbow came out over Rannoch Moor and everything was great again.

Today wasn't a physical tiring day, but mentally I felt drained. With the hills, rain and the constant concentration of the A92 I feel shot. After a quick shower I went to the bar and ordered two pints of "Bitter and Twisted". The first one didn't even touch the sides. Spookily I am in the same room and the same bunk as I was 3 weeks ago when staying here. Also for the WHW crew it only takes 35mins to cycle from Kingshouse to Bridge of Orchy instead of the 5 hours that we took to walk it. Next time I'm taking the bike.

Foyers to Bridge of Orchy
Distance: 88miles
Rolling time: 8hr 10min
Max: 35mph
Av speed: 10.4mph

JOGLE Miles: 254