Day 8 and into the second week of our Land’s End to John o’ Groats (LEJOG) UK End-to-End Cycle. Today, we pass through four more counties: North Yorkshire, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Northumberland. Some leave a more lasting impression than others…
Anna eats something that doesn’t agree with her, and we both swear at the weather.
Come and join the journey, like and subscribe for daily updates on our LEJOG progress!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnyE1CB1xCWr6XxRD1HJ9PA
LEJOG Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD-cKkU0eHLaXBHsPYNWq0-Drd68rES0o&si=xnNBX9NTnFEqLcEV
Videos In the Series:
Day 0 – https://youtu.be/4dHUztVhIbk
Day 1 – https://youtu.be/C0JIW0QtitI
Day 2 – https://youtu.be/NauoaOiWAWU
Day 3 – https://youtu.be/UHbL5xe7ypE
Day 4 – https://youtu.be/XNzKemcJhfA
Day 5 – https://youtu.be/885bxTJa5EQ
Day 6 – https://youtu.be/WRia2p_rz7k
Day 7 – https://youtu.be/ChQRaPi1Rbk
Day 8 – https://youtu.be/zwUJ63ClEDYDay
Day 9 – https://youtu.be/j2amRmDOx8g
Day 10 – https://youtu.be/04omxn8pTsE
Day 11 – https://youtu.be/Pbii7UVVshw
Day 12 – https://youtu.be/9WK5bcglSJQ
Day 13 – https://youtu.be/wUtM_4tmjAE
Day 14 – https://youtu.be/Sf7dpKvH3s0
#lejog #cycletour #cycling #northumberland
Another short sharp shower. It’s been dry all day. We get the Sunderland and it smashes it down. Hopefully that was a one-off. So it was day eight and that was from Furs to Math Math Math in Northland. So yeah, a long journey 85 something miles. Uh quite a nice day by all accounts up until the last half hour when the heavens opened and it all went sideways. I hate the weather in this country. I really do. Please and the gale force winds winds. You see all our kit is still drying over here in the corner. Hopefully that’ll be dry by tomorrow. Best part of a 100 mileer tomorrow. up to Dumbar into Scotland indeed. So yeah, today was a lot better because it was hilly. Definitely decided that flat is not for me. I do prefer hills. It makes my life much easier, much more comfortable, much more interesting. Bummer rest, doesn’t it? It makes a huge difference. I mean, far more than you’d ever imagine. So yeah, we started off um the premier in breakfast. Yep. uh double helpings of everything deep fried and deadly. It was not a wise choice. No. No. So, starting off with a brick in your stomach is uh not normal. Well, we we’re generally used to eating like granola, which is the kind of the cheap naughty food to have while you’re out doing long lots of exercise, which you wouldn’t normally have on a normal day cuz it’s like the most calorifically dense stuff that you can get. Yeah. It’s high carb, but it’s great for exercise. Yeah. Yeah. Not so high in fat. No. Like a greasy fry up. Yeah. Yeah. And then we hit the hit the road around about 9:30. Uh 10 10. Was it as late as 10? Nice casual gentle start to the day and then and then it went downhill. It went downhill for you particularly definitely. Ah yeah. The brick turned to nausea. Uh, so that some breakfast came up on the side of the road. Um, and then and then it went the other end which was even worse. Oh my goodness. There was a quick jump into a field. Not good. Yeah. So, there’s the fun today. Certain amount of paranoia as to what that was. Just something that you’d eaten. It’s not to blame the premier in. It’s just it’s looking a little bit suspect. Yes. So, we lost around about an hour, hour and a half today. Because I lost my gloves as well. And you lost your gloves as well? I had to dive onto the station toilet. I left my gloves on the back of my bike. Came out, forgot to put them on. So, one glove remained on the back and the other fell off. I had to cycle back and find it. Didn’t get them. And obviously, I got a little bit lost doing that. Roadwise, it’s all been pretty good. It’s been reasonable back roads, a little bit busy in places, plenty of cycle paths, which is always a bonus. Uh, Newcastle was actually really easy. So, I go through enjoyed cycling through Newcastle. Um, apart from the headwinds, the winds. Yeah. I mean, you the weather, it’s a whole different thing. There’s like a massive storm coming, which is now completely calm. We’re hoping it’s just going to stay this way. The Newcastle, the first place I’ve ever seen which has traffic lights for cyclists, which I thought was kind of epic. um if a bit confusing 10 out of 10 to uh Newcastle City for actually putting in a a pretty good cycle setup versus lots of the other places. Take Bristol for example is an absolute nightmare. Even all the other small towns that we’ve been through that where they have cycle paths that just disappear. It’s like well where are we going now? So that you’re steering off a bike onto a pavement. Well that’s fine. And then there is no markings at all anywhere. He’s like, “Well, I wanted to go over there.” And so I was I was on the road. You’ve now put me onto this pavement. There are now no crossings to the other side of the road at all. Um and so you got to get off your bike and pretty pretty much busy. Yes. You run across roads that that are then barriered at the other side. I mean, some places are just baffling. Less of the moaning. Newcastle was actually really good. I was very very pleased with that. And then obviously got to the side of it and the heavens opened and well we we passed the sign northland didn’t we? And then pretty much as soon as we passed that sort of black clouds roing over and yeah thank you for that Joe ra the wind got up to gale force. So, we’re going into headwinds and it got so bad. All my strength, good lord. Couldn’t move barely. Yeah, it I actually pretty much halted on the bike because I could not pedal into that headwind. Yeah, that was outrageous. But we did luckily find uh shelter just in time to put on some waterproofs. It was old. That’s how it feels as girl forceful winds. Yeah. Why? Why is it Why? Yeah. No. Yeah, I know. Say and then we came out there thinking, “Oh, it’s actually not going to rain now.” And then the heavens opened. Yeah. Steady rain. M all the way to Math. Yeah. Where it pretty much stopped. Stopped. Yeah. And wind stopped and everything stopped. But uh fair play to the B&B we’re staying in. They’ve been really decent about it because you can imagine if you got two drowned rats turning up to your front door with bikes, it’s like yeah, that’s the last thing you want lay but they were really good. Quite tired and tomorrow is going to be the epic journey. 100 miles of hills. So, best get some sleep. See you tomorrow. What indicators are for? What a novel.