Day 4,5 and 6 LEJOG
Sorry folks. I have been having some trouble getting on the internet the last few days so here are the stories of day 4,5 and 6 of my LEJOG.

Day 4 LEJOG Tintern-Shrewsbury

The days, at least the mornings, now have a routine. I get up at 6-ish, make myself a cuppa and get my kit on. Breakfast is usually at 7am. I get back to my room at 7.30, pack everything up and take the bags to the van. I then set off cycling at 8-ish.

Todays breakfast was a big one: 2 slices of toast with jam, a bowl of porridge, a poached egg, a sausage, a rasher of bacon and 2 fried tomatoes and orange juice and tea to wash all that down.

Fortunately the first 10 miles today were flattish along the river Wye and most of the breakfast had gone down as we entered Herefordshire and were back in England.

The 1^st water stop was at Wormelow and it happened to be close to a furniture/coffee shop.

Phillip, Jim and I fancied a nice cup of coffee and cake and so we went inside and chilled out for half an hour with a nice cappuccino/hot chocolate and some carrot cake.

Then it was back on the bikes again for a long 30m stint to lunch, passing the town of Hereford. Lunch was in Leintwhardine and today there was chicken soup and warm sausage rolls as extra. For lunch I usually have a cheese and ham and peanut butter sandwich and a cup of tea.

After lunch we headed for Bishops Castle(well know to me after Clive and I did the Wild Edric last year September). We then had to do some climbing before coming down hill again to the 2^nd water stop. Before getting there, there was a cyclist in a red top coming up the hill. It was CLIVE!

He had come from Shrewsbury to meet up with us and it was great to see him. We had a quick stop at the 2^nd water stop which was only 1 minute further down the road before we made our descent to Shrewsbury. Clive knew of a nice pub called the Cock Inn 5 miles before Shrewsbury so we stopped there for a quick pint and went on to our hotel in Shrewsbury.

Beer/ale of the day: EPA, English pale ale

Today:distance 92.14m,moving time 6hr16min,avg speed 14.7mph,max speed 37.1mph, elevation 4324ft
Total distance 339m,total moving time 23hr34min,total elevation 16995ft

Day 5 LEJOG Shrewsbury-Preston

After a reasonable night it was business as usual and I got to the breakfast room just before 7 and it was already half full! It was not my lucky morning as I had to wait a long time until I got my porridge and cooked breakfast. The poor young girl who took my order was probably still half asleep.

As we were not in a hurry we took it easy and left a bit later at 830hrs today. It was sunny but cold but not unpleasant to cycle. The four of us (Clive, Phillip, Jim and I) set off for Wem and Whitchurch and we struggled a bit as we had to battle a headwind.

The first water stop which was at 27m and we only stopped briefly as we saw a sign for a local castle with coffee shop.

Unfortunately this was closed so we carried on and found a place a bit further down the road called the Wild Boar. This was a posh 19^th century Tudor style hotel where we sat in plush sofa’s enjoying our hot chocolate or cappuccino.

After this stop we had a long stint of nearly 40m ahead of us to lunch. We entered the county of Cheshire and soon we had to leave the beautiful countryside for long lanes and streets through industrial areas and retail parks.

It wasn’t particular pretty but unfortunately there just wasn’t an other route to Preston. We decided to each take stints of 5 miles and this helped to cover the distance a bit easier.
Lunch was at a sports centre and today there was some pasta amongst the usual other bits.
After lunch we only had about 30m left and 15m to the last water stop which was at a roadside bike shop. This was useful as I needed some new brake pads and mudguards. The forecast for Monday and Tuesday was rain. The mudguard will at least keep my backside and back free of all the mud and spray from the road and also keep the rubbish out of faces of whoever is cycling behind me.

After the 2^nd water stop we headed for Preston and the IBIS hotel which was at the other side of town. Thanks to Clive’s excellent navigation we got there very swiftly and reached to hotel by half 4.

I cleaned the bike, had a shower and had a quick chat with everybody back home who I do miss dearly. It was nice to everybody’s voices and to hear all was well.

I then watched the last bit of the FA Cup final with Clive in the pub/restaurant next door, followed by our evening meal upstairs.

I was hoping to do my blog after diner but again no internet connection and so I just dotted my story of the day in a word document, hoping that I can catch up and enter all the stories of the last couple days and that of tomorrow at the Premier Inn in Carlisle. 

Today:distance 89.01m,moving time 6hr26min,avg speed 13.8mph,max speed 30.8mph, elevation 2802ft
Total distance 428m,total moving time 30hr00min,total elevation 19797ft

Day 6 LEJOG  Preston-Carlisle

Today was the day of the climb up Shap and getting to the half way point.

We took it very leisurely getting up and having breakfast and were the last to leave the IBIS Hotel.
 It was another cool morning but the sun was out and we had a tailwind for a change. This made cycling very easy and before we knew it we were at the 1st waterstop at 32m.
This was next to a little stream and we stopped briefly to refill our drink bottles and eat a cereal bar and a banana.

Before getting there we had passed several earlier leavers and had gone through Garstang and Lancaster with its castle in the distance.

Onwards we went and onto Kendal which was only 9m further ahead. As Phillip and I stopped briefly to watch 2 courting swans we lost track of Jim and Clive but we were rejoined in Kendal and there we stopped for coffee and hot chocolate.

Clive had been in contact with a good old friend(Simon) who lived nearby and who was going to cycle with us upto Penrith.

Simon was a guy who Clive had met on his LEJOG 2 and half years ago.He had since cycled coast to coast in the USA in 32 days!

We left Kendal and soon we were going uphill and facing a 10m long climb with gradients upto 11% towards Shap. I took several pictures on the way up and cycled and chatted for a while with Simon who must be extremely fit as he was cycling as quick as me but with a couple of heavy panniers!

I went over the top on my own and then had one of the most fantastic long descent I have ever done. The descent was about 8m long and ended in Shap village where lunch was.

We enjoyed chicken soup,pasta,crisps,peanut butter sandwiches and a nice cuppa.

After a 30min break we set off for the 2nd water stop which was 16m further. We crossed Penrith where Simon left us again.As the wind was still favourable we were all racing eachother and I went onto the aerobars showing some of the youngsters there is still some speed in the old boy!

We briefly stopped for a drink at our 2nd water stop and moved on towards Carlisle.

There were still a couple of little hills to master and we reached the Premier Inn just after 4pm.
Yes, we're already halfway and tomorrow we'll enter Scotland and I will sadly say goodbye to Clive who has to go back home.

Today:distance 89.03m,moving time 6hr5min,avg speed 14.6mph,max speed 37.2mph, elevation 3806ft
Total distance 517m,total moving time 36hr05min,total elevation 23603ft