Day 26 Thornton le Moor - Durham 45.81 miles
Today has been a hard day! Having been cycling for about five days where the biggest hills have been the bridges over railways and motorways I now hit real hills. I was either riding into the wind or it was cutting across me.
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| My new mirror |
I was on my way by 08.35. The day started bright but cold and the roads were quiet. It was only 10 o'clock when I passed Kiplin Hall were the sign pointed to Gardens and Tearoom and as I wouldn't be passing through many villages I decided to stop. It was here that I was given my first warning of the hills that were to come.
At Scotch corner the A1 is being upgraded to motorway standard so even though I was on the quiet roads there were a lot of road works, heavy lorries and diversions to contend with.
Once past the A1, the next 10 - 15 miles were on a straight Roman road, although it was only a B road and not a lot of traffic, what there was passed fast! I managed the first five miles with relative ease which lulled me in to a false sense of security. So when I arrived at Piercebridge a pretty village with a café I stopped for lunch. Here I had my second warning of the hills to come, the owner told me she had used 1st gear to get a tractor and trailer up the hill and had still found it difficult! It looked like I would be pushing my bike again.
The warnings were right, it was a very long and in parts steep hill and with a cross wind I had to get off and push despite my new gears. I finally came to a down hill stretch but the road surface was so bad I still couldn't go above ten miles an hour for fear of hitting one of the pot holes and coming off.
When I finally got to Ferryhill I had to ring Martin, my host for the night who was kindly going to cycle out to meet me and guide me to his house. So after a couple more miles when I saw someone on a bike about to take my picture I have never been so pleased. The last couple of miles were not difficult but I was very tired and extremely thankful when we arrived. After a cup of tea and a wonderful bath I was revived and ready to catch up on emails and look at the route for the next day.
Only another 11 miles and I will have cycled 1000 miles!
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Wow 1000 miles that's amazing, and even more impressive after seeing you at the weekend and feeling how heavy those panniers are! Hope the North East treats you well x
ReplyDeleteWhat a tough sounding day with hills and traffic, well done, you are doing fantastic. Congratulations on your 1000 miles :-)
ReplyDelete1000 miles - that's fantastic! Well done. You're amazing!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a really hard day though. Hope the winds improve for you, not sure the hills will! X
What an incredible achievement Mally. Keep going - the next 500 will be a piece of cake :) Fi and Pauline
ReplyDelete1000 miles?!! Well done Mally! 😀
ReplyDeleteWell done on achieving 1000 mile mark. Have been following you since finding you on my Facebook page for toilet twinning.
ReplyDeleteWe are hoping to do the Lejog next year on our tandem.
Hope the weather is better for the last section of you trip. You are amazing doing it all on your own. Best wishes Nicky
Well done on achieving 1000 mile mark. Have been following you since finding you on my Facebook page for toilet twinning.
ReplyDeleteWe are hoping to do the Lejog next year on our tandem.
Hope the weather is better for the last section of you trip. You are amazing doing it all on your own. Best wishes Nicky