LeJoG Day 1 - The Longest Day (Part 2) Into the Night

I never did like trains, well, not the diesel ones anyway. So, within half an hour, we were back on the road, heading properly Northwards for the first time. Within 3 kilometres the batteries went on the GPS, so we had to stop for a quick change. Why couldn't they have gone whilst we were sitting recuperating some 10 minutes earlier? Worst still, we were parked by the river, and Ray quickly augmented his collection of flies which seemed to congregate every time he stopped.

The one really noticeable thing was that this section, although not pan-flat, was significantly less hilly, and within an hour we were a further 20km up the road in Cullompton. We tried hard not to dwell on the fact that this was a point my wife had reached in about 90 minutes when driving home on the Sunday, whereas we'd already been on the bikes for nearly 14 hours.

Dropping into Wellington we made an unplanned stop for yet more food just as the Co-op was trying to close, and were asked if we had "anything to do with that group of guys all dressed the same cycling up the A38 this morning". Obviously if we did, we'd be very lost, but it did sound as if we weren't alone in our task. On to Bridgewater, and our scheduled stop, arriving at 22:20, more than half an hour ahead of schedule now that the heat had gone. But the dark had closed in, which brought its own challenges to our intended speed.

At this point we were scheduled to ride a distance more on the A38, a road who's busyness worried me. I needn't have been concerned, it was virtually deserted at that time of night, and we made good time up to nearly midnight, at which point we started hitting hills again as we found the end of the Mendips in our way. The first grind upwards separated me from Ray as he rode off upward at his own pace, my only target being his diminishing rear light. The climb was over quickly, far more quickly than I expected. This is never a good sign, proving ultimately that this first climb was not the real one past Bristol Airport.

We did climb that one, eventually, and the descent was great, but by now I was suffering the first of quite a few sense of humour failures as my customary post-midnight-bonk (that doesn't sound right does it?) set in. Energy drained away, so did speed, and in the end we had to take a 10 minute Mars Bar stop prior to Keynsham before I could continue. Thankfully it was not far off and after getting a cashpoint receipt to prove we had been there, we pushed on the last 28km to the Severn Bridge Travelodge.

The A4 was thankfully as quiet as the A38 had been, and the GPS steered us effectively through the suburbs of Bristol. The day was not, however, through with us. As we reached Aztec West, the first spots of rain appeared. A scant 10km from the end, the rain started properly. Weight carrying constraints and the promise of good weather had me only carrying a lightweight showerproof, and by this point I was too tired to even be bothered putting it on. The storm passed quickly, but left the roads well puddled. 30 minutes later, the two soggy cyclists arrived at destination and were promptly shown to the haven of dryness, warmth and quiet of our room.

Of course the day was still not over. Showers, washing out kit (big mistake) and general faffing took at least 30 minutes, but by 4 a.m. after a 22+ hour day, and 8 minutes ahead of our expected arrival time, we crashed out. Sleep did not come immediately, adrenaline and hugely elevated heart rates following the heat excesses saw to that, but within 20 minutes I was out for the count.

From Lands End
Day 1 - 366km in 21 hours and 13 minutes including 5119 metres of climbing.

I read somewhere that "if you can get out of Devon, you can finish LeJog". By now we weren't sure that was true, but we knew what they meant!