Day 7 - Whose Cycle Lane is it Anyway?

Firstly, this is the first time I have managed to update the blog directly and my wife (Lynn) has got the night off, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for ensuring the blog as been updated as soon as I send the details..she has been doing a storming job.

After arriving at Kendal last night in the pouring rain and having to put the tent up we finally got to the pub for 8:45pm with 15 minutes to spare for dinner...otherwise we would have been starving..most of us had some of the old amber nectar and in this pub in came in the form of Black Sheep, which when down the hatch far to easily and a second one was definitely required to make sure it really was nice!!! Last night was pretty much get to the campsite, put tent up, eat and go to bed... after 93 miles we were shattered and I think all of us slept well last night. This morning we awoke to no rain and blue skies and the start of what became a gorgeous hot day. What I have not mentioned is that it was only Steve and myself (Damian) cycling today as overnight Jen's Achilles became swollen and we all advise that a rest day would be better to try and ensure she can continue on with the ride on the other days rather than try and push it and have to stop completely...this seems to have worked by tonight as Jen Achilles is feeling a lot better and she is going to give it a go tomorrow to see how it is cycling. So Steve and Damian set off at 8:40am from Kendall to Wigan...Damian only got as far as the campsite entrance to find out he had a slow puncture (very slow in fact) so we kept pumping it up for 20 miles until we met the support guys in Lancaster and a longer stop to change it. Our ride out of Kendal was fine, a few signs were missing but didn't hamper us too much as we decided to follow route 6 of the national cycle route which turned out to be a great decision as the route made for a brilliant ride through single track lanes with the sun shining down....we really enjoyed this part of the route. We also met a retired fellow pushing an hybrid bike with huge panniers on up a steep hill, as we rode past (very slowly and in 1st gear) we had a quick chat with him to find out he had come from Edinburgh and from what we could gather was just cycling a few miles a day until he had had enough....what a great life...very relaxing and no pressure to get somewhere! We pushed on and happened to make a comment between us up some hills that these were not real hills compared to what we have been up (motivational really to get up them) only to be hit by 2 big climbs...that serves us right and needless to say we didn't make such a comment again on the ride! The ride to Lancaster and in fact all day as been the easiest of the rides so far and the lowest mileage of 66 miles. It was mainly flat or long descents with a few steep climbs. We met the support guys at Lancaster where they had made us bacon cobs (balm cakes for those from Wigan!!) as we skipped breakfast to just get started with the ride....this was very welcomed and really gave us the energy to get on with the remainder of the ride. From this point forward we followed the A6 and then the A49 to Wigan these roads were pretty easy compared to anything else we had ridden and it was more a matter of riding steadily to ensure Steve's knee was OK. On this note Steve has figured out a formula for his knee....lots of Ibuprofen gel and tablets and cold compress at night seems to maintain it for him to ride with it...we just need to take it easy so we don't make it any worse. We stopped at a little garden centre cafe about 15 miles from Wigan which had a lovely sun captured outside eating area where Damian's first cuppa (yes first cuppa) of the day was very welcomed and we tried to eat melted chocolate kit kats and twix...but this was beyond our capability and left it...note to cafe...keep chocolate in a cold place!!! Unless (of course) you are trying to have some fun with your customers!!! With there only being 2 of us today and it being pretty much main roads we have forgotten to take many photos with the exception of ones under Chorley sign as for those of you who like Brian Potter this is a must have photo...we now have them.

We arrived in Wigan at 4pm to a wonderful welcome at the end of the street from Kath, Tart (otherwise know as Martin...or Tarty Marty), George, Annie-Grace and Connie..they clapped and cheered us to their house and also welcomed us with the traditional Wigan Ice cold Vimto....very lovely..thank you so much! This was the first day we have finished our ride fairly early in the day so after a shower a nice cold beer in the garden, in the sunshine was very good...aaaaahhhh!!!.

Kath and Tart is our place of sleep tonight, they have cooked us meals for the evening....even catering for Vegetarians (Jen and Dave) which is normally unheard of in Wigan...Martin was shocked when I told him the news Vegetarians were staying....Dave and Jen have took the banter well with Dave planning his revenge!!! K&M have gone out for the evening and left us home alone....so we have had a huge party, drew on the walls and put fish in odd places (use your imagination) ...oh and nearly forgot, as per usual Kath opened the customary bottle of champagne before she went out.. to celebrate "something"....I don't think we really listen or cared about the reason it just went down well ...after Damo had popped the cork.

Right - Why the title for today? Steve and Damian have been carrying out an extensive survey across Scotland and the north of England. We have discovered that many cycle lanes are less than 50 yards (this is less than 3 pedals worth) and generally have a start or an end but never both. In other words totally useless for cyclists. So who are cycle lanes actually for? we think they are generally there to make wide roads thinner so cars cant overtaken and to slow them down, so they are not really cycling lanes. We have yet in 550 miles to find a cycle lane that is actually of any use and helpful to cyclists. In addition to this where they are longer than 50 yards there are normally cars parked on them or they are full of debris and (back to the tarmac discussion made of rough surfaces that no normal road bike can ever travel on). I wont go on so the questions to you bloggers are: Who are cycle lanes actually for? and do you know of a cycle lane that is actually of any use?

Our Stats for today is 66 miles covered, just under 5 hrs riding time and an average of 14.2mph.

We have larger mileage tomorrow (around 80 miles) from Wigan to Ruckley (south of Shrewsbury)...Jen is looking good for getting back on the bike, Jaimie (Steve's wife) has now arrived in Wigan to join the support teams pub tour of Britain and apparently it is going to be another nice day....here we go again for Day 8.

The Smiley Milers

P.S. The donations are still coming in and the comments are great so thank you to everyone for supporting us.

Damo & Steve arrive in sunny Chorley!