Who forgot the tea bags? Training update 12th March

The manflu took hold this week. Its been touch and go I can tell you. All I can say is that its a good job this debilitating virus is restricted to the male of the species. If you are a bloke reading this, I am sure you will understand and agree with me when I say its a good job it can't be caught by our women folk. Can you imagine the fuss and moaning that would ensue. Its bad enough when they get 'a little sniffle'. Lord only know what it would be like if they had to endure the horrors of manflu.

I'll have more than Manflu when Rosemary sees this blog so....

No Sympathy! What men have to put up with.

On my last training blog I received a message from 'DodgerGammon' or Roger Grieg, a friend of mine who has successfully completed LEJOG on his own without any support (hard as nails). He offered up some advice to me on my current training regime (as documented in the last blog) Basically to paraphrase  what he said was, "forget the hill work and get some miles in your legs". Neil Coverley had said the same thing the week before. So suitably chastened I decided Sunday was long ride day. The manflu had to take a back seat.

Rosemary really wanted to get some practice driving the campervan so we decided to meet up somewhere in Cheshire at about half way around my ride. It'd be like a dry run of a LEJOG day. So on Saturday we got some bacon, eggs and barm cakes and I baked my special Hairy Bikers Ginger sponge cake. I was looking forward to the half time break more than the cycling.

My ginger sponge cake

I asked Neil C if he fancied a ride out. Neil knows all the back lanes around Cheshire and needed to get out after a couple of weeks lay off from riding himself. We planned to set off at 11am and arranged to meet Rosemary at around 1pm wherever she could park near Redesmere on the A34 between Alderley Edge and Congleton. All was set.

Neil went off at a bonkers pace (well I thought so anyway) I was puffing and panting all the way to Woodford trying to stay on his wheel. For someone who hadn't ridden for two weeks, he seemed pretty on form to me. No Man Flu sympathy there then. I took over the front at Dean Row and the pace dropped as we headed out into Cheshire, through Wilmslow and out towards Tatton Park. The back lanes around Cheshire are quite wonderful. Its like stepping back in time on some of them. Thatched Cheshire brick cottages adorn the narrow country lanes. This is farm country, a mix of both dairy and arable land. Most people associate Cheshire as being 'flat as a pancake' and in general this is true. Most of Cheshire is made-up by the highly fertile flood plains of the Mersey and Dee rivers. However towards the east of the county near the borders of Derbyshire, it gets very hilly indeed.

 Tatton Park

More Tatton Park

Pretty soon Neil got fed up of the 'driving Miss Daisy' pace and took over again. We steamed along at around 22mph through Mobberley and out behind Manchester Airport towards Ashley. I was getting really tired hanging on but stuck with it. I think Neil was trying to get me used to the pace and get some fitness in my useless carcass. By the time we got to Tatton  I needed to slow it up so we coasted through the park. Tatton really is quite beautiful with its 2000 acres of rolling deer park and the famous Joseph Paxton gardens.

When we emerged at the other side of the park Neil picked the pace up again. We headed through Knutsford and out on the Holmes Chapel road (A50 I think) in the direction of Jodrell Bank radio telescope. Just as I was getting comfortable on Neil's back wheel, he shouted something. Now I am as deaf as a post at the best of times. Too much heavy metal when I was a teenager. That and the wind and traffic noise it sounded like "BrianBLLAHBBLAHBLLAThis Lorry quick" and with that he shot off towards a big horse box that had pulled out in front of us. I then understood what he was doing. If you can get in the draft of a big vehicle, like a horse box, it shields you from the wind and you can trap along at the same speed as the traffic without too much effort. Its a bit dodgy as you can't see where you are going and if the vehicle slams his anchors on you are going to get very intimate with its rear end (ooh err). Anyway what Neil had said was "come on Brian lets get behind this lorry quick' but it was too late I wasn't on the ball as he shot off and got in the draft. I chased and chased but the line of traffic along with Neil just disappeared up the road. I finally found him waiting at a junction about three miles further on. I'm not sure what he was thinking but something along the lines of 'useless' I reckon.

 The Iconic Cheshire landmark of Jodrell Bank

The Planetarium

At this point we were getting towards the agreed meet time with Rosemary and we still had a way to go so Neil stepped on it again. By now the iconic landmark of the Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank bore into view.  That huge parabolic dish never ceases to amaze me. Jodrell Bank was the first to pick up the signals from Sputnik as it first orbited the Earth, even before the Russians and Americans. As kids we loved going to Jodrell Bank. They used to have a fantastic planetarium. I remember Janet didn't like it when it went dark so Dad had to explain that it was ok and she was quite safe. Then they turned the projectors on and it was just pure magic to me. You could see vividly the orbits of the planets in the night sky and the constellations of stars. I think that was where my love of the stars and planets first came from. The planetarium has since been knocked down as it had Asbestos in the building. What a shame.

Redesmere

Anyway where was I? Oh yes! the back lanes around Jodrell Bank are fast and flat and we were near to Redesmere where our rendezvous point with Rosemary was. I decided to call her to see if she was there. Three times I got no answer just the message service...Hmm I thought! We need to get this sorted for the LEJOG or we might have difficulty finding each other.... and probably have a big row. We got to Redesmere and there was no sign of Rosemary. I called and texted her, at which point Neil kindly suggested I was probably bugging her. He was probably right.......in fact he was definitely right. My calls had distracted Rosemary just as she was passing the turn for Redesmere and had kept going on the A34. Oops! Eventually we met up and Rosemary got the kettle on for a well deserved cup of Rosie Lee. Guess what we had forgotten (did you notice the diplomatic 'we' bit) yep TEA BAGS. Nooooooooo.

Now how lucky were we to have parked near a Yorkshire tea van?

"Good job it were Yorkshire tea" - said Neil

Neil had a plan. It involved being really cheeky....so it came naturally to him when he asked the guy in the butty wagon down the lane for some tea bags. He explained our predicament and the guy was happy to let us have some. In fact he gave us them for nothing. However Neil being Neil he asked him "how much for some hot water then?" the guy said he couldn't charge for just hot water. So Neil said "So how come you're charging a pound for a brew then?" Now if I had said that, it would not have been funny. In fact I would probably have ended up with a smack in the mouth.

Neil and Monty are close friends now

I tell you what after 40 odd miles of hard riding, it is a real luxury to sit in a camper van and have a brew and a piece of cake. Rosemary had brought Monty along for the ride to see how he coped. As usual he took it all in his stride. We have managed to fit his travel box in the back so he will be safe whilst driving. He seemed to take a shine to Neil too. Monty hasn't been neutered just yet so I'll leave that to your imagination. Neil didn't seem to mind either. 

I was really proud of Rosemary. She had been a little nervous about her first time out in the van alone. Its a big vehicle and takes a bit of getting used to but she seemed to be confident driving it. I really started to feel as though the LEJOG was coming together nicely as we set of towards Henbury down some beautiful back lanes past Henbury Hall (very posh) whilst Rosemary did a 3 point turn and headed home.

The Beast - or Beeston Brow

As we approached Bollington, Neil piped up with "do you know Beeston Brow?" I did! I used to work in Bollington. It's a busy little town nestled in the foothills of the Pennines near the border of Cheshire and Derbyshire. Its pretty hilly and Beeston Brow is a nasty piece of cobbled road that winds steeply up the back road towards Pott Shrigley and is locally known as 'The Beast'. "Your kidding" I sighed. "Come on you can put it in your blog that we conquered the Beast". I was too tired. Then I thought to myself come on Brian you've got to do this. I know I will have moments when I feel like quitting but quitting is not an option. So we climbed Beeston Brow and it certainly lived up to its name. We both managed it ok but I was shot. 

How cute is Sheba

Neil had arranged to meet his wife Naomi and friends in Lyme Park to walk their new puppy Sheba so we headed that way. It was a lovely afternoon and a walk in Lyme park seemed like a great idea.  I thought about calling Rosemary and asking her to meet us there but I was too tired I needed some food, a drink and to rest my legs. So after Neil found Naomi I set off for home through the park and into Disley, then New Mills and home. We had done 60 miles in 4 hours and I was quite pleased with myself. If I could keep that pace during my LEJOG I will be very happy. I just hope I can get a bit fitter and used to the mileage in time.