The third leg of the grand ride took us across county borders from Cumbria to Northumberland to Durham. We endured a torrent of rain and comical winds as we slogged up some treacherous hills and almost were blown all the way back to Alston. Spurred on by the distant thoughts of he comfort of the Emmaus Village in Consett, we embraced the challenge with determination and positivity. To ensure we experienced almost all of the possible weather, the sun even began to shine for the final hour which made sure we were all dried out and somewhat smiling when we were met by Mr Wheatley at the Youth Village. A gorgeous meal followed and after that we relaxed in the comfort of our pyjamas in front of the TV, watching a DVD and playing cards. The final leg is upon us, and we can't wait to stop off at school to see our friends and arrive in Tynemouth to see our families. 27 miles to go!
Day 2 of the mammoth challenge is in the bag after we completed our longest ever ride - 45 miles. After setting off in the surprisingly dry and sunny weather, we made it to lunchtime, taking in a wide range of beautiful views and rolling through some hidden away villages in the English countryside. Knowing that the monstrous Hartside Pass was in our sight, we fuelled up with some of Mrs Recchia's delicious baking and then some of Ben's magic energy gel. The climb up the monster was arduous, but the team embraced the challenge. With the skies turning greyer and the wind becoming stronger, we rode together as a team with the tiny speck of an end point becoming ever larger. Finally, we made it to the top and even had enough energy left for a celebratory photo at the summit - what an amazing effort! Ben's words of "what comes up must come down" were ringing is our ears as we realised we had the downhill to come! With 9.5 hours of cycling finally over, we wolfed down a hearty meal before retiring to bed. Less climbing and less distance to come on the route to Consett, but rain forecast and some of our steepest ever ascents to come, another challenging but exciting day is ahead tomorrow! Check back here and follow us on Twitter to see how we get on! After months of hard training, the day we have been waiting for finally arrived. An early start beckoned as we were up bright and early eager to set off for Whitehaven. Fast forward a few hours and there we were on the west coast - Whitehaven - and the start of our C2C journey. Despite the wind and rain, enthusiasm was still high as we tackled the most difficult ascent of the day - the road to Winlatter Forest. However, what goes up must come down, and the fairly easy road into Keswick allowed us to take in the wonderful sights and sounds - even if it was still wet, windy and murky. Relief was found as we rolled on through the streeets of Keswick to our accommodation for the night, and after a quick rest and shower we enjoyed some well-earned downtime playing games and cards before refuelling for mother mighty challenge tomorrow - 45 miles to Alston! Keep up as we go via our Twitter page and check back in tomorrow for a recap of day 2. Thank you for your support! |