Day One

Post date: May 17, 2012 12:3:21 PM

Departure Time

Departure day finally arrived and I was so excited I couldn't sleep - not a good start! After a hasty breakfast I headed upstairs to get ready and was just about to reach for the shaving foam when I remembered the beard growth challenge '10 points for every day of beard growth'! So I skipped the razor headed outside unshaven to hitch up the trailer and get ready to go.

First to arrive was Rob - suitably unshaven (as usual) and grinning like an idiot - apparently Queenie the QT50 was running well and he was as excited as I was. Next our official BBC cameraman rolled up in his car (ok so he used to work in the accounts dept) and we started to plan where he was going to film us because sadly the blackpool 10k had shut the prom and scuppered his plans for some blackpool sea-front filming - Lytham green it was then.

Next Rick May's parents arrived (yes, they arrived before before Rick May himself) and Mrs C set about making the tea. Next came Rick McCann - our official support driver for the trip, and he was closely followed by Rick May on his bike - the yellow peril, sadly Rick had completely forgotten about the beard growth challenge and his face was as smooth as a baby's behind, however it soon became clear that beard growth was not at the forefront of his strategy as he ducked inside the house and emerged wearing the finest one piece Elvis costume that very little money can buy and bagged himself a whopping 50 points in the process.

The excitement grew as we made our final preparations, fueled up the bikes and prepped the support vehicle, we arranged to meet Rick McCann somewhere around Kendal and off we went to rapturous applause!

Preston to Blackpool

As expected the first few miles went without a hitch! We all settled in nicely as we drove from Preston to Lytham and were quite happy as we waved to Tim and the camera on the way past. Up to Blackpool and Rick suggested we stop near the glitter ball for the first part of our swimming challenge (to swim in both seas). Rob declared himself out of this one as he can't swim well so we armed him with the camera and nipped onto the beach where we stripped down to undies and went for a very cold dip in the sea 'up to the thermometer' as Rick McCann had ruled! The logistics of getting clean and dry were quite difficult, but suffice to say that the remainder of the days ride was done 'commando style' whilst my damp pants were strapped to my bike and left to flap in the breeze: There's nothing like riding commando to make a man feel alive!

As already mentioned the prom was closed for a 10k but Rick expertly guided us through some of the dingiest, pound shop filled streets I've ever seen. Rusty was superb at nipping through the traffic and I really got a feel for why these things are good for urban commuting. I guess Blackpool was the first time the team noticed my really annoying habit of leaving my indicator on after a turn - it was to become a common theme in the the coming days, and I think my record was over 20 minutes! Blackpool was also the place where Pinky (the teddy) met a girl and decided to take a job in a bar...I tried to persuade him otherwise but he said he was 'in love' so I had to leave him behind and continue with only Perky for company! On the way out of Blackpool we stopped at a petrol station but decided it was way too soon to fill up and carried on....little did we know that we would soon regret that decision!

Blackpool to Lancaster

The roads really opened up as we went through Preesall and Pilling and on towards Lancaster, but I kept looking ahead at the ominous looking hills and wondering which of them we were going to have to climb! Somewhere near Cockerham we decided it really was time to get some fuel and started asking people where the nearest petrol station was, however when we pulled up at the only station for miles around it was clear that they didn't do Sundays! A quick phone call to Rick McCann who was still at home reading the user manual for the Volvo and he was on his way, so we decided to carry on as far as we could before we ran out of fuel: We made it to the outskirts of Lancaster, a place ironically called 'pathfinders drive' and rusty gave up on a roundabout...time to have our dinner and wait for the support team.

Whilst Rob told Rick a story about motocross that I'd already heard three times I sat and ate couscous from a carrier big with a medicine spoon (Mrs C refused to give me a proper container because I wouldn't commit to bringing it back!) and before long old Rick and the support vehicle arrived complete with Jerry cans and his sister Lynn who he'd invited to come along and jeer at us. Lynn proceeded to sit down on Robs bike and say some particularly derogatory things about it - it's a good job queenie wasn't listening or we could have had one of those Herbie moments! Fed and fuelled we set off again and were soon in the centre of Lancaster where we got another chance to side-slip loads of traffic as we crossed the river (except Rob who somehow managed to get boxed in!).

Lancaster to Kendal

Surprisingly few roundabouts later and we were in the beautiful seaside sh*t hole of Morecambe. Rick pulled up to a T junction next to two females in a car and somehow managed to strike up quite a long conversation......I don't know why I was surprised because I suspect Rick could strike up a conversation with just about anything! We turned right and headed out of Morecambe towards Kendal and as we headed inland old Rick and the support vehicle nipped past us at some lights - he'd taken a different route. For a bit of a laugh I chased him for a while and actually managed a convincing overtake as he got a bit snarled in traffic - I think even old Rick managed to ge t past him on the yellow peril!

The 8 miles or so of A roads between Milnthorpe and Kendal were tackled with a wide open throttle and a very numb backside, stopping only once to put a paltry £2.73 of petrol in the tank and aplogise to the attendant for wasting his time! Just past the petrol station we spotted young Rick in the support car - as was to be the case for the next few days he was loitering in a layby waiting for us to catch up. He told us to go on ahead and he would catch-up which was probably the right thing to do as we were about to hit the hills (quite literally for one of our party)!

Kendal to Sedbergh

We briefly touched the outskirts of Kendal before taking a right turn and heading for Sedbergh up the A684. It wasn't long at all before we hit the biggest hill we had ever encountered on the bikes and I must admit that at that point I became sceptical that we would be able to complete our journey: As we climbed out of Kendal my bike was managing somewhere around 7 miles an hour, however Rick was able to do no more than 5 miles an hour, and Rob seemed unable to get his large wheeled and single geared QT50 to even set off! Nevertheless we plodded on up the hill and at the summit of the first climb I stopped to wait for the others who had fallen considerably behind. Soon Rick appeared on his labouring steed, however Rob was nowhere to be seen, and after a few minutes later I told Rick to hold fast and went back down the hill to find him.

As I rounded a bend I was horrified to see Rob being helped to his feet by a passing motorist and young Rick in the support car. Judging from the amount of debris in the road it looked like he had been knocked off his bike, however it transpired that he had managed to crash his bike into the hedge, on a straight road, and at no more than 10 miles per hour, without any third party assistance at all! Considering this the damage was quite extensive - the front forks were a bit out of shape (but nothing critical) and one of his foot pegs was bent...oh and he was clearly in a lot of pain having managed to dilocate and re-locate his shoulder which had been weakened by a previous injury.....ouch!

...to be continued....