Day 3 JOGLE Sept 7th Part 1 by paul0010 at Garmin Connect - Details

Day 3 JOGLE Sept 7th Part 1 by paul0010 at Garmin Connect - Details

A cycle/ pattern was starting to appear in my emotions. Waking up in a morning, feeling apprehensive and concerned about how my body was and wondering if my body was going to hold up with the injuries i was starting to feel and whether or not i was compensating with other parts of my body and putting strain on them to not put as much pressure on the areas i was struggling with. Can you tell I was getting a bit apprehensive! Making it through the day was an awesome feeling. I love breaking things down into %'s versus time gone in the way of 4 x 30 mile stints (a work thing) and i loved doing this on the rides. The feeling of exhilaration lasted until went to bed usually. I would then lay bed and start that cycle of whether my body would hold up and what the next day would bring!

The start of day 3 (only 25% completed) would see us having completed 38% and on this morning I was probably the most apprehensive I was all JOGLE trip. It was still new, still unknown what each day lay ahead of his, the weather conditions that where so inconsistent, raining one minute going down hill freezing then climbing a 19% hill for 3 miles in glorious sunshine and sweating like mad made it really difficult to get your body temperature regulated and I was always concerned about being either too cold or too warm when stopping proved difficult. I learnt quickly it would be better to be too warm than to cold and would strip leg and arm warmers off to the wrist and ankle when too hot and pull them up when too cold.

My big concern this morning was my Achilles tendon. They where really tight and painful to walk on and the first 20 miles proved challenging in trying to manage the pain and making sure it didnt get worse. I found that by pushing the ball of my foot down and not extending my achillies fully helped managed the pain but I felt I was doing it all the time and when i didnt, ouch!

Here is the team before we started on day 3 outside the farmhouse where we stayed. Today would be a big milestone and provide everyone with a big confidence boost when we crossed the border of Scotland into England.

The weather was all over the place today and I think we experienced everything apart from snow. Rain, hailstone, thunder, flash flooding, bright sunshine and wind.

A big milestone happened later on in the day in the picture below were we crossed the border of Scotland into England. When I talk about been warm on the bike, I know its not the best of looks, What a geek i look!

In the background you will see the black clouds looming. I saw my life flash before my eyes and this could well have been the last picture taken of me!!!!!

We where at a very high point here with great views south over Ki elder Forest and back north over Scotland. We had a steep decent straight after this picture which went on for a couple of miles. Imagine torrential rain causing flooding on a 17% downhill. Then imagine cycling down it on a road bike at 35mph and getting a wobble on. Not wanting to take my hands off the brakes for fear of going out of control I gradually over a period of what seemed like a lifetime managed to bring the bike to a stop. I dont think I will ever experience anything like this again, the only problem was I was still only half way down the decent and the rain was getting worse!

We talk about changing weather from moment to the next, as soon as we hit the bottom of this hill the sun came out and I will have this lasting memory of cycling the beautiful long straight roads through the Ki elder Forest with the sun going down, cycling long straights with never ending roads, thats what cycling is all about.

It proved to be a late one tonight. We stopped at a pub around 8pm and a group of us said we stay behind for the mini bus to return. We didnt get sat down for food (which was worth the wait) till 10:30pm at High House Farm Brewery.

Beef and Ale pie provided by High House Farm Brewery in Northumberland. Tradititonal music from the region by local folk quintet The Unthanks. The Hungry Cyclist (travelling with the group) aka author Tom Kevill-Davies will make Singing Hinnies (sweet scones) with local ingredients.

The home for our bikes for the night below...

A very happy me once I had showered and sat down ready for the Beef and Ale Pie.

Everyone getting stuck into their food.

After the day we had we put the tents up at midnight in a field and hit the sack around 1am. The alarms where set for 5am for a prompt 6am start on day 4 of the JOGLE. Completion of this day would see us 50% of the way and would be a huge boost, especially cycling in Yorkshire......