big maggy's blog

Day 6 – to Carlisle

Blackpool to Carlisle.

It was raining as we left the hotel at 0645. The forecast was for rain & wind..again.! The AI guys had decided to join us for a second day of fun in the saddle but today we only had one event to attend in Carlisle.   Julie had cleaned and dried all our kit for us from yesterday but because of the rain (I had said it was raining hadn’t I ?)  it was as wet again very soon.  We rode for a few miles and stopped to let traffic by, rode for a few miles and stopped to pee, rode for a few miles and stopped for coffee, a few more to pee, then just the other side of Kendal when the rain had stopped we stopped for lunch. The scenery was fantastic and the traffic minimal but the coffee  & Flapjacks (Magnus Maximus coffee & coffee flapjacks  available from Big Maggys dot com) was a welcome relief to the tedium of the now ceased rain.  Susan, Julie, Shaun, Ian and Andy had found their riding legs for the day and were sitting well in the pack enjoying the scenery -  or they said to me that they were. Just after lunch we were passed by a red car with two ladies in it who were taking photos and waving & screaming at us.  Politely we waved back but didn’t think too much of it untill we saw them for the fourth time at the side of the road.  At the top of the steep climb they were waiting in the rain (it was still raining.!) and it was only when we stopped that we realised these two mad women were related to Andy.

The run to Carlisle was a bit of a non event and we arrived in Carlisle about 2 hours before the event we were supposed to be at had started.  Chance to check into the hotel and get a shower before putting on clean kit and riding the mile to the event.

The bike club had got a few mates to attend so we were greeted by dancing girls and dancing girls on stilts, what looked like an acrobatic troupe all dressed in orange (either they had all been Tangoed or they were easyjet staff working some extra hours) and a whole bunch of kids riding all kinds of bikes. 

We said goodbye to the AI guys as they left for the return drive to Blackpool and later on said Hello to a pair of boffins from National Nuclear Labs. I must say a massive thank you or THANK YOU to Andy and his team at AI for the fantastic reception at the offices, the hospitality at the De Vere Hotel and the massive cheque that they have given to UK youth.  This challenge is by no means easy and the inclement weather on the two legs that they were with us didn’t dampen their enthusiasm one bit. 

The steep hill we went up was called Shap and as far as I am aware John Noakes didn’t have a dog by that name. However the reason for our very early arrival in Carlisle was that the project manager had allowed far more time to climb this hill than was necessary and we only got lost once today rather than the customary three or four times.  We said a ‘goodbye’ or rather ‘see you soon’ to Eric the Domestique/windbreak and Cait the masseur/osteopath who both returned to carry out their day jobs for a few days.  Their return at the weekend will be most welcome I am sure.  Tired now.

comments

2nd August 2010 by Two Mad Women

Hey Maggie, – mad we may be but we were the ones in the dry warm car and you were the one on the bike climbing up Shap in the rain. (You did say it was raining didn’t you?)
On a serious note, we ‘two mad women’ were full of admiration for you and the whole of the cycle team on the day we saw you, and to think that you had done that for 5 days prior to us seeing you and have been doing it every day since AND are still doing it….WHO are the mad ones Maggie……? Good luck for the last day tomorrow – we are following your progress. Great coffee by the way!

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