Well, now we've had a (short) night to recover, here's the account of the final day. We should first mention the very fine hospitality of Paul and Mary Drummond in our B&B in Tenbury Wells - in addition to the kindness shown to us yesterday and the hosepipe for washing down the bikes, they are extremely cyclist-friendly and we cannot recommend their B&B highly enough. Many thanks to you both again!
Middle Bruv Martin had set a tough target of 8.30 for our departure time, in order to pick up Bruvette Naomi from Yate at 13.00, yet still have time for a coffee stop. Needless to say we missed this and left a bit before 9 so we were threatened with no coffee unless we made up the time on the road. Surprisingly the wind seemed to have veered West overnight and we enjoyed a following wind on the rolling roads to Bromyard and Ledbury (Kiwi Bruv decided his water bottle was more photogenic than the Bruvs - see photo - but then decided to leave one behind for a second time!). In fact things were going so well we arrived in Newent 15 minutes ahead of schedule so were allowed a quick stop at one of Martin's favourite cafes - the Good News Cafe. Respect to Alan Millard from the Westbury Wheelers who had left at 7am to ride out to meet us (covering 150 miles for the day), and joined us at Newent.
Laden with cake we again flew from Newent with the following wind to Gloucester where things got suddenly harder as we turned into the strengthening headwind again. The next few miles down the A38 were really quite hard work but we managed to avoid the very heavy rain as we rode from dry roads to rivers of water and bac to dry roads again! Due to the wind and a calculation error on Martin's behalf, we didn't arrive into Yate station until 2pm (sorry Naomi - hope the trains were interesting...).
Lunch followed soon afterwards at The Bell in Chipping Sodbury where Georgie and Keeley behind the bar were just awesome! In fact this just mirrored people's kindness and generosity over the whole trip with many people we met donating to the two charities we are supporting (people in B&Bs, cafes, pubs, ferries, ...) - we even came back to a B&B one evening and found a guest had rolled up a fiver and left it in the keyhole of our door!
In the warm afternoon sun a new plan was hatched - the group would ride together across the edge of the Cotswolds taking in some small villages (with pubs...). A tortoise group would ride tempo with a few 'hares' leap-frogging them to drum up support at a couple of hostelries (yeah right, Bruvs, that almost sounds convincing!). So the pace for the afternoon was very relaxed, including an ice cream stop, and we did receive a few donations during the afternoon, so definitely worthwhile. The Westbury Wheelers club captain Simon Hurd joined us for the afternoon - many thanks for all your support over the week Simon - it was brilliant.
All too soon the end of the ride was in sight (as the Bruvs struggled to catch Bruvette Naomi up the final hill to Upton Scudamore), and the welcoming party cheering from the bridge over the road with banners welcoming us home. We weren't quite finished as a quick dash to Warminster was needed for a final photo, before it was 3km back to upton Scudamore for some well-earned refreshment.
So, the statistics for the week are 652 miles (1049km), 39 hours 35 minutes riding time, 16.5 mph average, about 1 Everest of vertical climbing, 2 mechanical problems (both kiwi bruv!), some strange noises from little Bruvs freewheel, NO VISITS FROM THE PUNCTURE FAIRY (we can say that now we've finished), 10 kg of sausages consumed, 101 pints of beer drunk, 15 bottles of wine! 20 hours of sun, 6 hours of rain, 2 dams, 3 bridges, 4 ferries and 4 very tired Tillin bruvs!!!!!
Sunday, 10 July 2011
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Day 7: Job done!
Very quick update - we arrived in Warminster around an hour ago and are now back in Upton Scudamore recovering. After catching up with families, Tour de France highlights and a couple of showers, I'll provide an update of today's last Stage of the Tillin 1000...
Friday, 8 July 2011
Day 6 pt II
K so two final points for the day before we leave for some welcome kip:
The Guinness poll final result - I fear we may have exaggerated the extent of our Guinness capacity and must admit that we only managed 45 pints during our stay on the Emerald Isle.
Last but not least, we are all looking forward to being joined by Little Bruvette Naomi tomorrow for the last 50 mile stretch. We've heard rumours that Naomi has been getting some sneaky training in to prepare ;-)
The Guinness poll final result - I fear we may have exaggerated the extent of our Guinness capacity and must admit that we only managed 45 pints during our stay on the Emerald Isle.
Last but not least, we are all looking forward to being joined by Little Bruvette Naomi tomorrow for the last 50 mile stretch. We've heard rumours that Naomi has been getting some sneaky training in to prepare ;-)
Day 6: the Penultimate...
Day 6: Liverpool to Tenbury Wells, 95.4 miles (154ish km), 1000m of vert, several cubic tonnes of rain and several thousand miles of wind...
After an interesting evening of Shiraz and Nomination Whist in the bar on the Belfast to Liverpool overnight ferry (one of the lads got a little competitive, although I will not mention any names) ... (well unless you ply me with a couple of drinks tomorrow when we finish the ride), we retired to our 4 berth cabin for a few hours of kip before a rude awakening on the Tannoy at 5:15am (5:20am, 5:30am, 5:40am, 5:55am - ok we got it the first time!)
After eventually leaving the boat (they wouldn't let us ride out and sent us a special bus!) we grabbed a train under the Mersey to Liverpool city and headed for the Malmaison hotel and a liaison and (very reassuring) breakfast with cousie Helen. Lucky for us she's the GM at this quite wonderful hotel and managed to get us in the door, bikes stashed and sat down to Breakfast in a jiffy. Breakfast was lovely and catching up with Helen even better - the lads all realised they should be doing that a lot more often...
A meeting with a good friend John Swinney in Chester loomed and time was running short - unfortunately Kel (plonker) managed to get tickets for the pleasure cruise rather than the commuter ferry, but by the time they realised they were heading in the wrong direction down the Mersey.. All very amusing.
Faux pas... Oops etc.
40 mins later and on the road finally into a horrible Southerly wind and rain, the boys cracked on to meet John and after eventually doing so continued South...(swin was very good about the wait)
Ok, its getting late, so lets go with highlights of the day:
1) waking up on a ferry with 3 smelly blokes (highlight?)
2) descending the 1km long escalator on the ferry only to learn they wouldn't let us off!
3) metro ride with our bikes to the Malmaison hotel with Liverpool commuters..
4) Malmaison breakfast with the lads awesome cousin Helen (lovely lady!) which even included special potato bread cooked up by Chefs who had never heard of it! Emotional.
5) lovely scenic love boat cruise organised by Kel
6) traffic lights through the Wirral as boys raced down to meet Swinney - Kel went on ahead to reduce the waiting time...
7) John Swinney - what a legend taking a day off work to join the lads in the rain
8) amazing lunch at the Dickin Arms pub in some tiny Village - landlord and general reception amazing
9) great pub in Ludlow - middle Bruv apparently won a load of sign sprints (dubious to say the least)
10) going down a closed road which was covered in slurry. Not nice.
11) lots of silly sprints - all good fun
12) arrival at superb B&B run by Paul and Mary Drummond - they are looking after us big time - they handed us a beer when we arrived!
13) superb meal (possibly best of week) at the Pembroke Arms in Tenbury Wells - lamb was melt in your mouth...
Done for now - need sleep.
Wonderful week spent with a worthy bunch of lads - my hat is off to these very fine Tillin Gentlemen.
And a huge Thanks to everyone who donated and supported us for being such decent human beings ;-)
Final updates and pics to follow tomorrow - 100 miles to go!
After an interesting evening of Shiraz and Nomination Whist in the bar on the Belfast to Liverpool overnight ferry (one of the lads got a little competitive, although I will not mention any names) ... (well unless you ply me with a couple of drinks tomorrow when we finish the ride), we retired to our 4 berth cabin for a few hours of kip before a rude awakening on the Tannoy at 5:15am (5:20am, 5:30am, 5:40am, 5:55am - ok we got it the first time!)
After eventually leaving the boat (they wouldn't let us ride out and sent us a special bus!) we grabbed a train under the Mersey to Liverpool city and headed for the Malmaison hotel and a liaison and (very reassuring) breakfast with cousie Helen. Lucky for us she's the GM at this quite wonderful hotel and managed to get us in the door, bikes stashed and sat down to Breakfast in a jiffy. Breakfast was lovely and catching up with Helen even better - the lads all realised they should be doing that a lot more often...
A meeting with a good friend John Swinney in Chester loomed and time was running short - unfortunately Kel (plonker) managed to get tickets for the pleasure cruise rather than the commuter ferry, but by the time they realised they were heading in the wrong direction down the Mersey.. All very amusing.
Faux pas... Oops etc.
40 mins later and on the road finally into a horrible Southerly wind and rain, the boys cracked on to meet John and after eventually doing so continued South...(swin was very good about the wait)
Ok, its getting late, so lets go with highlights of the day:
1) waking up on a ferry with 3 smelly blokes (highlight?)
2) descending the 1km long escalator on the ferry only to learn they wouldn't let us off!
3) metro ride with our bikes to the Malmaison hotel with Liverpool commuters..
4) Malmaison breakfast with the lads awesome cousin Helen (lovely lady!) which even included special potato bread cooked up by Chefs who had never heard of it! Emotional.
5) lovely scenic love boat cruise organised by Kel
6) traffic lights through the Wirral as boys raced down to meet Swinney - Kel went on ahead to reduce the waiting time...
7) John Swinney - what a legend taking a day off work to join the lads in the rain
8) amazing lunch at the Dickin Arms pub in some tiny Village - landlord and general reception amazing
9) great pub in Ludlow - middle Bruv apparently won a load of sign sprints (dubious to say the least)
10) going down a closed road which was covered in slurry. Not nice.
11) lots of silly sprints - all good fun
12) arrival at superb B&B run by Paul and Mary Drummond - they are looking after us big time - they handed us a beer when we arrived!
13) superb meal (possibly best of week) at the Pembroke Arms in Tenbury Wells - lamb was melt in your mouth...
Done for now - need sleep.
Wonderful week spent with a worthy bunch of lads - my hat is off to these very fine Tillin Gentlemen.
And a huge Thanks to everyone who donated and supported us for being such decent human beings ;-)
Final updates and pics to follow tomorrow - 100 miles to go!
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Day 4 part 3 - the final chapter (well, of day 4 anyway!)
Full update from day 4 follows;
We awoke to the sound of heavy rain, but by the time we dragged our sore legs down to breakfast the sun was out! Yey!
After a gorgeous breakfast, we were sent on our way with happy smiles, kisses and waves of encouragement. After a fast run out of Dundalk and Adrian getting dropped for the first time! We hit the undulations up to Newry. The original plan was to get the ferry from Omeith to Warren Point but the low tide put pay to that so a 13km detour ensued. On the plus side we did find a metal stag on a roundabout to have some fun with! Much to the amusement of passing motorists!
From Warren Point we had a long climb up into the Mourne mountains, followed by a long ish descent and straight up a steep ish climb to the Spelga dam. At this point, Martin decided we were best avoiding the 9m sign to Newcastle (all planned) and we promptly went completely the other way into the wind! After more descending, we hit a pretty unexpected but fairly horrible set of hills - and now 11m to Newcastle! However Bruv was forgiven for a stunning fast coast road into Newcastle, where a stop at the famous Mauds coffee shop for soup and fantastic crepes with their home made icecream was very welcome after a long stint in the saddle.
By the way, Newcastle was even more windy than a certain Tillin Bruv who shall remain nameless!
The next very long, but redeemingly pretty detour, undulated all the way to Strangford Loch, only punctuated by yet more silly photos on roundabouts and more horn tooting by amused drivers! After another nice descent into Strangford we waited for the ferry to Portaferry, in unbroken and warm sunshine (Irish weather forecast was for heavy rain all day!).
At this point it's worth mentioning that Kel managed a whole day without a mechanical, although he did manage to leave his drinks bottle on the ferry! Doh!
Another lovely coast road, although slightly puzzled why the water was on the left when we were convinced it should've been on the right?! Hey ho, we were still following the green lines on our Garmins, the sun was shining, it was warm and the wind was blowing us towards our destination.
A final stop 15 miles from Carrickfergus for some black liquid refreshment followed where we had to sit outside on a wall! (don't ask!) then a quick run through Belfast city centre and some slightly less salubrious parts of town were done at pace, particularly by Kel, who was keen to keep moving!
Out of Belfast, we knocked out the final few kms to Carrickfergus where we were more than happy to see the official ride destination! But wait? No one about to take any the obligatory picture! A quick door knock later, a very kind lady obliged and we were done (N. Irish people really are the friendliest, and talkative, people in the world). Applause please...........
We awoke to the sound of heavy rain, but by the time we dragged our sore legs down to breakfast the sun was out! Yey!
After a gorgeous breakfast, we were sent on our way with happy smiles, kisses and waves of encouragement. After a fast run out of Dundalk and Adrian getting dropped for the first time! We hit the undulations up to Newry. The original plan was to get the ferry from Omeith to Warren Point but the low tide put pay to that so a 13km detour ensued. On the plus side we did find a metal stag on a roundabout to have some fun with! Much to the amusement of passing motorists!
From Warren Point we had a long climb up into the Mourne mountains, followed by a long ish descent and straight up a steep ish climb to the Spelga dam. At this point, Martin decided we were best avoiding the 9m sign to Newcastle (all planned) and we promptly went completely the other way into the wind! After more descending, we hit a pretty unexpected but fairly horrible set of hills - and now 11m to Newcastle! However Bruv was forgiven for a stunning fast coast road into Newcastle, where a stop at the famous Mauds coffee shop for soup and fantastic crepes with their home made icecream was very welcome after a long stint in the saddle.
By the way, Newcastle was even more windy than a certain Tillin Bruv who shall remain nameless!
The next very long, but redeemingly pretty detour, undulated all the way to Strangford Loch, only punctuated by yet more silly photos on roundabouts and more horn tooting by amused drivers! After another nice descent into Strangford we waited for the ferry to Portaferry, in unbroken and warm sunshine (Irish weather forecast was for heavy rain all day!).
At this point it's worth mentioning that Kel managed a whole day without a mechanical, although he did manage to leave his drinks bottle on the ferry! Doh!
Another lovely coast road, although slightly puzzled why the water was on the left when we were convinced it should've been on the right?! Hey ho, we were still following the green lines on our Garmins, the sun was shining, it was warm and the wind was blowing us towards our destination.
A final stop 15 miles from Carrickfergus for some black liquid refreshment followed where we had to sit outside on a wall! (don't ask!) then a quick run through Belfast city centre and some slightly less salubrious parts of town were done at pace, particularly by Kel, who was keen to keep moving!
Out of Belfast, we knocked out the final few kms to Carrickfergus where we were more than happy to see the official ride destination! But wait? No one about to take any the obligatory picture! A quick door knock later, a very kind lady obliged and we were done (N. Irish people really are the friendliest, and talkative, people in the world). Applause please...........
Flip flop vote result
For all those wondering, it comes as no surprise that you voted the coolest flip flops were Pete's amazing blue and white ones! How Martin got 3 votes is still a mystery but we suspect some regional family support? (attempted vote rigging!)
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