We used a great website (www.bikehike.co.uk) to plan our route which came to 90 miles. 90 miles I'll admit sounds a lot, but in the world of cycling that is merely a jaunt for most serious guys. We however, aren't very serious. And so, with limited planning and thinking ahead, we set off at 8am on the 30th March down to Birmingham. Our route took us through the Peak District and towns such as Bakewell, stopping for a big lunch in Ashbourne, about 35 miles into the ride. We made some fantastic progress despite the big hills and more than made up for our poor performances going up, by refusing to use our brakes on the way down!
A fantastic part of the journey took in the Tissington Trail for 13 miles, which despite being 'off road' is more than suitable for any road bike as we discovered (it's also a gentle downhill alllll the way, but we don't tell many people that), and I would recommend it to anyone.
Eventually, after 6hr 46 of riding time we arrived at Andy's house to a cold beer and a roast dinner. We were surprised at just how good we felt considering neither of us had ridden that far before, and we put this down to natural athleticism.....!
The whole journey reinforced in my mind the need and desire to complete an even bigger trip than this and my love for being outdoors on the bike. There is something incredibly satisfying about powering yourself from A to B over a substantial distance on the map. The opportunity to create a big red line across the whole world is hugely exciting and has motivated to make sure the trip happens!
Before we set off, I also created a bracket to hold my phone in, which allowed me to create a time lapse video throughout the whole trip. A photo was taken every ten seconds which I then sped up to create the video below. Unfortunately the battery ran out after 70 miles, but I plan to recitfy this problem on my next big trip! Enjoy!
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