Arnside to Lochmaben (Dumfries)

ahhh, my rest day. After yesterday's ride I really had to take a day off cycling. My mission for the day was to support the riders and also to film. We headed to Kirkstone Pass (Lake Disctrict, close to Windermere). This pass is apparently the longest incline in the whole of UK. Well, not for me today. We got up kind of early with the usual fuffing around, people looking for stuff, cleaning all the drink bottles etc.

We set off at 9.30 (later than planned - as usual) and headed for Windermere through some nice countryside where I managed to drive and film at the same time. Not advisable but how else were we going to get some footage for our documentary. I followed the bikes as much as I could sneaking through the tight corners, avoiding cars and staying close to the group.

We got to Kirkstone Pass where I headed up the mountain to wait for the riders struggling uphill. An my, oh my... this was a really steep uphill!!! The guys made really slow progress and I had time to film the stunning mountains, and general scenery. As I saw them coming up I quickly filmed them passing me and jumped back into the car to follow them on their descent downhill - the road was not too busy, just a few cars coming up. At the speed these guys were going I had trouble following them (and filming them at the same time - the footage will tell). They sped downhill at up to 45mph (72km/h) and I wished I was on my bike too.

We stopped in the valley and arranged for lunch break near Carlisle (Scotland). When I got to Armathwaite (?), which is in a valley, I realised there is no O2 reception which meant I had to drive back to the nearest hill (2miles back) to send a text that I got to the lunch stop. I also checked my emails, replied to one or two of the now over 100 emails in my inbox, spoke to Martin on the phone and said goodbye to Janine who is leaving Embrace to go back to Berlin - we will miss her very much!!!!

The guys came for lunchstop at around 2.30 pm, later than expected. I prepared sandwiches (toast, salad, mackerel filets in tomato sauce) and they ate whatever else was there - bread & jam/ peanut butter, had recovery drinks, bananas/ other fruit before setting out to get to our agreed final resting point this day - Lochmaben (8miles from Dumfries). It was my duty to go shopping for dinner (camping tonight) and also to find a suitable campsite and get everything ready.

I took the motor way to Dumfries, went to Aldi to get our evening supplies of:

BBQ chicken (chilled) - 6

Salmon Filets (frozen) - 8

bread - 2

milk - 1

cheese - 2

peanutbutter/ jam - 3

salads - 4

hop fruitjuice - 4

I checked my phone for campsites near Lochmaben, found one, called the warden, Dugald and checked for directions to get to the site. It was the Kirk Loch, Caravan Site, Lochmaben (left behind the Crown Hotel) where I met him shortly afterwards. In the meantime I was texting to Damian to possibly meet in Dumfries but I couldn't wait as Dug was only going to be there for a short period of time. Damian had passed Dumfries at 5pm and made his way further north. I got to the caravan/ campsite where I was greeted by Dugal, the very friendly warden who showed me where we can pitch. I explained to him that we are doing the LEJOG ride to raise money for Proejct Peru and upon hearing of our noble quest he decided to also sponsor us by giving us the night for free!!!! THANKS A LOT, we those random acts of kindness really make this journey so very pleasant. The one thing he said I must not forget is to drop off the toilet key next morning...

I started unpacking everything, organised the "stuff" in the car and began pitching the tents (2), put up the BBQ, made everyone's beds, put their things in their tents and then waited for their arrival. I thought it wouldn't be long before they arrive as Damian passed me at 5pm. I wrote some blog, checked the local neighborhood, rearranged my cycling clothes and started to clean and maintain my bike - this already took a good hour (tightening screws, cleaning the chain, wheels, hubs, adjusting the brakes and so on).

Finally, at around 7.30pm the dudes arrived - completely knackered. Oli was the first to arrive and he stumbled off the bike towards me with his story of why he's first: "sorry mate, I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to just get here, get a cuppa. I'm exhausted. The last pot hole really did it. Argh, my backside..." he got his cuppa, had a shower and then Jorrin and Ian also arrived. They did some 132miles that day passing by Hadrians Wall.

We had dinner, laughed, chatted to fellow campers, passers by as we were the only campers on this caravan site and even got another random donation from a truck driver! At around 11pm we went to be with the hard promise to get up at 6am and leave at 7am latest!!!!