The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 14 – Eastbourne to Dover

It’s interesting how distance becomes relative. At breakfast today when our maps were handed out, there was real delight that we ‘only’ had about 65 miles to do. Four months ago we were not even doing that in training runs. And, apart from two big climbs, one out of Hastings and one into Dover, it …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 7 – Annan to Kirkby Lonsdale

Normal service has been resumed, four punctures today, one each for Kate, Andy, Chris R and Steve. There were also a number of mechanical failures. It is not only us riders that are taking a bit of a battering on consistently rough roads, some close to being corrugated. The bikes are suffering too and the …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 6 – Kilmarnock to Annan

I forgot to mention on yesterday’s blog that Chris R was first in to Dreghorn and won back the yellow jersey. That may seem a minor detail. However Sergeant Major Jagger and Lord Neville de Wylie have been rooming together and it turns out that, rather than getting the rest they need, they have been …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 5 – Cairndow to Kilmarnock

Another brute of a day: 88 miles, mostly in headwinds, with an exacting start and even more exacting finish. We stayed at The Stagecoach Inn in Cairndow, only a few miles from the original Loch Fyne Oyster Bar. The other riders and Support Team had dinner there. I stayed at the hotel to write yesterday’s …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 4 – Spean Bridge to Cairndow

The weather forecast for today promised it would be grim. It was grim, and we had 93 miles to do. But, first things first: In yesterday’s blog I forgot to mention it was Simon’s birthday. Because our ‘hosts’ at Spean Bridge Hotel refused to serve us dinner because we were 10 minutes late, we were …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 3 – Inchbae to Spean Bridge

One of the most sensational results in Scottish football is Berwick 1, Rangers 0: the Scottish Cup in 1967. Today Rangers were again at Berwick. This time because the Glasgow giants are in the Third Division, having been demoted from the Scottish Premier League to the bottom tier of Scottish football for financial irregularities. This …