21 days in July – the 2005 Douglas Bader Foundation E2E ride re-blogged

You might remember a Vicar of Dibley Christmas Special a few years ago where Dawn French persuaded prima ballerina Darcey Bussell to take part in a fundraising village concert. Darcey did a routine from Swan Lake (or something) and Dawn shadowed her movements in a giant “mirror”… This morning I was riding up to the exit of the YH carpark as we set off onto the A7 when Nigel the team mechanic came running round the corner. I went left – he went left. I went right – he went right. After a few more steps of the routine I rode straight into him and ended up dropping the bike on the floor whilst stepping off the pedal into Nigel’s arms to absolutely no applause or showers of flowers. Thanks mate :o)

We entered Scotland today through Gretna Green and stopped for the obligatory “Welcome to Scotland” shot below. From left to right we have Lawrence of London (aka Jim Bush), Jay, Kiera, Carol, and Nathan who’s wondering where he left his passport. On the right you can just make out the rest of the gang in the distance nursing their hangovers…

We had elevenses in Annan at the Cafe Royal where size obviously matters – see below. Jenny (to the right of the flake), an OT from Southport, joined us today and will be riding with us until Monday. 

Later we stopped at the most amazing cafe, the Green Tea House in an odd little village called Moniaive. The BFG must eat there because the portions are phenomenally large. After tea and CAKES we rode the last 10 miles through God’s Country to the Youth Hostel (wo)manned by Sam, the friendliest of lasses, and refuelled with Nathan’s pasta.

Tomorrow its an early start to get to the Ferry for the Isle of Arran (a BFG stone’s throw from Macca’s Mull of Kintyre)…

Psychologically, crossing the border into Scotland felt like we were almost there, but it was only day 11 and we still had 10 days to do – just over halfway timewise! Before that sank in, I got to have a bit of fun on Dave’s Stealthcycle in a park in Dumfries – I look a bit puny in it to be honest!