Distance: 88.5 miles
Total Distance: 702.5
First puncture goes to Francis.
Weather: Rain, WIND!, freezing. Improving in the afternoon.
Started out at 9 in miserable weather. It was absolutely freezing, with horizontal rain and wind in our faces for hours.Josh and Francis did not have enough kit to deal with the conditions and by approximately 11:30 (shortly after crossing into Scotland) they were experiencing the first signs of ACTUAL hypothermia; blurred vision and uncontrolable shivering. They stopped in a pub and were kindly offered free coffee and showers to warm up.(Josh was slightly disappointed as the weather improved almost immediately after he packed it in and got in his sleeping bag but wasn’t too bothered cause he beat EVERYONE to Barnard Castle) The rest of us continued to Hawick where we had lasagne and chips in the local Morrisons in an effort to warm up. We completed the rest of the ride in slightly better conditions (at least the rain had stopped) and rolled into Biggar at approx 6:30. All the team were pumped to have have completed a very long ride in appalling conditions.
Luckily a great bloke called Jim gave us showers and beers, and we finished the evening off with a delicious curry.