Day 5 - No such thing as free speed

During the course of today, I was struck by the fact that there is no such thing as free speed. I had a good run up the A6 through Penrith and Carlisle, and realised that I had in fact paid for that good run earlier in the day by riding over Shap Fell. If you are daft enough to (a) attempt the End to End and (b) to follow any of my route planning, do not go over Shap unless you have a wish to severely damage your health. In particular, do not go over Shap when the temperature is nudging 26C and you have not drunk enough. For those unaware of the territory, the climb over Shap is ten miles long and the real pain is reserved for the last mile when the gradient kicks up and the road surface goes from rough to awful. This sufferfest was not helped by the first 25 miles of the day being hindered by the most acute attack of indigestion I have ever had; I had to stop several times and for a while considered abandoning as I simply couldn't breathe. Thankfully it eased off just in time for Shap to start, but by that the damage was done as I not been taking on liquids or food.

Once over Shap, I stopped in Shap village and had a sandwich. Guess what? The indigestion returned, just as bad as before. Common factor: wholemeal bread at breakfast and in the sandwich. I won't have that again.

I pressed on as best I could, with frequent stops to take fluid on board and also to get out of the sun, as I was starting to experience the first symptoms of heatstroke. On y va, drinking and soaking my jersey with water to try and cool off, until the signs for Carlisle came into view and I knew that all I had to go was to hang on for a few miles until Gretna. Job done.

For the techies out there, you may recall that my steed was being temperamental yesterday. I should explain that in the world of cycling, practitioners either use Japanese or Italian mechanical components. Mine is Italian, and like much Italian-engineered kit occasionally needs to be loved, otherwise it will express its displeasure, which mine did all yesterday. So I gave it some love this morning, and it spent the day loving me back. Thank you Signor Campagnolo.

One of the really good things about today is that it was a relatively short day at miles, so I have had more time than usual to recover and get a few things done. Tomorrow is another day.

Mileage: 85.6

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/548743591

https://www.justgiving.com/Sean-Bonnington/