After waking up early for a call of nature and seeing Flash & Dash getting ready for the early stint I went back to bed and was woken by the gentle rocking of the bus as it headed towards Warrington where we would all get onto our bikes and ride to the United Utilities head office to see our colleagues and do a bit of press and publicity. A brief stop for the first two teams to meet up with Olympic silver rowing and individual pursuit gold medalist Rebecca Romero was the only interlude on the journey to Dawson House.
At Dawson house we all decamped from the vehicles and had a photo taken of the whole team with Rebecca in front of the bus.
We then had individual photos taken and I have to admit to suffering from a bit of hero awe.
Then it was time for a quick 1.4 mile blast round to Lingley Mere to see our colleagues. It was great sweeping around the business park as one group and I couldn't believe how many people had come out to see us - it was a real lump in throat moment for me.
After chatting with the local press we had another photo taken of us all and Rebecca for the Warrington Guardian.
After that we got back on the minibus and headed to Standish where we were to start our leg. Up to now the weather had been fantastic (for my team anyway) with shorts and short sleeve jersey being the order of the day but the weather was starting to close in when we took over from team D. Within a couple of miles the arm warmers were on and a few miles later the gilet made an appearance too.
The leg was fairly uneventful with riding through Preston being a bit of a chore but Simon's family cheering us on through Garstang being a highlight.
On arrival at Forton we had the choice of of greasy spoon van or the chippy down the road which I'd ridden past numerous times and was recommended by Simon - chippy it was!
After a lunch of steak and kidney pudding, chips and curry it was back on the bus for the trip up to Todhills services from where we would take over for the journey across the border into Scotland.
At Todhills we realised that from the services we could cut through the bushes to the B road we would be cycling along. The temperature had by now dropped so the kit for the ride had extended to bib knickers and windproof jacket.
The profile of the ride wasn't too bad but my legs refused to work - heart rate was fine, breathing was fine but my legs just wouldn't spin the pedals. On the few little rises on the route I was plummeting down the gears and was getting dropped by Tony and Wayne with alarming regularity.
Eventually the leg was over and we piled into the minibus for the short drive to the tour bus with me feeling very embarrassed over my poor performance. Home for the night was in the bus parked up next to the Abington Hotel in Lanarkshire. After a dinner of chicken and haggis it was off to bed as tomorrow we have an earlier start as we are second team out with a ride over the Forth road bridge.
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