So my brother today was pretty awesome. Earlier in the week Aidy and I decided last minute that we wanted to approach Saturday differently in the best mental form possible. For Aidy this was staying in Horwich, getting a good night’s sleep and then setting off at 4am to St Bees for the 7am start. For me this was a no go for me so my brother kindly offered to take me up to St Bees, helped me pitch my tent up and drive back again. Legend!

Today was about last minute having a million things to tick off 

So I spent all day friday gathering my kit, printing maps and contact details for B&Bs. I ended up buying a decent rucksack to carry my gear on my back as it simply was not going to be easy using the Camelbak on its own. I also bought a saddle gel cover, a chain, a bottle cage and other bike accessories to hold gear and nutrition. God the pack weighs a ton…. well in fact 10kg which is a decent weight to consider carrying over the hills etc on bike and by foot. I had to adapt the rucksack straight away as it has this special bar system which keeps the backpack being in contact with your back to prevent chaffing and sweat and more airflow – the problem was the bar at the bottom was sticking into my back with the 10kg inside poking into me 😦 a couple of tea towels wrapped around the bar helped a little.

Once I got most of this done, it was around 6pm which was when Aidy dropped off his popup tent, camping stove equipment etc. I gave him my bike and gear and he headed off back to his.

So at 7:30pm Pete and I set off to St Bees arriving in good spirits and having a laugh on the way down – as was expected from my awesome brother almost missing the J40 turn off haha. We arrived in St Bees which was dry! – and we pitched up the popup tent (7 seconds!) and threw everything inside it including air bed and my sleeping bag, it was a pretty decent piece of accommodation.

My brother and I went to Queens Hotel in St Bees village and had a couple of pints of Cumberland Ale before he set off back home again because he was at work the day after. What a legend!

Anyway goodnight and wish me luck for tomorrow! I’m both really nervous and excited 🙂