"Nice bike you have there"

During out time cycling, and our time stopping and eating lunch, many people have commented on the quality of our bikes. Fine pieces of machinery they are too. Apart from air, oil and new brake pads, there has been no servicing required on the bikes. They have run steady and smooth, without much worry. We have met some other end to enders, often with their own cycle problems. The Dawes Galaxy appears to be the king of cycle touring.

We have received fewer comments relating to the quality of the engines that power our bikes. Maybe because the other cyclists are qucker than us, or maybe the odd one is carrying more weight, or maybe it is because it is obvious that we aren't but like serious athletes. Unfortunately the reliability of my legs has not matched that of the bike. Today was spent resting my broken knee in Shap.

After some clipping and unclipping issues, I felt a twinge in my knee at the end of day 8. 50 miles of cycling later I decided it needs some rest to recover. Unlike my bike, if something goes wrong with my knee, there is no replacement part that I can just swap in. My solution is ibuprofen and a bag of frozen brussel sprouts. With some good rest hopefully the miles will fly by tomorrow.

We have looked to explore the sights of Shap whilst we are stranded here. Apart from the abbey, that was over a mile away! The local pubs have some reasonable pool tables, the coffee shop has hot chocolate and marshmellows but no wifi, and the local coop do a nice range of frozen vegetables. Shap also has its own bank, but only open 4 hours a week we didn't get chance to check it out.

If the knee holds up we might be in Scotland tomorrow, wish me luck!

Will