Final Preparations

It's the night before the morning after and Team Rear are putting the final touches on the preparations. In the immortal words of Peter Kay: "Booked it, packed up, f*$£"d off"


Booked it ...
Accommodation:

1. Eskdale YHA
2. Ambleside YHA
3. Kirkby YHA
4. The Golden Lion, Osmotherley
   
5. TBA Whitby
   

We've gone Youth Hostel crazy for a few reasons, the first being that they are cheap, but at £20 per night plus a £3 non-membership fine it's a lot more than five years ago (I reckon about £13 a night).

Secondly, The Lakes has become a vicitm of it's own success and thanks to the National Press and popular BBC walk-u-mentaries there's never anywhere to stay during the summer as hordes of folk leg it up the M6 to find 'solitude' along with the other three million people who have the same idea. This means that hotels and B&Bs adopt a policy of making you book a minimum of two nights stay on a weekend, nae good if you're trying to do a coast-to-coast!

Thirdly we had a couple of interesting encounters last time we stayed at the above three YHAs.

• Eskdale was run by a member of the Hitler Youth but Wiggo thoroughly out-foxed his early-to-bed for the guests system and left him a shadow of a man.
• Ambleside is just Ambleside, right on the shores of lake Windermere - happy memories from our teenage years (except when our boat sank whilst tied to the jetty there).
• Kirkby Stephen YHA is right in the middle of the town and is actually and old church. We accidentally found ourselves involved a lock-in incident that resulted in a bleary-eyed start to the following day. After watching us haul our sorry backsides around the hostel kitchen and poke at our conrnflakes for a couple of hours our hostess described us as 'the most reluctant to set off bunch of lads I've ever seen'. A proud moment!

Packed up ...

Bikes:

• As luck would have it I've got a choice of bikes for this trip ... will it be the comfy ladies-saddle'd Santa Cruz Blur LT or perhaps the antipodean imported Yeti 575. The Yeti is lighter spec'd and could do with a run out but the seat is a bit harsh compared to the plush -on-the-tush Blur. We shall see.
• Cleggy has decided to completely rebuild his bike, a 1997 StumpJumper with more home-made modifications than you can shake a stick at, including parts off a wetsuit and hand-crafted brake disk mounts made from the brake levers of a Raleigh Lizard. Genius.
• The Wizard's bike will be fine, he bought it off a mate of ours (Lawro) whose bikes were so well looked after that they never need servicing again.
• KT is an unknown quantity, although his common-sense approach to life inspires confidence that he'll be reet.
• Wiggo could turn up with any set-up, I can't even remember which bike he's riding at the moment, so long as it's bomb-proof, not at all girly and ride able by a small child he's happy!
• Jon will be listening carefully for any squeaks or grinding noises emanating from his steed and if he detects them will only mention them once some integral part drops off the bike. Last time we did this ride JP rode into the sea at St Bees Head and then didn't even get off the beach before his bottom-bracket (or was it his rear hub) started making quacking noises before completely collapsing forcing a 2 hour search for a bike shop.

Funked Off ...

Transport
Cleggy has been hard at it, kitting out his Scooby-Doo style mystery machine with a two-seater sofa, fridge, HD TV and jacuzzi and a lovely wood burning stove should it get a bit chilly. Well, OK, we do have a sofa and room for four or five bikes so that'll do.

Shopping
Food for breakfast, packed lunches and evening meals for 3 or 4 days.
Lots of Tracker bars and flapjack for energy snacks.
Camera batteries
Dermatallogically tested anti-chafe medication (erm, talcum powder).

Maps
Ordinance Survey map list:
OL4, OL5, OL6, OL7[LAKE DISTRICT]
OL19, OL30[YORKSHIRE DALES]
OL26, OL27[NORTH YORK MOORS]