Day one (imaginative title, eh)

so the first day's ride is over. I've fallen short of my distance by 50 miles but the going was really tough. The increased load on my bike from all the food water and clothes added alot of drag on the climb, plus the inclination of the hills was something I hadn't expected. I hit bad weather, and bad food at the border. The thing that had been creatively named a cheese burger was tough to force down, but i was hungry. standing in rain and a gale was beginning to depress me so I headed straight off.
Nothumberland had two distinct features, desolate steep hills and hundreds of scooters. The two are not related. The ferocity of the hills meant I felt like I was climbing to the top of the world at times. Even to push the bike up was a struggle. I carried on through Nothumberland where people live in isolated farming communities, mostly to do with sheep. Their dogs don't really know the difference between me and sheep as one tried to herd me into the pack on the journey. Dogs really dont like me.

I was beginning to struggle and it was getting really cold and windy. I knew that I had to finish the first day early so I needed to find a place to sleep. As time dragged on I was becoming more desparate to find a spot. Eventually I saw a sign for a camp site and chose to head towards it. 6 miles out of my way but what the hell. as luck would have it, 2 miles later I found a perfect field and chose that instead. I'm now overlooking the derwent reservior and it is beautiful in the sunset.

I must check front tyre in the morning, green goo is oozing out of the sides

As a side note I've seen 3 dead deer, 2 dead badgers, 2 dead rats, loads of dead pheasant an rabbits and one decapitated head from a barbie doll. Good night.