We arrived in Ambleside which is on the Northern tip of Lake Windermere on Thursday evening at around 6pm. After checking in to our B&B we headed down to the Lake for a quick scout around to confirm where we would be starting from and to phone our guide, Gill, to arrange a meeting point.
After an interesting carb fuelled meal at Luigi's, a cunningly named Italian restaurant, we hit our beds early in preparation for a 5am start the next morning with the aim of starting the 11 mile
swim at 6.
Bleary eyed we awoke to grey skies and drizzle which we didn't really worry about too much. We were going to get wet anyway right? I just felt bad for our kayak guide Gill as it wasn't going to be much fun for her chaperoning us across a massive lake in the rain for hours. After loading the kayak with our drinks and food we were ready for the off at just after
six pretty much as planned. The game plan was to swim to the other side of the lake heading for Wray Castle and to follow the quieter East shoreline down to the bottom of the lake at Fell Foot Park some 11 miles away!
Upon entering the water it was immediately apparent that it was a fair bit colder than the rivers
and lakes we had been training in down South and I hoped that this wasn't going to be too much
of a problem. Our strategy was to complete the
swim in one hit breaking every half hour for a quick drinks break and every hour to take on some food. Drinks for me were Lucozade Body Fuel washed down with water and food was raisins, Mars bars and bananas.
The first two hours flew by and Heath and I were swimming comfortably at a steady pace and feeling good. The sun was struggling to break through and the fact that we were taking quick breaks helped keep the body nice and warm so the cold wasn't too much of a factor. We reached Belle Island at just after two hours and had to wait for the ferry to go across before we could
continue on.
At around two and a half hours in my shoulders started to ache and we were just swimming from one half an hour break to the next. At around the four hour mark the shoulders were getting really sore and it was a matter of concentrating on the stroke to try and stay efficient and just ignore the pain and keep the arms turning. It gave me a chance to take in the stunning scenery and appreciate where we were.
The wind coming down the lake was very strong and whipping up waves that threw us off our stroke pattern and which were breaking over our heads at some points. Not great turning to breathe and just sucking in a wall of water! Still it kept things interesting. There wasn't a lot of other activity happening on the lake as I guess the wind had put most people off.
Gill warned us there would be a few "false finishes" and after looking up to think that the finish was just ahead but then realise that around the slight bend was more lake the spirits were waning. After about 4 hours it was a case of "are w
e nearly there yet?". Gill did a fantastic job of keeping us motivated and gave us the final words of inspiration that we needed at our last drinks stop to keep us going to the end which was 40 minutes away. Coming into Fell Foot Park the arms felt like lead but finally we started passing the moored boats and reached the pier which signalled the end of the swim. Time of 5 and a half hours. Part one complete!
After getting changed out of wetsuits and taking on some pasta for lunch it was time to get the bikes out of the van and get kitted up for the first leg of the ride down to Snowdon. The aim was to get around 40 miles in the bag today with a long cycle of around 100 miles on Saturday.
To aid our navigation we had bought some whizzy GPS unit for the bike which was basically a small Tom Tom unit. I had painstakingly spent hours planning our route before hand so that we wouldn't have to map read on the way. Come the big moment the whizzy machine decided that it was all rather to complicated and shut down. Damn. After a few hiccups we plugged in the town we were heading to and hit the road. Our first five miles was horrendous as we basically turned onto a dual carriageway with heavy side winds and trucks passing what felt like with inches to spare at over 70mph. This was not fun and dangerous. Our support driver (my Dad) and van was dispatched off ahead to the end of the route as we weren't sure which route we would now be taking.
Finally our satnav woke up and directed us off the road of death to a more scenic route where we
were now in our element. At around 30 miles in we stopped for a break just outside Lancaster at a lovely pub called the Plough. We felt great and had some quick liquid refreshment to keep the sugar levels high. Whilst there we got talking to a few locals who chipped in with a donation -
cheers Bill!
The last twenty miles were pretty steady riding through to our hotel just north of Preston. Heath had been taking energy gels which seem to give you big energy spikes followed by a sudden dip. The dips are not pleasant and I refuse to now use these preferring the slower release energy from bananas etc. Heath hit a massive dip around five miles out from the end but it was nothing that an old school Mars bar couldn't fix. Energy restored - we were back and on our way to the bright lights of the Ibis off the M6 outside Preston. We know how to do it in style!!
Dinner of pasta, in bed by 10, up at 6:30am and on the road at 7:00am the next day.
Day 1 done.
Ride Stats
Distance - 48.6 miles
Feet Climbed - 2981
Many thanks to Gill of Lake Windermere Canoe & Kayak you were great and we couldn't have done it without you! If you are up in Windermere and want to get out on the lake these are the guys to see!!
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