Day 2 - New Cumnock to Lancaster

The start of day 2 was a real struggle. A combination of not having had any dinner the night before (or 4.5 hours earlier)/not having any food for breakfast, having to pack up everything and start pedalling at 4am in the dark/rain, not having a toilet, sleep deprivation and fatigue from yesterday meant that morale was at a low. And I still had 2 more huge days to go. I got to a petrol station just after 6am. After having a poo and cleaning my teeth in their toilet I bought a load of food. The choice was very limited and it was overpriced but I needed refuelling urgently. After spending over £10 on sandwiches/chocolate and coke(for the caffeine) I stood outside eating quickly. I really wanted to sit down but there weren't any chairs inside, so I found a crate outside, turned it upside down and used this as a seat. After about 5 minutes it was cold so I got up and walked around briefly in an attempt to warm up. This didn't really work so I went to sit back down only to find one of the women that worked there had put the crate back and replaced it with a broom preventing me from doing it again. Bitch. So I ate the rest of the food walking around the shop as it was warmer in here than it was outside. I left at approx. 6.45am. I still felt tired and devoid of energy at first, but slowly started to felt better as the morning progressed. As I neared England the weather improved which helped psychologically. There were two things that stuck in my mind from crossing into England and The Lake District - a nice cycle path between Gretna and Carlisle and it being very windy in the small town of Bothel. The Lakes were mostly a pleasure to cycle through with good roads winding their way through some stunning countryside. There was however quite a lot of below-par tarmac which made for an uncomfortable ride. This combined with a noticeable wind slowed progress significantly. I reached Keswick at about 1pm and stopped at another petrol station for more food. Whilst there I got some directions to Grasmere (the closest notable town to Scafell Pike). I was expecting it not to be too far from Keswick to Scafell Pike. I was mistaken. It took a while to get to Grasmere with some rather big hills to accompany the bad tarmac and wind. Once finally in Grasmere I asked someone how far it was to get to Scafell Pike. I was shocked when they replied with '20 miles'. With this longer than expected distance ahead of me I decided this justified more food. There was a nice-looking traditional bakery over the road - sorted. Pastries demolished I got pedalling again. It wasn't long before a long, very steep (25% incline) and stoney hill presented itself. I just about managed to pedal up the initial steep bit, but due to the lack of traction and my fatigue I had to walk up the rest. This was the only time during the 3 days that I was forced to push my bike up the hill. There were a few more ups-and-downs to get to the bottom of Scafell and progress was pretty slow, but on the plus side it was much less than the '20 miles' that I had been told. I arrived at a pub which marked the start of the walk and wheeled my bike around the back to lock it up. Somewhere along the poorly tarmacked lake district roads my key for the bike lock had fallen out (I'd left it poked in the lock keyhole which I assumed would have stayed in). To make matters worse I hadn't used the lock at all and it was oddly positioned between my tri-bars meaning that I couldn't get it off. So I'd been carrying this 2kg D-lock for the last 200+ miles, and would have to continue to carry it for another 200+ miles. Great. There was no option but to use a tarpaulin that I had at the bottom of one of the pannier bags to cover over my bike next to some railings to give the impression that it was locked up before starting the climb (I was pretty confident that it would be safe). It was a warm day so I opted just to leave my jacket with the bike and just wear my tri-suit. The path started off flat and followed a stream for maybe a couple of km's before I started ascending. It wasn't long before I had a quick chat with a coupe of guys that were on their way back down. They explained the path ahead and told me I was brave going up with just the tri-suit on as it was much colder at the top. They weren't wrong. After the lengthy path to the top involving lots of ups/downs, scaling over some tricky boulders and finally some steep scrambling I was only able to enjoy the stunning panoramic views for a couple of minutes due to a severe wind-chill. All the other proper walkers were equipped with their Helly Hansen/North Face jackets, hats and gloves, walking trousers, boots and poles. And then there was the idiot running around in a tri-suit. I had to get down quick to warm up - I had lost virtually all dexterity in my hands by this point. I was also keen to get back to the bike asap. The descent was significantly quicker than the ascent. Nobody had stolen the bike :) . After a quick snack and refilling my water bottles in the pub I got pedalling. It wasn't until Grasmere until I had any phone signal. I'd been messaging this girl on Warmshowers (like Couchsurfing but specifically for cyclists) about staying with her in Lancaster that night, and wanted to let her know that I wouldn't be able to make it as far as Lancaster today. After texting her I pushed on with the initial intention of just getting as far as I could before darkness set in. With the speaker on to help with motivation I made it through the town of Windermere and virtually out of the Lake district before it was pitch black. There was a town signposted not far ahead so I thought I'd get there and then stop. When I got further along the road it turned out that this town would have meant taking a relatively significant detour. Not wanting the detour I decided to power through in the dark until Lancaster. I knew that there were unlikely to be any shops open until I got there, so promised myself a big, greasy takeaway pizza upon arrival. This was a horrible ride with energy levels very low due to lack of food, and not really being able to see where I was going on most of the unlit rural country roads. After one of the longest 2-3 hours of my life I eventually made it to Lancaster in one piece just before midnight. There was a 24-hour petrol station shop by the bridge into the town centre. I'd had my heart set on the greasy pizza but after crossing the bridge and not seeing any sign of takeaway pizza I went back and got a couple of meal deals. There was a park right next to the petrol station - this would have to suffice as a camp spot for the night. After food/popping up the tent I went to bed with the alarm set for 5am (4 hours away).