Day 6 - Old Moor to Thorpe in Balne

From early morning everything was going smoothly today. After a day of rest at home, a long lie in and two hour muscles repairs performed by Mike at the Lepton Injury Clinic we felt ready for a new day on the road. We did not expect too many people today but at the meeting place at the RSPB Old Moor car park we saw plenty of familiar faces:

Mike and Kath Clowse with their dog Tia
Tanya Earnshaw with her dog Pebbles
Jenny and Dave Waddington with their dog Jack
Heather Bennett
Mathew Capper 
Craig a TPT Volunteer Ranger
and Jeff and Jack who represented the MND Association and came to wave us off for the journey.

Right from the start Craig informed us the there will be hardly any obstacles on the way and ones that are we should tackle with no problem. He was absolutely right and the walk was pleasant and no access issues held us back. About 12-noon we came across one access point where we could potentially encounter problems but the TPT had made sure that the gate was opened for us that morning. We felt very lucky to have the TPT making sure we had a good journey.

At that same access point we were met by Sally and Gareth from the BBC who wanted to make short film about our journey to date. We were filming for about an hour with Sally and Gareth making sure we felt comfortable in front of the cameras. At 1pm we were ready to set off for the rest of the journey.

 

Just when we thought the daywas going to be easy we came across a tree fallen over the track. This was clearly a new development on the track and surprised even Craig. We were very fortunate however as a kind cyclist who passed us on the way down thought we may struggle with this unexpected obstacle and waited for us in case we needed help. So far we have been met only with kindness on the track and this was yet another example. We managed to lift the FourX above the fallen tree and were free to go again.

We spent the rest of the day happily trotting along. We struggled with usual pains and aches (including a sore bum for Roy) and even some serious blisters but nothing was stopping us or even slowing us down. At Adwick we added Marsh Harrier to the trip list.

We passed through some good access gates, the scenery was beautiful and most of the way we were walking in the countryside. We finished  the  scheduled 21 miles in a record time of 9 hrs and 15 minutes.

 

We packed the van and drove to a pub for dinner. Most of us who were left by that time went for a moderate meal but Roy, whose appetite for adventure was obviously not fully satisfied, ordered Man v Burrito which in itself presented an impressive challenge.