The riders and crew awoke to foggy, misty weather. We were all aching from the day before and still had to cross the Pennines. The boys room smelled disgusting but we really could have stayed there all day. After getting suited for the ride, we headed downstairs for our breakfast. Funnily enough, a full english was all I needed to be ready and raring to go! We stepped outside and put our coats on, it was raining and the forecast for the day didn't look good either. After helping the support crew drive the van out of the car park (it was a squeeze) we set off.

The road out of Alston was torture, after heading down into the village centre we took a sharp right up a short but extremely steep road. It was paved with wet cobbles and was challenging both technically and physically. After reaching the top, I was already knackered. The camper van drove by and Dad pipped the horn - I was jealous of them.

We turned out of the village and followed the road further up the valley. Gently sloping upwards this road continued for about 7 miles. It hugged the right side of the valley and the clouds that had descended made the view impressive but limited. It was very cold and damp. The first few miles of the ride had been miserable. But then it got worse.

After rounding a corner the view revealed a sharp climb up and over the valley side. I was determined to reach the top and just carried on pedalling. Somehow though, the side of the valley just carried on, after every corner the road continued and got even steeper. After a long time climbing we finally reached the top, looking over my shoulder I could just see grey clouds and the wet valley floor. Not a beautiful view, but a memorable one.

We turned off of this main valley road, the team was on top of the pennines now and we earned a few miles of relatively flat riding. However the views were not there, just a small area of road and moorland either side and then white fog blanketing everything. I remember asking Uncle Chris about the big stripy posts by the road and realising how bleak the environment up there was... they were for the snowploughs. Eventually the road dropped down out of the clouds. It revealed an empty valley with green ferns and a brook running down the middle. Looking to our right, we could see the road snake down to the bottom, Me, Nick, Josh and Arthur all got very excited, the first bit of downhill of the day, and we could go very fast. Auntie Jack, however, was slightly worried. Anyway, after bombing down and manoeuvring some sketchy hairpins we reached the bottom. Only to realise we had to go back up the other side. A very steep hairpin bend road... what fun. After reaching the top again we were greeted with the familiar white curtain of cloud we had gotten used to.

This top road was amazing though, It was a 2 and a half mile downhill, with steep sections, and no corners. Arthur raced ahead and I followed; this was not to be wasted. I must have been going at about 30mph when a cattle grid suddenly appeared in front of me, this was slightly scary as I had no time to prepare, but I glided over easily and breathed a sigh of relief, this was one of two dangerous incidents on the descent, the other being two angry sheep that almost ran in front of the bike and took me off... stupid things. Anyway we reached Allenheads at the bottom of this road and searched for the cafe. We were knackered but had somehow only gone 11 miles.

I was cold and wet and hungry, luckily there was a log burner inside and some very good chocolate cake. Not long after and Josh had arrived with Uncle Chris and Auntie Jack. I will remember Allenheads not just because of the amazing road into it but also because of Josh's terrible attempts at chatting up the waitress.