Coast To Coast Day 8 - and then there was one

[Tony]

Day 8 Osmotherley - Lion Inn

This morning Mick was driven back to Bradford by Martin having been completely all walked out. I had two options, wuss out when I was on a roll, or battle on alone. Despite the fact that the latter option felt highly anti-social I decided that I would feel I was letting myself down if I gave up getting to Robin Hood's Bay at such a late stage.
The day was quite a tough one especially walking alone. There were plenty of ups and downs, and the amount of climbing to do was by far the most since the Lake District. After Clay Bank Top it was a 10 mile plod along the railway track to the Lion Inn, a pub on top of a hill in the middle of nowhere...

I had drifted off to sleep having settled down to watch TV having eaten tea, when I heard a knowck on the door. Eddie and Jane had arrived, all the way from Cambridge!! This all came as a bit of a shock, I now had backup again! The easy stages that remained would now be even easier.

[Eddie]
How many times has the plan changed in the last 48 hours!?! The Lion was supposed to have seen the 4 of us walkers in nice surroundings and with a fine selection of ales... alas it was not to be. Incidently, my knee is a lot better, but still not right!

Coast To Coast Day 7 - only two remain

[Tony]

Day 7 Richmond - Osmotherley. 40km (221km total)

Yesterday Martin got a lift with Ruth back to Bradford, never to be seen again. Eddie had persuaded Jane to replace Martin at the Lion Inn and Grosmont on Friday and Saturday. A romantic weekend for four! Eddie offered to provide support for me and Mick on this 26 mile slog. The plan was for him to meet us at key points in his car while carrying our rucksacks. Every three miles or so at some road junction Eddie would be there to water us and let us tuck into our choccie bars.

By lunchtime at Danby Wiske we decided it was time to relieve Eddie of his services, so he could head down to Cambridge.

The going was very tedious as it was mainly road and track walking and the pace which was exceeding three miles an hour slowed considerably as the afternoon wore on. Mick was obviously hobbling along and it was only a matter of time before he announced he was heading home in the morning. By the time we got to Ingleby Cross the going was literally painfully slow.
It felt like the Coast To Coast adventure was coming to an end, unless I would, or could, battle on as a lone adventurer.

[Mick]
Yes, too many Sundays spent recovering from hangovers, watching football or playing on Geoff's Nintendo 64 instead of tramping up hill and down dale has left me not very fit. I haven't previously experienced not actually being able to put one foot in front of the other before, but at Ingleby Cross, heading up the hill to Osmotherley, it got a bit pathetic. There was no option but to bail out. As Tony has just remarked 'like all good cricketers, you get to 200 not out and then declare'. After 202, almost consecutive, kilometres, I've declared.