Stage seventeen: Cartmel to Wesham...'Memories'

What's this lie-in malarkey all about then? Rise and shine my son- it's the last stage and you've still got 70-odd miles until we can all put this adventure to bed! Despite my enthusiasm (well, sorta), the absolute comfort of The Royal Oak was one helluva magnet, hah-hah! Anyway, wagons did eventually roll at 0745 and it was bright and breezy- and that was gonna help me for the first 15 miles or so...

And away...for the final time. Cartmel is pretty wonderful...9/10, would recommend!

Who needs Gary Garmin? Er...not so fast, mate.

It's funny how the sense of familiarity spreads through you: it wasn't too long before I was on the A6 and heading towards my breakfast stop at Carnforth railway station. This was not planned at all, and was somewhere that I had passed about a gazillion times on training rides, but could never justify making the time to visit. Well, with no real time pressure today...why the devil not?

Boss, Boss- the sea!

They've only gone and let me back in again. The fools!

Blimey- a right old throw-back. And Carnforth Railway Station...I thank you!

So there. Well, it was over *there*, actually.

Avanti suffering slightly by comparison.

From Carnforth there was a daft photo-op in Morecambe- tricky to get someone savvy enough to er, operate a camera phone- and then a trudge into the breeze all the way to Blackpool. And of course there would be another daft photo-op and another struggle to find someone who could spare two minutes, stand where I told them to, and do the necessary. In this case, it was a German tourist who understood the mission. Danke!

Bring me sunshine, in your smile...

Checkpoint #5 done...and so are we!

So I'm back home again but some things continue: get the admin done pronto (a washing machine is an almost unimaginable luxury!) and then see about getting some essentials in, not least a curry- I hadn't said hello to The Ashiana since June, when I decided on this challenge. Truly- it was a case of The Prodigal Son, hah-hah!

Faded, tatty and seen better days. The shorts are faring little better, hah-hah!

So that wraps another fundraiser. This will probably sound glib, but please believe me when I say that I am so grateful and proud of all of you who have donated to help Cure Leukaemia.

Today is the fourth anniversary of Geoff's passing. As I type this, I have a nice glass of red on the go and am hoping that he has had a good laugh at all the bollocks and nonsense that has happened along the way, hah-hah! He is missed so much by his family and friends and I know that there's nothing that can be done about that. I also know that the money that you donated *will* go on to help those that follow Geoff. No doubts about that.

So on to the final two traditional bits of business: the stats and the tune(s) of the day...

No trees were harmed in the making of this stage! #opsnormal

One thing that I should also have mentioned is the boost that the messages and the back-and-forth on social media bring...it's terrific to have people on the journey! So this morning Pauline (Geoff's mum) messaged and requested some Elvis. Now that we can do...her choice is the first number, and the other two are mine. Good on you!

And to close, one of Elv's finest performances...