Well, its here. Today I will be collected by one of the support team we have for the ride, and transported to Kendal for our first overnight stay in advance of tomorrows start in Grange-Over-Sands. *gulp*
Obviously I'm worried about the knee. I'm totally without pain now after 4 days of expensive physio, and I'm really not looking forward to riding the miles wearing a knee support that's designed for walking. But that worry has been totally overtaken now. I was sent a picture on my e-mail last night of the transportation we have been loaned to get us to Cumbria.
Clearly - my biggest worry now is being seen in this Camper with 3 other burly blokes! If anybody puts Erasure on the stereo I will be getting out and walking... 
Tomorrow morning, after a hearty breakfast we will be setting off from Grange-Over-Sands on the first leg to Hawes. Google Maps suggests that the most direct route for this leg takes in the M6 - though I would imagine we'll be looking for quieter roads than that!
The first challenge will no doubt be this evening - and will be a good pointer as to who the chaps are that need to be kept up with in the bar this week. I'll update the blog tomorrow morning with a bit of an intro to the team - as well as a report on the evening - who wussed out and went to bed first, who drank the most/least etc... You know - all that grown up stuff...
Catch you in the morning... If we're not still trying to get to Cumbria in the camper.
All the best
Nige x
PS: Its totally remiss of me to not print the Sponsorship Link - so here you go. This is a link to an official article about the ride with the link to the site for donation.
http://www.wednesdayite.com/news/wednesdayite-news/292-hirsty-and-friends-cycle-coast-to-coast-for-charities.html
Good luck, Nigel. Look forward to reading the next few blogs. Hope the weather stays nice for you.