18 Days and Counting

This morning a "count down alarm" announced that I have 18 days to go before the start of LeJoG. In the months since I "booked on" a lot has happened; training, kitting myself out, trying new tactics, work, and living in general have meant that the time has flown by.

In case anyone in interested:

Who am I going with and why did I choose them?

Options considered included; Peak Tours, Saddle Skedaddle, The CTC, and Bike Adventures were considered but in the end the recommendations of a number of people tipped the balance in favour of Peak Tours. If you are interested Jim Jenkins (USA) article or Nick Priors blog give some valuable insights into what is involved, and importantly the ethos that seems to underpin Peak's approach. So far Steve and Lee have been really helpful. 

The route

The shortest route from "End to End" is 837 miles or so following "A" roads and Motorways. The fastest cycling route avoiding Motorways is around 875 miles. The record for riding this on a bicycle was set in 2001 by Gethin Butler who rode it in 44 hours, 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Gethin sold me the bike that I will use on my ride, one that will take me 14 days, it after all a "holiday".

Day 1 Lands End - Golant                       72 miles 
Day 2 Golant - Moreton Hampstead         60 miles
Day 3 Moreton Hampstead - Glastonbury  74 miles
Day 4 Glastonbury - Monmouth               66 miles
Day 5 Monmouth - Clun                         57 miles
Day 6 Clun - Runcorn                            80 miles
Day 7 Runcorn - Slaidburn                     64 miles
Day 8 Slaidburn - Keswick                      75 miles
Day 9 Keswick - Moffat                          75 miles
Day 10 Moffat - Loch Lomond                 83 miles
Day 11 Loch Lomond - Glen Coe             66 miles
Day 12 Glen Coe - Inverness                  83 miles
Day 13 Inverness - Crask                      66 miles
Day 14 Crask - John O' Groats               82 miles
TOTAL EXPECTED MILEAGE                 1003 miles

Any eagle eyed reader will see that the mileages differ from those quoted by Peak Tours, various people who have ridden the route give different readings, probably due to; getting lost, taking diversions, or cycling to the start

The route avoids major roads as much as it can and there is likely to be between 65,000 - 70,000 feet of climbing. As I ride it I will post statistics.

The Bike - It really has quite a lot to do with it

I will be riding the latest addition to my stable of bikes. Having become less and less happy to be covered in mud and water I decided to invest in a bike with mudguards and the like, suitable for long distance Audax rides (If you want to know more about Audax take a look at Audax UK ) After considerable research I opted to buy an "old guys bike" made of steel by one of our many UK frame builders. Making the final choice was hard but in the end Paul Hewitt at Leyland has built me a wonderful bike. The process of building started with measurement on a jig. From the moment I sat in the saddle it felt different and comfortable.

In a later blog I will supply more details and some information on the bike. 

Training

"To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail", and reading of peoples experiences and the advice of "experts" training has been key. With time commitments and the awful UK Summer of 2012 training has been a mix of; riding an exercise bike at the gym, and getting out as often as I can for rides around the byways of Worcestershire and Shropshire. The gym work has seen my mileage for an hour (using the same programme, machine and settings) rise from 31km to over 38km [The maximum time programmable is an hour, and due to the amount of moisture that has leaked from my body by the time I have completed this it is probably a health and safety restriction, since fellow gym users could aquaplane on the pools of moisture that accumulate around me].

Rides through sleet, rain, mud, and occasionally in glorious sun, sometimes alone and sometimes with club mates have led to rediscovery of some wonderful places, cafes, and the fact that I rather like climbing hills 

Over the months my fitness has built and mileages have increased, as have the lengths of rides. In March the average length of rides was 28 miles by July it had reached 68 miles. Importantly "hill hunting" has increased. 

Hopefully I will have enough miles in my legs by September