Much has been done on the turbo and outside running. The miserable snow has been replaced by rain and it feels like normal weather service is resumed. I ran to a meeting this morning and ran home after which was an efficient use of time if a bit of a mixed experience for those I was meeting. To be honest they didn't both and I kept my jacket on to avoid too much whiff escaping! So it turned out I ran 7 miles in just under an hour which I really enjoyed! I was accompanied by Train, the band, on my iPhone. Music is a great way of getting through the exercise and passing time quickly.
Tonight I spent an hour on the turbo and worked up a good old sweat!
I'm loving training again and I look forward to the sessions that I have planned building base fitness. It's a long journey.
I love biking and since I moved to Fife have met loads of great folk through cycling. A few years ago I was fortunate to be out on the bike with a couple of lads when the suggestion of let's do LEJOG (Lands End to John O Groats) on tandems. I was reminded of this because of the terrible accident yesterday when two young tandem riders where killed by a guy avoiding the police. Really sad but a reminder how risky the roads are.
After much debate we decided against the tandems and agreed that we would do it in 3 groups of 2 riders and ride continuously starting from Lands End. We had 2 support drivers and split the 6 of us into three evenly matched pairs. I was to cycle with Derek with 4 hours on the bike, rest for 8 hours and then back on the bike. We drove through the night setting off from Dunfermline at 5pm on a Wednesday night in early September. It was a mad time of year with about 12 hours of daylight each day. Derek and I took the first shift at 8am from a deserted and desolate Lands End.
The first shift was easy and we were assisted by good blowing westerly. We handed over to the speed kings, Stuart and Graeme. They immediately hit the first of the hills. The section up to Bristol is the hilliest section of the route and the boys did well making light of the first climbs. We had strategically booked a few hotels to get some rest en route and we had a nap while our wingman, Derek Fett, grabbed a couple of hours kip. These events are not possible without support and with Derek and Bruce we were in safe hands.
The third pair in the party were Ronnie and Ed, an awesome pair of rock solid bikers. Nothing much affected them and they made good pace which was remarkable given Ed was on his sturdy Dawes. Fantastic on the downhills because of the weight of the beast but a nightmare to drag up hill.
Derek and I took over at Taunton with the plan of handing over again at some place over the Severn Bridge. We had a good laugh in a BP garage when we convinced the girls that we were doing the entire trip by ourselves. When she asked where we were going and we replied John O Groats she turned to her colleague and said ‘wow that’s the top of England!’ and where have you come from she said ‘wow that’s the bottom of England!’ When we left the shop they were pouring over maps….
As retribution for our fib, Derek left his glasses. Unbelievable the girls turned up half an hour later with them – people are great.
As we arrived in Bristol I unclipped my right pedal and leaned, inexplicably, to the left! Donkey! With no damage done we were led through Bristol by the other member of the support team Bruce. He took us on a route we'd never of found with out support. It was midnight when we passed the baton on to Stuart and Graeme again.
The boys did an awesome job through the night and I was back on the road at 8am in Shrewbury and we put in another good stretch leading on up to Lancaster. Ronnie and Ed tamed the mighty Shap climb while we grabbed some food in the pub in the village waving our courageous friends as they passed the bar!
We picked up the batten again at Carlisle – the route was described as undulating by Derek over our power food in the pub (Lasagne and chips). It was a foul night – incessant rain that clawed through your clothes and left you feeling abjectly miserable. We reached Langholm and the old IBS was kicking in big style so we found a pub and I slipped off to pay a visit.
When I returned, Derek was chatting to this lady (older) standing by the bikes. She had obviously had one or two sherbets and seemed interested in the challenge we were on. She had a grand-daughter that is going to be hugely famous apparently - don't know if she is by now but who knows!
The pub people appeared out and on finding out what were doing disappeared only to re-emerge out of the pub with 2 tins of lucozade – people en route were great!
Once we got moving again we were faced with the climb up to Hawick – Derek fortified by lucozade flew up the hills – I gritted my teeth and hung on to the back of him as best I could. The climb lasted an age but we were cheered half way by the appearance of Derek F. Derek F was a hero. The rain and mist was playing havoc with vision but with Derek behind us we felt safe.
A car passed Derek and then sat beside him, all on a blind bend. He asked if was a charity bike ride – when answered positively a £10 note was thrust through the window – amazing.
By now the rain was not only incessant it was torrential.
Shirley, Derek’s wife, kindly picked us up in Serkirk and we handed over to Stuart and Graeme who must be the children of some rain king because every time they got on the bikes it absolutely bucketed – they arrived at the Forth Road Bridge after a horrible cycle at around 3.30am. Another fantastic achievement.
We managed to get home for a few hours rest which was brilliant! The next morning refreshed we met the boys at 8am in Pitlochry. Remarkably we were still on plan and we targeted Aviemore. After a brief stop in Dalwinnie for a bacon roll we flew down to Aviemore in no time at all. The next section included a few miles on the scary A9 and the boys managed it without complaint. I was un-nerved at the speed of the cars passing them but they just ploughed out the miles head down.
The penultimate section was another hilly section from Tain to Berrydale by which time the fog had rolled in. It was late Saturday afternoon and everyone was feeling the effects of tiredness but the end was in sight. Derek and I took over at the bottom of the Berrydale hill and started with a 2km climb. The last 70km was magical under the clear skies. We all met up for the last 10km and rode down to into John O Groats at 9.20pm on the Saturday night.
It was a brilliant and epic trip. There are so many stories that I could add but at the end of it we completed the ride in 62 hours and were all dead chuffed with the achievement. In the entire route we only had one puncture which happened just before Dalwinnie and deflated us enough to head for the bacon rolls. It was a memorable and amazing journey.
Parts of the route were very busy and other parts a bit scary in the dark. Without a top support team it would have been impossible but with the people that took part it was fantastic fun!
I've attached the before and after pictures!
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