Day 4 - Think of the glory, think of the rest day

422 miles down / 535 to go

23,096 ft of climbs (79% of Mt Everest at 29,096 ft)

Day 4 starts late, the night before I finished running nearly on an empty tank, I had barely anything left so there was no urgency to get going today.  Relax, take on some food and take time to prepare for the day. For once I was not struggling to eat or desperately trying to avoid bringing up what I have just consumed, my appetite was back, and in a big way!

We headed off around 10am and rolled gently along some country miles. I was really struggling (again) but this time it was my achillies which shrieked with searing pain in every downstroke. I gritted my teeth, hoping it would ease. My muscles were so stiff and it took a while to get comfortable revolving the legs, to start with I had to stand and cycle, I was so tight and uncomfortable I could not sit down for the first few miles! Thankfully the stiffness eased after a while which just left the pain. 

We soon passed through Shrewsbury (home of the mighty Shrews apparently) and we then reached Whitchurch at about mile 25 and I had to stop.  Perhaps if I adjust the cleats on my cycling shoes to put my foot further forward on the pedal it would ease the pain? A desperate hope maybe, but something I needed to try.

Brendon and I were both tired, really tired. This wasn't just a test of endurance, it was a test of everything and it's easy to forget that in the romance of planning the event.    After 4 days of cycling 10-13 hours a day and the pressure of completing the rides it's difficult not to get ratty with each other and on occasion we both did.  Thankfully we can have a laugh and a joke to break things up, but there is no doubt we need a rest day!

Dipstick of the day went to a HGV driver who passed far too close, I'm sure DHL have deadlines to meet with their parcels, but frankly there's no need to risk it!

Mile 40 is slightly off the beaten track (see picture) which meant we had to walk our bikes for a few miles until we rejoin the road. Ordinarily we may complain at this, but the relief for our backsides is fantastic, the stroll is just what they (our backsides) needed!

We pushed on the Delamare Station and our first feed stop.  We were both suffering from aches and pains, people looked on in amusement as we both used the picnic benches to stretch.

The stop was just what we needed though, we blasted through the next 30 miles at a good pace and made up for some of the slow time earlier in the day. We passed through Warrington before the delights of Burtonwood (even the church and church hall was surrounded by razor wire).  Brendon greeted a guy sat by the side of the road drinking Special Brew, I opted for the make no eye contact option and am glad we passed through at pace, any slower and our wheels could get pinched!

We soon arrived in Billinge for our final stop, some drinks and recounting the tales of the day to the support crew and then we were back on the road for the final 20 miles. We blasted our way to Preston at a good speed before Katie picked us up for the drive back to Knutsford.  After 10.5 hours it was fantastic to finish and have a day off waiting for us. 

Hero of the day has to go to Katie, she was a real star rushing around after us and organising the feed stops. An amazing g job and no wonder she is as tired as us!

The legs have now stiffened up, my eyes are struggling to stay open, so with that, I think it's off to bed and a beautiful rest day ahead!

Happy cycling

Mike

PS here's our donation page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives

Day 3 - The Never Ending Ride

If you were to call today tough it would be the equivalent understatement of calling Mount Everest a little bump somewhere near Nepal!

321 miles down / 635 to go

19,996ft of climbs (69% of Mt Everest at 29 096ft)

We started off earlier today, 0730 from the campsite just south of Bristol Airport. A steep climb awaited us before we headed towards The River Severn and under The Clifton Suspension - a scenic start!

Shortly after on 12.5 miles there was a loud pop from Brendon's rear tyre as a piece of glass shredded it. A bit of a setback. Fortunately a cycle shop was 2 miles away so Brendon started walking there and I rode on ahead to make sure it was open. Luckily for Brendon a kind man in a transit van picked him up and dropped him at the cycle shop, it maybe because he thought Brendon was cute in his Lycra, but nevertheless, he's our Hero of The Day.  The bike shop was able to sort out my buckled wheel and jumping gears too, so the stop turned out to be a bit of a bonus.

We then headed through several industrial estates before crossing The Severn Bridge, an amazing sight- here's the view:

We then tracked up to Chepstow before I got my first puncture of LEJOG to make the scores 2-1 to Brendon.  I ignored the best advice of Brendon which meant fixing te puncture took longer than it needed, consequently I'm the Dipstick of the Day - we had now lost a hell of a lot of time!

My knee started giving me hassle again, but I decided to grit my teeth and just put up with it until we reached Monmouth at around 45 miles.  We passed through The Wye Valley and sailed past Tintern Abbey, beautiful sights.

Monmouth couldn't arrive soon enough and thankfully we found a park bench where I could stretch out my troublesome right leg - I felt the benefit for quite some time after.

The first feed stop was just south of Hereford in a Tesco car park, by then it was baking hot, we'd been through all of our drinks and we're desperate for more liquid refreshment.  We'd arrived by 1530, 7 hours after we'd set off and we'd only covered 62 miles of the route!!

We set off again to cover 25 miles before the next feed stop and kicked on pretty well, covering it in just over 1.5 hours.  It began to feel like we might claw back some of the lost time and get finished around 8pm. Our second encounter with a dog occurred enroute, this time a Jack Russell, I was too tired to cycle faster so instead, as it came nearer I let out my best lion roar which did the trick, it seemed to jump in mid-air and then didn't seem to know what to do with itself!

The last leg of the ride was by far the toughest and by this time both my knee and achillies were hurting quite a lot. We headed to Church Stratton and banked right and up into some huge hills, after such a long day it sapped all the emery from my legs, the views from the top were amazing, but it really took it's toll.

We then pedalled on for what seemed like an age down country lanes for 17 miles until we reached the campsite 13.5 hours after we set off! What a tough day!

Tomorrow is a shorter ride (95 miles) before our first rest day, I'm looking forward to a day of rest more than anything in the world!

Happy cycling

Mike

PS here's our donation page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives

Day 2 - Different day, different story

Hi

203 miles down / 753 miles to go.

A much better day today I'm pleased to say!

We were up about early this morning and ready to go around 8am.  My bed looked like something out of a crime drama, the sheets covered in blood from yesterday's mishap. Fortunately that accident is behind us now, so Brendon and I can focus on more positive things.

Just as we set off Brendon got the first puncture of LEJOG, so he leads the chart 1-0, an ominous start to the day? I was hoping not!

The first 15 miles were a breeze, some reasonable ups and downs but nothing too hard as we cracked along at a good pace of 14mph.  Some great progress after yesterday!

Then after the first 15 miles we headed across single track gravelly roads, steep ups and winding downs made it hard to build up rhythm. Too make things worse my right knee began to play up again, searing sharp pain on every downstroke made pedalling almost unbearable. I gritted my teeth, but to be honest I genuinely began to think it might be curtains for LEJOG and I began to think of the ignomy of pulling out. 

We also had our first experience of being chased by a dog! Passing a farmyard a very angry Collie burst from behind a gate and chased us along the road for 20 meters or so! Thankfully we managed to get away!

Brendon was a saint with me, I must have been a complete pain in the arse, I was getting absolutely hacked off, cross with absolutely anything and really short with him.  Quite rightly Brendon deserves Hero of The Day for sticking with me and bringing me through!

Our feed stop at 53 miles was incredibly sweet relief.  Carla and Helen in attendance and a special guest star of the day, my mate Paddy who'd come to join us for the rest of the ride.  We chilled for about half an hour and importantly I did some work on the right knee with plenty of stretches.  

The stretches seemed to do the trick, my knee felt a lot better, even better, there doesn't appear to be a fundamental issue with my knee, it's just a tight fibre that can be resolved.  We bashed through the next 20 miles, passed the Rose and Crown in East Lyng (for you Derek) and we arrived ahead of Herbie Swift and the girls at the next feed stop.

Paddy wins Dipstick of the Day, his general silliness brought a light relief to the day and it peaked at the feedstop - he found a flattened dead frog that had decicated and started mucking around with it.  Somehow it ended up in Brendon's helmet which was laying on the ground unsupervised......

The last 10 miles took us up through Cheddar Gorge, Neil & Val (Helen's parents) we're lying in wait to cheer us on but sadly our route didn't go past them - what a shame. Despite getting a little lost we made it to the end in good time - a full 3.5 hours quicker than yesterday's finish!

A great day in the saddle

Happy cycling

Mike

PS here's our donation page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives

Day 1 is for disasters and demoralising

Hi

Not an ideal start to LEJOG on day 1, but at least we're now in to Devon and have the first 107 miles behind us.

We kicked off the day quite late at 9:45am and by then the temperature was already picking up. Liar of the day award goes to The Met Office for telling us it would be a bit cooler at 22C, it was much warmer than that as I went through 6 bottles of water and several pints of (sadly not beer) drink at our feed stops. 

We snaked our way up through Penzance and up to Redruth, the latter seemed to be a former tin mine and as the faint smell of burning plastic wafted through the air we were careful not to slow down too much as we passed through!  After 5 miles or so I quite fancied a toilet stop, but Brendon told me the story of Jackie Chan, apparently when he was training if a fellow student asked to go to the toilet it was a sign they were not training hard enough and they were made to train harder. I hold on for another 50 miles!

We tracked up the west coast of Cornwall towards Bude and after about 40 miles my right knee started playing up as it had done on my last ride. Sharp pains made me wince every time I peddled, so the pace dropped which given the heat was no bad thing.  

Cornish Pirate of the day goes to Brendon as the cap on one of his front tooth fell off on about 55 miles for some unknown reason, he could now say "Ooooh Aaarrr" and not only sound the part, but look it too!

Our first feed stop was 60 miles and a welcome opportunity for some more drinks and to chow down on some flapjacks and other treats.  Brendon and I tried some stetches etc and we diagnosed knee as a tight IT band for my problematic knee, so some special stretches and massaging were applied.

Off we headed again to a very hilly section as we neared Bude before heading east and inland past Davidstow, home to a large creamery where Cathedral City is produced.  Shortly after we arrived at our final feed stop on 83 miles and took on some more drinks.  The day had been very slow going, it was approaching 6pm and we were looking at an 8pm finish - however, my spirits were finally lifting and I was beginning to ignore my right knee and enjoy the ride.

Our last major town before tracking up to Okehampton was Launceston and this is where things went pear-shaped in quite a big way. Heading in to the town we took a wrong turn down a steppish hill, I shouted back to Brendon behind me that we needed to turn round, but he didn't hear me. I slowed down and began to stop, but Brendon was distracted and did not see me either. Very shortly after Brendon did see me, but it was too late as he piled in to the back of me, all of a sudden we were sprawled out in the road. We lay there for a few moments gathering ourselves. I daared not move to start with, what injuries had I sustained?

Thankfully scrapes and bruises were all that we had. Apart from one of my big toes, the toe nail is purple and very painful - hopefully it's not broken!  But the bikes on the other hand have taken the brunt of the shunt. The front forks on Brendon's bike had snapped, it would no longer be possible to ride it. We phoned through to the support vehicle where we thankfully had a spare bike available.  A heavy old hybrid, but it would do for now as Brendon could ride it to Knutsford where hopefully his bike could be fixed.  Thankfully my bike was generally OK, The back wheel was buckled, but is was ridable.

For that, Brendon pulls ahead 2-0 in the Dipstick of the Day Awards!

We rolled into the campsite at 9:45pm, it was dark by this point and we'd spent 12 hours on the road during our first day. It's difficult to imagine a worse start, but thankfully it's behind us now and tomorrow we start a new day.  

It's important to remember the two people I'm doing this in memory of, the fantastic support you've all given me and that, despite a bad start, I'm sure there are plenty of highs still to come!

Tomorrow we go again

Happy cycling

Mike

PS here's our donation page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives

LEJOG Eve

Hello

Well, here it is then, it's finally arrived. Over 7 months of build up, countless hours training, a leg waxing, highs and lows, some nightmare moments and some incredible achievements have all led to one point, a busy and bustling campsite a few miles from Lands End.  I can't wait to get started!

Thankfully the warm weather is set to ease off tomorrow so we'll not be too hot as we tackle what is undoubtedly one off the toughest days of LEJOG.  We're expecting over 9,000 feet of climbs, including a monster climb to Bodmin Moor, before we finish our 107 mile maiden leg in Okehampton.

Before all that hard work we took a bit of time to chill on the beach here - and it's a cracker!  Sorry, the sun was so bright the pic didn't come out too well - a long sandy beach with plenty of surfers - a hidden gem of a place.

Heroes of the day have to be Carla and Helen, they've taken turns to drive our trusty support vehicle, who we've named Herbie Swift, to our campsite inside 6 hours, including a few pit stops.  Here they are relaxing outside with Herbie nearby.

Dipstick of the day has to go to Brendon, as you can see he hasn't arrived yet, he's set off late and probably will not be here until somewhere between 8-9pm - not ideal prep but I think he'll be OK.

The puncture count has now been reset to 0 each - how many will we have by the end of the ride and who will be the prize puncture plum by the end? My money's on Brendon, but then he's stuck on the M5 near Bristol so is in no position to argue is he!

There's nothing much left to say now other than thanks very much for your kind support and generous donations - next time you'll hear from me I'll be 107 miles nearer John O'Groats!

I'm off to start the BBQ.

Happy Cycling

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives

Mike

Hammer Time

Hello

This should be a blog about celebration, OK, a little trepidation too, but what an event and quite some preparation that has gone in to it!  I've taken it seriously, so I deserve my chance to take on the toughest challenge I'm ever likely to face when it comes to tests of fitness and endurance. Instead of being Hammer Time it's Hammer BLOW Time......

I remember as a kid I had a BMX bike that I didn't much look after, battered, never put away properly, unloved and uncared for.  Eventually some scoundrel stole my BMX and to be quite honest with you, I deserved to lose it to hopefully someone who would care more for it more than I did, it certainly taught me a lesson.

Fast forward to an adult me and my trusty steed has led a pampered life, regular post-ride scrub downs, servicing and plenty of spares and parts have been made available to my partner in crimes of lycra. We've been through plenty of highs and lows together as I've trained to LEJOG standard and my buddy has never even hinted at letting me down on any of the 2,000 miles that it proudly rolled around the South Coast with me at the helm.  But that has all changed now....

My bike has developed a crack in the frame and has been condemned, my dear companion and faithful buddy, never judged me in my lycra nor let me down on a hard day's riding in the saddle, but with a heavy heart I have to lead my two wheeled wonder to the knackers yard.

My head has been reeling all day, I'm incredibly busy trying to tie up loose ends in my new job before I head away for two weeks so all of this is quite frankly a nightmare.  We've organised this ride ourselves to ensure that every penny we raise goes to charity, it's been expensive and a taken a hell of a lot to organise, so this last test is just the icing on the cake!

One thing is for sure, this last minute disaster will not beat me, somehow, I will find a way (and I've been chuffed with the kind offers of help and support thus far too - brilliant).

Never give up, never give in and when you're bike is fit and well, look after it and take it on a nice long ride

Happy Cycling

Mike

Tee minus 6

Hello

So how does it feel?  When is it exactly you start?  How's your knee doing?

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives

Yep, these questions are coming up an awful lot at the moment!  Time has flown by and we're now less than a week away to the big ride.  The questions have all of a sudden become the first topic of conversation with whomever we meet of late as the excitement builds towards the big event.  And, how do I feel about it all? These last few weeks of preparation have generally been tough and become a bit of a chore, although the Wiggle Wight Ferry has been a high and my best performance to date.

To be honest, I'm looking forward to it, it's been a long time coming, I've completed 131.5 hours, 1,826 miles and 89,108 feet of climbs in training this year, last year I didn't get anywhere near that over 12 months, in fact, I was nowhere near it, I probably did a few hundred miles at most.  This training journey hasn't been a final polish, it's been about transforming me from a sofa surfing loafer to a long distance endurance cyclist. I've gone from awkward to comfortable in lycra, I've invested in chain tools, gas canisters, pumps and who knows how many inner tubes.  My legs are smooth and freshly shaved and my once skinny calf muscles now have a satisfying bulge (at least in my eyes they do!).  All of this time has passed by in a bit of a blur though, what seemed like an age away not so long ago is now virtually here, before too long we'll be setting off.

All that preparation has helped with one thing, for sure, I'm now very clear as to how tough this is going to be.  There is a deep sense of trepidation, having spent 9 hours in the saddle before I remember vividly how tough that was.  I've got up the next day and completed another ride, but I've never done it day after day after day.  When we started out I had a romantic notion of the journey, there will be some fantastic sights as we pass through Cheddar Gorge, The Lake District and along the the shores of Loch Ness, but now it is balanced with reality.  Cycling from the far south west corner of the country to Preston in the first four days is going to be a big ask, no matter how you look at it - and completing the entire thing is going to be even bigger!  So right now, I'm more nervous than a small nun at a penguin shoot.

I have to take confidence in the training I've done though and hope that my troublesome knee holds up to the demands ahead.  It's not time to dwell on what may or may not happen, I've worked hard, I've got fantastic support, it's time to work through the plan and make sure I savour the moments ahead.  Oddly, my thoughts have turned to something the priest said to my wife to be and I before we got married a few years ago, it was a great piece of advice, something I've used many times since and worthy of sharing.

Life goes by in a blur, this ride has come round quicker than I could imagine, weddings, Christmas, parties, family get togethers all rush by - how often do we say the night has run away and we didn't get a chance to speak to all of the people there, or it all went by a blink of the eye and ended too soon.  Well, these times of great joy will always pass by quickly, sadly that can't be changed, but you can take some time out to absorb the event, to slow down the clock briefly and instead of being so caught up in the madness, take stock and be fully aware of the moment, savouring the surroundings.  At our wedding, we went back in to the church as people began to depart for the reception, alone for a short moment, just the priest attending to some details in the background as we soaked in the day which helped lengthen the it and consciously remember and absorb the events of the day.  It's something I try and do in everyday life, and as the events of LEJOG gear up and place their demands on us, is something we need to try and build in to the days ahead to make the most of them.

Bring it on and happy cycling

Mike

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/CycleOfOurLives