Nearly There!

The epic journey is coming to a close. Today's leg was excellent, I would call it a fair course, it had testing hills, but rideable with the reward of long swooping descents with sufficient viewing to enable you to really take advantage of them, I really enjoyed this stage although as usual it was further than advertised and the last 5 miles were really testing. I rode so well in fact that I finished in around the first 40 riders. I've now clocked 920 miles. Passing into Cornwall was a real buzz!

Today's stats are 8:04, 14.6 mph, 131 bpm and 131 watts. Dave clocked 9:03 yesterday but was unable to ride today. He does look a lot better now though and will ride tomorrow. We'll set off at 7 and see how he goes, I rather suspect he'll be riding off my wheel for a change.

This has to be the best sport-related adventure I've had and I can't really imagine topping this! There is such a mix of people from very fit keen young cyclists to much older people clearly stretching themselves in a challenge of a lifetime finishing long after the majority and yet plugging on day after day - totally inspiring - often clocking 12 - 13 hours a day. We also have some paralympians riding and a tandem with a blind rider - such lovely people.

The vast majority though I would say are mid-life middle class males! Many bringing with them notions of being 'paying customers'; there's nothing like camping night after night and having to queue for the portaloos to bring many down to earth.

There are numerous volunteers here too and they are the true stars of this endeavour, they man the pitstops, the info desks, physio students and providing massage services and many Deloitte employees have given up time to support where required.

Special mention to the Halford boys who have been totally awesome, and have worked late into every night to keep everyone on the road even lending parts from their own bikes where required.

I don't know when I'll blog the final episode as clearly major partying is on the agenda tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me, and Dave, in our venture, I think we've raised around £1,000 between us.

Next stop Lands End, Grok on ...

A Fantastic Day!

Much cooler today and a wonderful route. I rode really strongly and was back in the first third or so of the riders. Crossing the Severn Bridge was just amazing; I have a painting at home that hangs over the fireplace which is a view of two Hercules flying over the bridge! Incredible to be cycling along looking at the view having once flown over it.And to add the cherry to the cake Mum and Dad were at the Clifton Suspension Bridge and then again at the finish, lovely to get a hug after a week amongst strangers so to speak. Unfortunately though I was riding solo as Dave has come down with the bug, he did struggle round in a very slow time but won't be riding tomorrow and is very unwell and now in the isolation area. I can't tell you how sad I feel for him. Hopefully with a day of rest he will be able to complete the journey on Sunday. Now I just have to hope I can avoid it for another 2 days.The Halfords shorts worked well and the laundry have produced a clean set of clothes too. So things are looking up on the attire front!There is always so much to do every day. I had hoped to get back and write a longer blog but somehow between eating, showering, dressing crash injuries, massage etc suddenly it's bed time.The last two legs will be tough as we travel through the Mendips, through Devon and on through Cornwall. Mick - I'll be saving up for a triple and a 12-27 for our Raid next year :-)Can't believe it's coming to a conclusion, it really is like some kind of alternate reality at the moment. Sorry, forgot the stats ... 7:26 and 111 miles, 133 watts, 15.7 mph and max of 45 mph - that's a record for me! Grok on ...

Sense of humour failure!

I had a lovely day for 90 miles, great scenery, rode at recovery pace and pulled a big train of guys along which suited me just fine. I've begun to realise just how bike fit I actually am when guys sit on my wheel and are on their limit - when a chap came up and along side to ask if he should take a turn, he was sweating profusely and was finding it hard to speak ... My answer ... No that's OK, I'm just taking a recovery ride and working off my power meter, fill your boots in the train behind, LOL!At 90 miles we hit the biggest hill in world, I walked, in fact I found it hard pushing my bike up it, never mind riding. Then the descent was REALLY dangerous. And they added 5 miles to the advertised route!Anyhow I made it again as did Dave (although he didn't make it up Long Mynd either - says he said he has the wrong gears, James Cracknell claims he broke his chain ... Excuses, excuses!). Dave had a good solo finishing in 6:38 for the 110 miles. I rode a 7:41, average speed 14.4 heart rate 129, 123 watts - a good recovery ride.All for now, Grok on!

Another day - another crash (Actually Blog for Wednesday 17 June, posted late for technical reasons!)

To start a stage going straight up the Kirkstone Pass IMHO isn't a great idea, especially when you have already ridden 460 miles in the previous 4 days and that has included multiple climbs of varying lengths and gradients!Now I did my research back in April and rode the Pass, with a suitable warm up, and made it to the top at max heart rate so I always knew today would be testing. Factor in the fact I crashed late yesterday and already had a sore knee (this is called 'getting the excuses in early' ...) I opted to ride until I reached a specific heart rate and then unclipped and walked to the top! As a consequence, for those following our progress with an eye to the total time sweepstake here are some stats - note separate times for Dave and I (we are always quoting rolling time).7:29 (me) 7:23 Dave. 114 miles, average heart rate 131, average watts 123. Both Dave and I have a sore knee so we took today steadily. I've had my war wounds dressed and the physio has worked on my knee so fingers crossed.Tomorrow we aim to ride separately as Dave wants to push on faster than I can hold his wheel so we'll have very different times to report. We always planned to ride Day 6 this way.Dave managed to clip my wheel today and he went flying but was uninjured. Halfords were unable to locate shorts today, not sure what I'll be wearing tomorrow!Must close, getting late - always so much to do when you get back.Grok on

Halford Heroes

What a day, 131 miles, 7:57, 132 bpm heart rate, 127 watts, 16.6 mph. Beautiful sunshine and the first section was fast. At the first pit stop my right cleat broke so I had to ride 35 miles with one and a half legs! Halfords Bikehut guys have been totally awesome and got a new cleat to me at the next pitstop. My food wasn't at either stop today other than cans of tuna ... Fortunately I carry my own nutrition bars but having something different really raises the spirits and trust me there is only so much tuna you can eat from a can! All appeared to be peachy until some massive climbs ensued and both Dave and I are now suffering a bit with sore knees. At 130 miles we managed to crash; we think it was weed that caught in my wheel, but whatever the cause we both fell and I now have road rash left hip and bashed knee (which will scar). I now truly look like a pro rider with plasters all over the place! Biggest issue is I wrecked my remaining good pair of shorts so I'm now short-less pretty much as the unwashed ones have yet to dry properly! Food is excellent at this stop. The base camps are leap-frogging one another, and this set up has the best chef. Both bikes are having running repairs for crash damage but should be good to go in the morning. Having a great time, and all this on one hour's sleep. We start at the base of Kirkstone Pass tomorrow ... :-) Grok on ...

A truly Epic Day

From Fort William to Glasgow through the spectacular Glen Coe range, skirting Loch Lomond in glorious sunshine. The last 25 miles were brutal with lots of climbs and very poor road surfaces. Dave and I have always planned to ride an extra 5 miles to take us over the 1,000 for the trip as re-routing has meant the total is officially 995. What we hadn't intended doing was riding those extra on the toughest day of the trip with 129 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing ... However, and you perhaps can guess where this is going ... one sign wasn't visible and we, along with a number of others, added 5 miles to the route! So today's stats are as follows - 134 miles, average watts 128 watts, average speed 16.2 mph and average heart rate of 133 bpm. The event is a massive logistical feat and things are coming a little undone at the seams now three days in ... The laundry service was a disaster, mine was unwashed and Dave's partially disappeared, others completely vanished, end result I wore a lesser pair of shorts this morning, 134 miles in lesser shorts has it's consequences, LOL! There were rather a lot of poorly people (for those from my IM circle - probably don't need to say any more!) at the end of today's stage which I think is stretching their resources to the limit; with no screening in place on entering the event there are a number of people who really shouldn't be attempting this ride. Tomorrow is another huge leg taking us from Glasgow to Ullswater as we leave Scotland and enter England, some 130 miles again ... fingers crossed. Grok on :-)

Drowned Rats!

Hello from Fort William! It rained heavily today (and as I blog it is hammering down again on my tent - what with wet clothing draped around and my little bed it's rather too cosy). Fortunately at least there was little by way of headwinds. I didn't sleep last night so wasn't quite sure how I'd fare today. My metabolism was in overdrive, I suspect the decaf wasn't and there were more carbs than I expected in something I ate at dinner! Couple that with spending too much time over threshold and a sleepness night ensued! Lessons learned. Anyway, we set off and quite quickly picked up a passenger, after a long climb only a few miles in we enjoyed a good descent and found a train had formed behind us, again. We've decided to take this as a compliment although after about 15 miles of pulling about 16 along behind us at 22 mph we decided to be more forthright and pulled over and indicated someone to come through! We then took a break for a few miles before taking the head again as no one else was playing ball and the pair at the front included a female working hard. After the first pitstop we headed off and remained as a solo pair mostly. Today's route took us along Loch Ness, through Fort Augustus on much busier roads than yesterday so riding single file was the order of the day - this meant I took Dave's wheel and we bowled along at a fair lick. For those unfamiliar with cycling there is a considerable benefit to be had from sitting in the draft and it means that Dave and I can work at equivalent effort levels as he is a much stronger cyclist than me. We finished today in 6:06 for the 99 miles so quite an increase in average speed on yesterday, and with me keeping at a more sensible effort level. We were one of the first in and were complimented on our riding prowess as a 'pair'! Tomorrow is the first of the two biggest days so I need to sleep tonight, fingers crossed. Grokking on; in waterproofs!

Fair's Fair!

Well the weather certainly wasn't' for Day 1! We were piped off from John O Groats amidst strong winds and persistent rain. For the first 40 miles it was headwinds all the way with periods of driving rain. Once we began to turn south though we picked up some great tail winds and the weather cleared somewhat, we even noticed a shadow for a micro second! So the weather wasn't fair, and neither are some of the riders! Dave and I found ourselves pulling a train of riders on several occasions none of whom where taking their turn on the front, so after 10 miles or so we took a jump from them up a hill and made a gap! We gathered several others at various points but none were taking turns - interesting - this week will certainly show what characters people really have! The facilities at the base camps are amazing considering they are just fields! We have power, water and amazing food! My tent is bijoux and it remains to be seen how I fair under canvass tonight, but my bed is all set and just about fits! Today's stats - 7:18 rolling time - 104 miles. Average heart rate 144 but there were some sections where I was working a lot harder than that (and harder than I should). For those interested I ate 6 x nakd bars, had scrambled eggs plus blueberries for breakfast, had 2.25 litres of water with 1 sugar cube in each plus two sachets of diorylte so 100 g carb plus dinner of roast lamb, various vegetables and salad - I would estimate 150 g total for the day. Grok on, next stop Fort Wiliam.

At last ... on the start line!

Dave and I drove up this morning and have spent this afternoon checking in and organising everything. Having spent months and months preparing we can hardly believe we are actually here! We had had our doubts about some of the organisation but on arrival our fears were soon quelled. The base camp set up is amazing. We had hoped to post a few photos today whilst I still have the laptop but alas the weather is not as amazing! We have horizontal rain and gale force winds, this does not auger well for the start tomorrow! We had an excellent meal at 6, more akin to a luxury cruise than camping food and the Catering Manager has already sorted out some different things for me for the lunch pit stops and breakfasts, so far a faultless service. 600 hundred riders and a big back up staff of volunteers, many from Deloitte who are sponsoring the event. I think we (the whole ride) have nearly reached the goal for raising £200,000 for Paralympics. There are a number of GB paralympians around the place and a some I believe are riding as well. James Cracknell as well (it's his company organising the event). Dave and I set off toward the end of the group around 7:45 I guess. At the moment there is a massive head wind for the first 30 miles, let's just hope the weather blows through overnight. I'm tucked up in Elly as Adrian has come up with us to see us off tomorrow. He will drive down to Lands End next weekend to meet us. All that remains is to sleep ... next post will be from Base Camp 2, 104 miles away I hope, technology permitting. Grokking on :-)

Nearly ready ...

The last few weeks have flown by with training and general organising ready for the off. We leave here late on Friday morning for the drive up to John O Groats. Hopefully I will be able to post a blog before we start! I have now enabled (didn't realise it wasn't already) this blog to receive comments from anyone - you don't have to be registered now. So, please feel free to post comments during our journey - it will be great to have some feedback :-) Bring it on, Grok on!