Courtesy of the Garmin, the actual tracks for all six days, showing position, speed, altitude and heart rate. Day six is broken into two files after I forgot to recharge it overnight and had to top up at lunchtime.
Friday, 4 June 2010
He ain't heavy, he's JPD
Although this was a short day of 125 miles, and so to some extent I'd written it off as a done deal, the miles still had to be covered. We started with some rolling Devon countryside, climbing up and down repeatedly between about 200 and 700 feet. This is really bad news for JPD, who's been struggling to get much force down on the pedals, so pushing on uphill really isn't an option. Once things flattened out a bit, we were able to make much quicker progress with a lovely tailwind that gradually moved around throughout the day from east to south and later back to east. With me leading continuously, time seemed to pass quite quickly and we ticked off the miles gradually through the morning and with a few more big but generally steady climbs (today we've climbed more than any other day) we found ourselves signposted to Penzance, which we reeled in from 35 miles out on busy, fast main roads.
In Penzance we checked in to our hotel and dumped our bags, then set off on the final ten miles to Land's End. This was a fun ride, especially with the weight off the bikes, but also slightly melancholy as the focus that's been fairly all-consuming for the last six days started to fade away as the sea came into view either side of us, before vanishing completely as we coasted down a gentle slope to the signpost at Land's End that marks the official finish point for the trip.
Oddly, one of the most common things we've been asked on the trip is why we're doing the route 'the wrong way', I think the setting for the finish gave us an unexpectedly good answer. The sun, which had been at our backs in the morning and overhauling us all day, was low in the sky out over the sea, giving us a perfect hazy view to gaze out at as we wound down over a well-earned pint. I wasn't sad to have finished, or even particularly happy, but thoroughly satisfied with a week well spent. We certainly couldn't have done it in five days.
We were met at the finish by Zara (thank you!!), who drove us back to the B&B. After a week averaging 15/ 16 mph I felt like a Victorian taking his first train ride, the sensation of speed initially alarming and my legs restless, as though feeling they ought to be working.
In Penzance we checked in to our hotel and dumped our bags, then set off on the final ten miles to Land's End. This was a fun ride, especially with the weight off the bikes, but also slightly melancholy as the focus that's been fairly all-consuming for the last six days started to fade away as the sea came into view either side of us, before vanishing completely as we coasted down a gentle slope to the signpost at Land's End that marks the official finish point for the trip.
Oddly, one of the most common things we've been asked on the trip is why we're doing the route 'the wrong way', I think the setting for the finish gave us an unexpectedly good answer. The sun, which had been at our backs in the morning and overhauling us all day, was low in the sky out over the sea, giving us a perfect hazy view to gaze out at as we wound down over a well-earned pint. I wasn't sad to have finished, or even particularly happy, but thoroughly satisfied with a week well spent. We certainly couldn't have done it in five days.
We were met at the finish by Zara (thank you!!), who drove us back to the B&B. After a week averaging 15/ 16 mph I felt like a Victorian taking his first train ride, the sensation of speed initially alarming and my legs restless, as though feeling they ought to be working.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
The Final Countdown
Well we made it to Crediton, and we have just one day left.
Somehow we clocked 161 miles, although I think the original route called for 154. The first few were over rolling hills, after which we joined the A38 which was pretty flat and we added 73 miles in the first four and a half hours which took us to Bristol.
Bristol is the biggest city on our route, and it took a whole half hour segment to get across it, leaving by the Clifton Suspension Bridge before descending the next 20 miles or so to Weston-Super-Mare, where we faffed around the sea front before settling on tried-and-tested Tesco for lunch.
The next section was OK at first, but as we approached Taunton I was feeling pretty empty. This quickly becomes annoying due to the lack of speed that can be attained up hills, and the poor acceleration from junctions and summits. This then deteriorates to a sense of wanting to stop, and of being angry (for me this was directed at the GPS device, which didn't seem to be working properly causing numerous missed turns).
Eventually something clicks and all emotions and pain disappear. The only thing left is the knowledge that you have to get to the end, and that means to keep the legs movin, however slowly. Eating, drinking and rest breaks become instinctive. It ceases to matter how far there is to go. It's a very calm, very focussed state and it's only after that it becomes clear how tiring it is.
I've experienced this before, on the Bob Graham Round where not long after half way I knew we would finish so long as we just kept going, even though there were still 10 hours to go.
Well we now have 10 hours of cycling to go, and I know we can finish. Hopefully we can take things a bit easier given the shorter distance tomorrow (125 miles).
P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos from the last few days, will definitely get some tomorrow!
Somehow we clocked 161 miles, although I think the original route called for 154. The first few were over rolling hills, after which we joined the A38 which was pretty flat and we added 73 miles in the first four and a half hours which took us to Bristol.
Bristol is the biggest city on our route, and it took a whole half hour segment to get across it, leaving by the Clifton Suspension Bridge before descending the next 20 miles or so to Weston-Super-Mare, where we faffed around the sea front before settling on tried-and-tested Tesco for lunch.
The next section was OK at first, but as we approached Taunton I was feeling pretty empty. This quickly becomes annoying due to the lack of speed that can be attained up hills, and the poor acceleration from junctions and summits. This then deteriorates to a sense of wanting to stop, and of being angry (for me this was directed at the GPS device, which didn't seem to be working properly causing numerous missed turns).
Eventually something clicks and all emotions and pain disappear. The only thing left is the knowledge that you have to get to the end, and that means to keep the legs movin, however slowly. Eating, drinking and rest breaks become instinctive. It ceases to matter how far there is to go. It's a very calm, very focussed state and it's only after that it becomes clear how tiring it is.
I've experienced this before, on the Bob Graham Round where not long after half way I knew we would finish so long as we just kept going, even though there were still 10 hours to go.
Well we now have 10 hours of cycling to go, and I know we can finish. Hopefully we can take things a bit easier given the shorter distance tomorrow (125 miles).
P.S. Sorry for the lack of photos from the last few days, will definitely get some tomorrow!
It's a long long road
Today has been my longest ever cycle ride in a single day. All told we've covered 167 miles from Sedbergh to Bewdley and now that we're a little over 2/3 of the way through, my mind is unwisely starting to wander towards the finishing line. Being a poorly educated southerner, it came as a great surprise to me that we would only leave Scotland half way through the third day, but now that I'm in slightly more familiar territory it starts to feel like we're making faster progress. South Lakes to Birmingham seems a lot further than John O'Groats to Inverness not because it is, but because I just about stop counting northness at Edinburgh. Sadly though we're going to progress rapidly into less famliar territory again as we pass through Bristol tomorrow and start to head west.
JPD won't mind my saying that he had a bit of a tough afternoon. The cumulative strain on our legs is starting to slow us both down, so keeping our speed up was hard today with lots of traffic and junctions as we worked our way through Preston, Wigan and Warrington. We have big thanks to offer my family at Bratt & Evans in Northwich for letting us do some serious damage to the coffee shop (that sausage pie should be winning awards!) and to Neil for setting up a roadside feed station to sort us out with much needed goodies to see out the last 30 miles.
The main thing I'm being taught by this trip is patience. It's impossible to rush anything when you're already tired - it's simply not an option to sprint up small hills like I normally would, you have to slow down, give every climb its due and then take back what you can on the other side. The combination of horrible weather for the first four hours, some extra fuel / rest stops in the afternoon and the simple fact that we're slowing down meant that we spent a total of 14 hours travelling today, including over 11 actually riding. Without support, we find it difficult to take short breaks since finding somewhere, locking up, buying food etc all eat up precious minutes. This means our days are about as long as we could make them and still fit in breakfast, dinner and some sleep.
Although we're both suffering increasing levels of fatigue and muscle soreness, we're neither of us carrying any serious niggles so far. The major concern for tomorrow is quite simply whether we have the stamina to complete a reasonably long day of 155 miles. If we can do that then we'll be a lot happier in the evening, contemplating a 'mere' 125 miles to Land's End.
That's all from me. JPD's asleep already so I'd better get off to sleep myself before he starts snoring...
JPD won't mind my saying that he had a bit of a tough afternoon. The cumulative strain on our legs is starting to slow us both down, so keeping our speed up was hard today with lots of traffic and junctions as we worked our way through Preston, Wigan and Warrington. We have big thanks to offer my family at Bratt & Evans in Northwich for letting us do some serious damage to the coffee shop (that sausage pie should be winning awards!) and to Neil for setting up a roadside feed station to sort us out with much needed goodies to see out the last 30 miles.
The main thing I'm being taught by this trip is patience. It's impossible to rush anything when you're already tired - it's simply not an option to sprint up small hills like I normally would, you have to slow down, give every climb its due and then take back what you can on the other side. The combination of horrible weather for the first four hours, some extra fuel / rest stops in the afternoon and the simple fact that we're slowing down meant that we spent a total of 14 hours travelling today, including over 11 actually riding. Without support, we find it difficult to take short breaks since finding somewhere, locking up, buying food etc all eat up precious minutes. This means our days are about as long as we could make them and still fit in breakfast, dinner and some sleep.
Although we're both suffering increasing levels of fatigue and muscle soreness, we're neither of us carrying any serious niggles so far. The major concern for tomorrow is quite simply whether we have the stamina to complete a reasonably long day of 155 miles. If we can do that then we'll be a lot happier in the evening, contemplating a 'mere' 125 miles to Land's End.
That's all from me. JPD's asleep already so I'd better get off to sleep myself before he starts snoring...
Monday, 31 May 2010
Green and Pleasant Land
We set out quite late from Irvine after opting for the full breakfast from the hotel. Going was steady for the first two hours, although we made a mistake at Cumnock in opting to continue past the supermarket after an hour thinking there would be one nearer our planned stop two hours in. There wasn't.
We managed to scrape together enough food from a rather old fashioned petrol stations and set off towards Dumfries, where we had an excellent lunch of Chicken Balti and Jacket Potato with vegatable balti. Delicious. I also added a second bottle holder to my bike, essential given the weather.
Refreshed and fully stocked, we set off and had a great run down to Gretna, and we rewarded ourselves on the border with custard doughnuts. It was also at this point that we began following roads alongside the M6, which we'll continue to do throughout tomorrow.
The A6 between Carlisle and Penrith was impressively straight, but set a trend in going over the hills rather than round them. However we must have gained slightly on each undulation, as we found we had climbed nearly 200 metres by the time we stopped in Penrith.
The last leg continued in the same vein, until we reached the summit just after Shap. On the way down JG was practising drafting me down the hills in order to carry extra speed up the next incline - after swapping round I decided to have a go as well
It was working well - tucked over the handle bars about 10 metres back, I gradually accelerated at first. This soon became more rapid and I sped past Jon, only to discover the reason for my prodigious success - there was a sheep in the road about 40 metres in front (which I'd not seen, being directly behind Jon - although I had of course checked the road for corners/cars ahead), and Jon had in fact been slowing down.
As it was, I was travelling down a steep hill at 40mph and had no way of stopping. Fortunately it got out of the way rapidly (speaking to Flying Talbott later, he postulated that there's a speed above which sheep _will_ actually get out the way) so the sheep, the bike and I survived what would probably have been a tour ending incident. Not to be repeated.
The last few miles were on narrow country tracks down to Sedbergh, plenty of little descents and blind corners to keep us on our toes but it was quiet and we had the best riding of the day here.
Bodies and bikes are just about holding up so far, definite soreness has kicked in but we hope nothing to stop us reaching the end. We have an extensive 163 miles tomorrow, off to bed now for an early start!
We managed to scrape together enough food from a rather old fashioned petrol stations and set off towards Dumfries, where we had an excellent lunch of Chicken Balti and Jacket Potato with vegatable balti. Delicious. I also added a second bottle holder to my bike, essential given the weather.
Refreshed and fully stocked, we set off and had a great run down to Gretna, and we rewarded ourselves on the border with custard doughnuts. It was also at this point that we began following roads alongside the M6, which we'll continue to do throughout tomorrow.
The A6 between Carlisle and Penrith was impressively straight, but set a trend in going over the hills rather than round them. However we must have gained slightly on each undulation, as we found we had climbed nearly 200 metres by the time we stopped in Penrith.
The last leg continued in the same vein, until we reached the summit just after Shap. On the way down JG was practising drafting me down the hills in order to carry extra speed up the next incline - after swapping round I decided to have a go as well
It was working well - tucked over the handle bars about 10 metres back, I gradually accelerated at first. This soon became more rapid and I sped past Jon, only to discover the reason for my prodigious success - there was a sheep in the road about 40 metres in front (which I'd not seen, being directly behind Jon - although I had of course checked the road for corners/cars ahead), and Jon had in fact been slowing down.
As it was, I was travelling down a steep hill at 40mph and had no way of stopping. Fortunately it got out of the way rapidly (speaking to Flying Talbott later, he postulated that there's a speed above which sheep _will_ actually get out the way) so the sheep, the bike and I survived what would probably have been a tour ending incident. Not to be repeated.
The last few miles were on narrow country tracks down to Sedbergh, plenty of little descents and blind corners to keep us on our toes but it was quiet and we had the best riding of the day here.
Bodies and bikes are just about holding up so far, definite soreness has kicked in but we hope nothing to stop us reaching the end. We have an extensive 163 miles tomorrow, off to bed now for an early start!
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Feeling Strangely Fine
It was always part of the plan that today would be slightly stressful. It won't be the longest, but because our route is taking us across Arran via two ferries, we've had connections to make that we couldn't afford to miss. The 16:20 ferry from Claonaig to Lochranza was 130 miles into the day, so we set off at 6am this morning, allowing ourselves 9h riding and 1h 'break' time, knowing that by riding faster than 15mph we could earn ourselves extra breaks! We were never in genuine danger of missing the ferry, though when we realised it was actually 5 miles further than we'd thought, we were left with exactly 4h to cover 60 miles - a bit too close for comfort. Fortunately a good stretch along the coast towards Tarber put us well inside target and we made the ferry with 30mins in hand. Having crossed the island, we're now on the ferry to Ardrossan having dinner (I'm enjoying my second plate of fish and chips), with 150 miles under our belts and another 10 to ride to our B&B.
Generally we're still in good shape. After riding 80 miles in the rain for the second half of yesterday I was quite cold when we stopped and struggled to eat my dinner. Also after forcing some breakfast down at 5:30 this morning I felt quite unwell for the first hour of the day, but since then I've been coping very well. It's difficult to know what to eat - we have to pick up what we can when we can, which especially on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere is quite often not exactly what you had in mind. We hit the jackpot at lunch today with a Subway foot-long meatball marinara, which went down very easily and showed no signs of wanting to reappear. Also, I should say a big thanks to Paul for the Nuun tablets, which are working very well - think 'Berocca Sport' if you're not seen them. We both have ups and downs but we seem well matched, which makes pacing very easy. For the heart rate geeks out there, we're both happy working in the 135-140 range for much of day, pushing up to mid/high 140s on steep climbs and down into the 120s when following on the flat, lower when descending. We're taking 30min turns leading, which really helps pass the time and structure the day.
The weather has been fantastic today, after a misty, magical first two hours riding down the side of the lochs to Fort William it gradually warmed and brightened as we headed out around the coast. It's been genuinely hot this afternoon, riding out along Mull of Kintire until we eventually made it to ferry terminal and spent a pleasant half hour relaxing in the sun. The rain yesterday has taken its toll on both my phone and the GPS, which has been acting up a bit - thanks to Zara (or, 'Zarmin' as she'd now like to be known) for texting us some backup directions.
That's about enough for today. We're staying at Irvine tonight in a slight change of plan which will knock about 10 miles off tomorrow's route. We're planning to take it easy tomorrow and be as fresh as possible when we arrive in Sedbergh - we'll let you know how it goes.
Generally we're still in good shape. After riding 80 miles in the rain for the second half of yesterday I was quite cold when we stopped and struggled to eat my dinner. Also after forcing some breakfast down at 5:30 this morning I felt quite unwell for the first hour of the day, but since then I've been coping very well. It's difficult to know what to eat - we have to pick up what we can when we can, which especially on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere is quite often not exactly what you had in mind. We hit the jackpot at lunch today with a Subway foot-long meatball marinara, which went down very easily and showed no signs of wanting to reappear. Also, I should say a big thanks to Paul for the Nuun tablets, which are working very well - think 'Berocca Sport' if you're not seen them. We both have ups and downs but we seem well matched, which makes pacing very easy. For the heart rate geeks out there, we're both happy working in the 135-140 range for much of day, pushing up to mid/high 140s on steep climbs and down into the 120s when following on the flat, lower when descending. We're taking 30min turns leading, which really helps pass the time and structure the day.
The weather has been fantastic today, after a misty, magical first two hours riding down the side of the lochs to Fort William it gradually warmed and brightened as we headed out around the coast. It's been genuinely hot this afternoon, riding out along Mull of Kintire until we eventually made it to ferry terminal and spent a pleasant half hour relaxing in the sun. The rain yesterday has taken its toll on both my phone and the GPS, which has been acting up a bit - thanks to Zara (or, 'Zarmin' as she'd now like to be known) for texting us some backup directions.
That's about enough for today. We're staying at Irvine tonight in a slight change of plan which will knock about 10 miles off tomorrow's route. We're planning to take it easy tomorrow and be as fresh as possible when we arrive in Sedbergh - we'll let you know how it goes.
Why Does It Always Rain On Me?
We delayed our start time in order to get breakfast served at the hotel, which meant that we got to the famous sign post at 08:15. Except the post stood without the signs, because it turns out you have to pay someone in a little booth the put the signs up and take your photo, and he didn't turn up until 09:30.
We made steady progress in the first two hours, just hitting our intended average speed of 15mph. Eventually we warmed up and the speed crept up towards 16mpg by lunch time in Golspie. We continue in this manner, heading towards Inverness, although it started raining after 5 hours in the saddle. The rain is irritating, mainly because whoever is following has to deal with the spray of the leader (we don't have mudguards on our bikes).
The last two hours were spent alongside Loch Ness, ending in Fort Augustus which looks really nice. Sadly we have to leave very early tomorrow in order to catch the ferry to Arran at 16:20, so the alarms are set for 05:00 and we'll be away by 06:00.
Some stats:
Distance: 153.75 miles
Ascent: ~2000m
Time: 9 h 25 min
Average Speed: 16.3mph
Somewhat better than we were expecting, we will probably not maintain this for the rest of the week.
Maximum Speed: 42.5mph
Could have gone faster but there was a caravan in the way.
Road of the Day: A9 over the Black Isle.
Tough one this - the roads we're all pretty smooth, apart from a couple of sections along Loch Ness towards the end. This road took the honour for a number of reasons - it was very smooth, it climbed a significant height at an ideal and consistent gradient, and has a great descent ending with a bridge that dropped down into Inverness.
We made steady progress in the first two hours, just hitting our intended average speed of 15mph. Eventually we warmed up and the speed crept up towards 16mpg by lunch time in Golspie. We continue in this manner, heading towards Inverness, although it started raining after 5 hours in the saddle. The rain is irritating, mainly because whoever is following has to deal with the spray of the leader (we don't have mudguards on our bikes).
The last two hours were spent alongside Loch Ness, ending in Fort Augustus which looks really nice. Sadly we have to leave very early tomorrow in order to catch the ferry to Arran at 16:20, so the alarms are set for 05:00 and we'll be away by 06:00.
Some stats:
Distance: 153.75 miles
Ascent: ~2000m
Time: 9 h 25 min
Average Speed: 16.3mph
Somewhat better than we were expecting, we will probably not maintain this for the rest of the week.
Maximum Speed: 42.5mph
Could have gone faster but there was a caravan in the way.
Road of the Day: A9 over the Black Isle.
Tough one this - the roads we're all pretty smooth, apart from a couple of sections along Loch Ness towards the end. This road took the honour for a number of reasons - it was very smooth, it climbed a significant height at an ideal and consistent gradient, and has a great descent ending with a bridge that dropped down into Inverness.
Friday, 28 May 2010
On the start line
Quick update before bed, and probably the last before we start. We've spent most of the day on various trains, gradually wending our way northward. For each segment of the journey we each have a ticket, a seat reservation, a bike reservation and a copy of the bike reservation to attach to the bike - between us 24 tickets for London to Wick. We were glad we had them all at Inverness though, since we had to eject a couple of guys who were trying to head north on our train, without tickets for their bikes! We were half way through trying to fit four bikes on a rack made for two when the guard came and ordered them off the train. Harsh, especially since was only one more train today, several hours later.
Anyway we're here now, at the furthermost extent of both mainland Britain and, it would seem, the internet. We've had a good dinner and we're ready to get moving in the morning. Day 1 is all about proving we can cover lots of ground at a nice steady pace and not be tired at the end of it. Will let you know how it goes. And best of luck to Matt, also starting tomorrow - travelling on his own and taking a longer route than we are. Respect
Anyway we're here now, at the furthermost extent of both mainland Britain and, it would seem, the internet. We've had a good dinner and we're ready to get moving in the morning. Day 1 is all about proving we can cover lots of ground at a nice steady pace and not be tired at the end of it. Will let you know how it goes. And best of luck to Matt, also starting tomorrow - travelling on his own and taking a longer route than we are. Respect
Fuel
It's not quite the Orient Express, but the sleeper train is a truly civilised way to travel, complete with being woken in the morning by the steward bringing in a cup of coffee. It's strange to wake up in the middle of a new city, with no sensation of having actually 'travelled' - checked in, queued, been scanned, found things to do to while away the hours, but it's definitely something I'd recommended.
I've managed a respectable breakfast this morning, though I did get a disapproving look when I ordered a full cooked breakfast and a jacket potato (at least I didn't call it a Full English). Eating more has been a big aim for the last few weeks for me, I've found that I struggle to eat a really big meal after a very long day riding, which is clearly going to be a problem if I can't this week. I was particularly pleased with myself last night managing a Kiwiburger, chips, Orio milkshake and onion rings from GBK. Still a few thousand Kcals short of a whole day's riding, but it's a start.
I've managed a respectable breakfast this morning, though I did get a disapproving look when I ordered a full cooked breakfast and a jacket potato (at least I didn't call it a Full English). Eating more has been a big aim for the last few weeks for me, I've found that I struggle to eat a really big meal after a very long day riding, which is clearly going to be a problem if I can't this week. I was particularly pleased with myself last night managing a Kiwiburger, chips, Orio milkshake and onion rings from GBK. Still a few thousand Kcals short of a whole day's riding, but it's a start.
Fry Up in Glasgow
In Glasgow now, eating an excellent breakfast in a greasy spoon (surprisingly difficult to find). I've rarely slept as well as I did on the train last night, and we're now looking forward to heading further north, changing at Inverness on our way to Wick. From there we've got a 15 mile ride to the B&B in John O'Groats.
We're travelling fairly light, with one small pair of panniers mounted on the rear of the bike each. For me, one contains all my clothes for the trip - mostly a selection of tops for different conditions, some (non-lycra) shorts for evening wear and a pair of trainers - and the other contains a couple of spares, this netbook and our little HD waterproof video camera which we hope will allow you to see some of our best moments.
I've also got a handlebar mounted pack, for easy access to food on the go. JG described this in derogatory terms as "the trough" last weekend, but I note that he has now installed one as well (albeit a more svelte model). The only important task for today (other than the journey) is to fill these troughs.
We're travelling fairly light, with one small pair of panniers mounted on the rear of the bike each. For me, one contains all my clothes for the trip - mostly a selection of tops for different conditions, some (non-lycra) shorts for evening wear and a pair of trainers - and the other contains a couple of spares, this netbook and our little HD waterproof video camera which we hope will allow you to see some of our best moments.
I've also got a handlebar mounted pack, for easy access to food on the go. JG described this in derogatory terms as "the trough" last weekend, but I note that he has now installed one as well (albeit a more svelte model). The only important task for today (other than the journey) is to fill these troughs.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Those route plans in full
We'll try and keep the most recent day's actual trace up at the top of the page, but here are the route plans for all six days:
Leaving, on a slow train
So we're departing this evening from London on the sleeper to Glasgow. Annoyingly there were no cycle spaces available on the Inverness train so we'll get a train from Glasgow in Inverness tomorrow morning, then on to Wick before cycling the last 15 miles to John O'Groats.
JPD sensibly pulled an all-nighter at work last night, so he still has to go home and pack, hopefully he won't forget anything important, like the train tickets...
I spent last night packing and booking accommodation for the later days. We've decided to definitely aim to complete the route in six days, which means averaging a pretty chunky 150 miles per day, and generally between 1500m and 2000m of vertical ascent. I've changed a couple of our overnight stops and improved some of the routes to avoid unnecessary climbing and avoid major roads.
It would be fair to say that we don't exactly have the six day trip in the bag at this stage. Although we've done training rides longer than our daily average (and faster than our goal average speed of 15mph), we haven't done even two days back to back. So although we know we can do one day easily, day six is still something I'm trying not to think about.
JPD sensibly pulled an all-nighter at work last night, so he still has to go home and pack, hopefully he won't forget anything important, like the train tickets...
I spent last night packing and booking accommodation for the later days. We've decided to definitely aim to complete the route in six days, which means averaging a pretty chunky 150 miles per day, and generally between 1500m and 2000m of vertical ascent. I've changed a couple of our overnight stops and improved some of the routes to avoid unnecessary climbing and avoid major roads.
It would be fair to say that we don't exactly have the six day trip in the bag at this stage. Although we've done training rides longer than our daily average (and faster than our goal average speed of 15mph), we haven't done even two days back to back. So although we know we can do one day easily, day six is still something I'm trying not to think about.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Travelling Light
Preparing for this trip has been a great excuse to splash out on some new kit, including a new bike. After considering a dedicated tourer, I've instead chosen a mid-level road bike. There aren't many manufacturers making bikes I'm comfortable on, so I've gone with a Cannondale CAAD9 105 Compact in a 63cm frame, which has identical geometry to my trusty old R3000 and so I can be fairly sure of being comfortable on it.
The only changes from 'factory spec' have been an extended seat post, Armadillo tyres and the saddle from my trusty single-speed commuter, in preference to the somewhat unforgiving Fi'zi:k model that came with it.
For carrying capacity, I have a Tubus Fly rear rack supporting my old Altura panniers. Since the bike doesn't have any mounting points on the frame, the rack is attached to a skewer adapter and to the rear brake mounting. This might sound a bit precarious, but after a few long practice rides and no trouble, I'm reasonably confident with the arrangement.
Aside from the necessities, the key 'toy' for this trip is the excellent Garmin 705 GPS device. Using http://www.bikehike.co.uk to plan and optimise our routes, the track files can then be transferred to the Garmin to make navigation (hopefully!) a piece of cake. It will also log our actual course and speed of course, and we hope to be able to upload these on a daily basis so you can watch as we gradually slow down.
The only changes from 'factory spec' have been an extended seat post, Armadillo tyres and the saddle from my trusty single-speed commuter, in preference to the somewhat unforgiving Fi'zi:k model that came with it.
For carrying capacity, I have a Tubus Fly rear rack supporting my old Altura panniers. Since the bike doesn't have any mounting points on the frame, the rack is attached to a skewer adapter and to the rear brake mounting. This might sound a bit precarious, but after a few long practice rides and no trouble, I'm reasonably confident with the arrangement.
Aside from the necessities, the key 'toy' for this trip is the excellent Garmin 705 GPS device. Using http://www.bikehike.co.uk to plan and optimise our routes, the track files can then be transferred to the Garmin to make navigation (hopefully!) a piece of cake. It will also log our actual course and speed of course, and we hope to be able to upload these on a daily basis so you can watch as we gradually slow down.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Trip Outline
With just over 48 hours until we leave, we're still planning the final details. The plan, as it stands, is as follows:
Thursday
Catch the sleeper train from London Euston to Glasgow.
Friday
Take the train from Glasgow to Wick, via Inverness. Cycle to John O'Groats (about 15 miles).
Saturday (day 1)
249km and 2,071m ascent from John O'Groats to Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness.
Sunday (day 2)
216km and 2,050m ascent from Fort Augustus to Claonaig.
Ferry from Claonaig to Lochranza.
24km and 302m ascent from Lochranza to Brodick.
Ferry from Brodick to Ardrossan.
9km and 46m ascent from Ardrossan to Kilwinning.
Monday (day 3)
241km and 1,833m ascent from Kilwinning to Sedbergh.
Tuesday (day 4)
261km and 1,744m ascent from Sedbergh to Kiddermister.
Wednesday (day 5)
253km and 2,058m ascent from Kiddermister to Exeter.
Thursday (day 6)
210km and 2,360m ascent from Exeter to Land's End.
Thursday
Catch the sleeper train from London Euston to Glasgow.
Friday
Take the train from Glasgow to Wick, via Inverness. Cycle to John O'Groats (about 15 miles).
Saturday (day 1)
249km and 2,071m ascent from John O'Groats to Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness.
Sunday (day 2)
216km and 2,050m ascent from Fort Augustus to Claonaig.
Ferry from Claonaig to Lochranza.
24km and 302m ascent from Lochranza to Brodick.
Ferry from Brodick to Ardrossan.
9km and 46m ascent from Ardrossan to Kilwinning.
Monday (day 3)
241km and 1,833m ascent from Kilwinning to Sedbergh.
Tuesday (day 4)
261km and 1,744m ascent from Sedbergh to Kiddermister.
Wednesday (day 5)
253km and 2,058m ascent from Kiddermister to Exeter.
Thursday (day 6)
210km and 2,360m ascent from Exeter to Land's End.
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