Home at last

Facebook friends will have been able to follow the days since I stopped carrying the laptop; sorry to everyone else!

I got to John O'Groats about 1440h yesterday, took some pictures then got on the coach to Inverness with the early finishers, having been up since 4am. I then met up with Maria and the boys at the hotel, got clean (at last!) and into some decent clothes before meeting up with the other LEJoG folks for dinner and (a few) drinks.

This morning there were many goodbyes after breakfast, then I got my bike and Alan's onto the car so we could get back to Glasgow. We got home about 1730h and I'm just chilling with the boys while Maria is out at TKD.

There are loads of photos on my Facebook profile which I've uploaded over the last few days. I'll see what I can add here.

Some brief stats for now:
Distance: 966 miles
Days: 9 days
Punctures: 0
Bike faults: 0 (I don't count a sticky shoe cleat which was easily remedied and was due to a 25 mile blast during the 2nd stage of day 9).
Injuries: A bit of sunburn and some midge bites
Highs: Day 6 in Glasgow was nice as I saw the boys; Also day 3 when I figured out what group riding was about
Lows: Day 5 leaving Lancaster due to the rain and traffic; Day 8 up to Lairg due to the wind and an unfortunate cold rain shower at the stop of a hill prior to a freezing 3 mile decent (brrrr)

Home and away

Having lunch in Calderglen Park, and about to meet up with Maria and the kids in Glasgow. I've taken the rack off the bike to get some more speed and so it's been a fast morning into East Kilbride from Glasgow. I'm also handing the laptop to Maria later as it's more of a pain than a help - Facebook may be the main place for updates for a bit.

More midges and camping tonight unfortunately - I hope the showers are better than a tepid dribble!

"How's your betty swallocks?"

"Excuse me?" I replied in astonishment, before quickly adjusting my facial expression from "gobsmacked" to "why, thank you for asking". "Oh, no worse than is to be expected, it's all in hand" (so to speak).

So I've come hundreds of miles to find myself, pleasantly, in the company of people who will casually enquire about the state of my pounded private parts. It's nice to feel so cared-for! :-)

Today's ride was about 117 miles, from Shrewsbury to Lancaster via Warrington and Preston. While not the longest by distance, it definitely required the most concentration.

I started the day riding out on my own, accompanied after a bit by one of the staff riders who check around the group that everyone's ok. Then before the first rest stop I feel in with a cluster of riders who were going just a little faster than I might have otherwise liked, but having the company was happy to maintain. I'll need to check my GPS but this may have been my fastest day, though it was always the flattest.

We're in the Holiday Inn, Lancaster. Typing is much easier in my twin room than in a tent. Another advantage was having a nice clean sink in which to degrease my chain, which has no room left for gunk samples across the various rides we'll do into and within Scotland. It's all cleaned up in time for my room mate arriving back from the ride. One of the staff though I was a tad old fashioned taking my chain off to clean it in the first place, but I took no notice: someone I was riding with today said she finds the best way to clean her wheels are in the shower...

Today's ride is here: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/680458

Longest day

It's nice to know that (unless I get horribly lost) there shouldn't be another day as long (in miles) as today. The route is here: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/678583

Only my backside could be described as sore, and even then it's just sore muscle rather than any kind of rash or chafing burns. The weather has been hot but my morning "preparations" have paid off. I also think that doing the majority of my training without padding may have "manned me up" a bit, and meant that the padding I now use helps me even more.

Tomorrow is a little shorter but I've not studied the route in detail yet, Tonight we are in army barracks outside Shrewsbury.

Back in a tent

Today's ride is here http://ridewithgps.com/trips/674169 - much shorter than yesterday, though the heat wasn't helpful. Some of the hills seemed to just go on and on, but everyone made it.

We're staying in tents outside a cricket clubhouse near Bristol. They did curry for dinner which was just perfect.

Tomorrow we take a 122 mile route to Shrewsbury which will be the longest of the lot. It'll be interesting to see whether my training was any use!

Some of the participants had family visits today, so I think that having Maria and the boys drop by when we are near Balloch will be fine. Will I be able to tempt one of them to do it on a tandem one day...?

1 down, 8 to go...

Today's route is here http://ridewithgps.com/trips/672216 and took us to Okehampton army camp. Basic is an understatement, but after today's ride it probably doesn't matter.

One word describes today: hilly.

Morale is good in the group, and it was great to see a nice healthy spread of speed and performance. The bike was super.

Too tired to write much more...

A laptop in a tent

Last time I slept in a tent was in the scouts. That was a long time before the internet, and I reckon packing was a lot simpler then. Anyway, I have enough kit with me to lie in my tent listening to the rain and the thunder and write this post.

My Dad got me here in good time today (thanks!), arriving around 4, despite the usual GPS-postcode battle. Perhaps a dozen people were here by then out of a total of 74.

It's very well organised, with numbered tents and all the necessary facilities - though it's by no means luxurious, and shouldn't be. However, the promised pasta dinner turned out to be all manner of roast meat as well, and a generous provision of fresh vegetables.

The ride tomorrow will be tough, but the weather is supposed to clear overnight.

One challenge is to remember where all my stuff is, since there are so many different bags and the participants have to take down their own tents before breakfast - eek.

5am awakening tomorrow....

Goodbye Glasgow

Set off by car this afternoon by car, taken to Birmingham by my Dad. We're in a Travelodge off the M6, though no thanks to the dodgy postcode we were given to find the place.

I made a huge list of things to bring, and I think I have everything with me that was on it. Trouble is, on a cycling trip I usually leave by bike so I never need to put "cycling shoes" on the list... fortunately there's a Decathlon a couple of junctions down the motorway, just next to Breakfast....

One week till the night before

Last weekend was the last with serious training - did 153 miles on the Saturday, and felt pretty good afterwards. Not many miles today as my back is a bit sore. I've been cutting up loads of wood so it's probably just from carting that about. I spent a chunk of today doing more of the same.

There will be no riding tomorrow unless I pop out in the evening, as it's Reuben's 8th birthday - though there may be some sawing in the afternoon while Maria does music and the boys go Wii mad.

Tonight I've been wrapping presents and layout out a few things for my journey. There was a brief interlude involving an old episode of the Avengers when Reuben couldn't sleep; not sure that watching this will help him any better but we had fun!

The calm before...

This has been a quieter week than some that have come before. This is partly deliberate, since last weekend I did 374 miles over 3 days (152 on the Saturday), so I needed some recovery time. Plus I've been plagued with a cough which has floored many around me including my parents. Whether it has been an infection caught from others or an allergy to some Nordic pollen I'll never know, but this morning was the first in a while that I didn't wake with a dessicated throat.

Twenty days to go till I actually set off from Land's End. Hopefully the weather will let me get some decent runs this week to and from work. I'm also keen to do a long run on Saturday, the last big ride before the Real Thing. Then just plenty of modest rides from then on.

As I sit here my new tub of Udderly Smooth is parked on the desk. Haven't tried it yet, but after last weekend I think I'll have to get used to this stuff. Yuck...

Our beautiful country

Last time I looked, a large chunk of the AMR E2E 2012 LEJoG participants seem to be from London. That's probably not surprising since around a sixth of the population lives there.
Now I really like London. It has a real city vibe which - sorry - Glasgow just doesn't match; though on occasion Edinburgh gets close.
However, I don't think I'd relish having to train for LEJoG if I lived there, since it must be so hard to get a decent distance without interruption. Sure, there are loads of parks to choose from and probably cycle routes I've never heard of. In Scotland we really have some excellent routes right on our doorstep, and hilly ones too if it takes your fancy.
Today's ride was this one: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/593126
It's not especially long, but there were hills aplenty and - TMI? - my bum really hurts now. Hopefully the hills will have been good practice.
At Loch Katrine I took a long break as Maria and the boys drove up and met me there. We all had our bikes, but it was just a touch too cold to pootle around at Nathan's stabiliser speed, so we ajourned to the cafe before I rode home.
A great day out.

Still pedalling...

Some of my readers perhaps thought I'd fallen under a bus or something, given the dearth of updates. The truth is I've been busy - wait for it - cycling. I'm doing long runs to and from work, which is especially pleasant in the run of good weather we've had in Glasgow.

This Saturday I'll do the trip back from my parents' again, then Sunday I'll be out with Alan McGarvie who is doing the same LEJoG as me. I think we'll head up to Loch Katrine or thereabouts.

Beyond that is Easter, and the family is going to Southport where my father-in-law lives. I'm hoping to cycle back from there over two days, and hopefully fit in some training while I'm there. There's nothing like a bit of biking to work off the Premier Inn breakfast...

Long Saturday

Did my longest ever ride on Saturday, 142 miles taking 9h23 mins: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/976295

The best bit was being overtaken by my mum (in her Golf), whereupon she pulled over and told me there were to be bacon rolls for lunch, in about 18 miles time... it was worth the wait!

Tried a few things out on this journey:

I drank loads more, which helped keep me going.

I used a few energy gels. I think these help when you're running low, but I do prefer stopping for a bit and downing a few apples. That approach doesn't work on the move as there is a tendency to choke...

I didn't wear a backpack. I used some panniers I bought a few years back. They are a bit bulky but they meant I ended the day with still-usable shoulders. For the real thing, I've bought a Lezyne Trunk Caddy with drop down panniers; it arrive while I was out on Saturday.

I wore a decent rain top. I've got myself a waterproof Gore Alp X III jacket, nice red colour. Like most of these technical fabrics, you do still get sweaty inside it if you're going at it for over 9 hours, but it kept the wind and rain out.

I'll be meeting one of my fellow LEJoG'lers tomorrow after work to compare notes.

Relief

Took the Panorama in for it's first check-up. The gears seem a little better now. Biggest improvement however was the saddle, which they adjusted for me. All I can say to that is: Ahhhh, that's better...

Warmth at last

Did this run on Sunday: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/523337 A large chunk of it is a repeat of the previous week's long run, only I did the Erskine Bridge as well.

It was 2 or 3 degrees warmer this time though, and that made the difference between an unpleasantly cold day and pretty bearable. It rained a fair bit, but that bothers me less than icy surfaces.

Logistical problems this week: both bikes need to go back to the shop. The Velocity needs it's free service and the Panorama needs it's 200-mile tuning. This means 3 visits to Billy Bilsland, and hopefully like last time they'll lend me something to get home again...

Don't know what this weekend will involve yet; trying to take it slightly easier this week to recover from the weekend.

I ride and I ride and I ride...

All quiet on the blog front but not the cycling. Did this ride on Sunday: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/516052

Last week was also great for long rides to work and home; this week's more of a challenge with the rain, but I'm managing > 20 miles a day, 30 on a good day during the week.

Not sure what long runs will work this weekend...

Away the Crow Road

Thanks to Maria for taking the boys to Adventure Planet while I had a good bash at the new bike, testing it out on the Crow Road above Lennoxtown and through the Campsies. It was a misty day but mostly dry, and very comfortable. I've mapped it here: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/509081

The bike will need some tweaking at the shop because the smallest front sprocket doesn't work with the second largest on the back, possibly an indexing issue. It's too new for me to start fiddling with it myself, and that's really only a serious hill-climbing gear so it can wait. 1 and 3 on the back were fine, it was just 2 which was unhappy.

The GPS was proving invaluable, especially the elevation view which would warn me of climbs ahead so I wouldn't waste my energy on a straight stretch. This was also my first experience of the Tak Ma Doon road, and the surprise ford at one point - fortunately I didn't get my feet wet but I did walk across, I just don't know this bike well enough yet.

First training report

This has been a successful first weekend of proper distance training. Friday (74 miles), Saturday (96 miles) and Sunday (23 miles) makes it about 193 in total, just short of a fifth of LEJoG...

Saturday was the best day, as my return from Pinwherry was pretty fast along the A77. Today's return home from Stirling was worst - a lot slower than getting there yesterday. The explanation for this is simple: beer.

Nearly one-eyed cyclist

Return journey from my parents' place was cold and wet. Then I spent a few hours at home before heading for Stirling for a party. On the way, I stopped for a bit to check the GPS properly as it seemed to be sending me onto the M80 - then the right lens from my glasses fell out.

Fortunately, the screw was still in place, and my trusty CERN penknife got it tight again.

That's a tool I'll be taking with me on LEJoG then... ;-)

Need more miles

My cold is just about gone. I've managed to avoid them mostly for about 18 months so that's not bad going.

On Friday I'm hoping to do my first decently long run of the year: about 80 miles from Stepps to my folks' house near Pinwherry in Ayrshire. I have a half day to use up so I'll aim to work in the afternoon as the endorphins slowly ooze away.

Then on Saturday I'll do the return journey, then head up to Stirling for a party. I won't be able to hit the beers too much as I'll cycle home again on Sunday, a mere 25 miles or so.

Splash testing

I did a few long training runs last year where I got terribly lost. So I decided this year to get GPS for the bike, and chose the Garmin Edge 800. It's probably over the top, but it's really nice and will hopefully give years of service. However, I chose the performance bundle instead of forking out for (yet another) set of maps which would just go out of date. This meant installing some free maps on a micro SD card.

I've never really had to fiddle with those little cards before. Like their larger relatives, they are ejected via a spring. I learned this after getting myself a nice fresh cup of coffee. Yes, you guessed the next bit right - my brand new card got a little swim. After rescuing it, I realised that it would probably be ok, since they are so small and have everything bar the contacts embedded in the plastic. The packaging even said it was waterproof. I'm glad to say the test was succesful, since my maps are now installed and work perfectly. Thank you SanDisk.

If only other hardware was just as forgiving with those little mishaps...

The importance of thumbs

The other day I sliced the side of my thumb with a penknife while opening a pack of brake pads. It's my own stupid fault - twice before this the blade had come close, and a little voice in my head twice said "You should really get off your arse and find another way to open this you know".

Anyway, it means I'm largely restricted to my middle sprocket on the front, because it was my left thumb I hurt; I can change down, but through my winter gloves it's quite a shove to get up the gears again.

In a way it's a blessing in disguise - I can't be lazy on those hills I really ought to be able to get up easily now, unless I want to risk bursting my cut open again.

Hopefully it'll be better soon...

Wheelie bin rescue

I took pity on my "old" bike today.

It's a Ridgeback Velocity I got last April, a commuting bike which I'd considered using for LEJoG. However it's a bit tinny and the straight bars make it less comfortable for long rides. It has given me most of 4000 miles of fun since I got it.

Anyway, back to the pity: the Velocity was looking a bit worried about the Newcomer. I reckon it was keeping clear of the wheelie bin and any passing skips in case I got fed up with it and tossed it in. Not so: it's still my trusty day-to-day bike, and now has new brakes and cables, ready for more North Lanarkshire grit and Scottish rain.

Help, my foot's stuck!

Collected the new bike today, the one I'll use for LEJoG. After much swithering, decided on the Ridgeback Panorama. It's a lovely machine, though it was hard to tell in the downpour I had to ride it home in.

I thought I was being prepared by donning my SPD shoes, then realised the pedals were adjusted to maximum tightness. On my first real push away from a set of lights, my right foot stuck, and remained this way all the way home. Note to self: fix this.

It has been many years since I had drop handle bars, so this is going to take a bit of getting used to. However, the ride is very smooth and the gear changes are very subtle. When I got home I was a good boy and dried it off...