"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...