It was really great to see the LEJOG blog spring back to life today and find out a bit more about the preparation and equipment needed to arrange such a mammoth adventure. It was especially good for those of us who work for Skill because e-mail in the London office has gone down and we have been unable to share the good news and acheivement of the LEJOG team with our supporters who have been following the trip via our web site.
I write knowing that the LEJOG team are back together tonight celebrating their success by partying the night away. Thank you Claire, Lex and the rest of the 'party crew' for arranging this much deserved reunion especially as this is possibly the last time that the whole team will be together for the next year or so because Becks will be heading off to work with 'Build Africa' very soon. Congratulations to Becks for being selected by The Vodafone Foundation to work with her chosen charity for the next twelve months. We hope you enjoy your next fundraising challenge as much as LEJOG!
But what next........
For Skill there is the knowledge of the generous donation being made by the Vodafone LEJOG team through the corporate and personal sponsorship that the team have collected and the fundraising events that have been held to support this venture. The fact that this donation will be match funded by the Vodafone Foundation means that every single penny that the team have raised will be doubled and Skill will be able to help twice as many disabled students to make individual choices as to their futures. And with the myriad of changes being introduced to the education system in this country this really is more important than ever before.
Our policy team are working tirelessly to inform Government of the changes that need to be made to this legislation to protect the rights of
disabled students. The Information team continues to answer queries received by e-mail, text and phone from disabled students and the November conference will provide workshops and training on a whole range of issues for professionals working and supporting disabled students.
And for the Vodafone LEJOG team - only they can answer that but I really hope they will continue to blog occasionally as they reflect upon their 12 days spent in the saddle (and behind the wheel of the cars and van) and maybe share their vision for the next great adventure!
Thank you team LEJOG from all of us at Skill. You are, without doubt, the best!
Carol :)
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Day 12+4 - Back To Reality
Sept 29, 09:19: Back by popular demand....
It's now 4 days since we finished, and I'm sitting at my desk in the office and currently being paid to work instead of blogging, which is a worry because I know full well that a couple of people quite high up in the Vodafone chain of command will see this and probably want a 'car park chat' with me shortly thereafter - so, Tom, Terry, I apologise, it won't happen again and the voices made me do it...
I thought I'd share some random bits of info and misty-eyed reminiscences about the 12 days spent in the saddle with 9 people I didn't initially know very well and can now regard as, er, people I have met (that's a joke, love you all really. Mostly).
Maybe, for the benefit of anyone stumbling across this via Google and considering doing a LEJOG ride, some equipment and supplies info might be useful. None of us are professional cyclists, and as alluded to in earlier posts, before this whole thing started some of us weren't any kind of cyclist at all - though there's no truth to the rumour I'm just about to start that Mark actually began the trip on stabilisers.
Mark's bike is a Boardman Performance Hybrid Bike Pro, which is exclusive to Halfords. At £799 it is, I believe, the most expensive machine out of all the bikes used, so it just goes to show you don't need to have really professional gear to do this
Carl was riding another Boardman, a 'Road Bike Comp', and that's £650 worth. Becks used a Carrera Subway (£330), the only mountain bike of the bunch (which at various times we all thought was the smarter option). Eddie rode a 2008 Giant SCR4 (no longer available, but was I think about £400), I had a 2008 Giant SCR1.5 (again, not available now but retailed at £600), and then there was Andy & Veljko. They were both a bit special, for different reasons.
Andy's bike, which you will recall he has an unnatural and frankly disturbing affection for, is a Trek of indeterminate age & model. Affectionately known as 'The Dirty Princess', it's a lightweight road race machine, which will cover you in a film of oil if you get within 8 feet of it, hence the name. Veljko's bike is a handbuilt Fausto Coppi (no, I've never heard of them either), or at least the frame is, and whilst it's clearly fairly old it has a lot of more modern components hanging off it which probably makes it unique. God only knows what it's worth. The gearing suggests it's been built for speed, which is odd because the man in the saddle appears to be built for comfort - though you'd have to ask Andy about that because he was the one sharing a double bed with the big lad.
Other essentials on the trip: Padded shorts, padded bike tights (for the colder days), helmets, plenty of base layers / jerseys / wind & rainproof jackets all made of decent wicking materials (no cotton!), Sudocrem (you'll thank me for it), enough flapjacks, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and cocktail sausages to sink a country (preferably France), and an unlimited supply of Marlboro Lights, though admittedly these were only an essential for Mark. You'd also be well advised to find yourself 3 women with inexhaustible patience to look after you and rise above the urge to throttle you when you have the inevitable diva moments, such as finding the banana you've been handed is just slightly too green for your liking or curved the wrong way.
That's not a complete list by any means - we also had GPS, lots of spare tyres, innertubes, lights & batteries etc - but there's really too much stuff to list here. Which is why we also had an enormous van and two cars to carry all our junk in. In fact, if you are considering a LEJOG ride, my advice would be to forget it, it's too much of a logistical headache.
Just kidding.
Keith
PS: Misty-eyed reminiscences in the next post, I really should do some work now. Ho hum
It's now 4 days since we finished, and I'm sitting at my desk in the office and currently being paid to work instead of blogging, which is a worry because I know full well that a couple of people quite high up in the Vodafone chain of command will see this and probably want a 'car park chat' with me shortly thereafter - so, Tom, Terry, I apologise, it won't happen again and the voices made me do it...
I thought I'd share some random bits of info and misty-eyed reminiscences about the 12 days spent in the saddle with 9 people I didn't initially know very well and can now regard as, er, people I have met (that's a joke, love you all really. Mostly).
Maybe, for the benefit of anyone stumbling across this via Google and considering doing a LEJOG ride, some equipment and supplies info might be useful. None of us are professional cyclists, and as alluded to in earlier posts, before this whole thing started some of us weren't any kind of cyclist at all - though there's no truth to the rumour I'm just about to start that Mark actually began the trip on stabilisers.
Mark's bike is a Boardman Performance Hybrid Bike Pro, which is exclusive to Halfords. At £799 it is, I believe, the most expensive machine out of all the bikes used, so it just goes to show you don't need to have really professional gear to do this
Carl was riding another Boardman, a 'Road Bike Comp', and that's £650 worth. Becks used a Carrera Subway (£330), the only mountain bike of the bunch (which at various times we all thought was the smarter option). Eddie rode a 2008 Giant SCR4 (no longer available, but was I think about £400), I had a 2008 Giant SCR1.5 (again, not available now but retailed at £600), and then there was Andy & Veljko. They were both a bit special, for different reasons.
Andy's bike, which you will recall he has an unnatural and frankly disturbing affection for, is a Trek of indeterminate age & model. Affectionately known as 'The Dirty Princess', it's a lightweight road race machine, which will cover you in a film of oil if you get within 8 feet of it, hence the name. Veljko's bike is a handbuilt Fausto Coppi (no, I've never heard of them either), or at least the frame is, and whilst it's clearly fairly old it has a lot of more modern components hanging off it which probably makes it unique. God only knows what it's worth. The gearing suggests it's been built for speed, which is odd because the man in the saddle appears to be built for comfort - though you'd have to ask Andy about that because he was the one sharing a double bed with the big lad.
Other essentials on the trip: Padded shorts, padded bike tights (for the colder days), helmets, plenty of base layers / jerseys / wind & rainproof jackets all made of decent wicking materials (no cotton!), Sudocrem (you'll thank me for it), enough flapjacks, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and cocktail sausages to sink a country (preferably France), and an unlimited supply of Marlboro Lights, though admittedly these were only an essential for Mark. You'd also be well advised to find yourself 3 women with inexhaustible patience to look after you and rise above the urge to throttle you when you have the inevitable diva moments, such as finding the banana you've been handed is just slightly too green for your liking or curved the wrong way.
That's not a complete list by any means - we also had GPS, lots of spare tyres, innertubes, lights & batteries etc - but there's really too much stuff to list here. Which is why we also had an enormous van and two cars to carry all our junk in. In fact, if you are considering a LEJOG ride, my advice would be to forget it, it's too much of a logistical headache.
Just kidding.
Keith
PS: Misty-eyed reminiscences in the next post, I really should do some work now. Ho hum
Friday, 25 September 2009
Day 12 - it's all over....
Sept 25th, 20:18: Well, that's that then.
Nice early start today – for once we actually left pretty much when we said we would. Before that though, a cracking breakfast at the Golspie B&B we stayed at last night. I was treated, again, to my own room and had had a fantastic night’s kip (the 2 pints of scrumpy with last night’s meal might’ve helped).
And at 08:45, we were off. The weather was glorious, all blue skies & sunshine; not particularly what you’d expect from this part of Scotland at this time of the year. Our pace was good and then we hit Berriedale.
This was the large hill Mark has been talking about for the last couple of days. And, a bit like Shap, it turned out to be a lot of fuss over nothing. Everyone managed to get up it – even Eddie with his dodgy knee – and once over the top we stopped for a coffee break.
Unfortunately, once we set off again, a second hill snuck up out of nowhere in particular and plonked itself in the road. It wasn’t as long as the previous one but has a vicious little hairpin bend in it, the apex of which was virtually a cliff face, albeit only a five foot high one. Ouch. But again, everyone rose to the challenge and there were no walkers.
From there it was plain sailing – we were joined about 20 miles from the end by both Becks & John from Skill, and eventually rocked up at John o’Groats a smidgeon after 15:00. And that was it. There’s nothing there to speak of, so after the photos we grabbed a coffee and bundled the bikes and ourselves back into the van & cars to head back to Inverness (which saves about 120 miles of driving tomorrow)
Final stats:
Distance: 69.91 miles
Ave speed: 15.35 mph
Ride time: 4h 33m 15s
Max speed: 49.77 mph (fab and fecking scary downhill!!!)
Keith
Nice early start today – for once we actually left pretty much when we said we would. Before that though, a cracking breakfast at the Golspie B&B we stayed at last night. I was treated, again, to my own room and had had a fantastic night’s kip (the 2 pints of scrumpy with last night’s meal might’ve helped).
And at 08:45, we were off. The weather was glorious, all blue skies & sunshine; not particularly what you’d expect from this part of Scotland at this time of the year. Our pace was good and then we hit Berriedale.
This was the large hill Mark has been talking about for the last couple of days. And, a bit like Shap, it turned out to be a lot of fuss over nothing. Everyone managed to get up it – even Eddie with his dodgy knee – and once over the top we stopped for a coffee break.
Unfortunately, once we set off again, a second hill snuck up out of nowhere in particular and plonked itself in the road. It wasn’t as long as the previous one but has a vicious little hairpin bend in it, the apex of which was virtually a cliff face, albeit only a five foot high one. Ouch. But again, everyone rose to the challenge and there were no walkers.
From there it was plain sailing – we were joined about 20 miles from the end by both Becks & John from Skill, and eventually rocked up at John o’Groats a smidgeon after 15:00. And that was it. There’s nothing there to speak of, so after the photos we grabbed a coffee and bundled the bikes and ourselves back into the van & cars to head back to Inverness (which saves about 120 miles of driving tomorrow)
Final stats:
Distance: 69.91 miles
Ave speed: 15.35 mph
Ride time: 4h 33m 15s
Max speed: 49.77 mph (fab and fecking scary downhill!!!)
Keith
Day 12 - Golspie to John o'Groats
Sept 25, 06:56: Just wanted to post a quick update before we start The Last Day. It's weird, it's come around so quickly I can hardly believe this is the final day and tomorrow there'll be no cycling.
Today's route continues along the A9, pretty much all the way to the end. I'm a bit scared by it, if I'm honest (and I do try to be), because Mark's been banging on about a massive hill on the way near Berriedale. The hill itself doesn't scare me; what does is the possibility of it defeating me when I haven't walked a single part of this route so far. It would be hideous to have to walk a hill on the last day...
Actually I don't think it'll come to that, even if it is steeper than Shap (but mercifully shorter). Everyones fitness has improved so much over the last 12 days that I can't imagine anyone failing to cycle up it. I'm equally sure we'll all be running on pure adrenaline and will have a tail wind so I reckon that'll be enough!
Time for breakfast now - we aim to be away by 08:30 so that we arrive at The End nice & early for photos etc., before the 2-hour drive back to Inverness where we're staying tonight. At least that'll give me time to blog...
Keith
Today's route continues along the A9, pretty much all the way to the end. I'm a bit scared by it, if I'm honest (and I do try to be), because Mark's been banging on about a massive hill on the way near Berriedale. The hill itself doesn't scare me; what does is the possibility of it defeating me when I haven't walked a single part of this route so far. It would be hideous to have to walk a hill on the last day...
Actually I don't think it'll come to that, even if it is steeper than Shap (but mercifully shorter). Everyones fitness has improved so much over the last 12 days that I can't imagine anyone failing to cycle up it. I'm equally sure we'll all be running on pure adrenaline and will have a tail wind so I reckon that'll be enough!
Time for breakfast now - we aim to be away by 08:30 so that we arrive at The End nice & early for photos etc., before the 2-hour drive back to Inverness where we're staying tonight. At least that'll give me time to blog...
Keith
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Day 11 - Aviemore to Golspie
Sept 24, 22:27: An apology. It seems some of you actually missed yesterdays post and have asked why there wasn't one - I'm sorry! As explained in my previous post however (see below), I was unable to publish anything because I couldn't get connected and so now I'm having a late night to catch up. I had no idea anyone would even bother reading.
So, today then. Well, after the huge relief of vacating the last undiscovered Nazi concentration camp at Aviemore (I really didn't like it), we actually managed to get away at a sensible time today - 09:30, which is about an hour earlier than usual. From there the five of us (Becks & Eddie still out at this point, leaving Mark, Carl, Andy, Veljko & myself) made really good time and rocked up in Inverness at 12:05. We would have made it at 12:00 but I misinterpreted a signal from Clare in the Merc and subsequently missed a turning (bugger). The stop was right outside the local Halfords, so inevitably some of us took the opportunity to stock up on all the wrong stuff.
An hour later we cracked on again, and enjoyed some fabulous roads along the east coast (ish) and over numerous bridges spanning various firths (Beaully, Cromarty, Dornoch). The weather was fine (some might almost say warm, particularly the locals I'd imagine) and once past Invergordon, where we stopped for lunch and for the first time had a chance to chat to other members of the Scottish arm of Skill, the wind was again on our backs for a while and we zipped along like people with Deep Heat in our shorts. Becks rejoined us at that point and completed the last 30 miles of the day, stopping only occasionally to break up a fight between her waterproofs and the rear wheel of her bike.
Along the way we got honked at by a lot of angry motorists (some punk kid actually waved his fist at us out of his window while shouting abuse, but didn't appear willing to pull over and discuss it), waved at by a few random carfuls, and even recognised by a bunch of cyclists who'd passed us as we had lunch on Sunday and who, depressingly, appeared to be on their way back down from John o'Groats.
We're now in Golspie, just 72 miles south of The End (I feel it warrants capitalisation), in yet another lovely B&B which is an astonishing contrast to the hellhole we were in last night. I'm quite content actually, despite the group being told at the local restaurant that they'd have to be quiet while the local golf club held their meeting there. Bloody cheek!
Stats:
Distance: 81.41 miles
Ride time: 5h 19m
Ave moving speed: 15.31 mph
Max speed: 38.59 mph (there was a fantastic hill coming down into Inverness!!)
Last day tomorrow!
Keith
So, today then. Well, after the huge relief of vacating the last undiscovered Nazi concentration camp at Aviemore (I really didn't like it), we actually managed to get away at a sensible time today - 09:30, which is about an hour earlier than usual. From there the five of us (Becks & Eddie still out at this point, leaving Mark, Carl, Andy, Veljko & myself) made really good time and rocked up in Inverness at 12:05. We would have made it at 12:00 but I misinterpreted a signal from Clare in the Merc and subsequently missed a turning (bugger). The stop was right outside the local Halfords, so inevitably some of us took the opportunity to stock up on all the wrong stuff.
An hour later we cracked on again, and enjoyed some fabulous roads along the east coast (ish) and over numerous bridges spanning various firths (Beaully, Cromarty, Dornoch). The weather was fine (some might almost say warm, particularly the locals I'd imagine) and once past Invergordon, where we stopped for lunch and for the first time had a chance to chat to other members of the Scottish arm of Skill, the wind was again on our backs for a while and we zipped along like people with Deep Heat in our shorts. Becks rejoined us at that point and completed the last 30 miles of the day, stopping only occasionally to break up a fight between her waterproofs and the rear wheel of her bike.
Along the way we got honked at by a lot of angry motorists (some punk kid actually waved his fist at us out of his window while shouting abuse, but didn't appear willing to pull over and discuss it), waved at by a few random carfuls, and even recognised by a bunch of cyclists who'd passed us as we had lunch on Sunday and who, depressingly, appeared to be on their way back down from John o'Groats.
We're now in Golspie, just 72 miles south of The End (I feel it warrants capitalisation), in yet another lovely B&B which is an astonishing contrast to the hellhole we were in last night. I'm quite content actually, despite the group being told at the local restaurant that they'd have to be quiet while the local golf club held their meeting there. Bloody cheek!
Stats:
Distance: 81.41 miles
Ride time: 5h 19m
Ave moving speed: 15.31 mph
Max speed: 38.59 mph (there was a fantastic hill coming down into Inverness!!)
Last day tomorrow!
Keith
Day 11 - Another update from Skill.........
Those of you who have been avid LEJOG blog followers will have probably noticed a lack of updates from the LEJOG team over the last two days. Was it that the backup crews fears have finally been realised and the riders really have vanished into thin air........ or was it just that after 11 days of cycling, the team were very tired and could not connect to the internet to post their latest update? Having seen Keiths latest post, I now know it was the latter.
So 'Day 11'. Eleven days of hard peddalling - up hill and down dale, in sunshine and in rain. An idea that started in a performance review between Becks and Mark 12 months ago, has come to fruition and will finish tomorrow when the LEJOG team cross the finish line and head towards the photo kiosk to get a picture at John O'Groats to pair with the one from Lands End - momentoes to share with children, grand children (and even great grand children) as the story about this great adventure is shared (and embellished?) for many years to come. I only wish I could be with them to share this joyous moment!
One thing that will never change is the effort that the whole team (riders, backup crew and those others who have helped along the way) have put into this journey not only to raise money for Skill but to bring an awareness of Skill to a much wider audience. This they have done with outstanding commitment and dedication and in doing this they have made a real difference to the lives of the disabled students Skill supports.
Good luck for tomorrow everyone - may your roads be flat and puncture free!!
Carol :-)
So 'Day 11'. Eleven days of hard peddalling - up hill and down dale, in sunshine and in rain. An idea that started in a performance review between Becks and Mark 12 months ago, has come to fruition and will finish tomorrow when the LEJOG team cross the finish line and head towards the photo kiosk to get a picture at John O'Groats to pair with the one from Lands End - momentoes to share with children, grand children (and even great grand children) as the story about this great adventure is shared (and embellished?) for many years to come. I only wish I could be with them to share this joyous moment!
One thing that will never change is the effort that the whole team (riders, backup crew and those others who have helped along the way) have put into this journey not only to raise money for Skill but to bring an awareness of Skill to a much wider audience. This they have done with outstanding commitment and dedication and in doing this they have made a real difference to the lives of the disabled students Skill supports.
Good luck for tomorrow everyone - may your roads be flat and puncture free!!
Carol :-)
Day 10 - Birnam to Aviemore
Sept 24, 19:12: Ok, so this is a day late - sorry! I was having major connection issues last night (that happens when there's virtually no signal), hence no post. So I'll do it now instead.
It shouldn't be difficult, as yesterday was a memorable day - and not necessarily for the right reasons. It was one of those days which was by far more of a test of mental stamina than physical. The day started much like all the others - quite well - with a lovely full Scottish breakfast at the Birnam B&B we'd stayed at, which, by the way, I highly recommend. Adrian Davis, the owner, is not only a fascinating chap to talk/listen to, but also runs wildlife & outdoor pursuit-type holidays etc, which you can read about or book at http://www.wildoutdoors.info/ - I'd suggest you take a look, as I'm seriously considering booking a week's holiday myself. Birnam's located in frankly astonishing surroundings, and the idea of a week's kayaking/orienteering/hiking etc suddenly appeals greatly.
Anyway, enough shameless plugging. To cut a long (ish) story short (ish), we very quickly fell massively behind schedule and by 13:00 we'd only managed to cover 12 miles, and even that had only put us 8 miles from our start point because we picked the scenic route instead of the A9. The detour was part of the reason for the lateness, the other bit was Carl's rear tyre, which was quite badly blistered but which he'd gone off on that morning anyway. Once we'd reached Pitlochry after 8/12 miles, it had become dangerously unrideable, so we called the support back from where they'd stopped in Blair Atholl to change the tyre. Unfortunately I get quite impatient and frustrated when I'm in a cycling frame of mind, so none of this put me in a very good mood. Still, the tyre got changed, we set off again, and after a few minutes the party ground to another halt.
I'm ashamed to say that at this point I had a hissy fit. I may even have thrown my helmet to the ground and stomped off, swearing. Then I stomped back, retrieved my lid and only then remembered that I'd been wearing a bluetooth headset, and had no idea where it'd been flung when I'd ripped the helmet off. Trying to find a bluetooth headset in long grass without looking more of a tit then you've already made yourself look is not easy, but I think I did okay. Sadly I was still in a bad mood though when we set off again, still with around 60 miles to do.
Luckily, Andy's quite good at playing diplomat, and although I initially resisted his attempts to pacify me, none of us could help but laugh when we passed a gantry with the message 'Frustration Causes Accidents' on it - it was as if God himself was telling me to stop being such a berk.
We pressed on. The weather turned foul. There's not much between Pitlochry & Aviemore in terms of civilisation, as it's straight through the middle of the Cairngorms. They are, of course, stunningly beautiful, but it's hard to really appreciate that when you have horizontal rain and you're soaked to the skin whilst slowly grinding uphill into the wind.
Strangely, there was a point when we were all passed by a lorry travelling the other way which somehow managed to dump a good cloudful of water over us, and which for some inexplicable reason we all found terribly amusing. It must have looked very strange to other road users to see five extremely bedraggled cyclists giggling inanely on the A9.
Eventually we stopped for a bite at Dalwhinney, and mercifully the weather brightened. That wasn't to be the end of the misery though, at least not for me. When we reached Aviemore, our accommodation turned out to be another youth hostel - the only positive I can say about it is at least it didn't promise more than it delivered by actually being quite nice on the outside or anything. Six to a room, 3 bunk beds which I'm fairly sure had been bought on the cheap from a local nuthouse which had upgraded theirs, communal showers which were of the ever-popular 'fixed head/fixed fecking temperature' design (should only take a few months to regrow the skin on my back), and a hall light which shone through a glass panel at the top of the door and inexplicably refused to remain switched off. I bloody hated it. Oh, and there were Germans there too, but at least they hadn't reserved the kitchen this time
Stats:
Distance: 70.91 miles
Ride time: 5h 5m 42s
Ave moving speed: 13.94 mph
Elevation gain: 5,397 ft
Keith
It shouldn't be difficult, as yesterday was a memorable day - and not necessarily for the right reasons. It was one of those days which was by far more of a test of mental stamina than physical. The day started much like all the others - quite well - with a lovely full Scottish breakfast at the Birnam B&B we'd stayed at, which, by the way, I highly recommend. Adrian Davis, the owner, is not only a fascinating chap to talk/listen to, but also runs wildlife & outdoor pursuit-type holidays etc, which you can read about or book at http://www.wildoutdoors.info/ - I'd suggest you take a look, as I'm seriously considering booking a week's holiday myself. Birnam's located in frankly astonishing surroundings, and the idea of a week's kayaking/orienteering/hiking etc suddenly appeals greatly.
Anyway, enough shameless plugging. To cut a long (ish) story short (ish), we very quickly fell massively behind schedule and by 13:00 we'd only managed to cover 12 miles, and even that had only put us 8 miles from our start point because we picked the scenic route instead of the A9. The detour was part of the reason for the lateness, the other bit was Carl's rear tyre, which was quite badly blistered but which he'd gone off on that morning anyway. Once we'd reached Pitlochry after 8/12 miles, it had become dangerously unrideable, so we called the support back from where they'd stopped in Blair Atholl to change the tyre. Unfortunately I get quite impatient and frustrated when I'm in a cycling frame of mind, so none of this put me in a very good mood. Still, the tyre got changed, we set off again, and after a few minutes the party ground to another halt.
I'm ashamed to say that at this point I had a hissy fit. I may even have thrown my helmet to the ground and stomped off, swearing. Then I stomped back, retrieved my lid and only then remembered that I'd been wearing a bluetooth headset, and had no idea where it'd been flung when I'd ripped the helmet off. Trying to find a bluetooth headset in long grass without looking more of a tit then you've already made yourself look is not easy, but I think I did okay. Sadly I was still in a bad mood though when we set off again, still with around 60 miles to do.
Luckily, Andy's quite good at playing diplomat, and although I initially resisted his attempts to pacify me, none of us could help but laugh when we passed a gantry with the message 'Frustration Causes Accidents' on it - it was as if God himself was telling me to stop being such a berk.
We pressed on. The weather turned foul. There's not much between Pitlochry & Aviemore in terms of civilisation, as it's straight through the middle of the Cairngorms. They are, of course, stunningly beautiful, but it's hard to really appreciate that when you have horizontal rain and you're soaked to the skin whilst slowly grinding uphill into the wind.
Strangely, there was a point when we were all passed by a lorry travelling the other way which somehow managed to dump a good cloudful of water over us, and which for some inexplicable reason we all found terribly amusing. It must have looked very strange to other road users to see five extremely bedraggled cyclists giggling inanely on the A9.
Eventually we stopped for a bite at Dalwhinney, and mercifully the weather brightened. That wasn't to be the end of the misery though, at least not for me. When we reached Aviemore, our accommodation turned out to be another youth hostel - the only positive I can say about it is at least it didn't promise more than it delivered by actually being quite nice on the outside or anything. Six to a room, 3 bunk beds which I'm fairly sure had been bought on the cheap from a local nuthouse which had upgraded theirs, communal showers which were of the ever-popular 'fixed head/fixed fecking temperature' design (should only take a few months to regrow the skin on my back), and a hall light which shone through a glass panel at the top of the door and inexplicably refused to remain switched off. I bloody hated it. Oh, and there were Germans there too, but at least they hadn't reserved the kitchen this time
Stats:
Distance: 70.91 miles
Ride time: 5h 5m 42s
Ave moving speed: 13.94 mph
Elevation gain: 5,397 ft
Keith
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Day 10 - Update from Skill
It was a great experience last night to have the pleasure & the priviledge of meeting up with our Vodafone friends / cycle heroes in beautiful Birnam, Perthshire (yes, that Birnam, as in Macbeth's nemesis ...... !). I had jumped on the train from Edinburgh, & they were cycling all the way from Lanark, but they still managed to beat me to it !
Their host was Adrian Davis, a veteran cyclist himself (& 'eco-tourism' entrepreneur) who filled us up with home cooking & descriptions of the scenic treats on the road ahead.
I really enjoyed meeting all of the team in 'the flesh' at last - & looking so fit & healthy too - though I'm sure there must be some pretty sore & bruised bits by this point in the journey !
I'm now looking forward to dusting off my own bike & joining in for the last few miles to John O' Groats on Friday. That will be another real priviledge for me, although perhaps not quite such a 'pleasure' this time, judging from the ominous talk of the one 'seriously big' hill that lies in wait on the final leg !
Keep on pedalling ....
John (Director, Skill Scotland)
Their host was Adrian Davis, a veteran cyclist himself (& 'eco-tourism' entrepreneur) who filled us up with home cooking & descriptions of the scenic treats on the road ahead.
I really enjoyed meeting all of the team in 'the flesh' at last - & looking so fit & healthy too - though I'm sure there must be some pretty sore & bruised bits by this point in the journey !
I'm now looking forward to dusting off my own bike & joining in for the last few miles to John O' Groats on Friday. That will be another real priviledge for me, although perhaps not quite such a 'pleasure' this time, judging from the ominous talk of the one 'seriously big' hill that lies in wait on the final leg !
Keep on pedalling ....
John (Director, Skill Scotland)
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Day 9 - a love story
I knew when I saw her that she had to be mine. Stood in a London window, looking back at me I knew she felt the same. My mates dismisssed her ,"she's just a bike", they'd say. But I grew to love her, and she grew to love me. A beautiful honeymoon followed travelling across France.
Today, with ridiculous side winds she was like an errant child, she wouldn't do as she was told, worse even than emptying the joint account for that new handbag. It was as if she was punishing me for her "garage years". Veering to hedges, distracted, where once she was true and unflinching. It was a wrestling match where once it was a love match.
We sat having lunch in silence, my back turned I ate my sandwich solemnly, I looked at the other boys bikes, and thought "what if", "were they shinier, quicker, lighter?". She sat saying nothing, unresponsive, "just like her cornering", I thought. Leant up against the van she seemed destined for a skip on the A80, time to trade her in for a newer sexier model. It wasn't me, it was her.
And yet, like Mills and Boon - there was a happy ending. As the rain came, our shared troubles rekindled our lost love. She was fast, once again considerate of my needs - and just that little bit dirtier than the other boys bikes!
Carlsberg don't make bikes but if they did.......
Andy
Today, with ridiculous side winds she was like an errant child, she wouldn't do as she was told, worse even than emptying the joint account for that new handbag. It was as if she was punishing me for her "garage years". Veering to hedges, distracted, where once she was true and unflinching. It was a wrestling match where once it was a love match.
We sat having lunch in silence, my back turned I ate my sandwich solemnly, I looked at the other boys bikes, and thought "what if", "were they shinier, quicker, lighter?". She sat saying nothing, unresponsive, "just like her cornering", I thought. Leant up against the van she seemed destined for a skip on the A80, time to trade her in for a newer sexier model. It wasn't me, it was her.
And yet, like Mills and Boon - there was a happy ending. As the rain came, our shared troubles rekindled our lost love. She was fast, once again considerate of my needs - and just that little bit dirtier than the other boys bikes!
Carlsberg don't make bikes but if they did.......
Andy
Day 9 - Lanark to Birnam
21:22: A good day - long and knackering, but immensely satisfying I reckon. The day started fairly early in the youth hostel in Lanark - which is in a converted cotton mill in absolutely gorgeous surroundings, with a river and waterfall running out back of the old stone buildings, and yet which somehow had the feel of a juvenile detention centre on the inside - with bowls of porridge and wet clothes (somehow the wiltingly hot laundry room had failed to dry our stuff after our soaking yesterday).
Despite the early breakfast - on account of the kitchen having been reserved by a bunch of German tourists (I'm not even joking) - we didn't actually manage to get on the bikes until around half-ten, because, being a bunch of halfwits, we buggered around for too long moaning about how cold and windy it was. It was cold and windy though, in each case very much so.
The forecast had said WSW winds of around 26mph. No-one told the weather that though, as that should have meant tailwinds and yet it was suspiciously in front of us as we left Lanark. That said, there was a fabulous descent into the valley to start us off, which was lovely, followed by a climb back out, which wasn't. Build a bridge, people.
We passed through a number of towns & villages, but the first of note was the city of Stirling. It was fabulous. From miles away you can see the Wallace Memorial, which I can't be arsed to explain so feel free to google it, and we had lunch beside a school in the Bannockburn area which is allegedly (according to Eddie) built on the very spot where William Wallace was captured and is therefore named Wallace School. I'm sure he'd be chuffed to bits with that.
From there we continued through Dunblane, famous for a massacre (google it again) and then got on the A9 towards Perth. This is where the weather took pity on us, as the wind was finally behind us and blew us along quite nicely thank you. The sun was out, we had a 20+mph wind on our backs, and consequently we were pegging it along at about 30-odd mph. It was fab! Unfortunately it was then ruined somewhat by a) a hill and b) Carl getting a puncture. In fact it was his second of the day, we'd already had to change a tube for him in Stirling. Mark thinks the second one was a deliberate attempt to slow things down because Carl (like all of us) was getting a bit knackered.
Anyway, we got to Perth and then continued north on the A9 to a little village called Birnam, which is very beautiful but I'll not attempt to describe it because it's just indescribably beautiful. Probably you can google it or something. The B&B matches the village perfectly, in that it too is bloody gorgeous, and as a special treat I have a room and a double bed to myself! Evidently Lisa took pity on me having slept on Travelodge sofabeds for the last week when others had had proper beds, and so arranged a bit of pampering for me. Bless her, she's a bit of a diamond, that one.
I'm sure there's more to tell, but I'm a bit pooped and Andy's hanging around like the smell from his trainers to copy all of this onto the Vodafone internal blog and pretend he wrote it.
Stats:
Distance: 84.09 miles
Ride time: 5h 22m 20s
Ave moving speed: 15.65 mph
Max speed: 34.67 mph
Keith
Despite the early breakfast - on account of the kitchen having been reserved by a bunch of German tourists (I'm not even joking) - we didn't actually manage to get on the bikes until around half-ten, because, being a bunch of halfwits, we buggered around for too long moaning about how cold and windy it was. It was cold and windy though, in each case very much so.
The forecast had said WSW winds of around 26mph. No-one told the weather that though, as that should have meant tailwinds and yet it was suspiciously in front of us as we left Lanark. That said, there was a fabulous descent into the valley to start us off, which was lovely, followed by a climb back out, which wasn't. Build a bridge, people.
We passed through a number of towns & villages, but the first of note was the city of Stirling. It was fabulous. From miles away you can see the Wallace Memorial, which I can't be arsed to explain so feel free to google it, and we had lunch beside a school in the Bannockburn area which is allegedly (according to Eddie) built on the very spot where William Wallace was captured and is therefore named Wallace School. I'm sure he'd be chuffed to bits with that.
From there we continued through Dunblane, famous for a massacre (google it again) and then got on the A9 towards Perth. This is where the weather took pity on us, as the wind was finally behind us and blew us along quite nicely thank you. The sun was out, we had a 20+mph wind on our backs, and consequently we were pegging it along at about 30-odd mph. It was fab! Unfortunately it was then ruined somewhat by a) a hill and b) Carl getting a puncture. In fact it was his second of the day, we'd already had to change a tube for him in Stirling. Mark thinks the second one was a deliberate attempt to slow things down because Carl (like all of us) was getting a bit knackered.
Anyway, we got to Perth and then continued north on the A9 to a little village called Birnam, which is very beautiful but I'll not attempt to describe it because it's just indescribably beautiful. Probably you can google it or something. The B&B matches the village perfectly, in that it too is bloody gorgeous, and as a special treat I have a room and a double bed to myself! Evidently Lisa took pity on me having slept on Travelodge sofabeds for the last week when others had had proper beds, and so arranged a bit of pampering for me. Bless her, she's a bit of a diamond, that one.
I'm sure there's more to tell, but I'm a bit pooped and Andy's hanging around like the smell from his trainers to copy all of this onto the Vodafone internal blog and pretend he wrote it.
Stats:
Distance: 84.09 miles
Ride time: 5h 22m 20s
Ave moving speed: 15.65 mph
Max speed: 34.67 mph
Keith
Monday, 21 September 2009
Day 8 - Carlisle to Lanark
Sept 21, 19:14: I think it's safe to say our pleasant weather permit expired today. It wasn't too bad when we left Carlisle; a bit overcast, but a decent temperature and dry.
After about 10 miles or so, Andy & I were riding at the front of the pack when Veljko suddenly shot past without warning. Veljko & I had a bet on as to who would reach Scotland first; I took his sudden action as a sign that he'd spotted the, er, sign which says 'Scotland Welcomes You'. So naturally I stood on the pedals and gave it everything, just about managing to pass the big fella before we entered a different country. Immediately he blamed his gears. I didn't care, I'd won.
We stopped to take some photos, and it started raining. Then, after a little while, it continued raining and pretty much didn't stop for the rest of the day. It became, frankly, a bit of a drag as we rode through Gretna, Lockerbie, Abington and finally Lanark in the rain, to which Scotland added vicious sidewinds as we rode the last 16 miles causing the rain to go sideways and several of us to wobble into the path of oncoming traffic. Such fun.
Becks rejoined us for much of the ride and, I have to say, went a bit mental. I'm not sure precisely what happened, but the mentalness manifested itself in two ways; first, she insisted on saying hello to every field full of cows, sheep and whatever else we went past (oddly, one sheep actually looked round and directly at her when she said hello - I guess they don't get that level of friendliness very often), and secondly in her sudden massive speed boost. From Abington to Lanark she was out in front the whole way and I'm not joking when I say I frequently wished she'd slow down a bit because my legs hurt (not that I actually said that of course).
It did, however, mean that we reached Lanark at the fairly respectable time of 18:10 (ish), where we checked into a Youth Hostel (Feels a bit weird at 39 years old) and will shortly be off out for food. More of the same tomorrow!
Stats:
Distance: 78.69 miles
Ave Speed: 13.69 mph
Ride time: 5h 44m 53s
Keith
After about 10 miles or so, Andy & I were riding at the front of the pack when Veljko suddenly shot past without warning. Veljko & I had a bet on as to who would reach Scotland first; I took his sudden action as a sign that he'd spotted the, er, sign which says 'Scotland Welcomes You'. So naturally I stood on the pedals and gave it everything, just about managing to pass the big fella before we entered a different country. Immediately he blamed his gears. I didn't care, I'd won.
We stopped to take some photos, and it started raining. Then, after a little while, it continued raining and pretty much didn't stop for the rest of the day. It became, frankly, a bit of a drag as we rode through Gretna, Lockerbie, Abington and finally Lanark in the rain, to which Scotland added vicious sidewinds as we rode the last 16 miles causing the rain to go sideways and several of us to wobble into the path of oncoming traffic. Such fun.
Becks rejoined us for much of the ride and, I have to say, went a bit mental. I'm not sure precisely what happened, but the mentalness manifested itself in two ways; first, she insisted on saying hello to every field full of cows, sheep and whatever else we went past (oddly, one sheep actually looked round and directly at her when she said hello - I guess they don't get that level of friendliness very often), and secondly in her sudden massive speed boost. From Abington to Lanark she was out in front the whole way and I'm not joking when I say I frequently wished she'd slow down a bit because my legs hurt (not that I actually said that of course).
It did, however, mean that we reached Lanark at the fairly respectable time of 18:10 (ish), where we checked into a Youth Hostel (Feels a bit weird at 39 years old) and will shortly be off out for food. More of the same tomorrow!
Stats:
Distance: 78.69 miles
Ave Speed: 13.69 mph
Ride time: 5h 44m 53s
Keith
Day 8 what happened to the sun?
Well 2.30 on day 8 through lockerbie and heading north to Lanark. The waterproofs have come out and an extra layer of clothin for the support team and cyclists needed today how many pairs of tights Jenny?!? Still they are pushing onwards and upwards come wind and rain I think I can safely say they make all the support team feel like proud mums.
Becks has rejoined them today and have to say sooner her than me I'm glad to be in a warm car. Eddie is still suffering and has become an imortant part of the support team although how much more of the girlie talk he can handle I'm not sure! It has been a dramatic morning the support team lost the boys about Gretna green,(I'm sure it was so Keith and Andy could run off to the chapel but they are having none of it!).
Now the next bit you are gonna here a few versions of I'm sure so I'm getting in first! On one of my many catch ups to the team I'm flagged down by Mark after pulling over on the wrong side of the road he waves me on to him and then one min I'm next to him the next he is off his bike and lying on the ground next to me bike on top of him!! DON'T PANIC he gets up walks around and is ok and so is his bike all is good! Words cannot explain how I felt. A mixture of oh my god is he ok have I really hurt him, He is doing so well and I've just ruined it for him and the team and relief that he is walking!( Note to self no matter what boss says safety first and listen to my head in future!!) You just know I'm never goona live it down or be allowed to forget how I almost ran my boss over with his own car!!
Well drama over everyone safe and after plasters on cuts and a warm cup of tea they all head off into the misty wet distance again let's hope the afternoon is less eventful and that they make it in good time to Lanark for a well earned hot shower. You really do have to see it to believe it how one moment you can see the hills and the next the mist comes down and makes you think what hills!! Thankfully for the cyclists someone saw fit to make the roads run through the middle not up and over them! Well I can hear Lisa calling to see how the boys and Becks are doing so best go catch them up again come on Jen the coffee and hot chocolate are calling .......Clare x
Becks has rejoined them today and have to say sooner her than me I'm glad to be in a warm car. Eddie is still suffering and has become an imortant part of the support team although how much more of the girlie talk he can handle I'm not sure! It has been a dramatic morning the support team lost the boys about Gretna green,(I'm sure it was so Keith and Andy could run off to the chapel but they are having none of it!).
Now the next bit you are gonna here a few versions of I'm sure so I'm getting in first! On one of my many catch ups to the team I'm flagged down by Mark after pulling over on the wrong side of the road he waves me on to him and then one min I'm next to him the next he is off his bike and lying on the ground next to me bike on top of him!! DON'T PANIC he gets up walks around and is ok and so is his bike all is good! Words cannot explain how I felt. A mixture of oh my god is he ok have I really hurt him, He is doing so well and I've just ruined it for him and the team and relief that he is walking!( Note to self no matter what boss says safety first and listen to my head in future!!) You just know I'm never goona live it down or be allowed to forget how I almost ran my boss over with his own car!!
Well drama over everyone safe and after plasters on cuts and a warm cup of tea they all head off into the misty wet distance again let's hope the afternoon is less eventful and that they make it in good time to Lanark for a well earned hot shower. You really do have to see it to believe it how one moment you can see the hills and the next the mist comes down and makes you think what hills!! Thankfully for the cyclists someone saw fit to make the roads run through the middle not up and over them! Well I can hear Lisa calling to see how the boys and Becks are doing so best go catch them up again come on Jen the coffee and hot chocolate are calling .......Clare x
Sunday, 20 September 2009
The first week! My thoughts
Well, I thought it was about time I blogged and stopped just observing the rest of the teams thoughts.
So how can I encapsulate the first 7 days of LEJOG?
It's been emotional!
It has been fantastic to see many months of planning come to fruition and we are now a team working together to reach our goal of Land's End to John O'Groats in 12 days.
As Andy has mentioned, we are (or is it 'were' now?) not cyclists. Many of us hadn't ridden a bike for years and I hadn't been on one for over a decade when we decided to do this in a moment of madness, during a discussion in a performance review with Becks.
And here we are now on day 7, over 500 miles completed and hitting Scotland tomorrow!
There have been many highlights and memories for me so far.........
Driving down the A30 last Sunday and seeing those hills in Cornwall made me go VERY quiet and also resulted in a sleepless night! What were we doing??!
The beauty of Land's End on the Sunday evening - Simply stunning
Riding those same Cornwall hills the next 2 days and staying alive (Day 1 was certainly no training ride for me Keith!)
Smiling like never before when I saw the services sign for where we were staying after a very long and challenging day 2.
The outstanding work of our support team - I would like to take this opportunity to both thank them again and apologise on behalf of us all for our demands and diva moments (Yes we really have eaten bananas and then held out the skins to be taken to be disposed of!)
Tom praying for Red lights on Day 6 so he could get a breather.
Helium induced laughter (yes indeed!)
Shap Fell - The achievement and the views were simply stunning today.
And most of all the camaraderie, laughter and tears that come with the bonding and emotions a challenge of this size brings.
I have no doubt that this trip will leave us all with lifetime memories and amazing photo albums to look back on. It may also leave us with erectile dysfunction and penile numbness, however I'm sure that's just scare tactics from a long distance cycling book I read before leaving!!
This is a tough challenge and one that we are all loving!
Bring on Scotland tomorrow
Mark
PS My loo breaks are simply driven by the desire to stay hydrated. I've never drunk (and eaten) so much in my life!
So how can I encapsulate the first 7 days of LEJOG?
It's been emotional!
It has been fantastic to see many months of planning come to fruition and we are now a team working together to reach our goal of Land's End to John O'Groats in 12 days.
As Andy has mentioned, we are (or is it 'were' now?) not cyclists. Many of us hadn't ridden a bike for years and I hadn't been on one for over a decade when we decided to do this in a moment of madness, during a discussion in a performance review with Becks.
And here we are now on day 7, over 500 miles completed and hitting Scotland tomorrow!
There have been many highlights and memories for me so far.........
Driving down the A30 last Sunday and seeing those hills in Cornwall made me go VERY quiet and also resulted in a sleepless night! What were we doing??!
The beauty of Land's End on the Sunday evening - Simply stunning
Riding those same Cornwall hills the next 2 days and staying alive (Day 1 was certainly no training ride for me Keith!)
Smiling like never before when I saw the services sign for where we were staying after a very long and challenging day 2.
The outstanding work of our support team - I would like to take this opportunity to both thank them again and apologise on behalf of us all for our demands and diva moments (Yes we really have eaten bananas and then held out the skins to be taken to be disposed of!)
Tom praying for Red lights on Day 6 so he could get a breather.
Helium induced laughter (yes indeed!)
Shap Fell - The achievement and the views were simply stunning today.
And most of all the camaraderie, laughter and tears that come with the bonding and emotions a challenge of this size brings.
I have no doubt that this trip will leave us all with lifetime memories and amazing photo albums to look back on. It may also leave us with erectile dysfunction and penile numbness, however I'm sure that's just scare tactics from a long distance cycling book I read before leaving!!
This is a tough challenge and one that we are all loving!
Bring on Scotland tomorrow
Mark
PS My loo breaks are simply driven by the desire to stay hydrated. I've never drunk (and eaten) so much in my life!
Day 7...but brief!!
On most days we are the antihesis of the British Olympic cycle team. Our nutritionists fill us up with pork pies, banana and cream sarnies, eyes are turned to the odd cigarette, and we ride different types of bikes in random formations. At our best we can ride within 10 yards of each other in a pursuit style, often that stretches out to 2 miles, depending on our loose interpretation of riding together, the highway code (Veljko) and bladders (mostly Mark). The Olympic spirit is really only alive and well in the Little Chef breakfasts.
Shap Fell is the stuff of legend, and on our training rides just a month ago we would never have left the Travelodge let alone climb the thing. In the days, weeks approaching the day of the 7 mile trek we began to believe all the Shap whispers - this was the hill to the moon, even Lance Armstrong had to walk, 'find a good chemist', 'get a note from your Mom'. We even approached the thing with a degree of trepidation. We forgot just one thing - somewhere during the last month, realistically during the last few days we had become cyclists. Maybe not the Olympic kind, maybe we wont ever wear Yellow - but cyclists none the less. So casual is our approach that we were in danger of dismissing one of our greater achievements. After a cup of tea I reckon a couple of us would even say we took a wrong turn - we hadn't conquered the big hill, but we did, and we did it pretty bloody well.
Gutted that Becks and Eddie missed out - they barely have two functioning knees between them - so for them just a few miles is a simliarly big achievement.
Day 7 done, tomorrow 75 miles, then another 81 and 3 more days take us to John O'Groats; distances many of us wouldn't have imagined a month ago.
Andy
Shap Fell is the stuff of legend, and on our training rides just a month ago we would never have left the Travelodge let alone climb the thing. In the days, weeks approaching the day of the 7 mile trek we began to believe all the Shap whispers - this was the hill to the moon, even Lance Armstrong had to walk, 'find a good chemist', 'get a note from your Mom'. We even approached the thing with a degree of trepidation. We forgot just one thing - somewhere during the last month, realistically during the last few days we had become cyclists. Maybe not the Olympic kind, maybe we wont ever wear Yellow - but cyclists none the less. So casual is our approach that we were in danger of dismissing one of our greater achievements. After a cup of tea I reckon a couple of us would even say we took a wrong turn - we hadn't conquered the big hill, but we did, and we did it pretty bloody well.
Gutted that Becks and Eddie missed out - they barely have two functioning knees between them - so for them just a few miles is a simliarly big achievement.
Day 7 done, tomorrow 75 miles, then another 81 and 3 more days take us to John O'Groats; distances many of us wouldn't have imagined a month ago.
Andy
Day 7... Shap Fell
19:41: Shap Fell. Fairly legendary climb in bike circles - 7 miles of upward geographical silliness between Kendal and the village of Shap in Cumbria, at the edge of the Lake District.
We all beasted it.
But more of that later. The day started early-ish (7:30) and freezing-bloody-cold-ish, then the schedule immediately began to slide as we snubbed standing around eating cereal in the freezing cold in favour of getting a hot breakfast at the motorway services we'd stayed at. Eventually we got going at about 09:30. Becks decided (wisely, I reckon) to sit today out, however Eddie's determination meant he started off with us. However, it wasn't long before his knee started popping and he had to pull out again.
The road to Lancaster and then Kendal was very pleasant, and the weather improved and became quite warm & sunny. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right road, but never mind, we still got there eventually. A quick stop the other side of Kendal gave us time to prepare for Shap. Interestingly, Carl's preparation method involved heading back into town to a Halfords we'd passed a few minutes earlier, as he damaged a wheel yesterday and wanted to check the repair Lisa & I effected on it was adequate.
Being a team, the rest of us left him to it while we all cracked on. It was a bit of an odd climb, with an annoying amount of downhill bits which felt like they were undoing all the work we'd just done. Eventually though, Andy & I (being gluttons for punishment) made it to the peak where, just to be nasty, there was a final descent followed by a sharp final climb which left both of us looking like a portable Niagara Falls. I'd set a stopwatch when we left the previous stop point, and as soon as we reached the peak I immediately failed to stop it and carried on down the other side for a mile or so, then stopped for a chat with Becks & Jenny (who'd stopped in a layby), watched Andy go sailing past and not stopping, then set off after him before actually remembering the stopwatch. It stopped at 48m 55s, so I reckon we'd hit the peak at around 43/44 minutes. Not bad.
Next to arrive was Veljko, about 10 minutes later, and Mark about 5 minutes after that. Then we found out that Carl had just left Halfords so settled in for a nice long break. He arrived around 50 minutes later, and we were all chuffed that no-one walked at all - result!
Once Carl had rested a bit, we cracked on again. Interestingly, Lisa's cousin (who lives in the area) said he was gonna hop on his motorcycle and come along to toot his encouragement; we later found he couldn't catch us up!!
There were some superb views throughout Cumbria (Carl & Mark took a few photos which I'm sure they'll post at some point), and we eventually rocked up in Carlisle at a tad after six.
We're now in a Travelodge and ordering pizza. Good times.
Stats:
Distance: 79.69 miles
Ave moving speed: 14.38mph
Total riding time: 5h 32m 22s
Elevation gain: 5,061 ft
Keith
We all beasted it.
But more of that later. The day started early-ish (7:30) and freezing-bloody-cold-ish, then the schedule immediately began to slide as we snubbed standing around eating cereal in the freezing cold in favour of getting a hot breakfast at the motorway services we'd stayed at. Eventually we got going at about 09:30. Becks decided (wisely, I reckon) to sit today out, however Eddie's determination meant he started off with us. However, it wasn't long before his knee started popping and he had to pull out again.
The road to Lancaster and then Kendal was very pleasant, and the weather improved and became quite warm & sunny. Unfortunately, it wasn't the right road, but never mind, we still got there eventually. A quick stop the other side of Kendal gave us time to prepare for Shap. Interestingly, Carl's preparation method involved heading back into town to a Halfords we'd passed a few minutes earlier, as he damaged a wheel yesterday and wanted to check the repair Lisa & I effected on it was adequate.
Being a team, the rest of us left him to it while we all cracked on. It was a bit of an odd climb, with an annoying amount of downhill bits which felt like they were undoing all the work we'd just done. Eventually though, Andy & I (being gluttons for punishment) made it to the peak where, just to be nasty, there was a final descent followed by a sharp final climb which left both of us looking like a portable Niagara Falls. I'd set a stopwatch when we left the previous stop point, and as soon as we reached the peak I immediately failed to stop it and carried on down the other side for a mile or so, then stopped for a chat with Becks & Jenny (who'd stopped in a layby), watched Andy go sailing past and not stopping, then set off after him before actually remembering the stopwatch. It stopped at 48m 55s, so I reckon we'd hit the peak at around 43/44 minutes. Not bad.
Next to arrive was Veljko, about 10 minutes later, and Mark about 5 minutes after that. Then we found out that Carl had just left Halfords so settled in for a nice long break. He arrived around 50 minutes later, and we were all chuffed that no-one walked at all - result!
Once Carl had rested a bit, we cracked on again. Interestingly, Lisa's cousin (who lives in the area) said he was gonna hop on his motorcycle and come along to toot his encouragement; we later found he couldn't catch us up!!
There were some superb views throughout Cumbria (Carl & Mark took a few photos which I'm sure they'll post at some point), and we eventually rocked up in Carlisle at a tad after six.
We're now in a Travelodge and ordering pizza. Good times.
Stats:
Distance: 79.69 miles
Ave moving speed: 14.38mph
Total riding time: 5h 32m 22s
Elevation gain: 5,061 ft
Keith
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Day 6.... job done
First of all, a big shout out to Veljko's sister, Mary - hey Mary, I hear you're enjoying the blog?! :-)
Today started in a somewhat leisurely fashion; yes, we loaded up the van nice & early but then meandered across to the Happy Little Chef Eater (or whatever it was) for breakfast. I opted for an omelette and OJ, and a surprisingly pleasant coffee, but there were reasonable amounts of bacon & sausages being consumed as well. Tom joined us at around 8:30, which conveniently meant he was in time to join us for the breakfast, but equally conveniently he paid for it all so that's all good and we like him very much for it - cheers Tom!
And then we were on our way, heading up the A533, at about 10 o'clock-ish. Almost immediately I turned into Mark and needed to pee, so location of a suitable hedge became my personal priority. After that though, it was pretty much business as usual - a fairly easy-ish ride, everyone quite comfortable, Mark peeing every 2 miles or so - you know, all pretty status quo. We passed through quite a number of towns compared to most days, which included Warrington, Wigan and Preston. Each of them had their own superbly horrible brand of industrial architecture to offer, but Warrington was the worst - I've never seen road signs warning of steam vents before
Unfortunately, Becks had to pull out again just north of Warrington - her knee was ok on flat sections of road, but there were a few hills and it was on these it was hurting her.
Tom, on the other hand, did fantastically for a man who, by his own admission, hadn't trained and spent yesterday evening on curry and a couple of bottles of wine. He was definitely flagging after 50 miles and has consequently assured Mark that he's either going to get an 'I' grade in his next performance review (that's not good), or sacked (that's worse).
The day finished at about half-six, with a cheeky little 1-in-6 ish hill a couple of yards before the finish just to remind us what we were up against...
Now just sitting here waiting for the girls to turn up with fish n chips - luvverly!
Stats (yep, the battery lasted long enough!):
Distance: 64.31 miles
Riding time: 5h 9m 55s
Total time: 8h 27m 36s
Ave riding speed: 12.45mph
Ave total speed: 7.76 mph (oops)
Elevation gain: 4999 feet (Tom wanted to stand on a bench when we finished just to round it up)
Keith
Today started in a somewhat leisurely fashion; yes, we loaded up the van nice & early but then meandered across to the Happy Little Chef Eater (or whatever it was) for breakfast. I opted for an omelette and OJ, and a surprisingly pleasant coffee, but there were reasonable amounts of bacon & sausages being consumed as well. Tom joined us at around 8:30, which conveniently meant he was in time to join us for the breakfast, but equally conveniently he paid for it all so that's all good and we like him very much for it - cheers Tom!
And then we were on our way, heading up the A533, at about 10 o'clock-ish. Almost immediately I turned into Mark and needed to pee, so location of a suitable hedge became my personal priority. After that though, it was pretty much business as usual - a fairly easy-ish ride, everyone quite comfortable, Mark peeing every 2 miles or so - you know, all pretty status quo. We passed through quite a number of towns compared to most days, which included Warrington, Wigan and Preston. Each of them had their own superbly horrible brand of industrial architecture to offer, but Warrington was the worst - I've never seen road signs warning of steam vents before
Unfortunately, Becks had to pull out again just north of Warrington - her knee was ok on flat sections of road, but there were a few hills and it was on these it was hurting her.
Tom, on the other hand, did fantastically for a man who, by his own admission, hadn't trained and spent yesterday evening on curry and a couple of bottles of wine. He was definitely flagging after 50 miles and has consequently assured Mark that he's either going to get an 'I' grade in his next performance review (that's not good), or sacked (that's worse).
The day finished at about half-six, with a cheeky little 1-in-6 ish hill a couple of yards before the finish just to remind us what we were up against...
Now just sitting here waiting for the girls to turn up with fish n chips - luvverly!
Stats (yep, the battery lasted long enough!):
Distance: 64.31 miles
Riding time: 5h 9m 55s
Total time: 8h 27m 36s
Ave riding speed: 12.45mph
Ave total speed: 7.76 mph (oops)
Elevation gain: 4999 feet (Tom wanted to stand on a bench when we finished just to round it up)
Keith
Day 6........ Update from Skill
Back home after spending the last 24 hours or so with the LEJOG team who are still very much at it raising money for Skill.
I joined them yesterday at the Stoke-on-Trent Call Centre where Yasmin (from Newcastle) and Becky (from Stoke) did a sterling job arranging refreshments for the team and running a raffle that raised an additional £200 (£400 with matchfunding from the Vodafone Foundation) for Skill.
Two of my colleagues, Rhoda and Gary joined me at Stoke so we could talk to some of the LEJOG teams Vodafone colleagues and explain a bit about Skills work. They were also able to watch the 'Brushing your Teeth' DVD - a film made completely by disabled volunteers to promote dental health care to children and young people. An absolutely amazing piece of work.
Apparantly you shouldn't rinse out your mouth after brushing your teeth; just spit out the contents so as much of the flouride as possible remains around the teeth. This means that for the first time ever my children will be encouraged to spit - (although only into a hand basin after brushing their teeth)!
A big thankyou to Yasmin & Becky for making the arrangements with extra thanks to the caterers at Stoke for laying on such a great lunch and to all those at the Call Centre who were genuingly interested in what Skill does.
It was great to see Becks and Eddie back on the bikes yesterday as well. Eddie decided thet the 40 miles he rode in the morning were enough so he joined Lisa in the support van from Stoke to Middlewich and drove her absolutely batty. Becks on the other hand did the whole day which was superb although her knee was giving her a blt of grief today so she very reluctantly decided to grab a lift with Jenny after the morning pit stop.
I would also like to welcome this weekends guest rider, Tom Devine. Tom has secured a fair amount of sponsorship and has been completely behind the team all the way. Never was this more in evidence than today when my last glimpse of the riders was as they left the morning pit stop - Carl zooming ahead followed at intervals by the other riders with Tom bringing up the rear!!
No one can imagine the complete and utter extremes of emotion that the LEJOG team are experiencing; from the complete delight of being able to get back on the bike to the absolute devestation of having to retire due to injury: from the satisfaction of the support crew knowing where the riders are to the gnawing seeds of doubt that manifest themslves when the riders seem to evaporate without trace - and having spent most of my time with the support crew - I know this happens with monotonous regularity.
Where on earth do the riders disappear to?
Can they really ride that fast? (Carls highest recorded speed on this trip is 41 miles per hour!)
And who just transported them back to earth anyway .......
I feel incredibly honoured to have spent the last few hours with the Vodafone LEJOG team sharing this epic adventure. I have seen the jubilation of the team completing another successful day gradually fade away as the pure exhaustion from their efforts sinks in to their very beings. But I have also seen the grim determination to succeed in all their faces because they know how much their efforts mean to Skill and the difference their efforts will make to the disabled people Skill supports.
As the team head on steadily northwards, it is time for me to hand over to Skill Scotland but not before I wish them every success tomorrow as they tackle Shap Fell and I add my heart felt personal thanks to each and everyone of them - cyclists Andy, Becks, Carl, Eddie, Keith, Mark & Veljko: support crew Clare, Jenny & Lisa; guest cyclists James & Tom; all those behind the scenes people at Vodafone (Lex & Claire to name but two - I'm sure there are many others) and of course all the families and friends who have allowed this dedicated team to ride across the country to raise much needed funds for Skill.
Many thanks as well to those very kind people who have given donations to the LEJOG team during the past 6 days. The newly weds and the older lady at Sennen Cove in Cornwall and the family at the Travel Lodge at Middlewich this morning.
Thank you all for your wonderful generosity and so now all I have left to say is:
GO TEAM GO!!!
Carol :)
I joined them yesterday at the Stoke-on-Trent Call Centre where Yasmin (from Newcastle) and Becky (from Stoke) did a sterling job arranging refreshments for the team and running a raffle that raised an additional £200 (£400 with matchfunding from the Vodafone Foundation) for Skill.
Two of my colleagues, Rhoda and Gary joined me at Stoke so we could talk to some of the LEJOG teams Vodafone colleagues and explain a bit about Skills work. They were also able to watch the 'Brushing your Teeth' DVD - a film made completely by disabled volunteers to promote dental health care to children and young people. An absolutely amazing piece of work.
Apparantly you shouldn't rinse out your mouth after brushing your teeth; just spit out the contents so as much of the flouride as possible remains around the teeth. This means that for the first time ever my children will be encouraged to spit - (although only into a hand basin after brushing their teeth)!
A big thankyou to Yasmin & Becky for making the arrangements with extra thanks to the caterers at Stoke for laying on such a great lunch and to all those at the Call Centre who were genuingly interested in what Skill does.
It was great to see Becks and Eddie back on the bikes yesterday as well. Eddie decided thet the 40 miles he rode in the morning were enough so he joined Lisa in the support van from Stoke to Middlewich and drove her absolutely batty. Becks on the other hand did the whole day which was superb although her knee was giving her a blt of grief today so she very reluctantly decided to grab a lift with Jenny after the morning pit stop.
I would also like to welcome this weekends guest rider, Tom Devine. Tom has secured a fair amount of sponsorship and has been completely behind the team all the way. Never was this more in evidence than today when my last glimpse of the riders was as they left the morning pit stop - Carl zooming ahead followed at intervals by the other riders with Tom bringing up the rear!!
No one can imagine the complete and utter extremes of emotion that the LEJOG team are experiencing; from the complete delight of being able to get back on the bike to the absolute devestation of having to retire due to injury: from the satisfaction of the support crew knowing where the riders are to the gnawing seeds of doubt that manifest themslves when the riders seem to evaporate without trace - and having spent most of my time with the support crew - I know this happens with monotonous regularity.
Where on earth do the riders disappear to?
Can they really ride that fast? (Carls highest recorded speed on this trip is 41 miles per hour!)
And who just transported them back to earth anyway .......
I feel incredibly honoured to have spent the last few hours with the Vodafone LEJOG team sharing this epic adventure. I have seen the jubilation of the team completing another successful day gradually fade away as the pure exhaustion from their efforts sinks in to their very beings. But I have also seen the grim determination to succeed in all their faces because they know how much their efforts mean to Skill and the difference their efforts will make to the disabled people Skill supports.
As the team head on steadily northwards, it is time for me to hand over to Skill Scotland but not before I wish them every success tomorrow as they tackle Shap Fell and I add my heart felt personal thanks to each and everyone of them - cyclists Andy, Becks, Carl, Eddie, Keith, Mark & Veljko: support crew Clare, Jenny & Lisa; guest cyclists James & Tom; all those behind the scenes people at Vodafone (Lex & Claire to name but two - I'm sure there are many others) and of course all the families and friends who have allowed this dedicated team to ride across the country to raise much needed funds for Skill.
Many thanks as well to those very kind people who have given donations to the LEJOG team during the past 6 days. The newly weds and the older lady at Sennen Cove in Cornwall and the family at the Travel Lodge at Middlewich this morning.
Thank you all for your wonderful generosity and so now all I have left to say is:
GO TEAM GO!!!
Carol :)
day 6.....
Well day 6 is here and everyone including the support team are in great spirits. The support team are determined not to get lost today maps are marked and sat navs have been binned!! Asda shopping was done at midnight last night after dinner so we are ready for the off...well after the most important meal of the day breakfast,(Lisa gets a day off today care of little chef!). Well just a quick update as my breakfast is now here however I will be back after I was briefed by the master Keith on how to do this on my phone last night!! Clare x
Day 6 - Middlewich to Lancaster
07:28 am: Just a few minutes before we have to load up the support van (or risk incurring the wrath of Lisa and/or Clare) to tell you a bit about today. By the way, we didn't get bladdered last night, we were all just too darn tired to add any more to yesterday's post...
I'm feeling pretty good this morning, a bit of an ache in the legs but far less than I was expecting by this stage. Swapping my clip-in pedals for flats yesterday gave my knees a bit of a break from the twisting action of frequent clipping in & out at our various stops, so that's helped - I'll probably go back to the clip-ins tomorrow when things start getting tough again.
Today, however, shouldn't be too bad. Lancaster's approx 70 miles away (according to Google Maps) and it looks pretty flat. The weather, so far, seems ok - dry, at least. We have a guest rider today in the shape of Tom Devine, Vodafone's Head of Consumer Sales. No-one really knows what his cycling ability is, but as he's planning to join us for the next two days we have to assume that his confidence comes from somewhere!!
Whatever Tom's ability, I suspect it's going to be a long day....
Keith
I'm feeling pretty good this morning, a bit of an ache in the legs but far less than I was expecting by this stage. Swapping my clip-in pedals for flats yesterday gave my knees a bit of a break from the twisting action of frequent clipping in & out at our various stops, so that's helped - I'll probably go back to the clip-ins tomorrow when things start getting tough again.
Today, however, shouldn't be too bad. Lancaster's approx 70 miles away (according to Google Maps) and it looks pretty flat. The weather, so far, seems ok - dry, at least. We have a guest rider today in the shape of Tom Devine, Vodafone's Head of Consumer Sales. No-one really knows what his cycling ability is, but as he's planning to join us for the next two days we have to assume that his confidence comes from somewhere!!
Whatever Tom's ability, I suspect it's going to be a long day....
Keith
Friday, 18 September 2009
Very very quick update as we're off out shortly for a drink to celebrate Jenny's birthday today (she's 26).
Nice easy day today - it's odd when you knock out a 55-mile ride and yet somehow feel like you've had a day off from riding. The going from Shrewsbury to Vodafone's Stoke Call Centre - which is rather inaccurately named as it isn't actually in Stoke, it's in Newcastle-under-Lyme - was pretty flat on the whole, so everyone agreed it was a pretty relaxed day. Eddie & Becks rejoined and both seemed to be enjoying it, and in fact for the last 10 miles to Middlewich (where we're staying tonight) Becks was up front setting a blinding pace which took the rest of us a bit by surprise!!
More detail later. Assuming we don't all end up getting blind drunk.
Keith
Nice easy day today - it's odd when you knock out a 55-mile ride and yet somehow feel like you've had a day off from riding. The going from Shrewsbury to Vodafone's Stoke Call Centre - which is rather inaccurately named as it isn't actually in Stoke, it's in Newcastle-under-Lyme - was pretty flat on the whole, so everyone agreed it was a pretty relaxed day. Eddie & Becks rejoined and both seemed to be enjoying it, and in fact for the last 10 miles to Middlewich (where we're staying tonight) Becks was up front setting a blinding pace which took the rest of us a bit by surprise!!
More detail later. Assuming we don't all end up getting blind drunk.
Keith
Day 5...early
Day 5 and our legs now only function for cycling. Rotation is kind to them, but watching us go about simple activites; staircases, walking to the shop provokes either laughter or sympathy, depending on your nature.
Still, three bits of news to give us a lift.
It's Jenny's birthday, and let's face it - who wouldn't want to spend their 26th in a Travelodge car park in Shrewsbury?! And today we welcome Eddie and Becks back onto the bikes, we will keep you posted on their knees - for both it is probably a victory for stubbornness over common sense, but that is the spirit of what we're doing and it's great to have them back. Besides both have faced adversity in the face of insurmountable odds before; Becks climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Eddie supported the Irish Rugby team in the 90's!
The route today takes us to Stoke - where once again the kindness of colleagues kicks in. There is a small reception at one of the contact centres - and amongst other things they have a raffle to raise some more funds for Skill. Throughout this there hasn't been one person who hasn't helped us or gone above and beyond to help make this happen - we've taken over homes, stores, asked favours, pulled people away from their day job - without ever hearing a no. It continues today, thank you all.
Andy
Still, three bits of news to give us a lift.
It's Jenny's birthday, and let's face it - who wouldn't want to spend their 26th in a Travelodge car park in Shrewsbury?! And today we welcome Eddie and Becks back onto the bikes, we will keep you posted on their knees - for both it is probably a victory for stubbornness over common sense, but that is the spirit of what we're doing and it's great to have them back. Besides both have faced adversity in the face of insurmountable odds before; Becks climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Eddie supported the Irish Rugby team in the 90's!
The route today takes us to Stoke - where once again the kindness of colleagues kicks in. There is a small reception at one of the contact centres - and amongst other things they have a raffle to raise some more funds for Skill. Throughout this there hasn't been one person who hasn't helped us or gone above and beyond to help make this happen - we've taken over homes, stores, asked favours, pulled people away from their day job - without ever hearing a no. It continues today, thank you all.
Andy
The Crash - Witness Statement
I am very well placed to add an explanation to "the crash" - albeit as a witness, rather than a participant.
The laws of the road apply, the person who rides into the back of someone is where the blame lies. Keith hit Mark, end of! What can only be described as my 'smooth braking and steering' in front of them was purely incidental.
There is some further forensic evidence - Mark (mid 30's has disk brakes), Keith (aged 82 has normal brakes). Some people just shouldn't be on the roads, shouldn't he have had to re-apply for a licence?
The case and that of the hideous slander below is now in the hand of my lawyers, they've asked me to make no further comment.
Andy
The laws of the road apply, the person who rides into the back of someone is where the blame lies. Keith hit Mark, end of! What can only be described as my 'smooth braking and steering' in front of them was purely incidental.
There is some further forensic evidence - Mark (mid 30's has disk brakes), Keith (aged 82 has normal brakes). Some people just shouldn't be on the roads, shouldn't he have had to re-apply for a licence?
The case and that of the hideous slander below is now in the hand of my lawyers, they've asked me to make no further comment.
Andy
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Sept 17, 20:35: Fantastic day! Everything seems to have gone right today - a nice early start with porridge & toast provided by Vivienne, followed by a much-needed chivvying from our amazing support crew (without whose managerial skills we'd still be in bed now) to get moving. We were out by 08:45 and on our way back to last night's bail-out point.
Everyone seemed a bit worried about how far back it was - bearing in mind we'd just be getting on the bikes and cycling back past Chateau Miles again. But the going was good and we blatted back past after about 75 minutes, a distance of around 17 miles.
This took the support crew by surprise - they thought they'd missed us or we were lost, but in fact we were simply still ahead of them. Next stop was about 17 miles further on, and with the exception of my ill-advised (but victorious) game of chicken against an HGV passed without incident.
And that was largely the theme of the day - really good pace, everything working, and if it hadn't been for one final incident involving me ramming Mark from behind and buggering up his gear alignment - hopefully Andy will blog a full explanation of what happened and why it was his fault later - it would almost have been boring....!!
Finally we pulled up at Shrewsbury Travelodge at 17:57, which we were all incredibly happy with, especially as I'd had a bet on with Clare that we'd be nearer 6 o'clock than the 6:30 finish she predicted.
As a closer, I have to mention the local Halfords store, which is just the other side of the A5 from where we're staying. Mark & Veljko took their bikes over to them because their gears needed alignment (no, I didn't pile into Veljko's bike too). Not only did the guys there sort them immediately and efficiently, but didn't even charge for it. Big thumbs up to the first helpful Halfords I've ever been in!!
Keith
Everyone seemed a bit worried about how far back it was - bearing in mind we'd just be getting on the bikes and cycling back past Chateau Miles again. But the going was good and we blatted back past after about 75 minutes, a distance of around 17 miles.
This took the support crew by surprise - they thought they'd missed us or we were lost, but in fact we were simply still ahead of them. Next stop was about 17 miles further on, and with the exception of my ill-advised (but victorious) game of chicken against an HGV passed without incident.
And that was largely the theme of the day - really good pace, everything working, and if it hadn't been for one final incident involving me ramming Mark from behind and buggering up his gear alignment - hopefully Andy will blog a full explanation of what happened and why it was his fault later - it would almost have been boring....!!
Finally we pulled up at Shrewsbury Travelodge at 17:57, which we were all incredibly happy with, especially as I'd had a bet on with Clare that we'd be nearer 6 o'clock than the 6:30 finish she predicted.
As a closer, I have to mention the local Halfords store, which is just the other side of the A5 from where we're staying. Mark & Veljko took their bikes over to them because their gears needed alignment (no, I didn't pile into Veljko's bike too). Not only did the guys there sort them immediately and efficiently, but didn't even charge for it. Big thumbs up to the first helpful Halfords I've ever been in!!
Keith
Thought it would be great to add a different perspective to this blog - from Skill, the charity that these great guys are raising money for. I know this blog comes up as being posted by Keith but it is Carol from Skill who is busy putting down these thoughts.A small team from Skill spent the weekend down in Cornwall helping with the send off on Monday morning - obligatory photo as Keith calls it on the left!
It was the most amazing morning, blue skies and sunshine and the air was crackling with the pent up energy of the Vodafone LEJOG team just wanting to get on with it!
Bikes were put together, brakes checked, tyres pumped and finally - they were on their way. Seven cyclists (Andy, Becks, Carl, Eddie, Keith, Mark& Veljko), with twelve days of road and adventure ahead along with 3 stalwart members of the back up team (Clare, Jenny & Lisa) who had the same amount of miles to drive but no idea what the next couple of days would bring!
I think Eddies comments on yesterdays blog thanking the back up team were so very , very right and true. This trip could not have, would not have, taken place without them - so a big personal thank you from Skill to the back up team as well.
But back to our intrepid cyclists - down to 5 at present with Becks and Eddie suffering from knee problems. Day 4 is listed as covering 61.8 miles all the way to Shrewsbury. Add the 20 miles that weren't covered yesterday and this makes for another heavy day on the road so at this point I need to say -Go team go! All of us here at Skill are routing for you all the way.
Thank you for doing this to raise money for disabled people so that they can make informed choices about their futures whether it be moving into further or higher education, training, volunteering or employment. You are the ones that are making this happen by raising the money Skill needs to help the disabled people that we work alongside. To coin a time honoured phrase (again) - we couldn't do this with out you!
Carol Ward
17th September 2009
Day 4: Sept 17, 07:44: What a fantastic night's sleep! After two nights on cr*ppy sofa beds in Travelodges, a real, honest-to-goodness bed was a genuine luxury! Small things I guess but after about 240 miles in the saddle, it made a massive difference
I feel good. Yes, my legs ache and my knees are incredibly stiff in the mornings, but as soon as I get up and move around everything loosens a bit, and once I'm on the bike it'll be all good for what I hope to be the next 77 miles.
The plan today is to start from where we quit yesterday and finish in Shrewsbury. There's general agreement that a bit more discipline is needed with regards start times and length / frequency of stops, so that can only be a good thing. Becks is rejoining us today; her knee isn't miraculously healed, she's just tripping her t*ts off on co-codamol (god knows how you spell that) and can't feel a damn thing. So fingers crossed.
I've decided I like to lay the game plan down in an early blog, before we set off. That way you get a more honest appraisal of how we've done come the evening update - not that I'd fib about our progress if you hadn't known what to expect, obviously....
Keith
PS Apologies for the lack of photos - when we land somewhere with a sufficiently decent connection speed I'll put some up, promise!
I feel good. Yes, my legs ache and my knees are incredibly stiff in the mornings, but as soon as I get up and move around everything loosens a bit, and once I'm on the bike it'll be all good for what I hope to be the next 77 miles.
The plan today is to start from where we quit yesterday and finish in Shrewsbury. There's general agreement that a bit more discipline is needed with regards start times and length / frequency of stops, so that can only be a good thing. Becks is rejoining us today; her knee isn't miraculously healed, she's just tripping her t*ts off on co-codamol (god knows how you spell that) and can't feel a damn thing. So fingers crossed.
I've decided I like to lay the game plan down in an early blog, before we set off. That way you get a more honest appraisal of how we've done come the evening update - not that I'd fib about our progress if you hadn't known what to expect, obviously....
Keith
PS Apologies for the lack of photos - when we land somewhere with a sufficiently decent connection speed I'll put some up, promise!
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Day 3: Sept 16, 22:55: Well, that was an interesting day!! Finally set off at about 09:30-ish, and almost immediately didn't know which way to go. 'Turn right' out of the Travelodge was a purely speculative move, which by a fluke happened to be correct, so we were on our way to Taunton.
Weather-wise our luck held, as it was a bright, dry and sunny morning, albeit with a bit of a headwind. All that was very nice, but didn't help when we hit a near-vertical climb within about half a mile of starting. It felt almost vertical, anyway. Truthfully it was probably little more than a speed table, but it bloody hurt.
We did find our legs again though (after only 3 or 4 hours) and continued through the lumpy bits of Devon and Somerset at a pretty decent lick. Then we stopped for a bit of a snack break just north of Bridgwater, crammed a load of pork pies and cocktail sausages down our necks and then it started going wrong.
Something happened to our pace. Our next stop was just south of Bristol and it seemed to take ages to get there; partially this was down to a seemingly never-ending, steep and badly worn-out stretch of road south of Bristol Airport. Anyhoo, we got to our lunch stop in a particularly glamorous lay-by at around 15:40, and left again at 16:30. Already we were beginning to suspect that the remaining 55 miles to Newent would be tricky to achieve at a sensible time, but we plugged on and managed to hit Bristol in the middle of rush-hour
This is fine normally, as (being on a bike) one can usually weave around traffic. However, when there's 5 of you trying not to get separated and traffic lights keep changing when only one of you has crossed the line, meaning the other 4 have to stop, it gets a bit frustrating. Actually, I was thoroughly stressed about it, a fact not lost on Mark who took the opportunity to wind me up further (the git)
Still, we survived Bristol and continued up the A38 towards Gloucester, but eventually had to stop about 2 miles south because it got dark and we were a bit scared (except Carl, who whinged and bitched immensely at the time about stopping but later agreed that we were right and he was just as chicken as the rest of us)
Once again, there's no stats because the rides are taking longer than our phone batteries last, but we reckon it was around 86 miles - would've been nice to do the 100 but we just ran out of time, light and balls.
Besides, with the promise of a nice meal and a shower at Mr & Mrs Jonathan Miles' gaff for the night, motivation to continue waned with alarming rapidity (we will make it up tomorrow). Many thanks to Jon & Viv for putting up (and putting up with) a bunch of sweaty smelly cyclists & their poor, overworked support team (who also deserve massive thanks and recognition) and providing much more than we could've asked for and, quite possibly, deserved
Keith
Weather-wise our luck held, as it was a bright, dry and sunny morning, albeit with a bit of a headwind. All that was very nice, but didn't help when we hit a near-vertical climb within about half a mile of starting. It felt almost vertical, anyway. Truthfully it was probably little more than a speed table, but it bloody hurt.
We did find our legs again though (after only 3 or 4 hours) and continued through the lumpy bits of Devon and Somerset at a pretty decent lick. Then we stopped for a bit of a snack break just north of Bridgwater, crammed a load of pork pies and cocktail sausages down our necks and then it started going wrong.
Something happened to our pace. Our next stop was just south of Bristol and it seemed to take ages to get there; partially this was down to a seemingly never-ending, steep and badly worn-out stretch of road south of Bristol Airport. Anyhoo, we got to our lunch stop in a particularly glamorous lay-by at around 15:40, and left again at 16:30. Already we were beginning to suspect that the remaining 55 miles to Newent would be tricky to achieve at a sensible time, but we plugged on and managed to hit Bristol in the middle of rush-hour
This is fine normally, as (being on a bike) one can usually weave around traffic. However, when there's 5 of you trying not to get separated and traffic lights keep changing when only one of you has crossed the line, meaning the other 4 have to stop, it gets a bit frustrating. Actually, I was thoroughly stressed about it, a fact not lost on Mark who took the opportunity to wind me up further (the git)
Still, we survived Bristol and continued up the A38 towards Gloucester, but eventually had to stop about 2 miles south because it got dark and we were a bit scared (except Carl, who whinged and bitched immensely at the time about stopping but later agreed that we were right and he was just as chicken as the rest of us)
Once again, there's no stats because the rides are taking longer than our phone batteries last, but we reckon it was around 86 miles - would've been nice to do the 100 but we just ran out of time, light and balls.
Besides, with the promise of a nice meal and a shower at Mr & Mrs Jonathan Miles' gaff for the night, motivation to continue waned with alarming rapidity (we will make it up tomorrow). Many thanks to Jon & Viv for putting up (and putting up with) a bunch of sweaty smelly cyclists & their poor, overworked support team (who also deserve massive thanks and recognition) and providing much more than we could've asked for and, quite possibly, deserved
Keith
So day three underway and as the frustration and hurt of not being able to ride fades i get on the road with the support crew. Im in the van with Lisa and things are getting pretty serious. The Moo Baa game is reaching fever pitch and i think we may be beginning to take this a little to far! For those of you who are unaware of this rather addictive game the idea is to Moo when you see a cow and Baa when you see sheep etc see the animal make the noise. This has proved most entertaining until we came across some Lamas and Carls reaction was to start spitting, nice!
The efforts of the support team of Jen, Lisa and Clare have been titanic. Without them we just couldn't function in fact they could be best described as the mummys of the trip. They feed us get our kit ready and most importantly rub various creams and remedys into our sore limbs (we wish). Either way today has been a bit of an insight into how different the trip is for them. Plenty of waiting around, plenty of trying to find Jen (she gets lost a lot) and then ten to twenty minutes of absolute madness as the guys turn up destroy all in front of then leave. It seemed all very easy to us on the bikes but believe you me they are real unsung heros of the trip mind you aren't all mummys????
We have just finished lunch and the guys are halfway through today just outside Bristol and no more then a few miles from where James Cracknell was telling us just how tough this would be and how right he was. Another 50 miles will see the team home on day three and the rewards of a BBQ at Johns house. Burger anyone????
Eddie
The efforts of the support team of Jen, Lisa and Clare have been titanic. Without them we just couldn't function in fact they could be best described as the mummys of the trip. They feed us get our kit ready and most importantly rub various creams and remedys into our sore limbs (we wish). Either way today has been a bit of an insight into how different the trip is for them. Plenty of waiting around, plenty of trying to find Jen (she gets lost a lot) and then ten to twenty minutes of absolute madness as the guys turn up destroy all in front of then leave. It seemed all very easy to us on the bikes but believe you me they are real unsung heros of the trip mind you aren't all mummys????
We have just finished lunch and the guys are halfway through today just outside Bristol and no more then a few miles from where James Cracknell was telling us just how tough this would be and how right he was. Another 50 miles will see the team home on day three and the rewards of a BBQ at Johns house. Burger anyone????
Eddie
Day 3; Sept 16th, 07:13: Five Go Wild In Devon (and Somerset. And Gloucestershire). Today's going to be epic, at 103 miles. We could've shortened it a bit and tacked the miles onto the next few days (as they're relatively short at around 60 miles each) but we pretty much all agreed it'd be nice to have at least one 100+ miles day. And so that day is today.
We aim to be off by 9 - I think we're gonna have to drastically cut down on the number of breaks compared to the last 2 days in order to make good time; I'll suggest 5 minutes per hour to the team as a maximum, and 20 minutes for lunch.
I expect to get beaten up shortly thereafter.
Keith
We aim to be off by 9 - I think we're gonna have to drastically cut down on the number of breaks compared to the last 2 days in order to make good time; I'll suggest 5 minutes per hour to the team as a maximum, and 20 minutes for lunch.
I expect to get beaten up shortly thereafter.
Keith
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Day 2 - Sept 15th, 22:17: Eventful day! Started off in Bodmin this morning with a pleasant surprise - the Premier Inn we stayed at got wind of what we're up to (I think Lisa may have had something to do with it) and very kindly offered us all free breakfasts. So a big thanks to Premier Inn!
So, today's ride was a longer and considerably tougher one. 75 miles, and the hills got a bit steeper and a lot longer. Unfortunately, these took their toll on a couple of the team and around the halfway point, Becks' left knee decided it didn't want to play any more and she had to retire for the day. A short while later, Eddie's knee decided that Becks' knee had the right idea and pitched him off his bike, so he retired and ended up going to A&E for treatment. Currently his leg is bandaged up and he's on crutches, but is hoping to rejoin us on Friday
At that point, Andy, Veljko and myself had gone off ahead, but once we'd heard of Eddie's fall the three of us took a vote and decided to wait for Carl & Mark so the 5 of us could carry on as a team (I was outvoted 2-1. Mean, aren't I?)
So that's what we did. And, as a team, we encountered what was, by far, the most difficult climb so far. One of us walked it; I won't say who. It wasn't Andy though, who utterly beasted himself to get all the way to the top and nearly killed himself in the process. Honestly, there was a point when all the other four of us thought he was just going to keel over. But, fair play, he carried on like the special soldier his mum probably thinks he is.
Eventually we rolled in to the Travelodge car park at around 19:45. No rest for the wicked though, as we had approx 45 minutes to get showered and changed (and there's 4 of us in this room) ready for a very generous chap by the name of Adam Cooper from Huawei to take us all out to dinner. We were starving and appreciated it hugely (of course) but must apologise to Adam for disappearing straight after the meal - frankly, we were knackered and needed some sleep!!
No stats for today - everyone's batteries pegged it on their Magics long before we reached the end. Suffice to to say it was a long day and bloody hard work!!
Keith
So, today's ride was a longer and considerably tougher one. 75 miles, and the hills got a bit steeper and a lot longer. Unfortunately, these took their toll on a couple of the team and around the halfway point, Becks' left knee decided it didn't want to play any more and she had to retire for the day. A short while later, Eddie's knee decided that Becks' knee had the right idea and pitched him off his bike, so he retired and ended up going to A&E for treatment. Currently his leg is bandaged up and he's on crutches, but is hoping to rejoin us on Friday
At that point, Andy, Veljko and myself had gone off ahead, but once we'd heard of Eddie's fall the three of us took a vote and decided to wait for Carl & Mark so the 5 of us could carry on as a team (I was outvoted 2-1. Mean, aren't I?)
So that's what we did. And, as a team, we encountered what was, by far, the most difficult climb so far. One of us walked it; I won't say who. It wasn't Andy though, who utterly beasted himself to get all the way to the top and nearly killed himself in the process. Honestly, there was a point when all the other four of us thought he was just going to keel over. But, fair play, he carried on like the special soldier his mum probably thinks he is.
Eventually we rolled in to the Travelodge car park at around 19:45. No rest for the wicked though, as we had approx 45 minutes to get showered and changed (and there's 4 of us in this room) ready for a very generous chap by the name of Adam Cooper from Huawei to take us all out to dinner. We were starving and appreciated it hugely (of course) but must apologise to Adam for disappearing straight after the meal - frankly, we were knackered and needed some sleep!!
No stats for today - everyone's batteries pegged it on their Magics long before we reached the end. Suffice to to say it was a long day and bloody hard work!!
Keith
Monday, 14 September 2009
Well, we're now in Bodmin after a very comfortable first day's ride - actually it felt more like a training ride for the days to come than the start of the actual LEJOG.
We started at around 10:30 this morning, after the obligatory photos at the famous signpost at Land's End - which, being hidden behind a number of buildings as it is, has signs directing you to it. Only in Cornwall.... anyway, a nice easy start (uphill) and a relatively fast pace for the first 12 miles, where our first stop was scheduled at Penzance. It was here that we learned a lesson in organisation - we (the riders) were there, the support cars weren't. It seems they took a wrong turning somewhere. Anyhoo, they did show up just as we were setting off again, and it all went smoothly after that.
Well, almost. We had a guest rider today - James, 15-year-old son of Carol from Skill. Keen as mustard and, being 15, with more energy on tap than was strictly decent, he had an eye on joining us for the whole trip. Unfortunately, he got involved in a bit of a skirmish with a lorry (he's fine!!) which, as far as I can tell, resulted in him being punted into a hedge and withdrawn from the ride. But, as I say, he wasn't hurt at all and actually wanted to rejoin, but Mum said no.
Think that'll do for now - I'm hungry and I can smell food. Trip stats:
Distance: 60.09 miles
Total time: 6h 59:45 m
Total ride time: 4h 25:07m
Ave speed (including stops) 8.59mph
Ave moving speed 13.6 mph
Elevation gain: 3,496 feet (not sure about that but that's what My Tracks on the HTC Magic says!!)
Keith
We started at around 10:30 this morning, after the obligatory photos at the famous signpost at Land's End - which, being hidden behind a number of buildings as it is, has signs directing you to it. Only in Cornwall.... anyway, a nice easy start (uphill) and a relatively fast pace for the first 12 miles, where our first stop was scheduled at Penzance. It was here that we learned a lesson in organisation - we (the riders) were there, the support cars weren't. It seems they took a wrong turning somewhere. Anyhoo, they did show up just as we were setting off again, and it all went smoothly after that.
Well, almost. We had a guest rider today - James, 15-year-old son of Carol from Skill. Keen as mustard and, being 15, with more energy on tap than was strictly decent, he had an eye on joining us for the whole trip. Unfortunately, he got involved in a bit of a skirmish with a lorry (he's fine!!) which, as far as I can tell, resulted in him being punted into a hedge and withdrawn from the ride. But, as I say, he wasn't hurt at all and actually wanted to rejoin, but Mum said no.
Think that'll do for now - I'm hungry and I can smell food. Trip stats:
Distance: 60.09 miles
Total time: 6h 59:45 m
Total ride time: 4h 25:07m
Ave speed (including stops) 8.59mph
Ave moving speed 13.6 mph
Elevation gain: 3,496 feet (not sure about that but that's what My Tracks on the HTC Magic says!!)
Keith
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Sunday, 18:25 - just arrived in Saint Just after first visiting Land's End, which is eye-wateringly beautiful. Except for the tacky touristy add-ons. Actually, I say 'just arrived', but most of us have been here for about half an hour - Carl, Eddie & Lisa in the van seemed to go AWOL for a few minutes (with all the bikes), but they're here now so it's time to go to the B&B & eat something. Maybe time for a quick ride this evening too. It's too lovely not to!
Keith
Keith
10:22 - that was the final set-off time. Actually, all things considered I reckon that's pretty good. The van, as it turns out, is ma-hoo-sive and easily swallowed all our bikes, two spare bikes, and a whole load of other paraphernalia including, incredibly, a fridge.
So now, after a half-hour fight with the network trying to get connected, I'm blogging from the passenger seat of Jenny's car with the prospect of 5 hours of bland, featureless tarmac ahead.
Jenny has just informed me that today does not feature the 'right type of light' for driving, and she effectively cannot see properly. So it may not be 5 hours after all.
Keith
So now, after a half-hour fight with the network trying to get connected, I'm blogging from the passenger seat of Jenny's car with the prospect of 5 hours of bland, featureless tarmac ahead.
Jenny has just informed me that today does not feature the 'right type of light' for driving, and she effectively cannot see properly. So it may not be 5 hours after all.
Keith
Well, it's Sunday morning at 08:13 and we should have all met up at Clare's by now. However, Eddie, Carl, Lisa & Bex were due to meet with Mark at his gaff first, no later than 7.15 and none have appeared there so far. Fab. On hearing that news item, a look of complete and genuine surprise failed to cross my face.
That said, I can't say it's all their fault. Andy's lifeless corpse failed to reanimate itself at a sufficiently early hour, and I did start to wonder if Jenny would finish her hair & makeup before we reached John O'Groats.
We've managed to cram Jen's car to the brim; just with Jen's stuff. Andy & myself will likely have to sit on the roof. Actually at this point, Jen's been reading over my shoulder and has pointed out (with more than a hint of annoyance) that the car also contains food she's cooked for us - sorry Jen....
I confidently predict that everyone will arrive and we'll be able to get going any month now. This will be a good thing as, speaking for myself, I can't wait to get there and start tucking into the home-made flapjacks. And maybe getting in a bit of cycling, too
Keith
That said, I can't say it's all their fault. Andy's lifeless corpse failed to reanimate itself at a sufficiently early hour, and I did start to wonder if Jenny would finish her hair & makeup before we reached John O'Groats.
We've managed to cram Jen's car to the brim; just with Jen's stuff. Andy & myself will likely have to sit on the roof. Actually at this point, Jen's been reading over my shoulder and has pointed out (with more than a hint of annoyance) that the car also contains food she's cooked for us - sorry Jen....
I confidently predict that everyone will arrive and we'll be able to get going any month now. This will be a good thing as, speaking for myself, I can't wait to get there and start tucking into the home-made flapjacks. And maybe getting in a bit of cycling, too
Keith
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Soooo.... it's 21:55 on Saturday September 12th, and that means less than 36 hours until myself and 9 other idiots set off to cycle from Land's End to John O'Groats. It's all for charity, of course, in this case Skill - you can read more about them and us on our sponsorship page www.bmycharity.com/v2/vodafonelejog.
In fact there's 7 of us cycling, and 3 support crew - we all work for Vodafone (as you may have guessed) and this all started about a year ago when a discussion arose concerning what could be done for charity. I wasn't party to that particular discussion but I imagine it took place in a pub, and the Land's End to John O'Groats suggestion came towards the end of the evening, following plenty of brewed lubrication.
Somewhere along the line, I got involved (can't remember how - I'm told I agreed to it but I'm sure there must have been either threats or blackmail) and so here we are, in a house in Maidstone preparing for an early(ish) kick-off to drive down to the start at the pointy end of Cornwall.
Hopefully this'll get updated every day of the ride (that's 12 days), by a selection of the team members, and possibly for a couple of weeks afterwards or as long as it takes for everyone to be discharged from hospital and allowed home.
So, there's your intro. I'll stick something else up tomorrow (probably) and maybe some of the other guys will share their views and feelings too
Keith
In fact there's 7 of us cycling, and 3 support crew - we all work for Vodafone (as you may have guessed) and this all started about a year ago when a discussion arose concerning what could be done for charity. I wasn't party to that particular discussion but I imagine it took place in a pub, and the Land's End to John O'Groats suggestion came towards the end of the evening, following plenty of brewed lubrication.
Somewhere along the line, I got involved (can't remember how - I'm told I agreed to it but I'm sure there must have been either threats or blackmail) and so here we are, in a house in Maidstone preparing for an early(ish) kick-off to drive down to the start at the pointy end of Cornwall.
Hopefully this'll get updated every day of the ride (that's 12 days), by a selection of the team members, and possibly for a couple of weeks afterwards or as long as it takes for everyone to be discharged from hospital and allowed home.
So, there's your intro. I'll stick something else up tomorrow (probably) and maybe some of the other guys will share their views and feelings too
Keith
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