Land's End to John o' Groats

New Bike!!!

I collected my new bike today, my first ever road bike, my first ever set of dropped handlebars. It was built by Langdale Lightweights a small company based about a mile away from me.

I have taken it out for a spin this evening and it really suits my long back and short legs.

Why is it better than my mountain bike, a town bike, or the road bike I have been borrowing? The answer of lots of small things, including: it is light, there is a long stretch from the seat to the handlebars, my feet are clipped into the pedals, it has 3 gears at the front and 10 at the back (allowing my to keep my leg speed high, well relatively high), the frame is rigid, allowing the power from the pedals to be transferred into propulsion, rather than being lost in flexing. Specifically it is a touring bike, not a racing bike (too uncomfortable) and not a hybrid (not efficient enough).

Remember, you can make a donation to Oxfam, the charity we are raising money for here.

A permanently damp road

Some roads need a temporary sign to warn road users that they are damp, but last weekend, whilst cycling in Derbyshire, Will and I came across a road that merits a permanent sign warning about the damp road surface.

The Via Gellia is a road that climbs several hundred feet from Cromford on to the limestone plateau.

You will note the reflective waterproof, an essential feature of summer cycling in the UK.

The Land's End to John o'Groats Story

Will and I are now 10 days away from the start of our cycle from Land's End to John o'Groats and we are getting down to the final steps of planning, including reading about routes that different people have taken.

There is a wonderful history of people riding the end-to-end run, with the first two riders completing it in 1880 in just 13 days (and think about the state of the roads, maps, and bicycles in those days).

Over the years people have raced to be the fastest to cycle end-to-end. In 1885 the record stood at 6 days 16 hours. By 1905 it was under 4 days, under 3 days in 1908, and under 2 days in 1965.

The current record stands to Gethin Butler who in 2001 cycled the route in 1 day, 20 hours, and 4 minutes. I think I would take longer to drive it.

The record breakers tend to cycle on the big, main roads, such as the A30. However, these are dirty and dangerous roads, and we will be riding a longer but more pleasant route.

According to Google the 'best' route from Land's End to John o'Groats is just 837 miles, but much of that route is motorway.

Set Google to avoid highways and the route jumps to 889 miles. Add in a preference to avoid the worst of the hills/mountains and the centre of Glasgow and the route goes up to about 920 miles.

The guide book we have has a route that takes about 1000 miles. I suspect hat we will end up cycling a route that is somewhere between 910 and 1000 miles. We have our cycle computers, so by the end of the journey we will know how far it was.

Remember, if you would like to make a donation to our Oxfam campaign you can do it here.

Longest training run ever

Saturday was a good day for training. Will came down from Manchester on his bike (79 miles) and I cycled up from Nottingham to meet him (just short of Buxton) and then we cycled back together. This meant I covered just under 96 miles, including passing through Crich twice. The route included going both and down the Via Gellia.

Less than two weeks to go

We start cycling, at Land's End on Thursday 3rd July, so there is less than two weeks left to go. I am reasonably happy with my training, but weather permitting I should get a much better idea tomorrow when I cycle into the Derbyshire Peak District and back. The new bike is not ready yet, so I will be out today on my mountain bike, and tomorrow on the borrowed road bike.

Remember, if you woudl like to make a donation please visit my justgiving page.

Training back on track

The weekend before last I had a cold or flu or something and  missed out on going for a training ride. However, this weekend things were back on track with a 50 mile ride on Saturday and a hilly 9 miles on Sunday.

On Tuesday I am off to Langdale Lightweights to be measured for a new bike. For the last month I have been riding a friends touring bike and it is so much better than my mountain bike for this sort of riding I have decided to invest in a touring bike of my own.