Oulton Park 16th June Get On Your Bike Charirty Event

A while ago I saw an advertisement for the chance to ride around Oulton Park motor racing circuit in aid of the North West Air Ambulance on 16th June.  I thought I'd give it a go having been watching motor racing there for many, many years.  The event was called Get On Your Bike.

Its not often you get chance to ride on the same tarmac as such legends at BTCC stars Jason Plato, Matt Neil ( current stars ) or Andy Rouse and John Cleland ( 80s/90s ) and Gerry Marshall ( from the 70s/80s )!!

The day arrived and we set off just after 7am on a dull, windy Sunday morning.
I had entered in the `Speed Demons` 2 hour slot as the rest of the day was being devoted to a more family orientated ride.
I'd borrowed my mate Ric's ( who I did LeJog with in April ) Time Trial bars ( TT Bars ) just to see what a difference it would make.  They'd been a bit awkward to fit as I didn't want to trap the brake/gear cables under the bracketry - my first attempt had the brakes coming on when I turned the bars!
Anyway, they where on, so I might as well give it a go!  First trial ride at home was a bit wobbly to be fair!

To be honest there weren't a lot of us taking part, maybe 30 or so.  The racing circuit looked quite empty except for a few clusters of riders going round as we where so spread out over the entire International Circuit of 2.7miles.

I took the first lap easy to warm up a bit and then went for a fast lap.  Dropping onto the bars I noticed quite an increase in speed without having to pedal any harder. Great, this might be quite a quick lap then!


Turning the first corner ( Old Hall ) I sped down The Avenue on the approach to Cascades which is a slight descent.  The wind was quite strong and so my speed didn't increase by as much as I had expected.  This wind seemed to hold me back all the way to Island Bend and the banked Shell Oils corner.  The next section of the circuit was the chicane called Foulstons and then it was the first climb on the circuit Hill Top.  I say climb but its nothing like the long climbs we would normally attempt but boy was it a bit tough.  When you watch the racing cars climb it you just don't appreciate the angle.  Its only short but its relatively steep so I was out of the saddle trying to keep my momentum up as much as I could.  After that it was the descent into the chicane at Knickerbrook - the place where a lot of overtaking and crashes happen but not for me, I was all alone huffing and puffing!

A quick right, left, right saw me approaching Clay Hill and the next climb.  This time I was well out of the saddle and it was quite an effort to stay above 15mph having dropped many gears in a vain attempt to keep my cadence up!  How I wish I had an engine on this bike!  The bike also started to make some strange clunking noises too!

Approaching Druids I noticed that the marshall was on the outer edge of the circuit which was unusual as all the other ones where in their proper marshall posts.  A quick wave to him as I, probably looking a bit daft, took the racing line around the right hander.  Racing line?  Maybe I think I am in a Touring car or racing bike!!  Well, a slow one as I was only doing maybe 25mph!

Under the bridge and into Lodge Corner where for many years I had watched loads of racing with my mum, dad and brother.  For us, this corner as quite a few good memories of some good racing.  
I can remember when a load of Renault 5's ( yes that long ago ) all crashed side by side into each other and then the last one slammed into the side and rolled over all of them.  

For my mum, however, her memory is good but in bad/strange way.  A very young Jonathon Palmer ( I think in an F3 race? ) crashed heavily into the tyres and had to be cut free.  With no ambulance nearby my mum had to drive him in our car around to the Medical Centre on the inside of the circuit.  Thats her claim to fame, a moaning in agony Jonathon Palmer!  

Wonder if he remembers!  

Maybe we should email him and remind him he owes my mum a favour or three - might get a free go around the track in a race car!

Anyway, I digress.  Back to the cycling.

Lodge Corner descends into a slight dip and climb called Deer Leap which then gets you onto the Finish straight.  I crossed the line wondering now that I'd done a couple of 10mile TT's if I should continue to do another lap - I'd only done 2.7miles so I should be able to, right?  Nope, as soon as that wind hit me I gave up.

So that was it.  A lap of Oulton Park.  Done.

And that was what I did for most of the time.  One fast lap.  One slow lap.  Quite funny pedalling past people whilst in the TT position only for them to come past you on the next lap as you trundled along.

My fastest lap?  Well, no were near what the proper racers do but still quite a respectable 22mph average in 7mins 7 secs.

Overall, though, I have to say it was worth the experience.  Billiard table smooth tarmac is a dream to ride on.  How I wish the British roads could be more like a racing circuit!

BMX Racing - Blackpool Regional 23rd June ( The North Round 6 )

Oh dear what have I done?
After the fun of the BMXical Intensive Training session mid week, Bike Widow Photographer Suzanne McHugh talked me into racing at the weekend at the same track as I had been practising on with Tara, my daughter.
She very kindly said she would sort me a plate out as well.  So, I pre-registered on the British Cycling website and waited for Sunday to arrive.
You might ask what I was racing in.  Cruisers 40-44.  And Experts to boot as well.  In my mind I couldn't race Novice even though I hadn't raced in 27 years.  I knew I'd be a bit rusty with the old race craft but it was the only way to go...I think.

With the rush of when deciding to race and the actual race taking place I didn't have time to get some race pants, just a race top from Ghost Bikes in Preston.  I'd tried a few Moto-X race pants on at Ghost Bikes but found them to be ridiculously short in length.  Inches short!  Leg length isn't too much of an issue if you're using them for Moto-X as your boots will cover the lower part up.  Unfortunately I wasn't going to be wearing Moto-X boots as thats not exactly practical for BMX racing.  I would be wearing my trusty Vans and half mast pants wasn't going to be an option.  I didn't want to stand out like a sore thumb - you can just imagine the respected BMXers all laughing and joking about the middle aged man in half mast pants.  Of course I have a reputation to uphold from 30 years ago!!

Once we'd sorted where we would be watching from when not racing, I went to find Suzanne for my race plate.  I was given an empty white piece of plastic but no numbers as there had been a mix up in communication and Suzanne thought Mark was bringing the printed numbers but he hadn't.  Then he remembered they might be in his car so he promised to drop it off later on after his daughter had done her practising.  Otherwise I would be writing the numbers on with Biro!




My plate arrived and it got put straight on the bike.  Me and Alan ( Cranshaw - Molly's dad ) tried to get the backing off but it wouldn't come off so, as you can see, I had pink numbers!  Wet it and stick it on where the instructions.  When its dry it won't come off.  I later found out that the backing was supposed to be removed and the numbers are, in fact, white - what a wally!






Practise.  
A couple times round highlighted that some of these riders are quick.  Damn quick.  Then it was Gate Practise.  I did a few to get back in the swing of things, you know, just to be cool.  Cough cough.  In reality, the few gates I did was enough for me.  Didn't want to be too tired for the race, did I?

Race 1.
Lining up in the pens apparently Shaun ( Calvert ) thought it was hilarious I'd come back to racing.  Thanks Shaun. 

I felt a little out of it in my jeans as everyone else was in proper race gear of one sort or another.  Whether it was good or not, I knew a few riders and had to face Andy Hill in my first race - he isn't too bad a rider it has to be said!  

Out of the gate after a poor start I pedalled as fast as I dare over the first couple of jumps diving ot the inside of John Hines where I seem to become Lisa `Elbows Out` Hilton and had a tussle with John - all I heard was an "aarr" from him as we banged into each other.  Welcome to BMX racing!.  He powered out of the corner better than me and I then tried to keep up with him by bouncing around the track in a vain attempt not to come last. 

I finished 6th.  
And with a very dry mouth and burning legs.  

Considering its only 0.3miles around ( I'd previously used my Garmin road GPS device to map a couple of laps ) its damn hard work.  Harder than I remember. I wondered how I would cope with another 3 races.  
Thinking about it, had I tried too hard ( rather than pump ) or wasn't I properly warmed up ( like you have to in road biking )?  Not sure.  I'm sure I looked a little unstable to onlookers!  But at least I wasn't last!

Race 2.
I can't remember too much about this race except for my daughter Tara shouting good luck at me from across the pens!  Again I had to race Andy Hill. No easy races here for the New Boy!  I had a slightly better start this time.  Slightly.  

But I'm not so old that it should be Black N White - haha

I know I'm Old Skool

The last corner is quite a fast tight one and I nearly, very nearly came to grief as my front wheel decided to go its own way.  Apparently nobody knows how I managed to hold it ( wife Justine, Friends Neil and Alan all cheering me on ), but I did.  Must still have the skills.......ha ha.  This time I was 4th!

Race 3.
Again, from the pens Tara wished me luck. She's a star isn't she!
This time I seemed to be a bit more relaxed and enjoyed the race much more. 

That might have been because I did an awesome move against Bike Widow Team rider David Lindsay on the last corner.  Remember I nearly came to grief last time out?  Well, that didn't stop me diving down tight in the corner and underneath David, pushing him high.  All I could hear all the way down the final straight was him laughing at my move.

Position 3!!

What's nice about us `older` guys racing is the sportmanship after the race.  A pat on the back or a handshake is nice to see.  I certainly don't remember that back in the day.  David certainly seemed impressed by my move!

Now, for those of you who don't know a BMX race consist of upto 8 riders.  If there is more than 8 a number of heats ( or Motos ) are run depending upon how many riders have entered that particular group.  In my case, this time, there was 13 of us.  So, we had 2 heats with 6 in one race and 7 in the other.  At the end of the 3 races everybodies points are added up based on their finishing positions ( First gets 1 point, Seconds gets 2 points, etc ).  The top 8 riders then get to race in the A Final, the rest going in the B Final.
Amazingly I had made the A final as the 8th rider.  More than happy with that achievement on my return after all these years!

The A Final.
Being the 8th rider meant I was last to get a gate.  What happens is the best rider gets to pick his gate first with the rest following in order until the last rider ( me ) gets left with the worst gate.  In this case Gate 8 is the worse as its on the outside for the first corner.  I'm not used to this as we used to draw pegs for the gates so it was very random and more fair.  Maybe?
I had to make a good start.
Sat on the gate everyone was getting set up and balancing in their ready to go positions but Bike Widow rider Ric Sealey decided to flip over his bike on the first double on the second straight which meant we had a bit of a wait.  Luckily he wasn't too badly injured.
By this time all I could hear was my heart thump thumping.  I seem to remember being quite shakey on the gate once we got stood up again. 
The start was shocking as this picture shows.  I'm just giving them a head start! 

Needless to say it was a tough race.  I'd caught them back up by the first corner - might even have been in front of a few, but I was on the outside and got stuck behind Geoff McHugh ( Bike Widows husband ). 
I tried to dive to the left of him along the second straight into the head wind but couldn't get him.

Thinking like an F1 driver ( ha ha ) I thought about where I could get him further up the track - trying to plan a move in advance.  If I stay wider at the second corner I can pedal around it and might have a bit more speed along the third straight, I thought.  Worth a try.  So I did it as Geoff went defensive.  It worked.  Then right on the line I got John Hines as he had seemingly given up but I have been taught to race to the line no matter what so I did.

A 6th place was a great achievement for a rusty old dude as I seem to be now known as!

Really happy with the day.  Blackpool is a great track.  Its also one of the longest as well.

So do I carry on?

Special thanks to Suzanne for the Bike Widow race plate and her excellent photographs.

As an aside, I have to say that I feel a bit dissappointed for my daughter Tara.  There was only 9 in her race which meant there was a heat of 4 riders and a heat of 5.  Tara's first race was with 5 riders and she came 4th.  The other races she came 5th out of 5. This meant she had 14 points ( 4+5+5).  Now the other girl raced Tara in the first race but Tara beat her so she finished 5th.  The way the draw had worked out meant this other girl would then be racing 3 other riders in the next 2 races in which she came last in both.  So she ended up with 13 points (5+4+4) meaning she got to race in the final.  I was gutted for Tara.  Not only had she beaten this other girl the only time they'd raced against each other, she didn't really stand a chance of getting in the final as she never got to race againt only 3 other riders.  I don't think that is fair.  Maybe I should let the organiser know my feelings for what its worth?

BMX - Original Old Skooler returns......

A while ago I took my daughter Tara down to Preston Pirates BMX track to see if she would like to have a go at it like Daddy used to do.  Now she has just started racing this year and has competed in the last 2 rounds of the Preston Pirates Winter Series ( almost winning her debut race but losing out by a wheel to Jessica Briggs ) in the 10-12yr old Novice Females.  She has now progressed up to the Expert class and ridden at The North Regionals in Lytham and Leeds.  It isn't easy but at least she is enjoying it.

So, because I used to race BMX during 1980 and 1986ish, I bought a cruiser to help encourage Tara when we went practising at our local BMX track mid-week.  For those not aware, a cruiser is a bigger version of the nromal BMX.  Standard BMX's have 20" wheels whereas a Cruiser has 24" wheels.  They are supposed to be more forgiving I'm told?

To be honest it was quite scary the first couple of go's.  Even though our Club track is Preston Pirates, our local track is actually Blackpool ( Stanley Park ) and its a fast long track with some big jumps. Gaining confidence bit by bit both myself and Tara took part in Preston's coach Shaun Calvert's Intensive Training session at Blackpool on Weds night ( 19th June ).

It was mental.  Absolutely knackering.  Shaun's training involved us doing a variety of different activities in a bid to improve our bike skills and fitness

The first activity involved us doing gates 2 at a time chasing your partner around the full track at racing speed.  That was quite tiring in itself!  Water, I need water!  Just staying on the bike at these speeds takes some getting used to.  Its been 27 years since I've ridden a BMX!  I still haven't got the bottle to jump properly and only just starting to be able to lift the front wheel to sort of Manual over a jump.  Having said that, after some advice by Shaun to lift my bars bar turnign over the stem, the lifting is a little easier.  A little!  Those that can manual proper look awesome and so smooth.  I'm just about hanging on and more often than not, banging the front wheel againt the upside of the second jump!  I guess it will come with more practise!
My training partner Russ seemed quite suprised at my speed - I'll take that as a compliment!!

 

After that we had to ride our bikes on a grass course marked out by cones.  The idea being because the corners were tight you would need to use your arms to pull on the bars and accelerate out of the corner.  Again this was racing against your partner.  We also had a bamboo cane or 2 to bunny hop over along each straight!!  Not that I'm competitive or anything but I would have won each go had I not gone down like a sack of spuds at the 2nd corner leaving Russ to take an easy victory.  Shaun thought it hilarious that the first to crash was an original old skooler!  More water needed too!

Back to the track we all lined up on the first jump facing the start hill.  The idea was we had to roll ( free wheel ) down the first jump and when Shaun shouted `Go` we pedalled hard up the start hill.  Again, good solid practising for using your upper strength to acclerate the bike.  I don't think Lisa Hilton liked it too much as she didn't always make it to the top - I think she was saving herself for later!

I think we did some more racing around the track but as I'm getting on a bit, the memory isn't quite the same!

To finish we had a relay race around the grass course.  What a laugh this turned out to be.  Great team building and making friends.

Russ Clegg we already knew from our little evening sessions ( in the jeans )

Richard Sealey ( in black and white )

You can just see me in this photo over the first jump!

 

Lisa ( Elbows Out ) Hilton

Amanda ( I need the loo ) Stileman

 

Michael O Murcho ( on the right, tongue hanging out, going to get ya! )

Andy Hill ( who apparently knew my name and used to race back in the day as well against the likes of Wayne Llewellyn, etc.  Andy, I haven't seen you name in any of the old BMX Bi-Weekly mags I've just found on the internet!!).  He's in the red/blue Sky jersey

 

Coach told us what we should do but, of course being the kids we all were, none of us listened to him so I suggested he showed us what to do. Good on Shaun for showing us!

I, of course, make a fool of myself at the same corner as I crashed out on, on my bike. This time on foot!  Unfortunately for me, but not for everyone else, Bike Widow Photographer Suzanne McHugh was on hand to capture the evidence.  Cheers, really appreciated! He he.   It was the cone that jumped out at me, honest!

Ric and Lisa then decided to have a little scrap much to the amusement of the rest of us!

 

Fancy being picked on by a girl, Ric!

At the end I had jelly legs.  Considering I class myself as fit with all the road cycling I have done, BMX is completely different and, obviously, uses different muscles.  Hard work but good fun.

Big thanks to Shaun for the session.  Thanks to Suzanne for the excellent photos and many thanks to Molly's mum Diana `The Bag Lady` Cranshaw for looking after our water bottles!!

Back for more?  Maybe.........

PETTS 10m 7th May 2013

So, I've found the £4 to enter my first official Time Trial. 

Rushed home from work.  Gobbled down some beans on toast and set off to Myerscough College to see what this Time Trialling is really all about.

Having never been to the college before I got a bit lost in their car park system and the myriad of buildings so had to ask for help on how to find out where I should be.  I'd seen another Cleveleys club member who was helpful in pointing me in the right direction.

So, once I'd found the right building and the right room, I entered in my first event parting with my entry fee and scribbling down my details on the entry sheet.  I have to say it was a little un-nerving.  Plenty of very flash bikes parked up outside with aero wheel and tri-bars.  Plenty of riders sat in the room in silence.  The feeling was a little eery and I did feel a little out of my depth.  One of the organisers handed me my number.  42.  This was made out of vinyl and I had to pin it on my back.

I felt a little nervous. I didn't know what the normal procedure was so sat in my car wondering what to do next.  I knew that my start time would therefore be 19:42 as the riders are set off at 1min intervals.  At around 7pm I got on my bike and rode to the start slowly but spinning my legs in an attempt to warm up easily as I didn't want to tire myself out before I had even properly started.  A few `proper` riders wizzed past me on their TT bikes. 

It seems that most riders warm up by riding up and down the A6 from the start position opposite the Brewers Fayre pub near the old Barton Grange garden centre down to the traffic lights at Broughton.   You aren't allowed past the start line when the event is in progress - you're disqualified if you do!  I followed the more experienced riders to pass on the time.  Needless to say I needed a wee stop as well!!

Arriving back at the start line I was told the event was running 7mins behind so I would be starting at 19:49.  Whilst waiting Mick Black from Cleveleys turned up and we started a conversation.  Mick is a very experienced rider I found out and very very quick...very quick.  Me in comparrison is a complete novice.  He asked me what I'd done in the past ( 27:43 ) and he said I should be able to improve on that with a number on my back.  Advice he gave was TT-ing is more about power than spinning.  Oh dear I thought.  I'm a spinner.  Oh well.
The other comment he made which made me laugh was to shout out your number when you cross the finish line.  If you can remember your number and shout it out then you haven't tried hard enough!

Mick was the one on front of me at the start so I watched what he did.  Basically the starter counts you down to your start time using his watch/mobile ( which I guess must be synched with the man at the finish line ) whilst another holds you upright ready to start pedalling.  Its a bit strange but I guess you get used to it.

"10 seconds, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 good luck" came the shout and I was off.  Pedalling for all I was worth more trying to not look daft and slow I set off.  I had to tell myself to ease off a bit as I didn't want to put too much in and have nothing left at the end.  Now that would be embarassing! 

I found myself settling in to a reasonably quick speed of around 25-26mph and was doing OK for a number of miles.  Around half way the rider behind me came past.  Crikey he was shifting I thought.  I didn't try to keep up with him.  For one, you aren't allowed to `draft` and for another I couldn't!  As we turned off the main road at the roundabout to head back up to the College, a second rider came past me.  The wind had also slightly picked up and this final 3 mile stretch was a bit of a struggle for me.  I think in the excitement of it all maybe I had gone too fast at the start.  I had to keep dropping gears to keep my legs spinning - if I left it in a higher gear I seem to go slower. 25mph became 21, 20 then 19.  Come on I thought, keep going. I managed to speed up a bit and tried desparately to keep it over 20mph.  That might sound daft and maybe slow but its not easy.  I just didn't want another rider to come past me.  And none did - but that's was because I was the last one home!

44 entries.  Where did I come?  37th!!!  I have to say the position doesn't really bother me, it was more about my time. 

26:07 - 22.97mph

A number on my back had worked.  Worked better than expected as I took almost 1 and a half minutes off my previous time.

Chuffed, I handed my number in and went home.

Time Trialling - A New Challenge

Quite often the idea of Time Trialling crops up into mine and Ric's conversations whilst we are out and about. Some other people we know do it and, as we are quite competitive, thought we might at some point take part in a race and, hopefully, put in a reasonable time and not be

A) - Too slow
B) - Embarassed
C) - All the above

And so, after a few discussions with my Club Secretary Steve Whiteside I found out there was a route close to my home that I could ride on a Tuesday evening.

To start with, I think a 10 mile TT is more than diffcult enough for now.

Previously I had done a 10.8mile route in about 32mins meaning I should be able to break 30mins ( 20mph ) for a proper circuit.  Now I know there will be plenty of TT'ers out there laughing at the slowness but I don't have a TT bike and I ain't nowhere near strong enough to get down to the dizzy speeds really good riders get down to.  In fact Mick Black from my club at the tender age of 66 still does 21 / 22mins....yikes!

Before I actually stumped up the courage I did a little `trial` run just to see how slow I would be!  My `test` route followed the same route as L105 but because I live at the opposite end to the official start, I started and finished in different palces but still did a 10mile route.  My time was, I think, a respectable 27:43.  No Tri-bars, no pointy aero helmet or deep aero wheels.  Just me and a struggle of pacing yourself over the entire course.

This was the `un-official` 10TT - the blue line is my route

 

 



So what do you think?

 

My Club Secretary reckons a minute off that time with a number on my back!

 

But anything under 30mins on a standard road bike shows a reasonable level of fitness, apparently.

 

So, I'll guess we will see.

 

If I pluck up the courage to enter.

Getting Back On The Bike

The dust has now well and truly settled after our epic adventure of Lands End to John o Groats in 8 days.  It took me a week to get back on the bike and even then, that was only for a ( very ) slow 19miles which wasn't too bad, except for the boil/blister on my right cheek of my bottom.  I thought it had gone away but soon raised its head.  And boy was it sore!

The pain then kept me off my bike for a further 6 days were I went a bit further at 36miles. Obviously nothing like what I had done but still far enough and hilly enough for a challenge for now as I fully recover.
Here's my ride - http://app.strava.com/activities/51000638

A reasonable speed and some good PR's to boot.

Mr. B is already pushing hard on the hills and doing longer runs as he's training for the Bowland Badass event we have both entered.  This has been classed as possibly the toughest Sportive of the year and I'm inclined to agree with them as I'm currently in 2 minds whether to stil do it or not.  Actually its been classed as an Ultra-sportive, its that tough.

Its 167miles in one day.  Yes that might be do-able but add 18,500 feet of climbing into as well and it becomes daft.  Apparently there is only 25miles of flat roads, the rest is either up or down.  Oh help!

If you want to find out more here's the link - http://bowlandbadass.com/  I'm down as number 17 on the entry list ( for now!! ).

As The Dust Settles After LeJog.......

Its now almost a week since we completed the epic ride from one end of the country to the other.  Having put all the days together as one ride to show just how far it is, its come out at 911miles.  We thought we'd done slightly more than that but who cares.  Its a long way anyway.  A very long way.  Especially in 8 days!

So, here, in its entirety is our ride :

Now that I look at it again, its seems even further!

To think, I've sat on my little bike and pedalled all that way.  

ALL THAT WAY!!!

As the pain fades of actually doing it, its now is hitting home just how much of an achievement it is.  Yes, people have walked it naked ( see Day 1 pictures ), a person has even tried to push a pee along with his nose ( lasted 2 miles apparently ), and the world record is something like riding it in 45 or 48 hours ( I can't remember exactly ), but who cares. 
This was our epic adventure and what an adventure.  We aren't professional cyclists, just mere mortals who enjoy cycling. Or did, as it may have put me off doing really long distances now!!

We might not have been that quick but who cares.  With an average of just over 14mph for the entire journey, thats not bad going.  14mph for over 900miles and thats with climbing hills that laid vertcially would be almost 8.5miles high!
Yes, my legs know it but not like our backsides!

Surprisingly my legs haven't been stiff at all.  They were worse when we would stop for some food, etc and then have to start riding another 30miles to the next stop.

My backside seems to have calmed down, although there is still a few blisters to heal.  They're not too bad now but they were. 

And so as a little re-cap, here are the actual rides we did - although a couple of them stop short due to battery failure on my Garmin.

Day 1 Lands End to Lifton

For those wondering, the little red dots with numbers on are relating to the difficulty of the hill.  If you look at the map, there were only 9 graded hills but as you can see from the graph ( green wiggly lines ), we went up and down quite a few times more than that!

With hindsight, we wouldn't have done this route.  We'd made the decision to keep off as many A roads as possible due to the possible Easter traffic.  The back roads we chose were so empty we hardly saw anyone at all.  And then, when we got lost, the Garmin was taking us the shortest distance to our finish point which was probably our downfall.  It was my fault the Garmin took us the shortest route as it was set to route as Bike rather than car.  It doesn't take into account hills, just the shortest way to the finish.  You might be wondering what the problem was as surely the shortest was the best?  No.  It took us down plenty of windy difficult sections that had us hard on our brakes bouncing over potholes and grass and then having to struggle up a steep hill immediately afterwards.  Had we stuck to the `better` roads, we would have been able to ride quicker, and then might have got to the hotel rather than being 20miles short!

And then when we got into Devon, there was the 20% hill that was tough as well.

Probably not one of our better choices of route!

Day 2 Lifton to Bridgwater

It didn't help starting off 20miles from where we should have been.  Slightly better roads meant we could go a bit faster, if we had the energy to do it - shame we didn't after yesterdays efforts.  Our problems today where more a case of how far can we go in the strong headwind.  It didn't seem to matter which direction we went, the wind was there all the time.

The only cheery bit for us today was stopping to look at these lovely Morgans... 

After yesterdays Sportive killing amount of hills ( fine if it was just the one day ), we had yet again more hills to climb, and this time we had three big hills that are a Grade 3 ( it goes 4,3,2,1,HC with a grade 4 not being as tough as a grade 3, etc ).
It was this last Grade 3 hill that Ric blew up on.  His bike going over the side of the hill, well, almost.  Thankfully our rescue team arrived just in time!

Thanks again to Jus & Di for sorting us out with a new hotel for the night in Weston Super Mare.  What would we have done without you?

Morale of the last two days for anyone doing LeJog?  Try to keep the hills down to minimum.  Cornwall and Devon are tough and you will still need your legs later on!

Day 3 Bridgwater to Ludlow

Frantically re-routing to minimise the hills and ( hopefully ) ensure we get to Leyland at the end of Day 4 doesn't help on such an epic adventure. Yes it might add to it, but when your tired, the last thing you want to do is spend a couple of hours trying to find a more suitable route and a new hotel for the following day.  Stressful !!!
Today we had to brave the A38 and pat of the A49.  Fast roads that seem even faster when you are pedalling away and a lorry hurtles past you missing you by inches and then the back draft knocks you.  

Not a good day in that respect.  
Not a good day for me in terms of my bowels either!!

But it was a good day to meet up with old high school mate Allan and the support he gave us on his motorbike following us along for a couple of hours.

Day 4 Ludlow to Leyland

This was the day we had to do.  Get to our own beds tonight.  Damn that A49 though.  Not ideal but a means to an end.  Fast enough for us to push into the headwind again.  We suffered what turned out to be the only puncture of the trip on the A5 around Shrewsbury.  At least where we had stopped seemed to be sheltered from the wind and was really warm - could quite easily have stayed there!! 
Riding past Oulton Park towards the end of the journey perked me up a bit - but not enough to want to ride around it!!
At the end we were told by my nephew Christopher that we had dirty faces.  Yep, we did.  Panda eyes like the old days.......

Day 5 Leyland to Lockerbie

Much needed support from Chorley Cycling Club helped us to Lancaster where we met my sister-in-law Sharon and then Kendal where we met another old school friend John. Then THE hills started - Shap.  By now I'm starting to real struggle on the climbs and Ric is just getting stronger and stronger.  I found Shap to be tough but Ric thought it was relatively easy.  I hope he's not going down the Lance Armstrong route!!!
We didn't quite make Lockerbie by 4 miles.  But, and this is a big BUT, we were actually ahead of schedule!!  After the disaster of Day 1 and especially Day 2, we had pulled ourselves in front by 15miles.  It might not sound a lot but its about an hours cycling so good enough for us! 

Day 6 Lockerbie to Luss ( Gretna )

What do we remember about this ride?  Well, the weather for one - wet and miserable.  The roads were, mostly, excellent except for the muck - we looked like we had been mountain biking by lunch time!
We don't like Glasgow, although by now Ric didn't trust the Garmin so that didn't help!
High point?  Getting to Loch Lomond and still being ahead of schedule.

Day 7 Luss to Inverness

This turned out to be my worst day and Rics strongest.  I failed big time over the Glencoe Mountains.  20 odd miles that made we want to stop, cry and go home.  I had no energy at all on the climbs and Ric was minutes and miles ahead of me.  Luckily everyone supported me and we managed what turned out to be a very long ride to almost the wrong hotel in Inverness!  Bare in mind before we had started this adventure we had only ridden 100miles as our furthest ride and we had beaten that on day 3 by doing 122miles.  This was 20miles further than that!!
Beautiful scenery too, if the weather could have improved a bit.

Day 8 Inverness to John o Groats

Someone told us today would be undulating.  Now what I call undulating isn't 13% climbs.  Undulating should be rolling hills that are easy to pedal up, not monster hills that seem to go on and on.  Be warned there are a number of tough climbs on this stretch.  Its very windy too, especially along the coast.
Today you have really only one road to follow as well so no major issues about the route ( for a change! ).

A Quick Review

Cornwall and Devon are killers, the A38 and A49 fast, the A6 much better than we had thought except for the Shap ( for me not Ric ).  Scotland is a big place with one road in one road out but beautiful Lochs!
John O Groats is not exactly a lively place at 7:15pm on a Saturday night!!

Should we have taken longer?  Yes.  Maybe 8 days was pushing it.  9 would have been better and 10, well, maybe a bit too easy?

But at least we did what we set off to and that is complete our journey from Lands End to John O Groats in 8 days.  Phew!!

For the Stato's out there here's some interesting figures

It took us 64 hours to ride from Lands End to John O Groats.
Our average speed for the entire journey was 14.03mph
We turned the pedals around approx 305,746 times - no wonder I've got a bad right knee!!

So would we do it again?

Me - No
Ric - Maybe

We now have to start planning our next big adventure.....

I think getting on the bike will be enough for me just at the moment, thank you!