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!

Day 8 LeJog 13th April 2013 - Inverness to John o Groats 120miles

Today is the day, the day we hopefully get to John O Groats.  We've still around 120miles to do so it won't be a walk in the park, especially after yesterday.  I feel quite tired even though I seem to get, for once, a reasonable nights sleep.  Not surprising really as we've ridden 800miles in the last week!!

Our problem of the day was how to get over the Kessock Bridge just outside Inverness.  This is the A9 and its a fast busy dual carriageway that had one side closed due to roadworks.  Luckily there was a cycle path to ride along so we were kept away from all the traffic on an early Saturday morning.

Once over, we then found a cycle route to follow which I think was the old road. It saved us being on the A9 for a few miles which was great and also brought us out about half way up the hill we would have had to climb too.  At the top of this little hill we then had quite a good descent to the next bridge.

Cromarty Bridge spans the Cromarty Firth and is quite a low narrow bridge compared to the Kessock Bridge.  The road surface was a bit rough too!  I must be getting old as we'd only ridden 11miles so far and I was already approaching wee stop number 3!!

I think I must be holding it in here looking at that expression!

Oh Dad do I have to have another photo!!

And so the rough surface proved too much and I had to stop for that wee stop number 3 on the other side of the bridge!

We would be on the A9 and much of the coast for most of the day which, when you look at the photos above, looked Ok but the wind was picking up ( again ).  We had quite a strong headwind at times which slowed our progress down, especially me with my less than empty legs!!

We met our wonderful support team just outside Tain and I think I might have been ready for it - I think I had a Duck & Hoisin Sauce Wrap for my 2nd breakfast!!  I recommend them - from Tesco.

Once fed and watered, we set off for Golspie as our next meeting point.  From here, not only did we have the dreaded headwind to contend with, but also the hills started.  After crossing the Domoch Bridge we then found ourselves with a number of inclines which started to get at me but not Ric.  

A short 8% climb over the River Fleet had me puffing hard when normally it wouldn't have been a problem.  Thankfully the town of Golpsie appeared around a corner and our crew waiting for us at the local playpark for more cakes and brews, etc

Hoping that we had got the worst of the steep climbs out of the way we set off again.  How wrong we were.  65miles in and we hit Helmsdale.  I think the name says it all.  This was a tough climb.  It just seemed to go round and up forever.  And then we hit Berriedale Brae after a wicked descent.  13% downhill and twisty had us exploring our limits after the crawl of climbing hills.  And, as Ric likes to say "If you go down, you only have to go up". we immediately found ourselves hit with a brick wall of a climb.  13% again.  Oh, how I wished it wasn't.......

Obviously used to slow cyclists, we had cars beeping at us as they approached us to warn us - made a nice change.  Mind you I did have the bike moving across the carriageway to try to lessen the steepness of the incline at times!!

Obviously I have googled the picture above and below!!

Another view just to give you an idea of the height your climb quickly.

At the top of this I had had enough.  Quite simply had enough.  And this was with my climbing cassette on ( lower gearing to make the hills easier, supposedly ).  I'm sure with the other rear cassette on I wouldn't have got to the top, mind you, I probably wouldn't have done half the climbs I've done during these past few days!

Luckily not much further along the girls had pulled up ready for us ( well, me ) to fall into the car.  The wind was getting stronger and the beautiful sunshine was being replaced by dark clouds and it was getting quite cold.  Another layer on, we then hoped we would get to Wick which was only 16miles from John O Groats.  Yey?

The wind tried is hardest to stop us getting anywhere. I'm sure that was its intention. It didn't seem to matter which direction we rode, the wind was pushing us backwards and I was seriously struggling to keep Ric in my sights.

Then all of a sudden the wind changed and we had a tailwind.

Great, time to play catch up.  Ric upped the pace and even though I was still travelling at around 24 - 25mph, it wasn't enough to keep up with him so we got separated again.  Not to worry, not long to go now I thought.

I also found out how fast a rabbit can run - 18.2mph!!

It was a really quick 4 miles at this 20 odd mile an hour pace and it certainly makes you feel better.

And so to our final feed stop before the big finish.  Homebase carpark at Wick!!  

After a quick feed we left the girls to look at Pets at Home and, with the help of the wind again, had another 5 miles of fast riding.

It didn't last.  As soon as we turned a corner BAM, the wind hit us.  Soon to a crawl, it became apparent that we wouldn't have an easy last few miles.

Oh how I hate the wind.  Oh how I hate the hills.  Because, of course, there were some more to come. Why can't it be an easy run to the finish?

After another wee stop ( I'd lost count at 8!! ) and my final murdering of my jelly baby population, we tackled the last climb in worsening windy conditions.

At the top we saw our final destination - John O Groats, and then we saw our families running towards us cheering us along.  As we passed the town sign holding hands we had to stop as the girls were shouting at us.

Apparently the sign ( the official white signpost ) was out of order so the girls had come back to the start of the town to get our pictures taken with the towns name instead.

We'd arrived at just after 7pm.  Thankfully.

Then, to finish it was a short ( welcome ) freewheel to the port itself for some more pictures.

Struggling to stand up in the bleak and remote port, we decided the best option would be to put the bikes on the bike racks and shoot off back to Wick for a celebratory Fish & Chip supper - the champagne is on ice!!

All I can say is it was hardwork.  Mentally and physically.  But I've done it, well, we've done.  920miles in 8 days.  Sounds like a long way even to me!!

And, I certainly wouldn't have been able to if it wasn't for my friends and family. 

So a big BIG thanks goes to :

Mr. B

For his Froome-like support when I needed it the most

Jus  ( my lovely wife )

For being my shoulder to cry on and all the love and encouragment you gave me during this emotional rollercoaster. You simply are the best.

Di ( Ric's lovely wife ) 

For keeping Ric's spirits up when he needed it the most.  And for doing the market research in nearly every supermarket we passed ( same goes to Jus for that as well )

Tara, Cordy, Jess & Meg ( our girls )

For cheering us along and being there when we needed a laugh

Mums & Dads

For looking after the girls for the first half of this journey.

Alan Tomlinson

What a star on his BMW bike making us feel like Pro's from Bristol to Gloucester. Some excellent photos too and we definitely will buy you a beer next time you are back in Leyland.

John Pointon

Thanks for meeting us in Kendal for a bit of a laugh and moral boost before the Shap climb.

Marc, Lisa & Christopher Nelson

For meeting us at Euxton and Christopher making me laugh whilst he hung out of the car trying to take pictures. 

Sharon Barton ( Sister in law )

For getting us on Radio Bay ( even though we didn't hear it but Charlie did! ) and meeting us in Lancaster.

Rob Crank ( Chorley Cycling Club )

For us good steady pace to Lancaster on Day 5.

Graham Shaw ( my boss )

Telling us about Google Lattitude was such a godsend.

And to all the rest of you that has supported us through kind wishes and donations, thank you very very much.

Now what do I do????????

Day 7 LeJog 12th April 2013 - Loch Lomond to Inverness - 142miles

I'm getting fed up with rough nights sleep.  This morning we opened the curtains to rain.  Miserable rain.  The view across the River Clyde to Greenock looked cold and uninviting.  At least we didn't have the climb out of Helensburgh to do!

With Loch Lomond in the background, we set off getting blasted by spray from the passing cars and lorries along the A82. These Loch don't half go on!!

We did our usual roadside `wee-stop` at railway bridge 85 before the climb to Crianlarich.  It was lovely and quiet.  Just a bird tweeting and a Woodpecker knocking on a tree trunk.  I said "Oh listen, a woodpecker", Ric replied " Oh look, my pecker!"  It amused us but I suppose you had to be there!

The climb to Crianlarich was never ending.  Not steep, just on and up, up and on.  Ric went further and further into the distance. There was nothing I could do to keep up with him.

All I kept thinking was I hope he stops soon.  At Crianlarich he had. It was cold so a brew stop that turned into a beans on toast and coffee stop was thought to be a good idea as the girls where still having breakfast back in Helensburgh.  We stopped at the Crianlarich cafe which is on the train platform.  Basic but sufficient for our needs.  Don't suppose you can complain at £4 for a cup of (strong) coffee and 2 slices of toast with beans, can you?

Now I knew the next section was going to be fairly difficult as from our route we had no choice but to stick to the A82 and go over the Glencoe mountains.  One road in, one road out.
40 miles of hills with still 100 to do once over them!

Climbing over another hill and I was really struggling.  Luckily Ric had slowed at the top and we raided our onboard food rations - me murdering the Jelly Baby population!  The climbs where twisty as well.  A bit European.  
You know you're high and in remote places when the main road has barriers on it that they close when it snows.  No getting out or in, it seems if it snows!!

This single carriageway is reasonably fast for cars.  And we found out that some give us plenty of room whilst others don't give a hoot.  In fact Ric was very close to be knocked off at one point.  A van coming the other way decided to pass 3 or 4 cars in one go and ignored the fact there was a cyclist coming the other way even though there were sufficient gaps between the cars they where passing.  Poor Ric had to scramble for the grass verge as the van hurtled passed.  I made my feelings clear to the driver who just laughed at me.  I just wish I had got his number..... 

The hills continued and I found it increasingly difficult to keep Ric in my sights.  Now, as much as this pains me to say so and I don't care if you laugh, but the mental anguish of this ride now began to hit home.  Not being able to keep up with Ric was hurting.  I was getting more and more depressed at the thought of what was still to come and I found myself fighting away tears.  Its really difficult to explain these feelings, you seem to have no control over them.  And then it happened...

Climbing from Loch Tulla to Locahan na h-Achlaise ( how on earth do you say that? ) there was a steep hairpin section that we could see approaching.  Ric just did his thing and powered up the hill.  I just about made it to the corner where the views would have been fantastic and Ric was waiting.  At least he's waiting I said to myself.  Not quite.  I got within 100 yards of him and he set off again.  He was unaware of my `condition` and I don't blame him at all, but the floodgates opened.  I couldn't help it.  Still climbing gently I was sobbing hard.  I even had to keep my head down as I passed some walkers coming the other way.  I felt stupid and embarassed as I couldn't control it.  Then, finally, at the top, the support crew where there.
I rode into the layby with my hand covering my face and collapsed in a heap.  Jus covered me up with my coat and I tried to control myself.  For me, I was getting in the car and going home.  I couldn't carry on.  It was too much.  I still had around 100miles to do today. No chance. I'm glad there weren't any pictures taken, it wouldn't have been pretty. 
I don't know what I would have done without Jus's support - gone home and failed.  Simple.
It took me an age to come round to continuing.  Poor Ric was still unaware as he was keeping warm in his car.  With Jus's encouragement and a sausage butty and my daughters left over square sausages we agreed to meet up at Fort William for the next feed point and take it from there.

With still some hills to climb, that I wished we'd already ridden, Ric became my Chris Froome.  Encouragement and pacing is what Ric is good at.  He slowed down and tried to pull me up most of the hills as best as he could, or my legs would allow me to.  It must have been hard for him, but that is what mates do.  Thanks, Ric.

And then, finally, we had gotten through those blasted killer mountains and were dropping down into Glencoe and onto Fort William.  The descent was awesome. 

Finally Fort William arrived and with that a Big Mac!!  Now I must have been feeling bad as I'm not a McDonalds fan!!!  After this I seemed to be feeling a bit better, not stronger, just better.  Maybe it was the thought that the major hills where out of the way.

We agreed with our Support Crews, to meet up at Fort Augustus as these smaller targets of 25 to 30 miles seemed to keep my spirits up rather than looking at the full distance still to be ridden.  The girls went for a wander around the town and we set off.  They didn't catch us until maybe 40 miles.

Mind you Ric had us pushing a fair pace at times as we pedalled alongside the banks of Loch Ness.  The road is undulating but does have some shorter steeper sections that Ric thought would be good to do Hill Intervals on just to keep me motivated.  I managed 3!!!  Through gritted teeth I pushed hard to not lose his wheel and at the top told him, thats enough especially as we have 30 miles still to do.  I suppose it took my mind of `other` things for a while!!!

Then at Drumnadrochit ( where the Loch Ness visitor Centre is ) we took a phone call.  Now the plan was that we were spending 2 nights in the Inverness Travelodge near the Fairways golf course. Oh so I thought.  I had given them the Post Code and our route on my GPS was taking to the same hotel.  It turned out to be the wrong hotel!!  Sorry.  A frantic half hour as we continued to pedal towards Inverness had the girls finding the other Travelodge.  And, also very luckily for us, Ric had stayed in the same hotel previously so we just about knew which way to go through the town centre.

The downhill section on the A9 to the hotel was slow.  I could hardly turn the pedals round and we struggled to break 13mph.  Shattered.

142.4miles, thats what we have just done and boy do I know it.  How I got here at all, I just don't know.  I certainly wouldn't have if it wasn't for Ric and Jus and Di and our girls.  Not a chance.

Today has been one of the toughest days of my life.  Period.

Slightly changing the subject, I'm also noting that my food intake has shot up during the day.  So, this is what I ate today for the ride:

Breakfast - Porridge Pot
During the morning - Protein bar, couple of Soreen Slices
Mid-Morning Breakfast - 2 Slices of Toast and Beans
Early Lunch - Jelly Beans, Soreen, Jelly Babies
Lunch - Sausage Butty, sqaure sausages, hash brown, cake
Late Lunch - Big Mac, Chips and Cake
Afternoon - 2 Chicken Tikka Kebabs, cake

We have one final day to go.  A short little ride of 120miles to John O Groats and then we have done it............I'm just hoping someone find my legs and brings them back to me during the night or else I might be in trouble again.....

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