A Festive Update

"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.  Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle." 

~Ernest Hemingway

Given that it's the time of year when people tend to relax and put their everyday routine aside, I thought I'd mix things up a little. So here's a more general update of how things are going...


I suppose the most important recent development in terms of the trip itself is that we have finally decided on dates. We will set off from Land's End on Saturday the 25th of June 2011 and, if all goes well, arrive in John O'Groats two weeks later on the 9th of July. As we have never ridden together on the road before, we have also decided to spend the weekend of the royal wedding (end of April) on a 3-day trip around the Lake District. These dates were agreed over a few festive pints with Malc recently, and have brought an increased sense of realism to my attitude towards training! The training weekend will also give us the chance to try out various bits of kit, get to grips with navigation, packing etc. It should also give us a pretty good idea of how we'll cope on the actual trip itself.


Over the past weeks and months I've also come across various bits and pieces, which have motivated, inspired and informed me about all things cycling:


1) http://vimeo.com/groups/6916/videos/11154268 
A lecture by Rob Lilwall on his epic 3-year cycle from Siberia back to the UK.  He also wrote a book about it, called "Cycling Home From Siberia". I was also very excited to get Christopher J A Smith's book "Why Don't You Fly?" for Christmas, and can't wait to read it.


2) http://www.markbeaumontonline.com/
In a similar vein, I've found Mark Beaumont's book "The Man Who Cycled The World" and his corresponding TV series' absolutely fascinating. He places a different emphasis on his expeditions to people like Rob Lilwall, choosing to focus on physical achievement rather than spiritual/cultural adventure, but I find both aspects make for great reading/viewing and the contrast between the two is really interesting.


3) http://www.chainreactioncycles.com
Just as they were when I was spending all my pocket money on MTB bits, Chain Reaction seem to be the best one stop shop for bike bits, clothing etc.


4) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t6ylx
A BBC show in which author Rob Penn goes round the world gathering components with which to build his 'dream bike'. Also looks at the history and evolution of bikes in general. A great watch.


Right, that's it for now. I'm off for a quick spin on the turbo trainer to gauge the damage caused by the festive feasting!


Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.

"When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.  Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man.  And (unlike subsequent inventions for man's convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became.  Here, for once, was a product of man's brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others.  Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle." 

~Elizabeth West, Hovel in the Hills.

Training - November 2010

And so another month passes, bringing with it less daylight, lower temperatures and - as of last week - increasing amounts of snow. Still, training must go on! Here's a run-down of my progress in November...

As you may well imagine, the inclement weather has made 'proper' outdoor training pretty difficult over the past few weeks. All but the die-hard, tight-wearing members of the cycling community seem to have packed up their hi-vis clobber and retreated indoors of late, and I'm no different. I had hoped to be able to continue with my outdoor rides until the end of November at least, but you'd have to be mental to go out in this! I did manage one short outdoor ride of about 6 miles during the first few days of the month, but even that was a fairly miserable experience.

The purchase of a turbo trainer, however, has turned out to be a decent investment, so despite the weather I have been able not only to maintain my fitness levels, but actually build on them. I am conscious of the fact that the trainer is no substitute for proper road riding (not to mention more boring and far less rewarding), so I have tried to keep the trainer sessions as varied as possible by varying their duration and intensity. For example, sessions have ranged from 2-3 hr stamina sessions (spent spinning away in front of countless iplayer/4OD repeats) to shorter, more intense sprint/recovery sessions which usually last between half an hour and an hour, depending on energy levels, my will to live, etc.

All in all I reckon I've done about 8.5 hrs of stamina stuff (broken down into rides of 2hrs, 2.5hrs and 3hrs) and about 2 hrs of sprint training (in 30-60min sessions). This is still way below the level of work that I'll need to put in when the new year comes around, but I'm fairly pleased with what I've managed.

Apologies again for the lack of decent stats this month, but it's just been a case of putting in hard time on the trainer and waiting for the snow to disappear.

Roll on 2011....

Training - October 2010

To be perfectly honest, my training this month has been rubbish.  However, like any under-achieving athlete, I have a list of pre-prepared excuses....


Firstly, I have been hampered by a dodgy knee that I twisted playing football.  This really only kept me off the bike for a week or so, but during that time I wasn't able to do any exercise at all, so it probably cost me pretty dear.


Next up: a rant.  As I've mentioned before, I did quite a lot of mountain biking during my teenage years, and as such I like to think that I'm already aware of a number of biking's unavoidable truths:


1) A repair will take at least 3 times longer than you expect, no matter how simple.
2) "One last run" will always end in a crash.
3) A lost part/tool will always be the exact tool you need for your next repair/alteration.
4) Flashy equipment is no substitute for fitness.
and finally...
5) Mini-pumps are a waste of time and money, and don't work!


I was cruelly reminded of this recently, when I decided my tyres could use a little top-up.  First, I tried a SKS Piccolo mini pump, which only succeeded in deflating my tyres even more.  Next, I thought I'd go old-school with a trusty Halfords pump. Nope, leaked before I reached the pressures I was after.  Finally, after a recommendation from Malc (who had actually remembered rule no. 5) I bought a Topeak Morph Mini pump, which was up to the task.  This debacle cost me the best part of a week, spent twiddling my thumbs with flat tyres waiting for pumps to be delivered. Nightmare.


Lastly (and probably quite predictably) I would like to blame the good old Scottish weather!  It's been properly rubbish over the last few weeks.  However, this got me thinking: if it's this bad in October, how am I going to cope through December/January?!


This leads me to the one piece of good news I have on the training front this month - the purchase of my lovely turbo trainer!  Luckily, my old man was kind enough to spring for a Cycle Ops Magneto, which I have used a couple of times since I got it about a fortnight ago (pics to follow in updated Kit List).


I am more than aware that the above reads like the feeble excuses of a lazy so-and-so.  Rest assured that this will be remedied in the month of November! I'll leave you with my stats from October:

Distance cycled: 38.6 miles

(Total distance cycled: 114 miles)

No. of outdoor training rides: 2

No. of indoor training rides: 1

Average ride length: 18.7 miles

Time in saddle: 4hrs 40mins

View North from Old Military Rd, near Drymen.

Kit List

When I was researching the trip I had a few questions that seemed particularly difficult to answer, namely:


  1) What type of bike should I be using?
  2) How much money should I be spending?
  3) What other kit will I need?


Disclaimer: Given that I'm only a month or so into this process, I'm hardly an expert. The best thing I did was to phone up a bike shop and ask the experts! But here's how I went about answering these questions...


  1) What type of bike should I be using?
The main dilemma I faced here was the Road Bike v Touring Bike debate. Whilst a road bike would undoubtedly be faster and more suited to eating up the miles, I did wonder if a more comfortable touring work-horse might be more appropriate. In the end, we both plumped for something of a compromise, in the form of a Specialized Secteur (below). This leans slightly towards the road bike side of things, but with a geometry and gearing setup aimed at longer days in the saddle.

My trusty steed.

I have had Specialized bikes before, and happened to know a bike company I trusted (http://www.edinburghbicycle.com) that supplied them. When it comes down to it, most of the main manufacturers seem to make something fairly similar, so I went with what I knew.


I should also point out that there are a huge range of ways to do lejog. In many ways, doing the lejog/jogle is a lot like the London marathon, in that the range of participants involved is so huge. Everyone from the super-fit athlete to the guy in the chicken suit. We're opting for the more conventional approach. If you're after a more surreal/adventurous expedition, I've seen everything from single-speed bikes to 7-seater "conference bike" (see http://cobiuk.blogspot.com) so go nuts!


  2) How much money should I be spending?
No easy answer here really. I spent as much as I felt I could afford, in order to ensure I had a bike that I was comfortable with (after all, that saddle and my derriere are going to be spending an awful lot of time together in the next few months) and one that I felt was reliable.


  3) What other kit will I need?
Basics, and what I's consider essentials, include:
Padded shorts - (see above comments re: derriere)
Fingerless gloves - to stop some of the road buzz and for protection should I decide to fall off
Helmet - for keeping my brains in


I'd say once you have that lot, you're away. However, I found that the following additions made for more comfortable, rewarding and generally enjoyable training rides:
Ipod - much better than listening to my legs screaming in agony...
Wind jacket - I started out using my everyday outdoor jacket, but found that the baggy fit created a wind-sock effect. I have since splashed out on a rather fetching yellow (or rather, YELLOW!) hi-vis cycling jacket.
Eyewear - not that I'm breaking any land speed records, but I found it far better to shield my eyes from the breeze/flies.
Saddle bag - a small bag to carry my phone, some spares/tools and a Mars bar.
Cycle Computer - as I mentioned before, I found that getting some feedback really adds to the enjoyment of training. If you happen to have an iPhone (sorry non iPhoners) then I'd highly recommend an app called 'Cyclemeter' - it does everything my £30 bike computer does and more, for just £3! Additional handy features include automatic social networking updates (great for boring your family and friends!) and altitude info, which is useful too.


Hope that's of some use. I'll update the Kit List as and when. Cheers for now

Training - September 2010

Throughout this process I'm aiming to keep track of all the training I do, with the hope that I can chart and monitor my progress as I go along. Also - and this is probably a 'guy thing' - I've found that a bit of info and some data to analyse adds a bit of enjoyment, and helps motivate me too e.g. aiming to beat previous times/distances etc.


So then; September was my first (almost) full month of training. September was also the month that I bought the bike I'll be using, along with most of the kit I need to train. Here's the main stats:

Total distance cycled:  75.4 miles

No of training rides:  4

Average ride distance:  18.9 miles

Time in the saddle:  6hrs 5mins

I suppose stats like that seem a little dry, but they do tell a story and hopefully they'll paint a picture of how I'm getting on.


I've been disappointed with the latter half of the month, in that I didn't manage to do nearly as much training as I'd hoped. I think the 'honeymoon period' of the first few weeks, which was aided by some really enjoyable rides, has just about worn off. But I guess that's part of an undertaking like this - making time to put the hours in.


I'll leave you with some pictures, taken on some of the more scenic rides I've done so far.

Taken on Crow Road, between Lennoxtown and Fintry.

The Beauly Firth from the Kessock Bridge, Inverness.

Intro

Itchy feet. That's how it started. A feeling that it was about time that I got out and did something a bit more fulfilling and demanding than the odd game of 5-a-side. Something that I could look back on with a sense of achievement when I'm old and grey....

A few months later, and having ruled out everything from marathon running (too much like hard work) to climbing Everest (too expensive.... and too much like hard work) I decided that I wanted to complete "LEJOG" or Land's End to John O'Groats on a bicycle.


This would need planning, lots of training and at least one willing sucker volunteer to come along for the ride. Malc was the obvious candidate. Not only have I known him for years, but we misspent most of our teenage years chucking our mountain bikes off anything and everything we could find, so I knew he would bring the required enthusiasm and dedication. When I pitched the idea to him earlier this year he considered it for all of a millisecond before emphatically declaring himself 'in'.


So that's how this whole thing got started. Having come across various Lejog/Jogle blogs and found them helpful and insightful training/motivational aides, I thought I'd start my own. It's now late September, and myself and Malc have both started training on newly purchased steeds (more kit info to follow at a later date). The plan is to update this periodically and share my experiences as I go along.


Cheers for now!