Ride up to Cambo 1-2nd September 2017

Back in 2014, instead of doing the normal thing and driving over to Ireland with my family, I sent them off by themselves and cycled over instead. It was one of the best things that I have ever done, and the memory of that trip will live long.
In 2017, off the back of a lot of cycling, I decided to take on another equally pointless, but very personal trip - cycling up to meet my family and in-laws in Cambo, Northumberland. A 400 mile trip in just 2 days. After cycling Lands End to John O'Groats and multiple 1 day events, I had never been fitter so now was a great time to take it on.
The plan was relatively simple. Day 1, 240 miles from Chiddingfold to Hull. Day 2, 150 miles from Hull to Cambo.
Because I'm an idiot, I started at 3.57am on 1st September - because I wanted it to start with a 3 rather than a 4! The first leg was very familiar to me, just another cycle to work.

I was lucky that the weather was fine, just a mildly annoying headwind all day. I covered the 48 miles to work very comfortably and almost in auto-pilot. When at work I ditched the cold weather clothing, had a bowl of porridge, coffee and set off again - still only 7am.

The route I choose was plagiarised from the London to Edinburgh sportive, and it was definitely the right call. Heading up out of London towards Cambridge and across the Fens towards York.

Thankfully it was mostly flat all day. At times it was hot, but the headwind cooled me down.
I travelled light, with most of the weight coming from the food I was carrying rather than unnecessary clothing or bike kit.
I picked up my first, and thankfully only puncture mid morning, and whilst I was able to fix it, I struggled to get the tyre pressure back so kept my eye out for someone who could help. I stopped at a house that I thought could help. They were quite old and couldn't but they were absolutely lovely and thought I was completely mad for doing what I was doing. I welcomed a cup of tea instead.

I did my best to eat and drink regularly throughout the day but this is an area that I still struggle with.
Lunch was a write off as I managed to choose a dive of a pub that didn't serve food. The decision was then to nail some drinks and whatever food I still had and just keep going.

The bike was working well, and the legs still strong. I entertained myself with a combination of podcasts and just my thoughts. I was loving the route and enjoying distance and change of scenery that I was able to achieve. I did smile when I saw a signpost to Grimsby - a long way literally and figuratively from Chiddingfold. I also afforded myself a little moment of congratulations when I passed my previous best of 191 miles.

As well as cycling a lot, I was taking a photo every day for the year, so was always on the look out for a decent photo. The weather took a turn as I neared Hull, so I wasnt able to avoid getting completely soaked, but it made for some dramatic views.

The thought of a fish and chip supper in Barton upon Humber spurred me on and I crossed the Humber Bridge with my food in hand and made the final dash to the B&B.

It was a very long day, but couldn't have gone much better. Good route and felt strong to the end. The B&B gave me a lovely welcome and their hot chocolate was one to savour. Despite cycling 242 miles and burning 8,000 calories, I couldn't finish the portion of fish and chips!

Day 2 started with a cooked breakfast to die for. I don't usually take photos of food, but this one earned an exception. 

Having finally pumped up the back wheel, I was on the road at 9am. The legs still felt good and again I was blessed with fine weather - and no head wind!
The  Howardian Hills north of York were stunning and I loved spending an hour or so with my good mate Bizza. 

I had now veered off the London to Edinburgh route and as a result spent a little too long on busier A roads. Having had a year of issues with my Garmin it came as little surprise, but still massive frustration, when it crashed as I was approaching Durham. My plan was to go through the middle of Durham, but Google Maps had other ideas and took me up the old A1 - not at all scenic, and also pretty dangerous. Heading past the Angel, I was very north now, and was getting excited to see the girls. The desire to get to Cambo for tea time kept me pushing the pace.

Google Maps again took me a completely inappropriate way through Newcastle. After necessary re-routing off paths more fit for mountain bikes and through dodgy estates, I was in very familiar territory past the airport with just 20 miles to go.

Just like the Ireland ride a few years before, the feeling of getting to the destination under my own steam was very satisfying. I didn't have to do it. I could have driven, I could have got the train. I could have stayed at hoke and waited for the girls to come home that weekend. The fact that it was so pointless made it all the more special. I did it because I could, and for the memory of that one time I cycled there. I am a lucky boy, I have a family that let me do these silly things and they are always the first people to welcome me at the finish, and what a lovely welcome it was!

Why? Personal thoughts on motivation

N.B. This post is very self serving, so I don't expect it to be read!

I was asked to give a talk about the recent Lands End to John O’Groats cycle. Of course I was happy to do it, but in order to “pad” it out a little, I thought I’d try and express to the group why these type of events are becoming commonplace for me. Why do I challenge myself? What makes me so weak-willed to agree to sign up for pretty much anything stupid?  When trying to make sense of it, it became an equally revealing and cathartic process, For purely selfish reasons I wanted to write it down - and it may also help to explain things to my family who just accept now that I am weird without knowing why!

The first time I ever took to a start line was the Broadmoor Hospital 9 mile sponsored walk when I was 6 years old. (I'm the competitive one in the blue tracksuit top). There I met my then-hero Jimmy Saville. It was meant to be a walk but I ran it, which was probably a good idea given the subsequent revelations about said celebrity!
It clearly had an impact on me. It was a long way, a big effort for my little legs, there was a real sense of achievement and it is something I still remember very clearly.  

In blue and unnecessarily competitive as ever 

It was not the big impact though. When I was just 12, I was small and a bit plump. Dad had read a book by Eric Newby called Around Ireland in Low Gear. Given we go to Ireland every year my Dad's plan was for my brother and I to join him on a cycle up the west coast from Limerick to Donegal. 

I was clearly the weakest - both physically and emotionally. 

We had no concept of preparation. There was no training, no idea about what kit to bring and no idea about pacing. There was also no concept of padded shorts! 

Chris (right) clearly thrilled to be spending quality time with his 'simple' younger brother!

The plan was to ride 200 miles in 7 days - 28 miles a day. 

We took tents, camping gear, sleeping bags, lots of changes of clothes, bike locks. You name it, we packed it into our massive panniers. I literally couldn't pick my bike up, they had to help me!

Packing light and enjoying a rest 

I “won” the first day, but by the second day I started to quickly unravel. I soon feel behind the gentle pace set by the others. When I got close to them, they set off again meaning I didn't get a rest. 

I was slow and weak, and I hated it. 

I was tired, increasingly grumpy and wasn't good at handling it. 

I was slowing them down and I hated it. 

After a never ending long drag uphill, into the wind, I eventually got to them. There were many expletives that I would have wanted to say, but as an innocent 12 year old I didn't know any. Instead when I got to them I threw my bike down and said “do we have to go any further”. I immediately knew that it wasn't what I wanted to say. They looked at each other, laughed and pointed out the obvious given that we were in the middle of nowhere.

I remember being angry at them for not waiting, but reminiscing now, I realise that I was actually embarrassed. I was weak, couldn't keep up and there was nothing that I could do about it.

We averaged 15 miles a day but to me those few miles felt like 100. With very sore bums, more waiting for me and a little journey on a bus (!) we made it to the end. I felt fitter and remember the sense of accomplishment but without doubt, the bike throw incident made the biggest impact. 

Carrying an unbelievable amount of kit!

Reading my conclusion of the trip brings tears to the eyes - next time, take the train!

That was pretty much it for long challenges. I was happily distracted by team sports throughout School and University. At uni I remember my housemates talking about a marathon and one of them said that I wouldn't be able to do one given my size and height. I didn't feel the need to prove them wrong at that time, but the challenge had been set. So a few years later, when my brother offered me his place in the 2000 London Marathon, with just 4 weeks notice, I took it. 

I was pretty fit from rugby, but I had no idea at all how to do a marathon. I just ran when I could and quickly built up the distance. The weekend before I went for my long run and got carried away and ended up running for 5 hours. When the day came, it was hot, I was wearing 2 t-shirts, new trainers and I was still tired from the week before. I went off too quickly, and the wheels well and truly came off at mile 16. It was a suffer-fest and I crawled to the finish line. It was a miserable experience. I could barely walk, but with my medal around my neck and in a heap on the roadside, my first thought was that I well and truly screwed that up.  I didn't contemplate quitting, but knew that I had let myself down, I had missed my target and knew that I would need to do another one. 

How not to do your first marathon. That's not Jimmy Saville again by the way!

And I did. I trained and learnt how to prepare. The following year I ran London and loved it. I then took this fitness and ran marathons in Death Valley (Nevada), Dublin, Stockholm, Dubai, Belfast and 3 marathons in 3 days along the Jurassic Coast. 

Then the big challenge was set - 6 marathons in 6 days through the Sahara Desert in an event known as The Marathon des Sables. The test is not just the heat and the distance you need to cover each day, but it is self supported, meaning that apart from water rations you have to carry everything you need for the week. This is where I am sure that the bike throw down experience fuelled me. Back then there was no preparation and I was weak as a result. If I did not prepare this time, the implications could be much more severe, and no one would be there to just laugh and pick up my bike for me. 

I trained really hard. I stopped playing rugby and turned into a thin runner. Some of the training runs were stupid. Running marathon distances on Friday night and another on Saturday morning. Taking the train out to Maidenhead and running 50 miles through the night along the Thames Tow Path back into London. Running without socks and with sand in my shoes to prep for blisters. Packing my back with 30kgs and walking for 6 hours. I was fitter and more prepared than I ever have been. 

The run itself went really well. I stuck to my plan and steadily built my pace throughout the week and finished really strongly. The key learning was that I had to control the controllable. You can't do anything about the heat, but you can eat the right food, wear the right kit, look after your feet and stay hygienic. I loved it. Weirdly the only disappointment was that it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I didn't have the bike throw down moment but then I did everything I could to avoid it. 

Loving the Sahara Desert

So I did another similar race in Namibia, IronMan triathlons in Austria and the New Forest, and ran Comrades in South Africa and a 100 miles along the South Downs Way. My feet started causing me some issues so I switched to canoeing and completed the Devizes to Westminster and several long distance swimming events. All were very hard work, but again the training paid off and I didn't let myself or anyone else down.  

Out of all the stupid events I have completed, the one I was most fond of was in 2015. We still go to Ireland every year so I decided that I would cycle from door to door and meet the family at the end, covering 400 miles in 4 days. During that trip I had a lot of time to think about the journey we took when I was 12. The difference couldn't have been more stark. For a start I wore padded shorts! I trained for it, took very little kit. My bike would have weighed about a 1/4 of the weight that my mountain bike would have been all those years ago. There was no medal at the end, no one to compete against, I planned the route, the logistics and I loved every second of it.

My bike to get to Ireland in 2015 couldn't have been more different from the one back in 1989

It is not just the experience doing an event, but I love the process of preparing for something.  I think I enjoy training just as much as the race/challenge itself.

The reason why this reflection has been so insightful for me is that I now realise why. I have no interest in trying to win the races I enter. There are always far more talented people taking part in these things. No, I like to compete and if I finish high up then I am happy. The position I finish is irrelevant - I just try and do as well as I can. What I realise now is that I prepare as well as I can so that there are no bike throwing moments. I loved that trip all those years ago. It was a proper adventure. Spending time with my Dad and brother. Seeing the stunning west coast of Ireland and travelling under our own steam. I was however clearly the weakest of the group and now I realise that I was embarrassed by it. Without really knowing it, the trip has shaped my attitude to everything since. Whilst I train to avoid it, I guess I am testing whether I ever physically/mentally get to the bike throwing moment again. If I do, then the real challenge now is how I would react.

I'm lucky to be able do these things and I hope to be physically capable of doing lots more. Keeping the right balance between family, work and these selfish pursuits is not lost on me though. Family comes first, and whilst fun, all this is trivial and self-centred.

At 9 and 6, its just a little too soon to take the girls with me, but they better be ready because I have plans for them. Unlike my Dad though, I will buy them a pair of padded shorts!

I haven't read this yet - but this book started it all. 

Post LEJOG 2017

The ride finished on a real high yesterday and we celebrated like a bunch of pros - a curry, a couple of beers and in bed by 11pm!

Rather than summarising the trip with our best bits (these should have already been covered in the daily blog) or guidance on how to do Lands End to John O'Groats (just spend a lot of time on your bike and get bloody fit), we enjoyed making up our own awards last night and these will serve as the best summary for the 6 of us who shared a really special 9 days cycling together.  

Best Dressed - 1st Willis. Cormac was 2nd which he will be disappointed by given that he owns 20 outfits, Robin was 3rd. Amazingly Azon received a nomination even though his kit was smothered in sudocrem!.

Biggest strop - Azon for his solo breakaway into Fort William on day 7.  

Worst mechanical - Robin because his bike only made it 2 miles before breaking (for Robin's benefit 2 miles is 3.2 km)

Worst ongoing mechanical - Robin given that his Garmin fell off, his seat slipped down, and despite tubeless tyres being way forward, it went flat multiple times throughout day 5. 

Most punctures - Jonesy with 4 (Robin's is only classed as 1 flat even though it took less time to fix my 4 to his one). Willis has the photo evidence of all my punctures, which therefore shows that he was nowhere to be seen when I actually needed some assistance!).   

Worst maintained bike from the start - Azon, luckily Mick had some time to attend the group's needs when he wasn't maintaining Azon's bike.

Cleanest bike - Cormac because Mick looked after it everyday to accommodate more faff time at the start and end of each day.  

Most combative - Willis, for not letting Robin beat him, yet all the photo evidence proves otherwise. 

Person most likely to get mugged on a climb - Jonesy (by Willis as he was the most combative) 

Best young rider - Jonesy, because he was the only rider in his 30s at the start of the trip. 

Best lookalike - Wellsy for being a fat David Miller (close 2nd was Azon for Mark Cavendish who also strops)

King of the mountains - Jonesy, "they weren't attacks, just the pace I like to ride at!" 

Rider least likely to take their turn at the front - Cormac, because his coach told him not to. Once he stopped taking calls from his coach his form dramatically improved (but his coach told him that would happen). 

Most likely to take a wrong turn to avoid being at the front - Wellsy, curiously this happened regularly, hence it was termed "doing a Wellsy"

Biggest faffer - Cormac, no contest

Most improved faffer - Cormac, no contest, the only way was up.

Most time spent in the van (other than Mick) - split decision between Cormac and Willis

Best Hotel - Premier Inn Bath - Lenny Henry would have been proud 

Worst selfie taker - Robin, for someone very capable at most things, he is comically useless as taking a picture of himself and his desired background. 

Captain of the Incontinence cycling team - Cormac had the weakest bladder given he is the oldest and because his coach recommended regular convenience and food stops. 

Best flapjacks - Azon's bag of them. Shame that his "special" ones were not on offer.  

Most over lubricated derriere - Jonesy, it's always better to be safe than sorry

Worst application of lubrication  - Azon, no contest

Grittiest performance - Azon, having the sh'ts from Bath to Glasgow would have stopped or at least slowed a lesser man. 

Over obsession with data - Cormac, no contest given that his coach was on speed dial. 

Best climb - Split decision between Cheddar Gorge (Somerset on day 2) and Shap (Lake District day 5) 

Best moment -  The last 40km time trial to John O'Groats (smashed it averaging just under 30mph) or the school kids cheering us on back in day 2. 

Team motivator - Willis, for always being positive and upbeat, even though his Churchillian speeches were woeful.  

Most likely to get lost - Jonesy 

Least likely to wait for a lost team member - the rest of the team rather than wait for Jonesy

Best tan of the week - none of us because the weather was average 

Top blog - this one, because there wasn't another one.

Top stat - Total average speed for the trip was 17.8mph (or 28.8 km/h for those that insist on the other metric). 

Unsung hero - Mick, no contest, we couldn't have wished for a nicer, more organised and more thoughtful person to look after us. Without him we would still be at mile 2 (well...at least Robin would be!)

The wet before, and euphoric after

Some of our county signs

Some pre-ride snaps

Thanks boys - it was brilliant. Until the next one!

LEJOG 17 - Day 9, 18th June. Bonar Bridge - John O'Groats (108 miles)

A very quick write up today because we have FINISHED and have the tedious trip to make back via Inverness so wifi and time is limited.

We saved the best until last. The rain kept away, the sun shone at times and the wind was favourable.

The route north up to the coast was truly spectacular. We loved every second of it and have so many photos as a result.

Once we hit the coast and headed east, the wind was on our back. To say that we smashed it home is an understatement. We all had PBs and the 6 of us were in Strava's all time top 10s for multiple segments in the run in to John O'Groats (sorry, we are all Strava bores now, but this means it was a good thing!). We turned up at the John O'Groats sign exhausted - not because we had all ridden close to 1000 miles in 9 days, but because we had treated the last 30 miles as a time trial! It was a great way to end a great trip.

This was an experience not to forget (or probably repeat). We prepared well for it. We all got on well. We all rode as hard as we could. No one let anyone else down and we were incredibly well supported every moment of the way by Mick.

We were so lucky to have been able to do it and we are each in massive debt to our families - no doubt we will be paying them back for months, but it was worth every turn of the pedals.

Thank you for following, and thank you so much for donating. It has been awesome.

A glorious run in

Stunning when the sun shone

The team shot we all worked so hard for

Even the warm prosecco tasted good

LEJOG 17 - Day 8, 17th June. Fort William - Bonar Bridge

We spend a lot of time looking at the road, so have become connoisseurs of tarmac. There are of course lots of different varieties, but I summarise them into 4 categories.

1. The crème de la crème - freshly laid tarmac that is smooth and a pleasure to ride on
2. The older road that is OK but littered with cracks and potholes
3. The nut jangler. Road that the builders clearly couldn’t be bothered to apply a smooth top layer. 
4. The worst of the worst – the new road that the builders have just dressed the surface with loose shingle. This is not only hazardous to ride along but the loose chippings get stuck in your gears and brakes.

I am pleased to say that the roads today were mainly 1 and 2. Once again Fort William was clouded in mist which meant that we saw nothing of the surrounding hills. We were prepared for the worst weather that Scotland could throw at us, but we got lucky and escaped with only a few passing showers. We even saw some blue sky, the sun cream was not required though – we are not in the South of England!

The scenery was stunning, passing Loch Ness, the Moray of Firth and some hilly bits. We made good progress and within 3 hours had passed a group of LEJOG riders who were staying in our hotel and they had set off an hour earlier than us. (As I type this, half of the same group have just arrived at our hotel, 2 hours later than we got here, and they still have a further 30 miles to go!)

It was a great day and we are looking forward to finishing off the trip strongly tomorrow.

Fines today go to;

The only one we can think of today was Cormac – for his solo breakaway and disrupting our formation. 

A special mention must go to the old lady who worked at the Premier Inn. Her mantra was clearly not ‘service with a smile’. She reflected the weather - absolutely miserable!

Yesterday I promised some clarification for previous rule infringements. Lateness and dull Garmin banter is self-explanatory. Below are examples of Azon’s careless cream application and multiple offenders of the arm exposure.

Bring on our final day tomorrow!

Willis as chirpy as ever

Cycling along Loch Ness was a highlight

Willis as chirpy as ever 

Some Scottish bloke

Stunning views to end the day

Unacceptable arm exposure

Unacceptable cream leakage

LEJOG 17 - Day 7, 16th June. Hamilton - Fort William (126 miles)

7 days in now and our routines are sorted. Personally I get up, have breakfast, check weather forecast, dress appropriately, liberally apply chamois cream and start riding. Stop within 20 minutes for a team pee – we are the incontinent cycling team! Coffee around 30 miles, lunch around 60, generously re-apply chamois cream,  and then push on through to the end. Once finished, download the ride to Strava (if it’s not on Strava, it never happened), clean bike, check in, shower, apply sudocrem, get dressed, write blog, eat, re-apply sudocrem & sleep. So as I write this blog, you are now fully up to speed with what I have done today!

With a long day in store, we agreed to start earlier than normal, and with rotten weather forecast to hit us at midday, we were all very punctual (even Cormac!) and started as planned at 7.15am.

Escaping the Glasgow area was pretty grim, but once we neared Loch Lomond the landscape was stunning. It is weird I know, but even with 700 miles in the legs, we are feeling stronger than ever and the distance no longer daunts us. What does daunt us however is the threat of rain and headwinds! Whilst you lot down in the south of England are worried about what factor sun cream to apply, we are currently worrying about the right rain jacket so we don’t get too cold and how to avoid trench foot!

The rain hit us in earnest by midday with 50 miles still to ride. It is disappointing because I am sure that the mountains around Glencoe would have been stunning when we cycled through them but like Cornwall, the clouds were low and the rain heavy so all I got to admire was tarmac and the same bottoms and calves that I have been staring at all week.

We were grateful to reach Fort William in good time and get dry. We are just hoping that tomorrow isn’t a complete wash out as well.

Fines for today are;

Graham – for unnecessary arm exposure (I’ll include photos tomorrow to explain the serious nature of this indiscipline

Jones – for having his 4^th puncture of the trip (cycling through yet another hole in the road)

Everyone else – for not telling Jones that there was a hole in the road.

  

The forecast dominating our preparations for the day

A rare sight of blue sky

Steadily taking on our first climb of the day 

I think this is a mountain in Glencoe

Glencoe

Simon embracing the Scottish culture and eating a deep fried Mars Bar. 

LEJOG 17 - Day 6, 15th June. Penrith - Hamilton (107 miles)

Let’s face it – if you didn’t like cycling, this would be a rubbish trip! The days are long, we are covering a lot of miles and climbing a lot of hills. We are however making great progress and after 6 days we have crossed the border and are just south of Glasgow.

Today was meant to be an easy day because tomorrow we have a hilly long day, so what did we do? We smashed the 107 miles at an average of 19 mph, our fastest day so far, but at least it meant that we finished early and have longer to rest for the 130 mile day tomorrow.

We made great progress from the start today, covering 20 miles in the first hour. The wind was kind, and we spent much of the day weaving alongside the M6 and then the M74.

Whilst most of you are basking in sunshine, it is looking like it will be a very wet couple of days for us. We did our best to avoid the showers today but failed miserably, getting very wet and cold by lunchtime.

I had the misfortune of being the only person not to spot a big hole in the road and managed the impressive feat of puncturing both wheels at the same time, taking my puncture tally to 3. Robin was just thankful that it wasn’t him this time!

We met a few fellow LEJOG people today. (To avoid any confusion, LEJOG stands for Lands End to John O’Groats, rather than a random name that we have given ourselves).  The highlight being Charlie who is cycling the same route by himself in just 2 weeks. Charlie is 70 and puts all of us to shame as he does this sort of trip multiple times a year. Next he is off to cycle the Pacific Highway – we have no idea what that is but it sounds long!

Finishing early gives me a bit more time to write this, and the opportunity to mention some things that I have previously forgotten.

• ·        Azon fell off his bike the other day trying the very difficult manoeuvre of turning his bike around. He should have received a fine on the day it happened.
•       Robin and Graham are both useless at taking selfies.
• ·        Willis doesn’t do Churchillian speeches. Basking in the glow of having achieved 3 back to back 100+ mile days, he kindly reminded us that we have such a long way still to go. So motivational!  
• ·        Still struggling with stomach issues, yesterday Azon bought a bag full of Imodium from a chemist and then asked for the lady who served him for 20p for the public toilet. Forever upbeat, he said “she didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to guess my issue!”
• ·        I am not giving enough praise to Mick – our support team. Mick is a quiet, mild mannered guy and couldn’t have done more to help us. When we need him, he is there without any fuss. From mile 2 when he fixed Robin’s bike, to presenting me with a cake for my birthday and the the endless driving ahead to arrange the most appropriate coffee stops and lunch venues. An example of his thoughtfulness (other than the cake!) was when he spotted a group of school kids in a little village school playground learning their bike proficiency. Mick stopped, had a word with their teachers and drove on. When we came through all the kids were shouting their encouragement at us – it was such a lovely moment that each of us absolutely loved. 

Today’s fines go to;

Jones & Willis – for pushing too hard and losing the organised team formation. Quite rightly our ‘skipper’ for the day Graham was less than pleased and told us so - it shouldn’t have happened on his watch!

Willis – for exposing the top of his arms above his arm warmers.   

Cormac – the good old Cormac was back this morning and he was 15 minutes late

Azon – seems hardly worth mentioning about his shorts now does it? His liberal chamois cream application is a daily occurrence and would now feel odd if the white streaks weren’t there!

Big day tomorrow and we just hope it isn’t too wet – cycling in the rain is miserable.  Thanks for your continued support and donations – we are now approaching £13,000. Thank you!

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Reaching Scotland this morning felt like a real landmark 

The hole in the road that caused my double puncture

Soaked- I fear that this will be repeated many times over the next couple of days

Looking organised when the sun shone and before Willis encouraged me to push too hard and break the formation!