LEJOG 17 - Day 4, 13th June. Ludlow - Haydock (112 miles)

If ever 112 miles can be classed as a recovery ride, today was the day. Conditions were dry, virtually flat and with a 5 mph tail wind. I won't be bold enough to say that it was easy, but compared to our first 3 days, it was considerably easier.

All dress in the same kit - thank you EC1 Collective, our mediocre cycling team looked the business and we continue to gel.

There are plenty of challenges to overcome doing something like this. Azon picked up a stomach bug last night, so was very impressive to be able to cover the distance. Robin was equally unlucky as he got a wasp sting in the face and had to cycle the second half without being able to see much out of his left eye.

I got the team's first puncture of the week, but given that it was a slow puncture overnight, fixing it was easy before we got started this morning - particularly because Cormac was 15 minutes late (I think you can guess what is coming up in the fines summary!)

Backsides and legs are beginning to get pretty tender now. Personally I find myself daydreaming about sudocrem but then I just have to look at Azon's shorts to realise that it is not just me!

Today's fines go to;
Cormac - for being 15 minutes late to start this morning.
Cormac - for riding the fist 10 miles without his helmet as he left it in the van.
Cormac - for running over a squirrel (accidental of course!)

Instead of fines, full credit must go to both Robin and Azon for finishing the day so strongly despite both suffering.

Now on to day 5 and another 100+ mile day as we head towards the Lake District - not the typical way to celebrate my 40th, but great fun with a top group.

Mick helping with directions

Our mediocre team is looking more professional now!

Our lunchtime view

A standard from when 'hiding' at the back

GroupM's answer to the Chuckle Brothers 

Picnic lunch 

Robin's wasp sting actually looked a lot worse than this

Thank you to all of you who have donated and continue to support us, we all really appreciate it!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/lejog2017media

LEJOG 17 - Day 3, 12th June. Bath - Ludlow (105 miles)

From a personal perspective, day 3 started really nicely as my good friend George (see most of the previous blogs) came to see us off. Given that he had come from London that morning - his commitment was impressive and most welcome!

The first two days are notoriously hilly, so we left the overcast city of Bath looking forward to a dry and flatter day. The scenery was stunning. In total we passed through 6 counties (Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Herefordshire and Shropshire) and 2 countries (England and Wales). Highlights were was passing through Castle Coombe, the Wye Valley and riding across the Severn Bridge.

All the group are still in good spirits and riding strongly. At times it felt like we were riding fast and as a unit, each taking turns to cycle at the front - where it is harder as you are the first to hit the wind, and the others can draft behind you. I thought that this is what a cycling team must feel like - granted, a mediocre cycling team, but we can dream! Also note to self, a cycling team would not stop 10 miles before the end and have a pint. Instead of flying through the last part of the day, the alcohol made it a real slog, so we were pleased to make it to Ludlow, even if the hotel was rubbish. Another note to self, Travelodge is so much worse than Premier Inn (don't worry, we will stay classy!)

On day 3 there were still misdemeanours to warrant a fine.
Graham - wearing arm warmers that still exposed the top of his arm, and having a clear chain grease tattoo on his leg (he was dressed appropriately for breakfast however as we can all agree that no one likes seeing MAMILs whilst eating!)
Cormac - far less faffing today, but still the last to get ready
Azon - filthy and fraying bar tape and initially we praised him for his surgical application of his chamois cream, however the tell-tail white smear marks made an appearance all over his shorts after lunch.

Early start out of Bath for Graham & Cormac

Graham crossing the Severn Bridge

the team in Wales

Not the most aero team formation from Castle Coombe

A quick team rest

Cormac and Graham in action

Yes, Robin comfortably beat Willis up the hill (but who took the photo?)

The Wye Valley

Thank you to all of you who have donated and continue to support us, we all really appreciate it!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/lejog2017media

LEJOG 17 - Day 2, 11th June. Okehampton - Bath (108 miles)

It couldn't be worst than day one could it? Thankfully it wasn't. In fact day 2 was exactly the opposite of day one. It was dry, lovely views, great roads, no mechanicals, no excessive stopping, hilly but we enjoyed a great tail wind. We even cycled well as a group, each taking turns at the front, and we covered the miles quickly. We covered the 108 miles in less than 6 hours and would have made Bath before 4pm had the lunch been slightly less leisurely (reminder to self, this is not a race!).
Cheddar Gorge was stunning, as was much of Devon and we are now in Somerset.

There were less fines for inappropriate behavior today as we are learning the "rules".
Willis - for dressing head to toe in team Sky gear.
Cormac - for excessive faffing
Azon - again for overly liberal use of his chamois cream to the outside of his shorts
Graham - for eating breakfast in full cycling kit and wearing his helmet at lunch
No fines today for Jones and Robin.

Bring on day 3

Optimistic at the start of day 2

Willis trying to ride a bike

Into our 3rd county

Actually cycling in an organised formation

Day 2 couldn't have been any different from day 1!

Bath was a great place to end a great day

LEJOG 17 - Day 1, 10th June. Land's End – Okehampton (109 miles)

I will try not to make this a tedious warts and all account of our trip, so suffice to say, we made it down to Penzance on the train without any dramas, all were fit and keen to crack on.

Day one was packed with challenges. Starting a little later than we hoped, we got our photo taken by the Lands End sign and cycled a solid 10 minutes before we had our first issue. It took just 2.1miles before Robin's bike broke (terminal gear failure). Mick, our helper for the week did well not to laugh at us, instead he set Robin up with a spare bike and charged off to hunt down a bike shop that could help.  

Apparently Cornwall is stunning - we wouldn't know as the weather was truly miserable throughout. We were all wet to the core for the whole day, and given we were in cloud all day, visibility was non existent. The only view we had was of calves and white lines on a road. All were in agreement that despite him having a rubbish bike, Robin has the best calves!

Mick was a hero and the fixed bike was returned within a couple of hours. If we have any pretence of knowing what we are doing on a bike, none of us showed it today. Azon's cleat fell off, we were forever stopping, there was no cohesion in the way we rode and the miles were covered very slow.

Despite this, it was great to get started and we covered one of the hardest days, in the most foul conditions - great fun.    

Fines for  unacceptable lack of protocol went to;

Robin - for having a rubbish bike, causing extensive faffing time, wearing white gloves and excessive Garmin chat at dinner. 

Azon - for wearing arm warmers over his shirt, his cleat falling off, and smearing chamois cream to the exterior of his shorts. 

Cormac - for being too skinny and getting cold. 

Willis - for wearing his helmet in doors and having both a Garmin and iPhone mounted on his bike. 

Jones - for wearing 'tiny women's tennis socks' and for having a pump and tri bag on my bike. 

Only Graham avoided a fine!

Happy at the start

Miserable conditions all day

The first mechanical

We saw absolutely nothing in Cornwall, but hoping for better throughout the week

Lands End to John O'Groats 2017

It has been a while since I have taken on a challenge and written about it, so given that a ride from Lands End to John O'Groats will be 9 days and nearly 1000 miles, I think this qualifies for a write up

Starting on 10th June, myself and 5 other media mamils (middle aged men in lycra) will be riding from the most southerly point in mainland Britain to the most northerly point. Our route will pass up through Cornwall, Devon, follow the Welsh border, bisect the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District, across the Scottish Borders through the Great Glen before finally reaching John O'Groats. 

Joining me will be other media luminaries (?!!) Robin O’Neill, Simon Willis, Azon Howie, Graham Wells and Cormac Loughran. 

All 5 are very strong riders. As such I have been training hard through the winter/spring, spending lots of time on my turbo trainer at home or cycling to and from work (about 50 miles each way). In total this year I have racked up 4000+ miles, lost 1½ stone and 15% BMI, for just one purpose - to not slow the group down too much! I am now fitter than I ever have been on a bike, so even though it is a long way, I am really looking forward to it.

Our route is predictably long and hilly.  

Day	Date	Route - Provisional	Miles	Climbing (metres)
1	10th June	Land's End – Okehampton	107.6	2,363
2	11th June	Okehampton to Bath	107.8	2,151
3	12th June	Bath To Ludlow -	102.1	1,887
4	13th June	Ludlow to Haydock	109.6	1,059
5	14th June	Haydock to Penrith	102	1,524
6	15th June	Penrith to Hamilton	104.5	1,175
7	16th June	Hamilton to Fort William	128.8	2,208
8	17th June	Fort William to Bonar Bridge	110.4	1,699
9	18th June	Bonar Bridge to John O'Groats	113.8	1,831
Total			986.6	15,895

All the logistics are sorted. We know the route, where we are staying and we will have someone supporting us every day. Hopefully, all we will need to do is eat, sleep and peddle. 


I will commit to writing an update each day here. Also every ride will be recorded on my Strava page here; https://www.strava.com/athletes/1566301

This will of course be fun and a great physical test, but because I choose to do these silly things I wouldn't normally ask for any charitable donation. However the team is raising money for 3 very worthwhile charities - Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Welsh Children's Air Ambulance and the children's ward at Ysbyty Gwynedd (North Wales). Recently one of our riders needed the support from all 3 of these charities after his newborn son experienced complications. If you would like to donate then we have set up a fundraising page. http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/lejog2017media


Thank you, and please keep your fingers crossed for sunny days, a strong tail wind and a chafe free trip!

A few pics from training this year. 

 

South Downs Way 100

“Fair play to you, I could never do that”, are the words that I should never have said to myself.

My previous experiences of the 100 mile distance is either manning a check point or running a few short sections with friends. Seeing the effort (and pain) that they went through had convinced me never to try it, but without realising it, I had challenged myself - how could I come to that conclusion without at least trying one? 

This is the reason that I found myself in a field in Winchester at 6am on Saturday 13^th June, next to more than 250 other idiots (an affectionate term really!) and began making my way to Eastbourne 100 miles along the South Downs Way.

I love a challenge, but I am not a good runner. I like the process of training for something, and having a reason to not drink a bottle of wine and eat crisps every night on the sofa – something that I could comfortably do every day of the week. The concept of training for 100 miles was and continues to be alien to me. I still have no idea how to do it. I just ran, cycled and rowed a bit and tried to lose weight. Throughout the build-up I had issues with my feet and hips, so my attitude to the event was lets just give it a go, if the body breaks then I will stop, if I get to a point that I don’t want to carry on then at least I will have my answer and won’t need to try another one.   

There was little strategy. I hadn’t previously done a recce of the course (I just knew that it would be hard and hilly). I was going to walk every uphill, use poles to take as much weight off my feet as I could, try to eat and drink as much as possible, and just try and enjoy it. Surprisingly enough this simple approach worked well. I took it as easy as I could and was well up on the sub 24 hour pace without too much effort. I had a good chat with fellow runners (nice to meet you Barney, sorry about my boring farming story!) and I loved seeing my little family at miles 27, 35 and 40.

The body was holding up well and I made sure that I took the advice we were given and soaked in all the amazing views – the SDW is indeed stunning.

I made it into Washington at 54 miles to be greeted by a good friend of mine. Spirits were high. I was there in just over 11 hours and was still strong but there were signs that things were going to get more challenging. My hips were beginning to hurt now and I was losing my appetite. I loaded my bag with more food, changed my shirt and headed off again up another hill - standard! A specific finish time was not my primary goal. Genuinely it was to finish, but if I could sneak under 24 hours I’d be happy. I was still over an hour up on the sub 24 hour pace and I just wanted to keep going.

For some reason I had got it into my head that a check point was at 63 miles, so when I arrived at Botolphs and found that it was only 61, mentally I found that very difficult. My right hip was now giving me a lot of discomfort and my stomach was not happy, so I decided to walk, and force food down me until I started feeling better. I was meeting my friend Graham at mile 72, so I had 9 miles to ‘recover’. I tried everything that I could to sort my stomach out but I couldn’t get rid of the nausea. Was it better to make myself sick, or try and keep down whatever was in my stomach? No food appealed, and even my go-to fuel of a pepperami was revolting – trying to force that down with diluted coke near Saddlescombe Farm at mile 66 was a particular low moment.

By now my pace was very slow. Unless you have experienced it, you just can’t imagine how disheartening it is to cover just 3 miles an hour when you would normally expect to cover 5 or 6 miles. Trying to ensure that Graham wasn’t waiting too long for me kept me going. We met up at 11pm and now the head torches were turned on. I was still on for 24 hours but realistically this ‘goal’ had long gone. All I wanted to do was get through the next 28 miles. The thought of dropping though never really entered my mind – I was too preoccupied with feeling terrible and also dreaming of sudocrem!

Graham Booty is a great runner. I “helped” him on one of his 100s between mile 80-90. When he was on 86 and I was on 6, I clearly remember having to ask him to slow down a touch so that I could keep up! He is quality, so he was completely over qualified to be trudging through the night at a snail’s pace with me. He was great though. He provided the chat, opened every gate and importantly knew when not to say anything because he understood that I was often in a very dark place and just needed to tough it out. The hills kept coming, but it was definitely the downhill’s that I dreaded most. After an eternity (even that doesn’t convey how long it felt!) the daylight appeared. Whilst we had just 9 miles to go, it was still so frustrating to know that this would take more than 3 hours to cover.

Approaching the aid station at mile 96 I thought I saw a massive marquee, and wondered if Centurion had really pushed the boat out, only to find that it was just an empty field – clearly I was tired and the mind was now playing tricks. 

The stomach wasn’t accepting anything now so there was no point in stopping. The endless plod continued and eventually we headed off the SDW and into Eastbourne. (A massive thank you to the couple who stayed all night in their tent to ensure that the runners knew which way to go!!) 

Approaching the sports ground and the finish was an odd feeling. I was tired, in pain and nauseous. I wasn’t particularly euphoric. I had covered 100 miles but I was very conscious that I had kept my friends waiting for me and it was affecting their plans for that day. Graham had to extend his parking permit. My girls were waiting for me at home because it was my birthday and they had planned a nice lunch. Rowley who kindly agreed to meet me at the end and drive me home had been waiting for me at the finish line all night. He had however kept himself busy by handing out the buckles and having his photo taken with the finishers!

But enough about me. The beauty of the Centurion events is the collective, not the individual. The organisation is fantastic - the website, the registration process, the community on Facebook, the volunteers, the sponsors, the check points, the food & drink, the can-do attitude, the warm/friendly welcome, the up-all-night dedication. When you blend all this with a great attitude from your fellow runners (friendly and empathetic, not competitive), you get something special, and something that should be celebrated.

  

Back to me. “Fair play to you, I could never do that”. Well I proved to myself that I could. I did it. With a finish time of over 26 hours, I didn’t break any records, but I was never going to. It was bloody hard. I have never had to dig deeper to complete anything before. Thank you to all those that helped me. You won’t see me competing in another 100, (the body won’t allow it), but you will see me helping out at an aid station, and now I will have even more respect for those that are attempting this stupid distance.    

Devizes to Westminster Report

Having completed the DW two days ago, my body is only just showing signs of recovery. It was brutal. As I lay in bed for the first time there was not a part of me that wasn’t aching and I have only just stopped having the urge to be sick. Was it the hardest thing I have ever done? It was certainly up there.

There are 3 distinct phases of the non stop 125 mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe race. The first is a 54 mile stretch of the Avon and Kennet Canal which contains the majority of the 77 portages. The second is a 54 mile stretch of the Thames between Reading and Teddington. The final 17miles to Westminster is on the tidal part of the Thames. Crucial to the race is getting to Teddington within a certain time before the tide turns. Once it does you have to wait 6 hours before you are allowed back onto the river – if you paddle against the tide you will go nowhere.  

Knowing that we wouldn’t be able to get a huge amount of training in before the event, and being novice paddlers, George and I took the decision to use a sea kayak purchased on Ebay. She would be considerably slower and heavier but crucially more stable than any other boat taking part.

The race starts between 7am and 1pm on Saturday and it is tactical when competitors choose to leave. Having checked in the boat on the Friday night and gorged ourselves on pizza, we woke on Saturday morning with the aim of starting as close to the 7am start as we could, so we were happy to be leaving at 7.15am. The conditions were predictably cold but sunny. Despite other boats effortlessly cruising past us, having no feeling in our hands and regularly paddling through ice, our spirits were high.

You can’t complete the DW without a support crew. You depend on them entirely to provide you with the necessary food, drink and moral. With George’s Dad Steve and fiancee Emma, we couldn't have asked for more as we saw them regularly and their energy was incredible. Thank you!

Our tactic was to be slow and steady on the water (as we had no other option with HMS Ebay!) but fast through the portages. If we took an extra minute or two at each of the 77 locks and weirs then it would add a further couple of hours to the race, so we aimed to be as slick as possible through them. If our crew were there, they would hand us a fresh bottle and bag of food, and we would get paddling straight away. Whilst in the boat, one of us would eat and the other would paddle. Yes it wasn't the fastest way to do it, but it kept us moving forward. We could also see that it was working as we were keeping up with a lot of boats that were clearly faster than us, but they were faffing so much when they were out of the boat. 

A constant headwind was proving a hindrance but was certainly not dampening spirits. We were enjoying ourselves, having a laugh and generally keeping our minds off the bigger picture - the fact that we had many more uncomfortable hours left to be sat in the boat. At one stage we were looking good to complete the first 54 miles in 12 hours – a great achievement for us as we managed just 40 miles in 12 hours in training which again shows our efficiency at the locks was paying off.

When we pulled into Reading 13 hours later, we were bit confused why we had lost an hour on our predicted time, and suddenly panicked that we were running behind schedule. We had a very quick change of clothes, and said goodbye to Steve and Emma and welcomed my brother who had agreed to see us through the night. In theory, getting onto the Thames should have meant that we increased our average speed considerably above the 4mph we had been used to. However we were gutted to find that we only manged 4.5miles in the first hour on the Thames.  As mental as it sounds, at 9pm on Saturday we knew that we were massively under pressure and would need to paddle as hard as we could in order to make it to Teddington for the 8.30am cut off - our race was well and truly on. 

It is hard to describe, but the focus that we both had to make the 8.30am cut off was incredible. We had plenty of knock backs that could have broken us. I lost my phone which meant that my brother really struggled to find us without the GPS app that we had downloaded. Without our support crew we had to eat our emergency rations and were running on empty for a while. The confusion between BST and GMT (which is difficult at the best of times, and even more so during the race as the clocks changed at midnight), meant that we were getting mixed messages from everyone we asked, and for a while we genuinely didn't know if we could make the deadline. All we knew was that we had to push hard all night as it was going to be close. I can’t really speak for George, but the cold didn't really affect me as much as I had feared. At -2 degrees it was extremely cold, but because we were pushing so hard, my core temperature stayed just high enough. The boat was covered in ice so reading our mileage chart was difficult at times, and our paddle covers (pokies) were frozen solid and sounded like cardboard. Chris said that at one stage we were covered in ice too. Proper Shackleton-esq, but our focus was so fixed on the 8.30am cut off that everything else didn’t seem to matter. (I know, it is even odd typing that!).

I completely buried myself to get to Teddington and when the sun was up, and we were approaching that all important lock with 30 minutes to spare, I was so exhausted and got a bit emotional. That felt like our finish line. It was a massive achievement to have been able to haul that boat of ours to that point within the time restraint. Mentally we relaxed as from then on, all our hard work should have been worth it as our sea kayak would cope so well on the choppy tidal water and we could just sit in the fast current and let it take us all the way to the steps at Westminster without needing to paddle. Of course it wasn’t as easy as that!

We discovered that we had picked up a hole in the boat and that we were taking on a lot of water, but we had come this far that we were not going to let that cause us to DNF, we just had to stop regularly to empty her. Also the dream of the wild rapids of the Thames couldn’t have been further from the truth. It was flat, and the small paddling that we could muster was getting us nowhere. We asked another crew if there was a time limit on this stretch, they said there wasn’t as such, but we had between 90 – 120 minutes before the tide turned completely and it would be nigh on impossible to paddle to the end. With my stomach, shoulders, and back in tatters, once again we had to push hard to complete the remaining 12 miles in under 2 hours without the drag from the tide that we were relying on. 

Those final 2 hours were agony. Whilst it was great to have more support from the banks including my girls, we just wanted it over. We were done at Teddington so this effort was killing us. I just couldn’t get comfortable in the boat, so when we finally saw Parliament and our finish line, the feeling was more relief that exhilaration. Relief that we were finally getting out of the boat, and that after 28½ hours, we were finally done.

48 hours later, my hands and wrists are sore, my back is aching, lips chapped, legs bruised and I generally feel drained. A few more sleeps should sort all that out, and the feeling of a deep sense of satisfaction will remain, knowing that we had to push ourselves so hard to complete it. 

We were also lucky. Our friends JB and Graham, the 2^nd boat in Team Capital City were going so well until they hit a log and broke their rudder after 15 hours. We are gutted for them, but we know that they will come back even stronger next year.

Now for the Oscars moment. George, clearly I couldn't have done it without you and wouldn't have wanted to go through this with anyone else. I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone one that supported and sponsored us, knowing how much was at stake certainly helped us to keep moving forward and I know that Research Autism will put your generous contributions to the best of use. Chris, Steve and Emma you were amazing and again we couldn’t have done it without you.  Final thanks has to go to Cal, Bella and Charlotte, for letting me disappear for hours on end to prepare for such a challenge. I will try and leave it a little while before I think up what the next one will be!

http://www.justgiving.com/Devizes-to-Westminster-Research-Autism