Reflections

Well, it's a beautiful sunny start to the day here in Penzance and I don't have to get on my bike and start peddling. Quite a relief. Looking back it's been quite an amazing experience, one I'm really glad I undertook. I'm not sure if i can actually say i enjoyed it. though neither can i say i didn't. The reason I undertook the challenge was because I wanted to see if i could do it and also to know what it would feel like on a day to day basis to try. There was never going to be the same sense of fun as when i've done things with other people. I was always very focused on getting to the next target on my map and the best part of each day was invariably when i knew i didn't have to pedal anymore. Any romantic notions I had of merrily cycling through quaint little villages and rolling green countryside never really materialised, predominantly because of the weather and also because I was always tired, hungry or both.

I woke up early this morning to scatter some of Mum's ashes that we had saved under the tree in the photograph, in Penlee Park, Penzance. Cornwall and Penzance in particular were among her favourite places and it's nice that she was able to come on part of my journey with me. I've given my bike to a charity shop as I'm going to stick to riding into town on my mountain bike from now on and I won't get much use from it. I also have to get four different trains to get back to Chester so it's nice to be relieved of the burden. Effectively the bike was free anyway. I bought it from E-bay and for some reason PayPal refunded me the £200 i paid for it so hopefully it will find another good home and who knows, maybe another adventure. Anyway that's it, my final post. Time to get home and start getting ready for the arrival of our baby now I think.

Day 11 - Looe to Land's End

Miles : 84 (Total distance 985)
Punctures: 1
Weather: Cloudy but with enough bright spells to put sun cream on.
What's for tea? Moroccan meatballs with couscous.
Best Bits: Gliding down the hill towards Land's End, the Cornish ice cream on the prom in Penzance and the first sip of my hard earned ice cold beer.
Worst Bit: All the hills and a half hour of panic when i thought i'd lost my mobile phone. I hadn't. I'd just hidden it very very well.
Any Other Bit: I had to cycle around 9 miles back to Penzance after getting to Land's End. I'd been dreading this but with the wind behind me and the job done it was the most enjoyable 9 miles of the whole trip.

Day 10 - Exminster to Looe

Miles : 66 (Total so far 901)
Punctures: 1
Weather: Rain to start with, then a sunny spell before heavy rain just as i was about to finish.
What's for tea? Fish and Chips
Best Bits: The fact that i had to think about getting my sun cream out (I didn't, it clouded over) and Mrs Nott refusing to accept the balance on my room last night and insisting that i put it towards my sponsorship.
Worst Bit: I was warned that there were lots of hills down this way and that is certainly true from my journey through Devon and what little of Cornwall I have ridden so far.
Any Other Bit: I had to get a ferry today from Plymouth, just across the bay into Cornwall. It was just about to leave when i wheeled down the ramp on my bike.

Day 9 - Glastonbury to Exminster

Miles : 63 (Total so far 836)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Showers.
What's for tea? Bangers and Mash.
Best Bits: I knew i didn't have far to go and so kind of meandered along today. My route was quite interesting and took me through lots of picturesque small villages with interesting names like 'Shepton Beachamp' and 'Jack-in-the-Green', into Exeter, where i had a look around, and then out along a riverside path into Exminster.
Worst Bit: Nothing really, apart from the fact that I think i've got my camera wet and it doesn't seem to work apart from miraculously taking the shot above.
Any Other Bit: I'm staying with Mrs Nott, an sprightly elderly lady, who lives in a small house at the top of a very steep hill. It has wonderful views of the Devon countryside and she served me homemade fruitcake and tea when i arrived.

Day 8 - Ross on Wye to Glastonbury

Miles : 76 (Total so far 773)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Started in rain, finished in rain but dry in between.
What's for tea? To be decided. I'm sat in a cafe having a smoothie as i write this.
Best Bits: I Feel like i'm getting towards the home straight now and also the fact that i'm staying in a Travelodge and so had the luxury of having a bath.
Worst Bit: "Happy Birthday to me..." I've got no-one to share my birthday tea with but, i know i've also only got myself to blame for that.
Any Other Bit: It took me nearly 8 hours today, which is a lot slower than yesterday. It was quite hilly near Ross on Wye and took ages to navigate my way round Bristol.

Day 7 - Chester to Ross on Wye

Miles : 114 (Total so far 697)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Rainy all morning but cleared up later.
What's for tea? Five bean chilli and jaffa cakes.
Best Bits: My friend Mat, his boys Llewelyn and Idwal and his Dad came along to support me today. They met me half way, picked up most of my luggage and then met me at a few other points along the route.
Worst Bit: Mat's Dad's car broke down four miles outside Ross on Wye and they all had to be carried back to Wrexham so we never got to have tea together as planned.
Any Other Bit: It took me just over 9 hours to cover the distance today. Last week in Scotland it took me over 14 hours to travel a slightly shorter distance.

Day 6 - Preston to Chester

Miles : 46 and 10 (Total so far 583)
Punctures: 4
Weather: Cloudy and sunny later.
What's for tea? All you can eat buffet at my local Indian resturant. I've been looking forward to this for ages.
Best Bits: Getting home and seeing Karen & Boo and Michael popping up in a pub car park en route.
Worst Bit: The punctures. My luck ran out today. I got my first two just outside Preston. I learnt at around 9 years old, i think, that you should check the tyre for thorns before replacing the inner tube. I didn't do that, hence the second puncture almost straight away. Then in Frodsham about 10 miles from Chester things got a bit messy. I had another 2 punctures, and had problems with all the special inner tubes i have that have green slime in them that's supposed to seal the punctures straight away. They didn't do that and the slime oozing out meant the patches i had wouldn't stick. Having already made 3 inner tubes unusable earlier on in the day, by breaking the valves, i decided my best option was to call a very understanding Karen and get her to come to my rescue. Not really the kind of homecoming she or I was anticipating. She drove me to a bike shop where I needed to go anyway to get my gears sorted out and got 6 normal inner tubes that i hope will get me to Lands End. Karen then took me to the point where i had stalled earlier and i rode the final 10 miles into Chester. I'm lucky this happened close to home rather than in the wilds of Scotland.
Any Other Bit: The guy in the bike shop sorted out my gears straight away and didn't charge me a penny, meaning i had much more time to spend at home today. Extremely kind of him i thought.

Day 5 - Carlisle to Preston

Miles : 96 (Total so far 527)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Incessant rain all day long.
What's for tea? Sweet chilli chicken delli, french fries & strawberry milkshake.
Best Bits: The fact that i'm nearly home and should have passed the halfway mark in my ride overall.
Worst Bit: The weather meaning i couldn't really appreciate any of the scenery i was riding through.
Any Other Bit: Food has become something of an obsession as i try to take in as many calories as possible to keep my energy up. I'm trying get the healthy stuff in but it's all guilt free as i know i'll be burning it all off.

Day 4 - New Lanark to Carlisle

Miles : 76 (Total so far 431)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Rainy but cleared up later.
What's for tea? Spaghetti bolognese and apple, pear & raspberry crumble with custard
Best Bits: A Shorter day, helped by going down hill for quite a few long stretches.It's nice to arrive late afternoon, relax a bit and have a look around.
Worst Bit: My waterproof socks don't do what they say on the tin.
Any Other Bit: I have a new au de toilette body spray, it's called 'Deep Heat'. It's very nice. I also have a little incentive scheme going. Every 20 miles I have 3 Mentos. A little sugar rush gives me a boost and something to work towards.

Day 3 -Pitlochry to New Lanark

Miles : 110 (Total so far 355)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Cloudy with occasional sunshine.
What's for tea? Pizza and a Muller corner (Strawberry Shortcake). It's 9.30, there's no shops in New Lanark so i had to grab something on route that's easy to cook and i don't have to wash up.
Best Bits: The friendliness and good nature of all the people I've asked for help today and along the way so far. One guy topped up my water bottle, gave me an apple and banana and showed me a route that saved me miles. A bit of local knowledge goes along way.
Worst Bit: The distance. It's all very well planning how far you're going to cycle each day from the comfort of a cosy living room in Chester, it's another thing doing it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Any Other Bit: Hopefully a shorter day tomorrow if everything goes according to plan.

Day 2 - Alness to Pitlochry

Miles : 112 (total so far 245)

Punctures : 0

Weather: Wind, wind, wind and more wind! Apart from that mainly sunny with just a few spots of rain.

Whats for tea? Mince and tatties and 2 chocolate hob nobs

Best Bit: The last 20 miles when all of a sudden, when i needed it most, my route changed direction and i found myself going down hill most of the way without the wind in my face.

Worst bit: The wind was coming from the south west, i was heading predominantly south west. There was only going to be one winner.

Any other bit: I was in need of a boost after 80 miles and stumbled on the cake. It was stale.

Day 1 (proper) Thurso to Alness

Miles : 93 (Total so far 133)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Overcast with just a touch of fine rain, the kind that soaks you through.
What's for tea? Pizza and strawberry moose.
Best Bits: A delicious breakfast, getting some miles under my belt and that lovely feeling when i finally got to Alness and could stop peddling.
Worst Bit: Nothing to moan about today.
Any Other Bit: The photograph of me is at the bottom.

Day 1 - Getting to John O'Groats

Miles Today: 40 (20 to and from Thurso where the train line finishes)
Punctures: 0
Weather: Rain and wind with a bit of sun at John O'Groats
What's for tea? Squashed banana, malt loaf and Dairy Milk (It's late, i'm tired and there is nowhere open nearby. I'll have a big breakfast tomorrow)
Best Bit: Finally getting here after 11 hours on the train and the sun coming out when i got to John O'Groats.
Worst Bit: Spending 11 hours on the train.
Any Other Bit: The sign at John O'Groats is run as a private business so, much to my dissapointment, they had taken it down when i got there. Hence the photo of me next to a white post.

Aprehension

I'm just going through the process of making the final preparations for my trip, trying to make sure that i remember everything. I've got an early start tomorrow and have to catch the 6.30am train from Manchester Piccadilly up north. I'm feeling a mixture of excitement and aprehension at the moment. Excitement at the prospect of embarking on something that i've been thinking about for along time and the knowledge that i'm finally going to do it. Aprehension because there are so many things i can't control that will make my journey easier or harder (trains running on time, bike reliability, weather, road surfaces, traffic etc). Still, I wanted to go out of my comfort zone so I'm looking forward to the challenge that awaits me. The alarm clock is set and i'm raring to go.

Tatton Park

59 miles. One week to go and today was something of a dress rehersal. I rode to Tatton Park to meet Dad, Gwen & Ellie and packed my bike with everything i intend to take on my trip. It was a bit of a squeeze getting everything in and a bit wobbly to start with but once i got moving everything was ok. It was another lovely sunny day, I'm going to have a bit of a shock if it starts to rain on my ride, i've been pretty lucky so far apart from one occasion. It's also a shame I can't get Gwen to pop up every lunchtime with a lovely picnic like the one she made today.


For the record this is what I'm taking with me in my bags

Clothes - fleece, rain jacket, long sleve top, long cycling pants, shorts, t-shirt, waterproof socks, underware, poncho, gloves, maps

Gadgets - netbook, GPS watch, Car Sat Nav (for finding places in towns), camera, MP3 player, phone

Bits & Bobs - spare tyre, 3 innertubes, puncture kit, tool thing, suncream, pump, CO2 canisters (pump up tyres quickly), maps, gaffer tape, book to read, micro towel, toiletries, wallet.

Thats pretty much it. Doesn't seem like alot when it's all written down.

Complacent

27, 0 and 28 miles. Two weeks to go and as the distances demonstrate I seem to have taken my foot of the gas somewhat. I've got a list of excuses and I'm just hoping complacency isn't setting in. I am going to try and do a few longer rides over the next few weeks now that my bike has been serviced (one of my excuses) and is once again working without all the strange noises. The problem is they take such a long time to complete, especially at around 11/12 miles per hour i seem to go at. I'm glad that soon I'm going to be actually doing it and am hoping that it is something approaching the 80% mental, 20% physical challenge that i remember reading when i first started researching the trip. I'm off to see some professionals riding round the streets of Chester later so hopefully they will inspire me.

The Route

28 miles & 28 Miles. D-day is creeping closer and closer, less than a month to go now. I wasn't able to cycle for about ten days after becoming ill following my ride to Llandudno, but over the last few days i've been out a few times and am starting to get back to the level of fitness i was at before. I've finished sorting out the outline of the route and booked all my accomodation on route. I'll be staying in a mixture of B&B's, Lodges, Halls of Residences, Youth Hostels, Travelodges and of course my home in Chester. It would have been nice to not have had to planned so much and just stopped wherever i felt like en-route, but given my time constraints, lack of experience and the fact that for most of the route i'll be on my own it's not really sensible to do that I guess. It's still going to be an adventure however and now that it's getting that bit closer the excitement is starting to build inside me again.

Llandudno

102 miles. I did it. I cycled all the way to Llandudno, met my friend Mat for some lunch, and then came home again. For good measure I also did a lap of the Great Orme, just to ensure my mileage was over 100 for the day which was a nice landmark to break. It was a beautiful cloudless day, and the route there along the coast was predominantly flat and about 70% off-road, but still I felt a sense of achievement as i ate my fish and chips last night. I particularly enjoyed the morning. Setting off at 7am, the world is very peaceful and there's always a nice feeling of excitement heading towards your destination. Unless i take a wrong turn that's what I anticipate the whole journey will be like on the End to End ride. I shouldn't have to retrace my steps and plod back the same way i came. I'm aware that the terrain i encounter will be tougher and there's a good chance that the weather won't be as kind but i feel confident now i can manage the ride physically. My main concern is the bike's condition. There's some awfully pained noises coming from it at times and it's badly in need of the service it's going to get in a few weeks time.

21 &51 miles. Got my mojo back this morning, a little bit anyway. It was quite sunny when i was expecting it to be raining which was a bonus and i did the first 25 miles out of Chester on the End to End route, so i'll know where i'm going when i do it for real. My bikes making some strange noises, it needs a service, but i have to wait a few weeks until Halfords can fit me in. I've now got a mirror on my bike which i think will be a big help. It makes it alot easier to know whats behind you when trying to avoid those dreaded potholes. Next stop Llandudno and hopefully pass the 100 mile barrier.

Tedious

26, 40 & 32 miles. I have to be honest and say i've found the past week or so a bit of a struggle with regards to motivation. I have been a bit tired from working but can't really blame that, i'm just not as excited as i was a few weeks ago about the ride. I think the learning curve may have stuttered a little, and i've never really liked riding just for the sake of it, I prefer it if i have to get somewhere on my bike. It's a case however at the moment of just getting some miles in my legs and improving my fitness.

There are also times when i question my ability to do the ride, especially on my own and also question why i want to do it, also especially on my own. It does seem a bit selfish and self indulgent at times, but then if i look back to how i was thinking in January then that helps me rationalize my thinking, so it was worth keeping this diary after all. Self doubt, i guess, is all part of the process when doing something like this. In a few weeks i'll be cycling to Llandudno so I'm looking forward to the challenge of getting there. In the meantime i'll just keep on peddling away.

The pothole from the other week, which i saw without a puddle over it this week.

Confidence

36 miles. That little incident the last time i rode my bike dented my confidence quite a bit. It's made me worry about what happens when things go wrong with the bike, as i suppose they're bound to sooner or later, especially when the weather turns. I've just been out in the rain with Stuart, which has restored my faith in the bike a bit. I mended the split tyre with a combination of gaffer tape and sealant meant for window frames and it held up fine today. I decided to have a go at fixing it, because i was getting a bit fed up of splashing out on endless things for the bike. I do need one more thing - shoe covers. My feet got very wet today, and as they are not really moving much this meant they also became very cold. I definitely don't want to be cycling all day long with cold feet.

All going so well!

71 Miles. Well, it was all going so well. 60 miles down and nearing home, having cycled to visit my friend Michael in Altrincham, and then the heavens opened. My glasses rendered useless and only able to see about 10 metres in front of me I didn't really reaslise that the puddle i was going through was a cunningly disguised pothole. When you get a puncture on a road bike you know straight away. This time i had two and it felt as though my bike had exploded because i was gathering speed, going downhill at the time. Anyway a little adversity wasn't going to stop me though, i knew i had to learn to deal with this kind of thing and so set about finding some shelter and changing the innertubes. Some 45 minutes later i was ready to go again, just about to mount the bike when i heard a hissing sound coming from the front tyre and sure enough it had gone along with, as i discovered later, the shreaded tyre.

So 10 miles from home what else could i do but make a slightly humiliating call to Karen, my wife, and ask her to come and pick me up. "I can't do this when you're in the middle of Scotland" she told me. This though had occured to me and i'm putting my tribulations of this afternoon down to experience and intend to make sure i'm never in that kind of situation again. Other than this, overall it's been a positive day. I did the ride today on my own, having to navigate unknown teritory for the first time and also carried quite a bit more weight on my bike than previously. I also cycled another 11 miles on my mountain bike when i eventually got home, just to ensure i'd been further than ever before, hence the 71 miles. I've also now got my ticket to Thurso in Scotland on July 5th for the bargin price of £26.20, so it's all systems go