You may find that when using a small screen (800x600 or smaller) that you lose the last few words on each line as they disappear off the side of the screen and you have to keep scrolling back and forth. Annoying I know! All I can say is sorry and what may make it easier is when you click on the link to a page on the menu, hold down the "shift" key when you click. This should open a new window without the menu's on the left and make it easier to read. You can also drag the dividing line between the menu and the main window to make one window bigger or smaller.
In
October 2001 following a leisurely 20 Mile day long cycle pub-crawl, Mark recounted the
story over a pint of his summer holiday in Scotland where his family visited John
O'Groats. His then 14 year old son Tom asked why John O'Groats was so well
known and next thing Mark knew, he had committed to the idea of cycling with his
son on the 1000 Miles End to End "LEJOG" from
Lands End to John O'Groats. Following another pint, I realised I had just
committed myself to joining them all set for the summer of 2003!
The tour team consisted of myself, Keith, Mark (all "forty or thereabouts something's" - (and that was just our waist measurement) colleagues from a previous work life), and of course Mark's son Tom (who would have just finished his GCSE's), whose bright idea it was in the first place. Keith had succumbed to our persuasive techniques (more beer involved), the following year after we had talked him into the merits of ditching his mountain bike for a nice sleek lightweight Italian framed racing bike. Before he new what had hit him, not only did he have a new bike, he had his summer holiday organised for 2003 as well. After all, what are friends for?!
From
the outset we wanted the trip to be achievable, enjoyable and affordable so we
chose our own route based on the Cycle Touring Club (CTC) Youth Hostel &
Scenic Routes. The trip would take 15 days averaging around 71 miles per day,
travelling as light as possible and without any support vehicle. Furthermore we
quite liked the idea of travelling up the west coast of Scotland as opposed to
going through Glasgow as we felt it would be quieter, more scenic and hence
more enjoyable.
Keith
and I had invested in £xxxx worth of fancy 27 geared Italian and American
lightweight carbon fibre & aluminium engineered racing bikes (exact cost
deliberately omitted in case my wife reads this!). Mark however was always up
for a challenge and I think wanted to prove that any success would be down to
"man not machine". He paid £3 for his bike and £5 for Tom's bike at
the local Recycling Centre. Admittedly he did update it a little with Index
gears and a suspension seat post.
I
did a few 25-40 mile day rides during late summer of 2002 but as winter
approached the bike got tucked away in the garage and seldom saw the light of
day.
2003
arrived and so did the commitment to my New Year Resolution of starting my
training regime. With still 7 months to go I had plenty of time to start
gradually building up the fitness. In the gym a couple of times a week with the
odd short bike ride thrown in when the weather allowed. Come the lighter
evenings, replace the gym sessions with bike rides. Sorted .... or so I thought.
Having not attempted a cycle trip of such a distance before, I thought it best
to seek advice from the experts regarding recommendations, so I sent an email
to the CTC for some guidance. In response, I was told I would be fine as by now
with 7 months to go, at least one ride of 50 Miles each week would suffice. I
decided to stick to my strategy!
With
my training strategy organised, I enrolled on some Aerobiking (Spinning)
sessions. This is basically an aerobics class on cycle machines. Fortunately I
had been attending these classes semi regularly for a year or so, so had the
knack of pacing myself and knowing what to expect. However, for anyone starting
out from scratch they are extremely hard work. Keith, as a newcomer in a room
full of, as he describes, " lycra-clad techno-thump fitness freaks" tried
to look "cool" as the instructor turned up the music and began a hard
hour of simulated cycling sprints and climbs over mountains. "One two
three, stand up two three, sit down two three, up 3 gears (more friction for
simulated hill) two three, press-ups on handlebars two three" Within 10
minutes he was bright red with a hint of purple, starting to hyper-ventilate
and becoming surrounded in a pool of sweat that'd been dripping off his nose
and chin. By the time Donna Summer was feeling Love, Keith was feeling sick
with still another 45 minutes to go!
We
both stuck with it however, and with my added sessions in the gym it wasn't
long before the light evenings arrived and I was ready for some cycling on a
proper bike. Distances and average speeds gradually increased until by early
summer Keith and I were comfortably undertaking rides of 50-60 miles across the
hills of Devon after work. Topped up with a June training weekend that covered
the first 2 days of our "End to End" route through Cornwall and
Devon, things were definitely looking good.
"Which
charity are you raising money for?" This was a frequent question and with
about 2 months to go I, along with the others, decided we would each raise money
for our own good causes. I decided to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Relief
and my local village primary school. The headmaster was very enthusiastic and
invited me to talk to the children during an assembly. "Can you come
dressed up in your cycle stuff and bring your bike?" Yeah why not. Next
thing I know I had been talked into cycling in to the school hall to Queen's
"I Want to Ride My Bicycle". I managed to avoid hitting any first
years and spent a very enjoyable 20 Minutes telling the children all about the
trip, the bike, and answering their many questions such as "Are you going
to take any money with you?"
With
the training well on course, the time had come to concentrate on the kit to
take with us. As we were to have no support, and the lightweight racing bike
approach, I very much wanted to keep the equipment to be carried the same.
Lightweight travel towel, small wash kit, 1 spare change of light weight quick
dry cycle clothing all crammed into a saddle and handlebar bag. Triple chain
ring to cope with those steep Cornish and Scottish hills, Keith's "Top
Tip" of extra padding under the handlebar tape using draft excluder. But
what about the saddle? Keith had swapped his ""no-mercy buttock
cleaver" for a nice and comfy touring-type gel saddle. Should I do the
same? My buttock cleaver seemed to be fine so after much indecision I decided
to risk it. You will be pleased to know that this
proved to be an excellent decision.
Our final decision before the start was our tour mascot. It had to be light, fairly small, streamlined and something we could be proud of. Of course a carrot inscribed with "End to End Official Carrot" fitted the bill!
