Wednesday 31 August 2011
Day Two- Liskeard to Tiverton
Distance travelled: 68.02 miles
Climb: 4,522 feet
Average speed: 11.50 mph (it was hilly)
Pain ratings-
Adam: 3 (chamois cream worth its weight in gold)
Alan: 5
Neil: 6 (grinding hills)
The day dawned bright and cool- set fair for what had been held out as a tough day's cycling over Dartmoor. We had approached the day with a degree of trepidation- tales of horizontal rain, zero visibility, gale force winds and general misery had set the scene. What we experienced, however, was radically different in all the right ways. Sunshine, glorious vistas, colours....all were ignored as we gasped our way up endless hills before hurtling down the other side- and then climbing up again.
Joking aside, this was a brilliant day's cycling. Dartmoor was superb- some of our readers will be familiar with the expression "it doesn't get much better than this"- and it really doesn't.
The highlight of our day, however, was still to come. Prof Alan, currently writing "Alan's unreliable guide to Great Britain" had regaled us with tales of the wonders of our destination, Tiverton. We were to expect lobster pots, hey nonny nonny and assorted top notch rural (actually, if truth be told, seaside) action. Given that we had spent over an hour cycling up the Exe Valley from Exeter getting here, we had already concluded that lobster pots were unlikely. Still, hope remained and we rushed to the town centre on arrival, ready to soak up the atmosphere.
Of what happened next the less said the better. Perhaps the highlight was the beautifully synchronised temporary traffic lights on the High Street. Not sure I would fancy a visit after dark.
Apparently he was confused with Truro (also not by the sea).
So here we are at the Best Western, pint in hand and food in contemplation.
A great day.
Climb: 4,522 feet
Average speed: 11.50 mph (it was hilly)
Pain ratings-
Adam: 3 (chamois cream worth its weight in gold)
Alan: 5
Neil: 6 (grinding hills)
The day dawned bright and cool- set fair for what had been held out as a tough day's cycling over Dartmoor. We had approached the day with a degree of trepidation- tales of horizontal rain, zero visibility, gale force winds and general misery had set the scene. What we experienced, however, was radically different in all the right ways. Sunshine, glorious vistas, colours....all were ignored as we gasped our way up endless hills before hurtling down the other side- and then climbing up again.
Joking aside, this was a brilliant day's cycling. Dartmoor was superb- some of our readers will be familiar with the expression "it doesn't get much better than this"- and it really doesn't.
The highlight of our day, however, was still to come. Prof Alan, currently writing "Alan's unreliable guide to Great Britain" had regaled us with tales of the wonders of our destination, Tiverton. We were to expect lobster pots, hey nonny nonny and assorted top notch rural (actually, if truth be told, seaside) action. Given that we had spent over an hour cycling up the Exe Valley from Exeter getting here, we had already concluded that lobster pots were unlikely. Still, hope remained and we rushed to the town centre on arrival, ready to soak up the atmosphere.
Of what happened next the less said the better. Perhaps the highlight was the beautifully synchronised temporary traffic lights on the High Street. Not sure I would fancy a visit after dark.
Apparently he was confused with Truro (also not by the sea).
So here we are at the Best Western, pint in hand and food in contemplation.
A great day.
End of Day 2
Destination Tiverton, checked into the Best Western Hotel (slogan "We Welcome Visitors")
Going Commando Part II
Official No. 1 tip for the trip is to ditch the undies. Meanwhile Alan is sticking to his pants.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Day One- Land's End to Liskeard
Distance travelled : 74.28 miles
Climb: 3,640 feet
Average speed: 13.59 mph
Pain ratings (out of 10)-
Adam: 3 (body still a temple)
Alan: 8 (muscle cramps)
Neil: 5 (claims the training paid off)
Climb: 3,640 feet
Average speed: 13.59 mph
Pain ratings (out of 10)-
Adam: 3 (body still a temple)
Alan: 8 (muscle cramps)
Neil: 5 (claims the training paid off)
At long last the waiting was over- a 9am start from the Commercial Hotel in St Just (better than it sounds- beer was excellent) and in a few minutes we found ourselves face to face with the 4D interactive dinosaur hunt, dodgy signpost (£10 for a personalised photo if the bloke had been prepared to open before 10am), 70's style hotel and assorted pleasures that comprise Land's End. Obligatory photos taken we bravely headed off on our odyssey, quickly passing St Michael's Mount (so quickly that even Neil didn't take a photo) before being sucked into a series of busy roads and dual carriageways around Penzance.
What can I say about our Cornwall experience ? Well, in terms of quaint fishing villages, crusty old sea salts propping up ancient bars, Tarka the Otter etc....we didn't see any of that. We did catch a few glimpses of ruined tin mines, distant views of the hills around St Austell (before cycling up them) and the odd nice stone cottage but a lot of the time was spent on busy roads- which I think goes with the territory when cycling in Cornwall (at least when cycling in Cornwall as part of a 12 day ride to John O'Groats) . If I could get a decent mobile signal at the Premier Inn Liskeard with its splendid views over the A38 I would have treated you all to a quote from the late great Lord Denning about inland Cornwall- but the signal is rubbish so you'll need to look it up for yourselves.
Still, a serious day's cycling with some even more serious hills, rounded off with a pint before dinner....and the prospect of a much longer ride, across Dartmoor, to Tiverton tomorrow.
Monday 29 August 2011
We're Off
Only 6 bikes allowed on the train so lucky we booked Quite a lot of messing about with the bikes at Paddington but staff very friendly.
Friday 26 August 2011
One down one to go !
Alan with our first bronchoscope- bought at a bargain price ! If you ask really nicely he'll try it out on you....(or maybe not)
Wednesday 24 August 2011
T minus 5
Only 5 days to go now until we head off to Penzance- the ride starts the following day (Tuesday).
Thoughts turn to whether we've done enough training, whether the bikes are in good shape, packing....I hate packing. I'll probably forget the bike.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. A bit of background is in order.
This ride has been a long time coming. Alan probably suggested the idea of a major fund-raising event 3 or 4 years ago- maybe he could see the public sector budget cuts coming (probably exited his share portfolio at the same time). He certainly knew that his unit in the Nottingham Children's Hospital needed kit which it probably wasn't going to get from the NHS. So the purpose came before the event- we decided we would do something to raise money for the unit.
It had to be something which would be a proper challenge. Somehow approaching your mates to support you in your first parachute jump or to do a 10k run didn't quite fit the bill.
A marathon was out of the question (for me at least) and I'd already done a few triathlons so there was a lack of novelty there. We have both done a bit of cycling over the years and Alan has even done a bit of long-distance cycling. The concept of the "End to end" ride was something we'd discussed from time to time, but dismissed because of the amount of time involved.
Luckily, at the time (not now ! But that's another story and I wont bore you with it) I was working with a group of ex Deutsche Bank friends in the City- the sort of environment where taking an extra couple of weeks off wouldn't raise too many eyebrows (actually, there was a meaningful chance that they wouldn't even notice I had gone). Alan meanwhile was prepared to eat into his holiday entitlement for the sake of the unit. So, around the back end of last year we bit the bullet and signed up to ride from Land's End to John O'Groats. Perhaps out of fear that nobody really would notice I had gone I mentioned my plans to my colleagues and to my surprise one of them, Neil Lawson-May, rose to the challenge and declared that he would join us.
So there you have it. That's why we have spent a disproportionate amount of time (but, I suspect, not enough) over the last 8 months cycling around the streets of Nottingham (Alan), Hertfordshire (me) and London (Neil). That's also why I've just spent an hour trying to make my gears work properly and spraying my bike liberally with the super oil substitute which the bloke in the shop swore would work through rain and shine and not clog up with gunk at the first sign of rain. As I speak, my waterproof jacket is in the washing machine with half a container or re-proofer in a vain hope to make it actually repel water.
Come next week we will get on our temporarily clean bikes in Land's End and spend the next 12 days, with no rest days, cycling over 1,000 miles to John O'Groats (to save you the bother it works out around 85 miles a day). I have never cycled over 80 miles on 2 consecutive days, let alone 12. Makes me feel distinctly queasy just writing about it. At the same time, I am incredibly excited. It's great to be able to embark on a real adventure and I am sure that it will do us all good (assuming of course that it doesn't finish us off).
For those readers who have supported our appeal, many thanks. It's the fact that we have so far raised over £23,000 for a really important cause which will make the pain worthwhile. We will update the blog once en route and as we head north. At the side you will see a link to our Just Giving website and our Twitter feed- this includes automatic mapping of our progress (at present, just some of my training rides) if you click through on the Cyclemeter links (sometimes this doesn't work, but if you click through to the Twitter site it does !).
We will do our level best to entertain you. If you have a moment to send comments/criticism/banter in return, so much the better.
To infinity and beyond.........
Thoughts turn to whether we've done enough training, whether the bikes are in good shape, packing....I hate packing. I'll probably forget the bike.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. A bit of background is in order.
This ride has been a long time coming. Alan probably suggested the idea of a major fund-raising event 3 or 4 years ago- maybe he could see the public sector budget cuts coming (probably exited his share portfolio at the same time). He certainly knew that his unit in the Nottingham Children's Hospital needed kit which it probably wasn't going to get from the NHS. So the purpose came before the event- we decided we would do something to raise money for the unit.
It had to be something which would be a proper challenge. Somehow approaching your mates to support you in your first parachute jump or to do a 10k run didn't quite fit the bill.
A marathon was out of the question (for me at least) and I'd already done a few triathlons so there was a lack of novelty there. We have both done a bit of cycling over the years and Alan has even done a bit of long-distance cycling. The concept of the "End to end" ride was something we'd discussed from time to time, but dismissed because of the amount of time involved.
Luckily, at the time (not now ! But that's another story and I wont bore you with it) I was working with a group of ex Deutsche Bank friends in the City- the sort of environment where taking an extra couple of weeks off wouldn't raise too many eyebrows (actually, there was a meaningful chance that they wouldn't even notice I had gone). Alan meanwhile was prepared to eat into his holiday entitlement for the sake of the unit. So, around the back end of last year we bit the bullet and signed up to ride from Land's End to John O'Groats. Perhaps out of fear that nobody really would notice I had gone I mentioned my plans to my colleagues and to my surprise one of them, Neil Lawson-May, rose to the challenge and declared that he would join us.
So there you have it. That's why we have spent a disproportionate amount of time (but, I suspect, not enough) over the last 8 months cycling around the streets of Nottingham (Alan), Hertfordshire (me) and London (Neil). That's also why I've just spent an hour trying to make my gears work properly and spraying my bike liberally with the super oil substitute which the bloke in the shop swore would work through rain and shine and not clog up with gunk at the first sign of rain. As I speak, my waterproof jacket is in the washing machine with half a container or re-proofer in a vain hope to make it actually repel water.
Come next week we will get on our temporarily clean bikes in Land's End and spend the next 12 days, with no rest days, cycling over 1,000 miles to John O'Groats (to save you the bother it works out around 85 miles a day). I have never cycled over 80 miles on 2 consecutive days, let alone 12. Makes me feel distinctly queasy just writing about it. At the same time, I am incredibly excited. It's great to be able to embark on a real adventure and I am sure that it will do us all good (assuming of course that it doesn't finish us off).
For those readers who have supported our appeal, many thanks. It's the fact that we have so far raised over £23,000 for a really important cause which will make the pain worthwhile. We will update the blog once en route and as we head north. At the side you will see a link to our Just Giving website and our Twitter feed- this includes automatic mapping of our progress (at present, just some of my training rides) if you click through on the Cyclemeter links (sometimes this doesn't work, but if you click through to the Twitter site it does !).
We will do our level best to entertain you. If you have a moment to send comments/criticism/banter in return, so much the better.
To infinity and beyond.........
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