The Equipment

As I am riding solo, with no porters, compadres or butler in tow, I am going to need to carry everything I might need along the way, that won't be readily available at all times. Against this I need to balance the additional weight, and for this reason I have invested in some proper gear, that ought to keep me warm, dry & comfortable while not weighing me down yoo much either.

My equipment list:

• Two saddle bags
• Front & rear LED's
• Trip computer / speedometer
• Dip bars & cycle gloves
• Toe-clip pedals
• Two 750ml water bottles
• Pump
• Puncture repair kit
• Spare inner tube
• Two cycle tee shirts (bright red figure hugging efforts, hilarious)
• Two cycle shorts (baggy, none of this lycra crap) with nappy enhancement to protect my vitals
• High visibility shower proof jacket (highlighter yellow)
• Helmet
• 4 pairs of socks
• 2 boxers (commando is the way fwd in the nappy shorts, apparently)
• PJ bottoms & tee shirt, in case I get cold at night
• spare tee shirt, sweatshirt, pants & light shoes to wear as an alternative of an evening
• Swiss army knife
• Bicycle multi-tool
• Pliers
• Sun tan lotion & sunnies (ever hopeful)
• Plasters & pain killers
• Phone, ipod, camera & chargers
• Maps & compass
• Shower cape & rope (makeshift tent if it pours down with rain)
• Toothbrush (had to add this after Adelle pointed out it was missing....) & toothpaste, hair gel (aerodynamics), deodorant, erm, bar of soap, vaseline (as generously provided by my colleagues for the event)... anything else?

All my clothing is fully breathable and meant to keep the sweat off my body; the jacket & shorts also have vents, which I have found extremely useful when skiing to cool down when on the go (no I don't know what cycling across britain in early summer has in common with hooning down a slope in the alps in the middle of winter either, but it seemed like a good idea at the time)

Someone also suggested bringing a few spare spokes along but to be honest I wouldn't have the first clue what to do with them, so I decided to save the weight and drop the idea (I'm sure they weigh at least 15g, or 2/3oz each!).

Altogether, the gear adds quite alot of weight to the bike, as well as the additional wind resistance offered up by the saddle bags. It makes a considerable difference to your average speed, and to the way your legs feel at the end of a long day.... justifying a higher calorie intake!!

The "Training"

Ah, yes, the training. Well I'm not particulalry good at practising for stuff, I'd rather just get on with it & get stuck in you see. On this occasion, as I was probably not very fit (could run 2miles in 18mins, so not unfit, but not exactly the picture of physical fitness either) and had not been out on a bike in about 3yrs I decided a bit of practice was in order.

• Day One, Saturday 8 April
  
  Balham-Richmond Park (1 lap) -Balham
  25 miles, 2hrs11mins, 11.42mph average speed
  
  Overslept today, but it was such a lovely day I decided to finally start doing what I have been dreading all along... Having had my Trek bike for two months now, and not having been out on a bike properly in 3yrs, it was about time I started riding the thing: after all, I'm planning on taking off on a 1,000 mile trek only 6 weeks from now! The aim was for a bedding-in run, to find out what my true level of fitness currently is, and check out the bike for any loose items & niggles. Had tightened everything up when I first got the bike & ridden it around the block, but they have a habit of working the odd item loose on longer runs so this needed to be a mixture of surfaces & gradients, to make sure it got a good rattle and bump, and all the gears enjoyed a good pasting.
  
  I chose a known route, from my London to Brighton (L2B) days: Richmond Park & back, via Tooting, Garrett lane, up through Wimbledon Village (avoided the main street at first) & then along the common, briefly along the A3 and then in to Roehampton before heading up to Roehampton gate. I was quite tired this week & didn't feel particulalry energetic, so decided there & back would be enough for a first run (about 18 miles). I read somewhere that to be fit for the E2E, you need to be able to maintain a 14mph average for 2hrs. I reckon I have 15% extra performance in me as an easy win, but getting more than that in 6 weeks simply won't be possible, so I'm hoping I will be near enough the benchmark that I can make up my fitness to the required level as I go along (it is 3 weeks of non-stop riding, after all!)
  
  The ride was tough; I don't know that it was any tougher than I expected, I haven't really thought about it up to this point. I have simply been fixated on the goal, getting from Lands' End to John O'Groats, and bugger the time it takes or how hard it is. My thinking thus far has been "I will grit my teeth & see it through". I am going to do it, End Of. It's a stubborn streak which has helped me through life as many times as it has gotten me into trouble; I have yet to figure out which category this little adventure will fall into!
  
  The wind was against me riding towards the park, which I found encouraging - my direction was south-westerly and so maybe there's some truth to what I've read about the prevailing winds being north-easterly, & plumping for Lands End as the starting point increasingly seems like the right decision. With the wind against me it made life much more difficult though; even just the odd gust felt like someone tugging on the brakes. I used my dipped bars when the wind got up; also tried standing in the pedals occasionally when my arse got sore. Helped the arse but I couldn't do it for very long, didn't have the legs. Tried sitting on one cheek at a time as well, that helped too but I kind of get the feeling there might be areas of difficulty & pain to this ride I hadn't fully appreciated when I decided to take it on!
  
  I covered 25miles today, which was more than I had been anticipating on my first run - I knew it wouldn't be the lap of the Park that killed me, but the last leg home, uphill from Garratt lane through Tooting in to Balham. There are two steep bits in the park if you do a lap though, and I was keen to get up them without stopping just to mark some sort of progress, even for my first run. The first 2 (or 3!) days of my ride, in Cornwall & Devon, will reputedly be the toughest, as the countryside is characterised by undulating lanes; not so much long hills, but alot of ups & downs to test your legs & your resolve right at the start of the ride.
  
  Day Two, Monday 17 April
  
  Balham-Richmond Park (2 laps) -Balham
  32.5 miles, 2hrs45mins saddle time (3hrs 15mins total), 11.65mph average speed
  
  Easter Monday. Felt rotten after a few cocktails in Richmond on Easter Sunday; rail engineering works meant a trip home was going to be a nightmare so kipped in Kingston, and felt like I slept all of about 3hrs. Still, I was determined to get out there, & conscious of the limited opportunities to train, I got home to fetch the bike, setting off around lunchtime, after fuelling up on a big bowl of pasta.
  
  The ride wasn’t so bad; considering the state I was in, would have expected it to be far worse. Ran out of water, the bottle is only 500ml it turns out which is pretty useless to anybody. Had to ration it for the second lap of the park, and still had the trip home to contend with. Weather was lovely, warm and sunny for the most part. No real problems with the wind today. The bike’s working well, pleased with it although I’m sure something will come loose on the event & I will curse the YTS trainee who put the thing together…. All things in due course!
  
  Only managed to add a quarter of a mile an hour to my average speed, remembering I’m meant to be able to hit a 14mph average for 2hrs to be fit enough for the ride. To be fair I did add a lap of the park, and the ride was 7.5miles longer than the first one, so simply achieving the added distance let alone at an overall faster speed left me chuffed. Don’t think I’m at 14mph over 2hrs yet if I limited myself to the distance, but I am definitely getting stronger & that was the aim. Oh, & to top it all, I didn’t have to disembark for any of the park’s up-bits, even on the second lap, and when I eventually made it home my legs were definitely tired, but they didn’t feel like heavy logs that I had to drag around everywhere, which was how they felt last week….
  
  
  Day Three, Saturday 22 April
  
  Balham-Richmond Park (3 laps) - Balham
  39 miles, 3hrs03mins saddle time (3hrs 45mins total), 12.80mph average speed
  
  Woke up today & realised I am starting to get a tan. On top that, my butt has definitely slimmed down & hardened up somewhat; girls, if you think your butt looks big in that, GO CYCLING!!! I wonder how I will look when I finally get to JOG: 3 weeks of unshaven beard, exposure to sun, wind & rain for 6-8hrs every day, and a ton of exercise along the way. Could be a picture to remember…
  
  Today’s choice of fuel was a big bowl of porridge, with a couple of tablespoons (yes, tablespoons!) of honey drizzled over it. Went down a treat & the fuel worked well, but I was starving by about 2/3 of the way through the ride; will have to give consideration to en-route refueling for my final ride. Came home to a BIG bowl of pasta, qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix for which Schumacher will start on pole for Ferrari: perfect day really. Have consciously been watching the diet, beyond the yoghurt & cereal in the morning, salad for lunch: I’m trying to make sure I eat a good, balanced meal every evening, with fresh veggies & plenty of protein. Love my steak so the protein hasn’t been a problem, but you can’t have a steak without a white wine & mushroom cream sauce, and of course a good, large glass of Chianti which is good for the heart (!). Ok, so maybe the experiment here is to see if a general office wallowing lardy can achieve this kind of feat with virtually no training!
  
  The ride was good: I felt strong, my legs seemed to be quite happy keeping me chugging along nicely, & didn’t appear to start waning until around the 16 mile mark. They were tired by the second lap around the park; the third one I had to push, & then the ride home was the usual painful slog. Seems like each time, the last lap is tough but doable, & the ride home is where I really make the gains – out beyond what my legs are capable of, demanding more from them so they step up to the plate for the next outing. The tactic seems to be working so far, let’s wait & see how the final ride goes…. 4 laps around Richmond Park is going to be hard work, but I’m determined to not get off my bike for those little steep bits. Haven’t had to yet.
  
  Made 13.65mph average for the first 16 miles, which came down to 13.08mph after 30 miles, so I’m definitely getting closer to that 14mph barrier. I only have one training ride left, don’t think I will hit 14mph, but I may get to 13.50 which is – wait for it – a whole half a mile an hour more than I had planned on finding! Lol Crazy to think the record for the End to End is some 44hrs, which implies an average, non-stop speed of somewhere around 25mph…

The Where

The route I am taking is... about 960miles. I have planned for an average of roughly 60miles a day, and allowed myself three weeks for the ride. Some days will undoubtedly be better than others, depending on how I am feeling and how flat the roads are, but I should finish well within the 3 weeks.

I keep getting asked why I am going "up hill", from Lands End to Scotland. Well the topography is actually flat, unsurprisingly, as I am going from sea level to sea level. What does make a difference is the prevailing winds; I have read that these are north-easterly and therefore, heading in the same direction will see the wind working in my favour. Hopefully...

The record for doing this ride, as far as I can make out, is 44hrs & 4 mins, by a chap called Gethin Butler. Most people won't have a clue who he is (I don't) but may recall hearing about Steve Gough, the chap who insisted on walking the E2E naked; it took him 6mths including two terms in gaol, but he did have two female companions sharing him along the way so it can't have been all bad... People have run it backwards (26 days) and unicycled it (14 days, ie less time than I'm planning on taking!) and a McDonnel F-4K Phantom Jet did it in 46mins 44secs in 1986. Something tells me I may be a while longer...

Watch this blogspace for updates along the way, I'll try & upload the odd photo for you if I can.

My final route: Penzance – St Just – Land’s End – St Ives – St Agnes – Mawgan Porth – Padstow – Wadebridge – Davidstow – Launceston – Okehampton – Crediton – Tiverton – Wellington – Taunton – Westhay – Cheddar – Long Ashton – Severn Bridge – Monmouth – Eardisley – Bucknell – Ratlinghope – Melverley – Ellesmere – Beeston – Frodsham – Runcorn – Warrington – Newton-le-Willows – Appley Bridge – Preston – Garstang – Lancaster – Carnforth – Levens Bridge – Hawkshead – Thirlmere – Hesket Newmarket – Carlisle – Longtown – Ruthwell – Dumfries – Drumlanrig – Kirkconnel – Stair – Irvine – Ardrossan – Isle of Arran – Kilmartin – Connel – Fort William – Fort Augustus – Muir of Ord – Dornock – Dunbeath – John O’Groats. c.984miles but will wait & see what the odometer says at the end...

The End.

Well the rest is history, as I posted earlier I completed the ride on the Sunday morning. It was a glorious feeling.

It’s been a painful, hard slog, although I did start to enjoy it once I was finally headed north-east, through the beautiful lochs, the highlands, with the sun on my back and a wind which chose mostly to blow across my path rather than at me.

Would I do it again? No! Shoot me if I ever suggest it. I may do a coast to coast, but end to end? That’s a long way. You cycle 500miles & realise you’re barely half way; if you thought Newcastle was far north, think again. On the plane flying home, through a break in the clouds I could see the fields below, the tiny motorway meandering through the countryside from 30,000 feet, and as I looked from hazy horizon to hazy horizon, I thought to myself, “you cycled across that, and more”.

Bonkers, absolutely bonkers, and best left for those addicted to doing 120miles on their two-wheeled machines every week-end. Me? I think I’ll stick to 4 wheels & track days, but I must admit, it’s been a fantastic experience, I learned a thing or two & managed to lose a stone to boot….

Day 17

Saturday 3rd June

Had planned on stopping over at Lybster today, some 27miles from JOG; figured I wouldn’t have the legs to make it all the way (hilly section today) & was intent on enjoying the last few miles, so decided I would leave them for a nonchalant ride in on Sunday.

Today was my last obstacle; the climb up Helmsdale coming some 30miles into the ride, 800feet odd, followed immediately by the Berriedale Braes, a series of sharp hairpin bends climbing again to 550feet.

The weather was gorgeous, as was the coastline, and I got up to 74kph (46mph) blasting downhill from Helmsdale towards Berriedale… my brake pads had worn down completely on both front & rear, so it was a tense moment when I decided to employ them for the hairpin at the bottom! Unfortunately these hairpins mean you can’t use the downhill momentum from Helmsdale to carry you up the Berriedale Braese, but I’m so close to the end I just don’t care anymore. I’ll take it all on!

Got to Lybster & figured I had the legs for Wick (which is really JOG; it’s the closest railway station & only 15miles away from the finish). Got in to Wick just after six, and felt like I was overlooking the finish line, which I guess I was!

65 miles, for a total of 940m.

Day 16

Friday 2nd June

A day that started & ended with fine weather, and began with a good run along Loch Ness. Didn’t see the monster but the Loch was beautiful… in fact, all of Scotland has been stunning, by far the most beautiful part of the ride so far. I love it up here & will have to return (with the car!!) to enjoy it properly.

Followed the canal towpath from the end of Loch Ness to Inverness, but got on the wrong side & it got a little bumpy! Beautiful fresh path on the other side of the canal but what could I do… as the weather was fantastic I simply took my time & enjoyed it.

Made the ferry to Trigg from Cromarty. It’s a tiny 2-car ferry, the funniest thing you’ve ever seen! It’s only operational 5mths of the year, but it was a good service. (All the ferries in Scotland have been fantastic, although I understand they are heavily subsidised.) As it approached, the ferry lowered the loading bay door while still a good 50 feet from the slip-way! It was windy & the water choppy, but they appeared unconcerned. The ferry didn’t tie up; they simply held it against the slip-way on the throttle, as the current tugged at the boat & gradually began edging it along the slip-way & towards the great deep… the van on board dashed off, the stunned tourists were ushered on in their rental car & I rode on not wasting any time either.

Once on board, the car swiveled on a turn-table so it would be facing the right way once we got to the other side; the choppy water was sloshing all over the deck & I found myself wondering how much higher a wave would need to be to totally submerge the deck in water! What a fantastic experience, a bit of a detour today but well worth it for the Cromarty-Trigg ferry, hilarious…

A good ride today but hard in parts with various hills I wasn’t expecting, although the blast downhill into Cromarty was excellent. My legs died towards the end though, & I almost found myself homeless as I staggered into the reception of a hotel in Dornoch. None of the B&B’s were indicating that they had vacancies, & it turned out there was a wedding & a conference in the small village this week-end. No room at the inn! I seriously didn’t have the legs to crack on to the next village in search of a bed, & I was so thankful when the duty manager managed to find me a room…

I’m so close now, John O’Groats is almost within touching distance… a wee 80-odd miles!

72 miles for a grand total of 875m.

Day 15

Thursday 1 June

Ok, now we’re starting to get somewhere. What can I say, I’m this close to the end now… I had a few moments today, when the road eased by & the sun shone on my back, when I allowed myself a smile & caught my thoughts wandering to my last day…

I’m not there yet but a fair wind & legs that held up well carried me near-on 80miles today. By far my best distance, albeit not the longest day by any shout (showing the difference a bit of sun & a helpful wind can make) and when I got to my intended waypoint, I felt fresh enough to push on past it to ease tomorrow’s mileage. From this point on, each day is fewer miles than the previous day, all the way to the end…

Cycled along several Lochs today, skirting around the foot of Ben Nevis & the Pictish giants, along the Caledonian Canal towpath (what bliss!) and from Fort William through Fort Augustus to Glenmoriston, where I found the most delightful hotel (The Glenmoriston Arms hotel) which, while not cheap, was a well-earned & much needed bit of luxury after two weeks of B&B’s.

79 miles today, brining the total up to 803m.