This is the first posting for the Corinium Sunday Ride blog.

In addition the posting provides the .gpx file for the Windrush Warmup audax ride which is scheduled for 31st January 2010. The file is attached below.

Start To Finish


The blog was updated daily during my solo, unsupported ride for MacMillan Cancer Support from Lands End to John O'Groats which started on June 10th 2008 and ended 24th June 2008.Read below for the daily updates made each evening.

I am a relative newcomer to this Blogging malarkey (come to think of it, I am a relative newcomer to this long distance cycling malarkey) so any thoughts, comments advice or support will be gratefully received. Rather than carrying a laptop the blog was updated using the mobile so I shall apologise up front for the creaqtive spelling!

The ride was undertaken on hehalf of

My thanks to all those who sponsored me, and to the wide range of people I met on the ride

Made it!!


Day 14: Carbisdale Castle to John O'Groats 103 miles
Long day but succesful. Lands End to John o Groats completed at 16:53. I had heard a range of reports about the A9 some good some bad, the majority on the negative side, so decided to ride north from Carbisdale through Liarg to Bettyshill then east along the coast to JoG. Physically it was the hardest day of the trip, though also a wonderful ride day. The road up to Bettyshill starts pretty average then provides some of the best scenerie on the trip. The final 45 miles accross to JoG was very hard with headwinds all the way. I stopped at Reay to try and take some food and fluids onboard. Had two steak pies and 2 bottles of isotonic drink with the owner a little surprised when I returned for a third steak pie. They did the job however and fueled me on to JoG and the end.

UPDATE:
Total miles for the ride(not including the 20 mile ride to Wick this morning to catch the train) was 1020.
Time on the move 95hrs and 59minutes.
Average speed overal 10.9mph.
Longest leg, day 14 103miles, with 10hours in the sadle.
2 punctures (both on the same day), lost count of the loose spokes. The

The bike has been great throughout the trip, carrying not only me but the panniers-total additional weight 18kilos. That was too much, not in so far as it made the ride harder, which it did, but in that there were many items unused which I could have bought along the way if needed. It's a lesson learnt.


It is hard not to stop when you see views like these

Day 13: Loch Ness to Carbisdale Castle 73 miles
A good day with the rain staying off other than the occasional heavy shower, though the wind was very strong and cold on the road from Ardross to Bonar Bridge however the views were stunning.
Carbisdale Castle is a beatiful building and the last thing you would expect from a youth hostile. Whilst the rooms are the standard 6-10 bunk bed format the common area rooms are very imposing.
Martyn and Seamus who I meet at Aust on day 4 and warned me not to turn left at Drumnadrochit because of the 20% climb for a mile or so, so of course I had to turn left and see for myself. It certainly woke me up, but I did it and I can tick that one off along with Shap, Slaidburn etc.
The challenge for tomorrow is a 113 mile final leg or 103 if I can get the bike over the local railway bridge, so wish me luck.

I posted a new photo to LEJOG.

I posted a new photo to LEJOG.

I posted a new photo to LEJOG.

I posted a new photo to LEJOG.

Day 12: Glencoe to Loch Ness 60 miles
It has been a horrible day! It rained "cats and dogs" for the first 4 hours and then just rained for the remainder of the day. I can take the rain but it was the wind that really got to me. The wind was very, very strong and for long periods directly into my face. I did not help myself by trying to keep dry by using the poncho which acted like a sail and slowed me down still further. Tomorrow the poncho is out, it looks like I am just going to get very, very wet. Again!!!


Not a bad view from the hostel



The long pull up Glencoe

Day11: Loch Lomond to Glencoe 73miles
A good ride to-day, the weather was generally overcast with no rain. Unfortunately tomorrow looks a good deal less pleasant.
I had been told the ride up the west of Loch Lomond could be rather hair raising due to traffic volumes initially and then the fact the road narrows at Tarbet. As it turned out Stu had mentioned a cycle route from Ballock at the south of the loch to Tarbet and I used this, it meant I was able to have the first 17 miles or so without traffic and enjoy some great views, for the second leg, it was not as bad as I had expected though the road surface made for an uncomfortable ride. It is also giving the bike a battering, further running repairs needed on arrival with no fewer than 4 loose spokes(the record so far is 6) and a range of glass and flints removed from the tyres. The climb up was completely different from earlier climbs on the ride, in that it went on for miles at between light to medium inclines. The relentless climb over a sustained period has resulted in my having sore legs forthe first time. I was passed by other cyclists heading to Glencoe and passed others slower than me (not many). The ride down was just to much fun to stop and take photos. I will remember that decent for a long time!

Day 10: Wanlockhead to Loch Lomond 64 miles
718 miles completed, 65hrs and 38minutes in the sadle. Max speed so far 39.3 mph and a moving average of 10.9 mph.
A relatively short day made hard(or harder) by continuing head winds, just to spice up the challenges further the wind was also gusting which meant in one or two cases I was almost brought to a hault. The ride out of Wanlockhead was pleasant though wet initially. The ride into and then through Glasgow was an experience not to be repeated, I know there are some hardened city cyclists out there but I am not one of them and found thd whole experience very stressful. I picked up the Clyde cycle route after passing through Glasgow @ the SCC which got me of the road for 15 miles or so.
Good to hear from Stu who is doing JOG to LE, we had picked up on each others blogs and had hoped to meet when passing but route changes prevented that however we have been able to chat via text and mobile. You can find Stu's blog at http//jog2le.blogspot.com

Day 9: Carlisle to Wanlockhead 68miles
A long pull not so much in terms of miles but in terms
of effort due to ongoing head winds. The landscape for today has not been inspiring though the rain did stay off until the last 5 miles or so. Unfortunately it then came down in sheets which meant I arrived soaking wet. I am currently trying to dry out as much I can for tomorrow.

Day 8: Slaidburn to Carlisle
87 miles
How can I sum up to-day? WET WET WET. It has been the toughest day by far and not because of the rain. The climb out of Slaidbun was long and hard as was the climb to Shap which also had high winds. However the main issue were 2 punctures and the chain being thrown off, so running repairs were order of the day.

Day 7: Chester to Slaidburn 85miles
This posting is a little late due to the fact there is no coverage in Slaidburn.
Revisited the route last night and saved 17 miles by heading due north from Trafford Park. This did mean I needed to go through very built up areas which is certainly not my preferred type of cycling. To be fair the city and surrounding area seems to be well catered for in terms of cycle lanes which meant the trip was not as bad as I thought it might be. It was a good ride with my first real rain, though the timing was good since it started heavily just as I started to climb and so helped cool me down.
Last night was not good both in terms of sleep and the hostel. The hostiles to date have generally been good but it has to be said Chester needs some TLC. The room would not lock the night light came off the wall and I had to take the bulb out of the room light because we could not switch the light off. The staff are very good its just the building needs work.

Day 6: Clun Mill to Chester 72 miles
On arrival at Clun I was the only person staying in this lovely hostel. A second cyclist (Nick) then arrived so I had some company.
To-day was a good day with an average speed of just under 13mph. The ride out of Clun was uphill over a period of about 1.5 hours however the ride down the other side was both fun and scenic. Tomorrow and Wednesday are big milage days with a divert to visit the guys at EMCC so first order of the day on arrival has been to find a very large bowl of pasta. Mission complete! I think I may also look at the route again to see if there are some miles to saved.

Day 5: Welsh Bicknor to Clun Mill 65 miles
A better day to-day, with the legs feeling rather better than yesterday. Not sure whether the improvement is the result of my physical improvement or the result of being stung by nettlers whilst cycling earlier. If this is the case possibly we should consider soundly thrashing members of the Olympic team with nettles before events. Comments welcome from anyone and as you can imagine from members of the UK Olympics team in particular.
The main issue this evening has been food, the pubs do in the area do not start serving food until 19:00(it is a Sunday after all). Finally bought junk from convenience store, which does not look good for tomorrow given the hostel is self catering for breakfast.
Congratulations to Damian who I met at Cheddar and who, through time constraints, had chosen to ride from Okhampton to LE in one push, and succeded!
Congratulations!

Day 4: Cheddar to Welsh Bicknor 62 miles
A good day, it felt like a pleasant ride though this evening I am feeling very tired and a little concerned about tomorrow which is going to be a pretty tough day. Not sure why I am so tired. Yes there was a long hawl up from Chepstow but it was not to severe. Possibly it is just a cumulative build up. We shall see. I called in to Aust services on the old Severn crossing for lunch and met Martyn and Seamus who had ridden down from John O'Groats. Good luck with the rest of the ride.


Martyn and Seamus at Aust

Day 3: Okehampton to Cheddar 88 miles
After the excitment of yesterday, to-day has been a long haul with some severe hills in the early stages which stayed in the legs for the rest of the day. Having said that the average speed is up thanks to some longer spells of rolling terrain. One or two sudden braking manouvers when meeting tractors on narrow country lanes with overgrown verges served to elevate the heart rate otherwise it was a day to add some reasonable miles.

Day 2 : Padstow to Okehampton via Pyworthy 69 miles
Well that was an interesting day, but more of that later.
The route was pretty hilly with a long drag up from Rock to Camilford. A detour to visit friends Joy and Fred added 10 or so miles however the cup of tea and chunky Kitkat were very welcome.
So to the strange incident of the confused Buzzard. My helmet was attacked by the bird which would be OK had my head not been in it at the time. I was cycling along the A3072 between Halsworthy and the junction with the A3079 when I felt an almighty thump on the back of the head, when I looked up a large Buzzard was fly off. As you can imagine I was somewhat taken aback and in a load but polite voice called after the bird to stop and decist. After about 500 metres I got an even bigger thump on the helmet. I cycled on looking back just in case he/she decided to come back again. After about a mile I called to a cyclist coming the other way to warn him. He was local and said "yes it's been doing it for a couple of years". So you have been warned!
Post Ride Update
The post script to this was that on removing my helmet at the end of the day I found talon marks in the helmet and on checking the web I found the following article on the BBC website covering Buzzard attacks at this very spot (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/3795303.stm).

Milage 67 miles
Thanks to Sunnybank B&B at Sennen for a good nights sleep and a breakfast that set me up for the day.
The ride to St Merryn was not as bad as I thought it might be given some of the horror stories of the Cornwall/Devon landscape though the choice of the coast road from Newquay did provide some tough hills late in the day. This was offset to some extent by the views of the coastline. To be fair however views can only compensate so far when your legs are screaming, stop, stop.
I had planned an early start however found the famous sign post that points to New York, John O'Groats etc is not a permanent fixture it would appear since it is not a council sign but a private business, it is removed at night. I had to wait until 9:30 to get the photo with the bike. On the up side it meant I met a group of 20 Morris 1000 owners who had driven down from J O'Groats over night.
One down thirteen to go.

As I remember Lands End


Now it has a shopping centre

The drive to the start.
Thanks to Roy for taking the time out to ferry me and the bike down to Lands End.
It was an uneventful drive down though some one has built a shopping centre there which came as a shock! Checked in to the B&B and then walked down and registered for the ride. So I am all set for an early start tomorrow morning.

Thanks to EMCC Software, Futuretext and Symbian for their support. I will be carrying their logos and that of MacMillan on the panniers for the duration of the ride.

The full inventory for the ride currently consists of:

On Bike
* Cycle computer
* GPS – Garmin eTrex Legend HCx
* Panniers (x2)
* Rack Bag and map case
* Lights (front and rear)
* Water Bottle cages x 2
* Water Bottles x 2
* Helmet

Contained in Rack Bag
* Puncture kit
* Tyre levers x 3
* Topeak cycling tool
* Spoke key
* Plastic gloves
* Spare tubes x 2
* Pen Knife
* Tyre inflator
* Mobile Phone

Rear Left Pannier Containing
Cycling Gear/Clothes
* 1 x Folding basic tyre x 1 (700C x 35)
* 2 x Cycle Shorts (Dhb)
* 2 x Cycle Tights (Dhb)
* 2 x Cycle shirts (Short sleeve - Massi)
* 1 x Cycle shirt (Long sleeve – Dhb)
* 1 x Bike Lock (combination)
* 1 x Rab Softshell Vapour Rise smock
* 1 x Gloves (Full)
* 1 x Gloves (Fingerless jell)
* 2 x Cycling socks
* 1 x Cycling shoes
* 1 x Duck tape
* 1 x Waterproof - Altura Nevis
* 1 x Altura cycle trousers

Rear Right Pannier Containing
* Insect repellent
* Plastic bags (3)
* Mobile phone charger (small)
* NiCad charger
* 1 x Lightweight zipoff trousers
* 2 x Short sleeve shirts
* 2 x underwear
* 2 x socks
* 1 x Rubberised waterproof socks
* 1 x Low sleeve shirt
* 1 x Light Fleece
* 1 x Puma light trainers
* First aid kit - Germolene / plasters / sudocreame / lipsalve / anti hystamine / ibuprofen
* Pkt mini Kleenex & Antibacterial wipes
* Sun Cream
* Aftersun/Moisterising cream
* Washbag

So we are rapidly approaching the ride with last minute preparations and bike tweeks order of the day. The schedule for the ride is as follows:

June 10th - Travel down and stay the night at Lands End.
June 11th - First day of the ride. Lands End to Padstow.
June 12th - Padstow to Okehampton
June 13th - Okehampton to Cheddar
June 14th - Cheddar to Welsh Bicknor
June 15th - Welsh Bicknor to Clun Mill
June 16th - Clun Mill to Chester
June 17th - Chester to Slaidburn
June 18th - Slaidburn to Carlisle
June 19th - Carlisle to Wanlockhead
June 20th - Wanlockhead to Loch Lomond
June 21st - Loch Lomond to Glencoe
June 22nd - Glencoe to Loch Ness
June 23rd - Loch Ness to Carbisdale Castle
June 24th - Carbisdale Castle to John O'Groats
June 25th - Travel back from John O'Groats

The attached file provides a detailed route that will open in Google Earth.

Click on the file icon (the paper clip). This will expand the attached file dialogue. Then click on the file GTP LEJOG 2008.kmz this will launch Google Earth and show the route as a pink/violet line with multiple waypoints. Any comments, observations or advice on the route gratefully received.

The ride has gone well though day 1 did demonstrate just how unpleasant cycling for 2 hours in heavy rain can be. This is the first blog entry using the mobile so we have now validated that as a viable option for the trip. It means I can dispense with a 2+ kg laptop and a camera and use just the mobile. Text entry is slower but the weight benefits and the fact a mobile will be less prone to vibration damage would seem to out weigh this minor inconvenience, so be prepared for some pretty bad spelling!

The image below is of Silbury Hill, pary of the Avebury complex. It was built around 2500 BC and is the largest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe. As you can see an early morning ballonist was also enjoying the early sunshine.


Arrival in the New Forsest and the ponies have freedom to roam anywhere they wish, even on the local cricket pitch.


Day two and the climbs between Burley and Cheddar provide some great views of the surrounding country side. They almost make the climbs worth it though the panniers are really adding to the effort needed and at the end of day twos ninety miles the legs are starting to complain!

It's a Bank Holiday and therefore the weather is going to be wet, Great!!!!

Well that went reasonably well. The first 100 mile ride to confirm I have it in my legs. Not the fastest in the world at 8.5 hours with short break for lunch but I completed it and felt I had something left in the legs were it required. Next step will be a 200 mile ride to the New Forest, then Cheddar and back to Malmesbury at the beginning of May. This will help me to see how 3 days back to back with 70 mile rides feels like. It will also enable me to pack all the stuff I think I need for the ride and see how that impacts on the weight of the bike.

This will also be an opportunity to try plan "B" for the blog. As mentioned earlier the EEEPC whilst a nice little machine at a very good price has an absolutely atrocious wireless client. I have therefore decided to do it from the mobile. The up side of this plan is that I can combine the camera and wireless functionality in the phone and reduce the number of gadgets (and chargers) I need to carry. It will also reduce the weight by abot 2Kg.

Well the bike has been fitted with the panniers and rack top bag. It is amazing just how much additional weight these add before they are loaded with cloths, tools, pumps etc. I am surprised just how little they affect the bike once your on the move though if you try to lift the back end up in a moment of madness you suddenly realise it is pretty heavy!

General maintenance has been completed and a planned 100 mile shakedown ride is planned next week. Should be interesting to see just how much difference the additional weight makes over the longer distances. To date the panniers have been used on rides up to 50 miles only.

We shall see.

OK, so "the best laid plans" as a very well known Scotish poet once said.

The bike is ready and the training is progressing, though the weather is limiting the number of miles I am covering to date.

I have set up a page on Justging.com for charity sponsorship thanks to friends and clients who offered to sponsor the ride. For those who may be interested the page may be found at www.justgiving.com/lejog-geoffpreston. A few minor issues need to be resolved such as how I get back since I am still unable to book rail tickets to Inverness with the bike, however I am sure we will resolve this reasonably quickly (fingers crossed).

Main drawback at this time is the means to update the blog during the ride. I had hoped to use an EeePC. I even purchased one but when I received it I found the wireless client had problems. I have returned the unit after validating the issues I had and now need to think about alternatives. It would appear this is a well known issue see http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=189366.

Any alternative suggestions greatfully received. I am still unhappy with taking the trusty Vaio SZ on the trip due to weight and security issues.

The image shows the planned route in Google Earth. For navigation I plan to use a Garmin Legend Hcx GPS unit mounted on the handlebars with paper backup. I have heard a lot of horror sories about using GPS units but found this unit to be very reliable as long as you spend the time set the Mapbase software and unit up properly. At this time I would hope to update the blog on a daily basis during the ride including a track update. An issue to be overcome at this time is that I don't want to carry and expensive laptop and am therefore looking at the option of an Asus EeePC laptop. Unfortunately this is a Linux based device and as such unable to support standard Garmin Mapbase software so some work is needed to work out how this might be achieved.

So having exhausted local cycle routes I was contemplating how I might extend the distance and areas covered. Initially I was thinking of cycling to Southampton and back again when I stumbled across an End to End message board and that was it. I decided to cycle from Lands End to John O Groats, not with a group of other like minded people, or even with a supporting vehicle, but solo and unsupported.

Once the decision has been made the logistic are fallingl into place reasonably quickly (well in planning terms at least). Within 2 weeks the accomadation has been booked. Using the train to get to Lands End and back from John O Groats was abandoned due to a combination of an inability to book via the web and the horror stories of others who have been left on platform stations when the train has already filled its limited number of cycle places. Off course the years of having to commute into London using First Great Western may also have had a significant bearing on my decision. So a hire car was planned until a friend offered to drive me down to LE. That left only the trip back which was going to be by train until I realised it was FirstScotRail, so, you guessed it, I will be hiring a car.

The photo above shows the route as it stands to-day. The attached file may be dragged into Google Earth to provide the route and permit you to zoom in to see the detail. The plan is to upload GPS track data to the blog as I progress.