Lands End to John O Groats Challenge

The Beginning

Well, this is really a lesson in not going into pubs at Christmas and discussing stupid things with old friends. You know the problem. A couple of beers and you can end up agreeing to more or less anything.

My oldest friend Paul who I met at college when I was 17 was talking about doing what is commonly known as LEJOG, as he was fairly certain if he didn't do it now then he never would. Well, I said, I might be interested ... and the wife has hardly spoken to me since. It's basically a bicycle ride from one end of the UK to the other covering over 1000 miles, and it is to be achieved in 14 or 15 days.

We started training around March / April time. I'm South of Valencia in Spain, and Paul is in Stratford on Avon in Warwickshire. I started with 10 to 12 mile rides on the flat on an old 6 gear Raleigh Activator mountain bike, and I was absolutely shattered. Had to stop every 2 or 3 miles just to recover. Paul told me he was so exhausted after one hill that when he reached the top he had to lie down and have a rest.

Well, we upped the pace and now I have done one 50 mile ride to Xativa on my new Hybrid bike, and I am doing 30 to 35 mile rides every other day. Paul is in the unfortunate situation of having to work for a living, but is still putting in all the miles by riding to work and back, and long weekend rides in the Warwicksire countryside. We're both trying to achieve 15 mph average speeds, but it's not easy.

We decided to support Care for Casualties - The Rifles Regimental Trust (http://www.justgiving.com/jon-jones0/) after a conversation with an ex Rifleman in our local bar, and on investigation it is a very worthwhile cause for our injured servicemen and women. Please support them if you can.

The date is set as 2 September, and so with not so very long to go we are pedalling furiously on a regular basis trying to ensure that we are not tremendously embarrassed at the very first hill we arrive at in Cornwall.

So really this is the story of two long standing friends in different countries, who aren't really cyclists but decided to take on the challenge. It's going to be a struggle, of that there will is no doubt ... but we are determined to give it our very best shot

Some info for those of you interested in LEJOG

Pauls bike: Dawes Galaxy Tourer

Jons bike: Btwin Riverside 7 Hybrid

Route:

Day 1 - St. Austell - 52 miles

Day 2 - Exeter - 74 miles

Day 3 - WestonSuper Mare - 61 miles

Day 4 - Hereford - 76 miles

Day 5 - Shrewsbury - 64 miles

Day 6 - Northwich - 64 miles

Day 7 - Giggleswick - 76 miles

Day 8 - Carlisle - 76 miles

Day 9 - Castle Douglas - 53 miles

Day 10 - Androssan (Lochranza) - 84 miles

Day 11 - Oban - 65 miles

Day 12 - Fort Augustus - 76 miles

Day 13 - Bonar Bridge - 71 miles

Day 14 - Tongue - 49 miles

Day 15 - John O'Groats - 64 miles

All the best

{ 03:53, Wednesday 17 August 2011 } { Posted by BEVS }

All the best for this mammoth ride you mental mad person you.

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{ 03:36, Wednesday 17 August 2011 } { Posted by Sue }

Way to go Mitzyboy. It's a fantastic thing you are doing, for a great cause!!!

Good Luck

{ 01:35, Sunday 28 August 2011 } { Posted by k800mer }

Hope you have a great ride and good weather and raise loads of money.