Lochranza (Arran) to Invergarry (near Loch Ness)

got up nice and early after getting to bed very late. The lads went to the pub that evening having a swell time with the locals but I stayed back and write bog, before its all lost along the route. We had to be swift to get the first ferry at 9.30 (the next one would leave at 10:45 which was too late). The boys had a hard time getting out of bed but luckily my phone alarm went off and I had difficulties silencing it... We got everything and everybody ready just in time, all of us ready? of course not, Jorrin, the uncrowned "King of Fuff", was just starting to hang his laundry on the rails, clean the bike, pump up the tyres...

I had to leave to get the ferry and gave Jorrin his ferry ticket and then sped of to catch the boat just down the road. I got there with 15min to spare and admired the rather small boat (car ferry) to cross over to mainland Scotland again. We met a fellow cyclist who's been doing the touring the British Islands for the past 3 weeks. We had a good chat and boarded the ferry - even Jorrin arrived 5min before departure. Not quite dressed but physically present...

Its amazing that its only been yesterday that we did this ride but its already faded into the background. The ride that day was another 130mile ride and faced with such a challenge one really only thinks of the next few pedal strokes, maybe lunch, maybe the next biggest town when on an A road. If you're in the middle of nowhere going up and down the hills, time seems to stand still. Battling with exhaustion and pretty much all the way on recovery drink, one loses focus with the surroundings, hardly noticing the changing landscapes, beautiful mountains, not to speak of birds and things nature generally. But this is what happens if 1000 miles are crammed into 10 days. Riding from A to B becomes a mission, going from town to town are the mini missions - more important than the actual journey itself. It still is a journey but with a different focus. We've met people who are taking 3 weeks to this distance and its probably the right thing to do.... not for us. We battle on!!!

That day I really had a hard time getting started. It took me until lunch time (55 miles) before I started enjoying anything. Before that everything was dreadful, cycling on the straight roads was because I also had to lead and I just didn't have much energy. Going up the hill was terrifying because as soon as I was up, there was only a short downhill before the hill went up even steeper. The road just followed along 'a' lake but went ever higher up. I just dind't want to be on the bike anymore. The scenery was nice, but I didn't really care. We had a spectacular downhill too and at about 40mph jumped the odd cattle grid here and there (2m lenght) - on our racing/ touring bikes - bringing back the days of riding BMX/ mountain biking... that was fun.

At lunch we met another fellow cyclist who stayed and chatted for a while. He had a pretty old racing bike, really old school. We had sandwiches, thanks to Ian, and then began our final 50 odd miles to get to our youth hostel near Loch Ness. This guy, on his old bike, set a pretty good pace and we all had trouble following. After about some 15miles, taking turns at the front, my strength came back and I felt great cycling. I was fully rejuvenated and enjoyed the pretty torn road. I am wondering whether I may have been overdressed with long cycling trousers, cycling jacket & long gloves. I dressed into short gear as I was just too hot! For some reason this felt much better. At some point, some 20miles down the road, Oli and myself split from Damian and also Jorrin fell behind. We set ourselves a good pace and drafted each other along. The road led past Ben Nevis (Fort Williams) and further into the Highlands. The road was always pretty bad and we got a free, yet involuntary massage. At some point Jorrin also caught up with us and the 3 of us plotted along. At some point we found a little cycle path going to Invergarry and we didn't stop anywhere, for anything. We were flying.

We reached the Invergarry Lodge by about 7.30 having done 134 miles that day. We were pretty tired, had a shower, dinner, and I wrote more blog until 1.45am. Tomorrow was another day off for me. My toes are not recovering and 2 are numb completely, knees and tendons are sore - and to make it really clear, I'm whimping out tomorrow joining Ian and do the driving whilst he focuses on the filming.

2 more days to go!!!!

Lochmaben to Arran (Lochranza)

....we've covered some distance already...

WOW!!! we got up this morning at 6:13am, packed up our stuff, had breakfast, asked Ian to pack our things together, gave him detailed instructions on how to pack my tent, put on our cycling gear and off we went at 7.3o - a new record for us (Oli, Jorrin, myself).

We put on our wet gear as we expected showers throughout the day. I personally do mind cycling in the rain, to be precise - I dislike cycling in the rain, especially cold rain... Therefore I began chanting the age old German sun prayers ("Sonne, liebe Sonne, komm schein auf uns herab....") to make the sun appear, rather than focusing on rain not to come (Law of Attraction ;)

We had an amazing cycle ride along the river Ae, through the hills, through the peaceful forest. Oli was not having a 5 minute delay this morning and set off before Jorring and myself taking the A road to Cumnock. Whilst we took the spectacular shortcut through the mountains he was by himself on the busy and really badly maintained A road....As we pedaled along I remembered... The Toilet Key! it was still in my cycle jacket pocket. We stopped and I called Doug - or at least I thought I did. I woke up some guy at 7.30 in the morning telling him about the key and posting it back to him and so on. The guy on the phone had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and after me explaining the whole thing a few times he said that "I called the wrong number" and I did. I then called Dugal and explained the story again, promising to post his toilet key back to him.

A little later we caught up with him after our 3mile downhill and joined the A road to Cumnock, silently sneaking up behind him, putting my foot on his wheel and getting a terrified look from Oli who thought his rear wheel just died....

Together we cycled at top end speed to Cumnock, where we wanted to have lunch. By now we had several light showers and our clothes were either wet from the outside or from sweating on the inside. We decided to skip lunch as we heard the Ian wasn't going to join us. He packed the car in the morning, stried to start it but was greeted by a flat battery. Today was also the day the MOT of Oli's Saab ran out. Ian drove to Dumfries to get the MOT done. Upon arriving at the garage they told him he had to unpack the whole car for it to be checked for MOT. They found that the rear shock absorbers were gone and some other small stuff. Total bill of £395... hmmm, great!!! Ian footed the bill, being very lucky the garage could organise the parts quickly for the car and got it all fixed and MOT'ed in good time.

We cycled to Kilmanack where we stopped at Little Chef to dry our clothes. We stripped in the bathroom and used the hand dryers to blow-dry our shirts, jackets, whatever else needed drying.... We had some substantial lunch, deserts, coffee before setting off again to Ardrossan going to the Island of Arren. We got there pretty quickly, almost flying with a good tailwind supporting us. We got to Ardrossan Ferry just in time to get on board (£30, 3 people return).

On board we met fellow LEJO'er Damian Bell who was sitting down enjoying lunch. We exchanged routes and travel stories. Arriving in Arran we set off to get to the North of the island to our SYHA, Lochranza. The island of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, is frequently called "Scotland in miniature" - and rightly so! There is everything from beautiful beaches, hills, mountains etc - deal for walking, mountaineering, kayaking, and of course cycling. The climate however, is different from main land Scotland. More Mediterranean somehow, some palm trees, more flowers, warmer. We immediately felt the difference. Damian educated me about the island and its strong branding "Arran" and its golf courses, produce, etc. We cycled another 14 miles on top of our 60miles on the mainland (totaling 'only' 74miles today...). The island can be circumnavigated on the main road and its roughly 55 miles. However, going North to Lochranza is via a very steep mountain and we really struggled on this one. The downhill on the other side however was worth the climb - as usual...

photo courtesy of: http://www.hughspicer.fsnet.co.uk/arranpag.htm

The SYHA was a newly refurbished and kitted out house with modern rooms, superb bathrooms, kitchen/ dining facilities and very good clothes drying room/ washing machines - and a very small and dingy bike shed...The hostel was closed for about 18 months and has been completely refurbished at a cost of £500,000. We had to wait for Ian to arrive in the car with all our change of clothes and food.

Oli and I rested in the room whereas Damian and Jorrin went to check out local neighborhood (pub really). Ian arrive an hour later with his story of the day getting the car up and running, fixed, getting to the ferry, and just about managing the last one onto the island -phew. VERY WELL done Ian - this was quite a job for him today to get it all sorted!!!

We had some nice dinner: Salad Deluxe (leafs, pear, cheese, croutons) together with Couscous, pasta, sauce, drinks... Lovely jovely. carbs, protein, the whole shebang!!!!

Off to bed, now, 1.27am... tomorrow, back to Scotland going further North, slowly into the Highlands... over and... yawn... out...

Things cycling:

OLi: "my arse hurts, I just can't sit down anymore"

Jorrin: "are you pulling a 'Deuan' on me?" referring to me sucking his wheel whilst riding close behind him

Oli: "I was in the zone again. What did you say? I was just tuned into radio Oli, my all time favourites like The Beatles, Rolling Stones...BUT there are also other songs like 'the road to Kilmarnock, the road to hell' or 'You take the s**t road, I take the Garmin...' - Oli's mumbling as Jorrin and I passed him on his bike after him riding off in the morning...

Jorrin: "Its getting cold here! Can't we just turn back to Lands End and call it the LELE ride (Lands End - Lockerbie -Lands End)?

Ian: "I feel like I'm going to be sick" - after 120 miles, in the middle of nowhere, without any water or food left

Oli: "The only thing actually NOT hurting is.... my right nostril"

Dirk: "I'll have the backed potato with tuna, a coffee and a small blanket please" - to the staff at Little Chef (Service Station, Kilmarnock) - to which the waitress look slightly puzzled, in her head going over the menu, then saying: "We don't have blankets"

Arnside to Lochmaben (Dumfries)

ahhh, my rest day. After yesterday's ride I really had to take a day off cycling. My mission for the day was to support the riders and also to film. We headed to Kirkstone Pass (Lake Disctrict, close to Windermere). This pass is apparently the longest incline in the whole of UK. Well, not for me today. We got up kind of early with the usual fuffing around, people looking for stuff, cleaning all the drink bottles etc.

We set off at 9.30 (later than planned - as usual) and headed for Windermere through some nice countryside where I managed to drive and film at the same time. Not advisable but how else were we going to get some footage for our documentary. I followed the bikes as much as I could sneaking through the tight corners, avoiding cars and staying close to the group.

We got to Kirkstone Pass where I headed up the mountain to wait for the riders struggling uphill. An my, oh my... this was a really steep uphill!!! The guys made really slow progress and I had time to film the stunning mountains, and general scenery. As I saw them coming up I quickly filmed them passing me and jumped back into the car to follow them on their descent downhill - the road was not too busy, just a few cars coming up. At the speed these guys were going I had trouble following them (and filming them at the same time - the footage will tell). They sped downhill at up to 45mph (72km/h) and I wished I was on my bike too.

We stopped in the valley and arranged for lunch break near Carlisle (Scotland). When I got to Armathwaite (?), which is in a valley, I realised there is no O2 reception which meant I had to drive back to the nearest hill (2miles back) to send a text that I got to the lunch stop. I also checked my emails, replied to one or two of the now over 100 emails in my inbox, spoke to Martin on the phone and said goodbye to Janine who is leaving Embrace to go back to Berlin - we will miss her very much!!!!

The guys came for lunchstop at around 2.30 pm, later than expected. I prepared sandwiches (toast, salad, mackerel filets in tomato sauce) and they ate whatever else was there - bread & jam/ peanut butter, had recovery drinks, bananas/ other fruit before setting out to get to our agreed final resting point this day - Lochmaben (8miles from Dumfries). It was my duty to go shopping for dinner (camping tonight) and also to find a suitable campsite and get everything ready.

I took the motor way to Dumfries, went to Aldi to get our evening supplies of:

BBQ chicken (chilled) - 6

Salmon Filets (frozen) - 8

bread - 2

milk - 1

cheese - 2

peanutbutter/ jam - 3

salads - 4

hop fruitjuice - 4

I checked my phone for campsites near Lochmaben, found one, called the warden, Dugald and checked for directions to get to the site. It was the Kirk Loch, Caravan Site, Lochmaben (left behind the Crown Hotel) where I met him shortly afterwards. In the meantime I was texting to Damian to possibly meet in Dumfries but I couldn't wait as Dug was only going to be there for a short period of time. Damian had passed Dumfries at 5pm and made his way further north. I got to the caravan/ campsite where I was greeted by Dugal, the very friendly warden who showed me where we can pitch. I explained to him that we are doing the LEJOG ride to raise money for Proejct Peru and upon hearing of our noble quest he decided to also sponsor us by giving us the night for free!!!! THANKS A LOT, we those random acts of kindness really make this journey so very pleasant. The one thing he said I must not forget is to drop off the toilet key next morning...

I started unpacking everything, organised the "stuff" in the car and began pitching the tents (2), put up the BBQ, made everyone's beds, put their things in their tents and then waited for their arrival. I thought it wouldn't be long before they arrive as Damian passed me at 5pm. I wrote some blog, checked the local neighborhood, rearranged my cycling clothes and started to clean and maintain my bike - this already took a good hour (tightening screws, cleaning the chain, wheels, hubs, adjusting the brakes and so on).

Finally, at around 7.30pm the dudes arrived - completely knackered. Oli was the first to arrive and he stumbled off the bike towards me with his story of why he's first: "sorry mate, I just couldn't do it anymore. I had to just get here, get a cuppa. I'm exhausted. The last pot hole really did it. Argh, my backside..." he got his cuppa, had a shower and then Jorrin and Ian also arrived. They did some 132miles that day passing by Hadrians Wall.

We had dinner, laughed, chatted to fellow campers, passers by as we were the only campers on this caravan site and even got another random donation from a truck driver! At around 11pm we went to be with the hard promise to get up at 6am and leave at 7am latest!!!!

Peckforton to Arnside (near Lancaster)

...and here came another 110miles ride. We woke up around 6.45 to get our stuff ready in our luxurious rooms. Breakfast was from 7.30 and we aimed for a 9am start. It was really hard getting up as my quads (things around the knee) really hurt, one of my toes in the right leg was completely numb and my wrists only partially functional. Jorrin, who slept in the same room suffered in silence (making funny faces) as he tried to flex his right leg. He had to take some painkillers in order to ride today. the same went for Olli who had problems with his knee ever since we started. Damian was in overall good condition apart from his fingers which also went numb from time to time. Deuan, who only joined us for 2 days, kept complaining about pain in the royal behind. Something everyone had in common. The constant rubbing of the cycle shorts, the fixed position on the saddle, gripping the handlebars more or less tight combined with a forward leaning position, which puts pressure on the wrists is not ideal. "Why did I sign up for this" , "can't this be over soon", "I wish I had a better bike", together with "why didn't I do more training", are some of the thoughts that keep spinning around in my head as we cycle.

At some point the stunning scenery is hardly noticeable as all one wants is to get to the end of the day. Mile after mile of trees, road, cars, mountains becomes blurred as the focus shifts on being a more effective cyclist. I already mentioned the drafting game (cycling close to another cyclist to use them as wind shield). Then there is definitely the "aerodynamics" game where I try to use every and any hill to bite my handlebars, tuck my knees in, stick my bum out. All in the name of improving personal aerodynamics. It really makes a difference. I noticed that whilst other riders started pedaling much earlier, I was still going at the same speed as them without having to peddle. This can be further improved by riding behind someone who is sitting more upright. In their wind shadow, one can get away without pedaling at all whilst they are already working their **** off getting up the next hill. It all comes down to endurance. This is not a who can go fastest competition but rather a teamwork of using everyones strength to get from point A to point B without dying from exhaustion, dehydration, injury or accident. Over the course if this journey I had to keep a low profile, learning quickly how to draft, constantly improving aerodynamics, saving energy wherever possible. The more trained riders took the lead way more often than I did.

Anyways, where was I.... had breakfast buffet at the Peckforton Castle, took some pictures with one of the managers, got dressed and started pedaling again... The route overall was pretty straight forward for the first 50miles with regular ups and downs through suburban England passing by Northwhich, Warrington, Bolton and via Blackburn. This part of the tour was the most straight forward but also the most unnerving as the traffic was a constant hassle. Then came Bowland Forrest (Lancashire?). The the scenery changed dramatically. From nice shrubs, trees, undergrowth - to nothing at all apart from a few flowers, grassland and steep hills, and back again to gentle up and downs. We climbed a very long pass over the mountains into Lancaster with strong headwind all the way. Wherever we seemed to turn, the wind was always in our face. For every pedal stroke forward the wind pushed us back half a pedal stroke.

We finally made it into Lancaster with Arnside on our mind. The 15miles were agonising and we all wished that the YHA would appear magically after each turn... it didn't. We had to keep pedalling until 7.30pm when we finally reached the Arnside YHA. This was one of the best YHA's we've come across on our journey with professional kitchen, food menu and bar.... shower, dinner (leftover pasta from YHA school catering, spicy pasta sauce with tuna), and a cool drink ;)

After that we discussed prospects of having a rest day which meant calling ahead to all the YHA's... We couldn't reach any and decided to go on. Not for me though. I swapped places with Ian, our driver/ photographer. I wrote blog until 1am in the morning and then went to bed in our comfy 5-bed, 5-men room (did I already mention that the the protein drinks cause flatulence?)... over and out

Abergavenny (Pandy) to Peckforton

We got up at 6.30, woken up kindly by Oli! Most of our things were prepared for a timely departure the evening before. All we now had to do was to have a quick wash, have breakfast,make sarnies, pack the BBQ, pack our tents, move everything in the car, fiddle with the bikes, last minute faffing around... All this took until about 9am before we finally managed to get ourselves on the road. As we rode out of the campgrounds, the owner kindly asked us for payment which wasn't sorted yet. £25 lighter we set off. Damian didn't camp with us as he had a hotel room booked not far from us, setting off by himself.

Our first couple of miles were done in spectacular countryside going up Gospel Pass, going to Hay-on-Wye. The road a long, windy uphill struggle which took us up into the mountains. The scenery changed from grassland, flowery bushes to rather sparsely scattered shrubs and small mountain flowers. And then there were the sheep, literally everywhere! On that morning we did not take any of the Action Camera, bullet cams - why did we do that? Well, we ran out of batteries (they drain so quickly) and couldn't be bothered to wait for the rechargeables being ready. En route, Jorrin had a puncture and it took him 35!!! minutes to repair it!!! Very well done - a new inner tube would have taken about 5 mins to be replaced?

We arrived on the mountain top half an hour later and stared at downhill pass from heaven! We got our selves ready, zipped up our jackets and sped down!! With top speed reaching 40mph (65km/h). It wasn't just the speed it was the risk we took to go at that speed whilst still being able to control the bike in the bends (sand, sharp turns etc) and always calculating with cars coming up the road. Deuan was absolutely mad!!!! We learned later that his handlebar wasn't even tightened properly. He raced down that hill, me following him with some distance, without any regard for cars coming up - his great wealth of experience, intuition kept him safe - this time.

We arrived in Hay-on-Wye were we met up with Ian, had some nice fruits from a local fruiterer, drank some teas and had the loveliest butterfly cakes at one of Deuans secret cafés. We charged our batteries and continued our ride. We finally got to Wem where we met up with Ian to sort us out with proper rain clothes. It started to rain properly a couple of miles back and we were all soaked and cold. We met Ian at a supermarket parking space, put on new clothes, wiped our glasses, filled up on drinks and carbs (nuts, banana). We still had some 30 miles to go to Peckforton, or final resting place for the day.

By this time we had left the mountains well behind ourselves and were on straight, yet very busy A and B roads. The rain was still heavy so we decided to chaingang (aka roadtrain). This was the first time that we all worked as a team making incredible speeds despite the rain and everyone being cold and absolutely drained. Deuan, with his iron horse stayed at the back and Oli, Jorrin and myself took our turns at the front of the chain. In the far distance I recognised another cyclist and drawing closer we realised that it was Damian struggling by himself through the rain. We slowed down to give him a chance to join the roadtrain - something that does safe energy, allow higher average and top speeds. Its cycling teamwork at its best. Damian couldn't keep up as he still had his panniers. We cycled mile after mile and before we knew it we did 20!!! miles in about 1h despite the odds. We branched off some A road to Peckforton. We so wanted to get there. Peckforton Castle was going to provide all desperately needed things for us: food, shower, bed! Jorring arranged this say at this really fantastic hotel. Great service, extremely friendly staff who helped us with all our requests (washing our clothes, extra this and that). We had a nice 2 course dinner and some drinks. A little later I called Pamela and then went straight to bed. I was knackered, but again, another 110miles done that day bringing the total to 450miles in 4 days (of which I did 350 as I had a rest day.) In the morning we had a nice buffet style breakfast...

NOTE: My iPhone came back to life fully after I dropped it into the great white telephone at St. Just. I was over the moon that this piece of equipment survived full submersion. It took a few days for it to dry and the screen was all blurry at first, then the Apple sign came on, and 2 days later it was fully operational again...

Cyclists Things:

- Lets make a chaingang (road train) - cyclists riding closely behind each other using the draft effect with people switching places at the front, the other can rest and stay warm in the chain.

- Why aren't you drafting? - Dirk (Oli) to Damian.

- Does anyone want some magic? - referring to the on-the-road energy drink (powerful carbohydrates, electrolytes)

- Call the ****** potholes!!! - Oli to Damian (as Oli was going through the potholes which he couldn't see riding at the back of the roadtrain)

- Pothole, car, sheep, bump (up, down) - Damian after having been asked by Oli to call for potholes

- Map (Jorrin) and Garmin (Damian) have finally conspired to bring us ever more detours.

- Is it still very far? How many more miles do we have to go? Are we there yet? - Dirk asking various members of the group

- Damian and Jorrin, together the kings of faffing around, lets join them for a bit (Oli & Dirk)

- Straight, no its a left turn here.... hold on... it is straight... The Great Garmin following crowd

- Is it still very far? How many more miles do we need to go? Are we THERE yet??? (Dirk asking everyone, almost all the time)

Street to Abergavenny (Pandy)

The morning started with a wake up call from Damian at 6.45. We were all shattered but we had to move on. We were on a mission. I had already decided not to cycle today as my behind was giving me too much trouble. I didn't want to risk any more serious injury by doing another 120 miles today and possibly risking not completing the journey. Damian, Ian, Deuan wer ready to go by 8am. Jorrin was just about to be ready however Damian pushed for a timely departure and Ian and Deuan followed. Myself and Ian helped fill everyones bottles but didn't really get involved in the hassle in the morning knowing that we're going to go by car. When Jorrin realised that everyone left he was really annoyed and decided to stay too. Jorrin had arranged to go to Wookey Hole (a cave labyrinth near Wells). We got there by 10am, had some ice cream and went into the caves on our complimentary ticket. The caves were impressive and the whole history was brought alive by the friendly guide. The caves have been used ever since the beginning of mankind as hideout and religious place, later some witches are believed to have habited in there bothering the local neighborhood. The last witch was driven out by a monk after some fighting with the monk turning the witch (and unfortunately also his dog), into stone by sprinkling them with holy cave water.

Jorrin was really unhappy about being left behind this morning considering he was almost ready to go and today's journey being rather straight forward. There really was an air of unhappiness and anger in the car with various opinions being expressed about team members individual performance, time and money being spent on planning and arranging the trip and everything now going pear shaped. Ian and Jorrin had decided to leave the 1000 Mile Challenge and go home back to London. This is how fed up they were with the team being split into two groups. For Ian, there was no point continuing to drive as there was no documentary that was going to come out of it. Jorrin was extremely unhappy about Damian wanting to go whenever he is ready, not waiting for anyone but also not supporting the team with general duties such as packing the car etc. There are obviously many different stories that are coming into play here and there are always two sides to the argument. From what I understand, Damian just wants to get up early in the morning and start cycling. However, the challenge is to cycle as a team whilst doing a documentary out of the ride to increase visibility for the sponsored charities and sponsors. It even got to the point where Ian and Jorrin discussed the way hone, what they'll take with them and how they'll get their stuff home. It was hard for me to stay impartial as I am friends with both Damian and Jorrin, and I could see both sides. Ultimately with Ian and Jorring leaving it was me or someone else who would have to continue driving the car, not being able to cycle. This was a totally different set-up.

We called Oli after we left Wookey Hole to meet up in Chepstow with the cyclists. In the car we decided that leaving the challenge now is really the worst possible solution. Jorrin, Ian and myself decided that we should try and go camping in the evening as planned - Damian was going to stay in a 5* hotel near the Black Mountains. We finally made it to Chepstow where Jorrin and Damian had a good old go at each other bringing up the various arguments that this whole disaster circled around: Not being a team, not waiting for people to get ready, being late in the morning, not leaving on time, not sticking to the route and points of interest to be visited, not waiting for the filming, etc.

What we found out later in the evening was that the Garmin re-routed the cyclists in the morning in a nice big circle bringing them back to the YHA on a 5 mile tour. This was enough for Oli to decide to go by himself as he wasn't having another Garmin detour staying on the very busy A roads until Chepstow. With heated heads, the groups (cyclists and non-cyclists) went their separate ways to meet later in Abergavenny, South of the Black Mountains. We got there in the car after an hour drive where I got to write up more of the blog. We went shopping at TESCO for BBQ tonight picking up a portable grill and foodstuff. A little later Oli called that they arrived at the meeting point, the big parking space in Abergavenny (at the bikers cafe). Oli's leg was giving him trouble (after last week's big crash) and Deuans behind wasn't much better. They'd done some 90 miles and were looking forward to some food and rest. Ian checked his phoen and found a couple of farmers where we could put up tent for the night. We set-off to Pandy some 5 miles away. Here we put up tent at The Rising Sun Inn which had a very good sized caravan campsite. We pitched tents (3) in record time, built the BBQ, I made some food for everyone, people went for the showers and then we all eat together with everyone helping to prepare, clean/ fix bikes, wash up etc. This was a great group activity and it certainly brought everyone together. The 1000 Miles Challenge continues!!!!

Tintagel to Street

this day was going to be a tough challenge. 130miles through Cornwall an Devon, heading towards Glastonbury. We left pretty much on time but again the group split into two and Damian, Oli, myself went with the Garmin whereas Jorrin went with Ian as he wasn't ready when everyone else was. Again, there are two sides this - one, getting up in time - the other, being a team and pulling together.

We made good but slow progress through the Cornish Countryside. We went Tentagel, Tiverton, then to Withereadge where we met with Tom Staniford (member of the GB paralympic cycling team) and were also joined by Jorrin and Ian. We did a couple of miles him and his girlfriend. The good news at this point was that we already clocked up 78 miles. The very bad news was that it was 5pm and we had to do another 50. This really was bad news. At the speed we went it was going to take us another 5 hours. The Garmin took us onto and off the b roads which mostly was a waste of time and we had to make about 5 or 6 u-turns before it adjusted itself. We ended up using the map and Garmin alike to get the best compromise between being off the main roads and seeing nice country side and being on the main roads to go at greater speed, doing more miles.

It got dark at about 9pm and we still had another 20 miles to do and they seemed to last forever. I n the dark it seemed like we did a lot of miles but we didn't . The street signs were especially confusing as they seemed to indicate a certain mileage only to reach another village which had the same mileage written on their signs. frustrating. We all put our lights on, stayed as a group, warned on impeding/ preceding cars and just kept on pedaling. I at about 10.30 I felt like dying. I had absolutely no energy left, my mouth was dry and my concentration level was at a low point. Not ideal conditions to ride in the dark, on unknown roads, after 11 hours on the road. The energy drink made my stomach really sick, I had heartburn and just wanted to fall over and lay wherever my head hit the road.

We saw Glastonbury Tor in the distance drawing ourselves closer bit by bit. We knew that our final destination, Street, was close by. After another agonising 5 miles we reached YHA Street at 11pm, Deuan coming out on the road to meet & greet us. I really didn't register much anymore. This went for everyone. All we wanted was to shower, eat, sleep. I stumbled into the room, undressed, showered and collapsed Deuan and Ian kindly made dinner, showered, crushed into the bed Deuan laid for me. My mind was absolutely blank, there was nothing happening. After about 10 minutes Deuan called me for some food downstairs. Ian and Deuan kindly made pasta, rice and sauce together with a nice cuppa. This was very welcome. I could hardly hold the fork and coordinating food intake also proved challenging. I managed a plate, said good night, stumbled upstairs and straight into bed. This day is to be remembered!!! 13 hours on the road, 11 hours on the bike covering 130 miles of amazing countryside - but nothing for the faint hearted.

Lands End - Tintagel

The night at the YHA went by very quickly. I woke up at 5am, slept, woke up at 6 again, fell asleep, then finally got up at 7am. Oli was already out and about and so was Damian and his girlfriend Andrea. Jorrin and Ian were still snoozing having sorted out cameras etc in the eve. The plan was to leave between 8 and 9am. I had porridge with banana and honey (huge pot) and some nice chai tea. I made sandwiches for the road knowing they'll come in handy later. Packing and getting the bikes ready took a really long time and Damian was getting very impatient as 10.30 approached. Whilst he was ready at 9am waiting for everyone else to get ready Jorrin had to fix a new rear cassette and various other bits and pieces.

This was the first time Damian and Jorrin exchanged a few harsh words as Damian wanted to leave asap whereas we all still messed about. Things we could have done earlier probably. The plan for the day was to cycle 6 miles to Landsend and start our journey from there into Cornwall, past the Eden project where Jorrin had arranged a welcome reception, a look around and food. We were also going to do 100 miles today, through the toughest bit of countryside England has to offer. Steep and frequent declines of between 10 - 20%. We finally managed to get to Lands End after Ian did a little briefing on cycling etiquette (waiting for people after climbs, highlight potholes etc). He did make an effort of bringing the group together.

We met Andrea at Lands End where many other cyclists also started out from, or arrived. We met a couple of guys who just arrived from John O'Groats, unsupported, in 3 weeks. We were planning on doing it in 10 days with support and 2 days camping - NO rest days, 100 miles plus every day.

We did a couple of short of the group leaving at Lands End and again, this took time, tensions among team members gre as we still dind't do any serious cycling and we were approaching 1pm. Damian has a Garmin SatNav mounted to his bike whereas Jorrin was using his map. We set out of Lands End and whereas the original plan was to go to the Eden Project, Damian already programmed his SatNav for our YHA in St. Just (some 90 miles from where we were). Going via Eden Project was going to add some 20 miles to the journey. We all followed Damian but it became apparent he wasn't going via Eden Project, Jorrin decided to split from the group and go with Ian to Eden Project.

Oli, Damian, myself decided to go straight to YHA St. Just as we approached 1.30 and still had 85 miles ahead of us. The Cornish countryside is really spectacular, especially on the bike. Zooming through narrow roads, up and down the hills through some stunning scenery. Green, green wherever you look. We passed long, white beaches sidelined with palm trees and lots of exotic flora left and right. The day started with a blue sky and the sun blazing down. We must have had close to 30C and were sweating a lot. We took water and water with sports formula to keep us going. The sports formula had so much sweetner(Aspartame) that my throat began to hurt and my stomach got upset. Whoever invented sweetners should be punished and this stuff forbidden.

We made painstakingly slow progress up and down the hills of Cornwall - in and out of small valleys, through the fields and mainly on the B roads, whereby avoiding the busier A roads. We got a little lost here and there as the Garmin was slow to respond or re-routed us a few times too often. This was really annoying as the main B road would be perfectly fine but the Garmin re-routed us on and off it on some smaller country lanes. We must have added about 5 miles on that day because of this.

At about 5pm we were all exhausted but still had another 25miles to do, at our speed another 2.5 hours or so. We finally got to St. Just but I almost didn't make it due to sheer exhaustion. I've never done a 100 mile day ride, which seemed to turn into a 150 mile ride in Corwall as its just up and down. I was physically and mentally dead by the time Damian announced its the last 5miles. I am not sure what kept me going.

We finally arrived in St. Just at 7.30. The YHA was directly at the cliff, overlooking the Atlantic ocean. The sunset was really magnificent and the friendly volunteers greeted us warmly. But what were we to do now? No support car, no change of clothes, no food, nothing. I couldn't be bothered. I was cold, exhausted, tired, hungry. I just had to lay down on the bed for 5min before having a shower, using the pillow cover as towel. I got back into my cycling clothes, wrapped the duvet cover around me and snuggled into bed. The YHA volunteers sorted us out with some chocolate bars, tinned soup and pasta. Damian made pasta and sauce out of it and little later called me and Oli for dinner. It was about 11.30pm when Jorrin and Ian arrived. I did not register much else that evening and went straight to bed, no brushing teeth, short good night, into the land of nod....

London - Lands End

And the journey begins...

after weeks and months of preparation the day has finally arrived. Yesterday night was still pretty busy with last minute preparations to get bike and provisions sorted and visiting an old friend who came over to London from Barcelona for a few days. Back at home by 10.30, thinking of last essentials like the spanner to tighten the nut on the car rack, taking out the butter from the freezer and so on.

This morning, early start at 6.45, quick breakfast (porridge oats, banana, tea), packing things in the car, saying byebye to Pam and my baby and off I went to pick up Deuans house to pick up one of our cameras. From there to Richmond to get Jorrin, drive to Oli, pack everything in his car and off we go... so I thought. As these things go, planning in one thing, execution another. I got to Jorrin's house - waking him up!!! We had a coffee and I got to observe Jorrin pack his things. Considering how much stuff he did over the last couple of days, taking on way too much work it was no wonder he had to catch up on some sleep. Well, well we got to Oli's house at 10.45. Meanwhile, Oli and Ian (our trusted driver, photographer, fellow cyclist) went to Evans Cycles to pcikup some pedals as Oli's weren't doing it anymore. This is where it all started to go wrong....

Oli's pedals arrived at his home (thanks to royal mail) whilst he went to get some elsewhere. As we got to his house he was back starting to fiddle with our luggage but not a serious attempt to really pack it into the car. Then it was my turn to pack things from my car into Oli's Saab Estate. I almost managed to get everything in - almost. We had to take half the stuff out and take apart everything that was still in boxes (spares, cameras, etc). With Tetris-style precision we managed to fit everything into the roof box, boot, under our legs, between ourselves and where ever we had space. THE CAR WAS FULL. A quick coffee later and we were ready to go. Only to realise that there was a strange sound coming from under the bonnet. One of the fuses made a really strange noise. We unplugged it, tried starting the car - but it didn't make a sound. The neighbour offered a jump lead whcih we kindly accepted. I drove my car in front, connected the cables and tried starting. Nothing. Someone came up with the idea to rev up the engine. This did the trick to start Oli's car. I took off the cables but really burnt my had as the uncoated metal must got really hot whilst starting the car. Oli did a quick round through the local neighbourhood to get some juice onto the battery, we all boarded and off we went! With the fuse having blown, we were left without electricity. Nobosy cared except Jorrin who still had to finish off a translation - well, that didn't happen now.

In Richmond we saw a pretty tragic bicycle car accident (driver pulling out of a side road without proper looking - BANG... didn't look too good for the cyclist who was on the floor with medics around him). We were on the road, finally. After a couple of miles we realised that there was a strange sound coming from the right rear axle. We thought it was just because the car was way too heavy now with drivers, bikes, gear, provisions and didn't pay too much attention. We went onto the motorway going to Bristol I got to cool my hands on a frozen can which helped get the swelling down. Near Bridgewater we stopped for petrol and also bought SD cards for the bullet cameras. At £35 per piece another expense added to the total bill for this journey. We stopped at another guy on the car park to ask for a wheel brace as we thought that the rear wheel may have come loose, it didn't fir. We drove around Bridgewater to find a mechanic but quickly saw Halfords. Friendly staff sorted us out with the right tool. All bolts were ok and we kept guessing what this sounds could be (too infrequent for wheel bearings) and shortly after concluded it could be the suspension bushing.... we couldn't care at this pint as it was almost 19.30 and another 2.5h to go.

We thought we got to the YHA, escaping death by a margin (thanks to Ian's quick reaction avoiding the ambulance coming head-on). We drove down a nice country lane, misguided by the SatNav, only to find ourselves looking into the most beautiful sunset we could imagine. No YHA in sight though. We turned back, got some shopping, asked for directions, and continued our journey. We got to Letchaven YHA (Lands End) at around 22.00. Damian greeted us with 4 cold beverages and I started making some food whilst (Couscous with Salmon/Veggi/Pasta sauce) whilst Oli made everyones beds (how very nice of him) and the other guys unpacking, sorting out technical stuff. We had a nice meal, sorted out cameras, video making, etc.

Off to bed at 1am, getting some 6h sleep to start refreshed onto our 1000 Miles Challenge - Lands End to John O'Groats. Tomorrow you'll hear how the first day went (guests of honour at the Eden Project and much more!!!)

over and out - d i r k

Getting Ready...as ready as can be

...it probably goes without saying that journeys of such character need preparing. There are a thousand and one thing to be thought of. It goes from rough planning, then into detail here and there (i.e. route planning, daily route, accommodation) and it all kind of goes in circles. Most importantly - the People (who does what & when), and coming up with an overall plan. Breaking down all major themes (route, accommodation, kit, sponsors, support, PR etc) into manageable tasks, team working and networking all the time to get everything accomplished. A lot depends on individuals pulling their weight at certain times to GET THINGS DONE. Project management in its purest form (and really, what isn't these days...). Taking into consideration the different people and their ongoing work and private commitments its actually astounding that we actually got here - with 4 days to go!

In retrospect I think its about that overall plan being put up, starting in good time, being opportunistic here and there, thinking on one's feet, some coordination here and there, group emails/ updates. Its everyone to their abilities, some team members contributed with time, some financially, some with expertise, and all with a little bit of everything.

Today, Tuesday, was a good day as any to start getting out the camping stuff from the loft and checking that everything is still there - where else should it be really having packed it neatly after last years' 1000 miles challenge (1100 miles in Japan). Three major categories to classify things into I was going to pack today (Camping stuff, Clothing/Personal stuff, Food):

Camping
tent, ground sheet, air mattress, sleeping bag, pillow, camping cooker & pots/ pans/ cutlery, picknick blanket (extra comfort), washing line, torch, lighter, pocket knife - the basics...

...it all packs up nicely (always surprises me)

Clothing/ Personal stuff
3 padded cycle shorts (ranging from £15 - £70, long/ short), 3 cycle jackets (general, rain, cold), various cycle shirts (long/ short), 1 cycle fleece, 2 pairs of cycle gloves (short/ long), knee warmers, socks, shorts, trouser, 2 pairs of shoes (mountain bike shoes with cleats), personal hygiene (especially electric toothbrush - wouldn't want to go anywhere without...)

Food (largely my responsibility)
we planned for the first couple of days and then buy things as we go along. Everyone putting £200 in the kitty to have food & petrol costs covered before setting out. Damian told me he already bought the fish, tinned veg and 40!!! Mars bars... We are extremely grateful to my partner Pam for sponsoring Costco shopping (picture below being a small selection of it). Our general shopping list:

- Weetabix large 2x / Porridge oats (largest box) 2x / Muesli (largest box) 2x

- Soy milk 5x / Milk on the day

- Coffee (instant) 1 large / Tea (green/ black) 2 green/ 2 black

- Fruitjuice (100% different flavours) 1l or 1.5l – 10x

- Peanutbutter (3x) / Jam (3x) different kind / Honey (3x)

- BAGs OF mixed NUTS (10) / BAG OF RAISINS (2)

- Seasalt (1) / Pepper 1 / Olive Oil 1

- Butter (3)

- Wholemeal pasta (3KG) / Rice (1Kg) / Couscous (1Kg)

- Tinned Fish, different variety 20x

- Tissues, Ibuprofen, Muscle ache cream

- Magnesium, Multivits

- Reusable plates, bowls, cups

- Toilet paper

Technical equipment
There weren't half as many conversations about technical equipment as there were about the route, accommodation, bikes... However, we are extremely grateful to Action Cameras for the 4 bullet cams; Luttrell Productions (Three Feet High Productions) for the broadcast quality camera, mics, tapes, tripod; Embrace Cooperation for MacBook; Ian Homer for his photo equipment.

Bike/ Kit
everyone sorted their own bikes out but there was some collaboration as Jorrin had an extra set of wheels we are going to take plus his infamous toolbox. With Brixton Cycles support we got quite a few spares sorted out so everyone just had to bring personal puncture repair kits, pump, small bits & pieces.

Our last training ride..food for thought

...our so very last training ride
Today was to be our last training ride. We (all) agreed to meet on Saturday rather than Sunday to do some miles to conclude our training for next week's challenge - 1100 miles - Lands End (Cornwall) to John O"Groats (Scotland).

Getting up at 7.30 on a Saturday continues to prove a difficulty for me as my sweet baby Amy (8 months) still wakes up in the night to be fed. Thankfully, I'm just waking up to see my partner Pam feeding/ attending her. With months of interrupted sleep sacrificing yet another Saturday to go biking is something I just did not get used to. But, what had to be done - got done.

On the road to Richmond I got a call from Damian that he's not going to make today's ride due to other work commitments and setting up the Garmin for next week. 10 minutes later, still in the car to Richmond, I got another call that Jorrin wasn't going to make it, excusing himself with 'pressing' work to be done... hmmm, what just happened to our training ride I though.

Well, well... I got to Richmond to have a quick coffee at Jorrins and to go over to Oli's place to check our box of goodies from Brixton cycles which were in the car. We had chains for the various different bikes (8,9,10 speed), some rear cassettes, inner tubes, socks, t-shirts, drinking bottles and much more. By this time it was 9.45 and Oli and I decided to go to Boxhill (Surrey) and back as we both had things to do in the afternoon. The ride itself was about 40 miles there and back along the River Thames, past Hampton Court, along the A244 and then into some spectacular countryside (South Downs). With Oli on his brand new bike I really had difficulty keeping up with what was probably half of Oli's daily average commuting speed. Oli's internal compass functioned excellent and got us close to Boxhill. On a pretty narrow country road, going up a steep hill Oli pointed to the 20% sign indicating this road was going to turn into a serious downhill. The challenge was the road, narrow, steep, sidelined with trees and shrubs. There were patches of dirt and old leaves which were to be avoided (I thought...).

We probably did between 35 - 40 Km/h (20 - 25mph) which was quite fast on that road. We overtook to Sunday cyclists probably doing half that speed - being very sensible. At maximum speed we turned into a right corner and all I could see was Oli drifting out onto the debris, then completely off track onto the curb (RED DOT on the picture above). At this speed he was faced with 2 decisions. Go straight into the undergrowth and into the trees lining the road or continue on the curb somehow making it back onto the road. He decided for the latter. With the curb increasing in height to about 1.20m (4 feet) the challenge was now to get off it. He kind of jumped (with his brand new racer) but didn't quite manage the landing. C R A S H!!!!! man and machine hit the ground at top speed. The bike flew onto the road again and into my line. I stood in the saddle and my only chance was to ride over his bike as I couldn't circumnavigate it. I kind of jumped going right over his bike and onto the road again, slamming on the brakes, turning around - and seeing Oli struggling to get off the ground. Pretty shattered and shaking he wobbled towards me, and towards his, well, not so brand new bike... whilst dusting him off, the 2 cyclists we passed earlier came by with that "I told you so" look. One stopped to check if we're ok - we said yes, asking for the nearest train station as this was going to be the only way we're gonna get home having had a quick look at Oli's wrecked bike.

This was probably the most spectacular fall/ stunt I've ever witnessed whilst being part of it a few seconds later. Oli's knee looked pretty bad but the man himself seemed indestructible. The bike on the other hand was reduced to a heap of carbon, spokes hanging out, brakes bent in all kinds of directions... Of course we forgot to take a phone and the quick lunch (banana & dates) Oli had turned into mash. We saved the dates and continued our walk (2 miles or so) into Boxhill village. Fellow cyclists rode past - we walked. Both my wheels were buckled riding over Oli's bike with the front wheel still functional but the rear wheel bent to such an extent that I had to dislocate my rear brake to be able to ride. At some point I stopped a small van to ask if the van man could take Oli to the train station. This kind person stopped saying he was just about to go mountain biking and agreed to take Oli and bike to Boxhill train station. As we arrived there we treated Oli's wounds and waited for the train. Changed at Clapham Junction to Richmond, picked up my car and taking man and machine back to his home. I took the bike back to Brixton Cycles who quickly assessed that it was worth coming back on Monday when the shop was less busy. This kind of concluded the day's training ride.

What did we learn?
- probably not much.... apart from don't go too fast downhill if you don't know where you're going....

....check out the blood on the front fork - now how did he do that?

daddy's bike

And here it is. My new training bike...

This beauty (Diamant Mens Bicycle) was bought in the 1960's by my father for 1.50 DM (Deutsch Mark) from the local pawn broker. I picked it up from Germany knowing that it was no longer needed there. Upon seeing his bike being put to better use again my father reminisced how he got the bike: "one fine day I went to find a bike which would take me to work every day. I bought this bike from the pawnbroker for 1.50 DM. Not knowing where the bike came from I was very afraid that the previous owner may see me on his bike, possibly beating me up for having stolen it. To avoid such a predicament I made sure that whenever I went out on the bike I had the receipt from the pawnshop in my jacket. After a couple of months, the note being washed a few times, I threw it away knowing that nobody I've not encountered so far is going to make a claim."

He was obviously very unhappy that I took it apart completely for transport and throwing away the mudguards, lights, front tyre brakes etc. After taking "unnecessary" parts off I fixed new inner tubes and took the bike for a 20 Km ride around the country side. The bike rolled well but the saddle, missing a few springs, was very uncomfortable and I had some difficulty walking after the ride... However, I still overtook a couple of Sunday riders that day on their high-end mountain bikes...

Back in London I replaced the old saddle (with another old one), fixed a new rear sprocket and chain, Brixton Cycles replaced some spokes and fixed the rear wheel as good as possible. I still need to get used to the old breaking system - peddaling backwards - which stops the bike. Its very ineffective and it takes me about 3 car lengths to stop at 20 km/h. In a city like London a little risky but I'll probably get used to it. The steel frame makes the bike comfy to ride and for its age its pretty light-weight. With the rear sprocket replaced for a smaller one (to increase top speed) I really enjoy riding it anywhere! I can now go to town on my bike, locked up securely with 2 D locks. I didn't want to do this with my LEJOG bike having had my racer stolen in November '09.

So, just over 1 week to go!!!
We've had a little planning meeting this Monday with Oli and Jorrin to check what needs doing and organising. Jorrin updated us on sponsors - and we are extremely grateful for those companies and individuals supporting us! To do lists were prepared and our last training ride day was set. Our final training ride is on Saturday, where we will go from Richmond to Boxhill or just into Surrey doing some 50 miles or so. I feel extremely unprepared not having done all the training rides the rest of the team was able to do. Well, I've bought enough pain killers and will just try to do as much training in this last week as possible. I'll probably get fit on the ride... thats my hope at least...

over and out