Day 1 Lowestoft to Haverhill

It started with an off hand suggestion one night in the pub. Here we are 6 months later in Lowestoft after months of training and weeks of planning. Steve and I were joined with Mark Nicholson (for the first day only) on our first leg. We set off from Ness Point (the Eastern most point in England) on a cool, wet, and windy day heading to Haverhill in Suffolk. We only managed to go about 100 metres before our first stop, to put on wet weather gear. Next we had a nightmare trying to actually get out of Lowestoft, turning in circles, looking for the quiet country lanes which we enjoy so much. After a few showers and strong headwinds we made it to our half way point at the historic town of Eye. Once in Eye we stopped in a the Queen's Head pub for a drink and feed. Our hosts were most gracious and generous. Not only did we have some fantastic food, were given some charity money as well!

 

After lunch we had quite a long distance to travel (which I hadn't told Steve or Mark). By this time we were coping quite well with navigation and moving through some lovely rural hamlets one after the other. We had one rest stop where we met up with Steve's son John, our support team, who keeps us topped up with drinks and water. The final leg of our first day was a 12 mile haul to Haverhill, at which time we were just about out of energy and ready to collapse. Nothing but sheer determination kept our legs turning until we finally made it to our destination.

 

Distance Covered: 150 km (93 miles)

Time in the Saddle: 7 hours

Top Speed: 53 km/hour

Average Speed: 20 km/hour

 

We were absolutely shattered by the time we finished. The furthest Steve had ever travelled before was 50 km, so to do an extra 100 km on the first day he deserves and extra pat on the back. When we finished, John sped us off to Marks home in Higay where his wife Rebbecca had a fantastic feast waiting for us. We had a couple of vino tinto's to kill the pain, hopefully tomorrow we won't be too sore!

 

Chuck

 

Sending off party

I have to give a huge thanks to my lovely wife Maile for arranging a sending off party. The party was held at the Vine Inn in Nantwich (shameless plug www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/19/19837/Vine_Inn/Nantwich). Not only did we have a few laughs and pints, we managed to raise even more money for Cancer Research. We are very near our goal of £1000 and it looks like we should exceed that target as two big company sponsors are yet to put in some money. After sinking a few jars of real ale and a few pork pies we are now ready to burn off those calories on the bikes, only 2 days left! I have to say, it was a beautiful cake, but alas, it had to be eaten! Yum!

 

I went for a short ride before the party to test out some new gear. It was windswept, raining hard and very dark. Not a pleasant ride, especially since my bike seemed to get attacked by a brigade of gremlins. So many new noises and squeaks, or was it my imagination. They all seemed to go by the time I limped back home, so fingers crossed that my wheels will last the distance.

 

Chuck

 

p.s. Thanks Maile!

 

Counting down

Departure day, which is 09:00 12 July, is rapidly approaching. The nerves are now starting to become more apparent and the scale of the ride seems longer every day. We have been making last minute plans for accommodation. For the first three nights we will be in hotels/houses but after that we'll be camping under the stars and trying to stay dry. We can expect busy roads for the first 3-4 days as we pass over the top of London and cross a few of the busiest motorways in Europe. After that, the rolling hills and farms of the West Country start to fall into view as the lanes clear of commuter traffic and we settle into our more familiar rural riding.

I have been making a few modifications to my bike. Over the summer, it's stripped down to bare minimum, to save weight and increase speed. Now I have added full fenders, an extra bottle cage, a mirror, a bar bag and map case. It's having to become a bit of a tourer now, after a former life as a tri-bike and road racer. I'll be looking not to add to much weight as the bike isn't the lightest anyway, not as light as Steve's. Just time left for a few test runs.

The map above was put together by Steve's son John and clearly shows our waypoints. For those interested here are the details:

A Lowestoft, Suffolk, Start Point

B Haverhill, Suffolk, 70 miles (110 km)

C Aylesbury/Tring, Buckinghamshire, 70 miles (110 km)

D Lambourn, Berkshire 50 miles (80 km)

E Glastonbury, Somerset 70 miles (110 km)

F Crediton, Devon, 60 miles (100 km)

G Bodmin, Cornwall, 60 miles (100 km)

H Land's End, Cornwall, Collapse Point 60 miles (100 km)

Total estimate 430 miles (700 km)

You know, looking at that map, Paris doesn't look that far away, hmmmmmm.

Chuck

p.s. Halfway to £1000! Thanks to all who donated. To those who haven't, time to get busy, we certainly are!

Training 29 June 2008

It's amazing what you can see when you slow down your pace of life. Cycling gives you that perfect speed between walking and driving. Walking allows you to see your surroundings in great detail but you only get to see a small part of it. Riding in a car, you can see vast distances but with little detail. Cycling is the perfect medium. Ask any cyclist and they will tell you of all the strange and wonderful things they pass. Such as suicidal wildlife, dead wildlife, farm critters, other odd people in lycra, and odd objects in verges. This picture falls into the odd category, unless you are "in the know". It's the time of year for the Wrenbury Scarecrow Trail (www.scarecrowtrail.co.uk). Where local residents of this small Cheshire village (in conjunction with the local school) construct fantastic scarecrows for all to enjoy. I liked this particular dude as it looks like Steve when I mentioned we will have to ride 230 miles in our first three days!

 

Best Regards,
 
Chuck

Nearly half way to our £1000 goal!

Donate: http://www.justgiving.com/low2le

Training 14 June 2008

When you get to Land's End

We are now less than one month from departure! I am really looking forward to a week off of work and an week on the bike. A little nervous too. Last week my maps arrived from Ordnance Survey, the national mapping agency of Great Britain. There is a total of five maps (O/S Travel Maps - Tour). This series of map is perfectly suited to our journey. Not only is the scale "just right" at 1:100,000 but the maps have both regional and national cycle routes indicated. In addition, the maps show locations for pubs, campgrounds, pubs, restaurants, pubs and of course pubs. We will be avoiding busy roads (A roads) and sticking to the back lanes (B roads) for most of the ~500 km journey.

This weekend past, Steve and I went for a shortish training run as Steve was having some knee problems. Too much rugby and karate in his youth! We were both remarking how great it would be to have your knees replaced with proper metal ones and never have to worry about knee pain ever again. If you are active and under 40 without knee pain, don't worry! You will eventually get it and can enjoy the thrills of pill popping and ice blocks for the rest of your life!

Chuck

p.s. To those who have donated at www.justgiving.com/low2le a huge "THANK YOU"! For those lurkers out there, get donating!

Training 1 June 2008

With 100 km under my wheels from the previous day, I met Steve for a late morning blast to Malpas (near the Welsh border) and back (46 km). I was very apprehensive about going for the ride, half expecting my legs to seize up, my body to run out of energy, and my backside to feel like a pincushion. I needn't have worried as I felt pretty good for most of it, just a little sore (backside again!) towards the end. This was all good news as it meant that stringing day after day of 100 + km is definitely possible with good planning. Steve was clipping along well, working on cadence while monitoring his heart rate. It sure jumps going up those long hills. Look out for the suicidal bunnies though! Just out of Malpas, the skies became very heavy and dark. We decided to b-line back to mine for coffee and cake (strawberry mmmm, thanks Maile!).

I spent the rest of the afternoon de-gunking my chain. This is necessary job but I am learning to really really hate it.

Chuck

Training 31 May

Piling on the mileage. This past Saturday (with Steve away with family commitments) I had made my mind up to cover some longer distances. During our ride across England we will be covering well over 100 km (62 miles) per day. With our comfortable and normal speeds of 20-25 km/hour we can expect to be 'in the saddle' for 5-6 hours per day. I figure we will be using about 600 kcal per hour, which adds up to a whopping 3000-3500 kcal per day. A person will need about 3000 kcal per day, with little or no exercise just to exist and maintain and even weight. With a good breakfast lunch and dinner, there will still be a shortfall. It would be great to lose some weight, but this a very unhealthy way to do it! We do not want to have an energy crash and run out of glycogen 2 days into a 7 day ride. With this in mind, I have been looking at nutrition during the ride. Assuming 3 good meals a day, with low fat, some protein and high carbs (beer?), we will need to have several hundred kcal on the bike. This can be in the form or simple sugars (i.e. glucose, fructose) and complex carbohydrates (i.e. maltodextrin).

I have been taking energy drink with me on my rides. It is a bulk product which I make up in one of my two 750 ml water bottles. Each bottle has about 200 kcal (with electrolytes). It tastes awful! A bit like soapy water. The main problem is that the drink contains protein (which makes more amino acids available for fuel and saves your muscle protein from breaking down) which does not dissolve. This means you have to give it a good shake before drinking/eating it. But, it is a very easy method to take in energy on the fly. My wife Maile has been busy experimenting with home-made energy bars. She has been combining oats (complex carbo), whey (protein), peanut butter (protein and fat), and syrup (simple carbo). Her first batch produced a bar that tasted very sweet and had the consistency of poo. It was a mess, especially after sitting in my nice warm jersey pocket for a few hours. After a bit of work and brainstorming, she now has a bar which looks, and tastes, the business (and doesn't turn to mush in my pocket). I can expect about 300 kcal per bar. Now we just need to figure out home much to take on each ride.

With all this in mind, I set off from Nantwich with food, water, map and spares for a long day in the saddle. I managed a long jagged loop right along the edge of south west Cheshire. With the sun on full, I passed near Chester, through Malpas, Marbury (near Whitchurch), then past Wrenbury and Audlem before heading back to Nantwich. About 90 km in, I was feeling completely drained. My legs were moving but the muscles were working hard to keep the wheels just spinning. I didn't feel out of energy, just tired (should improve with fitness). My dilemma was, do I manage another 10 km to make a metric century or head home and count costs. Those of you that know me, already know the answer. So there was silly me doing laps around the block just to get to 100 km! Well, I did make it. 100.6 km in 4 hours of saddle time, my first metric century. After a proper meal, I didn't feel too bad, so I must have taken about the right amount of food and water. 100 miles next time??? Watch this space.

Chuck