Day 2: Hele - Playley Green

Waking up early in the morning to the sound of rain bouncing off the skylight in our B&B wasn't the best way to start the day. By the time it was actually time to get up the rain had eased though and in making a later start I hoped to miss the worst of the forecast rain. I waved Kerri on her way back to Manchester and the morning passed fairly swiftly on rolling lanes. Although the roads were wet the weather was ok with only occasional drizzle.

Judging by the depth meter I got off lightly

It soon became apparent, however, that my Garmin cycle computer which I was using to navigate with wasn't having a good day. Whenever I tried to look at the directions page it would freeze and I would have to turn it off and on again to get it working. I think the issue is caused by the number of coursepoints I had loaded due to the number of turns and junctions there were in the route. This meant I would have to leave it on the navigation screen all day in order to find my way and would not be able to see any other stats, such as the distance travelled or the miles I had remaining, which would become an issue later in the day.

I thought sheltering under a tree was wise at this point

There were a few torrential downpours which I took the liberty of sheltering from but by the time I reached Cheddar Gorge the weather seemed to be clearing up. The Gorge itself is stunning and makes for good cycling as it starts of steep and gets flatter as you go so you gain speed the higher you climb. Following the downpours it had a bit of a river running down it which made some points quite interesting!

Cheddar Gorge complete with stream following the downpour

With the Gorge done there was a nice fast decent and as I knew there were no other major climbs left in the day I felt pretty positive. This all soon changed however as the sky clouded over and the rain started again in earnest. I was soon soaked to the skin and with no blue sky in sight I knew it was set in for the day.

It was at this point that I started questioning my reasoning for doing the ride, knowing that once the day was over I still had another five to go. My mood only worsened when my Garmin once again froze and I turned it back on to find that the 15 miles I thought I had left was actually 25. There was one moment when the sun started to come out and a rainbow appeared and I thought the rain might end but it only seemed to get heavier.

Rainbow towards the end of the day

I arrived at my accommodation in Playley Green in low spirits and started to get myself warmed up and my clothes dried off. Following a nice meal I saw that the next days forecast was looking better and this coupled with the fact I would be returning home for a night in Manchester helped brighten my mood.

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Day 1: Land's End - Hele

With the day looking like a good one for cycling we set the alarm set for 6am and set out for Land's End from our accommodation near Marazion. The drive down to the start was beautiful although it did leave me pondering the logic of Kerri driving me down a road I was going to ride back up a few minutes later.

After the obligatory photo's I set off shortly before 7.30am.

The first 52 miles were on the A30, a good portion of which is dual carriageway, and I wanted to get them out of the way whilst the roads were still quiet. Light winds and adrenaline inducing traffic speeds meant I made good time and was off the busy road by 11am in time to meet Kerri for a spot of lunch.

 

Some of the A30 is picturesque...

... whereas other parts, not so much

With the A30 behind me I moved on to better cycling roads, a combination of country lanes and quiet A/B roads. With the smaller roads came bigger gradients however and I found it hard to keep my heart rate down - keeping in mind that going too deep into my reserves would leave me fatigued in the coming days. The smaller gearing I fitted last week definitely came in handy.

Having been promised a feast at my second stop of the day at West Chilla I wasn't disappointed. Kerri's cousin Jonathan and his wife Wendy had prepared the biggest pan of pasta I have ever seen along with many other delights including a delicious chocolate flapjack baked by their children Billy and Heidi (with a hand from Wendy!). After a long break and copious amounts of food we were sent on our way with the leftovers to have later in the day.

Quieter roads after the A30

Still having 40 miles to go meant the day was far from over but fuelled up to my ears the final third of the day passed pretty swiftlly - at least in my head if not on the speedo! The 16mph average I had started out with had been gradually decreasing since I left the A30 as I tried to take it easier on the hillier roads and enjoy the ride. Despite ominous grey clouds making appearances throughout the day I made it to our accommodation in Hele without seeing a drop of rain, tired but satisfied after a great first day in the saddle.

Stormy skies but no rain

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Day 0: The Beautiful South*

View from our first night's accommodation

Sunday's weather forecast

*I have a couple of days worth of cycling until I'm out of the South so this verdict may be subject to change


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Final Preparations

This week I have been making final preparations for the ride which has mainly involved eating and checking the weather forecasts. The former has been quite enjoyable whilst the latter has looked more promising as the week has gone on. At first it seemed that I would have a block headwind with the wind coming from East North East on Sunday and then from North North East on the Monday - pretty much the directions I'll be heading each day. This has now changed with the latest forecasts showing a South-Easterly wind on Sunday and a South-Westerly on Monday giving a cross- and a tailwind respectively.

Usually I wouldn't be too bothered about the wind as rides normally start and finish in the same place, so it tends to even itself out over the day - if you head out into a headwind then you get a tailwind on the way back. When you're riding point to point it's a different matter and you only need to look at my average speeds on my commute this week to see how much of an effect it has. In the mornings I have been riding into a headwind and averaging about 15mph whilst in the evenings I have had the wind behind me and have averaged about 20mph - although maybe I'm more motivated on the ride home...

I have also changed my cassette from a 11-25 to a 12-28 giving me slightly lower gearing. This means I now have the option of going a bit slower up the hills in order to not tire myself out too much. I have also fitted a nice shiny new chain to go with it and went out for a test ride yesterday evening up Ramsbottom Rake, the steepest hill in the area, the theory being if I can get up a 25% hill with full panniers then I should be able to get up anything. I seemed to manage ok considering how much I've struggled up it in the past although I'm not sure how much of that was down to the gearing and how much is down to my improved fitness. I haven't been up the hill for a while as it's been closed for what I thought was resurfacing but it turns out they were just replacing the handrail at the side of the road that pedestrians use to haul themselves up the steep gradient.

Tonight I will be baking flapjack, making sure I have all my gear together and getting things sorted for tomorrow's drive down to Penzance. I will be checking everything twice as I don't want to end up in Cornwall only to realise I've left my bike shoes in Manchester! I'll also have to check our ten year old car as it will be putting in a big shift over next couple of days as will my girlfriend Kerri who will be doing a substantial amount of driving. At least Kerri agreed to help out whereas the Fiesta won't know what's hit it.

Finally you may have noticed I've added a couple of things to the blog so you can follow my ride. The first is a map at the top of my blog which should plot my journey via the locations in my tweets, hopefully this will work and give you an idea of where I am in the country during my ride. Secondly I have added a list of my rides on the right via Strava which should show you how many miles I've done each day and how long it's taken me.


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Equipment

I'm sure some of you will have been very disappointed in the last couple of blogs. "What about the luggage cliff-hanger?" I imagine you are wondering. Well, wonder no more, you'll be pleased to hear that I have gone with a rack and panniers. I had initially chosen the handlebar bag option but it turned out it didn't fit my bars and I had a change of heart as I might get more use out of panniers in the future. The two 9 litre panniers should also give me a little more room and will carry the weight in a better position on the bike.

I tested them out on Sunday riding out to marshal at the Wheelers Road Race and back on what was an extremely wet and windy day. A couple of hours sheltering under trees and popping out every 15 minutes to hold a red flag isn't the most fun way to spend your time and I for one was very pleased when the commissaires decided to shorten the race due to the conditions. I think some of those racing were of the same view given how long it was taking them trying to warm up again back at the race HQ. The panniers held up ok though holding my change of clothes and multiple waterprof layers.

All I need to do now if cram everything I need for my LEJoG into them and as such I have been finalising my equipment list. It currently stands as follows:

Bike clothing:
2x bib shorts, 2x long sleeve base layer, windstopper short sleeve base layer, jersey, gilet, rain jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers, 2x socks, windstopper gloves, waterproof gloves, overshoes, SPD shoes, glasses, helmet

Off bike clothing:
Long sleeve t-shirt, 3/4 length shorts, socks

Tools & maintenance:
3x inner tubes, tyre jack, patches, glue, tyre levers, mini-pump, pump adaptor, multitool (allen keys, screwdrivers, chain tool, spoke key), zip ties, chainlinks, tape, possibly spare chain & foldable tyre

Accessories:
Garmin, maps, 2x rear light, front light, 2x water bottles, lock, batteries

Other:
FOOD! (flapjack, malt loaf, energy gels), energy & recovery drink powder, chamois cream, first aid kit, money, cards, keys, phone, phone & Garmin chargers

I did have some summer gloves on the initial list I drew up a couple of months ago but unless the weather changes dramatically i think I can forget about them - I am now considering taking my winter jacket! I'm also pondering taking a spare folding tyre in case I have a tyre related disaster and a spare chain just in case but that will depend on room in the panniers.

I'm hoping I haven't forgotten anything important!

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The route

With the last of the big training rides completed this week I have been putting some flesh on the bones of my route and it is looking like this:

Day 1, Sunday 6^th May: Land’s End - Hele (136 miles)

The first day’s ride looks like being the longest and also possibly the hardest as Cornwall is a notoriously hilly county, especially once you get off the main roads. I’m hoping to make as earlier a start as possible and cover a significant chunk of the route on the A30 before peeling off after about 50 miles and hopefully finding some quieter roads. With around 9,000ft of climbing in the day I will be happy to reach my first night’s accommodation in Hele near Exeter.

Day 2, Monday 7^th May: Hele - Playley Green (123 miles)

The second day will see me skirt around Bristol via the Cheddar Gorge to Playley Green, which is about 10 miles north of Gloucester. A shorter day and, other than the Gorge, a relatively flat route should hopefully give me chance to recover a bit from the difficult first day.

Day 3, Tuesday 8^th May: Playley Green - Manchester (135 miles)

Day three takes me up to my home in North Manchester. A longer day at 135 miles and, whilst initially the route will be quite lumpy, once I get to Cheshire the roads will flatten out and knowing that I’m not far from home should give me a psychological boost.

Day 4, Wednesday 9^th May: Manchester - Gretna (129 miles)

After leaving the home comforts behind I will set off through Bolton up to Preston and then on through Lancaster and Carlisle to Gretna. The morning will see a bit of climbing over the West Pennine Moors before flattening out on the A6 until it gets to Shap Fell and once that climb is crested the remaining 46 miles will be mostly downhill.

 

Day 5, Thursday 10^th May: Gretna - Callander (119 miles)

Scotland. Home of the Scottish. The first part of the day will be on the B7076 which runs parallel to the A74(M)/M74 with the road gradually climbing until past Moffat. From there it's downhill to Hamilton before heading over the Crow Road giving a few nasty kicks up towards the end of the day in the Trossachs National Park.

Day 6, Friday 11^th May: Callendar - Drumnadrochit (133 miles)

The majority of Day 6 will be spent on the A84 as I wind my way out out of the National Park towards Fort William and then up the lochs to Drumnadochit. This will see a fair bit of climbing in the morning but the second half of the day will follow the lochs and hopefully shouldn't have too many significant climbs.

Day 7, Saturday 12^th May: Drumnadrochit  - John O'Groat's (135 miles)

The final leg starts with the biggest climb of the day up to Muir of Ord, which I suppose is a boost as it gets it out of the way, before joining up with the A9 at Tain. I follow this road (which seems to have a lot of hills for a coastal road!) past Helmsdale and up towards Wick before branching off the A roads for the last 30 miles into John O'Groats. With around 910 miles to cover in the week I might end up being glad of the fact that the days get longer as you head further North. 

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5 things I learnt at the weekend

1: Be prepared for any weather

On Saturday the weather forecast showed heavy showers all day and fairly low temperatures. Winter jacket weather, thought I, as it would be ideal for those conditions as it’s fairly waterproof and would mean I didn’t have to keep stopping to put my waterproof on/take it off again. As it turned out I barely saw a drop of rain all day and ended up roasting away in my big jacket as I was either that or strip down to a short sleeve jersey with the jacket tied around my waist! A few different clothing options would have been great.

2: Don’t get carried away

On Sunday there was a Wheelers club run starting from Clitheroe. An ideal opportunity to get some extra miles in by riding out to the meeting point (rather than getting the train/driving out like the the others were doing) and a bonus that another Wheeler, Will, decided to ride out with me. Unfortunately for me he is a much faster rider than I am and in keeping pace with him I arrived in Clitheroe after 27 miles of what probably equated to a mild warm up for him but a brisk training run for me. This probably wasn’t the best preparation for the 85 miles that were still to come. Which leads on to:

3: Eat

Don’t forget to eat. Upon arrival at Clitheroe I was hoping the bike shop/cafe would be open and I could grab a bite to eat and a drink. It wasn’t. Never mind, I had plenty of flapjack in my pocket to keep me going. Which it did until about 70 miles into the ride when I hit the (metaphorical) wall, the rain hit me and my bike hit the Trough of Bowland. Luckily one of my fellow riders saw I was struggling and gave me a helping hand (literally), propelling both me and himself up the hill. I had made the mistake of ignoring the rumbling in my belly, thinking I could make it to the cafe stop ok, before cracking and barely being able to open an energy gel to keep me going. The torrential rain didn’t help, obviously the ride out hadn’t been too beneficial and I arrived at the cafe in Dunsop Bridge a shivering wreck of a man struggling to even eat or drink. I cannot thank Arnas enough for keeping an eye out for me and getting me up that hill. Once I’d got some food down me and got back on the bike I was ok (the liberal use of a nice warming hand dryer also helped!) but it was a pretty stupid mistake to make and one I’m glad I didn’t make when I was on my own.

4: A week is a long time in cycling

Or at least it is when you compare my planned journey time to the End to End cycling records. At the weekend I watched a documentary about former Manchester Wheeler John Woodburn who in 1982 broke the record for cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats, completing the 848 miles in 1 day 21 hours and 3 minutes. It entertained me to hear John’s deadpan take on the ride and his no-nonsense approach to cycling, his response to the question of what he wanted to eat on one of his few short breaks during the ride being along the lines of “I dunno, biscuits or something”. Whilst John obviously put a huge amount of work into training for the ride and had many years of cycling behind him when he did it (he was in his forties at the time and a former national champion) he maintained that all long distance cycling is a case of mind over matter. Plenty of inspiration if any were needed. Incidentally John is still the record holder for the fastest time for riding from London to Bath and back - a record which is considered unbreakable - and has been doing 25 mile time trials in under an hour well into his seventies!

5: Appreciate the high points

I’m pretty much at the end of my training for Land’s End to John O’Groats now. I have clocked up over 1,600 miles since I started in February and whilst there have been low points they have been vastly outnumbered by the highs. Each slog up a hill has been rewarded with a downhill on the other side and often a wonderful view at the top, with Anglezarke, Longridge Fell and Sunday’s views over the Yorkshire Dales being prime examples. The encounters with irate drivers have been vastly outweighed by the companionship of those I have shared rides with and the courtesy of most people I have met on the roads. On Saturday’s ride one driver even pulled over to let me past on a descent when I was cycling faster than she was driving (unfortunately the roles were soon reversed when I reached the bottom of the hill!). Whilst I have been doing all these rides as part of my training it would be a bit of a misnomer to call them training rides when they have been so enjoyable to do. I can only hope that the Land’s End to John O’Groats ride itself is as much fun.

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