The calm before the storm - the prelude...

So........today it all starts...

An early rise was needed to rack my tiny mind to see if anything was missing from my incredibly heavy backpack that I would be carrying for the 9 day adventure ahead.

I shut the front door at 9am with that sense of relief of no turning back and that it was to late to do anything else. I rarely get that feeling but when I do I feel released and free. It like the feeling a lot.

A short pedal on my own to collect my partner in crime, Mr J, and then on to the station together to start our long travel day to Lands End. A laughable first mile for us both saw a lost bottle roadside and a near crash at the station. Only 999 miles to go!

An unbearable packed train to London standing in the aisle with bikes, cycle to Paddington, train and arrival at Penzance, taxi to the Lands End hotel and here we are 10 hours later!

The train journey from Paddington took over 5 hours and the woman sitting near us across the way that was earwiging finally gave in after Andrews chat

The weather was very diverse on the journey down but gazing out of the window was a real delight with a More beautiful English countryside to behold and enjoy.

Arrival at Lands End made things very "real" and the undulating and rolling hills on the way in gave us an insight in what we would start with tomorrow. The evening here though tonight was beautiful and sunset made for great pictures

I am sooo excited to hear that alarm tomorrow morning. Let's get this on!

LEJOG Training Complete

With only 4 days left until the big day and setting off from Lands End to complete over 1000 miles in 9 days I feel as prepared as I think I can be, well physically at least….

In recent weeks I have completed a two sportives back to back in a tough weekend and have ridden 6 times in the US whilst on a work a trip.

My sportive weekend firstly consisted of the Wiggle Yorkshire Tour and driving over 250 miles on a busy Friday night to get there. Early on a beautiful sunny morning I left the shambolic bed and breakfast to join other like minded cyclists looking for the piece of the tour. Once off and spinning the route explored the best cycling Yorkshire had to offer. I cycled parts of the Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ route. The route had a real mix from quiet undulating roads to the high exposed moors with their perpetual views and stunning landscapes. I started out from Thirsk Racecourse heading north heading out for the first section of endless rolling roads diving back south through Leeming Bar. After I dropped down in to Leyburn on the first swoop of Wensleydale, I headed back north east, linking with the Tour de France route for the first time. I then began to climb back out of Wensleydale and peeled off cutting directly through Bellerby Ranges, with its epic views,before dropping down to Swaledale to cross the magical river swale for the first time. After passing through Reeth, I hopped back over the river Swale for a second time, before leaving the tour route. Next up was the challenging climb up on to Summer Lodge Moor, passing some of the Dales disused mines on the way. When I reached the top of the moor the landscape unfolds, before the technical decent in to Askrigg, to rejoin the Tour Route. Back in Wensleydale I followed the River Ure before crossing at the Stunning Aysgarth Falls, to then head East at Leyburn for the final quick stretch back to Thirsk. This ride was not for the faint hearted as the moor is tough but the views more than made up for sore legs! I took on and completed my first category 2 climb on this ride too!!! 

After completing my Yorkshire tour a drove immediately down to the peak district for the WIGGLE PEAK DISTRICT PUNISHER. The Wiggle Peak District Punisher is a mid-season belter of a ride! Starting from the picturesque town of Bakewell, nestled on the edge of the Dark Peaks, I left the Agricultural Centre in the middle of town and climbed gradually up to the historic village of Eyam and over into the Hope valley. A quiet loop through Edale Village lead me to the first main climb, the ascent of Mam Tor, a real leg burner with exceptional views at the top! After this I continued my adventure out to the west of the park with some tough climbs and blistering descents rewarded with stunning views, open countryside and quiet roads. This was a real tough ride and pushed me to the limits with huge amount of climbing for the miles achieved.

The final part of my training was completed in the US. First up was Phoenix and then Las Vegas. The purchase of a new bike bag for my LEJOG trip, for when flying back from Inverness, allowed for a dry run to the US with the bag and the bike. I have never been so worried about my luggage arriving at the other end. All the what-ifs and maybes…

I had 3 rides in Phoenix and riding in the US is nothing like I have experienced before with large mundane flat blocks and lots of traffic lights - a far country from the beautiful undulating countryside of Hertfordshire and the Chilterns. The stop start was a little frustrating to say the least but it could almost be compared to the frustration of central London riding. I did however on one day get an insider’s tip from a local and took a nice route leading out to the Beeline Highway, which I was very grateful for. Bike bagged packed and the short flight in to Vegas lead to my next 3 rides. An immediate short burst two hours after arrival in Sin City was fun, the second added miles to the bank but was in scorchio 30 degree heat and the last took in a 90k route out to Red Rock Canyon national park which was absolutely stunning.

The last jobs of packing selection, routes and donations support are still looming large. The emotional side of things is another story all together. Let’s just say I am not exactly Johnny horizontal at the moment.

LEJOG - The Route

After some crafting and serious planning, with a few big humps along the way, we have announced our route from South to North...

...Here is your stage by stage view and insight - http://challenge19.co.uk/lejog-route/

LEJOG in 9 days for what?

LEJOG is an acronym that has only entered my vocabulary in the last 12 months! LEJOG = Lands End to John O'Groats.

Playskill is a word I have known for slightly longer and is a charity that provides parent and child playgroups in Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Three Rivers, Dacorum, St. Albans and Bushey for pre-school children with physical difficulty or developmental delay.  An occupational therapist, speech and language therapist and paediatric physiotherapist work within the groups to ensure maximum progress for the children.  Support for parents and the family as a whole sits firmly at the centre of the structure and they desperately need financial support to continue their fantastic work. www.playskill.org

So what I am doing to help? Well, a year ago I committed to cycle LEJOG and there have been tough, physical, mental and life changing experiences for me to position myself in the best possible place to complete this in October 2014. Whether it has been regularly battling the elements in 100+ mile rides (over 8 hours in the saddle), conforming to lycra, joining a cycle club or reigning in my beloved alcohol in order to train for this monumental task I have always done what is needed.

One of my nearest and dearest friends Andrew (a real driver of this initiative) will be embarking upon this epic challenge with me.  Our hope is that through the money we raise, it enables Playskill to continue to help many young children in the future, like Andrew's son, William, who suffers from a rare chromosomal deletion of 19p, 13.2 and has been and will continue to be supported by the amazing charity.

·         Event date start - October 15th

·         Total duration of event - 9 days

·         Total miles covered - 1000+

·         Sponsorship target - £15,000

This challenge is only being undertaken by Andrew and me and there is no support from a company organising this event. We pay for everything ourselves and carry all of our belongings we need for 9 days on our bicycles or shoulders. This will be the biggest challenge of our lives and already I envisage pain, punishment, sweat and maybe tears on my behalf...

This is the important part, if you only read one thing in this long plea. I need your help and support to drive me to the end of this challenge. Donating is safe, quick and easy. Please visit this link and show your support - https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/challenge19

I will be writing a daily update on my blog after completing the stage for the day and adding a map of the route covered so that all sponsors can be part of the journey and see our progress

I thank you all in advance for your generosity when donating.

Déjà vu but quicker

Last Sunday I participated in the London Bikeathon for the second time. This is an event I would like to ride every year from now on as it was my first event I entered on my cycling journey, it has a lot of emotional attachment and gives you a spectacular ride around the greatest city in the world.

More than 6,000 cyclists got on their bikes to help beat blood cancer and raised more than £830,000

After getting up very early on Sunday morning to take the first train into London I arrived at Euston and immediately followed the stream of Red shirted cyclists making their way to the start of the event.

It was a beautiful day with sun shining down, blue skies overhead, upbeat music pumping out of loud speakers and a real sense of intent at the start line. Riders were let out in manageable groups every minute or two. As it neared my turn to set off I was overcome with emotion and remembered why every other rider was here and taking part and everyone here had their own story to tell. I had my story and being caught off guard by a song that came on those big speakers i set off with a lot of feeling inside of me.

Pushing on with the ride around our capital I rode with a guy, for the first 20 miles, that lives close to my area and I convinced him to join my newly formed cycling club in Berkhamsted. It felt far more sociable this year mainly due to understanding I would be able to complete the distance and a year down the line i know my self a lot better from a cycle stand point. After a break mid way through for a drink a sugar top I rode the last half of the event in a good group. Bad sign-posting lead to a few hiccups but made for extra bonding and camaraderie.

The biggest pain about the event is that the roads are not closed off meaning the traffic and more importantly traffic lights are a huge problem when trying to get any sort of momentum.

The biggest high about the event is the incredible support that people show you when cycling the whole course but when you come in to the cross the line their are crowds that are really applauding and cheering the effort of all riders as the cross the line and get their medal. It is truly overwhelming.

The event is not a race and as I said it is hard to treat like that due to the lack of momentum you can gain. However, I tracked my own performance this year and I have improved my time as a cyclist by a considerable way and completed the course in 3 hours and 24 minutes knocking over an hour off last years time

Right on my doorstep - Hertfordshire 100

Having undertaken a lot of long rides and Sportives in the past few months that took a lot of planning, travel and commitment it was nice to finally get an event in my own back yard but more importantly an organiser that plans the best route and take me to areas of my county that I hadn't fully explored before.

Sportive UK ran the event for British cycling and I really enjoyed the gathering of over 500 cycling enthusiasts. It was a beautiful day for cycling at 18 degrees without a cloud in the sky. The route was very well thought out but did contain lots of nasty gravel, a river to cross if you dared and lovely quiet single track lanes to spin around. I had a few chain issues on the way round and annoyingly one puncture at 94 miles in...Grrrrrrr...

There were lots of amusing town / village or street names to admire and I even cycled through Little Berkhamsted, which I never knew existed (my cycle club is based in Berkhamsted).

I completed my 104 miles in a very respectable 6 hours and 36 minutes and this is me pictured below after passing the finishing line.

I am booked in for a Spin around London this Sunday to keep battling for the fight against blood cancer.

Big Cog 2.0 - Historic day

Today is a monumental day in my cycling journey...

I have become a member of British Cycling, who are the governing body for cycling in the UK. In addition to that i have also committed to join a Cycling Club. I am very excited to part of the inception of the Berkhamsted Cycling Club

Last but not least I have also received my provisional race licence...

...already dreaming about Big Cog 3.0!