............ Lands end to John o'Groats cycle ride 2014 .........: Training rides and prep

2 days to go ............unbelievable how fast its come.

Well all we can do now is hope for some good weather and safe riding.

11 Days to go ............................

This week’s training rides were:

Monday 11th 20.6 Miles, Andy & Jo T and H

Wednesday 13^th 21.7 Miles, Andy Toyne, & Jo T, Jo W and Paul rode 12 miles

Friday 15^th 20.7 Miles Andy & Jo T, Jo W

Saturday 13^th 62.1 miles Andy, Jo T, H & Jo W

Sunday 14^th59.1 miles Andy, Jo T, H & Jo W

Andy and Jo T have ridden 184 miles this week,
Jo W has ridden 163 miles
H has ridden 163 miles
Beaky managed a 12 miler but missed out on the long rides, having to go to work.

Wednesday's ride started off Jo W bike having a new rear inner tube before the ride could start then after 15 miles it went flat, we pumped it up half a dozen times to get her home. Once we got home the search began for the third time to find the cause that had alluded us to date, we finally found the offending object, a shard of glass had pierced the Kevlar strip and had almost made it through to the tube, as the tyre was going round the glass was touching the tube and eventually it rubbed a hole in the tube. The offending shard was removed and we have had no further issues, other than 5 tubes that need repairing before we go.

The Weekend

The aim of the weekend training was to ride both days at full distance carrying the full weight of Lejog kit. Saturday's 62 miles was a pretty chilly overcast day with gusting winds of around 10 miles per hour, the goal was for H to complete his first 60 mile ride which he did with ease. The ride was quite hard on the legs with long sections of open country side into the wind.

Saturdays route click here

Sunday ride was 59 miles and the forecast was for high winds

and rain showers it didn't disappoint we had 20-25 mph winds and we chose to take a route along the ridge of the Wolds, one of the benefits of riding on the top of a hill in bad weather you can see the rain storms coming across the valley, the down side is you get the full force of the wind. after four hours of grinding away we reached the tea rooms at Alkborough for a well earned rest and some lunch and as a nice surprise Lynn joined us for lunch (to make sure H only got one tea cake.)

After a nice lunch and a pot of tea, we set off for the final grind into the wind for 18 miles the benefit to this after 10 miles into head wind we finally turned to the east, the back wind was a very welcome feeling and the opportunity to get back on the large gears at the front and get some speed in return for the effort of pedaling. Again congratulations to H not only for tackling a hard windy ride but for completing his second 60 miler.

we will be going for another 100 miles soon???????

Sunday's ride click here

Our last few days before we go.

No more big rides before we go...... just a few 20 miles to keep the legs going,
checking/servicing of bikes
packing spares and tools
checking maps/campsite addresses.

20 Days to go.........panic over, it’s too late to change anything now

TRAINING:

This week’s training rides were:

Monday 4th 20.6 Miles, Andy & Jo Toyne

Wednesday 6^th 20.6 Miles, Andy Toyne, & Jo Toyne & John Harris

Friday 8^th 21.6 Miles Andy & Jo Toyne

Saturday 9^th 40.6 miles Andy, Jo Toyne, H & Jo Willoughby

Next week will be the last of the big rides before winding down ready for the off, we will be riding 20 mile on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then on Saturday and Sunday we will be riding 60 miles back to back.

KIT UPDATES:

Jo T & Jo W are awaiting delivery of new saddles, very late in the day to change

but they are upgrading to special ladies seats for additional comfort.

Jo W and H have had a 22 tooth front chain rings fitted to assist with the hill climbing.

Andy and Jo T got new helmets for the ride:

They also bought a couple of riding jersey for the first and last day of the ride

But they both disappeared over night has anyone seen them?

Thief

Happy Thief

BIRTHDAY WISHES:

We would like to wish H a very happy 61st birthday, as a special treat we took him out for

a 40 mile ride and to celebrate we bought him a bacon butty at Blyton after 20 miles.

Psy aka H also known as Whooop Whooop Gangnam Style

Best customers at Blyton Ice-cream.

30 Days to go.........Don't Panic Mr Mainwaring

Wow its a bit frightening looking back, 14 months ago we were discussing the idea

of a huge long distance ride to Cleethorpes and if we thought it was achievable to get

there and back in a day,

Happy Cyclist Heading to Cleethorpes

As a treat for getting to Cleethorpes our hard earned reward was to be

fish and chips on the sea front, if any of us had thought about the ride home

maybe we wouldn't have bothered eating so much.

Bikes resting at Cleethorpes

On successfully completing our mammoth ride, this was the point where

the dream of biking from Lands End to John o'Groats started to become a

reality, everyone has progressed so much over the last 12 months.

12 months ago 20 miles was a big ride out on a Saturday or Sunday,

now 20 miles is an evening sprint.

We planned training routes to include hills such as Spar Hill and

Greetwell Hill, last month we rode rode Coast to Coast through

the Lake District and over the Pennines.

I think it bigger than Spar Hill

Ready for the big climb

We were not as ready as we thought but we made it?

Slowly and surely the team have increased the mileage, weekend rides of
50 and 60 miles have become the norm, the longest ride to date was
Andy's 104 miles

We also need to say a thank you to the people that have trained with us...

Shannon, Steph and Lyndsey

Donna

not forgetting Lisa who for some reason has managed to avoid having
her photo taken

PSY from Gangnam style
To be fair to H he has nearly ridden as many miles as the rest of the team,
until he rode into the back of Andy's bike falling off and fracturing his
sternum this prevented him from riding with them on the Coast to Coast.

A big thanks to our support team Lynn and H

for looking after us on coast to coast,

always around to pick us up when we have issues, collecting Andy and Jo from
Flamborough Lighthouse and booking all the campsites and ringing round for
all the changes we had to make.

Thank you in anticipation for looking after us from
Lands end to John o'Groats.

As a Team We Have Come A Long Way In A Short Time.

Lynn, Jo T, Andy, Paul, Jo W, John

30 days to go,

We are as ready as we can be, all the kit has been tried and tested,

the final tweaks to gearing and servicing of the bikes,

no more we can do now other than wait for the days to click

by and as they do the excitement continues to build.

Finally each of us would like to thank you
for your support, we can't express enough
the motivation and drive it gives us to
know you are following our progress.

--------------

6 weeks to go.........

Wow only six weeks left its getting really close now,

We are feeling both exited and a little apprehensive as the date gets closer.

There is very little more we can do now in the last few weeks,

other than keep on training and checking the kit we have.

The route is decided, campsites are booked (see last week)

The bikes, riders, support crew and kit were tested on Coast to Coast

only some minor titivating is required.

On Sunday Andy rode 100 miles, though he will tell you it was actually 104

either way it was a great achievement, he was so happy, that he stopped to

photograph the mileage as it changed to 100.

The route and elevation click here

In the few weeks we have left before we take on the main event both

Paul and Jo W want to ride the 100 miles

watch this space to see how they get on………

7 weeks to go.........

Hi everyone, not much to tell this week we only got one ride in at the weekend as the weather forecast was suggesting heavy rain on Sunday but that didn't arrive, however this did give us the chance to carry out final checks on the routes so here they are all 18 of them.............

If you want to view the route, click on the word Day

We have added a picture for each day that may be of interest
click on the text below the photo to get more info....

Day 1