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29th August 2008
So we made it!!!! Just over 1,000 miles completed in 12 days. It was pretty tough going at times with our morale going up and down with the hills. The great British weather didn't pay us any favours either, but we battled on through. You can still see the story of the ride on the blog using the link above. And it's not too late to make a donation either! Our Just Giving pages will accept sponsorship until the end of the year. Between us we have already raised £5,000 but of course it would be great if we could get even more for such worthwhile causes. We even managed to raise around £170 from on-the-road donations as we went along, which is pretty good going considering the weather meant there weren't that many people out and about. A big thank you to everyone for your support and encouragement to us all throughout the challenge. Watch this space for what crazy stunt we may decide to do next!!
3rd August 2008
With only a week to go, Sian finally got back on her bike after being confined to gym training for a week. She headed off in search of Norwich's rare hills with the intention of doing some circuits up and down them to get some power training in. But, as usual, the ride was not without event. Whilst riding along a quiet residential street less than a mile from the illusive hills, she cycled past a van that had been parked up to find there was someone still in it and who decided to open his door at just the moment she went past, knocking her off her bike. Apart from a couple of bruised fingers from impacting with the door, Sian escaped pretty much injury free. And the bike is not too badly off, but the front wheel now needs realigning - all this a couple of days after it's pre-ride check-over at the shop - typical. Back to the gym for a couple more days then.
28th July 2008
Owen adds links to the blog that will be updated during the ride itself detailing the journey as we take it. Links to the blog can be found at the top of this page and also on "The Ride" page.
27th July 2008
After a hectic week with work, and a busy weekend with the kids, Owen heads out to put in a few more miles. A couple of miles and a familiar ping sound occurs followed by a clanging sound. One quick check, and guess what? Yep, another spoke has snapped. Things don't look good, that's one every 250 miles or so. Could mean than Owen needs to replace 4 during the ride if it carries on at this pace.
26th July 2008
With the sun shining away, Huw decided to venture out in the full heat of the day and manged to rack up a training ride and a run with Sarah. It was tough going and loads of water was needed. Hopefully it won't be quite that hot on the actual ride.
25th July 2008
After getting a rather painful shoulder / neck / back-type issue (just on the one side) towards the end of the first day's ride at the weekend, Sian decided to pay a visit to a chiropractor in the hope that it was nothing too serious and that they might be able to sort her out. There was good news and bad news... It's nothing too major, just a very tight, knotted muscle, but unfortunately was quite difficult to get to to 'work on' and so isn't something that's solveable in a quick visit, and the chiro is now on holiday. So here's hoping that the stretches and exercises help to loosen it up enough before the ride to not cause a problem. And that means no more rock climbing until after the ride - booooooo.
19th-20th July 2008
For the last time before starting the main ride, the trio met up again, this time in Huw's neck of the woods - the West Midlands. We set out on 2 full day rides (70 miles each day) with panniers packed full with what we were expecting to take with us. Although the weather was kind enough not to rain on us, it was still rather windy and so with the extra weight, it all felt like rather hard work! But we survived, without any major mishaps, apart from the odd bit of mis-navigation... Hopefully this part will get easier when we're not in the cities so much or literally going round in circles. Next stop, Lands End!
6th July 2008
What with the weather not playing ball again Sian's trip to Devon, originally for some climbing, ended up with her getting some training in whilst her friends went surfing - all in the rain. So she set off from Wadebridge, where she'd stayed the night before, with the intention of meeting the surfers just short of Bude when they got out the water. However, what with the miserable weather, setting off late, and the odd wrong turn, she didn't quite make it. But managed a reasonable distance nonetheless with some more hill training included, and hit a new top speed of 40.1mph!! Seems it might be best for the boys to map read on the ride though...
28th June 2008
The terrible trio of Owen, Sian and Huw finally managed to arrange a time when they can all get out on a training ride together. Taking advantage of this we ventured on a 75 mile ride around Andover and the surrounding area. After just four miles we had to take a detour adding on another 5 miles, all good practice! With plenty of ups and downs it was a really good (or should I say challenging) ride for all us. Half way around the route and in need of some extra energy we decided to do the tourist thing and visit Stonehenge and enjoy a big cake each. The only misshap on the whole trip was a broken spoke on Owen's bike and three very tired people at the end! 6 weeks left until the real challenge begins.
21st June 2008
In true British style, the summer solstice weekend was full of rain and wind, so despite Sian's weekend visit to the hills of the Peak District being full of climbing, there was a significantly hilly bike ride done in the rain. Her performance wasn't too bad - only having to walk the bike up one section of a hill when, after stopping for breath, she couldn't get the bike going again without the front wheel lifting up & trying to throw her off the back. So the uphills were slow and steady, and the downhills fast and scary (top speed 35.1mph - with brakes on!), but overall a reasonable performance. Just a little daunting to think we'll be having to triple that distance in a day, and repeat it for 12 days in a row.... What have we let ourselves in for!?
13th-15th June 2008
After collecting her new bike from a bike shop in Kingston, London (another non-local buy - don't ask!), Sian headed to Exeter for an activity-packed weekend. As well as many other things, it involved testing out the new bike a few times, including on some hills. Touch wood, everything seems to be going really well with it so far, and Sian is looking forward to testing it out on 'familiar' Norfolk ground to see how it compares.
12th June 2008
Regarding the new Wiggle Link on the Home page - when any new account is setup using the links on our website, Wiggle will donate 10% of every purchase made during the first 3 months of the account being setup. Its not just cycle gear that they sell either!
10th June 2008
After notching up 55 miles with Sian just over a week ago Owen continues training hard with 3 shorter rides at higher intensity last week along with 3 trips to the gym. Continuing last weeks efforts with another trip to the gym last night and 10.5 miles on the bike this morning before settling down to work. Over the weekend Owen made a few modifications to his bike including fitting some bar ends to try and provide some alternate hand positions and a different saddle. The change in saddle was really noticed on this morning's ride so things are looking up.
8th June 2008
Along with a few thousand other people, including her friend Carol who came up from Oxford, Sian went out to do the Norwich 50 mile bike ride today in the sunshine (finally after all the rain of late in this part of the country). It was a different experience cycling with so many others on the road too, but very sociable and encouraging, with people ranging from super-fit lycra-clad speed demons, to less athletic people, and some on bikes you wouldn't think would've made that distance easy at all! But for Sian it was a good ride, well-paced (thanks Carol), and left us feeling like we could've done more. Next to tackle the hills...
8th June 2008
Huw finally got his bike back on Friday after hassling the bike shop every week since it went in. Taking advantage of the sunshine and the fact that he has over three weeks of training to catch up on he's been out twice over the weekend.
31st May 2008
After (too long) a break, cycling was back on the agenda for at least Owen and Sian this weekend. Unfortunately Huw was unable to join in as his bike still hadn't been repaired. So Owen headed out to deepest Norfolk to join Sian on a repeat of the 55-mile route from a few weeks ago. The weather was nice, and we ate more food this time(!), although didn't get on with the energy gels *yuck*! Sian still found it rather a struggle with keeping it going towards the end, but Owen put up a good performance for his (by far) longest ride to date. Still, it seemed to be a bit of a wake-up call as to the reality of the task we have set ourselves. Much more training needed!!!
11th May 2008
Sunday was obviously a day for cycling, as Sian also set out on a record-breaking ride (for her), clocking up 55 miles with an ad hoc combination of 2 routes she had done before. It was also her first solo ride, and despite not following the exact route she'd planned, she didn't really get lost. However, heading back towards Norwich meant cycling into a slight headwind and this, along with the long distance, meant it was all rather tiring. I think the on-bike diet of only a couple of slices of malt loaf and a banana didn't really help with keeping up the energy! Next time more sustance will have to be incoporated with the ride.
11th May 2008
As the sunny days seem to be here to stay there are few excuses now to get out on the bike and start racking up the miles. So on Sunday afternoon with a new saddle (hopefully stop the numbness) and SPD's Huw set out on a 45 miles round trip to Stratford Upon Avon. Arriving in Stratford after 25 miles feeling pretty good I stopped for 10 mins to have a bite to each and top up my water (all going well so far). After a minor map reading error I managed to get back on my planned route and all was going well until 6 miles from home. Heading up a hill on a 50 mph road, cars zooming past and suddenly my I hear a noise and wheels stop moving. I luckily managed to get my feet off the pedals and topple the correct way (not into the moving cars) and save myself from falling over. Lifting my bike out of the road and taking a closer look I saw my rear derailleur hanging in mid-air (now I'm no bike expert but alarm bells started ringing). On closer inspection I saw that the mech hanger had broken where the rear derailleur joins the frame. Huw is now without a bike and having to see if this will be covered by the warranty. Fingers crossed!
5th - 11th May 2008
Deciding that he needed to pick up the pace Owen increases his training levels. On the bank holiday Monday I headed out for a 20 mile trip through Andover and the surrounding area. A few trips to the gym were packed into a busy schedule this week, and then the Saturday arrived with the chance to take out my new mountain bike. A 2.5 hour drive later found my at Cannock Chase where they have purpose built mountain bike trails. Extremely enthusiastic on arrival we headed out along a route named "Follow the Dog". Unfortunately my enthusiasm far out did my skills, and in an effort to out do Sian's falls the inevitable happened. Crash!!! Over the handle bars with my chin taking the brunt of the crash (I think), I ended up in a sprawling pile on the floor. Aftering stemming the worst of the bleeding we headed off and completed the course. Arriving back at the cafe at the end of the route I surveyed the wounds to find a grazed right arm, brusied and cut knees, bruised ribs with a nice handlebar pattern, and a chin that had failed to stop bleeding. I drove home and with the chin still not fully repaired a trip to the local minor injuries department was required to have the wound cleaned and a few steri-strips stuck over the "hole" to hold it together. Beat that Sian!
3rd May 2008
In what was pretty much perfect cycling weather, Sian ventured out for a 36-mile ride from Norwich to Thetford, via New Buckenham. A very picturesque ride (despite the lack of hills in the scenery), and all in all quite inspiring for the real deal.
26th April 2008
Everybody met up in Cardiff for the weekend for our first ride together on our new bikes. We took a circular route from Penarth, around Cardiff, out to Castell Coch and back, which ended up at about 27 miles. Although the distance wasn't particularly taxing, encountering hills was more so (at least for some of us!). A few niggles were sorted out, and various bits tweaked along the way, but generally a good sound ride. It also gave Owen & Huw the chance to get to grips with the joys of car bike racks!
11th April 2008
Sian has managed to break the £1,000 mark with her fundraising! An excellent result so early on, with many, many heartfelt thanks to all those who have donated so far. For the rest of you, there's still plenty of time left so dig deep!!!
3rd April 2008
Sian decided to make the most of the new lighter evenings by going for a ride... in the dark! Well, most of it was in the dark. But don't worry, she had super bright lights on the bike. And I'm glad to say this ride passed by without any incident! Slowly she is learning.
30th March 2008
Taking advantage of the unexpected nice weather, Sian headed out on her longest ride to date - roughly 45 miles. As usual, the ride included an element of "drama" - the biggest one yet. When turning off right from a busy stretch of road onto a quieter country lane, Sian was travelling a little too fast in an attempt to get out of the queue of cars' way. She had to bank quite hard round the corner to avoid the gravelly side as she didn't want to skid, but unfortunately had leaned over a bit too far and had the wrong foot low on the pedals and this then clipped the ground sending her skidding. She thought she may just have rescued it but instead hit the mud at the edge of the road when her bike came to an abrupt halt and she went flying over the handlebars, followed by her bike which was still attached to her feet. OWWWW! Apparently it was rather spectacular... Thankfully she was wearing a helmet, and that took the main impact (dreading to think what state her head would've been in otherwise), and came out with nothing more than a few bumps and bruises, though with a rather bad headache and a couple of 'eggs' on the side of her head. She is now beginning to wonder if she will make it in one piece from End to End.
24th March 2008
 | Sian also ventured out on Easter Monday, but sensibly avoided wearing shorts seeing as there was a few inches of snow on the ground and a bit more fluttered down during the ride. Unfortunately only about 7 miles along, whilst going through a large puddle trying to let the cars pass, Sian hit an unseen hole, which caused her to get a puncture. So what an introduction to changing a tyre - by the side of the road in the snow! Thankfully that morning the new pump (with hidden repair kit in the handle) had been fitted, but this only lasted another couple of miles, & the last stretch to the pub involved pushing the bike. After returning home (via a shop to buy some spare inners & more sticky pads to repair them!) Sian is now much more practised at changing tyres!! But also much more set on getting some "puncture proof" ones for the real ride. |
Owen picked up his new road bike on Good Friday a Genesis Day 01. A little different from his usual mountain bikes with massive tyres he wasn't sure about the skinny tyres. After a weekend involving canoeing, a high ropes course and running around in woods shooting people with paint, Owen headed out onto the roads on Easter Monday (in shorts) to test out his new bike. Short at 6 miles the initial ride was enough to identify that the saddle height and angle need a little adjusting but he was glad that finally he had managed a successful trip without any technical problems.
16th March 2008
Huw and Sarah managed to muster up the will to face the cold winds for their first training ride today. Not sure how far it was but realisation has struck of how much lies ahead. There were a few unexpected hills but they just added to the fun (or not)!.
14th and 17th March 2008
Owen's first and second attempts at training rides fail miserably with punctures bringing the rides to a premature end. Nobody said it was going to be easy.
10th March 2008
Finally Owen manages complete the clean up process of his old mountain bike so that he can start training as soon as possible. A new bike is planned but as with everything technology related Owen spends ages investigating all the fine details before making the purchase, which is sure to follow soon.
23rd February 2008
After enjoying Wales' six nations victory over Italy in the Millenium stadium the four of us got our heads down to try and get a basic route planned. As we worked our way through the first few OS maps the scale of the challenge ahead dawned on us! We worked our way from Lands End to John O'Groats trying to measure distance, incline and time for each leg - there was a bit of a difference of opinion when we dicussed how many miles per day we are planning on cycling...guess who wanted to do more, boys or girls?!!
So now all we've got to do is get on with the training and fundraising........
17th February 2008
Sian, eager to be the front runner, heads out on her second training ride. This time 36 miles from Norwich to Great Yarmouth via the Reedham Ferry. This trip also introduced her first fall. Fortunately (but rather stupidly) whilst waiting on the pavement at some pedestrian lights at the end of the ride, she just just leant a little too far the wrong way, onto the side where her foot was still clipped to her pedal & could do nothing but fall straight onto the floor.....OUCH! Just hope it was on a cycle path!
10th February 2008
After practising using the new SPD pedals in the safety of the local park, Sian sets out on the first training ride in preparaton for the LEJOG this summer. 26 miles from Norwich to Hemsby, already realising that the lowest gear on the bike really isn't that easy before even leaving Nofolk!! Much training will be required.
18th January 2008
Sian is getting impatient and makes a trip all the way to Harrogate to look at some touring bike offers. Unfortunately the original choice wasn't in stock in her frame size, and despite being a little concerned about the alternative only having a double chainring at the front rather than a triple, after assurance from the seemingly knowledgable man in the shop she went ahead and bought the bike anyway - the Audax Sport. It was then fitted with a new shorter and more upright stem, SPD pedals with shoes and a new, slightly wider rear tyre (though still incredibly small compared to mountain bike tyres!) We will wait and see how it works out....