A Grand Day Out

Target Rides - 1 x 40, 2 x 50, 1 x 60

Actual Rides - 1 x 33
                         1 x 50
                         1 x 53 (with Debbie)
                         1 x 80 (with Ian)

Following a lovely ride with Debbie on Friday, I had a fabulous offer I couldn't pass on for Sunday, despite it being Bob's birthday!  My friend Ian and his wife take their son to the Sage, Gateshead on a Sunday, and they offered to take our bikes over, so Ian and I could then cycle home via the Hadrian's Cycleway.  It was a lovely route - fairly flat following the river Tyne for the first section, then up and over the Pennines, following the route of Hadrian's Wall, then down into Brampton and Carlisle before the climb back home.  We ended up doing almost exactly 80 miles, with ascents totalling around 3500ft, and keeping up an impressive (for me!) average speed of 11.5 mph.  A great route, great company, and just the right kind of training ride I need at this stage - I can't thank you enough, Ian!

Up to now, I've been lucky enough to manage most of my rides in the dry, but I've been keen to test my waterproofs, and my confidence in handling the bike in the wet.  Today was the day!  Many lessons learned, and I know I need better gloves now!  Despite the weather, the hills and the distance, I've not uttered a swear-word all day, and now I'm home, dry, and have a glass in my hand, I feel fine (but I'll sleep tonight!).  A really 'Grand Day Out', and a fantastic morale-booster.  I feel ready to go now!

www.justgiving.com/JanesBigTrip

Leaving the Sage, Gateshead

The cycle path along the Tyne

Trying to keep dry at lunch in Haltwhistle

Passing by Birdoswald Fort on Hadrian's Wall

The sign in the window should say 'scoffin in the rain'!  Check out Ian's helmet hair!!

A lovely morning with Debbie on Friday

Fame at last!

I don't usually blog mid-week, but today has been quite exciting!

Easter Monday (yesterday), Bob was interviewed on BBC Radio Cumbria - they were doing a piece on chocolate and Easter, so had called him in as the expert.  A great plug for the business, but he also managed to give my trip and the charity a good mention too.  Following that, I took a call this morning from one of their researchers to see if I was free to do an interview this morning (Tuesday) for a feature on epic challenges!  So I ended up in a studio, chatting for almost 15 minutes live on BBC Radio about me, my trip and the Watchtree Wheelers.  Great publicity! 

As I left the studio, I took a call from the Cumberland News - our local weekly paper.  They wanted to come and take photo's of me to go with a piece they intend to put in the paper this Friday!  I'm in demand!  I had planned a 50 mile ride this afternoon, so had to adjust my route so I could be home half-way through for the photo-shoot!  I'll need an agent soon....

www.justgiving.com/JanesBigTrip

My starring moment!

A Lapse of Motivation

Target Rides - 1 x 25, 2 x 45, 1 x 50

Actual Rides - 1 x 25
                        1 x 52
                        1 x 51
                        1 x 39

It had to happen at some point, but this week I've struggled with motivation.  For the first time since I started training, getting my bike out has felt like a chore, rather than excitement, and I've even asked myself the question "why on earth am I doing this?".

I took a day off work on Thursday, and Bob drove me to Penrith, where I had plotted a lovely scenic and fairly hilly route through the Eden Valley.  However, I had dressed to the forecast, and had completely underestimated the strength and temperature of the wind.  Lesson learned!  Very soon my feet were freezing, my legs were tired, my lungs hurt, the hills kept me warm but the downhill bits were cold.  Instead of enjoying the views, I found myself battling with the wind and feeling very sorry for myself.  What I should have done was to stop for a coffee somewhere to re-charge, but my route didn't pass through much civilisation, and I just wanted to get home. I was very tired and a bit dejected that night.

One drunken evening last weekend, I'd managed to persuade Bob, Cameron, Rick and Will to come out to play on Good Friday (Rick and Will on their tandem!).  I had in mind a 33 mile flat route, with at least 2 pub stops, and I put in a few miles beforehand to keep to target.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, but I hadn't accounted for the fact that none of the others had been on a bike since last autumn, so the distance was a bit ambitious and the last half hour wasn't much fun for any of us.  Another lesson learned.  I woke up on Saturday feeling really tired and achey, but I had to do another ride.  I had the offer to join a group going out on the fells, so I set off with them for a hilly but scenic 39 miles.  It took me a long time to get going properly, but by the end I was feeling great, and I knew I could have carried on for a few more miles.  Motivation restored!

www.justgiving.com/JanesBigTrip

Good Friday - turned out to be pretty good with Bob, Cameron, Rick and Will (and Talullah, the tandem!)

Up on the fells in the sunshine with Gill, Martin, Debbie and Simon.

Blazing Saddles

Target Rides - 2 x 25, 2 x 30, 1 x 45

Actual Rides - 1 x 24
                         1 x 35
                         1 x 22
                         1 x 60 (with David)
                         1 x 34 (with Debbie, Mike and Copper)

Hours on Trainer - 1

My first 3 rides this week were all very hilly, but I was getting a little bothered that I'd not done any 'long' rides yet, even though my training programme didn't call for them for another week or so.  So, on Saturday, Bob drove David and I to Dumfries, from where we cycled back through Annan, Gretna, Longtown and Carlisle.  It was a beautifully scenic and pretty flat route (Sustrans Route 7), and mostly on lovely little quiet country lanes.  Unfortunately, for the last 2 hours, we had a pretty vicious headwind, which brought on my Tourettes again, but otherwise, a really great and morale-boosting ride!  Sunday saw me head for the coast with a bunch of others - again, very windy but great to be out with other folk.

When I talk to anyone these days, they ask me 2 questions.  "How's the training going?" followed by "How's yer bum?".  If you don't want to hear the answer to the last one, please look away now!  I've tried all 3 saddles at my disposal so far.  The one that came with my bike, which was rock hard and brought tears to my eyes within 10 miles!  The one I took from my old hybrid bike, which was a bit wider and more padded, and lasted until I started clocking up some serious miles.  And then an even wider, and much more padded 'commuter-style' saddle, but it turns out that wide and padded are not always great, especially on long hills, when you're pressed into the saddle long enough to cause a problem!  So, we bit the bullet and bought a female-specific saddle, which I've used for over a week now.  Early indications are that it's worth every penny! 

www.justgiving.com/janesbigtrip

My new best friend!

Leaving Dumfries with David - you'll definitely see him coming!

A very blustery Sunday morning with Mike, Copper and Debbie

"There's no shame in that!"

Target rides - 1 x 25, 2 x 35, 1 x 45

Actual rides - 1 x 26
                        1 x 25
                        1 x 46
                        1 x 40 (with Martin)

Hours on Trainer - 1

I wanted to engineer my rides this week, to make sure I had Sunday off, as our son was coming home from conservatoire in Cardiff for Easter.  This is the first week I've not managed to cover the target distances, but what I have done is plenty of hills.  I'm working on the premise that if I can't get the distance in, I should compensate by covering vertical distance!  Surely a 25 mile hilly ride is equivalent to a 35 mile one on the flat...?  I had a lovely ride up on the fells with Martin on Saturday - for once the forecast was wrong, and we didn't get wet after all!

Last summer, when I was researching this trip, I spent a morning in the support vehicle following a group of cyclists on day 9 of their epic adventure.  Amongst the many questions I had for the support team was 'does anyone ever get off and push?'.  His response was "Plenty - and there's no shame in that!  You're still going from one end of the country to the other under your own steam."  His words have stuck in my mind, but my aim is to be fit enough to pedal every inch of the way.

www.justgiving.com/janesbigtrip

Setting off on Saturday with Martin - we'd taken all our wet weather gear, but didn't need it after all!  A scenic (but very hilly) route, chosen by me!