"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!