So I am back, having completed 1000 miles from one end of the country to the other. I am still going out on my bike every week, pre-season football has started and I am also attending kettle ball lessons – yes, my body does ache!
Having arrived in Penzance the nerves set in. I hadn’t dropped the two stone I wanted, but everybody else had, which proved to be a huge advantage for them up and down the hills of Devon and Cornwall. As for me, slow and steady was the order of the day and then let gravity be my friend so I could catch them up downhill and on the straights.
After each day came loads of food. I love the food. Nothing better than eating 5000 calories a day and not putting any weight on.
Day three was a killer. We took a wrong turn near Glastonbury and before we knew it, we were carrying our bikes for 1.5 miles down a muddy track. It took ages and ended up being an 11 hour day, which meant I was nearly failing asleep on my bike during day four.
A couple of easier than expected days through Wales helped me regain some energy only for the rain in Preston and the hills of the Lake District. Then we headed into Scotland, which was much longer and bigger than I thought. We decided to take the scenic route and travel over to Arran and cycle the islands, sticking to the West coast and then finally starting to head North East, followed by the length of Loch Ness.
We had been fairly lucky with the weather, until the last two days when a rare North-Easterly wind appeared. Our 20mph quickly went down to 10mph and the days got longer and harder. The last 300 miles were tough, but the motivation and knowing the goal was in sight got us through it and after 86.3 miles through rain, wind and loads of mist on the last day, we finally arrived at John O’Groats.
So back to work and I am already thinking about my next challenge. I am choosing between a Cambridge to Norwich race in September; a cheeky London to Paris next year, and the ultimate challenge which I might do in 2014 of cycling 3,300 miles across the width of the USA – although this might be better kept a dream rather than reality!
Feel free to read our daily blog and have a look at all the photos.
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/lejoggers/1/tpod.html
And a final thing, as of the 3rd August the six people on this trip have raised a fantastic £21,275.74 for eight charities. Have a look at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/2012lejog for more details.
Thanks,
Lee Albin
Test Analyst / Release Manager
