It's 30th April and D-Day is almost upon us.
Today Jo,Barley and drove over to Land's End.We had set off in beautiful sunshine and to our surprise the nice weather kind of stayed with us all the way.We noticed quite a bit flooding on the way,a sign of how much rain has fallen in the last few days.
Fingers crossed the really bad weather is now something from the past and we'll have some drier and sunnier weather to come.
We stopped briefly in Wadebridge to say hello to Jo's auntie Ann who advised us to take B for a walk onto Harlyn Bay beach.This was only a few miles away and indeed a superb beach to walk your dog.B had the time of his life running around and going in and out of the water.The seawater cleaned him off nicley as he had got himself rather dirty in a stream near Jo's aunt.
We then strolled round Padstow for a little spell before heading to the Cornish Arms in St Merryn.This is one of Rick Stein's 6 or 7 restaurant/bistro/pubs in the area.This pub/bistro was really nice and we enjoyed a delicious seafood(the crab salad was out of this world).The pint of the day was Trelawny,a lovely hoppy and fruite cornish ale.
We then had an hour and a bit to drive to the Lands End Hostel where we arrived just after 8pm.Owner Susie showed us around and we met with a very kind young lady who is doing LEJOG off road and on her own! We also met with an Irish guy who will be on the LEJOG with me tomorrow.
It's lights off now and try to get some sleep before the big day tomorrow!

It's Sunday 29th April and only 2 days to go before LEJOG.The weather is so awful today that I did not go out on the club ride which is a shame as I wanted to say hello to everybody from the club who are supporting and sponsoring me.

Tomorrow Jo,Barley and I will be setting off for Land's End after breakfast.It's a 6 hour journey and hopefully the weather is better in Cornwall so we can have a nice walk on the beach with B.

Thought I put a picture of 'Beau' on the blog so everybody can see what my companion will be for the next 12 days.

Today will be a day of packing and getting everything ready.I never thought my golf travel bag would come in handy but you just need something this size to be able to take enough cycle kit and the other stuff with you.

Just a quick report on the Peterborough 100(miles) which I cycled 4 days ago.It was an early start setting off from the Marriot Hotel in the first group at 7am.I was a bit annoyed with myself as I had forgotten my garmin.This is a lesson for the future to get all your kit ready the night before and not on the (early) morning of the ride itself.
I met up with Clive at Elton who had only just got there 3min earlier and we rode in a gentle pace and mostly uphill towards the first feed station at Gretton.As always with AMR the feed station was full of food goodies and drinks and we enjoyed a lovely cuppa and some cake.After we set off again we were joined by young Tom from the Kettering Cycle Club and after Clive had peeled off at Uppingham to head back to Elton both Tom and I carried on over the hills of Rutland towards Braunston for our 2nd stop.We then headed north of Rutland Water to Blytham Castle for lunch which again was excellent.By now most of the hills had been conquered but we were in for a long stint of 30 miles to Collyweston for our last stop of the day.When we rode into Stamford the heavens opened with rain and hail and we arrived at Collyweston pretty cold and wet.After a nice cup of tea and some flapjacks we set off again for our last 15 miles of the day back to Peterborough.
We got back to the Marriot Hotel round 2.45pm and Tom mentioned his avg on his Garmin was 16mph which considering the circumstances was quite satifying.
All in all it was a good final test before my LEJOG and I will now rest and keep myself wrapped in cotton wool untill 1st May!

It's been a week ago that I rode the first time trial of the 2012 N&DCA season.78 riders from various cycle clubs had shown up and although I came 44th I had done the 19 miles in 51min25sec which was a lot faster than I had anticipated.The winners time was 41min28sec!This is nearly 30mph avg compared to my 22mph.No doubt there is still room for some improvement.
The next day I joined Clive to ride the Quattro,a sportive which goes through 4 counties, when doing the full 100 mile distance.We set off just after 830am in cool but sunny weather and did an extra loop of 10m soon after the start as one of the signs had been tempered with pointing us in the wrong direction. It wasn't a particular challenging sportive but nevertheless a very enjoyable one and after the one and only feedstop we hadded back to the start/finish with a nice tailwind.In the end we rode 59 miles in 3hr40min with an avg of 16mph.
Tomorrow I will ride the last big ride before LEJOG,the Peterborough 100 miles.Clive will be so kind to accompany me for the first 25 miles.

New Strada A23 wheels

Today the eagerly awaited new wheels from Strada arrived. It's a pair of alloy A23 rims with DT Swiss 240 hubs and Sapim CXray spokes. They only weigh 1480 grams and with conti GP 4000S they do look the business. I decided to put a new shimano 105 cassette and a new chain. I changed my Selle d'Italia saddle to a Cobb V Flow max saddle earlier this week which hopefully will come to good use in the up and coming time trials and of course LEJOG. Tomorrow I'll be riding the first TT of the new N&DCA 2012 season. It is a 19m TT and on the Rockingham Forest Wheelers circuit. The following day I'll be riding the Quattro, a 63m sportive near Wellingborough, with Clive. More news on both of these events will follow.

Today Clive and I(and 3000 others) rode the Cheshire Cat in gorgeous sunny and warm      (19-20degr) weather. After a hearty breakfast in Clive's VW campervan we set off from Crewe Football Stadium around 9.30am.We took it very easy for the first 15 miles untill we reached the foot of Mow Cop.We both managed to conquer this beast of a climb with an avg gradient of 11% and a 100yd ramp of 25% towards the end.To say that we were both elated after reaching the top was un understatement.After a brief pause and photo's we then scaled another 3 tough climbs when we reached the halfway point.The 2nd half was downhill and flattish and we improved our daily avg to 14.3mph. After the finish we collected our mow cop killer mile medals and celebrated our achievements of the day with a 'cool' beer and a nice cuppa in the campervan.We decided that next year we will give the Kilo To Go 'Cornwall Tor' a go.Next ride:The Quattro on 15th April.

Great news! The stone in my ureter has miraculously disappeared on CT scan and they have called off the operation.Woohoo! There is a small,3mm,stone in my R kidney but that is too small to bother me.Advice from the urologist is to drink more(2.5liters/day),eat less salt and drink some lemon or orange juice each day.
So back to training and cycling again and out this morning on the Gaulby-Saddington Reservoir circuit.Blasted home in1hr10min(avg 16.3mph) with 2 KOM's(Pitt Hill and Carlton Road Ascent) on STRAVA on the way! Also bettered my times on the Fleckney Station Road Ascent,Heart Attack Hill,Carlton Curlieu Hill and Gaulby Hill.
The Cheshire Cat is in 2 weeks. Bring it on!