Sunday 28 February 2010

Going Live

WOW!

We made the decision to go live with our plans yesterday and fired off a round robin e-mail to family and friends. Unfortunately a couple of the e-mail addresses we had were not as up to date as they could have been, but most arrived and the response has been staggering. We are both blown away by all the support we are being offered and the generosity of the donations we have received.

There is still a long way to go before we even leave Cornwall to get to the start line, but we do feel as though we are now taking positive steps in the right direction. With your support that will continue.

A HUGE thank you to everybody who has taken the time to read the blog and support us.

Richard & Joules.

Saturday 27 February 2010

The Tea Party Report


Results from the tea party are now in! Well they have been for a while, we just didn't get round to blogging it!

The day dawned bright & beautiful (thank God) and the final decorations were made to the conservatory - daffodils very kindly donated by Mike Mann of Varfell Farm, added to the ivy round the kitchen door.

Joules had also broken all records completing a rag rug of daffodils in a matter of hours to be sold by silent auction on the day.



A nervous hour was then spent waiting for people to arrive... We don't live in the real world, this is Narnia and people don't just pass, they have to be guided. Fortunately not through a wardrobe, read C.S.Lewis if you're not sure of this - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

But come they did, all of a rush, about thirty in total and our little Cottage did it's Tardis impression and expanded to welcome them all! Copious cups of tea and plates of cakes were consumed and for the late arrivals homemade leek and potato soup was on the Aga.

Like all good things it ended too soon and the money was counted. The total was £300, all raised in three hours. The picture sold for £25 and doggy bags were bought to take home to hubbies who could not attend.

A HUGE thank you to all those who attended and contributed.

Photoshoot


As we are doing the ride to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care (please donate! click on the button to the right) we need to get some publicity so that people know to donate. Friday provided ideal light for a Lord Lichfield moment. Richard did not want to go to Land's End for this - he has never been there and wants the end of the ride to be his first experience of the legendary location. So number 2 son suggested St Michael's Mount as a good backdrop.

On arrival numerous sagaites were well wrapped in their cars supping cups of tea from flasks. No disrespect intended, they were the sensible ones - is was blowing a hooley, and a very cold one at that! The windsurfers were having a whale of a time in the surf off Marazion Beach being photographed by National Geographic.

We definately looked the odd ones out as we carried the bike down onto the beach and then stripped to our warm weather cycle gear - shorts & t-shirt! One photo call was for opposing feet to be bared and displayed (Joules is a chiropodist after all).

Lesson leared - if someone is taking your photo, please ensure they give you notice of when they are pressing the button...

It was difficult to get both of us looking good, but at least the bike looked its best throughout!

Still no news on a back up, and its looking more like the train and unsupported option. This is a shame.

Friday 26 February 2010

Flying Banana Skins!


Oh how Richard wishes this had been a quote from an Adam West Batman episode! The truth is probably far more rediculous, and certainly raised a few laughs (ending in a toilet stop!), but more of that later.

Wednesday came around, and by some miracle found Richard and Joules both having a day off, and the weather looking half decent. A ride was in the offing!

It started as the reverse of Sunday's ride - out to Hayle, through, although this time along St George's Walk, and then out to Gwithian, up onto the North Cliffs, and this time DOWN HILL into Portreath. Not that it was that much quicker as the sharp corner at the bottom with the road lightly dusted with sand meant you have to hang on to the brakes all the way down.

We then broke from sunday's route by heading up over the hill to Porthtowan. We stopped above Porthtowan for a banana and drink stop - have we mentioned before, bananas are rocket fuel for cyclists! So there was this hedge there with a play area the other side, so Richard didn't want to throw the banana skin over, but into the ditch... only it caught on the bramble and stuck, in FULL view. Joules laughed.

For some reason Joules had been suggesting breaking off from the route through Porthtowan for a few miles. Having never been that way, Richard was not sure why...

Heading out of Porthtowan to the North there is a hill. It is STEEP.

One amazing thing happened though. The weather was bright and clear, sun on our shoulders, and to the left was Porthtowan bay as we climbed the hill, with the most amazing waves building to walls of water at least ten feet high and breaking perfectly as they came in. We were captivated by the sight of these waves crashing in one after the other to such an extent that we didn't realise we had almost reached the top of the hill! Maybe Douglas Adams was on to something when he said that if the distraction is great enough, gravity forgets about you for a few seconds!

From there we headed up to St Agnes, we were offered a race by a couple of horse riders, but declined. Tandems may be fast on the flat and down hill, but up hill they can be pretty slow...

We stopped for a cup of tea/coffee in St Agnes. The tea was good, the coffee was average and the scones were burnt. Needless to say we won't be stopping there again no matter how good the proprietor's collection of tea cups is.

While we stopped for our break we heard on the radio in the cafe about a rather bad crash that had closed the A30 near Hayle. This had quite a bearing on our choice of route home so as to avoid the detour. We headed back to Black Water, then Scorrier and into Redruth. By this time it was raining.

We were both wearing water proof tops, so no problems there but the experience has shown that we need some water proof covering for our legs. This may be the time to invest in Rain Legs - sort of waterproof chaps.

Riding through Scorrier, within the space of five minutes three cars undertook us on roundabouts and several vehicles came so close overtaking us we could have had conversations with their occupants. WHY? Give us some room please!

We decided it probably wasn't a good idea to carry on through Pool and Camborne with the diversions off the A30, so we picked up part of Sunday's route again and headed up the hill out of Redruth to Four Lanes and then on to Troon. We had our last Banana stop here.

So, we had set off with four bananas. Two skins had not quite reached hidden positions, the one from the Redruth stop was still with us as there was no where to dispose of it where we stopped. So Richard threw the first one over his shoulder, the thinking being he couldn't do any worse... WRONG - right on the hedge in full view. Cue laughter. As this was our last break, there was another banana skin. Thinking it couldn't be worse Richard decided to throw it over his shoulder again... Watching the reflection in Joules' glasses he thought it was flying quite well... It wasn't. Banana skins don't fly well... It landed in a tree about ten feet up. In perfect view. Richard needed a wee...

While riding up the hill to Four Lanes, Joules had received a call on her mobile from number 2 son asking if we could pick up some samples for a project from the local farm suppliers. Only a slight detour for us, so we headed down the hill from Troon into Praze am Beeble, then off to Carnhell Green to Gwinear Farmers to collect the samples and data sheets. While there Joules' Dad turned up. He was impressed with what we had done so far.

From there it was only five miles home, and we were grateful for that. After a stop of any length it can take a couple of minutes for the legs to start turning properly again. Lesson learnt - keep the breaks short and stop somewhere warm.

So, Richard had not looked at the distance all the way so it really was guess time. Joules hoped fifty miles, but we both suspected not. In fact we had covered 45 miles in 4 hours and 9 minutes, and average of 10.8 miles per hour.

We are both delighted with this!

More to come yet, so stay tuned!

Tuesday 23 February 2010

The Pink Version (Training)

The alarm sounds at about twenty to six, the eyelids refuse to open, hair a mess... Slip cycle shorts over pyjamas, fleecy top, scarf and sometimes a hat (think Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers!) even though I'm cycling in the dark with nobody looking.

Start off in the racing position, but quickly find this uncomfortable as the handlebars on the tandem give me a more upright posture (sounds good, whatever it means). With eyes closed, sitting bolt upright in the dark, my legs start turning the pedals and I drift off to sleep again!

Richard can hear the whirring of the TT from upstairs, good job he can't see me!

Sarah Kennedy is a must as she covers the most bizarre range of topics at this early hour.

If it's daylight I read - I would suggest smaller books - less heavy. I tried a book I started four years ago, but at 979 pages it is not recommended!

Monday 22 February 2010

Paperwork

It's all very well deciding to ride from John O'Groats to Lands End, takes about thirty seconds if there are a couple of you who like cycling together and have maybe enjoyed a nice glass of wine with a meal... You get the picture.

If, several days later, you both still like the idea (or are both too embarrassed to admit to the other that you don't think you can do it), the biggest thought is getting in enough training. Actually this can be the easiest part if you have a turbo trainer you can set up in the garage / conservatory. Provided you have a radio or something to aleviate the boredom you can put in the time on the saddle regardless of the weather out side. When the weather is better you go out for real rides. Easy.

After a couple of weeks you start to look at the logistics. How to get to John O'Groats, what route to take, where to stay, how much is all this going to cost?????

There are basically two options - do everything by yourselves, or have a support team. The latter can be the easiest as you then have transport to JoG, and if they are in a motorhome, or similar, you have all your accommodation sorted too. The alternative requires a bit more organisation.

It looks as though we will be going self supported, so a good few hours have been, and will be spent pouring over maps to design a route, and trawling the internet to find accommodation amongst other things.

Getting to JoG.

Fly or train? It is possible to fly from Exeter to Wick (18 miles from JoG). The tandem will not go on the plane though, so a courrier would be required to deliver the bike, and we'd have to get to Exeter (100+ miles)It would mean setting off and arriving on the same day though. The train takes considerably longer, and initial searches showed it costing considerably more, but a little careful research and it would cost roughly half the price of the flights and leave from Penzance (only ten miles away).

A little more research threw a spanner in the works though. We could take tandem with us on the train, but only as far as Edinburgh. Scotrail DO NOT carry tandems on their trains. Everyone else do, but not Scotrail. So we're back to looking for couriers.

Richard is working out how much he can take the bike apart safely to wrap and pack it to be sure it arrives in good condition. We may end up carrying a fair amount of it with us...

As a tenatative idea, we are looking at the support team method, but we need to find a support team.

We will keep you posted!

First Training Ride

Yesterday was our first opportunity (both not working, weather kindish) to get out on the tandem together to see how we are progressing with the training.

WOW!

Within the first ten minutes Joules was cursing as Richard had selected the route... Having climbed the hill out of the village we went on to the next hill - Nancegollan to Black Rock. A long steep narrow lane - Richard thought he might have bitten off more than he could chew as they passed the turn off for Bodilly...

Having read much advice from cyclists who habitually spend all day in the saddle, regular stops for water and a shared banana (five star super fule to the cyclist) were taken, the first at the top of this rise after about 6 miles.

The ride then took in Porkellis - scene of a slight accident a couple of years ago when we last came this way (the gears jammed & we fell off going up a hill!), with the idea of heading towards Helston & then maybe out towards Porthleven. However a change of route was selected and we headed to Redruth - more uphill.

The second break was taken just before Redruth, both of us feeling remarkably fresh. Another choice of routes on offer - back via Camborne and Praze, or on to the coast?

The coast won it and we headed through Redruth and out to Portreath, a nice shallow downhill for a couple of miles, spoilt by a headwind that had suddenly become very icy, and spots of rain. As anyone who has visited Cornwall will know, every downhill is followed by a climb. The climb out of Portreath is a KILLER. Bottom gear all the way. Richard was ready to stop two thirds of the way up, but Joules encouraged him on (lying through her teeth (it's down hill all the way to Hayle after the next corner)). Joules wasn't entirely wrong, there were some down hill sections riding along the cliff road.

Our third break was at North Cliffs where the Natinal Trust have a small carpark with a fantastic view. Carrying on towards Hayle (up the hill out of Hells Mouth) speculation began about the distance travelled. Richard had the advantage here as he has the bike computer that gives all sorts of information - current speed, average speed for the ride, maximum speed for the ride, ride distance, ride time, total miles ridden and the time. Joules guessed, but did not want to know the total.

After the CLIMB out of Godrevy, we rode down into Hayle, deciding to go through the town and home via Tolroy Hill. Our final banana stop was in Hayle, outside Mr Bees Ice Cream shop (closed unfortunately). Then up hill for another two miles or so as we climbed from Hayle, up through St Erth Praze to Fraddam, then on through Leedstown, the drop into Binnerton & up the other side before rolling down the hill to home.

Joules guessed 30 miles... The actual distance ridden - 35.25 miles!

Even better, Joules did not get cold!

We are both really pleased with this ride - the TT has done it's job (and will continue). On New Years Day we cycled 12 miles on the flat and had had enough (largely due to the cold), what a change! Obviously we have a lot further to go. This is about half the daily distance we will need to cover doing JoGLE, however we covered this in a little over three hours even with the hills. So 70 miles in a whole day? It looks and is starting to feel more possible.

The next big hurdle is doing this sort of ride two days running. When we will get two days together is another question entirely, but watch this space!

Thursday 11 February 2010

Tea Party


As part of the fundraising effort, we are hoasting a Tea Party this Saturday morning. Efforts to prepare are in full swing with a list as long as a piece of paper drawn up.

One of the last jobs on the list will be removing the bike and TT from the conservatory. It's getting quite a bashing at the moment and Joules has been an absolute HERO with her efforts - 30 to 50 minutes every morning at 6am! Richard is lagging behind slightly...

Sunday 7 February 2010

The Official Start of Training!

Having set up the Turbo Trainer with my solo bike, both of us had a session this morning, about 40 minutes each steady cycling after breakfast.

It was killing two birds with one stone really, Joules wanted to know how she would get on early after breakfast, as well as how she was feeling cycling. Positive answers to both we're pleased to report! Tomorrow's session will tell how we are at riding two days running, although we're only talking about short periods yet. It will increase!

The biggest problem with TT is boredom. Staying in the same place all the time. Yes we have a good view of the garden from the conservatory, but the weather was poor this morning so even the birds were taking cover. One solution we are trying at the moment is the radio, so Aled Jones on Radio 2 accompanied us today. It does help, honest!

The plan is to increase the length of the runs on the bike, maybe twice a day when we can, and slowly introduce periods of greater effort. The radio is good for this - you can have the equivalent of a sprint for the length of a song - just don't pick something like Stairway to Heaven!

That's it for now. More progress reports to follow!

Saturday 6 February 2010

The start of Training

Training has offically begun (if only in a very small way).

Richard set up his solo bike on a turbo trainer in the conservatory yesterday. For those who don't know a turbo trainer is a device that supports the rear wheel off the ground so that it is running on a roller. This has a device attached to alter the level of effort required to pedal.

While the evenings are dark, and the weather foul, Richard and Joules are going to encourage one another to spend time on the TT as regularly as possible to give us a head start when we are finally able to get out for real!

Photos to follow.

For the record Richard did about half an hour to check it was all running smoothly before the windows steamed up (even with the sky light open!) & he got bored. Need to put the radio in there!

Fundraising

We have received news of Joules' efforts in Helston!

In two hours (or so) standing in a daffodil covered coat and hat, Joules collected more than £150 from the very generous people of Helston for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Thanks to all those who generously donated.