There are now four days until I start the Deloitte Ride Across Britain from Land’s End to John O’Groats, a ride of 982 miles over nine days, with just under 52,000 feet of climbing (I think I’ll have to find the extra 18 miles somewhere to take it up to 1,000 miles!). The ride will take me from the the most westerly point in Great Britain to the most northerly point (on the mainland), travelling through three countries and 23 counties. Here is the the whole route (thank you Threshold Sports for the reproduction permission) and a link to a short promotional video (again “Thank you” to Threshold Sports) for the ride here (turn the sound down if you are looking at the video in an office!). It’s too late to enter now but there’s always 2019, the tenth anniversary year of the ride!
The first two days are meant to be the toughest as they involve a high cumulative effort of climbing between them. Day 1 involves over 8,200 feet of climbing which is the highest daily total of the whole nine days, closely followed by 6,850 feet on Day 2. Only Day 7 in Scotland gets close to Day 1 with 7,333 feet of climbing going up to the Glenshee Ski Station and it isn’t even the longest day – it happens to be Day 8 with the infamous “The Lecht” climb which, based on the ride Facebook page comments, is giving lots of the Deloitte Ride Across Britain participants the collywobbles!
I’m looking forward to the days riding in Scotland, particularly if we get some dry weather and we are able to take in the scenery. I’m slightly worried about the midges – at least they will encourage no hanging around!
I now have one more indoor training session to go on Wednesday which will bring to the end over ten months of specific training for the ride. In some respects I can’t wait to start the ride. There is a mixture of excitement and trepidation at what lies ahead; have I done enough training? can I keep going over nine days? how will I cope if there is lots of heavy rain? On the other hand, as I said in my previous post, I don’t think I could have done much more to prepare physically for the ride. I’m pretty sure I will be OK – I will not be the quickest (it’s not a race after all) and I shouldn’t be last either!
The bike is all clean and packed up ready for its collection on Thursday morning. I’ve got all my gear together and just need to pack a last few items after triple checking the suggested kit list against what’s gone into the bag! Another recurring theme of the event is the weight limit on the bags. I decided to de-stress by paying for some extra weight allowance – much better for the overall health and wellbeing ! I can also take a few energy bars that I’ve been using for training – a different brand from one of the ride sponsors.
I’m going to try and continue this blog after each day of the ride. The length and quality of the writing may depend on the energy levels each day – there could be a very short entry after a very bad day …
On the sponsorship front I’m very close to my new target of £4,000 in support of Dementia UK and there is still time to sponsor me to increase the total further. Do contact Dementia UK on their support line if you need advice or support for a loved one with dementia.
If you would like to sponsor me, you can reach my Virgin Money Giving page here It is very quick and easy to donate and every donation, however large or small, is greatly appreciated. Go on, click on the link !
Riding from Pasties to Haggis 