The Big Day Approaches

Well, we've ordered the food and drink from SIS and Powerbar to ensure we can keep going on the bikes, we've pestered people for sponsorship, we've plotted the route and directions, we've bought (some) new kit, we've cleaned the bikes, and we've packed - well, nearly - the car is being hoovered out as I type!

We head off from Hereford at 13:30 to get to Bristol to pick up Ian, then on to Yeovil to say cheerio to my Grandad and Nanny before we plot our route down to Plymouth to catch the Britanny Ferries ferry to Roscoff.

The Tour proper has just left Brest and in 2 days, so will we have! It's all very exciting now and the terror of last week has been overtaken by nervous excitement and a desire to get going. I'm pretty sure Ian is the same.

After over 8 months of training, we're finally ready. It's been a long journey - over 8,000 miles all in for the two of us, so I think we're fully prepared and trained up.

A massive thank you to everybody that has sponsored us - we now have over £3,100 pledged - that's nearly £1 per kilometre so we shall be counting them off as we go. It would be great to reach £1/mile so tell all your friends about the two crazy guys you know and what they're up to this summer!

Anyway - until we next find an internet connection, that's it from me.

Fingers, toes, eyes and legs crossed - and keep an eye on the telly - we shall be trying to get an honourable mention on ITV4!

Matt

Get Ready...Get Set...

Well folks, the time has come. We've cycled over 8000 miles between us over the last 6 months, come rain or shine. We have got up early at weekends when most sensible people are enjoying their nice warm beds. We have driven thousands of miles getting to events all over the country. We have ridden some of the most picturesque roads in the country. We have crashed and have the scars to prove it. We have trashed our bikes, one of mine reached the point of no return and ended up in a skip! And to top it all off we have shaved our legs. I remember as juniors when we used to race bikes, we were the odd ones out becasue we refused to do it. Now we can see scars and blemishes that have been hidden under hair for 15 years! Its an odd sensation but I feel its a chance to put the myth to rest. Cyclists do not shave their legs for aerodynamics. Its simply that when you come off at high speed, hairs have a horrible habit of getting caught in the tarmac and ripping off large chunks of flesh. Also it makes massage much easier and you use considerably less sun cream. It is a little disconcerting though when your smooth legs rub together in bed and you realise that they belong to you!!

We are setting off for Plymouth on Saturday and will be getting the night ferry across the channel to Roscoff to arrive Sunday morning. By this time the pros will have completed stage 1: 198km from Brest to Plumelec. We will start on Monday two days behind them. For as long as I can remember, the first stage has always been a prologue timetrial of about 7km and this decides who will wear the famous yellow jersey (maillot jaune) on the next day's stage. Typically, the year we decide to ride the Tour, the first stage is a fully blown undulating long stage! What a warm up!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for supporting us and encouraging us over the past few months since we decided to do this. What started off as a fun idea has developed into a massive undertaking. The amount of training and organisation involved has been immense. In fact I think the organisation has outweighed the training! Booking accommodation, travel, car hire, plotting the routes, contacting companies for support, contacting media to help to get the message across. It really has all come together and we have been lucky to have such understanding friends and family to support us. So a big thank you to everybody!

Chris and Paula (Matt's parents) will be driving us down to Plymouth and to the start in Brest and will accompany us for the first eight stages down to Toulouse. Chris is planning to ride a stage with us too on his birthday (12th July). My very understanding girlfriend, Kate and her friend Kate (go Team Kate!!) will officially take over from here but will be joining us a couple of stages earlier. They will watch the pros come in to Toulouse and see how the best cyclists in the world do it(!) before they come and help us. My parents, Liz and Peter, will meet us in Foix ready to take over support on Stage 12 and will continue to support us right till the end in Paris on 29th July and then transport our equipment back to England. Without all this support, riding something of this magnitude would be almost impossible, certainly on the schedule we have set ourselves. Indeed, there is 1000km of transfer between stages and the thought of carrying our kit in panniers up those mountains beggars belief!

Thank you also to Ned and Nat at the Portcullis pub in Clifton (my local!) for putting up the article about our challenge in the pub. I will need a beer when I get back!

Please send words of encouragement while we are out there. We plan to update the blog regularly as we progress around the 3500km (2200 miles) route. We are going to suffer at times (most of the time!) and it really helps to have kind words of encouragement to get us through those days. We are not just doing this for ourselves. We really want to raise as much money as we can for CLIC Sargent and MacMillan and the kind donations we have received so far have really motivated us in our training. So far we have raised over £3000 and we haven't even started the ride yet.

So that's it. Next time you hear from us we will be in France so keep an eye on this blog and follow us on Le Tour.

All the best

Brecon Reservoirs 102km

Firstly, some more interest in our tour from the media. We have been contacted this week by the Daily Record, a Scottish national paper, and the Evesham, Cotswold and Tewkesbury Observer. Hopefully this will spread the word a bit more.

Saturday was supposed to be the local Avon Cycleway 130km for me but on rising at 7am the weather looked less than settled and set to be a bad day. I decided to give this ride a miss, seeing as I was going to ride the next day, but I regretted this because it turned out to be a dry day.

Sunday required a reasonably early rise of 6.30am to drive to Merthyr Tydfil for the Brecon Reservoirs 102km audax, spurred on by Chris' excellent 6.5 hours for his 100 mile Iron Mountain Sportive the day before. Driving down the M4, spots on my windscreen made me wonder whether I'd chosen the right day to cycle but it was good to see the friendly faces of the orgnaisers at the start who recognised my from the Dic Penderyn 100 a couple of months ago which I rode with Chris and Dave.

Heading out towards the first checkpoint at Trefechan I realised it was going to be hard going with the wind. In fact I heard later that trees had been blown down across the country. I pushed on with two riders, who found the pace heavy going and fell off the back after Llandew. This left me to cycle on my own to the control at Sennybridge (56km). As I was about to set off again, the next chap turned up so I set off again with him. I dropped him after 8km up a really long drag from Crai, straight into a headwind. Turning off towards Heol Senni, I recognised roads from the Dic Penderyn which took me over the Devil's Staircase. The slightly uphill road leading to it was a real struggle against a direct headwind, slowing me to 6mph but I persevered over the top. On through Penderyn and some long hills and on to the finish at Merthyr rugby club. The organisers weren't expecting anybody back this early and weren't at the finish so I had to ring them to come and meet me! The next guy came in 15 minutes after me.

I completed this 64 mile ride in a total time of 4hrs 25 minutes, an hour faster than the Dic Penderyn and averaged 15mph which I was pleased with in the wind. A tough, testing ride in beautiful scenery.

Tewkesbury 100km and Cotswold Expedition 202km

Apologies for the delay in updating. As the Tour draws closer, much time has been spent tying up loose ends. We are almost sorted now for accommodation. Ferries and flights have been booked. Van hire has been looked into and we are finalising our nutrional requirements so that we can order in supplements for the big event. Little things like insurance and european breakdown cover for support vehicles is all under control. Amongst all this, I have been maintaining my weekend rides, keeping the intensity and volume down now for the lead up to France.

On Saturday 7th I met up with Matt and Chris in Tewkesbury to ride the Tewkesbury 100km event (actually 110km by the time we had taking a slightly "alternative" route!) An excellent scenic and lumpy route drawing a large number of riders. The Bristol organised events always seem to be well subscribed. The route covered a lot of familiar roads for me (having ridden a lot of Cotswold events). The route headed out towards Bishops Cleeve, Gotherington, Didbrook and a long grind of an ascent towards Stow. The photo shows Matt cruising up this hill. A quick stamp at the Broadway tower and we carried on to a fast descent on the A44, turning off soon onto a hidden and rough cyclepath, the cyclists ahead of us missing it and luckily hearing our yells for them to stop, otherwise they would have had a long hill to climb back up! Through Chidswickham, Aston Somerville and Dumbleton to a very nice control and cafe at Beckford Silk. Three Cheese and Ham toasties here for lunch. Matt by now suffering with hayfever. Pushing on we went slightly off course at Wadborough adding a couple of miles but made the garden centre control near Norton Barracks in good time, with only a tandem ahead of us. After spending a good 15 minutes looking for the conroller to stamp our cards we gave up and got till receipts to prove we had been there and headed back to Tewkesbury via Kinnersly and Dunstall Common. At one point we got overtaken by a truck carrying cut grass which did nothing to improve Matts hayfever! All in all a great ride with the three of us riding together again. 70 miles at 16.4mph average.

This weekend gone, I travelled up to Wythall South Birmingham for the Cotswold Expedition 202km audax. The 200, 150 and two 100km events drew a crowd of 350 riders, the most popular audax I've ever ridden. Obviously some very good riders and expensive bikes on this. Heading out to Ullenhall I joined up with a guy called Francis from near Basingstoke, Hampshire. We got on well and seemed to be going at a similar speed so stuck together. It turned out he had never ridden more than 100 miles so I wondered how he'd fair over a hot 125 miles. Pushing on through Aston Cantlow and Binton the first control was again at the Broadway Tower, a little more popular this time. From here we cycled along some of the same roads from last week near Ford and Snowshill. Around Salperton we were caught by a large group of Solihull CC riders, average age I would say about 65 years. These guys were phenomenal. The guy at the front, who looked over 70 and had been racing the day before, was powering up hills on his big chainring. We stuck with them till the next halfway control at Burford but I knew I'd never keep the pace up. I didn't know what speed we were doing as my computer wasn't working but it was fast over the Cotswold hills, heading through places such as Kineton, Hazleton, Sherborne and Windrush.

At Burford, Francis and myself continued on with a chap from Cambridge I had ridden with on the Meriden audax a few weeks ago. The Solihull lads stopped for a bite to eat in Burford. We were fine through Swinbrook, Kingham,and Bruern (though feeling the effects of the last few fast miles) but got lost around Whichford. After doing a bit of a loop a lady kindly produced a map from her house and we found are way from Whichford to Sibford Ferris and from there to the next control at the George & dragon pub in Burford. A large Coke and a tuna mayonnaise sandwich went down well here. As we were eating this the Solihull boys arrived and carried on. One of them had obviously had a nasty crash and was covered in blood. The three of us pushed on for the last 38 mile section through Walton, Hampton Lucy, Lowsonford and Tamworth. After pushing along a good pace, I started to suffer in the last few kilometers but finished in a total time of 8 and a half hours. Francis did a brilliant ride.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking to the children at Rangeworthy CofE primary school where Kate's mother Jane is head mistress. I spoke to the school about our Tour and the children were really interested and it was really nice to be able to talk about our challenge. Its hard to get across to 5-10 year olds the magnitude of what we are taking on but the idea of 2 and half times the distance of Lands End to John O'Groats is a scary thought! A few were especially interested how I would be able to go to the loo if I was cycling for 2200 miles!! Only two and a half weeks to go now!

Three mixed weekends

Well I've missed updating a couple of rides on here which is a bit of an oversight. Now that the old work-life balance is being restored I have more time to get my thoughts down on paper!

The Tour route has finally been fully disclosed on the Tour website and we are in the process of mapping it all out so we don't get lost! It's all getting a little close now!

After my last update I've managed a pretty poor 320 miles in 3 weekends.

On 17th May I headed out East to do an extension onto a ride I'd done back in February heading to Linlithgow, Livingston and then South towards Biggar and home via Abington (a service station next to the motorway) and then a rapid route back north. The main reason for doing this route was to heads through the strangely named village of Quothquan (according to Wikipedia: "The name is derived from Gaelic and translates as The Common.") - so now you know (and so do I as I only just looked it up!)

I didn't feel too good on the ride and my heart rate was a bit high (probably due to a touch too much booze the night before), but I felt strong once I'd blown the cobwebs away and managed a 16.3 average for the 123.5 miles with two blowouts thrown into the bargain and having to ride the last 15 miles out of the saddle (very sore legs!!)

In the next week I managed a short ride from Melrose (half of which was with the rear wheel rubbing on the chainstay). I do this unintentionally, mainly because I'm totally stupid, but it does help with resistance training. It's so much easier without the rubbing!

Anyway, that following weekend I didn't get out as the wind was blowing a hoolie and I really didn't fancy it - naughty.

I had a good'un this weekend though, managing 53 miles on Saturday morning in the blistering heat before heading through to Edinburgh where James (my old flatmate) and I had been invited for the Edinburgh Office work ball. Thank you to Gillian and Ellie for entertaining us that evening and apologies for my early exit.

I left early you see, as I had a ride starting at 9:00am 20 miles South of Glasgow. This meant leaving at 7:30am and hence getting up at 6:30 - urghhh

The ride was one I had been meaning to cover for quite some time - down to the highest village in Scotland (Wanlockhead) and back. This was going to be about 115 miles on roads which I mostly knew - so was looking forward to it. I hadn't ridden the climb to Wanlockhead in over 10 years since Andy Kitchen and I rode it while completing the Land's End-John O'Groats in April 1998.

A total of 43 entrants set off and as I was warmed up already I found myself at the front unutil the rode sloped upwards and I slowed to keep the old heart rate down. This folks had 40miles less than me to do, remember! I found myself in the middle of the pack then after about 5 miles before a guy about 50 metres in front had a massive blowout and crashed badly. Three of us stopped to help him up, get him and his bike to safety and make sure he was going to be OK. He ushered us on our way and so, with everyuone having passed us we found ourselves at the back of the pack.

I plodded on by myself picking up the odd person here and there and only stopping for a stamp at the first check before heading on. A long climb towards Crawfordjohn from Glespin followed and then down a long valley descent to Sanquhar where I stopped for a quick refuel to tackle the brutal headwind up the steep V-shaped valley to Wanlockhead. This was a 6 mile climb rising about 350 metres. The wind really made this a struggle and I was not enjoying myself as my strength was fading and I was being passed left, right and centre.

I made it to the lunch stop gladly however and had a very pleasant soup and an Irn Bru. A big group of about 25-30 shortly packed up to leave and I tagged on to the back. The stop and the food had done the power of good and I found myself near the front of the group following a sharp climb. As others' legs were getting significantly weaker due to a lack of distance, mine were staying the same or getting stronger and I was enjoying myself, powering up hills. However, this is whe nthe rain started. 40-45 miles from home it started to rain - good Scottish rain - which comes from nowehere and doesn't stop. It was miserable. It was cold. It was windy. I was grumpy. I was sleepy. I was not Happy.

I arrived into the finish at Strathaven Scout Hut with a large group from the East Kilbride Road Club, grabbed a quick bite, topped up the water bottle and bade them adieu as I trudged the last 20 miles home on me lonesome. Not pleasant.

Overall, a good training ride, though one of the least enjoyable. Off down South this weekend to see my Grandad - who in his day was a very keen cyclist himself, riding around most of the coast of the UK in his holidays, and frequently riding to watch Yeovil FC play away games as far away as 100 miles. And he didn't look nearly as silly as me as they hadn't invented Lycra back then! The craziness runs in the family you see!

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct 175km

After a wet weekend where not much was done cycling-wise I made up for it this week with three training rides.

Thursday I headed out with Dad from Portishead and we negotiated our way across the Avonmouth bridge by way of the cycle path and headed across the old Severn bridge into Wales. A gorgeous day in the Welsh lanes through Caldicot to Caer-went and then back through Shirenewton and across the bridge back to bristol. 60 miles.

Saturday necessitated me dragging myself out of bed at 3.45am to drive 3 hours to Snowdonia for the start of the Pontcycyllte Aqueduct 175m Audax. After initially questioning why I do these things and driving extremely cautiously through thick fog, the weather improved dramatically along the M5. Unfortunately, part of it was closed due to a bad accident a couple of hours earlier so I cut across country. In fact I made good time and got to the start half an hour early.
This ride has to be one of the most beautiful rides I have done. Starting out past the aqueduct and across the A5 it headed straight up an 18% hill (Methodist Hill) before heading up a long drag over the North Wales Hills. Dropping down near Berwyn and across the river Dee the route then headed up the long and spectacular Horeshoe Pass. A section of this was reportedly 20% though I didn't think this was the case. Maybe I'm just getting strong on the hills. I rode most of the way with a couple of lads, Julian from Worcestershire and Phil who was local. Obviously very strong riders as I really struggled to hold them on the 4 long climbs of the day.

I made the mistake of heading out to fast on this ride and in the hot conditions I suffered and found myself riding on my own through Corwen and soon after that it all went wrong! I took the wrong left turn and instead of a nice descent towards Llangollen for the last climb up the Panorama pass and home, I went over something very hilly and down the other side and found myself on the Chester-Corwen road, obviously off-course. Carrying along here I reached a roundabout which was the one I crossed earlier on the fast descent off the Horsehoe Pass! So there was no alternative but to ride back over the Horseshoe Pass in reverse. Luckily this way is a shorter climb but steeper. I stopped for a bite to eat and a Coke at the top absolutely drenched with sweat before enjoying the long descent to Llangollen.

Back over the Panorama Pass, where I was in bottom gear and really suffering, as well as having to negotiate sheep, I headed back to the finish. The finish was at a community centre a little way from the start and I knew there was a long climb back up to the carpark where I was parked. Luckily, as an alternative, I was able to walk across the aqueduct and enjoy really spectacular views.

A great ride resulting in 113 hilly miles. I would have done it under 8 hours if I hadn't gone wrong and this is a respectable time which they suggest people planning to do the Etape du Tour should aim for.

Rather than driving 3 hours back to Bristol, I drove back to stay over with Chris and Paula (Matt's parents) in Hereforshire. On Sunday Chris and myself got out for a good 48 mile ride around the Herefordshire lanes and did part of the Iron Mountain Sportive route which Chris is going to do in June. This was a really nice, lumpy ride but I really felt my legs after the day before. We averaged 15.7mph.

So, overall, 220 miles in the week. Saturday really proves you need to pace yourself and especially in high temperatures. Something we really need to be aware of in France!

Cotswold Challenge 160km Randonee and The 28th Stonehenge 200km

A busy weekend. After getting on well with the "new" bike last weekend I thought it was time to test it out of some long distances. So sliced up Coke can wedged between the saddle pin and seat tube to act as a shim to stop the saddle slipping down again, I was ready to test it out.

Up at 5am on Saturday for the drive up to Meriden near Coventry for the start of the Cotswold Challenge 160mk (100 miles). The forecast was poor, depressingly as the week had been gorgeous. Highs of 12C and heavy showers.

From the start I rode to the front and rode with a friendly chap from West Bromwich who, it turned out, had ridden a couple of 24 hour time trials in his time. This is literally as it sounds: ride as far as you can in 24 hours ie through darkness non-stop. Having completed a 12 hour myself a few years I can't say the idea appeals to me! A gorgeous lumpy ride to the first control at Hapton Lucy and then on to Ilmington and Chipping Campden. Unfortunately the route sheet was a little ambiguous here and I went off course, the brummy chap having stopped for mechanical problems. Back on course after a 3 mile detour I overtook a group of riders who had previously been behind me and I continued to the next control at Batsford Arboretum after a 1km descent down a muddy track, praying that my tyres would cope with the off-road. Luckily they did nd I joined up with a group of four riders. Not bothering to stop, I continued with this group dropping 2 riders.

On through Moreton-in-Marsh, Todenham and Great and Little Wolford I cycled with a local chap called Stephen and another rider on a very expensive looking carbon-fibre Bianchi bike. In Brailes, Stephen persuaded me to stop at a bakery and I scoffed a Goats cheese and leek flan and absolutely gorgeous almond coissant! Refueled we carried on to climb up to Edgehill and up through Burton Dassett Country Park. At the next control at Harbury we found we were only just behind the the guy who carried on at the bakery and the West Bromwich chap from earlier. He seemed to be in a rush and as we sat down for a drink he upped and left to push on for the finish. There were a lot of riders at this control because there was a 100km event going on at the same time.

Pushing on from this control we overtook a large number of 100km riders and right at the finsih caught the guy from West Bromwich. We had averaged 16.4mph over this hilly 100 mile route. I have to admit when we saw the guy up ahead towards the finish I initiated the chase, which was a little foolish as I was supposed to be pacing myself for the next day's ride. Thanks Stephen for the company and also for your kind sponsorship! We never did see the guy on the Bianchi again and he hadn't got to the finish before us.

A 4.30 am rise on Sunday to drive to Elstead, Surrey for the West Surrey Stonehenge 200km (28th anniversary). I have ridden this 125 mile route several times and on a good day it is one of the most picturesque rides I know. The forecast was execellent and the sun was coming out as I drove the monotonous M4.

At the start it was a shame only to see a couple of faces I know: Jeff banks and Clive Richardson. I originally planned to ride with Clive but I got separated from him at the start and found myself cycling on my own through Farnham and out to Well/Long Sutton. here, a three-man group including Jeff Ellingham (whom I had ridden with before) overtook me so I got on the back of this group and we set a cracking pace out to the first control at Overton of 17.5mph average. I paid for my efforts soon after and found myself struggling to keep up with them through Upton and dropped off the back. My heart rate would not lift above 150bpm no matter what I did so I decided to take it steady and hopefully catch them in Amesbury at the lunch stop. I got myself back together with plenty of energy bars and drink and felt good as I cycled past Tidworth oval to Amesbury. The route had changed from when I last did it. You used to go along the A303 past Stonehenge but this was no longer the case and you don't get to see Stonehenge any more.

A large lunch at the fantastic Friar Tuck Cafe in Amesbury and I continued with the group who had dropped me. Feeling much better I pushed on with Jeff and the other two (Chris and Mike) and dropped Chris up a big hill near Porton. Mike dropped back too and caught up with us again a little later. My three-man group pushed on at a great pace along the gorgeous, undulating Hampshire lanes to the next control at the Midhants Railway (Watercress line) station at Alresford. By now the wind had really picked up and we were overtaking riders who were doing the 150km and 100km rides. After the last hill 25km through Ropley, Farringdon and West and East Worldham, we reached the finish in 8hours 12 minutes (easily the fastest time I'd done round this route). Jeff told me he'd once done it in 7 and a half hours. We had averaged 16.7mph which I was very pleased with considering the 100 miler I'd done the day previously. Good to see old cycling buddies Geoff Smith, Rico and Chris Jeggo at the finish.

Overall, a solid weekend. 225 hilly miles at over 16.5mph average. (And the saddle didn't slip down this time!!)