Jackie remind us again when your trip starts.
cheers
anto.
Hi Anto,
I leave here on the 29th July (2 weeks on Tuesday) on the train up to London, Waterloo. I then have to cycle across London
to Euston station to catch the 9.15pm Caledonian Sleeper to Inverness. I arrive in Inverness at 8.30am on Wednesday morning and have to wait a couple of hours to catch the train up to Thurso, arriving there around 2.30pm. It's then a fairly gentle 20ish mile cycle to John O' Groats where I will set up camp ready to start the ride on Thursday morning. (31st July)
Did a 45 mile ride today loaded up. Was pleased with how it went, in fact the first half of the ride was just a quick as when I have done it with an empty bike. I soon realised why though when I started to turn back towards home and hit the headwind. Needless to say the second half of the ride was not quite so quick. Still managed to climb all the hills though and in fact climbed 1 short but steep hill that I have not managed before. Legs must be getting stronger, but you can certainly feel the loaded bike tiring the legs much quicker than usual. I can keep the mileage down to between 40 and 50 miles on the trip thank goodness. I would not be able to do it if I had to cover 70 to 80 miles every day.
I was lucky enough to be given a voucher to spend in Tri UK which we have a branch in Yeovil, so managed to treat myself to a pair of Assos shorts to try and help the saddle sore situation. Not too bad at the moment it only seems to be a problem if I do over 50 miles or so. Also bought some of the Assos chamois cream whilst I was there too, this feels much nicer than Sudocreme.
Am getting very nervous about the trip now, but excited at the same time. I am worried about not getting everything ready on time as work is horrendously busy at the moment and I have so little time at thome. I will be covering a few more smaller training rides this week and will then rest for the final week before I go to give the muscles a chance to recover.