Cycling Lands End John O'Groats

[justdan]

just wondering if any of you guys have done this ?
me and the family were at john ogroats at the weekend , in the cafe there is a book of peoples storys as to why they are doing the epic journey or who they are doing it for .
which got me thinking and when i think it gts dangerous. when my daughter was sborn she was in specail baby care unit at dundee ninewells hospital due to her have unxplained siezures ! they were amazing , my gran is very porrly with cancer and is under the care of st johns hospice at clatterbridge hospital on the wirral

im guessing you can see were im going with this !!!! , im my life i have so many good reasons to do " end to end " on my trusty mountain bike !!!! for the people that have and are helping my family in pritty rubbish times
i plan to start training for this from now , im thinking its going to take me atleast 12 months to get fighting fit , so if any of you guys are mad fitness freaks and can give me some tips , that would be mucho greatfull ........

i will update how my preparation is going , its very very early days infact its that early iv not told the wife yet , im sure she will roll her eyes and say " yes dear "

[westo123]

Wow, I have always wanted to do the end to end, but no where near dedicated enough. Good on you, no tips but good luck with it. Keep us informed on your progress and perhaps we can do some sort of frontera support thing, or a row of frontys at the end!

[danp2668]

Check out this link. They are a group of lads off my team who started the ride on saturday. 8 months training and prep and stuff, and have been blogging about it throughout. Doing it for a good cause too.......

http://castle-wheelers.blogspot.com/

[justdan]

cheer for link , will have a read of that later
iv always wanted to do somethin and reading that book in john ogroats and all the peolpe doing it for so many diff reasons makes ya think......

[fishingmad]

Great idea,huge kudos to you for considering it!!!! I lost my wife to cancer in 2009,if you need any help,moral support,anything at all,just give me a shout and if I can help out I will.All the best,........................

[justdan]

cheers fishingmad and huge man hug your way.............

going to hit the wife the news when she finishes work.........lol...

[Rifleman]

Geez a shout if you need a Frontera and driver as a safety car.

[justdan]

well yet again you guys amaze me ....... always a helping if needed , and im sure when i do this i will with out dout be needing it lol

[gregster]

Give Mapracing a shout on here...
in the year or so I have known him, he has gone from a rather lardy crasher of motobikes...to a lean mean peddling machine!
Paul did the london to brighton the other day, and his first 50 odd mile race last weekend.

He's even tried to convert me,
cos I need to loose a few hundred weight,
donating me one of his old bikes so I can experience saddle sore through lycra...

All round top fella our Paul is, and deffo will be able to recommend a training system that works, he is true testiment to it.

[oggy30]

Good on you Dan, all the best with it.Only advice i can offer is get out as often as you can on yer bike.Sounds obvious i know but i used to run for miles then tried cycling thinking i would p*** it and my legs were like jelly.

[Big Dav]

Great idea and hope it comes to fruition. Invest in a good saddle.

(Rumour has it going from John O'Groats to Lands End is easier than going Lands End to John O'Groats - something about it being downhill??)

[justdan]

[Big Dav]

Pick the time of year carefully - try to head in the direction of decent weather towards the end.
Scotland's usually good in spring but can be cold, miserable, wet and generally yuk in autumn.

Allow for an average speed of about 12 miles per hour - that should be comfortable, anything quicker, so long as you are not pushing yourself, would be a bonus.

I know of a couple who did the JO'G to LE route a number of years ago, I believe they are still keen cyclists - can quiz them for you when I see them next.

[justdan]

top class cheers bigdav ....... any advice from anybody is always helpful .......

[Big Dav]

Justdan, do you already have a bike or are you going to get one?

[justdan]

yer i got my cross counrty bike im planning on using ! she is light enought and me and her have known each other a few year s lol .... the aadvice realy is on the fitness side , iv done some 30 mile rides etc but never any were near 870 mile lo l

id worry doing that distance in my car lol never imnd a bike

[Big Dav]

As long as the scenery is changing it will be easier on the mind - half the battle. I will leave the fitness regime to the gym goers.

[justdan]

The missus has been told and has said she'll do it with me...

Turns out we're both nuts!!

[mapracing]

[quote="justdan"]yer i got my cross counrty bike im planning on using ! she is light enought and me and her have known each other a few year s lol .... the aadvice realy is on the fitness side , iv done some 30 mile rides etc but never any were near 870 mile lo l

Hi Dan
if i was you i would try and spend as much time in the saddle as possible. Also set yourself a time that you would be capable of doing it in. i would of thought about 6 days. before you do it you should be capable of doing about 100 miles in a day and then be able to ride 50 the next day just to see how you feel whilst training. i would only do it on a hybrid or road bike as gears on a mountain bike arn't designed for road use.
all the best paul.

[justdan]

cheers for advice paul .......

we are thinking 14 days , i no from what iv read so far people are doing it in 6-9 days but i think i will air on the side of caution
i hoped on my pals road bike today and after spending money years on my cross country bike im going to have to stick with her , its going to put more time on the ride but in the same breath i no her insideout
iv raced downhill for a few years , was tempted to do it on my downhill bike lol lol , it would take me years