It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

bluenose1

Fab achievement @cfw1994  Just had a quick look at  https://cycle.travel/map and looks very good, though i am more of a walker/ runner. After a fall off a bike a decade ago think i might be better on a 3 wheeler, wonder if they do them in Ebikes!!!
Love the Hovis photo, remember a girl I worked with got paid a few grand about 10 years ago to use her kitchen for a Hovis ad.

cfw1994

bluenose1 said:

Fab achievement @cfw1994  Just had a quick look at  https://cycle.travel/map and looks very good, though i am more of a walker/ runner. After a fall off a bike a decade ago think i might be better on a 3 wheeler, wonder if they do them in Ebikes!!!
Love the Hovis photo, remember a girl I worked with got paid a few grand about 10 years ago to use her kitchen for a Hovis ad.

Funnily enough, one of the campsites I used was Knights of Stainforth - lovely place - & the fella there had done LEJOG on a trike many years before!   
Both campsites also let me camp for free 'cos I was raising funds for Mountain Rescue, which was kind.  

@Seashell - not sure which Steve Redgrave moment you meant, but I'm way off winning any medals, the speed I bimble along at.   If he nearly conked out, I had a tough day in the Yorkshire Dales - lack of sleep, probably didn't graze enough, & struggled for the last 40 miles!

I am by no means a frequent cyclist (done a few Lon2Bri rides with friends/work over the previous 25 years, and 6 years ago a pal & I did London to Paris - actually a reasonably easy 3 ½ - 4 day ride!) .....but I did do a reasonable bit of practice for this since Christmas: it kind of shows what you can achieve if you want to.  Or are simply too bloody-minded to stop when conditions are ridiculous!
I can see why some people pedal off and keep on going.   Although I'd love a battery for the hills!

Perhaps to lean back on topic....it was nice to see my DC pot rise about 6% during my ~month away from checking.   I should "holiday" more often!   Hoping not to touch that for 6-9 months (some premium bonds to live on until then).  If only we had a crystal ball....

Sea_Shell

@cfw1994

"If anyone sees me go near a boat, you've got my permission to shoot me,”

Was the quote I had in mind.  Just substitute boat for bike!! 😉

ussdave

cfw1994 said:

Sea_Shell said:

Throw runners into the mix and you've now got a 3 speed path.    Runners (inc me) trying to navigate round the dog (and other) walkers, whilst cyclist are trying to navigate round both!

Those extra long extendable dog leads should be banned IMO.      Walker on one side, dog on the other, tripwire spanning the gap!!

Well.....I’m finally home after my PandemicPedal.
19 days cycling, 1,089miles (not the shortest route, but via home, Marsden mountain rescue folk I was raising money for & Edinburgh), avg 57 miles per day, mostly B&B (plus one castle, the amazing Balsporran B&B & even a couple of cheeky nights camping just to add around 4kg extra weight😜). 

I use https://cycle.travel/map to plan my routes (& a Wahoo Roam to then follow it....couple with a Garmin Varia as a radar-car spotting brake light - truly awesome kit!) - it plans *brilliant* quiet routes.   Even through cities like Sheffield, Derby, Edinburgh, kept me on cycle routes & paths.

You can pop your postcode in and just ask for a 10/20/30mile route - try it, you may be surprised what it suggests!

Quite a lot of cycle+walkers+runners along many ‘green trails’ - use of the bell or a cheery bellow meant I had zero incidents of concern, & often some decent banter on the way.  Probably had to slow for dogs a handful of times (over 100hours of pedalling!), never a problem.

Mind you, I’m struggling to walk now, wondering whether to wash the bike or put it on eBay 😂.  

I can see an electric bike in my future - I do realise I *hate* hills, although nothing compared with pushing mine up The Buttress - I lasted about 10 yards pedalling that beast 🤣

Had a dozen pals join me or meet up in evenings along the way, which was fun....but I quite liked the days I had to myself, to be honest.

Weather ranged from those 50mph Cornish winds & pouring rain around the 19th May to some beautiful sunshine through the Yorkshire Dales and even a mostly bright & no-midge Scotland (carried a pointless £4 head-net for that leg!).

Anyway....back to life!  A great decompression from the day job, & seriously, by the end, I could have just kept going......

Fave pic of the journey: Heptonstall.  Like cycling up the Hovis advert:

That's really impressive.  Chapeau

As a keen cyclist (who has sadly not got out much for ~2 years and has lost nearly all fitness) that is something I would love to do a lot of, especially when retired.  The Mrs is not quite so keen sadly.  I can see some similar solo/"with the boys" trips in the future however.

sheslookinhot

Well done cfw1994, looking forward to retirement next year to partake in some long distance cycling. Got caught in headwinds and a continuous downpour on the 21st May cycling the Coast and Castles route.

Haven’t ran since October, so must get motivated.

Nebulous2

Well done CFW. I really need to plan a cycling challenge and commit to dates, to get my training going. Although I stopped work at the end of March I haven't any firm plans. Possibly the North Coast 500 would do. 

cfw1994

Sea_Shell said:

@cfw1994

"If anyone sees me go near a boat, you've got my permission to shoot me,”

Was the quote I had in mind.  Just substitute boat for bike!! 😉

Ha!  I’d forgotten that beauty 😂👍.  Several times *during* the trip (always going up hills!), yes.....but overall: no, I really enjoyed it!  I had the big advantage of it not being a race, other than updating folk to encourage donations!  Sorry this wee tale is derailing things a bit here.....

@ussdave - yes, my missus won’t cycle....makes it tricky really.  Wonder if I could tease her with an electric bike 🤔.  You also need to find pals who cycle at a similar speed: my Scotland portion was with some very good friends: great company, but they were very slow in comparison, even though I only average 10-11mph when moving....meant waiting a lot at the top of hills, or racing on and seeing them hours later somewhere 🐌

@sheslookinhot - my motivation came from making the decision to do it, coupled with raising funds for HVMRT (who had helped our scouts out a few years back....long story!).  Once I was mentally committed and had told a few folk....then I started training with purpose!   

I did have the continuous downpour for much of Cornwall, with swirling winds for added....fun.....but in general, doing LEJOG means you have the prevailing wind behind you....& if there is one thing I hate more than hills, it’s a headwind 😱

@Nebulous2 - the roads on the NC500 were particularly unpleasant for cyclists (well, the Bettyhill to JoG bit, at least).  Just very rough: we felt someone had spray tar down, chucked a load of ‘topping stones’, then let busses and cars gouge bits out.    If you’re thinking 500miles for that.....might as well start in Cornwall and head up, you can take less than my 1,089 miles 🤣


 

vulcanrtb

Sea_Shell said:

 

With the traffic like it is, no thanks.

And this is how the spiral just gets worse. Why parents shuffle their kids in large SUVs for "safety" (safety for their kids, not other road users, natch) to school. And so it gets harder and harder to use the roads unless you're in an armoured car.

Sea_Shell

vulcanrtb said:

Sea_Shell said:

 

With the traffic like it is, no thanks.

And this is how the spiral just gets worse. Why parents shuffle their kids in large SUVs for "safety" (safety for their kids, not other road users, natch) to school. And so it gets harder and harder to use the roads unless you're in an armoured car.

Well, let's not have that debate here.  Thanks.

handful

cfw1994 said:

@ussdave - yes, my missus won’t cycle....makes it tricky really.  Wonder if I could tease her with an electric bike 🤔.  You also need to find pals who cycle at a similar speed: my Scotland portion was with some very good friends: great company, but they were very slow in comparison, even though I only average 10-11mph when moving....meant waiting a lot at the top of hills, or racing on and seeing them hours later somewhere 🐌

If it helps, I am a fairly keen cyclist but my wife really not until fairly recently. We bought her a Boardman hybrid ebike and this gave her the confidence to go out if it was a bit breezy and she was quickly up to 20 mile rides and found herself not using any of the e power. We now go away quite a bit in our motorhome and take bikes with us and she comfortably does 30-40 mile rides with no fear knowing that she won't get "caught out" with a hill she can't cope with. It's got to the stage now that I've also bought an ebike for myself for when we are away because in hillier areas she had to wait for me at the top of the hills! My advice is if you do go down this route, research them thoroughly. Some of the more powerful ebikes are horrible to ride without power. For someone prepared to put in some effort, it's far better to buy a bike with eg a Fazua motor which just provides a push in the back when required but can be ridden with ease when it's flat and not windy.