Planning and more planning

Without wanting to give too much away, I have spent a good deal of time with my head in road maps and google earth during the last week.

There is a great deal to think about before the event even begins and deciding how much to pre-plan I guess will be determined by your budget and how much time you have to complete the challenge.

So this week I have booked hotels in London for the pre-race briefing. programmed for the evening of the 7th August in 'Look Mum No Hands' http://www.lookmumnohands.com/

I've booked ferry tickets to Dieppe, (pronounced sort of deep apparently,) paid for extreme sport insurance, purchased train tickets to London and even acquired some Euros and other far flung currencies......So Dieppe huh. Why that way and not Calais?

There will be riders with years on me who will speed like the hare to Dover and squeeze in an hour or two of sleep before zipping off toward Paris. That's approximately 80 miles followed by a brief rest, followed by 170 odd miles to get to Paris and the first check point, the Auberge Reveil Matin in Montgeron.

The location chosen because of its historical significance, being the starting point of the first Tour de France, it is now a cabaret bar by all accounts. There is at least some reference to its past outside on the roundabout.

So, that's 250 miles with a tea break....or I can take a leisurely amble to Newhaven covering 70 miles in 15 hours before the ferry leaves, have a good sleep and refuel in the 5 hour crossing and then cycle 135 miles to Montgeron. The Calais crowd will have to rest up at some point, so I figure that the tortoise can just do some catching up later in the day.

Suffolk

So this is Suffolk! For the fourth weekend in a row, I have headed out toward the east coast. Since I had seen my Dad yesterday with little Sam in tow, I chose to extend my southerly trajectory beyond Blythburgh and Westleton picking up some of the county's other known landmarks. Snape Maltings for example and toward the tide mill in Woodbridge..but not before meeting these guys!

Now Mike Hall the organiser of this transcontinental race, has suggested that one might earn the title of Lord or Lady Badass for completing this race. Well this must be some previous challenger from a bygone era, when it was just fine to stop you by the roadside with a polite 'Sponsor me Mr!' while he stuck his Magnum in your ear. Well see here, I can't do that, but he does have a point.

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I should look this artist up. If anyone knows anything about him/her please let me know so that I can spread the word. And just in case you were thinking about walking away from this guy, keep your eye out for his chum. I figure he's waiting to turn you into a fish or summut if your charity ain't that forthcomin'. Those being fish and eels in his cold steel hands.

Seriously if anyone knows anything about these guys though, please do let me know through the comments or by e-mail or facebook

So for the week in addition to the mile in the pool, I found time for an evening 35, Sunday's 60 and yesterday's 85. 

Realities

It's been a while. 

 The realities of full-time work at nights and weekends, looking after the kids during the day and planning and training for a 2000 mile race are beginning to bite. For the first time in weeks I have sat down on the sofa with a beer. I have been avoiding alcohol for the last 3 months as I work up toward the start of the race in early August, but to be fair I'm not sure I need to be that zealous.

Since the 200 mile ride, that is now 2 weeks past, I have found little time for the road which is frustrating, but I did get out in the morning and the evening on one day last week and snuck in 50 odd and also a trip to the pool. After the latter, I couldn't or wouldn't acknowledge that I was struggling to fill my lungs.

The next evening I took 20mg a soluble prednisolone left over from my sons bronchiolitis last winter and felt as though someone had just given me a new pair of lungs. Whether I wanted to admit it or not it seemed that hayfever asthma, as it is now termed, had just drafted it's newest recruit.

A visit to my GP confirmed the diagnosis and I can but hope that by August, I will have this under control. It is certainly better than it was. I slipped out for 20 miles of night time riding yesterday after work and I clocked a 59 minute 20 miles this morning.

Thank you Sheena for your sponsorship.

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The Big 200 Final 75.

Heading north from King's Lynn I planned to follow the Fakenham road and then turn north east toward Little Walsingham and the shrine.

At least now the wind was in the hind quarter and being Norfolk, the going was still easy.

Little Walsingham is an amazing place for somewhere in the middle of nowhere and I determined to come back to take a peak around. For now though it was a point on the map and a fleeting one at that. It was now getting dark and I still had 40 odd miles to go to reach North Walsham base and then Norwich.

Two things of significance happened along the way. I had never previously been that bothered about wearing glasses when cycling. I never did as a kid. To a degree I was inclined to look at them along with a lot of paraphernalia to do with sport, as just that. I had recently misplaced a pair of wrap-around shades that happened to come with a set of clear lenses for night riding but I had never yet worn them.

THWACK! Man, when you take a big moth in the eye and you don't see it coming, you will never ride a bike at night again without them. Just when a car was about to overtake me too.

Incoming!

And just in case you have forgotten to spot them, I then came around the corner and nearly ran over this little fella. The sooner I get those new lights fitted the better!

The remainder of the journey passed without incident. 201 miles is a long day, but it is in the locker now and I know that I can do it. All I need to know now, is if I can do it again the following day, so the one remaining milestone before I leave will be to head west for 200, sleep in a hedge and head home the next day.

Getting there.
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The Big 200 Part 2 and the missing Ribeyes

From Diss where I met the family for lunch, I headed to Thetford and called in on the crew at the Healthy Living Centre. Thank you Dr H for your very generous sponsorship, very much appreciated. Sorry to everyone else if you came into work later expecting to find a full biscuit tin!

Although it can sometimes be a busy road with lorry traffic, the route through Thetford Forest to Mundford was quiet for a bank holiday weekend and it is quick. the same was true for the remainder of the miles to 125 by the time I reached the A10 just north of Downham Market and the Hardwick roundabout in King's Lynn.

At this point I have a huge public apology to make to Steve. Steve, I have mentioned is my erstwhile adversary. He got me into this race since we had previously been planning to cross the Atlantic together. (Plans on hold.)

Anyway, I pitched up just as he and his partner were about to sit down to ribeye steak lovingly prepared as a welcome home to Steve who had been working, sorry walking hard in the Peaks. Being polite, they invited me in for tea, leaving their uneaten dinner in the front room.

We chatted over tea and packets of salty crisps, (for me) until it was noticed that the dog, who is normally always by Steve's side, was AWOL!

I guess we'll be having salad for supper then. Guys, I am so sorry. Next time I will call you first. Thank you for the tea and crisps and for the duel that lies ahead.
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Psychological Barriers. The Big 200. Part 1

The great thing about having my father stay where he is, is that to get to him, I have to ride a minimum of 30 miles. The most enjoyable route though and one that I have repeated a couple of times now, takes me from home to Bungay, across to Beccles before heading SE to Blythburgh marshes and Westleton before heading back inland to Saxtead. That's a nice 55 miles and a beautiful route.

Leaving at 05:36 with a ground frost meant that by the time I reached Beccles, the cradling of the hot sausage roll was less about its energy potential in terms of calories than it was about heat transfer. Either way though it was good. (Possibly not a Bradley Wiggins recommendation, but I enjoyed it.)

The smile does it every time. My father was sat in his usual chair and was more than usually energetic today. We took a walk around the corridors with his frame, had some tea and biscuits and returned from whence we started. He seemed to appreciate the fact that I was taking on a big ride today and his energy refuelled mine before I left him asleep again just as my mother called in to sit with him.

Foxearth kindly took a note of my blogsite and justgiving website justgiving.com/john-bakewell and promised to send it out or advertise it amongst the families of the residents in their care. I hope the chance to follow us all across Europe will encourage them in a way I cannot otherwise give.

From Saxted I had decided to do a tour of the four major East of England Ambulance Out of Hours bases, the first of which was at Thetford and so headed west toward Diss.

Despite the forecast southerly breeze of 10 knots, it appeared to have shifted to the SW and stuck with me fro the next 75 miles. I believe, however, that there is a rule 5 out there somewhere that says something like, 'if the it's raining and the wind is in your face....get on with it.'

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Refining and training.

Despite the lack of posts, it has been a busy week on all fronts.

Each time I head out on the road I am refining my thoughts on equipment, storage, lighting, food, rest and clothing. In between I am obviously still working and keeping up with my father.

The dynamo and lights duly arrived and the dynamo itself has now been shipped off to Specialised cycles in Norwich for Andy to build me a new front wheel. The issue of weight raises new issues of cost, since the dynamo weighs an astonishingly light 385g, which happens to be the difference give or take between a sprung Brooks saddle and one without. See previous posts on models.

The increase in temperatures have resulted in two on-going phenomena. Firstly that my sons have now adopted my previous water bottles as their own and secondly that I have gone supersize. Learning to drink enough on long rides is a challenge. It seems that without the discipline of regimented 15 minute slugs, it is very, very easy not to drink enough and in the height of mid-European summer, fluid and salt intake will be critical.

To that end I am going to use the generous sponsorship from RE to fund a supply of electrolyte hydration tablets to take with me.

Interestingly, and I remember this from cycling lands End to John O'Groats, gels and high sugar/energy supplements did not go well in the middle of a ride. It seemed that normal food, such as bread and baked potatoes were what I craved and chocolate of all things went completely out of the window.

During the previous week I had completed a couple of 25s and a 65 that I was pleased to do the first 30 miles in 1 Hr 22 mins.

I then set myself up to tackle a double hundred at the weekend.

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