Friends mean the world.

Today I had a wonderful surprise. Both by way of some incredibly generous donations, but also hearing from an old Fleet Air Arm buddy, who also happened to spend a couple of days with me on my LEJOG trip.

There are few things like training courses to cement friendships. The shared adversity binds people together in a way that is never lost.

I have included here a post from that trip by way of recognition for a kindness shown supporting me on this one. Thank you Rich.


 

Knowing that we had a very long day ahead, we awoke to the sound of a cuckoo calling from the moor outside. I was up before 6 and we hit the road by 06:10. The hills were quiet, muffled by the thin shroud of light mist. There were two groups of Roe Deer off to the left as we climbed away from the youth hostel. They looked at us nonchalantly, but nothing more.

The descent from Dartmoor is one minute hard grind, the next an exhilarating surf down long swerving hills. Few of them had enough visible length for you to let the bike go and so the brakes again took a hammering. Much to Laura's dismay, however, I can report that I managed to clock 39 mph down one of them!


We reached Exeter within 2 hours and parked ourselves in the cathedral ground, where we cooked our breakfast of porridge, accompanied by patisserie, bought doughnuts and tea. There just wasn't time to stop and take a look in the cathedral or anywhere else in town, which is a shame, so instead we headed north out of town toward Cullompton, Taunton and Richard's eventual dismount at Bridgewater.


There was a lot of riding to be had before then, however. The terrain had been pacified and the rolling hills that we followed to the east of the M5 allowed us to average between 12 and 15 mph. Not that we were in a hurry, but it was refreshing to feel a steady breeze.


From Cullompton, we picked up the the National Cycle Network route 3. If you get a chance to do any cycling in this part of the world then I cannot recommend this highly enough. Passing along tiny narrow country lanes and through villages that you would otherwise never see, it is mile after mile of relaxing and rewarding travel. The scenery is ever changing too as you will see from the photos when I can download them.

(Simon has just arrived from Bristol, so I must break here and come back to this tonight, but having completed 100 miles in total yesterday, there's still a little to tell.)

Having dropped Richard off in Bridgewater I managed to pick up a good tail wind that pushed me to Cheddar in a couple of hours. The managers of the campsite were just about to go out but still took the time to make sure that I had everything that I needed, even allowing me to lock myself and the bike in the pool room so that I didn't have to put the tent up. Thank you.


Ron and Helen took me for a huge pasta supper that I can now tell them fuelled my 85 miles today, but more of that in a bit. There is so much more that I could tell, but time is short at the end of these very long days. At the moment I seem to be averaging about 12 hours for my 80-100 miles a day so not surprisingly, I don't take any rocking.




Believe it or not I slept well on this floor.
 
 
 

Motivation

I finished a night shift this morning, going to bed at about 08:30 with the seed sown in my head that I would get out on my bike when I got up.

When I did surface at mid-day, I looked out at the cold dreary weather outside knowing that if I was cold inside the house then I would be freezing outside. The motivation to train started to seep away.

Then I was checking my e-mails and received a generous message from Robert H-W and sponsorship for The Alzheimers Society and I knew that training or not wasn't an option. In the same way that getting up to marshal my father is not an option for my mother. I did say in my justgiving webpage, www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell that this motivation to keep me pedalling to reach 200 miles a day in August would be key and so it is now.

Thank you Robert, I'm outa here, cold or not.

15 miles in the hour.

Choosing your wheels

Since the Transcontinental bike race is all about, well racing across Europe on a bike, it follows that getting the bike right is where it's at right now.

To date I have been training, fittingly, on the Nigel Dean steel framed touring bike that my father passed down to me about 2 years ago. I'm not quite sure who measured him up for it, but given that he is shorter than I am and I get back ache riding it, it's definitely not the bike for a 200 mile day.

To be fair, last year I attempted to ride St David's, Wales to Lowestoft, Suffolk, England non-stop and managed 220 miles in 36 hours or so without too many problems, but the geometry is all wrong. The cross bar too long and even with a short stem, no chance of using tri-bars with any degree of real comfort. That may seem like a contradiction in terms for some of you, but that's partly why I'm inviting comment. I need to get it right.

My plan at the moment is to build or find a complete bike that has cyclo-cross in it's pedigree. Not too stiff, not too fragile and yet versatile. I aim to try to include a hub-dynamo to power the lights and GPS; a long steerer to accommodate tri-bars that allow for relaxed long duration on the forearms and not the hands; 28 mm wheels to absorb the beating of the the deteriorating roads as I travel further east and mudguards to keep the rubbish off my back and my face.

I figure that a triple chain set will be better than a double. I'm 50, not 30 and some of the hills on the way might just be that bit more comfortable to tackle with less grunt and more easy revolutions.

Thus far I'm looking at a Canyon Inflite 8.0 S, but I'm open to suggestions and any advice you have. I'm also looking for sponsors, so if this challenge grabs you, but you'd like me to do the hard graft for you, then please do get in touch. All things are possible.

JB

Some of it will be about bikes

Some of it will be about bikes!

 

Although I started this blog within the last few days, I have inevitably been working on the planning and training for the ride for a few weeks already.

 

The registration for entry to the race was filled within 24 hours of going live and I was not one of the lucky ones to be listed in the top 101. I was, however reliably informed that enthusiasm gets the better of a few hopefuls who have not yet discussed the realities of such an event with their other half, or decided that they can afford the time of work….or indeed the risk of getting a bit knobbled on the way.

 

Since my entry was as an alternative to trying to row the Atlantic, an idea that did not meet with management approval, 2 weeks of cycling seemed like something of a let off and I was duly rewarded with race entrant No 052 as I crept up the reserve list and onto the starting list.

 

I have set my sights on a back to back double hundred sometime in late June and have geared my training around this goal. It sounds simple enough as long as you don’t factor in night shifts working for the Out of Hours Urgent Care Service in Norfolk and 4 kids. Oh and a dog, and moving house and of course spending time with my father.

 

So thus far I have joined the UEA gym on a bronze membership and have been set up with a training programme that crucifies my thighs and core and allows me to cruise the pool for an hour afterwards. I have squeezed in about 300 miles on the bike since the end of November.

 

What I need now is the right bike.

Spread the word

In the interest of involving as many people as possible, I have been in contact with the independent care homes organisation in Norfolk. An e-mail to Mr Dennis Bacon, the chair of this body has received a very positive and encouraging response.

Through the care home network website and that of individual care home websites, I hope to encourage family members and friends to follow my progress both in the run up to this gruelling challenge and specifically to check out online how I am getting on.

Ultimately this project is about raising awareness and financial support for carers of people with dementia, so please share this blog as widely as possible and encourage your family and friends to visit this blog http://transcontinentalbikerace.blogspot.co.uk/ and the justgiving page associated with it www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell

In the next few days I will establish a Facebook page to run alongside this blog, so that if you wish to comment or get involved in assisting me with fund-raising, then you will be able to contact me there.

John

This is how it works

So off the back of a stalled trans-Atlantic rowing bid, Steve, whom you'll hear more of later, challenges me to take part in the Transcontinental Bike Race. www.transcontinentalrace.com/

Never heard of it? Neither had I, but then it's first running only happened last year and then with only 30 riders. Check out the website for more info, but simply, it's a clock start, doesn't stop, until you arrive at the finish.....whenever that might be. No problems so far, right.

Race starts in London on the 9th August at 09:00 and the finish line is in Istanbul! Problem!

The winner last year finished in 7 and a 1/2 days!! Problem!! Man, that's some serious, serious miles, each day and the next and the next.

So it's a challenge in itself to take this on and for most that would be enough. To be honest, on one level it's enough for me too, but historically I have always tried to put this kind of strange-to-understand masochism to some use and this is no different. Previous fund-raisers like the London Marathon in 1997 supported the NSPCC and Land's End to John O'Groats in 2010 for The Samaritans johnnygiant-lejog4samaritans.blogspot.com

For the last 18 months or so my mother has been caring for my father, recently diagnosed with vascular dementia and now requiring 24/7 supervision. I do not know where she has found the strength and fortitude to manage. Accessing support and care at home is challenging. The resources are scarce and under-funded. Simply put, for some it is inadequate. I am not questioning the quality of care, there is just not enough of it.

Soon my father will have to move into a care-home environment, presenting my mother with the most difficult of decisions. How do you know when? How do you know how to rationalise this dichotomy that feels like a betrayal on the one hand, but a necessity on the other.

The Alzeimers Society www.alzheimers.org.uk/ support many other people in similar situations and so I am going to support them.





My fundraising page is www.justgiving.com/john-bakewell

Here goes. Please help me to achieve the ability to cycle 200 miles a day for 11 days by following me here and spread the word.

John