Final week of training and the charity fundraiser

I've a lot to say today so I thought I'd split this blog in two - part A: riding and training, and part B: sponsorship and people who've helped.

So part A: Firstly a big thanks to Sam at Bike UK who seems to have done a great job on my bike. I've ridden 143 miles since Monday and haven't heard any more creaking.

I went out for two 30-mile rides on Friday and Saturday on rode a route which I've named 'the Bastard Hills of North Somerset'. There's a short movie about the route below, soundtracked by the fantastic 65 Days of Static.

On Sunday afternoon I rode 60 miles to Stroud to pick up a satnav from Rose and Jake. This weekend I was supposed to taper off on my training but after the mechanical problems last weekend and the need to pick up the satnav I thought I didn't really have a choice. The ride out was great (30 miles at 22.5mph) but the return journey was into a huge headwind and I finished the 60 mile round trip with an average of 18mph.

I remember a colleague once telling me there's no such thing as a tailwind. You either have a headwind or you're having "a great day". Today I definitely had both.

I listened to two albums on the way: Manic Depression by Quicksand (a post-hardcore band from the early 90s led by Walter Schreifels who went on to form Rival Schools) and the Empty Vessels EP by the Maccabees and Roots Manuva, both of which were really good to listen to today (thanks to Jimmy and Jake for those).

As tough as today's ride was, it did give me the chance to burn off last night's trough of BBQ food and eat another huge plate of rice and beef burgers this evening. Plus I met Rose and Jake next to a McDonalds. It takes a stronger man than me to refuse a cheeseburger, McFlurry and a coke after 30 miles!

These 60 miles are my last training miles before LE-JOG. It's exciting to think that the hard training is over and I'll soon be on my way to the start line at Lands End. There's still a lot of packing and organising to do before that though.

On that note, part B: Last night (Saturday) Helen and I threw a fund-raising BBQ for Cancer Research with a big LE-JOG theme.

We ran a sweepstake where we asked guests to guess a) how long I'll take overall, b) how quick my fastest day will be, and c) where I'll get my first puncture. Despite my best efforts to baffle people with the complex instructions we had lots of entries and raised over £90 for Cancer Research.

I must say a big thank you to Fred and Terry, Andrea Hicken's Dad and Jenny Bullock's Mum for their donations, plus the anonymous person who donated a £20 note. And thanks to everyone else who came and donated (and left us with a freezer full of burgers and sausages!).

A big thanks also to Ade at Howies who came through with a last minute donation of two t-shirts for the sweepstake prize. Howies are a fantastic clothing store based in Cardigan, West Wales. I've long been a fan of their clothing (especially their merino cycling tops) and in the last few months I've been back and forth to their Bristol store to organise a presentation about Cycling City at their A Beautiful Machine fortnight a few weeks ago. I think the two t-shirts (and the Bike UK bike lock) really helped donations. The other prizes on offer are a bottle of wine and a Scottish 'lucky dip' (which will probably be a haggis).

If I can find out how to publish PDFs or Word documents to this blog I'll upload the sweepstake entry forms and the map of the route, which our party guests kindly anotated with pictures of the potential dangers en route. I'll especially watch out for the Loch Ness monster and the mermaids (in the North Sea), the pirates off the coast of Cornwall and the gang violence around Manchester.

I'll post again on Tuesday to sum up my training and the purpose of this ride before we head to Cornwall, where ride starts on Wednesday.

One final thing (before I spend the rest of Sunday evening packing and preparing) - a few people told me they've had problems using the Cancer Research donation page so I've now added a Just Giving page as well. Don't feel that you have to donate to both though...

A good week

First of all, two things I forgot to mention in last week's post.

I decided to do the ride for Cancer Research, specifically to pay for nursing care for people receiving treatment. I know two people who've died from cancer, two who've recovered and one who currently has cancer. It would be great if you could donate. My charity page is available at: http://myprojects.cancerresearchuk.org/group-giving/ben-hillsdon-rides-lejog-to-fight-cancer

I've been thinking about how to navigate the route. My Dad suggested getting a GPS unit. At first I wasn't keen but the thought of taking a wrong turn or stopping every five miles to check a map doesn't sound great. And trying to navigate whilst being tired after 90+ miles of riding could be tricky. So I took a look at some units. The Garmen 705 costs about 300 notes, which I can't really justify. I have found a company that rents them, but only for a minimum of three months, and at a cost of £75. The website is here: http://www.cyclepowermeters.com/garmin-705-edge-hr-rental-494-p.asp

In terms of this week things have gone well. Training has been good, despite having a bit of a cold, and I've bought some useful things. Vitamin C and echinacea tablets have helped limit my cold to just a snotty nose and slight cough.

During the week I went on two runs and have ridden twice on the static bike in the gym. This weekend we drove out to Frome and I cycled back from there. I'm not sure exactly which way I went but I passed through Melksham, Corsham, Box, Bath and back into Bristol along the cycle paths. I didn't map the route before hand, I just followed road signs for towns that I wanted to pass through. The ride was 49 miles and it would have been longer had I not wanted to get back for the Six Nations Wales - Scotland match. I felt good when I got home too, strong enough to do another 30 or so miles at least.

I thought the picture was fairly fitting for a weekend of Six Nations rugby.



Yesterday I rode with time trial bars for the first time, which I bought from Dave Hinde Cycles this week (a £40 bargain!). They seemed to add about two miles an hour to my speed, which surprised me - I didn't think they'd make that much of a difference.

I started the ride feeling pretty hungry, which I must avoid in future. I just felt a bit slow and sluggish. After 20 miles I stopped at a petrol station for a Mars Bar and an excellent bag of penny sweets, which I demolished pretty rapidly. It was a BP petrol station somewhere near Melksham - note to self, stop there in future!

The other thing I bought was a free box of Zipvit powders and vitamins (I had to pay for postage). It seems like really good value, although I'm yet to try any of them. http://www.zipvit.com/cgi-bin/vitcart1.pl?success&cart=cart9763c02¤cy=&F46=1

Anyway, time to go I think. I need to go for a long run before it gets dark...