Massage Training

Four of our intrepid band went over to Tres's mum's house tonight for some massage training (Tres being one of the non-cycling Water Rats) - the aim being to develop some massage skills to keep our legs in tip top condition whilst we are on the road.   All part of our meticulous preparation.  As proof of the integrity of this 'training' here are a few images that Alan and Jack provided.

Mrs potion lotion, Tres's mum, making up the oils for the rub.

Tres showing John how to torture Jack, whilst Celia waits anxiously for her turn.

....and finally Alan pretending to be suffering when he is really enjoying every minute of it.

Roddy - Spin Doctor

Thanks to Roddy for supporting the Water Rats challenge with his two hour spin session tonight. Hope he'll join us for a day on the route.

Leadhills training

Jack and I headed out this morning towards Leadhills trying to get a few more miles in the bank .  We suffered a stiff SW breeze all the way out but enjoyed its help on the return journey.    At 63 miles and 1163m climbing, in around 4 hours, this mirrored the first half day of LEJOG fairly closely.  Neither of us were too troubled by the end  - so all looking good fitness wise. You can see the route and associated stats here.

Trip to the Trossachs

A couple of photos from Alan and Celia's training trip to the Trossachs on Wednesday.  Really an opportunity to showcase Alan's new bike which he proudly tells me is a Specialised Tarmac SL3 with SRAM Red Groupset and American Classic 58mm carbon wheels.

Introducing John

Introducing John, who will be driving the van, taking photographs, providing spiritual guidance and generally pandering to our every need.  Shown here relaxing after another gruelling Water Rats training session.

Route GPS Files

Here are the daily route files in gpx format - all ready to copy into your Edge 705.

Right click on the links below and save the file to your computer.

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9

Don't left click or you'll simply see a page of code.

The Team

There are six of us doing the challenge - 5 cyclists (Celia, Alan, Jack, Barry and Bill) and 1 support (John).  The cyclists are all doing the full distance - no relay or any of that malarkey, we are each doing the full distance of around 930miles.  John will be driving the support van and tending to our every need throughout the journey!  He'll be doing twice the distance as the cyclists as he needs to drive the route as well as getting to the start and back from the finish.  The good news for us cyclist is that we will not be carrying any gear and will be on our lightweight road bikes - so hopefully we'll be able to keep up a decent pace.

Here are the cyclists;

Celia, Jack and Bill  - each multiple Ironman finishers.  Should be a doddle for these three you would think - maybe not!

Barry - only a single Ironman finisher  but the fastest of the lot!  You have to be nuts to run a 3.40 marathon after a 112 mile bike and 2.4 mile swim.  Yes, he sure is.

Alan, king water rat and swim coach extraordinaire.  Pictured here in his element in the pouring rain at Ironman Switzerland wearing a fetching plastic bike cover.

The Schedule

Thought you might be interested in the planned schedule for the challenge. Here it is (you'll find the maps in the March Blog Archive).

Thursday 6th May: Departure by car/van to Birminham area - three in car and three in van. Hopefully we'll be on the road by around 17.30 with all bikes and assorted other gear packed in the van.

Friday 7th May: Continue travel to Lands End. Drop car at Penzance and then all of us will travel the final few miles to Lands End in the van. The plan is to be on the bikes by around 2pm and cycle around 60 miles to St Austell. A very up and down route with about 1100m of climbing and a short ferry trip across the river Fal on the King Harry Ferry.

Saturday 8th May: St Austell to Bridgwater. The first full day of cycling and the hardest in terms of the amount of climbing - around 2500m climb and 117 miles on the roads. Today will be a good check on our fitness.

Sunday 9th May: Bridgwater to Ludlow. No doubts there will be a few aches today as legs start to feel the distance/climbs - less climbing but still 119 miles on the road. A day characterised by the bridge crossings - the M5 Avon Bridge and the Severn Bridge.

Monday 10th May: Ludlow to Chorley. 117 miles. Final part of today is through the Liverpool Manchester corridor - been dificult to find a 'pleasant' route through this area - lets hope our chosen route keeps us off the busy roads.

Tuesday 11th May: Chorley to Carlisle. The shortest day - 101 miles and a few nice steady climbs including Shap. Should be a good 'recovery day' before the distances and climbing increases again in Scotland.

Wednesday 12th May: Carlisle to Dunfermline. 111 miles. Home and familiar territory - at least part of it. Closest we get to home is Abington (with roads very familiar from Sunday rides). Probably will be busy around Forth Road Bridge area but most of the route is either on National Cycle Routes or quiet rural roads.

Thursday 13th May: Dunfermline to Aviemore. 118 miles and a couple of main climbs over the Ochil Hills and Drumochter Pass. Both are fairly steady climbs so shouldn't trouble us much - but then that all depends on how the legs and other body parts are feeling! Covering familiar cycle routes around Pitlochry and Aviemore. Using NCR7 over Drumochter.

Friday 14th May: Aviemore to Tongue. 123 miles with a fair number of ups and downs. The final full day of cycling - familiar cycle route to Inverness but new cycling territory for me above there. Looking forward to the final part of this stage across the open country to Tongue.

Saturday 15th May: Tongue to John o'Groats. 64 miles and 1200m climbing -similar to the first day. Final push to John o'Groats - hoping to arrive mid-day, take a few photos and then cycle down to Wick for a few beers and plenty food.

Sunday 16th May: Travel home. Bikes in the van, some of us travelling by train others in the van.