Monday, March 16, 2009

Training 15th Mar

Riders	John & Andrew
Distance	82.13 mi
Time	6h04m17s
Average Speed	12.78 mph
Ascent	1304 m
Run.GPS Training Profile

Longest training ride so far. The route was based closely upon that used by the Squires and Spires Cyclosportive which stars in Naseby. We started in Cropredy (famous for its music festival) near Banbury and went clockwise, the sportive goes anticlockwise. We had arranged to meet John’s brother at Catthorpe at 10.30am which was about 30 miles from the start. We set off at 8am.

The ride was almost exclusively on minor roads through Claydon, Priors Hardwick, Priors Marston and Napton-on-the-Hill. Pretty flat as well as we followed the Oxford Canal which we crossed several times. A small climb up to Napton where we had a short cycle on the A425 which was very quiet on a Sunday morning. We turned through Grandborough and Willoughby, again on small lanes until we got to Barby and Kilsby.

We had a short section on the A5 over Kilsby tunnel with its impressive castellated towers before we turned toards the pretty village of Crick. Yelvertoft and Lilbourne were next before we arrived at the Manor Farm teashop in Catthorpe. An excellent stopping place nestled between the M1 and M6, if you are heading south on the M1 or M6 it’s well worth the short diversion rather than head for the motorway services.

We had a coffee, cake and a chat before the now three of us headed to Stanford Hall and a lovely ride through the parkland. A moderate climb up to Cold Ashby followed where John was excited to see the triangulation pillar where the triangulation of Britain started, it has a plaque to mark the occasion but was in a field of young crops, so John left his camera in his bag on this occasion!

After Naseby there was more parkland at Cottesbrooke next with a lovely descent down a gated road with no hedges or fences. We set about looking for a lunch stop but Creaton and Hollowell disappointed. We tried the gardens at Coton but they are shut until 31st March. We found a pub in Ravensthorpe which only did Sunday roasts. We stopped for a drink and a packet of crisps before heading south.

John’s brother peeled off to make his way home shortly after Ravensthorpe and the two remaining riders continued south through the Bringtons to Flore and Weedon Bec. After picking up sandwiches at a garage we quickly left the grimness of Weedon and found a bench (with funeral wreath) on the hill to Farthingstone where we stopped for sustenance.

The next section was undulating to Maidford, Adstone, Canons Ashby and Moreton Pinkney. We were getting quite tired by this point and it was nice to finish on a small lane from Culworth by the River Cherwell. I was almost all downhill on the A361 to the turning to Cropredy where we were able to freewheel all the way back to the car.

A pretty ride, the last ten miles were quite tough and to be honest we weren’t looking at the scenery much by then! We reckon 65 miles fully laden is about right for a daily target.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

On the 7th day

John has been putting some time into working out the route. The rough itinerary can be seen on The Plan and this will change as he works out exactly where we should be ending up each evening.

This is a map of the first seven days probable route. Day one starts in Land’s End (dur) and is borrowed extensively from a route used by some Cornish men who did the LEJOG a few years ago, utilising their local knowledge to avoid the worst hills (allegedly). It heads via Penzance and south of Truro over the King Harry ferry across the River Fal. Using minor roads nearly all the way we should end up in St Austell or Lostwithiel.

Day two also uses the route used by the aforementioned Cornish men and looks like it could be a highlight day. It heads to Okehampton using an old railway line at times skirting around the north of Dartmoor. The planned stop is somewhere near Cheriton Bishop.

The third day is John’s own route. This might get tweaked. Again mostly minor roads via Crediton, Cullompton and Wellington. It slips past the northern outskirts of Taunton to end up near Bridgwater or Burnham-on-Sea.

This should set us up nicely for the assault on the Bristol area and the Severn Estuary. This is mostly the CTC YHA route from Street and heads parallel to the M5 to Avonmouth. Using the M5 bridge to cross the River Avon (there is a cycle path!). We have a second motorway bridge, the old Severn Bridge on the M48 to get to Chepstow. Probable route is then via Tintern Abbey to end up close to Monmouth or the Forest of Dean.

The Wye Valley is one of the highlights of a LEJOG and that will be our fifth day. Heading to Symonds Yat and Ross-on-Wye we follow the river past Hereford and then the River Lugg to Leominster. Our stop will be close to Clun.

The sixth day will be the longest so far, nearly 80 miles. We need to get in a position to get between Manchester and Liverpool in one day with the tricky navigation and busier roads. From Clun the route is nearly due north all the way past Shrewsbury, Ellesmere, Wrexham and Chester. We’ll aim to camp near the Delamere Forest close to Northwich.

The bit through the northwest is usually one of the lowlights of a LEJOG and most people just get it done as quickly as possible. Our route leaves us plenty of time to get through but it’s hard to avoid main roads and towns. Avoiding Warrington it goes via Lymm, Leigh, near Bolton and through Chorley. It squeezes between Preston and Blackburn before finishing at Clitheroe. Could be a tough day, 68 miles and a nightmare for navigation.

So that’s the first seven days sussed (maybe). Now, how do we get past Glasgow in one go?

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2001.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

We have liftoff

Launched the website yesterday with around 10 weeks to go to the off. Hopefully everything works OK, but there’s still time to tweak! A big thanks to Redsmartie for doing the banner for us, we think it looks really cool.

The Justgiving pages are all set up and a massive thanks to everyone who is donating, it’s very generous of you to support our little quest. Slightly concerning how everyone thinks we’re a little mad and the sharp intakes of breath when we say we’re doing it fully laden!

Saturday, March 07, 2009

Training 7th Mar

Riders	John & Andrew
Distance	67.50 mi
Time	5h40m47s
Average Speed	11.88 mph
Ascent	1328 m
Run.GPS Training Profile

This route was adapted from the Highclere Castle Route77Cat sportive route used in 2008 and to be used again in June 2009. Instead of starting at Highclere Castle though we met up at the carpark near Combe Gibbet on Walbury Hill, the highest point in Berkshire.

We headed south through Combe and Faccombe where there was a fantastic swervy descent on a smooth road through woodland. A real rush. After Hurstbourne Tarrant we joined the B3048 initially alongside the Bourne Rivulet and then the River Test at Longparish. Despite the B-road status it was pretty quiet. The scenery was pretty with the clear river close by, the altitude was worrying descending to rather low values and we made quick progress. After Wherwell we rejoined minor raods to Stockbridge and the lowest point on the ride, just 35m above sea level.

We picked up the B3049 for the ascent up to Stockbridge Down and a tea stop. We turned off through Crawley and across the A34 at Worthy Down. We had a rather dull road alongside the A34 next, it was busy and undulating to South Wonston and it was a relief to pick up the lanes to Wonston again. We decided to divert off the route to get to Whitchurch for lunch where we spent about 15mins looking for a good place to eat. The Silk Mill is missing a trick with its tea-room as you have to pay to get into the mill to get to the tea-room. With virtually no competition in the town I’m sure it would pick up passing trade for a spot of lunch or a tea and cake. In the end we bought filled rolls at the bakery and ate them by the river.

Heading north out of Whitchurch we headed back to the planned route, this involved a rather steady climb all the way to the B3051 and onwards to the top of White Hill near Watership Down. With fantastic views ahead we zoomed down the descent only to find we had to regain nearly all of the lost altitude up Isle Hill to Sydmonton.

The final ten miles was all on minor roads but was fairly hard work with several minor ascents through Burghclere, Woolton Hill and Ball Hill (the clue is in the name of the latter two!). We knew we had the massive hill back to the cars at the end of the ride and we braced ourselves. It’s a double whammy as you get to the top only to go straight back down and have to climb up again! It has a couple of very steep sections which we stopped for a breather on. It was a relief to get back to the cars without having to get off and push!

A good route, a couple of dull sections and Whitchurch isn’t the most exciting town in the world. A tough finish after 60-odd miles as well. I’m sure the sportive event that uses most of this route is a good test.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Training 22nd Feb

Riders	John & Andrew
Distance	66.76 mi
Time	5h45m44s
Average Speed	11.59 mph
Ascent	1281 m
Run.GPS Training Profile

This was our longest and hilliest training ride so far and should be much more typical of a LEJOG day although we were basically unladen on this ride. The weather was pleasant despite a stiffish breeze at times.

We met up in Burford where the town and carpark were deserted at 8.30am on a Sunday morning. We were heading to Cheltenham and back, basically crossing the Cotswolds twice and dropping down off of the escarpment. The ride was almost entirely based upon one submitted to the CTC Maps site.

We followed the Windrush valley on very minor roads to the village of Windrush and onwards to Sherborne and Farmington. The route was undulating with very little in the way of flat to get a rhythm going but we were steadily climbing all the way to the top of the scarp slope overlooking Cheltenham. The roads were really tiny and we saw zero traffic and we were surrounded by beautiful Cotswold scenery.

We decided against cycling the A40 at Andoversford as the CTC route suggested and went across the A436 to the top of Ham Hill. The hill was steep and the road was covered in grit so we took it as carefully as we could until we got to the outskirts of Cheltenham, we didn’t plan on entering the town so we skirted through Charlton Kings to begin the ascent back up the scarp. We did this via Leckhampton Hill which was a steep and steady climb for a couple of miles. A steady rhythm was all that was required though. The road was the busiest we had encountered though and many times we had cars crawling behind us waiting for a safe opportunity to pass.

We had to endure a section of the A417 next (there might be a way to avoid this to get to Birdlip but we weren’t sure). This was also uphill and the road was wide and fast and smelt of oil and diesel as we pedalled hard. Not the nicest road ever. We soon turned off into Birdlip though and were back onto tiny roads.

This return section was fantastic, small Cotswold villages tucked into the hillsides looked like model villages as we approached and unchanged for hundreds of years. It really was a hidden world. There was a very very steep climb out of Caudle Green though which we both agreed would have been very tough to pedal up fully laden.

After the climb there was an amazing stretch along a valley with a stream to one side. The highlight village was Daglingworth which was stunningly beautiful and just a few miles from Cirencester where we stopped for lunch. After eating we headed north to get back to Burford with another lovely stretch along the Coln valley and onwards through the hoards of tourists in Bibury.

A few more villages past by as the landscape changed from the hills to much more open farmland and the only real flat section of the ride. We were soon back in Burford where our tired legs were ready for a break after 1.5km of ascent! A truly lovely ride and I would highly recommend the route to any cyclist.

 

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