Monday 16 August 2010

Day 3 - End of Cycle & Snowdon

Day 3 – End of Cycle and Snowdon

Up at 6:30am for the drive back to Ty Nant where we finished yesterday. We spotted a few marker points signalling the top of climbs and mentally noted these for the beginning of the ride.

Legs felt fresh though ankle still sore and needed looking after. Not too much out of the saddle stuff today.

It was just around 18 miles to Betws-y-Coed where we were to stop for a quick rest. The ride was a fairly steady uphill climb and with fresh legs we reached the top without really noticing we were climbing. What a good night’s sleep does for you!! There was then a nice long downhill winding ride into the village which we just enjoyed and let the bikes coast. A great feeling after al

l the climbing.

A five minute rest then onto the last 9 miles of the ride up to Pen y Pas and the bottom of Snowdon where the climb would begin.

This was tough exposed riding with a head wind and a steady climb. Slowly the nine miles ticked down and we reached the turn to Pen y Pas. I knew now that we had one more steep climb and then we would be done. One final push up the hill and we were there. Only Snowdon to go!

We ditched the bikes and got changed in the back of van ready to hit Snowdon. Plan was to go up the Pyg track and down the Miners as easier on the legs.

We made it up in under two hours and finally we were done after three days of hard physical graft! A quick dip in the icy cold lake at the bottom at the end helped refresh us after all the exertions!

This was a really tough challenge which looking back I enjoyed but definitely stretched us both physically and mentally. We swam 11 miles, cycled 176 miles, climbed nearly 11,000 feet on the bikes and then climbed Snowdon.

We are not yet quite there with the fund raising target so please, if you can, donate to the below site...

http://www.justgiving.com/pinnacle-3-peak-cycle-challenge

It is for a great cause! Thanks to those that have sponsored so far. It is appreciated.


Bike Stats - Day 3

Distance Cycled - 26.8 miles

Time in Saddle - 1hr 50 mins

Max Speed - 30mph

Avg Sod - 14.66mph

Feet Climbed - 1,751


Thank you’s.

Dad – for being a great support driver and motivator over the weekend

Jay –for putting up with all the training beforehand

Gill – we couldn’t have had a better guide on the Lake.

Day 2 - Cycling - All Day

The aim was to meet for breakfast at 6:30am. My phone rings. It is Dad. “Where are you?” It’s 6:45am and I am sleeping the sleep of the dead. Out of bed into shorts and a t-shirt and straight down to breakfast. Black coffee does the trick and a bacon sarnie. A quick shower and we’re ready to rock. On the road at 7:30am and feeling good.This is the day I wasn't looking forward to. We were aiming for 100 miles and there were going to be hills. The longest I have ever cycled is for 68 miles in one day so this was a bit of a step up. Still we were feeling good and for the first hour cruised along. No niggles from the day before. Happy days.Riding through the streets of Preston was pretty interesting.

The route was a bit more obvious today so Dad (as support driver) would go on ahead and we would leap frog him every so often. This gave him a few opportunities to take some action photos of us as we were doing our best Lance Armstrong impressions.On a bike you have enough time to take in your surrounding and it was great seeing the old mills that had been converted into offices and apartments. Weirdly, we kept noticing oddly named hairdressers; my favourite being "Off Yer Head". How cool is that for a name?

The route today was to head out South to Wigan then onto Manchester then Chester and out to Wales on the route to Snowdon.

Our satnav device had a few tricks up its sleeve today and infuriated us on a couple of occasions by taking us on the "scenic route". This basically involved turning off the road we were on to invariable be faced with a ludicrously steep climb followed by a rapid descent only to come out on the same road we were on a few hundred metres further up. Pointless. We soon realised we had to out think this machine that clearly had no appreciation for the fact that we didn't really enjoy riding up pointless hills. We quickly learnt to ignore future requests.

We had our first proper food stop at a great named cafe called "Butty Licious" around 30-40 miles into the ride. Still feeling good.

We were now heading out towards Manchester and still going strong aiming to go around another 30 miles before the next stop which was planned to be a late lunch. Heath decided to put the hammer down up ahead and we were rocketing along at 22-23mph on the flats for around 45 minutes. I'm pretty new to road biking but for me this was fast and was killing me. I shouted ahead for Heath to stop as I needed a five minute time out and a banana to catch my breath. I was pretty much done and not at all enjoying myself.

The next hour was a lot steadier and I was just ticking over trying to keep going. We were now in Wales and aiming for Penyfford for lunch. It couldn't come soon enough. The picture shows us just stopping at around 72 miles. I was nearly broken. Check out the grimace.

The pub was pretty good with great food. The only problem was that the landlord thought it was a good idea to have a parrot in there which was making an alarming racket. He thought it was an even better idea to walk around the pub with it on his shoulder like some modern day pirate. I would have throttled it if I had enough energy.


Lunch was a pretty quiet affair. I knew there were hills to come for the last 30 miles and we were steeling ourselves for the horrible grind we knew was ahead. My ankle was also starting to play up as I was getting pain in the achilles very time I pedalled. Not too much I could do but try and look after it as best as possible. All too soon it was time to get back in the saddle and we were off into the Welsh hills.

The hills did not disappoint and after lunch we faced a relentless climb for around an hour. The scenery was stunning and after a couple of false dawns we finally reached the top of the hill side. It was awesome to look around and not see anything higher for miles but then unbeliviably around the next corner there was more to go. It was just head down and keep grinding the legs. Finally we broke the back of it and meandered up and down on top of the hills for a while.

We were heading to the last stop of the day called Ty Nant and with one final evil climb we reached the top and cruised down jubilantly into the village centre. Our aim was to go 100 miles and we had said that we would crack on if we were under that distance. We checked our navigation and it said 100.6 miles. Yes! 100 miles cycled. Day 2 done.

Bikes into the van and into Betws-y-Coed 20 miles up the road to our hotel. Time for a couple of beers.




Ride Stats

Distance 100.6 miles

Time in saddle: 7hrs 33mins

Avg Moving Time: 13.2mph

Max Speed: 32mph

Feet Climbed: 5,929


Day 1 - Windermere Swim & Cycle






We arrived in Ambleside which is on the Northern tip of Lake Windermere on Thursday evening at around 6pm. After checking in to our B&B we headed down to the Lake for a quick scout around to confirm where we would be starting from and to phone our guide, Gill, to arrange a meeting point.
After an interesting carb fuelled meal at Luigi's, a cunningly named Italian restaurant, we hit our beds early in preparation for a 5am start the next morning with the aim of starting the 11 mile
swim at 6.

Bleary eyed we awoke to grey skies and drizzle which we didn't really worry about too much. We were going to get wet anyway right? I just felt bad for our kayak guide Gill as it wasn't going to be much fun for her chaperoning us across a massive lake in the rain for hours. After loading the kayak with our drinks and food we were ready for the off at just after
six pretty much as planned. The game plan was to swim to the other side of the lake heading for Wray Castle and to follow the quieter East shoreline down to the bottom of the lake at Fell Foot Park some 11 miles away!


Upon entering the water it was immediately apparent that it was a fair bit colder than the rivers
and lakes we had been training in down South and I hoped that this wasn't going to be too much
of a problem. Our strategy was to complete the
swim in one hit breaking every half hour for a quick drinks break and every hour to take on some food. Drinks for me were Lucozade Body Fuel washed down with water and food was raisins, Mars bars and bananas.

The first two hours flew by and Heath and I were swimming comfortably at a steady pace and feeling good. The sun was struggling to break through and the fact that we were taking quick breaks helped keep the body nice and warm so the cold wasn't too much of a factor. We reached Belle Island at just after two hours and had to wait for the ferry to go across before we could
continue on.

At around two and a half hours in my shoulders started to ache and we were just swimming from one half an hour break to the next. At around the four hour mark the shoulders were getting really sore and it was a matter of concentrating on the stroke to try and stay efficient and just ignore the pain and keep the arms turning. It gave me a chance to take in the stunning scenery and appreciate where we were.

The wind coming down the lake was very strong and whipping up waves that threw us off our stroke pattern and which were breaking over our heads at some points. Not great turning to breathe and just sucking in a wall of water! Still it kept things interesting. There wasn't a lot of other activity happening on the lake as I guess the wind had put most people off.

Gill warned us there would be a few "false finishes" and after looking up to think that the finish was just ahead but then realise that around the slight bend was more lake the spirits were waning. After about 4 hours it was a case of "are w
e nearly there yet?". Gill did a fantastic job of keeping us motivated and gave us the final words of inspiration that we needed at our last drinks stop to keep us going to the end which was 40 minutes away. Coming into Fell Foot Park the arms felt like lead but finally we started passing the moored boats and reached the pier which signalled the end of the swim. Time of 5 and a half hours. Part one complete!

After getting changed out of wetsuits and taking on some pasta for lunch it was time to get the bikes out of the van and get kitted up for the first leg of the ride down to Snowdon. The aim was to get around 40 miles in the bag today with a long cycle of around 100 miles on Saturday.

To aid our navigation we had bought some whizzy GPS unit for the bike which was basically a small Tom Tom unit. I had painstakingly spent hours planning our route before hand so that we wouldn't have to map read on the way. Come the big moment the whizzy machine decided that it was all rather to complicated and shut down. Damn. After a few hiccups we plugged in the town we were heading to and hit the road. Our first five miles was horrendous as we basically turned onto a dual carriageway with heavy side winds and trucks passing what felt like with inches to spare at over 70mph. This was not fun and dangerous. Our support driver (my Dad) and van was dispatched off ahead to the end of the route as we weren't sure which route we would now be taking.

Finally our satnav woke up and directed us off the road of death to a more scenic route where we
were now in our element. At around 30 miles in we stopped for a break just outside Lancaster at a lovely pub called the Plough. We felt great and had some quick liquid refreshment to keep the sugar levels high. Whilst there we got talking to a few locals who chipped in with a donation -
cheers Bill!

The last twenty miles were pretty steady riding through to our hotel just north of Preston. Heath had been taking energy gels which seem to give you big energy spikes followed by a sudden dip. The dips are not pleasant and I refuse to now use these preferring the slower release energy from bananas etc. Heath hit a massive dip around five miles out from the end but it was nothing that an old school Mars bar couldn't fix. Energy restored - we were back and on our way to the bright lights of the Ibis off the M6 outside Preston. We know how to do it in style!!

Dinner of pasta, in bed by 10, up at 6:30am and on the road at 7:00am the next day.

Day 1 done.

Ride Stats

Distance - 48.6 miles
Feet Climbed - 2981


Many thanks to Gill of Lake Windermere Canoe & Kayak you were great and we couldn't have done it without you! If you are up in Windermere and want to get out on the lake these are the guys to see!!

Thursday 12 August 2010

Ready for the big off

In Windermere for the big off tomorrow. Weather not looking too hot for tomorrow though rain shouldn't affect us too much. Scouted the starting point earlier so we are all set. Up at 5 and in the water at 6 . Can't wait.

Sunday 8 August 2010

Saturday Ride - 68 miles -- Fat Boys on the Road

Today was to be our last training ride before we set off with the aim to complete around 70 miles.

We left fully kitted out with snacks and drinks to keep us going and were on the road at around 7:30am. A nice early start avoiding much of the traffic.

Setting off from Marlow we headed out to Henley, Wargrave, Sonning, Wokingham, Crowthorne then back Twyford Way to Henley. The first 40 or so miles were pretty flat and we were making good time and feeling pretty comfortable despite my ludicrously tight hamstrings (must do more stretching).

We were stopping for breaks every hour for around five minutes to stretch out and take on some food to keep the energy levels high. My lower back gets extremely uncomfortable sat on the bike for so long so a few minutes of relief every hour makes the world of difference for me.

When we do the big ride the plan is to do the same every hour and then have a longer break every 3 hours for brunch/lunch/tea. I was keen to implement this today and suggested that we stop in a coffee shop somewhere nice around Henley at the 3 hour mark. Visions of sitting outside Cafe Rouge watching the world go by half an hour were keeping the legs spinning and the miles clocking up. We got to Henley but far too early - only 2 1/2 hours in and decided to press on. Surely there would be something equally as good up the road!!

What I didn't know is that Heath was keen for us to tackle a quite nasty climb, through Pishill, which isn't really steep but just seems to go on forever. I must admit that I found the going tough and not knowing when the appropriately named Pishill would end was extremely demoralising. It was one of those situations when you are knackered and your hopes get raised as you think that the top is just around the next corner but instead of the top there is just more road to climb with an increasing gradient. This kept happening until I was in my lowest gears and running out of puff and then I saw a road sign which signalled that the misery was about to end.

I caught up with Heath at the top (who had blasted off ahead of me) and he had managed to pop a spoke and now had a slightly buckled wheel which wasn't looking good. I was knackered and in need of a break so we pressed on up to Christmas Common a few miles up the road to try and get into the pub there where we were too early last time for a sandwich and a cold drink - the food is excellent there so my spirits were raised.

Unfortunately we were again too early and had to make do with filling up our water bottles from the hosepipe next to the dog bowl. Some things never change. Deflated we rode on to the next town Stokenchurch with the hope of finding somewhere half decent to rest for half an hour or so.

Riding into Stokenchurch there were around 100 or so Harley-Davidsons parked outside the pub as there was a local ride out happening and they had organised a big hog roast at the pub for the Harley riders. We parked up our bikes and gate crashed the party desperate to get hold of some freshly roasted pork (and crackling) in order to restore the energy levels.

To say we got some odd looks would be an understatement as we quickly realised that we looked somewhat out of place. We were surrounded by the typical rough looking biker sorts with leather jackets and all the gear and then there was us with lycra shorts, tight cycling tops and funny cycling shoes. Whilst in the queue it was gently pointed out that this was for "Harley Riders" only but I explained that we also came on two wheels and were starving. This seemed to generate a degree of sympathy and when asked whether we had any chrome on our bikes we dutifully lied telling them all that our bikes were chromed up to the max and then we were in. Five minutes later I was gorging on said pork bap (with crackling) and a happy camper. The food also consisted of roast potatoes, stuffing, burgers and sausages. Not exactly what a sports nutritionist would be recommending I am sure.
GavsFatBoy002.jpg image by Hotrodders26


Upon leaving the pub it was now us who felt like the fat boys as our over indulgent lunch felt like I had a football stuffed down my top. Another important lesson learnt in not overeating!!

From Stokenchurch we doubled back to Ibstone and then made our way back to Marlow via Fingest. Heath lost another spoke on the back (I'm sure it was nothing to do with the extra weight after lunch!!) and we made it back in one piece - 68 miles covered. Not a bad effort.

Feel in shape now for the ride, will probably do a spin class or two this week to keep the legs ticking over. Can't wait to get stuck in.

Still collecting....


Bike Stats

Distance Covered: 68 miles
Moving Time: 4hr 40m
Total Time: 5ht 53m
max Speed - 38mph
Avg MOv Speed - 15mph
Feet Climbed: 3,647
Max Gradient: 9.7%





Friday Morning Training






Friday mornings are just so much easier than the rest of the week. There is no need to hit the snooze button as I instantly have that Friday feeling knowing that the end of the week has arrived and get out of bed with an extra spring in my step.

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous morning with four turning up for a workout. Started with a fairly steady downstream swim for about 20-25 mins then a quick rest. We passed the resident local heron who likes to keep a low profile just back from the river's edge and then swam through a bevy (apparently this is the correct collective) of around 30-40 swans. I was fairly careful to keep the splashes to a minimum as after experiencing 1 swan attack me before it would be pretty unpleasant for all of this lot to come after me so the less provocation the better.

We stop to turn around at the water inlet between Marlow and Bourne End and have a quick rest before heading back against the current.

I increased the pace on the way back and swam sets until the end using strokes and alternating between hard and steady. It is amazing how much quicker the swim goes by if you can keep your mind working on calculating sets and keeping track of your stroke count.

I was aiming to catch some of the others guys that were swimming this morning but wasn't quite fast enough. Maybe a little less rest next time and I will have a chance!

So nice to swim out in the open with the sun shining - good times!




Thursday 5 August 2010

23% raised - Must Find More Money...

http://www.justgiving.com/pinnacle-3-peak-cycle-challenge


Nearly There

Not too far to go now before the big event and the plans are coming together.

The route has been prepared and plugged into the sat nav we have got for the bikes. It wouldn't be much fun navigating by map every other mile! I have painstakingly calculated the route so that the ascent isn't too bad going into Snowdonia. Despite my efforts we still have to climb around 6,500 feet most of which is on the final day when we will be pretty knackered.

We have a final long training bike ride on Saturday morning where we hope to test the sat nav out and do at least another 60 miles. I have even bought a new cycling top so that I look the part!

The accommodation is now all booked and we have a support kayak courtesy of Lake Windermere Canoe & Kayak and Gill who will be putting up with us for the morning.

Starting to get a little apprehensive but also excited at the same time. I hope I have done enough training to get through. Perhaps I should open up a sweepstake on how many times I fall off to raise a little extra money??

Talking of money we are raising money for Naomi's House and have a target of £2,500.

We have hit 23% so need a little more - follow the jump to support us....

This week has been mixed training wise as I had a long weekend away over in N Ireland at a wedding. I still managed to fit in a couple of spinning classes and will be hitting the river tomorrow morning for a steady hour.

Not long...

Monday 26 July 2010

Monday Swim

Around 7k in the lake tonight with Heath. Felt good and was nice to be swimming in the rain. Shoulders holding up so looking good to do Windermere. There has been some talk about the lakes up north being pretty cold so we are now wondering how we will cope in c. 15 degree water for around six hours!

Did a lunchtime spinning session too which I haven't been to for a while so that was a shock. Supposed to be hitting the road tomorrow morning for a 90 min ride. Praying for rain. ;-)

money back guarantee

We Have Support

For the swim it is incredibly important that we have a support kayak with us in order to make sure that we are safe and also to ensure that we stop regularly to drink and eat to keep the energy levels up.

I contacted Gill at Windermere Canoe and Kayak who will kindly be our support for the swim which we are incredibly excited about.

This now makes Heath and I their number one fan and you all must stop there next you are around!

Many thanks to these excellent people and especially Gill!!

Windermere Canoe Kayak

Steady Week


Steady week last week, a few swims in the river but no biking at all.

Sunday 18 July 2010

Sunday Cycle - 61 miles 18/7/2010

As this was our nominated main training weekend we were committed to do a long cycle on the Sunday the day after our long swim. Aching limbs were pulled from beds and we left from Marlow with the aim of doing around 60 miles at 8:30am.

I had learnt from my previous outing and took with me 2 bottles, 3 x energy gels, 1 x kit kat and 1 x banana. I taped the banana and an energy gel to my tri bars and soon found out that with the banana that this was not such a good idea as the vibrations from the road quickly freed it from the tape and I had to be quick to rescue it from the impending doom of being crushed under my tyres. This was another good lesson which I am sure will stand me in good stead in life...when taping bananas to your tri bars use lots of tape!!

The ride started smoothly and we were feeling good and not suffering from the swim the day before. We were stopping every hour for food and energy gels and generally feeling good. We were doing a fair amount of climbing and at around 30 miles in I started to feel absolutely knackered. At this stage I went into survival mode and told Heath that we should stop off at the next pub for a longer break (well it was after 11!). I knew that about five miles up the road was a decent pub in Christmas Common where I could have a lemonade and rest for 15 minutes. We pulled in and Heath realised that the driveway of the pub had gravel (which does not agree with skinny road tyres) so slammed on the brakes and managed to just get unclipped. This all took me by surprise and as I was about a metre behind Heath also slammed on my brakes and pulled a front wheely (the kind you see those 10 year old kids do on bmx's with the back wheel in the air). Whilst I may have looked pretty cool doing this problem was that I was still clipped into my pedals and have historically had a lot of trouble getting unclipped which has resulted in me falling off my bike (whilst still being attached) in very public places. So there I was with the brakes on, back wheel a couple of foot in the air thinking that it was going to happen again when I amazingly managed to unclip my one foot, control the landing of the bike and not feel off. This would have been all worth the effort except the pub was not yet open. Instead of a refreshing lemonade with ice and and a slice we had to accept filling up our water bottles from the hose laying next door to the pub dog's water bowl. Classy.

After the refreshment break we rode onto Henley with heavy wind and rain in our faces which made for an unpleasant ride. Heath tucked in nice and close behind me and was happy to slipstream me along the Fairmile at which point he was also starting to feel knackered.

We cut up to Hambleden for the last climb of the day and stopped for lunch at the Royal Oak pub one mile from home. A big lunch was required and a steak burger with chips and pint seemed to fit the bill nicely. I was extremely disappointed to find out that the burgers did not come with lids!! The waiter did not really see the funny side when I asked when my lid would be coming.

After the final mile was done the watch registered 61 miles! Not a bad weekend's work.

Stats:

Distance: 61.24 miles
Moving Time: 4hrs 18 mins
Max Speed: 37mph
Avg Speed: 14mph
Elevation Gain: 4,209 feet
Max Gradient: 11.7%



Long River Swim




Heath and I have been doing most of our swimming training either in the river in one hour sessions or over at Westhorpe Lake in Marlow. The longest we had swam to date was around 5 laps of the 1.5km loop in the lake making that a total of 7.5km in around two hours. Lake Windermere is 10.5miles therefore we needed to practice a long swim and chose to swim a stretch of the river Thames from Cookham to Marlow which is around 4 miles.

We were kindly assisted by my sister, Vicky, who paddled a canoe in front of us clearing the way and alerting rowers to our presence. Vicky was also responsible for ensuring that we kept to a regular feeding pattern as we were looking to stop every 30 mins for a quick drink and every 60 mins for food.

Feeding will be an important part of the Windermere Swim as it will be essential to keep energy levels up. It is not overly easy to eat in the water so you have to fairly sensible in your food choices as a chicken sandwich could soon end up being rather soggy! We opted for bananas, raisins, chocolate and energy gels. All of which was easy to eat and was looked forward when we knew that the next feeding slot was approaching.

We entered the water at The Ferry in Cookham at 8:10am and the first two hours went smoothly. So smoothly in fact that we were travelling much quicker than I had predicted as the stream was not really slowing us down too much as it was particularity weak. I took us about two hours to get to the point where we normally train from in Marlow and were faced with the decision as whether we stayed in the same stretch of water in order to try and reach the four hour mark or push on up past Marlow which would mean navigating a lock.

We opted for the latter and proceeded up to Marlow lock watching out for boats which by now had made the river a lot busier. Fortunately it was quite easy to climb out and carry the canoe for Vicky round the lock (well we are gentlemen!!) and plop back in the other side and carry on. I cannot begin to describe the bemused looks that we got walking past the locks with our wetsuits on. A number of people thought that we must be swimming the length of the Thames but were all interested in what we were up to.

We then went past the Compleat Angler and past Higginson Park where there were even more people pointing and asking questions to Vicky in the support boat. It was quite funny to see everyone's reaction especially when joggers running alongside the river bank just stopped dead when seeing us in the water. This passed the time for me but I was a little surprised at the fuss.

We went from Marlow up to Hurley lock and after a final feed turned round (this time downstream) went back through Marlow and navigated the lock for the second time. More questions from boat owners going through the lock and after diving in the other side we ended with the traditional sprint finish to the jetty. Vicky didn't realise what we were up to as she was (rightly) more concerned about us not being run over by the steamer heading directly for us. Vicky manoeuvred the canoe to head me off and direct me into the bank but seeing that Heath was getting away from me, I dived under the canoe and carried on the race. I just thought my sister was dishing out some traditional sisterly and looking to give Heath the advantage! The steamer eventually saw us and steered to the other side so all's well that ends well. It is a good job that we are not competitive eh?

We swam 7.5 miles mostly against the stream in 4 1/2 hours. We were really pleased with the trial long swim and this is easily the longest I have swan in one hit. The stream probably added on another couple of miles so not too far of the Windermere target.

Special thanks to Vicky for manning the support canoe and doing a fantastic job and Mum for support from the river bank.


47 Mile Bike Ride - Sat 10/7/2010

Having realised that I need to up my mileage on the bike given that the challenge is now nearly a month away I set out this morning to do a 40+ mile ride. My previous best had been 30 miles. On the second day of the challenge we are aiming to complete 100 miles of riding so I have been some way short of this target to date.

Things did not get off to the best of starts with a puncture before I had even left home but this gave me the opportunity to practice changing my tire (new bike you see) so I will know what I am doing if I have to do this during the challenge. I am sure the pros can fit a new inner tube in a matter of minutes. It took me 15 but I reckon I will be faster next time.

Once fully inflated I set off from Wycombe into Marlow and me with Peter my riding partner for today then up to Christmas Common before dropping down to Henley and back into Marlow via Frieth. I was feeling great up until about 2 hours in and then started to become a bit more fatigued. I am sure that this was due to not taking anything with me to eat and refuel with and will not make this same mistake again. I also had to eke out my water supply as stupidly only took one bottle. Especially stupid as the weather was hot. Another lesson learned.

The last 3 miles were a pretty slow affair and I was pretty chuffed to get home for a sit down after riding 47 miles! I barely had the energy to stand up in the shower but after scoffing down a load of food to replace the energy I felt a lot better.

Good day for learning lessons!

Stats:

Moving Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
Max Speed - 37mph
Avg Speed - 14mph
Elevation Gain - 2,960 foot
Max Gradient - 9.8%




Summer 2010 Challenge


Time to dust off the cobwebs of the old blog and tell you all what we have in store for the Summer 2010 challenge which is now not too far away.

WHAT

On August 13th we are planning to swim Lake Windermee which will be a tough 10.5 mile swim. We will be swimming from North to South (gravity should help) which means we will start at Ambleside and swim down the east side to Newby Bridge. We will then be getting on our bikes for the first leg on the 160 mile bike ride down to Snowdon which we will be climbing to cap off the weekend.
WHO

I will be doing this challenge with Heath Freeman a good friend of mine who was in the same Channel relay team as me last year.

WHY

Why not!? But the real reason is to raise money for Heath's chosen charity - Naomi's House a children's hospice.

FUNDRAISING

If this sounds like a good cause then we would welcome your donations at the following page...


I shall try to keep you donated on some of the training in the lead up to the big challenge.