Day 2

The most enjoyable day I think I (Steve) have ever had in the saddle. Glorious weather (Zebra tan), stunning scenery along a rugged coastline and monster climbs all day. Don't think Lee will agree re the hills and their steepness.
Set off from St Agnes at 9am and headed for Newquay. It tested us all fo the first hour or two with constant climbing. At Padstow I decided on a detour and the Camel Trail cycle route, which slowed our progress a little. Stopped for lunch overlooking Bodmin Moor and had Cornish Pasties all round (as we were about to leave the county). Cut inland and headed for Launceston. Made it to the B and B for 5pm with Lee looking for a new set of lungs and legs. But he lad did well and we spent a lot of the day allowing im to dictate the pace.
Met another End to Ender just outside Launceston and he's taking 18 days for his.
Totally loving this adventure and for some strange reason, I loved the hills today.
Denis has just left for he village pub, so I'm expecting there will be bunting and a brass band laid on by the locals after last nights saga!!!!!
Take the mick out of Denis, but his support driving and all it includes is first class. They (Denis and Jenny)are there at the side of the road, either handing out drinks or video camera/ digital camera in hand. Kev's going great and it's wonderful to see him riding with a huge grin on his face.

The day started with a lot of faffing (mostly by me, Kev) Weather was not good with a lot of sea mist which kept visibility down. We got all the photos, signed in at the Lands End Hotel then we were on our way.
I was pretty emotional at the start, Carla would have given me a slap, so decided to put my head down and just get on with it.
As we cycled towards our half way break the weather started to improve, we rode down into St Ives with the sun out and lovely blue sky. St Ives was packed, found it difficult to find somewhere to stop for a bit of lunch, eventually found a little place out the way. People are generally very supportive but some think we have almost finished....one more day, they shout......maybe that was because we were going in the wrong direction....sat nav decided to do its own thing...or was it because Steve had fixed it to his bike backwards? Who knows, but we made it eventually to St Agnes, having done an extra ten miles. We are staying in a lovely B&B called Kimberely..really lovely. We went into town to the nearest pub/restaurant, although Denis and Jen had gone ahead. We walked into the pub and received a round of applause...very embarrassing, who knows what Denis had told them, and as Steve pointed out, his postman had probably ridden further than us that day.
Tough day ahead today, very testing hills and the miles increase considerably.

Day 1

Penzance (eve before the start)

Arrived safely in Penzance after stress free 6hr drive down. Booked into Faulty Towers with Basil. I (Steve) ate a banana every time I spotted a significant hill South of Bristol. Got through 4 bunches and found myself swinging (like a baboon) out of the car when we arrived. Wish I had packed blinkers, it's either up or down, playing on my mind.
Took a walk around Penzance and had a quick coffee whilst we waited for Lees train to arrive at 5.30.
Passed a weigh bridge as we were walking near the sea front and had to climb on, me being the groups fat cyclist. Be interesting to see how much I lose by JOG.
Pics include Lee arriving, weigh bridge and 1st days nutrition. Off out now for more Food!!!!

Ready to travel to the start line

Well, it seemed like we had ages left and suddenly it's crept up and here we are setting off in the morning. (Steve) Opted to ride with the clubs social group this morning and it was a very gentle pace. Lots of stop starts too, as there was a fella with us called Flat Eric (Just the name I gave him due to puncturing several times). Been rushed off my feet with last minute arrangements. I have still got to pack, eat and then reroute the Gramin Sat Nav for parts of days 3 and day 11.
Poor Lee's last few days have been a nightmare and it didn't look like he was going to join us on Friday night as baby Eze was taken into hospital. Just spoken to him and the little fella has picked up and came out after 24 hours. So looks like we will be back to a three now. Lee's had no riding in the past week and will naturally be a bit rusty come Tuesday.
However, it's Kev who has had the biggest problems leading up to the ride. He can't decide what type of conditioner to pack (oh, to have hair).

Liverpool Womens Hospital

I (Kev) had an emotional return to the Liverpool Women's Hospital this morning, for a photo shoot for The Liverpool Echo with some of the Nursers. It was lovely to meet up with Chris Webster again the MacMillan Clinical Nurse Specialist, who deserves a medal for the amazing work that she does. She was fantastic with Carla.
Carla always talked about Chris.

Wax or Shave, you decide

Lee called before. The London boy has gone under the blade, he's shaved his legs in preparation for the big ride. We will look like a pro team now, with shaved legs, matching kit, top bikes and a fancy support car. Pity Lee still has his stabilizers attached!

Feet First

(Steve) Had an appointment with the chiropodist at 5.40, wanting my poor feet to stand up to the millions, yes millions of pedal revs in the next two weeks. Sheila Morris did a wonderful job and now I'm not so concerned about my toes giving me so much pain.
Chatted to Sheila about what lay ahead and what the charity is all about. Couldn't believe it when I came to pay up and she told me to donate her fee to the charity.
Thanks a lot Sheila, fantastic generosity.
A plug is the least I can do and highly recommended - Sheila Morris Chiropodist/Podiatrist, Aughton Surgery.

Loverly Lady

I (Kev) went into Ormskirk this morning to go to the Bank and as I locked the car a lovely lady on crutches came over to me and asked if she could sponsor our ride.The kind lady had seen the charity on the car and said that she had heard me on the radio.
She wanted to put some money into my bucket. I explained that I didn't have a bucket for her donation, so I gave her a Blog card and told her about our Blog and about the link to our Just Giving site. With help from her Daughter, she said she would be happy to sponsor us through Just Giving. I told her about Carla and she then shook me by the hand and said "you are doing an amazing thing"
I asked the lovely Lady for her name, unfortunately I didn't write it down, so typical me, memory like sieve I forgot it! If that nice lady reads this, I am very sorry for forgetting your name.
Bless you.

Queen's Park School Involvement

The St Helens Star arrived today to take some snaps of the children, Kev and I with the car. They should be publishing an article within the next week or so about the ride. The pic with this post is Mr Curran's attempt and not the Star's photographer's work.
The children were really excited meeting Kev and having their pics taken with the support vehicle. There's an own clothes day on Friday to support the charity and also a raffle being organised by the 'Friends of Queen's Park'. Kev and I have decided to open up a competition to all pupils who can have a go at guessing the exact miles we will cycle. The closest or exact guesses will be placed in a hat and will win a prize.
This time next week we will be in Penzance preparing our bikes and ourselves for the challenge ahead.
The plan for this week is minimum miles on the bike and lots of carbohydrates, with several early nights.
Can't wait to get started, especially after accompanying Steve D yesterday on his day 5.

End to Enders, end to homer and wanna be end to enders

Met the club, but decided to head South and try to meet up with Steve Diesel from the cycling club(who was on his day 5 end to end challenge). Kev got quite irate when I (Steve) couldn't quite get the Sat Nav to navigate out of Ormskirk on the route I'd plotted. After several attempts, I turned it off and relied on Steve Nav. I thought Kev was not happy with me at the start, but his anger built and peaked just after we had crossed the Runcorn Widnes bridge (I thought it was quite funny) as the traffic and main road was very busy and extremely unpleasant. He sounded like Mutley from Wacky Races, cursing me under his breath. His mood totally transformed when I got him to Frodsham and then on beautiful lanes through Delamere Forest. Took a refuel stop at Tarporley, very posh place and a nice cafe.
Headed back onto the A49 towards Whitchurch to meet Steve, who had called a few times. Got several miles up the road, then decided to pull over and wait for him.
Then at the brow of a long climb he appeared, but he had company (two lads from the club). Alongside him were Colin and Pantani (ex famous Italian cyclist) on a tandem. t was no ordinary tandem. It had the Skull and Crossbones flag flying from the back (The real Marco Pantani Christened himself el Pirate) and a white balloon flying high, attached by string. Upon closer inspection, they had insulation tape making allsorts of holders and cages. Sun cream, after sun, tools, tyre glue etc..... We set off with them and had a wonderful ride, which included a stop at a garden centre in Cheshire for fancy deserts and coffee. On to Stockton Heath, Warrington, (where we passed the stadium whilst a game was on), Ashton, Haydock, Billinge and home. Miles clocked today 89. something (not exactly sure, as I turned the Garmin off early on). Picked Steve D's brain and got great advice. Best of it was, "You will have all day to make it to the next B and B, so chill out and take all day if you want". Feel great after a Protein shake, shower and pasta. Scorching day today and so important to drink. Think I used 6 water bottles on the ride. Got 50 miles in yesterday too. Tapering training this week and eating lots of carbohydrates in preparation for the start in 8 days!

This Is It........

This time next week will be our last day in our own beds before embarking on a madcap adventure from Lands End to John O Groats. I'm (Lee) already knackered thinking about it. Tried to get out today for what I hoped would be a decent prep ride but god it was hot, not helped by Ava keeping me up all night with a temperature of 39.6. She's OK now. Anyway did my usual trip to Richmond Park and went round and round until my limited sleep deprived strength gave out and I headed home. Only 55 miles. Actually got out yesterday morning too for a quick 25 miles before breakfast. Hope it's not so hot next week. Hope you boys got out and honed those riding skills to the maximum...remember you promised you'd wait for me.......happy days

Support Car

This is the lovely BMW M5 that Phil Jones of Halliwell Jones has very kindly provided for us to use as our support vehicle.

Lord Lucan Appearance!

Very good Kev. How did you manage to get a shot of us two with hands on hips at the same time?
Here's the official shot for the papers etc.....
No Photoshop software would be good enough to improve these terrible mug shots.

Polo Shirts

I (Kev) picked up our polo shirts that will promote our ride from the printers today, when I presented them to Lee and Steve they looked a little disappointed, maybe I should have ordered theirs in Pink!!!

Very Sociable, Social Ride

Dilemma today was, which ride to go out with???? Chipping with a mix of the race group and B's, never a good mix, as it constantly splits the bunch. Or the only other option was head out with the Social Group. We (Kev and I) opted for the later and had a most enjoyable ride. It was so relaxed and leisurely that we were able to chat throughout the ride, rarely do you have enough energy to chat constantly on a club ride. I even spotted Andy popping into a newsagents in Churchtown and still get back on the group. I must add that he was purchasing a drink, not the Sunday newspaper that I first thought he'd gone in for.
The route took us on some wonderful very minor roads that I didn't know existed around Hesketh Bank and Tarleton, then again through towards Bretherton.
The weekend has clocked up about 90 miles at quite a gentle pace. We had to do something to stop Lee falling further behind!
The picture was a reference to a socialable bike for a Social Group ride. Or it may be what we need to enable Lee to keep up. As for Downhill Danger, didn't you know Lee, my bike handling skills are from many years practise? Or is it that fat cyclists roll downhill much faster?

Eze does it....

This is Eze at Ava's 5th birthday party yesterday. He was surrounded by screaming kids, yet the boy Eze finds a way to chill out and get some much needed shut eye. This is something I should have done (Lee) instead of staying up last night watching TV.....this was because today I went for what I was hoping to be a long ride. I haven't been out on the bike for two weeks and I could feel it. I was all over the place but managed to do 70 miles in the end, if not a little slower than I hoped. I was knackered at 40 miles but kept at it.....slowly...until I reached the 70 mark. Hoped to do a little more but no legs. Two weeks out not a good idea at this stage but no real choice. Hey hum. Kev and Steve, or as I like to call them, Up Hill Flyer and Down Hill Danger respectively, will need to keep me on their wheel best they can or its a long ride on my own come 1st June. Happy Days.

Gentle ride

Had quite a leisurely ride out with Kev today. Either that or I'm not feeling the hills as much as I was!
Still, an enjoyable day, apart from Kev experiencing a bit of a mechanical problem which caused his headset to crack and creak constantly. However, a quick pit spot at H. Middletons and Matt's swift work had the fault sorted.
Even though I feel that I'm finding some sort of form, I still spend a lot of time with Kev up the road (especially on the inclines).
Was sent a plan of the car decals today from Paul and they look absolutely brilliant, picture to follow once the job is done.
All these sacrifices continue until the ride is over. That includes another early bed tonight, seeing it could be a long club ride in the morning, weather and plans permitting.

LIVERPOOL ECHO

There was a brief article in todays Liverpool Echo about the ride (p.15). Hope to get a longer piece in during the next two weeks with a picture included.