Getting Ready for Another Ride

Another summer, another destination, another group of riders, but I'll be there, so the same protagonist.

Thee are lots of changes. First, my training for my new ride hasn't been up to snuff. I was planning on a week of hard prep before my ride started, but got sidelined by a head cold after I rented a bike ... in England. Which brings me to the heart of the matter.

I was traveling to England for a family celebration ... the 40th birthday of my nephew Oliver became an occasion for a family reunion on my wife's side of the ocean. Why make that long journey from Hawaii to England just for a birthday party, even if Oliver's 40th was a grand occasion? So, silly me, I signed up for a small bike ride across England ... the long way. From Lands End to John O'Groat, (commonly acronymed as LEJoG) which means starting in the far southwest corner, down near Penzance, and ending up about 1000 miles later, in the far northeast corner of Scotland, north of Inverness. 1000 miles, fourteen days without a break, and nearly 60,000 feet of climbing up hills and rolling down the other side on narrow country lanes like only the British could build, along with probably a few miles built by the ancient Romans.

The first couple of days will be the hardest, I suspect. Cornwall has very few miles of level road, and lots of big, steep hills. I will tackle them on a rented bike, riding with a couple of dozen others, all guided by Peak Tours. At least that means that I've got hotels, B&Bs, or hostels waiting at the end of each day, and lots of opportunities to stop on a hilltop to survey the landscape. So for the next couple of weeks, starting on Sunday, July 16, watch here for a bicyclist's view of Great Britain, from the southwest, through Bristol, the Welsh borders, Lancashire, nearby the Lake District, then through Edinburgh and the central highlands of Scotland.

A few things I've already noticed on my rented training bike (in spite of my head cold):  the animals are smaller. I was in Knole Park, in Sevenoaks, Kent, and was surrounded by wild deer, tiny ones who would eat out of your hand if they could. Not likely to see many wild buffalo, or any herds of elk on this journey. Maybe a fox or a hedgehog, or a herd of sheep, instead.

A second thing, something I never thought about ... the brakes on the bike are backwards. The left brake lever works the rear brake because when you are rolling along and have to make a hand signal for a turn, you will usually be signalling with your right hand. If I were riding my American bike, applying the left brake lever could lead to a quick tumble over the front handlebars.

A third thing ... waterproof cycling gear. The chance of making it all the way from one end of Great Britain to the other without once encountering a good rainy day are almost nil. So I've invested in shoe covers, trousers, a jacket, and a helmet cover. I plan to arrive in Scotland in a couple of weeks time looking fitter, and just as dy as I am right now. I'll post blog links on Facebook for those who want to follow along.

Cheerio!