Andy David and John’s LEJOG Challenge

Land's End to John O’Groats in seven days. Easy when you say it quickly over a few beers in the pub! Doing it in 7 days meant covering between 196km and 238km daily; being in the saddle for up to 9 and a half hours every day and climbing nearly 17,000 metres. Straddling our bikes for the iconic Lands’ end photo we really didn’t understand how exhausting the coming 7 days would be. It would all be worth it if we raised £10,000 for  Aspergillosis  and the  Balerno High School Tanzania Project .  Day 1 from Lands’ end to Crediton (196km: 3,200 metres or 40% of Mount Everest!).  All day It seemed there were no flat roads in the south west of England – just climb after climb followed by blind descents. But the excitement of getting started sustained us on day 1 while we each harboured our own worries about the journey.  Day 2 to Ross on Wye (213km: 2,533m).  A considerably less hilly day – though it didn’t feel that way. Was it the climb through ...

DONATE HERE TO BHS TANZANIA PROJECT Bike ready. Fig rolls, malt loaves, gels and protein bars ready. Hydration sorted. More than 4,500 km training completed already this year. So why am I so nervous? On Sunday July 7 th Andy Hoggarth, John Grindley and I will head off on our LEJOG challenge. This wasn’t really supposed to happen. But a beer fuelled pub conversation is about to become very real. 7 days. 1500km cycling. And enough climbing to do Mount Everest 1.75 times.  Kit, nutrition and hydration sorted! No day will be less than 190km. To put that in context until April this year I have never cycled more than 185km and that was once in May 2018. Now I will cycle distances ranging from 190km to 250km for 7 consecutive days.  I don’t remember being this nervous when I set out on my 2,100km cycle on the Wild Atlantic Way over 15 days in Ireland. Is it because the daily distances are much longer? Maybe. Is it because there is so much climbing? Maybe. Is it b...