Day 3 LEJOG – Exeter to Portishead

After a good catch up with Jim last night and a few Devon ciders later … David decided to cycle back down the hill!

Got off to an early start with a full breakfast to fuel us up.
Weather today was overcast and sunny spells. Perfect cycling conditions with little wind.
Today was a flat ish 83 miles so we managed to up the average speed and enjoyed the scenic lanes, canal paths and tracks through the apple orchards.

However, as you can see by the photos sometimes the shortest route is not always the quickest!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/507461951

We met up for the second time 3 ‘End to Enders’ on route and was great to hear their plans!

Off to meet Alex and Carla for a catch up, refuel and a pint. Planning to be on the road for 7am tomorrow for a 92 mile hilly slog… The big days on the bike are starting!

Stats to date
Miles : 214
Height climbed: 11,644 ft

Day 2 – Lostwithiel to Exeter

Even though there was band playing directly underneath us last night we heard the first number at 9pm and then slept through the noise like kings!

The usual full works breakfast set us up for the day and our weather luck ran out as we had heavy rain all morning. It was still a warm day and the sun broke through, so we finished in our cycling jerseys.

This was the hilliest day of the ride with 5600ft of climbing. We coped well with the hills but the long distance days will test us. Setting off sharp tomorrow for an 82 mile ride.
http://www.strava.com/activities/145416070

The quaint roads of Devon provided lovely views of Dartmoor and thatched cottaged villages.

Geoff got his Cornish pasty … Which finally shut him up!

Off to meet an old friend of ours tonight and staying in the luxury of a premier inn!

First nights B+B

Little bit on the wet side

Packing the gear!

Sorting the final tweaks to the gear we are taking. Getting all packed ready to set off down to Lands End tomorrow night straight after work.

Doesn’t seem enough to last 2 weeks!

Our panniers weigh 7.3kg, with a total bike weight of 19kg. Then the weight differs dramatically between riders ….

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Thank you all for all the kind donations so far. It has really given us the boost to go for it!
https://www.justgiving.com/WilliamsLeJog2014/

Final route has been sorted

Click on the ‘The Route’ tab at the top of the page to see the final route!
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Lots of goodies have arrived!

Prostate cancer cycling tops, flags and retro cycling cap arrived today!

Going to start getting the gear ready tomorrow and we will post the final route.

Sunny Saturday

Well this was my last ride before LEJOG and time to rest next week as I am sure I will be getting enough exercise over the coming few weeks. Stats today was 62.6 miles with 4307 ft of climbing, so hilly in this heat. The Northumberland scenery was lovely today and I am sure it will take some beating as we travel through the counties on our way North! Good luck to David as he is doing the Chester half marathon tomorrow which I am sure will help his fitness even more.

Training to date

Well all the training is almost done now with David cycling just over 1000 miles this year and i have managed to squeeze in 1600! Hope it is enough!

Check out the strava pages

http://www.strava.com/athletes/1137751 (David)

http://www.strava.com/athletes/279385 (Geoff)

Training ride out after work

Well only 8 days left before we set of on our LEJOG ride and I am starting to get apprehensive wondering if the training rides we have done will stand us in good stead for each days route.

Out tonight on a nice warm and sunny
night made me appreciate the countryside and fingers crossed that we will have some similar days over our two week holiday.

It has also given me a chance to work out how to update this blog on our travels!!

Last big ride together before it all starts

Training ride over the Northumberland hills in preparation for the Cornish section!
Monster 84 miles of climbing

Pre starting LEJOG

After a few months of regular rides and getting used to sitting on the saddle for hours we hopefully will have prepared enough to do this epic ride.
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