Sunday 30 May 2010

Latest sponsorship target achieved

We'd like to thank everyone who has donated to the cause for their generosity - we've achieved our latest target of 1500 pounds which is fantastic.

Friday 28 May 2010

1 Week to go...

Until we catch the train to Penzance.

To keep everyone interested in the meantime, here are a few LEJoG facts :-).

The straight line distance between the two points is 603 miles - but to do that you would have to swim parts of it.

The shortest distance by road is 874 miles - but that means taking motorways and the like.  Not a good place for bicycles.

Our route works out at 975 miles - assuming no wrong turns or detours to interesting pubs.

Eric and another friend met Stephen Gough, the naked rambler on his way to John O'Groats.  We were on a day cycling trip from Edinburgh.  We passed him again on the way back.  Mr Gough was arrested for breach of the peace later that day and spent the next week or so in the cells in Edinburgh.

The record for cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats is held by Andy Wilkinson who did it in just over 41 hours in a specially designed recumbent bike.  He also broke an axle along the way that delayed him by an hour.  He held the previous record on a normal bike of about 45 hours but that's now held by Gethin Jones.

The amount of climbing involved obviously varies by route, but 75000 feet seems to be typical.  The good news is that on average it is flat.

Thursday 27 May 2010

Preparing for Land's End to John O'Groats 2010

Sandy and I are planning to ride from Land's End to John O'Groats, starting on June 5th 2010 and finishing around June 18th or 19th or 20th or ...

You can follow our progress via this blog which we will attempt to keep up to date with the odd picture etc.

Preparation has involved fixing up bikes (way harder than it should have been), cycling a few miles and figuring out what to take with us.

The train tickets to Penzance have been bought, the first two nights accommodation booked, the route planned and loaded onto the GPS and a few places to stop and visit along the way identified.

We're doing this for RP- Fighting Blindness - donations can be made on our Just Giving Page
http://www.justgiving.com/Eric-and-Sandy-LEJoG2010

So far we've raised 1400 pounds.