Our Route (updated with elevation data)

Click to see a larger version.

Our Route is now taking shape. The links lead to mapmyroute maps of each day. If anyone can see anything stupid we have done then please let us know.

I have now calculated the total climbing and descending for each day. Interestingly the last day through Devon and Cornwall is the most grueling in terms both of distance and elevation. Even more than going through Glen Coe on day 3. Nice way to finish.

Anquet Maps was used to calculate the data because mapmyride seems to underestimate the elevation change dramatically. The numbers look pretty scary but it does at least give a comparison between the days.

Day 1 Friday 20th John O'Groats - Helmsdale coastal route 53 miles

Ascent 3790ft Descent 3754ft

Day 2 Saturday 21st Helmsdale - Fort Augustus (Just North of Fort William) 102miles

Ascent 9234 ft Descent 9181 ft

Day 3 Sunday 22nd Fort Augustus - Inverbeg on Loch Lomond 106 miles (then Ferry to Rowardennan Lodge)

Ascent 11269ft Descent 11362ft

Day 4 Monday 23rd Rowardennan Lodge - Dumfries 111 Miles

Ascent 9167ft Descent 9134ft

Day 5 Tuesday 24th Dumfries - Kendal 96 miles

Ascent 7298ft Descent 7278ft

Day 6 Wednesday 25th Kendal - Whitchurch 118miles

Ascent 5964ft Descent 5847ft

Day 7 Thursday 26th Whitchurch - Stroud 107 miles

Ascent 7354ft Descent 7529ft

Day 8 Friday 27th Stroud -Exeter 114 miles

Ascent 7522ft Descent 7475ft

Day 9 Saturday 28th Exeter - Lands End 141 miles (!)


Ascent 12876ft Descent 12864ft

948 Miles in Total

The two ugly Joglers

Dave and Steve try to look cool...........
but really just demonstrate why men look bad in lycra.

180 mile week

This week I was hoping to do 240 miles by cycling 4 days in a row to work. However due to a top secret mission I have undertaken it was necessary to drive on Friday night. This meant I only managed a paltry 180 miles. Bum.

Fortunately for me, the one day that I didn't ride Bristol was caught up in a Mega thunder storm. The rain was so heavy that traffic on the M4 slowed to 30 - 40 mph due to poor visibility.

I am a little concerned that although my weekly mileage is not too bad it is all made up of the 30 mile each way ride to work. No longer rides. Hopefully next week there will be a chance to fit in a long ride. It would like to do a few 100 mile rides before the JOGLE just for my own peace of mind, to know that I have it in my tired old legs.

My fitness seems to be coming on just fine though. My resting pulse was 44 before my weeks rides and now is at 46 suggesting my recovery is ok. Or at least I think that is what it means. Maybe It means I wasn't riding hard enough. If anyone out there knows about these things perhaps you could correct me. :-).

So the plan for next week is to fit in a 100miler. Anyone want to join me? Company would be good. Even if it is one of the joglers. ;-)

Stroud Valleys

Today's riding was a case of squeezing as much into 2 hours as possible as that is all the time granted to me today by my ever understanding family. Not being a fast guy I decided to see how much accumulated elevation I could get in. Luckily I live just outside Stroud which nestles at the meeting point of 5 valleys. This means there a lot of hills close together as you can see from my elevation trace.
I managed to climb 4286ft in 23.5 miles. For a fat bloke that was quite a work out. If you are the train spotting type then the ride stats are here.

Time for the dishes now.

Harmonious Joglers

Click on the pic to see full size.

What gets my legs pumping

I have already mentioned many of the podcasts I listen to whilst riding but if you are flagging on the bike nothing gets you going like some decent music. Perhaps I should clarify that it doesn't have to be decent at all, it just needs to get you going and that can be anything from some junk on cBeebies to Rock Around The Clock to something trendy and up to date that I have never heard of. I know that I am opening myself up to ridicule here but I am going to list the tracks on my MP3 player that pick me up even when glycogen is low, the wind and rain are soaking through to my bones and I am feeling like Steve. So in no particular order:

Turning Japanese - The Vapours
A Town Called Malice - The Jam
Heaven Is a Halfpipe - OPM
Filthy/Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters
Duke of Earl - Darts
Jump Around - House of Pain
The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Switchback - Celldweller
Jailhouse Rock - Elvis
She's Not There - Santana
It's Gonna be a Beautiful Night - Prince

What do you listen to to get you going when there are still 15 miles to go and you just want to die?

More Podcast plugging

PG Holyfield creator of the fantastic Murder At Avedon Hill podcast has said he will give us a plug in the latest episode due to drop on 23rd April or there abouts. If you haven't tried Murder At Avedon Hill I cannot recommend it highly enough. It is a Murder Mystery set in the fantasy world of Caern. There are vampires, moonbeasts and allsorts thrown into the mix. The podcast is beautifully crafted with a fantastic cast of voice actors and music from Shira Kammen to give it a truly classy feel. You can find out more here.

I would also like to thank Chris Lester of the Metamor City podcast for giving us further pluggage in his last episode. Thanks Chris that was very kind of you. I wax lyrical about Metamor City here

6lbs in 24 hrs

Well this weekend did not go as planned. I was going out for an 80 miler on Saturday then I was going to be cycling into work on Sunday night. Instead I managed 10 miles on Saturday before it became apparent that if I didn't find a loo pretty quick my shorts would be in trouble. From then on it was 24 hrs between the bedroom and the lav. On the bright side as you can see from my skinnyr graph on the right somewhere I lost 6lbs! Of course that is just fluid but it is nice to see the scales saying something less offensive to me. Hopefully I will pile on a few miles this week as I am working nights all week so I hope to get in 180 - 200 miles. We will see.

Night Shift Rogate Ramblings

My training has been going very well this week. I have cycled the 30 mile journey into work two days in succession now and plan to again on Sunday. My knees are starting to complain a bit though so I figure I will play that one by ear.

Like most cyclists I have bits of kit I particularly like so I thought I would review the odd one here or there. So here goes:

Last month I bought a DHB Rogate top from Wiggle on offer (They always clobber me with their email offers and my weak will). It has really surprised me how versatile it is. I have been wearing it with a string vest type base layer under it and it keeps me nice and snug at 0deg C right up to 10deg without getting all boil in a bag. If things do start hotting up there is a full length zip to give maximum ventilation. It is also extremely comfortable, all fleecy inside, with a windproof front, a silicone gripper at the base of the back to prevent ride up and a zip up pocket in addition to the usual 3 rear pockets. One of the nicest design features for me has been that it has a chest pocket designed for mp3 players with a little hole to route the headphones inside. It just has room for my iPod Touch so should fit most players just fine. It really is fantastic quality for the money. It retails at £44 but was £30 on offer and is one of those tops that will be worn from October through to April. I love it!

Resistance Training With the Family

Since the sun has been out the past couple of days everyone wants to get on the bike. We decided to take the two boys, Noah, 3 and J, 1 out in the Chariot. this would be the first time for them to share it on a decent length bike ride. I was concerned that it would be all elbows and bitter disputes over territory however I need not have worried. The trailer seems to send the boys into some sort of trance and they sat there staring at my back wheel.

Well untill Noah started singing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and asking me to fly. I was not able to oblige unfortunately. The harmony continued and a jolly time was had by all. Even old Dad got a good work out. That is quite a lump to haul around the Cotswolds.

Another 70 Miler

I was bereft of imagination today so when given 4 hours to spend on my bike I just rode the same old loop down to Chepstow and back. Here are the details for my training free Joglers to admire.

Malverns Day in the sun

I had a cracking ride today, a bit of on and off road - just the ticket for the cross bike. Below is the elevation profile. It didn't really feel quite as dramatic as it looks, the gradients on the road were pretty easy going. The scenery was mega though, I had a butchers at Eastnor Castle before winding up the West side of the Malverns. I didn't go to the highest bit due to time constraints but Upper Wyche was high enough for me! I then rode along the ridge of the hill, offroad, back down to the A449. Stopping to take in the view and eat for a while at the best bits. The ride home was plain sailing with a tail wind and a friendly roady (Hi Jim) who took it in turns with me to ride on the front back to Gloucester. 66.6 miles (yikes!) and 3800ft of climbing. That belly will be shrivelling to nothing at this rate. Ride details are at Bikely here and at Motionbased here.

Bank Holiday Masochism

Today I decided to just follow my nose. Unfortunately my nose is a sadist. I followed it up 3000ft of climbing in 24 miles. Fortunately, to go with my nose and its sadistic tendancy I appear to be a masochist - cos I loved it! There is little to beat the feeling of grinding up a hill with your heartrate up around 170bpm, the sweat rolling down your face and your legs relentlessly pumping. Endorphintastic!


Now if I can just get rid of the extra 2 stone around my middle I might be able to go a bit quicker.

The Pro's and Con's of Night Shifts

I work nights, just nights and they suck. In a lot of ways anyway - I never get more than 5 hours kip, usually about 4, so I am grumpy, I am less productive, always hungry and will probably die young. Ok not that young I am already a grey paunchy middle aged man but you know what I mean. On the plus side - often the nights are (touch wood) quieter, meaning I can catch up on stuff like studying etc in work time. Also the shifts are longer 10 - 12 hours which means a 3 day week almost makes full time hours giving me much more time to do other stuff. Best of all work is 30 miles away making the commute excellent Jogle training.

This week I decided that I would cycle the 60 mile round trip 3 days in succession. This, for me at least, is quite ambitious. Cycling into work is usually ok but facing 30 miles after a night shift is often not a pleasant thing. Anyway as I am writing this I have failed but with a B+ for effort. The first night was great, I took it easy going in listening to the Fantastic "Murder At Avedon Hill" podcast and the journey flew buy as I absorbed the world created by PG Holyfield. It was a real disappointment to get to work and have to stop listening. This repeated itself on the way home only I ran out of Murder half way home so I put on my "Go man Go!" play list. This certainly works as my average speed went up from 15 mph to 21! I think perhaps I should listen to this play list more often. Unfortunately I was so hyped up from the blast home that I couldn't sleep and after finally getting a solid 2 hours sleep decided to take the car for my second night. Light weight. Fat but light weight.

Update: I am writing this having cycled in for my 3rd night shift and am not looking forward at all to the ride home as I will be riding into a 25mph head wind all the way. Still it is good training for those "the JOGLE is a stupid idea" moments.

This is the elevation profile of my ride to work:

Route to Bristol is here

Route back is here

Further update: I have just got back from my ride home. I was pathetic! It took an hour longer than usual with the headwind, I am surprised I didn't topple over I was going so slow. Off to bed now.

My mate Lance.

Anyone want to hear my Lance Armstrong story? I met him in a shop in Tenerife, he was with Sheryl Crow buying chocolate biscuits and coffee. Once i got over my shock and stalked him round the shop to make sure it wasn't a double i managed to get his autograph and have a brief word. The following year he won his 6th Tour. I can give you all the training tips i gave him if you sponsor us! Bargain.

Click to see full size

by Alison

A clip From Todays 67 miler

A quick clip to demonstrate my double chin and prove that I do actually go out in public dressed in lycra.


Severn Bridge from Nick on Vimeo.

The route can be found here as if you cared...... and here is the elevation profile:

Alarmingly it says I am under sea level as I cross the Severn Bridge!

Quality Cycle Lanes

Here are a couple of examples of how councils across the land are bending over backwards to encourage people to cycle by providing safe, convenient and easy to negotiate cycle lanes.

Pics found at warrington cycle campaign under facility of the month

Shorts

Here I am at work working hard again. The good news is I have managed a 150 mile week. Or at least when I get home tomorrow I will have. It has been a few years since I have done that!

One of my major worries about increasing the mileage in preparation for the JOGLE has been my bum. I know it looks big in lycra - that is not the issue. I don't want to be struggling due to a sore bot when otherwise fit. To that end I have been asking advice from various folk. The general suggestion has been get some Assos F1 shorts. VERY pricey. Also ASSOS Chamois Crème has been recommended to me. I have splashed out on both of these all be it the cheapest Assos F1 shorts - the £70 Unos. My impressions have been mixed.

Firstly the ASSOS Chamois Crème. This was new to me and I felt a bit of a charlie rubbing it on the chamois and er.... other places. The good news though is that it is fantastic. It causes a strange cooling sensation where applied which is not the best when starting a ride at -3deg! However the cooling sensation soon goes and the cream feels great. I could definately ride for longer whatever the shorts with the cream applied. I would heartily recommend it to any one looking to cycle long distances.

Now the shorts. I have done a mini group test of the shorts I use:
Assos F1 Uno about £70
Briko Katana about £50
DHB Earnley Bib Shorts about £30

Firstly I have my trusty Briko Katana Viper Bib shorts. They are about £50. I have been using these for the past year and am very pleased with them.

The lycra feels high quality and shows no sign of wear after this time. They also fit beautifully. No ripples or loose bits. The chamois is a one piece formed synthetic thingy. It works superbly especially with the ASSOS Chamois Crème applied. Of all my shorts these are the ones that provide me with the most comfort. I have riden 5 hrs without an issue.

They have a low front which is great for calls of nature and a mesh back for moisture transfer. The only minor niggle is the reflective Briko Logo is starting to lift in places.

Next Up are the Assos shorts. They Ooze quality, the workmanship is clear and it is easy to see why the cost a bit more. When first pulling them on they feel like a high quality piece of kit and again the fit is superb. The chamois is a multi layered affair and is said to be the secret to Assos legendary comfort. Unfortunately for me I was very underwhelmed by their comfort. I suffered aching bum bones after 2- 3 hours in the saddle. You will know what I mean if you ride bikes! The shorts just dont measure up to the cheaper Brikos. At least for me. I will keep trying them and see if breaking them in a bit more helps.

These shorts, similar to the Brikos have a low front and mesh back. They look superb, I certainly felt quicker wearing them. Shame it wasn't true.

Lastly are the much cheaper DHB Earnley Shorts. Whilst their build quality is understandably not a match for the Assos shorts it is not far off the Brikos and they really do have an excellent feel and fit for such budget shorts.

The Chamois is a one piece synthetic affair similar to the Briko's but not quite as effective. In terms of pure comfort these do not match the Brikos but very suprisingly do, for me at least, match the Assos shorts. DHB somehow work wonders at such low prices.

I have also tried their padded bib tights and they too are fantastic at very low prices.

My conclusion from all of this is that I will probably Buy another pair of Briko shorts before the Jogle but for everyday riding the DHB shorts will do me just fine. I will not be splashing on Assos again in a hurry but they will get my hard earned for their Chamois Crème. It may be that my large wobbly bottom is different to other folk because I am aware that my conclusions are at odds with other reviews out there. However I don't think you can go far wrong with the DHB offerings no matter the shape of your rump.

Back In The Saddle again.

It is great to be over my "bug " and in the saddle again. I was getting a little stressed at missing a week of riding if only because the unlistened to podcasts were piling up. I have found podcasts to be the best training aid I have ever used. The 2 hour ride to work this evening just flew by. Here is my playlist for the ride in:
1 Scott Sigler's Nocturnal
2 The Daily Mayo
3 Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff's Transistor Rodeo
4 Twit's Jumping Monkey's

On the way home I have lined up:
3 episodes of The Daily Giz Wiz and 3 Episodes of Buzzout Loud Then I may resort to some music to give me the kick for the last 10 miles home.

It still amazes me that this stuff is all free. There are some amazing news and entertainment podcasts out there. Twit.tv does a wide range of tech related podcasts, Free audio Novels can be found at Podiobooks and if short stories are your thing checkout Pseudopod or Escape Pod. There is always something to listen to. Absolute favourites of mine are The Metamor City Podcast , Mark Kermodes Film Reviews which includes hilarious rants and bickering between Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo(The reviews are pretty spot on too In my opinion) , anything Mike Bennett puts out and of course JC Hutchins , Scott Sigler and Mur Lafferty

If you get saddle sore, aching legs and generally fed up with training I prescribe podcasts. I have found myself riding an extra few miles many times just to finish the podcast before I get home. I suppose I should point out though that many may feel that wearing earphones whilst cycling is not condusive to safety and I guess there is a point to this. However I find that so long as the earphones are not noise cancelling I hear traffic just fine.

Anyway coffee break over - back to work.