Ready for the off

Please excuse the lame video I am experimenting with video quality to post from the phone.

All packed and ready to go. This past few weeks have been a bit tense for me as I have been trying to pass my Part 3 exam to become a driving instructor.

Today I passed! Which means i can look forward to giving up the night shifts and start planning a new career on my return from the JOGLE. It also means I can enter the JOGLE on a high.

I will be off to Exeter Airport tomorrow to meet Dave, Steve and Pete from Iron Bridge Runners, then it is up to Inverness. Here we get a hire car up to John O'Groats and then B+B for the night before starting riding on Friday whilst the galant Pete returns the car and flies home. Cheers Pete!

Techno Packing

Not long to go now so I thought I had better make sure I could fit everything in. It is quite a juggling act deciding what to take and what to leave behind. I had to bring some technology as 9 days without the internet is going to be a challenge on its own.

I have a pocket PC with Memory map installed. This has the whole route on it. Also a Nokia N95 for photos and blogging on the move. Hopefully all pics will be geotagged as they are uploaded to Flickr so folk can see where we were. It will also prove that we are not just in my back garden pretending to be JOGLEing! Also packed is my Garmin Forerunner 305 which will give stats for each day and an iPod nano which will be loaded up with podcasts before the off.

My check list and what you see in the pic below is here . There is probably something vital I have missed. Time will tell...


All this packed down pretty well into the bags I have. There is even a little room left over to squeeze in a few energy bars/drinks etc...

Good Luck Regie and Stuart!

Two other Jogles are starting today. Both of these guys are riding solo and have given us tips and inspiration in the build up to our JOGLE which starts on Friday. So good luck to Regie and Stuart:


Regie Butler of 2008jogle.blogspot.com fame is up in John O'Groats ready to start his Jogle right now! The counter on his site says 17mins to go.

Regie is updating his blog with photos and comments from his phone, so go over to his site and cheer him on.

All being well we should arrive at Lands End on the same day as Regie so may actually get to meet him in the flesh.


Stuart is doing the same, you can follow his progress at End to End. We will be in and around Whitchurch at the same time on the 25th so hopefully we can meet up with Stu then as well.

I am a bit worried that both of these fit guys have 5 days head start on us but we finish the same day as Regie and 2-3 days before Stuart. I hope we haven't bitten off more than we can chew!

Bags for Jogling

After 4 days off the bike I had planned to do a 60 miler today as my last biggish ride before the off. However, due to important procrastination, I was only left with a couple of hours, so I decided to load up the bike as it will be on the JOGLE and make sure I could manage the hills with my current gearing.


I managed to get an excellent deal on an Ortlieb waterproof bar bag to supplement my rack pack. It is a bit larger than I need but it is light and was going for a song. I run with auxiliary brake levers which give more options in riding position, many bar bags would foul the levers but the Ortlieb with an extention piece gives loads of room.

I loaded the bags up with heavier gear than I will be carrying and head off to find some hills. The bike is quite clumsy with all the bags on but that is to be expected. It was still a fun ride once adapted to but I will probably be a bit more cautious on the descents.

The route I took is here . I was delighted with how it went. Maybe it is because I was all rested up after 4 days off the bike but the hills seemed almost easy, no problems at all with the gearing. Infact some roady guy caught my wheel riding up the long climb out of Nailsworth (see top pic). I expected him to come by with a cheery wave but instead I heard his breathing get fainter and fainter as he dropped off my wheel. Nice. He probably only had one leg but I don't care it boosted my ego!

Another couple of easier rides and that will be it. Time to JOGLE!

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

JOGLE Article in Local Press

After losing his father to Alzheimer's disease, Dave Portch has enlisted friends to saddle up and help him raise valuable funds to support research into the disease.Dave and pals, Nick...

Apart from the fact that i haven't had the pleasure of an end to end yet this article seems ok.
It was Dr Steve who rode in 1990.
Also Steve is not a web designer, he's a toilet cleaner.

Reality dawns. Slow and Steady is the way.

The size of the bike ride seems to become more and more apparent as it nears. I have been reasonably pleased with my training - last month I clocked about 720 miles without any twinges. However it dawned on me as I was riding in tonight, that my training is not enough to avoid pain. The 720 miles I did in the whole of last month will have to be covered in 6 - 7 days. Whats more it will include the Scottish Highlands and the Lake District. This is going to hurt.

Hopefully it will be painful in a good, happy sort of way. So much is going to depend on the weather, especially the wind direction, a tail wind can make any ride a joyful experience but a head wind.....

Dr Steve has ridden the length of the country before, in 7 days. He was a fit youngster at the time but even so he assures me that it will be ok if we take it easy.

Taking it easy may well be one of our issues. Traditionally when we cycle together the egos take over and every hill is a competition, every descent a race. If we ride like that we will probably be in the broom wagon after 3 or 4 days. So all heroics will have to be saved for the last few miles of the last day. That is when I will lay the smack down on the remaining Joglers and establish my self as supreme Jogler. Or not.

Jogle Kit Test

On my commute to work tonight I decided to try out my JOGLE panniers setup. I usually wear a Camelbak Ventoux for commuting. This has enough room for 3 litres of water and all my work kit. This is fine for the 2 hours riding into work but on longer 6 to 10 hour days during the JOGLE will, I felt become literally a pain in the neck.

My choice of bike for the ride however has no eyelets to attach a rack for panniers and only one set of water bottle bosses. All of a sudden it was not looking such a wise choice. Initially we had looked at a trailer, this made sense when we were going to camp but since we are now using youth hostels we will not need to lug a tent around with us and so small panniers will suffice. But how to attach them? After a bit of research I stumbled upon Roger's Jogle Blog . Roger had used a very neat looking solution by Topeak. The Topeak beam Rack MTX - A rack that clamps onto the seatpost and requires no attachment to the frame at all. So that is what I, Dave and Steve have all decided upon. (Copycats)

The racks have panniers of varying sizes that have fold down side panniers like spaniels ears to give plenty of storage. I have gone for the Topeak RX Trunk Bag Ex. It justs click into place on the rack. Lovely.

Next I had to work out a way to attach a further water bottle to the frame. After rummaging around in my box of bike bits and bobs I found a rather nifty clamp that allows another bottle to be fitted. Rather pleased with my self it was now time to try the setup out.

The ride to work was in pouring rain and strong head winds so it was a good test of the panniers weather proofness. They seem to be mostly water proof from road spray but when raining hard the zip lets in enough water to be a problem. Luckily I had put my work clothes in recycled shopping bags. It is good to work these things out now.

When at first setting off with the panniers in place the higher center of gravity was quite noticeable, especially when out of the saddle. Happily this was soon forgotten as I got used to the different handling. My only niggle was that on each pedal stroke my thigh just touches the clamp on the seat post when on the down stroke. Again this was quickly forgotten which is just as well because I am not sure how this could be over come. Perhaps thinner thighs are the solution.

All in all it was a quite successful test. Hopefully I am pretty much set now, 2 x 1 litre water bottles should be enough. The only extra I may add is a small bar bag. Finances are stretched at the moment but it may be the final purchase needed. Better ask Alison nicely.

The two ugly Joglers

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

Fat Men Can't Climb

There is a hill near me Called Frocester Hill that runs about 1 1/4 miles in length at an average gradient of about 10%. Nothing too extreme but over the years I have timed myself up it when bored as a very unscientific measurement of my state of fitness.

The last time that I had tried this was about 2 years ago when I was 20lbs lighter. I thought I would have a bash at it yesterday because I couldn't be bothered to do a long ride and well to be honest I was curious. Recently the miles have been piling up so I dared to think that maybe, just maybe I was in olympic form. Unsurprisingly this is clearly not the case.

I managed to climb the hill in 10mins 50 sec at an av heart rate of 165. My previous record was 8mins 30 at an average heart rate of 164. So compared to me I was slow but to really put this in perspective on the climb of Mont Ventoux, a similar gradient but about 10 times longer, the top riders in the world average about 14mph. I am averaging about 7mph. Fat boys can't climb.

Here is my attempt.

Pretty Fly for a Fat Guy

I am rather pleased with my portly self. This afternoon I did my 66 mile Severn Valley loop and knocked 40mins off my previous best - the training must be doing something!

If you have IE with the necessary plug ins checkout the exciting dot race here . Worst thing about Motionbased - having to use IE. If you don't have IE (and who could blame you) here is a map of the route:

I was able to get my heart rate up a lot easier than has been the case so far this year averaging 152 with a max of 194 recorded. I think that might be an error though the highest I saw was 187.

Treed Bitstrips The Jogle!

Treed, the jovial Rottweiler of the podcast chat room has bust a gut and worked out how to Bitstrip a bike! Here are the results:

Click on the pic to see full size and access the rest of Treeds works! Thanks Treed!

Armstrong vs Pantani on Mont Ventoux

Looking for motivation to get on your bike? This clip does it for me:



When the Joglers attacked the hill in 2003 we did the climb in about 1hr 40ish these guys are doing it in about 55mins at the end of a 100+ mile stage. Nuts.

Pics from the Joglers trip here

More about Ventoux here

Firef.ly

You may or may not have noticed that there is a Firefly button on the right of the page. This is a VERY cool new service that does two things. Firstly it shows how embarrassingly rare it is to have two folk on the web site at once. Secondly and more importantly it enables the visitors, on those rare occasions there are more than one, to chat together instantly.

Now this might not appeal as most folk probably wish to stay anonymous, especially if they are seen on our site! In which case you can just ignore it. If however you are feeling sociable and you see that there is more than one person here then click the button on the right and start typing. As easy as that!

Even Techtards Dave and Steve could work it. Probably.

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. ;-)

Really Geeky Tractor Motivation

Struggling on my bike ride home from work the other morning I had another tractor slip streaming session. I had the impression that cycling behind the tractor made life so very much easier. The average speed per mile as shown below in the geeky table bares this out, rising from about 15 - 16mph to 25mph.

It surprised me that my average heart rate went up by over 30bpm as well though. This surprised me because a lot of the time when following the tractor it feels as though I am practically coasting. It is necessary to really gun it when trying to keep the wheel up an incline but then on the flat and downhill It felt as though I was just ticking over giving the overall impression that it was easy.

I suppose this just goes to show how much speed and performance is in the mind. With a bit of motivation I was able to raise my average heart rate to 160bpm in order to stay in the tractors slipstream, where as before the tractor came along I was struggling to get the average up to 130, convinced that I couldn't go any harder. Unfortunately I seem to need a tractor to motivate myself.

Joglers Crummy training Graph

Since we all have super duper Garmin 305 devices i thought I should compile the data to create a highly sophisticated graph detailing just who is the Daddy!

It is clear to see that Dave and Steve are following highly original training plans no doubt designed to maximise blow ups in the first few days. As Mr Dawsey would say You Gotta to have discipline, no bout a doubt it. Verdict - Nick is the Daddy.

Updated: Since Dr Stephen's post I have been able to accurately incorporate his data into our high tech statistical analysis of Jogler training. It appears that Nick is still the Daddy in terms of time on bike but is no longer the fastest. Must be the belly.

PG Holyfield mentions our cause!

If you haven't yet checked out Murder At Avedon Hill you need a stiff talking too. It is quite simply the most immersing and absorbing podcast story out there. Beautifully written, acted and produced, PG and his star studded cast carry you away to a world of fantasy, vampires and murder mystery. This is the into from PG's site:

Lord Avedon has a problem. Generations of Avedons have watched over Avedon Hill and controlled the only pass through the Lantis Mountains. Traditions are important to the Avedon family, but one tradition has tragically come to an end. Gretta Platt, Housemistress of Avedon Manor, has been murdered. A member of the Platt family has always served the Avedons as Housemistress… until now.Only a handful of people live at Avedon Hill, and most are suspects. Arames Kragen, retired Aarronic Advisor and scholar of prophecy, arrives at the gates of Avedon Hill, hoping to gain access to the mountain pass. Lord Avedon is not in a giving mood, however…This is the story of Arames Kragen and his attempt not only to discover who killed Gretta Platt, but also to uncover the truth about a town that apparently has more secrets than inhabitants.

In his latest episode (21) PG is good enough to soil his master piece by plugging our efforts to raise money for Alzheimer's. Many thanks PG!

Tea and Chat - just the ticket

Last week we recieved a donation from Stephen Kilbride. I wasn't familiar with him and his work at the time so investigated. It turns out he is not only a podcast junkie but that he also does his own podcast - "Tea and Chat". It does what it says on the tin - Stephen tries a different type of tea and gives us his thoughts and then moves on to interviewing someone of note and rounds it all of with a film review.

This sort of thing only really works if the guy behind the microphone is any good, many are the podcasts where I have found myself turning off through lack of interest. This is definitely not the case here. Stephen has a great voice for this sort of thing, very easy to listen too and he compliments this with an intelligent and well researched interview, which is also well produced. If the first episode is anything to go by he is going to be getting some superb guests, as none other than Chris Lester of Metamor City fame was the interviewed. Stephen did a great job too drawing out several bits and bobs I had not heard about before.

If you have space on your mp3 player fill it up with a bit of Tea and Chat - you won't be sorry.

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.