Back to the centre of GB

First fast run of the year with the club this week, gave me a useful 42 miles at nearly 19mph. Also decided to have another go at my route around the Trough of Bowland that I had to abandon last week. With the sat-nav set, off I went on Saturday. Great weather, beautiful scenery, peace and quiet. Made it to the phone box in Dunsop Bridge that marks the centre of Great Britain, that was also the 100,000th phone box ever installed! Who said cyclists were boring!
Stopped for a coffee and basked in the sunshine for a while too. This is a picture of the box with the bike I will do my ride on, kitted out for the first time as I will ride it. I have borrowed a seat post pack which will hold all my worldly possessions for 10 days. I set it up and put some weight in it to replicate what it will feel like on the journey. It worked very well, just changes the way the bike handles a bit, but should be no problem.
Put in 107 miles and 5,000ft of climbing plus rode back into a headwind for about 1.5hours, so it was a tough day. Another 200 mile plus week.
The ride gets closer, 25 days to go. I have trained well, over 2,500 miles on the bike as well as a few hours on a turbo trainer. I have sorted out my nutrition for the ride, know what I need to fuel up on during the 10 days. I have planned a route, that now takes me through Wootton Bassett but adds about 50 odd miles. I have trained with the seatpack I will carry everything in.
What's left to do? Just split my route into 10 days, book B&B's, make sure they have somewhere I can store my bike and wash my kit, that they will take in a parcel for me containing all the energy products I will use. Arrange getting to Lands End and back from John'o'Groats. Get my bike serviced, sort some spares and tools to carry. Maybe invest in some different shorts? Used my new club shorts for the Trough ride on Saturday which have left me a bit saddle sore. (Enough detail!). I can't afford to have the trip spoilt by something like that, not after all the effort that has gone into it so far.
I think I need to get busy on the logistics, it feels very close now.

Journey to the centre of Great Britain

Why the phone box? I decided that my target for Saturdays ride would be to visit the exact geographic centre of Great Britain. It is in Dunsop Bridge and the exact spot is marked by this phone box with beautifully etched glass and a placque explaining its unique position. Only this is not my photo. I set off but just after leaving Preston, heading towards Longridge my trusty steed starting making ominous noises. If any of you know the Forest of Bowland area you will know it is one of the least densely populated and most undiscovered parts of the country. In other words, not the place to have a breakdown. So, I headed for home, swapped to another bike and continued my ride to get 100 miles in. Took my bike in to the local bike hospital (or Middletons Bike Shop in Ormskirk), later in the day for some intensive care. Maybe the miles are starting to take their toll!

Another club ride on Sunday took my total for the weekend to just under 200 miles, 224 miles for the week.

Just over 4 weeks to go, really must get around to finalising my route and booking B&B's. I have decided to change the first part of my route so that I can visit Wootton Bassett, but more about that next week.

Collecting football clubs....

No, not the latest game for billionaires trying to outdo each other, but the theme for my ride on Saturday. It's hard to keep thinking of new places to go to get the miles in, so I hit on the idea of visiting football clubs. Set off at 7am to start the day with my own club, Everton, forced myself around the park to visit Anfield. When a taxi driver asked if I wanted my picture in front of the Shankly Gates I politely refused.

Carried on to Wigan, still too early for a pie though, then through Haigh Hall on the way to Bolton. Then the slog over Winter Hill and on to

Blackburn, carrying on to Accrington for a coffee in the sunshine. I did ask a local about the famous Accrington Stanley but he couldn't tell me where the ground was, so I gave it a miss and headed to Burnley which was the furthest I intended to go before heading back to Preston and the National Football Museum as well as North End.

As you can see, I took a picture at each one and you might see the odd one out.

Why have I got a picture of a pub amongst all these football grounds?

Very simple, something that turned a very good day into an outstanding day. Stopped outside the pub, The Turf, just up the road from Burnley FC after visiting the ground. Trying to work on which way to go next, a guy came out of the pub so I asked him which way to Padiham. Not sure, he told me to wait a minute and went back inside. Another guy came out, gave me some directions and recognised my accent. Told him I was from Liverpool, so was he although he was the licensee of the pub. Told him what I was doing as training for a charity ride and that I had started off with my team, Everton. Turned out he was a Blue as well whose name is Larry. Asked me what charity I was supporting, Help for Heroes, when he lifted his arm up and he was wearing a H4H wristband. Some coincidences, but there is more. He then offered to try to raise money in the pub for me which was fantastic. I told him Everton had given me a signed team photo that my local pub were going to raffle. Larry then told me he had a framed, signed Phil Neville Everton shirt that he offered to give me to raise money for the charity. What can I say, just absolutely knocked out by his kindness and generosity.It also turned out his uncle lives about 400m from where I live. If you are ever in Burnley, visit The Turf and buy Larry a pint from me.

As a postscript to the day, when I was 10 miles from home, with 113 miles on the clock my chain snapped. Still couldn't spoil the day though.

Got in another 75 miles on Sunday, which, with one night ride got me over 200 miles training for the week.

Happy Easter - 45 days to go

Easter week meant a longer weekend to get in some extra training. Managed a Tuesday night ride in the dark & wet, realised that it is easier to climb hills in the dark. You can only see the pool of light in front of your wheel, not the road climbing away in front of you. Perhaps if I rode during the daytime without ever looking more than 10 feet ahead I could be a better rider! There's a thought.

Spend Good Friday touring the northwest, climbing Winter Hill again, heading out to Tockholes, Preston and then Southport. If you don't know Southport, its called 'the seaside' but you can see from these photos, one of the pier, the other looking to Blackpool, you're not actually beside the sea, it's miles out there somewhere. I could see the tower at Blackpool but it hasn't come out on

the photo. Despite the wind, it didn't rain and I didn't look at how many miles I had covered. I decided not to look at the mileage, for a similar reason to finding climbing in the dark easier, it seems to make you tired when you know you are near a target mileage. I spend 6 hours out and felt OK when I got home, the mileage? Very happy to find I had done just over 100 miles. Big chinese takeaway with the family on Friday night, no worries about counting calories though.

Sunday was a classic club ride called 'The 7 Hills of West Lancashire'. It simply links up 7 hills in as few miles as possible, making it a tough day out. Good training for all those Cornish hills in the first couple of days. Very competitive too, which means a race up every hill. Went out early and put in 30 miles before meeting the club and then a few afterwards too saw another 90 miles under my wheels.

That gives me my biggest weekly total, just under 225 miles and in the 13 weeks training so far, 1800 miles on the road and another 130 on a turbo trainer. Just 45 days left till day 1 at Lands End, getting close, feeling good and starting to anticipate the challenge.