Stage 10

Seems hard to believe that the ride is starting in under 3 weeks from now. My training has very definitely wound up a notch or 2 in the last few weeks.

80 mile plus rides now seem quite normal and I seem to be coping with fairly strenuous efforts on consecutive days. That said the most I have attempted is 60 miles one day and about 100 the next. It may sound trite but there is no doubt that it is the last 40 (or 30,20 or 10) of a 100 mile ride that is the hardest. Shame there is no training method that lets you go out for 2 hours and ride just the last 30 miles!

But it's getting too late to be concerned about my state of preparation. I'll just have pretend I'm a football manager and take one day at a time, Brian.

I'll be taking inspiration from the GB Olympic cycling team of course. Spoilt for choice there. Not that I profess to have anything like the speed of Jason Kenny, the thighs of Chris Hoy, the exuberance of Laura Trott or the sheer amazing talent of Bradley Wiggins. Hope I don't have the bad luck of Victoria Pendleton either. What was that all about, relegating her when she was simply trying to stay upright despite her opponent's best efforts to elbow her off the track?

And that inspiration won't just come from the 2012 squad. Today I had the privilege to find myself riding with Phil Baynton. If that name isn't immediately familiar it is probably because he comes from a era of British cycling when the science of "marginal gains" was unheard of as was celebrity (well, apart from Tom Simpson perhaps), money and advertising endorsements. Nonetheless Phil Baynton had a very successful career as a pro cyclist, both in the UK and on the super tough Belgian scene. The highlight of his career though was finishing 4th in the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Today he was just another rider in the 100 mile sporttive I rode in the Cotswolds. About my age, but he looked a lot younger. A group of 4 of us formed on the road for no better reason than we had started in the same group of 50 and were riding at the same pace. We each take a turn on the front for a minute or so while the other 3 recover in the front man's slipstream. Then the pacemaker pulls over and drifts to the back of the impromptu 'team'.  It's called riding 'through and off' and has the dual benefit of being very efficient and also sociable.

Anyway, the 4 of us rode the last half of the ride together and as we talked it emerged that one of us had quite some history. He spoke about  his career of course and so very nearly getting to the Olympic podium, but also about the events which overshadowed the Games and everything that year. It will be recalled that these were the notorious Olympics where 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were massacred by a group of Palestinian terrorists. Phil was still clearly affected by what he saw with vivid memories of the events, mainly centered around the person on the roof attempting vain to negotiate with the terrorists.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons I love cycling. It is a huge leveller. It makes no difference who you are or what you do, or what you have done in your previous life. The person riding beside you could be a knight of the realm or an ex-con. You are in the moment and all that matters is getting up this steep climb, getting safely down a long twisting descent on potholed, gravelly roads, or sheltering in a large group as you batter against a horrible headwind on a long, flat exposed section. All you need is for the other guy to take his turn on the front for a few minutes more until it is your turn again to pull the group along.

Stage 9

The day of reckoning has dawned. Until now all I have known is that one month from now I will be riding the length of the country in 9 days. It doesn't sound too bad if you say it quickly.

A few hours ago the precise route maps were released by the organisers of the Ride Across Britain and I suspect that scattered around the country there are 600 rather stunned people at present.

Day 1 Lands End to Okehampton via Bodmin Moor. 108 miles with 4783 ft climbing.

Day 2 Okehampton to Bath via Dartmoor, Cheddar Gorge and the Mendips. 110 miles with 4284 ft of climbing.

Day 3 Bath to Ludlow via the Forest of Dean. Only 99 miles but 5439 ft of draggy climbing I know well from training rides.

Day 4 Ludlow to Manchester via Wenlock Edge and most of Cheshire, perilously close to the scenic East Lancs Road I fear, 106 miles and 3303 ft of ascent.

Day 5 Manchester to Penrith past Wigan pier. through Preston, Kendal then over (gulp) Shap Fell. 104 miles with 5252 ft of Pennine upness.

Day 6 Penrith to Glasgow through Carlisle, eloping to Gretna Green then past lots of places I only know from James Alexander Gordon reading the Scottish football results. 100 miles on the nail and och aye 3353 ft which will not be going doon.

Day 7 Glasgow to Fort William. I had to read this one twice. The queen stage indeed. A massive 127 hilly, desolate miles culminating with the oppressive Glen Coe and camping at the foot of Ben Nevis. The biggest climbing day at 6017 ft.

Day 8 Fort William to Kyle of Sutherland along the Great Glen, perhaps a sighting of Nessy? 111 miles and 5301 ft of grind. 

Day 9 Kyle of Sutherland to John O'Groats. So far away and I am sure so very tired. 104 miles, 4140 ft of which is upwards. 

Total 969 miles and 41,872 ft - 8 miles high

Will you excuse me - I'm just going for a little lie down...