2 days to go

It's a glorious morning in Devon, the sun is shining, rabbits are gamboling outside my window and I am getting ready to head down to Dartmoor to check out our route (by car today!!). I haven't yet told Helen that I have slightly amended our route from Boscastle so that we go across the edge of Bodmin moor and right through the middle of Dartmoor...

I have been doing a bit of training, well loads if I'm honest, but I have a feeling that it will be me who is struggling to keep up with the turbo-charged Helen - her bike isn't called Jet for nothing. I still haven't picked a name for my bike yet and any suggestions would be great. The names I might choose given a couple of days in the saddle might not be too complementary!!

Hoping to check out the route to the East tomorrow - my family and I had a look at some maps last night and tried out work out some scenic, non A-road, non-killer hill routes. In Devon and Cornwall these seem relatively few and far between.

3 days to go!

I got back from Zambia at 9am this morning and now reality has struck that in 3 days time we'll be starting the ride. Now I am seriously contemplating my sanity levels. Slightly concerned that Yvonne has been busy training for the last 3 months....I might be lagging behind a bit! Check out the blog for updates!

Thanks to Verulam CC helpers

The final countdown has begun with our start date just one week away.

Yesterday I did a thorough test with the Verulam (St Albans) cycle club (see http://www.verulamcc.org.uk/). I joined their 'sociable' group for a ride and they certainly put me through my paces! They are a really friendly, fit, welcoming bunch and if I haven't vowed never to ride a bike again when I get to John O'Groats then I will head back to St Albans for another of their Sunday outings (this time without panniers but with more chocolate).

They also gave me all kinds of helpful tips, like not waiting until I am hungry to top up with food (as if I would), take it easy for the first couple of days whilst you build up your cycling fitness, and carry a spare fold-up tyre as well as inner tubes in case you get a rip. I also worked out for myself that cycling with a hangover isn't a good plan!

So am now ramping up my food intake (hurray) and ramping down my training (double hurray) in preparation for our first day of cycling which will be on Monday 30th.

All in a good cause

Should you be wondering what folly inspired us to sign up for this cycle extravaganza, then have a look at our justgiving.com websites:

http://www.justgiving.com/yvonnelejog
http://www.justgiving.com/HelenLEGOG

Hopefully this will help to inspire me up some of the big hills - I hear Devon and Cornwall are actually the worst bits of the course but hopefully I will have my Mum's home-made flapjacks to help with that too.

Hang on, how far is it....

Have been looking at the maps and it is dawning on me that it isn't quite the same as popping down to the local shop for a pint of milk...will I manage to last the course? will Helen and I still be speaking at the end of it? how many girlies does it take to change an inner tube? could I be the next Lance Armstrong? All these and more will soon be put to the test.

The maps are out....

It's about 3 weeks to go before the big ride starts....we've met up with our maps and decided who is bringing the toothpaste and shampoo! Watch this space for tales of blistered hands and sore bottoms. Oh yes and LEJOG stands for Lands End to John O Groats and we're planning to complete the ride in 3 weeks this summer.