Getting fitter and the importance of maintenance

For the last few days I have started cycling part way in to work each day which means a 5.5 mile ride each morning and evening to up the fitness levels. The first few days were hard work first thing in the morning and as well as cars whizzing by I was being passed by lots of cyclists too. The tables are slowly turning and yesterday and today I have started being the one going past other cyclists so the training is starting to pay off, hurrah.

I noticed the chain wasn't running quite as smoothly today as it has done recently and upon inspection realised it had started to get dust and dirt in amongst the chain grease. This weekend I'll have to do some bike maintenance and clean and re-grease the parts to get things running smoothly. This is after just a few weekends and a week or so of riding. I think perhaps when I pack for the trek this time I might include a little bike maintenance kit with a rag, some degreaser and some chain grease just to keep things running smoothly.

Now that I think about it I remember on the last trek the gearing mechanisms slowly getting more and more clogged up and each day I would lose access to some gears until by the last day I had maybe 3 gears available. Better maintenance as we go this time I think.

Support from NSE

A very helpful chap from the NSE has been in touch with some charity raising advice and has sent out a pack of thing including foldable collection boxes and a couple of nice t-shirts. It took a few minutes before I could figure the origami of folding the money boxes but its quite clever as they fold down again easily. That should help make things look a little more official this time round. I can put the little money boxes out wherever I stop each night.
Thanks Mike

Training begins

So a few weeks ago Steve and I got back on the bikes and started doing a practice route each weekend which follows part of NCN route 4 along the river Thames. It works out at about 34miles which is a reasonable practice circuit. The first ride was hard work but we soon got back into the swing of things and the second time we went out we deliberately pushed harder to see what sort of time we could do. We completed the route in about 4 hours but by the end of it we were exhausted and trying to walk upstairs when we got home was a real challenge.

For a while now I had been remembering enjoying cycling but my heart wasnt really into it. However once I got back in the saddle and we were cruising along the river bank in lovely weather, rowers passing by and the dappled shade from trees as we ate a sandwich at a break point it all came back to me. I'm now really looking forward to the next trek.

First to repair the bikes

The first thing that needed to be done was some maintenance on the bikes. The trickiest of which was after the bike had been completely cleaned and the chain and cogs re-greased I realised the chain was a bit slack. So with a now nicely greased chain I had to remove some links and put it back together. After much wrestling with chain links and getting caked in grease the job was done.

Various other bits and pieces needed doing but the bikes are now running smoothly again and I actually have access to all the gears. For those of you that remember the last trek over time more and more gears were becoming inaccessible. Its certainly nice to have a fully functioning bike again.

Web sites are setup

I finished setting up the charity page and have put some details in there. Online donations can now be made at

http://www.justgiving.com/PaulsCoastToCoast

I've also been busy looking at maps and working out routes. I think i have figured out where we will be going and once finalised I will provide a link to the route on google maps.

Having plotted all the way from Bristol to Kings Lynn it starts to look a bit daunting but we'll persevere.

Here we go again. Bristol to kings Lynn.

So its been almost 2 years and enough time to forget all the pains of the last cycle trek, the hills, the punctures the camping rough and only remember the good times...there were some, honest. Great adventure, great people willing to help, visiting lovely villages and towns.

So I have decided to do it again. The plan is to link up the last trek (Bristol to Land's End) with this one and get a little further up the british isles. We will again be doing the trek for charity and as last time I shall be cycling for the National Society for Epilepsy. I shall shortly be creating a new charity donation page over at http://www.justgiving.com/ and post here when all set for all you lovely people to help the charity.

On 28th August Steve and I will set off from Bristol on the west coast and in 8 days go coast to coast and end up at Kings Lynn.

and so the story begins...