Day 3- 54 miles. It wasn't as kneasy as I thought.

So the final day of cycling. I woke up at 6.30am decided it would only be fair to make Jonathan a drink as he had sorted me out the day before. I also made myself a blackcurrant diarolyte, now when I buy the sachets at the chemists I always feel the urge to explain what they are for as I do not want them to think I have diarrhea. I finished off the blackcurrant drink to rehydrate myself from the night before, even before the alcohol I had been quite dehydrated. The simple thing you can do at home to see if you are perfectly hydrated is the Sprite-Lilt-Fanta test next time you are powdering your nose. Lets just say I came in at Fanta and I was hoping for more of the Lilt look. Again we got ready, had a full english and vacated the room, although we left a bit of a smell as the number of protein bars, energy drinks and meat consumed in the last couple of days had taken its toll on our stomachs. We also had a conversation on how much money it would take to go back to Bristol and to start the challenge all over again. I was feeling quite confident and cockily said £250.

Again we got a briefing from the organisers, a few hills some undulations blah, blah, blah by this stage everyone just wanted to leave. So off set the Four Musketeers, now the mechanics had sorted me out a treat; they had added some new brake pads and greased my chain again, it was definitely worth the cup of tea and Pepsi I had got them in the bar last night. We left and on the first hill I felt a twinge in my knee, an old football injury so I took a couple of Ibuprofen tablets to try and mask the pain. It had hurt slightly in the last two hours of the day before's cycling but an Ibuprofen tablet and the alcohol had kept it at bay.

Jonathan looks as if he is struggling

The morning, before the waterstop (as the distance was only 54 miles there was only one stop before Land's End) was quite hilly and after one hill I was actually in front of Jonathan for the first time so I took a picture. Considering he is in his 50s, he was a lot fitter than I will ever be and this advantage didn't last long. As the morning progressed my knee started hurting more and more, like a right Diva I was letting the other musketeers know and getting loads of sympathy. We then came across another two cyclists Mark and Dave (who had previously cycled with Andy on Saturday) so we started cycling as a bigger group and a guy I will refer to as Cornish Pirate (he was wearing a Cornish cycle top and knew the route very well), I think his name was Andrew. We cycled as the Magnificent Seven.

We got to the waterstop which was at the top of yet another hill, we had a few bananas, energy bars, drinks and a pit stop. I was now in need of another Ibuprofen and asking everyone like a crazed druggie, finally someone gave me 'my hit' and the pain reduced. We cycled as a group until we got to Penzance and St Michael's mount where we split up slightly so me and Richard stopped and waited for Mark, Dave and Tariq taking in the scenery, Andy and CP were infront nowhere to be seen. It was here where my knee seized up and from here on (around 16 miles) I really struggled to cycle, the only thing I could do was put the pressure on my left pedal and let my right pedal follow. Mark, Dave, Richard and Tariq were very supportive stopping every so often to ensure I was okay.

St Michael's Mount

With a mile and half to go, along pops Andy who had finished already with CP but came back to cycle the last mile as the Four Musketeers. So we finished at 1.30pm 54 miles over as the Super Six. Yes I had completed 254 challenge, it was a lot harder than I could have ever anticipated and I quickly told Jonathan to make it £250,000 to do the cycle again not £250! I will not lie it was hard especially the last leg and the cause and sponsorship got me through it as I put the pain in my knee into comparison.

Super Six minus Tariq

Lunch was a carvery, we had a few group photos and pics near the signpost. I then met Roy who has a far more technical blogged view of the ride on http://fishneedsabicycle.blogspot.com/

At 3pm back in the coach to Bristol,  the driver was a nutter and at that stage I was thinking if the cycle hadn't finished us off then 'drive' was likely to.

We did make it back and I am in recovery, I might try and get back on the bike tomorrow after three annoying days of rip-off First Bus.

Thanks for everyone who has sponsored me I have still collecting monies and will let know how much all the participants have collected when I find out.

Day 2- 95 miles. Three become Four

Okay so after a good night's sleep I was ready for auxillerating day of cycling.

I was made a coffee in bed by my new roomie, we got ready doing a sniff test of what was wearable from yesterday and met the others for breakfast. It was at breakfast(full english) I let a couple of people know of my interesting/worrying dream, I had dreamt that Saturday afternoon myself and Tariq had got into St Austell first. However further in the dream I found out that I had fallen asleep on my bike and Tariq's bike had fallen apart so it was actual the support vehicle that had taken us to the end. I was therefore hoping this premonition would not come true.

After the briefing for the day the Three Musketeers (Myself, Tariq and Richard) set off from Barnstaple. Saturday was taking in the views of Dartmoor and Bodmin moor. Hence the Three Moors Tour, we had done Exmoor yesterday. The weather was a little cooler than Friday and the morning started on some more hills, joy, my memories of Saturday are a little sketchy as I was thoroughly concentrating on getting through the day.

So I will summarise the highlights
After undulating roads, which I had realised by this stage that it was the organisers code for hilly we got to the first waterstop. When we arrived I was still half asleep so I consumed a few energy flapjacks and jelly babies and I was then buzzing.
The next section we came across was the Granite Way, it is a Sustrans cycle path next to a railway and took us past Dartmoor. It was here I tried taking a photo of the other Musketeers. I cycled in front and whilst riding I turned to take a photo when my chain fell off, I turned back to apply my brakes and nearly fell off the path, I was 3 inches from falling into a big pond named Kingfisher's pond.

We then got to a path which was quite rocky where all the people with road bikes had to pick them up and carry them across, it was this point where I had a grin like a Cheshire Cat, the only time I had an advantage having a hybrid bike with 28mm wide tyres.

About 10 more minutes of cycling we got to start of Cornwall and had picked up another cyclist from the group it happened to be the person I had been next to a dinner the night before so I introduced myself (although I had spoken to him at dinner for a bit I hadn't asked his name) So Andy became the Fourth Musketeer and we spent lunch in Lynford Gorge National Trust who were writing a blog so they took a few photos whilst we were tucking into our Jacket Potatoes.

The afternoon saw some monster hills that the organisers must have forgotten in our briefing, we had now started discussing the best and slowest way of killing them when we got into St Austell. It was also where the catchphrase of the weekend was coined 'Its all down here from here' Whenever we asked any of them on a water stop of how the elevation was from then on we always got the same response. We also decided to walk one hill for about 100 metres because of the saving your legs for the next day. I coined another phrase that 'real men walk' on the basis if someone had told me they walked 254 miles in 2.5 days I would have been a lot more impressed than cycling the same difference, however that was the last only time we walked Saturday. We eventually 'climbed' to Bodmin Moor and had good and bad news, a couple of elderly ladies asked what we were doing so I explained the ride, the cause and managed to gain £5 sponsorship. The bad news I cycled less than a mile, went over a cattle grid and my horn fell off, gutted.

The Four Musketeers got into St Austell at 6.10pm 95miles done Saturday. Again staying in the Premier Inn, which was scary because the room was identical to the one stayed in Barnstaple.  Dinner was served and because 200 miles had been accomplished I could afford to have 3 pints of Tribute and a glass of Red Wine (for medicinal purposes).

After a little football banter with one of the organisers, I went off to bed.

Day 1- 100 miles down as the Three Musketeers

I am back if not a little jaded, bad mistake not taking today off as holiday. Nearly fell asleep whilst undertaking a presentation! Everyone was asking how I was and I could hardly keep my eyes open let alone muster up enthusiasm to describe the weekend. After a couple of black coffees I discussed my adventurous weekend with some and told others I would write a blog.

Now I will let you into a little secret. I called the blog a charity cycle challenge not a charity ride because if I hyped it up a little I would get more sponsorship. I thought it would be relatively easy to get the mileage done as I had cycled similar distances previously, little did I know what I was letting myself in for. That was the actual reason for not booking holiday, I had even planned to cycle into work today.

Most organised people would have looked at the route. I even pasted the elevation on to one of my posts which another participant had kindly worked out. To put into comparison of how hilly the route was and to give you a fact that will come in handy in pub quizzes of the future, Everest is 8848 metres high and over the weekend we climbed 7000 metres.

So I will start the adventure from the beginning. I woke up Friday morning a little nervous, the choice of fuel was four eggs (scrambled), a bowl of porridge and a black coffee. After consuming my petit dejeuner I picked up my pannier set, filled my hydration pack (placing it in my rucksack) and cycled up to the downs. Despite probably living closest to the downs I still managed to be 15 minutes late.

Trust Steed

Now if you read my previous blog I said a suggestion would be for the organisers to hand out stickers to give to people to make it easier to remember participant's names. They went close, they handed out labels for your bike with a emergency contact number and it had your name on. However, the organiser looked for mine and when flicking through I saw the label Louis James. This reminded me of when I was younger and knew a cheat on Super Mario Bros 3 on the NES, I wrote into Total magazine, told all my friends and when it got published I was devastated the letter was from Louise Day aged 9. Anyway I could be Louis James for a weekend.

It was 7:15am, a little tired I mingled and talked to a few people as I thought would be more enjoyable to cycle with others rather than on my own. I worryingly noticed the number of carbon road bikes and how many people had cleat shoes and spd pedals. Then suddenly I found someone with trainers like me and mentioned that fact, only for them to say they hadn't put their cycling cleats on yet because they didn't want to get them muddy, oh well. I then introduced myself to a guy called Tariq we agreed to cycle the morning together. 10 minutes before everyone was due to set off the Evening Post photographer arrived to take a group photo which I will check this week for any coverage. He wanted an action shot of all 34 of us setting off on the grass in a line, which was a recipe for disaster especially as I nearly took someone out with my bar-ends.

We set off at 8.15 after a briefing from the organisers explaining the route, where we were going to stop for drinks breaks, dinner and a few safety suggestions. Me and Tariq left together, the traffic in Bristol was busy but eventually we got to the countryside and on our first real hill when we came across a man complaining of slight cramp we asked if he wanted to cycle with us and thus created the 3 Musketeers. We continued onto the waterbreak in Glastonbury where there were endless supplies of Bananas, Energy Bars/Gels and Jelly Babies. It was a welcomed stop to fill drinks bottles, to use the facilities and also a chance to ask one of the mechanics to have a look at my drinks bottle cage. It was rattling and stopping me from utilising the top chainset of gears meaning I was having to cycle more revolutions than necessary.

The Three Musketeers

We were getting in a formation enjoying cycling as a group and made it into lunch together it was then when I realised what his name was, as we had stopped I took the opportunity to introduce myself and Tariq to Richard the third Musketeer.

The morning's session was relatively flat apart from the one hill, after lunch was a different proposition altogether. From Dulverton onwards to Exmoor, there were so many hills it was untrue, it really took it out on me and I struggled with some of them when me and Richard decided to segment the hills using points in the hedgerow. One of the biggest hills got too much and when we got into Barnstaple at 5.45pm we confessed at what we had done the organisers said it was sensible to walk to save the legs for Saturday. One other highlight of the day was when we stumbled across a load of bikers who offered to toe us, unfortunately we had to decline as it wouldn't have been fair to all that sponsored us.

When we got in (to the sound of my clown horn), had a recovery Lemon n Lime drink we checked into the Premier Inn, at this stage I had used so much energy up I couldn't even remember my name and one of the organisers had to write my room number 63 on the back of my hand. At this point I met my room mate Jonathan he asked me whether I wanted the double bed or single I didn't mind, he said as I was taller I could take the double, I didn't complain. I watched the local news whilst he had a power nap, at this point I was to find out he snored!  We later went down to have dinner as a group, I had two pints of Guiness to help wash down my Prawn Cocktail starter and Chicken Fajitas by this time I was exhausted and retired to bed to get a good nights sleep to prepare for Saturday.