Shopping Over, Cold On It's Way Out!

This last few weeks has been an arse! My budget for the stuff I need to make this trip work has gone up and my income has dropped a little due to the untimely release of iPhone 4. On top of this, some learned being decided to give me a chest infection, two colds and a broken toe. All this three weeks before I'm due to cycle a thousand miles! Cheers, freak!

Anyway, I've got everything I need now to make the event possible. I've had to ditch the idea of buying a new cycle computer (Garmin Edge 705) as I've run out of funds. Hopefully, a combination of preparation, my iPhone maps, my Garmin 305 and a good sense of direction will see me through.

The list of equipment I am taking with me can be view by clicking the 'Equipment' page on the top right hand page menu.

Anything Else You Want To Throw At Me?

With just over two weeks until my Land's End to John O' Groats cycle I should be training hard. I wanted to be doing two or three hundred miles this week and next week in preparation but illness and injury is forcing me to take it easy.
My chest infection from a few weeks ago is still bothering me and now I'm full of cold for the second time in a month! To add to all that I broke a toe earlier this week which is making it difficult to wear my cycling shoes because of the pain!
It's so frustrating having to take it easy when I know I should be pushing myself as hard as I can to make sure I'm ready for the work to come but I'm hoping I'll be ok by early next week.

The Date Is Set!

After two years of thinking and months of planning, the date is finally set for my Land's end to John O' Groats bike ride. I start the event on the morning of Thursday the 15th of July from Land's End.

I'll be travelling down to Penzance by train the day before, leaving Shaun at Doncaster Railway Station with instructions on how to work the washing machine and what to buy at Tesco so that he doesn't starve!

It feels strange now... it's real! I booked my train tickets an hour ago and reserved by bike space. I've reserved a room at a nice (cheap) B&B near Land's End, well, about four miles away but it's a ten mile bike ride from Penzance station on Wednesday evening. When I wake up on the Thursday, it'll be a big breakfast and a four mile warm up as I head for the start line at Land's End.

The next step is to finalise my route and sort out where I'll be sleeping during my trip. The route is now set and I'll be posting details of it in a few days.

Chest Infection Be Gone!

At last! It's been the longest I've ever had something like a chest infection. Ten days and I'm finally starting, only starting mind, to stop coughing, (although I'm coughing something up as I write this!). So bollocks to the infection and back to some training. A steady ten miles or so today after a similar ride yesterday that tired me out. (Too much too soon and all that).

I took Scott, my mountain bike, out to my favourite trails through Hooton Pagnell, Brodsworth and Hickleton. I've attached a map of the area and highlighted the trails in white. You can see just how beautiful this area is from the aerial shot. This is my favorite time of year to bike through the woods and fields. The smells and colours are amazing! Wild garlic at the moment fills one of the woods while another is blanketed in Bluebells. Although the three villages are only a mile apart, the trails can go on for about ten miles.

Crazy thing happened this morning. One of the forests smelled like an old teacher of mine from junior school. How random is that? He wasn't there but it brought back memories of Mr Hepworth and his strangely large nose. ha ha! Well, I've got three more days of anti-biotics and then I can resume proper training. Bring on the rain!!!

Live Tracking

I've been looking for a good, reliable GPS tracking system so that my friends, family and followers can watch my progress live as I cycle from Land's End to John O' Groats next month. I've begun trialling a system called 'InstaMapping' today. It works by using the GPS receiver on my iPhone and can be tracked on any PC or iPhone on my website. Click the following link for a preview of the Live Tracker. http://www.colindobsononline.com/Live%20Track.htm

The only drawback with this system is that is drains my iPhone battery flat in about four hours, but I'm trying to sort something out with that. If anyone knows of a better system for live GPS tracking, let me know.

Back In Training (soon I hope!)

So bored and frustrated!!! Aaaaaaaggghhhh!!!! I could smack someone, and believe me, I have a list! My chest infection is getting no better and my coughing fits are horrible, especially on a night. The time away from training is dragging and now that the weather is getting nice again it just makes waiting even worse. The doctor said to give it three or four more days but if I feel better soon I'm going to have a test run on Friday or Saturday.

The good news is that I now have all the funding I need to complete the LEJOG. A very generous donation from the guys at www.green-bros.com on top of other support and savings means I can now get the final bits and pieces I need to set a date for the event. The only thing I need to do now is get at least two or three weeks intensive training in so that I can get up to full fitness.

My thoughts at the moment are to go towards the end of June, or failing that, the end of July. It still depends on cash flow and weather conditions. Stay tuned!

Thanks For The Support!

I'd like to thank James, Mike, Peter at Green Bros in Pontefract for supporting my upcoming expedition, cycling from Land's end to John O' Groats. Their donation brings the total raised so far to £3,300. Shaun and I buy all off our supplies for our electrical business from Green Bros. They sell electrical and plumbing supplies as well as bathrooms and accessories. I will be promoting Green Bros throughout the next two months of my event training and the ride itself as the main sponsor of the event. Thanks guys!