Mike's JOGLE

[Koi]

I've finally booked my JOGLE , well all except one night's accomodation & my transport home from Lands End.

I'm a born again cyclist; I was very keen when I was a youngster but packed in before I turned 19, I've had 32 years off but started again last September. I bought a new bike & have been gradually increasing my mileage... up to over 70 miles per trip now (78 today) so I reckon I'm fit enough although I've had a bit of knee pain (the side of the knee actually) .

I live in Bolton & will be flying from Manchester to Edinburgh, then Wick, on Friday 22nd July. From Wick I'll cycle up to the accomodation I've booked 3 miles south of John O'groats in preparation for my tour the following day. I'm going via Altnaharra, Beauly, Fort William, Inverary (via Glencoe), Brodick (Isle of Arran), Dumfries, Ambleside, Bolton, Criggion, Hay on Wye, Cheddar, Crediton, Padstow, Lands End (Saturday 6th August).

Besides booking the final B & B and transport home I've also yet to choose a charity & set-up a website.
The train home, from Penzance, is £140 so I'm thinking of hiring a one-way car from Penzance, it's £60 but even with fuel it will be less than the train fare.
.

If anyone's interested, once I've set it up, I will post the link to my JOGLE webpage.

 

[Cosmicned]

Youre the same age as me and doing 70 miles a day!!!??? Most impressive! Best I've done is a paltry 15 - but i'm about to invest in a half decent road bike soon - please post your website address so we can follow your progess... And all the very best for the trip!

 

[jags]

best of luck i believe it's a fantastic trip a tad hard in places i hear.
but you'll be well up for it enjoy and i hope the weather is kind to you.
don't forget to post updates and pic's.

 

[wintonbina]

Nice to see another young guy doing the challenge!!! (I'm doing it next month aged 54 ), with regards to your knee pain it could be you need to see a sports therapist/physio for a massage, tight leg muscles can cause your knee to hurt (it did with me anyway ). Your trip should be easy, its all downhill , Good luck,Tony

 

[Koi]

Youre the same age as me and doing 70 miles a day!!!??? Most impressive! Best I've done is a paltry 15 - but i'm about to invest in a half decent road bike soon - please post your website address so we can follow your progess... And all the very best for the trip!

In case you misunderstood I'm doing 70 miles per trip, which in my case is one trip per week. I'm not doing 70 miles per day every day .....but I will be (hopefully) on my JOGLE.
Don't worry, I started off doing 15 miles last September but gradually built it up. Don't rush the increase or it could put you off all together because at our age, after years of neglect lol, it isn't easy. But if you keep trying.. it doesn't get easier you just go faster & then further!
Although I was targetting doing 70+ miles per day, now that I'm achieving it (albeit only once per week) I can take it in my stride & back in September I wasn't sure how easy it would be even after 7 or 8 months training.

Thanks for your best wishes, I will post the website as soon as it is ready.

 

[Koi]

best of luck i believe it's a fantastic trip a tad hard in places i hear.
but you'll be well up for it enjoy and i hope the weather is kind to you.
don't forget to post updates and pic's.

I think wind is the biggest enemy of cyclists (internal as well as external when your over 50 lol), so I just hope it's not too bad when I'm JOGLE'ING.

I'm hoping to set up a blog on the website & send updates from my phone, but I've never set-up a website or blogged yet so still a lot to do yet.

 

[Koi]

Nice to see another young guy doing the challenge!!! (I'm doing it next month aged 54 ), with regards to your knee pain it could be you need to see a sports therapist/physio for a massage, tight leg muscles can cause your knee to hurt (it did with me anyway ). Your trip should be easy, its all downhill , Good luck,Tony

Great stuff! Do you have a website &/or a blog? be good to follow your progress.
Are you going up-hill on your trip?

I've had a scan on my knees & seen the specialist who said I have 'Biceps Femuris' & it is an RSI (repetitive strain injury) & if I wanted the pain to stop to stop doing the repetitive straining (i.e. cycling).
I asked if there were any drugs that would help... NO, any physio... NO, any operation... NO......okay thanks for being so helpful & encouraging!

 

[Koi]

Just giving web site now set up:


http://www.justgiving.com/MichaelSingleton080219



I'm working on creating the overall website & hopefully that should be finished soon.

P.S. Can a moderator move this thread to the LEJOG/JOGLE pages? If not I will duplicate it there (sorry for missing it initially).

 

[Koi]

Post moved to Land's End to John O'Groats (even though that's the wrong way )

 

[Koi]

My new website can be found here:

My link

I hope you find it interesting & informative.
Mike.

 

[wintonbina]

Hi Mike,

We have a website (www.stevebernardfoundation.org) but I haven't set up a blog yet(thats because I don't know how too!) but we will have something set up on Facebook before we go . Yes we're going uphill so to speak and I cannot wait to get going now, 2 weeks on Friday. I'm up to speed now ( have done 100+miles trips & some 80/90 back to backs). Although being in a car accident on Sunday hasn't helped my knee but it definitely won't stop me! Old age makes you stubborn . I think the advice my mate gave me (off Lance Armstrong) 'Pain is Temporary, Quitting is Forever' is quite apt for me.

Cheers, Tony

 

[Koi]

Hi Mike,

We have a website (www.stevebernardfoundation.org) but I haven't set up a blog yet(thats because I don't know how too!) but we will have something set up on Facebook before we go . Yes we're going uphill so to speak and I cannot wait to get going now, 2 weeks on Friday. I'm up to speed now ( have done 100+miles trips & some 80/90 back to backs). Although being in a car accident on Sunday hasn't helped my knee but it definitely won't stop me! Old age makes you stubborn . I think the advice my mate gave me (off Lance Armstrong) 'Pain is Temporary, Quitting is Forever' is quite apt for me.

Cheers, Tony

Good luck Tony, If you get a blog going l'll follow you to check your progress.

Mike.

 

[mattlandells]

Wow - seems like you're all set up for a great trip. That route is fantastic - we did one just like it last summer and the parts through Scotland are incredible, especially if the sun makes an appearance!

There are some photos on http://www.bike4charity.co.uk if you want to have a look at what you're signed up for!

Your website looks great too, will try and keep an eye on your blog. When we did it we set up a twitter account so people could follow us and that worked well, might be worth a look as it's very easy to "tweet" regularly.

Best of Luck

Matt

 

[Koi]

Wow - seems like you're all set up for a great trip. That route is fantastic - we did one just like it last summer and the parts through Scotland are incredible, especially if the sun makes an appearance!

There are some photos on http://www.bike4charity.co.uk if you want to have a look at what you're signed up for!

Your website looks great too, will try and keep an eye on your blog. When we did it we set up a twitter account so people could follow us and that worked well, might be worth a look as it's very easy to "tweet" regularly.

Best of Luck

Matt

Great report Matt & some good photos.. I cant wait to be there!

You seem to have had a lot of puntures, although you had 3 times the number of tyre's that I'll have.

I thought about using Twitter but I'm hoping to post some photos with my blog so Facebook is better for that.. isn't it?
(I've never used either so far).

 

[mattlandells]

We did okay on punctures really! Best method we found was to carry 2 spare inner tubes each for a quick puncture fix (obviously check the tyre for anything sharp), but then we could repair the inner tubes when we had more time in the evenings, saving us time on the road.

As for photos, Facebook is a good bet, especially if it's linked to your blog. Twitter can be used for photos as well depending on what mobile device you have, but if you're going for primarily photos something like facebook will be better

Let me know if you have any more questions, I'll do my best to answer

Matt