Krystle Grant, Pamela Lemon, Richard Roberts (Speedy), Lorna Hamilton (Inverness Therpay Clinic) Mark Wheeler, Christina Rugg .....and yours truly at the front.
Saturday 25 June 2011
Going Going Gone ......
A huge thankyou to everyone who attended and supported the Kids of Kolkata Charity Dinner and Auction on Thursday night. It was a great fun evening, we had 60 guests, 21 fabulous auction items and raised over £1500. So thank you to everyone who put their hands in their pockets and also to the Station Hotel, Avoch who provided us with a lovely meal.
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Left to Right
Krystle Grant, Pamela Lemon, Richard Roberts (Speedy), Lorna Hamilton (Inverness Therpay Clinic) Mark Wheeler, Christina Rugg .....and yours truly at the front.
Krystle Grant, Pamela Lemon, Richard Roberts (Speedy), Lorna Hamilton (Inverness Therpay Clinic) Mark Wheeler, Christina Rugg .....and yours truly at the front.
Monday 20 June 2011
I spy with my little eye....something beginning with H ?
Avoch - Durness- Beauly - 214 Miles
About three months ago when Speedy and i were syncing diaries for training i thought it would be a good idea to plan a significant cycling milestone for my birthday weekend rather than spending it indulging. So this is how i chose to celebrate me turning 35.
This weekend was to mark our longest rides back to back, Saturday 110 miles from Avoch - Durness and on Sunday 104 miles from Durness to Beauly and what a delight it was...
Saturday we met about 7.45am, We left the rain clouds behind us hovering over Inverness whilst we cycled North towards beautiful blue skies, we cycled over the Cromarty Bridge, through Evanton and over the Struie to Bonar Birdge, perfect cycling, and a lovely tail wind pushing us along. At Lairg we met up with a different support team, my mum, dad and heidi, we figured it was about time to find out if dad was up to the job as official lejog support team, only kidding dad, kind of ;-)
After a soup stop in Lairg we were on our way again. The further we cycled the better the weather got and the layers kept coming off, 40 miles 50 miles 60 miles we seemed to be clocking up the miles pretty effortlessly, such a joy after the last few horrible long rides.
The support team were also clearly getting into the swing of things ......At one point we found them writing us messages in chalk on the road which was just fab for morale, at another we found them paddling in a nearby stream, at another they were chilling in camping chairs at the side of the road waititng to give us a cheer as we passed ..... good work guys ;-)
My first signs of tiredness started to show at about 70 miles so we stopped to fill up on energy gels and tablet which got me through the next 20 miles to Hope, but at 90 miles i was starting to wilt. For a moment my mind was taken of my tiredness, as we cycled in to Hope we saw the biggest stag in someones garden just standing there, so big and confident, looking straight at us, we both had to have a double take, it was stunning.
Hope = Coffee Time on the grass at the side of the road as i was starting to get wobbly legs. The support filled us with caffeine, bananas and sweets, i had 20 miles to go, we took it slowly up the hills, the sunshine was beautiful on my skin, the views turned form being stunning to breathtaking, we had one last cheer form the support 10 miles from Durness, which was just what i needed to see me through to Durness. Day 1. Avoch - Durness ....Done ;-)
Pics at 100 miles .....
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Sunday - I woke early in Speedys caravan to hear the rain bouncing off the windows, uhh ohhh ....not after such a lovely day yesterday. This is so typical of Highland weather. 7.30 time for porridge 8.30 time to hit the road, we left Heidi and Mark in Durness to explore the beautiful beaches whilst we rode of into the rain ;-(
The last time we cycled this road we were on our way to Ullapool and the wind was horrific, so although it was raining it was still so much easier than our previous ride. We cycled a drizzly 15 miles before having a banana stop, then on we went till we reached the Overscaig Hotel. If you are ever passing then stop for the Lemon and Coconut cake it was Yummy with a capital Y ( and this from the girl who doesn't really do cake )
We got back on our bikes pretty quickly, the rain had stopped but the midges were out in force. we cycled back towards Lairg but on our way passed a pine martin and an eagle ( i think ) .....just beautiful....
We climbed up the Struie and then followed our tracks back through to Evanton. One last climb in to Dingwall and we were almost home. At 100 miles we hit Muir of Ord then we rode the last 3 miles at speeds of aprox 28mph.... sprint finish ;-)
This has been undoubtably my favourite cycling weekend so far, i've had it all Sunshine, Tail Winds, Fab Cake, Beautiful Wildlife, Stunning Scenerny, Beautiful Beaches, Great Support and the best training partner you could find, as always, thank you Speedy for keeping me going.
However, I have managed to collect a few war wounds, some sunburn, some midgy bites, some blisters, and a sore bum ..... 214 miles cycled, 8080 calories burnt, 15 hours in the saddle......knackered but delighted x
Lets hope for 11 days like this when we do end to end ............
People often ask me what do you find to talk about after so long on the road, well.... some of its nonsense, some of it's lejog plans, some of it's just quiet time, but a lot of this weekend was good old ' i spy ' ............. i spy with my little eye something beginning with H ???
About three months ago when Speedy and i were syncing diaries for training i thought it would be a good idea to plan a significant cycling milestone for my birthday weekend rather than spending it indulging. So this is how i chose to celebrate me turning 35.
This weekend was to mark our longest rides back to back, Saturday 110 miles from Avoch - Durness and on Sunday 104 miles from Durness to Beauly and what a delight it was...
Saturday we met about 7.45am, We left the rain clouds behind us hovering over Inverness whilst we cycled North towards beautiful blue skies, we cycled over the Cromarty Bridge, through Evanton and over the Struie to Bonar Birdge, perfect cycling, and a lovely tail wind pushing us along. At Lairg we met up with a different support team, my mum, dad and heidi, we figured it was about time to find out if dad was up to the job as official lejog support team, only kidding dad, kind of ;-)
After a soup stop in Lairg we were on our way again. The further we cycled the better the weather got and the layers kept coming off, 40 miles 50 miles 60 miles we seemed to be clocking up the miles pretty effortlessly, such a joy after the last few horrible long rides.
The support team were also clearly getting into the swing of things ......At one point we found them writing us messages in chalk on the road which was just fab for morale, at another we found them paddling in a nearby stream, at another they were chilling in camping chairs at the side of the road waititng to give us a cheer as we passed ..... good work guys ;-)
My first signs of tiredness started to show at about 70 miles so we stopped to fill up on energy gels and tablet which got me through the next 20 miles to Hope, but at 90 miles i was starting to wilt. For a moment my mind was taken of my tiredness, as we cycled in to Hope we saw the biggest stag in someones garden just standing there, so big and confident, looking straight at us, we both had to have a double take, it was stunning.
Hope = Coffee Time on the grass at the side of the road as i was starting to get wobbly legs. The support filled us with caffeine, bananas and sweets, i had 20 miles to go, we took it slowly up the hills, the sunshine was beautiful on my skin, the views turned form being stunning to breathtaking, we had one last cheer form the support 10 miles from Durness, which was just what i needed to see me through to Durness. Day 1. Avoch - Durness ....Done ;-)
Pics at 100 miles .....
Sunday - I woke early in Speedys caravan to hear the rain bouncing off the windows, uhh ohhh ....not after such a lovely day yesterday. This is so typical of Highland weather. 7.30 time for porridge 8.30 time to hit the road, we left Heidi and Mark in Durness to explore the beautiful beaches whilst we rode of into the rain ;-(
The last time we cycled this road we were on our way to Ullapool and the wind was horrific, so although it was raining it was still so much easier than our previous ride. We cycled a drizzly 15 miles before having a banana stop, then on we went till we reached the Overscaig Hotel. If you are ever passing then stop for the Lemon and Coconut cake it was Yummy with a capital Y ( and this from the girl who doesn't really do cake )
We got back on our bikes pretty quickly, the rain had stopped but the midges were out in force. we cycled back towards Lairg but on our way passed a pine martin and an eagle ( i think ) .....just beautiful....
We climbed up the Struie and then followed our tracks back through to Evanton. One last climb in to Dingwall and we were almost home. At 100 miles we hit Muir of Ord then we rode the last 3 miles at speeds of aprox 28mph.... sprint finish ;-)
This has been undoubtably my favourite cycling weekend so far, i've had it all Sunshine, Tail Winds, Fab Cake, Beautiful Wildlife, Stunning Scenerny, Beautiful Beaches, Great Support and the best training partner you could find, as always, thank you Speedy for keeping me going.
However, I have managed to collect a few war wounds, some sunburn, some midgy bites, some blisters, and a sore bum ..... 214 miles cycled, 8080 calories burnt, 15 hours in the saddle......knackered but delighted x
Lets hope for 11 days like this when we do end to end ............
People often ask me what do you find to talk about after so long on the road, well.... some of its nonsense, some of it's lejog plans, some of it's just quiet time, but a lot of this weekend was good old ' i spy ' ............. i spy with my little eye something beginning with H ???
Friday 10 June 2011
Wednesday 8 June 2011
Cairngorm Challenge The UK's highest event on a public road (632m)- Finish on Scotland's Alpe D'huez!
This week took us to the Cairngorm Challenge. It was a fab day, i entered the 50 mile ride and Speedy the 100 mile ride. It was quite an experience. Given that most of my cycling has been done with at most two others, it was quite scary having theses big cycling packs flying past shouting in their cycling club slang. I can understand totally now why they are called 'packs', one minute you are cycling solo and the next they are upon you like wolves. raaaaaaaaaaaaaarrr !!
The route took us from the car park at the Cairngorms, along to Colyumbridge, Nethy Bridge, almost round to Grantown then back in a circle finishing back where we started, a 600 mtr climb over 3 miles back to the car park. I kind of lost it on the hill and must have been overtaken by at least 15 cyclists. I didn't really stop to eat or re fuel so that didn't help, in hindsight i could have done with some calories before the climb. Never mind lesson learnt, it certainly didn't put me off, I've entered another 65mile race In Ullapool on the 24th of September, considering the 100miler from Glasgow to Edinburgh and registered my interest to do the Etape Caledonia next year..... its all very exciting this cycling business....
So i came, get this .....104th woo hoo .... which i wasn't hugely proud of until my dear mum pointed out that although this may be the case i was 17th lady which made me feel loads better ...thanks mum, love you mwahhhhhhh xxx
So neither of us broke any records, not that we thought we were going to, but in my eyes we were both champions ......
The route took us from the car park at the Cairngorms, along to Colyumbridge, Nethy Bridge, almost round to Grantown then back in a circle finishing back where we started, a 600 mtr climb over 3 miles back to the car park. I kind of lost it on the hill and must have been overtaken by at least 15 cyclists. I didn't really stop to eat or re fuel so that didn't help, in hindsight i could have done with some calories before the climb. Never mind lesson learnt, it certainly didn't put me off, I've entered another 65mile race In Ullapool on the 24th of September, considering the 100miler from Glasgow to Edinburgh and registered my interest to do the Etape Caledonia next year..... its all very exciting this cycling business....
So i came, get this .....104th woo hoo .... which i wasn't hugely proud of until my dear mum pointed out that although this may be the case i was 17th lady which made me feel loads better ...thanks mum, love you mwahhhhhhh xxx
So neither of us broke any records, not that we thought we were going to, but in my eyes we were both champions ......
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| Champion No 1 |
 Champion No 2 |
 |
Monday 6 June 2011
Thursday 2 June 2011
1100 miles in 11 days
Sometimes when i think about the distance it makes me feel a bit apprehensive, sometimes it makes me wonder what on earth i've commited myself to, sometimes i feel super excited, but mostly i think BRING IT ON ..............Lands End to John o Groats i just cant wait. What a fabulous adventure this has become ................
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