The beginning

There is a pre-beginning, back in time in the 1970s, but that will be the subject of another post. 

I used to use an electric bike to cycle to work  from Portishead to the British Red Cross offices in Warmley and I needed the extra "magic" of the electric bike to get me there relatively unexhausted and also to help climb the long hill that is Avon Way to get home at the end of the day.

But I did not do much "proper" cycling without the benefit of the e-bike and my last ride on my normal bike, a Scott hybrid, was an attempt to cycle with Rachel when she was training to do the Portishead Triathlon.

On that day, Rachel quickly disappeared into the distance and I struggled to cycle up the longish drag that is Nore Road in Portishead. Much chastened, I headed for home on a much shorter route and the bike languished in the garage for a year or so. 

So how did the light bulb moment occur, what made me decide to sign up to cycle from Land End to John O'Groats when I could barely cycle up Nore Road?

Rachel cycles to work quite often from Portishead to Bristol along the cycle path that runs on the Pill side of the Avon. When the initial lockdown first eased such that she could start to work from the office again, she was keen to restart the cycle commute but a little concerned as there stories of tacks and nails scattered on the path around Pill.

So she asked me to cycle in to Bristol with her, and I agreed but would not use my e-bike. I had been poorly in January and February, struck low with a nasty viral lung and throat condition (possibly Covid but that was before we thought it was in the country). However, in lockdown I was walking most days and had increased the distance walked from 2 miles to 6 miles plus working hard restoring our allotment, so my general fitness had gradually improved.

The bike ride was pure pleasure! I felt fit, full of energy and enjoyed being on a bike again. As I was now fully retired, I firstly thought I would get back into cycling much more regularly, and then thought that I needed an ambitious target to work towards.

A couple of friends of mine had done the Lands End to John 'Groats (LEJOG) in the last couple of years and it had been an ambition of mine to do it back when I was 19. So....the seed of the idea arose and it developed from there, and has brought me to here.

Below are the screenshots of that first ride into Bristol and back as captured on Garmin Connect.