April 08

Hello again! Well, I’m happy to report that the training is back on schedule! April has been characterised by more actual road rides as opposed to long tedious hours in the garage on the turbo trainer. Now that the weather is starting to get better and the evenings are drawing out again, it’s been great to be able to get some decent road miles under my belt. I still use the turbo trainer as it’s a great way of controlling my efforts during training sessions, but equally, there’s nothing better than being out on the roads and improving my bike handling skills.

Before I mention too much about the training I’ve done this month, I have to tell you about the support we’ve received from some of the companies we’ve been in contact with.

It all started with a fantastic response from the clothing company Endura. I have to say a huge thankyou to Jim at Endura as they have gone out of their way to help and have very kindly donated various items of cycle clothing for me to use during training and whilst on the challenge. On a completely personal note, I was immensely pleased to have Endura involved as I have always used their clothing for mountain biking and their products have consistently offered excellent value whilst providing unrivalled comfort and performance. You get the feeling that their clothes have actually been designed by a cyclist and will give years of solid service.

Following on from this, we’ve also been very fortunate to receive the backing of Science in Sport, who make energy food/drink products. Their products are used by top professional athletes in various disciplines and are specifically designed to provide the body with all the nutrients it needs to perform at its best during sporting activities. They also make products which are designed to fuel the body prior to exercise, and others which are intended to help the body recover after training/competition. All of these will be a massive aid to me during my training and we’re trying to work out the best way of taking a supply with us when we travel to America. We’re currently thinking of sending a supply ahead of us so that we don’t need to incur the excess baggage penalty of several kilos worth of energy food when we check in at the airport! As with the Endura products, I have used Science in Sport products previously and have definitely felt the benefit of having food that is giving the body exactly what it needs.

We’ve also been lucky enough to receive the support of Wiggle.com, who are one of the largest online stockists of mountain bikes, road bikes, cycle clothing, parts and accessories. I’m certainly finding that with every passing week, there are more and more items I need to purchase in support of this challenge, and having the help of Wiggle will certainly make everything much easier. Not only do they stock absolutely everything (and I do mean stock - I’ve never waited more than 48 hours for any delivery!), but more importantly, their support means that the financial implications that my wife and I are currently experiencing whilst attempting to fund this trip have certainly been eased.

We’ll continue to contact companies, but I’m absolutely over the moon to have names such as Endura, Science in Sport and Wiggle involved with this trip. I really can’t thank them all enough and I know that having their support will be a significant part of the success of this challenge.

Right, time to report on the training! Well, I am pleased to tell you that I have now broken the triple digit mark! It had been on my mind for a while that although my fitness was generally heading in the right direction, I’d yet to experience the ‘pleasure’ of covering over 100 miles in one session. It actually went far better than I expected – I took 4 Science in Sport GO bars, as well as a GO energy drink (plus further water) and even after covering 100 miles in a little over 7 hours, I still felt strong and it was only the onset of dusk that sent me homewards.

I made sure I went riding the following day as well, as I need to get the body used to continued exposure to long hours in the saddle and although I only covered around 40-ish miles, I felt I could have done a lot more.

Between you and me, and without wishing to tempt fate, I’m actually starting to believe I might just make it…………

We also held another fundraising party on the 12^th of April and you can find more details about this event under the Fundraising section of the website.

April was rounded off quite nicely with an evening with the Yeo Vale Rotary Club. My father-in-law plays golf with a gentleman called Alan Graham who is a member of the club, and he had suggested that they often invited guest speakers to come along and provide a short after dinner talk. With this in mind, he arranged for us to attend one of their regular meetings and for me to give a brief presentation on the upcoming challenge.

Not being used to giving such talks, I was a little apprehensive about standing in front of such an audience. With hindsight, I needn’t have worried as we had a great evening and were made to feel very welcome indeed. Everybody was keen to listen and judging by the enthusiastic questions that followed my talk, it was clear that there was a genuine interest in our trip.

The evening went really well and we have made some invaluable contacts which will undoubtedly aid our preparation for the challenge. To cap it off, we have been offered a donation of £250 from the club!

It has to be said that this is an amazingly kind gesture and we are very grateful for both the reception we received on the night, as well as the subsequent donation. We would like to offer a huge thank you to all members of the Yeo Vale Rotary Club, with special mentions to Mr Alan Graham for the initial invite, and also to Mr David Adams who is President of the club and who did an excellent job of making us feel so welcome on the night as well as settling my nerves before the presentation!

It’s starting to feel like the challenge is just around the corner and we still have so much left to organise and plan. Judging on how quickly the past few months have flown by, it’ll not take long for the next couple of months to disappear as well. I’m finding myself lying awake at night with all manner of issues floating through my mind. All are things that need to be sorted before we leave and although I’m not quite a complete insomniac yet, I am finding it difficult to think of anything but the trip. Without doubt I am definitely looking forward to it, but the closer it gets, the enormity of riding 100 miles a days for a month is starting to sink in!

Right, I’m off to write a ‘to do’ list, so I’ll catch you next month!