Seven weeks to go and things are starting to get serious. The bike is behaving well at the moment but its going to need a good service before heading to John O’Groats. Over the next couple of weeks there is still a plan to cycle around the whole of Berkshire using the Berkshire Cycle Route (rwgps.com which is 134 miles over two days. This will give me a chance to pack everything I will take on the JoGLE and do a full test run at full luggage weight. Not the same as 13 days, but still its better than nothing.

As part of the plan to increase the mileage it seemed about time that I got in a century. Importantly, as I’m not a cyclist this was a huge milestone for me not least because the route I chose was further and with more elevation than any of the days I will do on the JoGLE. From a psychological perspective – the thinking was if I can do this, I can complete every day given enough fuel (food) and mental tenacity.

100 miles is known as the Cyclists Marathon. I’ve never run a marathon and I can’t think of anything I would least like to do, but achieving my first century on the bike now that was special.

Total Training to date (since I started officially counting): 1,012 miles
Total Elevation to date: 35,458 feet