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Well after a good first day of 47 miles, I found the following day after about 10 miles I had pins and needles in my left leg. After a brief stop they went away and I continued, but another 5 miles or so and I had shooting pains and no power in my left leg to push on the peddle. I decided to stop and not proceed any further, I will have to start over another day.
I felt I could manage a few miles today on the bicycle, after not being too well for a week or so, and ended up doing a circuit of 21 miles in a couple of hours – which felt just about right.
The bike trailer that I ordered more than a month ago has also turned up at the shop this afternoon, so the next ride will be with a small trailer load…
I was invited to lunch at East Hoathly, so looking at the route I took last time I decided to make a few changes and to cycle it in an anticlockwise direction – keeping my fingers crossed that I would make it in time for pudding at least.
It was also a chance to try out a new saddle – which I had ordered up after my ordeal cycling from Winchester. It declared itself to be a “revolutionary breakthrough in bike seat comfort” – well lets see if it lives up to the name The Comfort Saddle.
Got my new bike yesterday, a Dawes Colorado – a “hybrid” bike as I have gotten use to the chunkiness of a mountain bike in recent years, and have you seen the state of the roads!! It has a better upright riding position for on the roads. The trailer is on order at the moment – keeping my fingers crossed for delivery at the end of the month.
Decided to take it for a spin today around a bit of Sussex, taking in part of a published route that by chance almost goes past the house, and goes near East Hoathly (to visit my Sister) and the Gliding Club. Though the variations I made added a few more miles…
It might have been the effects of dehydration, perhaps the sun was stronger than I could have ever imagined, but somewhere along the Coast to Coast walk I started to wonder about other bits of countryside within the UK and how I could best travel through them…
Later in the walk I started to meet cyclists, and having crossed the country from left to right, I started to wonder about journeying on a bicycle from Lands End to John O’ Groats – a small matter of around 950 miles, but perhaps a jaunt of a lifetime to compare with excursions in the planning on trains across Canada, the Americas and even Eurasia.
Further research I came across LEJOG on Google, what at first I thought might have been a fun run in France but with a little reading turned out to be an acronym for Lands End to John O’ Groats (sometimes also called end-to-end).
Then the madness truly set in, my bike was in Winchester and Becca was wanting to borrow it over the summer for excursions around Sussex – I saw the opportunity and not to be persuaded otherwise I planned to cycle as far from Winchester as possible towards Piltdown. Continue reading