To ensure that I can

download photos from the trip, I have included this one from the fund-raising campaign. If this works then we're all systems go.

The rest of this evening spent planning the route through Liverpool beside the Leeds Liverpool canal, which should be fun.

Chain wear

I dropped the bike off to Mr Cycle in Wymondham yesterday to discuss some upgrade options and to check on the wear and tear on the chain, chain rings and rear cassette. I guess I was hoping to curtail some of the spending, since even a small event like this can begin to mount up, but, there are some things that I don't want to cut corners on. Tyres and chains are two of those.

Despite the chain being less than 6 months old, it has now done in the region of 8-900 miles and I discovered was as a consequence thoroughly worn down. Not surprisingly the rear cassette also showed signs of wear especially in the middle gears....the Norfolk gears! No doubt they won't be the same gears that show wear when I start up the Cornish hills, but they need changing none-the-less.

The decision to change the size of the Granny ring, (the smallest of the front sprockets was an easy one too, as was the inclusion of an extra large sprocket on the rear cassette, (it has a proper name that I will edit later,) for those really steep hills. We'll see how they go.

Check out mrcycle, he knows his stuff.

Further fund-raising

Since my two previous long road days, I have been busy fund-raising in Bury St Edmunds and Norwich City centres.

Bury was windy and bitterly cold for the willing volunteers of the local group who came to support me. As with alot of other things though, it's location, location, location and with it being market day our position in the middle of one of the thoroughfares leading to the town centre proved ideal.

Outreach for Samaritans is so much more than raising money. The time passes incredibly quickly with so many people to talk to. I shall be sorry not to be able to take a few of you along with me when I set off, though I shall at least have a changing view. None-the-less we still collected a much appreciated £221 in 3 1/2 hours for whcih the Bury Samaritans are extremely grateful.

The first of three Norwich outreach/fund-raising cycles took place on the 27th march in Castle Mall. Situated outside the Norwich City store on the biggest league match of the season saw us well supported again. Seven hours on a turbo trainer at home would be a life sentence, even with a good film to watch, but with so much interaction throughout the day, the time passed quickly.

As an interesting aside, I read an article recently in the CTC magazine about compulsory cycle helmet usage. One of the arguements for not making them compulsory went something like this...

Wearing a helmet gives the rider a false sense of security, especially in traffic.

Well on the way back from the Mall to the Samaritans office I cycled without a helmet, since I hadn't needed one on the turbo trainer and had subsequently left it at home by mistake. As I wove my way through the traffic, I felt incredibly vulnerable, yet nothing else had changed but for the lack of a cycle helmet! All I can say is, a helmet might, I stress, might, protect your head a smidgeon, but it isn't a suit of armour!

As I cycle through the traffic of Exeter, Bristol and Liverpool I shall be more careful than ever. Helmet or not!

Safe cycling.

Follow up.

After yesterdays 80 I headed south east toward Wilby, Suffolk taking in the back roads through the Forncetts, Pulham St Mary and Harleston before climbing up from the pits at Weybred to approach my parent's home in Wilby along the grandly named though inauspicious, City Road.

Having a tea stop half way around is always a good motivator and I shall be basing my LEJOG cycle on the formula, breaking each day up into quarters to ensure that I give myself sufficient rest and time to enjoy some of the places that I pass through. Suffice to say that on this occasion the cake tins were robbed as usual and I was chased off the premesis in time for me to again make an 18:00 to minight RRV shift in Norwich.

So with 150 odd miles over two days I at least had an idea what two days in the saddle felt like. Nothing like 21 days and three mountains I suspect.

Wearing the seat in.

With Laura and George in the States I've had a chance to get some decent miles under the wheels. Since I changed those last week too courtesy of Mr Cycle, I was keen to see how they would run. My old set had been on the bike for at least 10 years and I didn't fancy wearing our a set of rims half way down a long Cornish hill!

(Mr Cycle recently set up by my friend Andrew Morris, is based in Wymondham. A mobile cycle repair outfit contactable through 01953 601851 or http://www.mrcycle.co.uk/ kindly sponsored my trip to the tune of new wheels, drinking bottles and a set of tyres for which I am extremely grateful.)

So at the beginning of the week I set out for Norwich where I had an appointment with a photographer at the Evening News. SInce I wasn't due to meet him until 09:30, I set off early and wound my way around the country lanes south of the city, so that I had already completed 17 miles before I arrived in town. From the city centre I headed out on the Aylesham road, following the route taken by the Bike Events Norwich 100 that takes place each June. Well worth it, if you have the time.

At the boundary road junction, the road splits. Taking the left fork I headed for Reepham and a rather nice little coffee shop that I'd come across last time I was on standby in an ambulance. On the corner of station road in Reepham, it proved the ideal place to take a short break after battling into a head wind for 20 miles.

From Reepham I ventured north west toward the villages of Hindolveston and Fulmodeston from where I was extremely glad to change course, bringing the breeze onto the beam. There are two things I've discovered that I'm not a great fan off. A head wind and a bumpy road. One or the other is inconvenient, but somehow together they break your spirit. I'm guessing that if you add rain to that couplet, it's time to find out what you're really made of.

Closing in on the outskirts of Fakenham I was relieved to find the village of Great Ryburgh deserted. Studying the map on my handlebar bag, I'm not sure what made me look up, but it's good thing I did. Parked no more than 2 metres infront of me was a tipup lorry!! The front wheel of the bike disappeared under the back of the lorry and I screached to a standstill with an inch to spare. Leaning weakly against the back of the lorry I promised myself never to do that again.

From Great Ryburgh despite heading in a more westerly and then southerly direction, the wind seemed crazily to follow me round! That's fine if the same were true for a tail wind, but I can't see it happening.

In Dereham I dropped into the ambulance station to grab a cuppa and to chew the fat for 10 minutes with the standby crew, but since I too had to be at work in less that 2 hours, I still ahd some cycling to do. Setting off again, but with the wind well and truly to the rear, I made good time and completing 80 miles in something just shading 6 1/2 hours.

Ipswich Samaritans and beyond

Since I last wrote we have been busy. BBC Radio Suffolk kindly gave us a slot on Georgina Rowe's (sitting in for James Hazell,) programme last Thursday, the 18th Feb. This can be heard again at 'Listen again' online and the feedback has been really positive. Since it ran just before we embarked on our first very public training session, we had a good number of people come to see us in Ipswich on Saturday, to say how much they appreciated the programme. Thank you Georgina for helping us.

Just one person benefiting from Samaritans work as a consequence of this will have made the experience worth it.

So we turned up in Ipswich town centre at 10:00ish on Saturday morning and found ourselves confronted with Saturday market day. Our booked space in front of the Town Hall was somewhat overshadowed by the labryinth of stalls, but we made the very best of the huge numbers of people out enjoying the rare sunshine, squeezed as it was between two days of wintery sleet and cold winds.

Give or take the odd trip to 'ease springs', and with the aid of 6 willing volunteers from the local Samaritans office, I managed 6 hours in the saddle on the turbo trainer. I couldn't tell you exactly how far that equates to, since my trip computer is attached to the front wheel. As a couple of observent youngsters pointed out...'you're not getting very far!' but I'm guessing that somewhere between 60 and 70 miles wouldn't be far off.

Over the course of the day the genereous folks of Ipswich donated £241.12 for which we are extremely grateful and more importantly we got to talk to a good many people who were interested both in the work that Samaritans do and the LEJOG challenge itself.

Work on the route has continued apace. Access to google earth has proven invaluable since some of the roads marked on other oute finding maps simply don't exist. On a mountainbike maybe, but not mine with all the clobber she'll be laiden down with. So far I've planned in detail the route as far as Carnforth in Lancashire and a planned stop at the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss near Silverdale. If you've never been there, it is a fantastic place to watch Otters in the early evening and in the Autumn there is an incredible Starling roost that turns the sky grey and black in a swirling mass of feathers.

Next week I shall be completeing my first back to back cycle days and hope to cover approximatley 300 miles in four days. I'll let you know how I get on.

Training and Fund-Raising

Since the end of 2009 I have concentrated on getting my fund-raising campaign off the ground and getting on my bike as much as possible. The weather hasn't helped with the latter, but an inexpensive turbo trainer has solved that particular problem. (Though I haven't run this one for long, and so have no idea how long it is going to last, I'd be interested to know what you get for a more expensive version.) When it comes to turning your legs over, this could not be simpler. Changing gear on the bike, increases the workload and thereby the effort. Certainly at this stage in my training it has proven to be ideal and at less than £50, a bargain.

As for the fund-raising, things are going equally well. As you will have seen from my fund-raising webpage, www.virginmoneygiving.com/johnbakewell I chose Samaritans for personal reasons. William and his family will be in my thoughts throughout my time in the saddle.

I have discovered that there is a lot more to fund-raising than collecting a few sponsors and things have changed considerably since I last tried to raise money doing the London Marathon in 1997. There's a lot more red tape for a start. There are also a lot more people after your money these days and I can't at all blame the public for getting a little charity weary. It is incredible how generous people have been and are, when you consider all the organisations that exist purely on the back of charitable donations. Don't let anyone tell you that the British public doesn't care.

In the end with the help of local branch volunteers I split my fund-raising into two main streams. The first is through the website and the second by getting out on the street, on my bike on the turbo trainer, with a tin. This way Samaritans volunteers get to talk to the public about what they do and I get to raise some cash for them whilst we're at it. Oh, and I get some training in at the same time.

To date the website sits at just under £400 if you include the gift aid and the first public training/fund-raising session is this Saturday, the 20th Feb, on the Town Hall steps in Ipswich. At this point I would like to thank Wendy and Nicky at Ipswich Borough Council for helping with issueing licences etc and for making this event happen so easily. Fingers crossed for the weather.