Sunday, January 6, 2013

Welcome to my blog! I hope to share with you the ups and downs of preparing, training, fundraising and  completing a 1,000 mile bicycle adventure from Land's End (England) to John O'Groats (Scotland) this May/June to benefit the Simon Sharp Eagle Fund.
So you may ask.....why is he doing this. Well, when I was visiting the UK two years ago, my brother-in-law Richard Stephens indicated he was training for LEJOG (Land's End to John O'Groats) otherwise known in England as the "End to End." I told him that I was interested in joining him on this journey. I contacted Richard recently and he has had recent health issues. I'm not sure if he will make the trip in May, but hope that he will be able to join me.
Regardless, I see this as a bucket list life changing event. I also thought it would be a perfect way to support the charities that we support in honor of my son, Simon, whom we lost five years ago to leukemia. I intend to pay for all expenses associated with the trip, so that ALL donations can go towards the charities. (Boy Scouts of America-Andrew Jackson Council) and (Blair E. Batson Children's Cancer Clinic in Jackson, MS). Hope to get the donation page up soon!!

So, having recently acquired my Surly Long Haul Trucker bike (and all the gear), I started training today for the trip. I'm anticipating training six days a week between now and the middle of May, to build the endurance necessary to complete the ride, (and hopefully also to enjoy it). I'm doing a combination of aerobic bike riding and weight lifting at the gym with long distance (in the saddle) bike riding. Depending on the weather and my work schedule, I plan to alternate these schedules. When I figure out how to load the info, you can check out my daily workout on my training page. Today, I cycled 10 miles in one hour, 4 mins.
at an ave. time of 6:24/mile, with 495 ft of elevations and burning 275 calories. Felt a little winded on the elevations, but no luckily no chafing and was pretty comfortable in the saddle.

Having grown up in the UK, I did some cycling when I was 10-14 yrs old. I remember cycling Exmoor in Devon and staying in a Youth Hostel. I learned all the words to American Pie by listening to a Juke Box all night. I am still able to sing the song from memory even today.

Stay tuned for future posts. Feel free to ask questions about my journey!