Start date set

We've finally pinned the tail on the donkey. The start date for the ride will be the 23rd of July. We'll travel up to Glencoe on the 22nd and head south the next morning, we're planning on the trip which currently stands at 730 miles, taking us twelve days, arriving at the finish line in boscombe on the 3rd of August. I'm sure a sore head will be on the cards for the drive home the following morning. Next challenge is to book the accommodation for the entire route.

First joint training ride

We finally managed to find a slot in both our diaries to get together for a bit of bike ride today, we had a family party to attend Saturday night so stuart and Helen took their bikes to Birmingham so that the three of us could go out and get a few miles under our belt. So with map in hand we set off from Mom's house and headed out into wast hills, from there to hockley Heath and back to Mom 's again via earlswood, making a total of 26 miles. Generally. Went well, highlighted a few things that need attention on Lee's new bike so very useful on that front and introduced Lee to his first lengthy bike ride for more than 15 years.

Another weekend without a ride

My bike is still out of action after a disastrous ride two weekends ago, four miles in we took a byway from Steventon to Appleford along the back of the power station, all the heavy plant machinery from the gravel pits had destroyed the path and in a poor effort to repair the damage had appeared to throw down a combination of sand and gravel, all this did was make the mud really sticky, so we soon ended up off the bikes and pushing, the clods of earth that had built up in the brakes, gear mechs and around the frame and forks meant that the wheels weren't turning. Once we we're clear with the help of sticks, cleared the worst of the muck and released the brake cables on my bike, we managed to limp the seven miles home.  needles to say, I spent to rest of the day and a chunk of Sunday dismantling Helen's bike, washing it and putting it back together, didn't quite get the job finished so it was back to the car for the commute to work. Due to dark winter evenings no work happened on the bikes until the following weekend where another Saturday was spent on bike maintenance, Helen's back in working order except for a small gear alignment issue but usable for to work commute so stripped mine down, washed it and realised I'd need new brake blocks and chain link pins for the shimano chain. Almost a week on and the bike's still in bits and my order from wiggle has gone missing so looks like this weekend will be the third in row without a ride, very very frustrating! Glad I'm now spinning twice a week to keep me ticking over.

CMA contact.

After a week of Celia trying to contact me with no avail (been working in a signaless village in north Oxfordshire) we finally got to talk on Tuesday, chatted fairly briefly but discussed dates and online fundraising options. Agreed to let her know a more detailed plan of the ride once we've nailed it down a little tighter in the hope that they'll see some opportunities in the plan for publicising it. Info pack in the post on it's way from her to me, see what useful bits are in there next week. After mentioning our difficulties on trying to secure sponsorship from both a bike manufacturer and a bike shop, she confirmed my suspicions in not so many words that we shouldn't count on much if any help in the way of equipment, no big blow to plans as we both have bikes now and Ian steadily building up a comprehensive tool kit.

Back on two wheels after 20 years!

Lee finally picked up his shiny new bike Yesterday,he went for a hybrid in the end after some deliberation, I think it's probably the wisest solution all things considered. He managed to get out on it today despite very stiff winds so now has his first few miles on two wheels under his belt for about twenty years! I remember getting back on a bike after a long time without owning one only a few years back,I still remember the anxiety so I'm sure he's very happy to have that first ride behind him. He tested the imapmyride app at the same time as we're considering using it to log the big bike ride, early results seem encouraging so we'll both continue using it over the coming months to fully get to grips with it. First bike ride together is planned for the end of February in Birmingham.

Saddle worries

Got out on the bike between Christmas and new year, only managed 26 miles due to lack of light, didn't start until well after lunch. Good route, quite hilly so a good workout nonetheless. However! Quite a bit of saddle soreness, bit of a worry as we're hoping to do about twice the mileage a day on the big bike ride and day after day. After some research it seems that I may need a narrower saddle than the one supplied with my bike, it's not a problem you can throw money at to fix though apparently, some saddles work for some and not for others, hoping I don't have to buy and try too many before I get one that I'm happy to commit to...gulp!

Mechanic on board.

Out with some friends at the German market in Birmingham a couple of evenings ago, got talking about our plan, completely forgot that Granville is into his minis, didn't quite realise the extent of his mechanical skills if I'm honest but he assures me that he can get dad's Morris Minor into shape for the drive.

Bikes required!

Thought I'd test the water and start with attempting to acquire a couple of bikes. Googled 'British cycle manufacturers' and up popped falcon cycles, I remember having a falcon road bike as a kid so thought I'd try them first. No idea who to direct the request to so filled in co online form asking who to direct my email to. A day later (9th December) got a reply back saying that they receive countless requests like this and therefore can't help. Did wish me luck but didn't help soften the blow, confidence taken a bit of a hit and less optimistic now of getting any help funding the ride. We'll just have to dig deeper ourselves to fund the event now so may have to look at things a little differently. Will still contact others in the new year but will wait until I've spoken to Celia at the cma and see if she has any tips on approaching would be sponsors. I suspect a full letter or email detailing exactly what we're up to, directed at the right person, on the right day may yield more favourable results.

Kick off!

Called the cma on the 8th of December, spoke to Celia in fundraising, liked our plan to raise funds and has arranged to call in January to talk it through and see how they can help publicising the event. Encouraging start!