Day 291 (Saturday)

Got up at normal time,

We (Wifey and me) took Rosie (Dog) for a nice long walk in the woods.

Got back home as 12, had lunch (Pancakes) but the Merida on the Turbo Trainer for a final test of the gears (I adjusted them last Sunday), and to ensure that the seat position was right in relation to the peddles.

At about 1:30 I set of on the Merida for a bit of a random cycle ride, I knew I wanted to head home in an Easterly direction and wifey suggested heading North, so I did...

I went Chippenham, Malmsbury, Wootton Bassett, Broad Town, Avebury, Calne then Chippenham (Route Here...)

The cycle computer had the ride as 44.68 miles in 2 hours 49 minutes with an average speed of 15.8 mph, Lyneham met office had the Temperature at 4.3 Deg C with an Easterly wind blowing at 18 mph.

I have been interested in the energy requirements of cycling lately,I have investigated exactly what the GDA means on food labelling (It is to average be of any real use!) I know I have been loosing serious weight and I thought it was about time I actually understood what my Calorie usage and required intake was. According to the Cycle Calorie Calculator today's ride burned 2,952 calories!

Day 290

Did a drive by home and picked wifey up then went swimming.

Did about 20 lengths again, I actually felt a little bit more controlled in my swimming tonight!

After swimming dove back home and picked daughter and dog up and went out to pub for evening meal :-)

Day 289

Got in from work, had small amount of food (Didn't want to eat to much then get on Turbo Trainer)

Managed to get on the Turbo Trainer at 7:15, I decided to have a bit of a hill climbing session.

5 minutes per gear, high to low then back again (Skipping the last gear on the way back - as its to easy and would mean an hour 5 minutes session instead of an hour)


Computer had the session as 1 hour with 20.1 miles covered and an average speed of.........yes 20.1 mph

Day 288

Worked from home today.

Managed to get out at lunch time for my 'normal 25' , the weather forecast was for heavy rain so I dressed up in winter warmers and waterproofs :-)

The ride was good and surprisingly I didn't overheat, but I did get soaked, not from rain but perspiration.

I also got a huge amount of sweat into my eyes whilst cycling up Wick Hill, boy oh boy I can tell you it stings.

The cycle computer had today's ride as 25.62 miles in 1 hour 40 minutes.

Day 287

Night Of...Played computer games with Russ and Dave :-)

Day 286

Bought Tickets to see in May :-)

Got home from work latish, cooked chicken supreme with wifey (Using left over chicken from Sunday roast).

Eventually got on to the turbo trainer at just gone 8, did a 30 minute session.
5 minutes easy warm-up, 20 minutes climbing through the gears (Turbo set to maximum load) , 5 minutes easy cool-down

Cycle computer had the session as 30 minutes and 10.5 miles.

Day 285 (Sunday)

Got up, did normal Sunday morning house tidy up...Porridge for breakfast.

After yesterdays long ride on the Merida, I did some more handlebar tweaks to try and lessen the load on the hands. I turned the stem upside down to gain another inch or two in height.

Then I gave the Merida a good clean with a damp cloth.

After lunch I went for my 'normal 25' ride on the Dawes, I had to cycle through some deep flood water on Sutton Lane.

I was expecting to see a major flood on Maud Heaths Causeway as this is where the road normally floods but to my surprise there was no sign of any flood water.

The climb up the 1:6 of Wick Hill did seem very tough today, I am not sure if it as a result of yesterday's ride or if it was the minor head wind.

On return home it was yet another wash and oil for the Dawes.

The cycle computer has today's ride as 25.62 miles in 1 hour 45 minutes with an average speed of 14.5 mph.

I am really looking forward to the brighter evenings so I can get back out on the bike during the week, I want to get back to doing my old 20 mile route and see how much I have improved, on the down side it will be pretty depressing if I haven't improved!

Day 284 (Saturday)

Took Rosie out for a nice walk, had some cheese and crackers for lunch.

At about 1pm I set of on a really nice ride, I decided to have a repeat of the Chippenham -> Chew Magna -> Chippenham ride (Route Here...), but this time I decided to go all the way round the lake :-)


It was a lovely ride, the sun came out and I got into a massive sweat! The hills proved no problem and tilting the handlebars up slightly helped soften the riding position a little :-)

According to the cycle computer today's ride was 64.05 miles in 4 hours 15 minutes with an average speed of 15 mph.

Day 283

Ohhhh Back to swimming :-)

Did a drive by home and picked up wifey and daughter, swam for 30 minutes (I think I did about 20 lengths ish) then stopped on the way home and had a really nice pub meal :-)

Plan is to continue with the Friday night swim for the foreseeable future.

I am really pleased, although I still swim like an automatic washing machine, my fitness level and stamina have improved by a large order of magnitude, I did not need to stop in the entire 30 minute session and I left the pool feeling that I could continue (Although I was hungry and am now very tired)

I think the return to swimming will be good for me as I am concerned about ONLY cycling and teh negative affects of that activity alone.

Day 282

Got home late :-( then had to fix hot water system :-(
Managed to get changed and onto the Turbo Trainer at 7:30 :-) Then did a 30 minute easy session.

5 Minutes easy spin
20 minutes easy ride (Concentrating on trying to maintain a high cadence)
5 Minutes easy spin

All of that easy should have meant cool John......It didn't!

Computer shows...10.5 miles 30 Minutes

Why do I feel that 10 miles cycling indoors is good enough yet when I am out on the road anything less than 25 miles is pointless????

Day 281

Worked from home today :-)

Managed to break away from work at about 11:45, Then set of on my 'normal 25'
When I got to the top of Bencroft Hill the first signs of spring were visible :-) (Well in my mind anyway! My heart always lifts when I see Snow Drops)

It was hard work today partly because of the temperature and partly because of the wind, but I think the 2-3 rides per week up the 1:6 of Wick Hill is definitely improving, now is it because I am getting stronger or because I am getting used to it???

The cycle computer showed today's ride as 25.68 miles with an average speed of 14.1 mph.
Lyneham had the weather as....

Time	Weather	Temp	Wind	Vis	Pressure
1200 am	Medium Cloud	4.4 °C	S 8 mph	25 km	1003 hPa, Rising
1300 am	Medium Cloud	4.8 °C	SSW 10 mph	30 km	1002 hPa, Falling

Day 280

Night off.....Played computer games :-)

Day 279

Got home....Got changed then went straight on the Turbo trainer.

Did a 5 minute warm up easy spin (Noticed I did a mile) then 20 minutes endurance training, High load high gear trying to maintain a high cadence (Covered 9.5 miles) then 5 minutes easy spin (Covered a mile again)

The total distance ridden whilst sitting still was 11.5 miles in 30 minutes.

Since Nathan has decided to drop JOGLE from his extensive travel plans of 2009, I have found it difficult to ask friends and family to sponsor me/us, the ride for me was never about charity but about a personal challenge however if I am going to spend so much effort/time/money then I may as well try and raise money for a charity closer to my heart.

I have now decided to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support they provided support and nursing care for my mother who passed away from cancer a few years ago. Any body that has already sponsored us through Nathan's page thank you! Do not re-sponsor me/us, any money we raise for ANY charity is worthwhile, it is just easier for me to ask people to sponsor me/us when I know and understand the charity I am working for, and that the person I am raising money with is actually doing the event!

If you would like to sponsor us please do so via the following link....
http://www.justgiving.com/jmj-jogle

Day 278 (Sunday)

Up early'ish and straight out to service son's car, it went really quite well, he did attempt to do most of it, with me offering advice and explaining what and why we were doing.

After the service we had brunch then I went straight out on the Dawes and the 'normal 25'

I did the 25.62 miles in 1 hour 48 minutes with an average speed of 14.2 mph, the home leg from Lyneham was quite tough with a harsh headwind.

On return home the Dawes had yet another wash and re-oil.

I am now in the process of cooking Roast Pork for tea, I have also made a 'healthy' egg custard for pudding :-)

Ohhps....Got today as Saturday...Thanks to Dave I have now corrected it :-)

Day 277 (Saturday)

Took Rosie (Dog) for walk with Wifey at Calne, we walked along the Calne branch line from Station Road to Black Dog halt.


When we got back home I got changed ready for the afternoon cycle ride and had lunch.
Then it was dilemma time, the roads were still a little damp, although there was no salt, should I take the Merida or the Dawes????

After I realised I was never going to make the decision myself, I opted for a MSM conversation with Dave, who said 'No salt on road, take it, you can always clean it when you get back'

So I set off on a repeat of last years White Horse ride, I wanted to take on some big hills just to prove to myself that I had low enough gears to make it up the big hills :-)

The Ride was great, I really enjoyed it, the only issue for me at the moment is when and how to smoothly transition through the gears, I find myself always opting for the largest front chain ring, and moving through the rear gears then I have to change to the smaller front chain ring as the going gets tough and suddenly its all to easy and I start spinning and lose momentum, or I think thats gonna be a tough hill so I change to the smaller front chain ring and find everything was far to easy and I could have stayed in the outer chain ring for a bit longer.

I also found that I am using either the same leg muscles in a different way OR a new set of muscles, when I got home from the ride my upper thigh muscles feltl VERY worked!

Today's route can be found here..., It was a great success, the Hills proved NO problem, the strongish wind although noticeable did not cause anywhere near the issues they would have on the Dawes, I do need to spend as much time on the Meida as I can though as it is essential that I get used to the gear ratio's and the slightly different riding position.

The ONLY down side to today's ride is that the Merida got dirty :-(


I will wipe it down tomorrow when its dried of.

Ohhhh I tried the phone charger I made over Christmas, I plugged it in and started Trackme the GPS appeared much better and positive, and at the end of the ride the phone was still fully charged (and charging) and NO gps points were lost! So a great success there as well!

According to the Cycle computer today's ride was 55.46 miles in 3 Hours 36 minutes with an average speed of 15.3 mph and a top speed of 44 mph! Lyneham had the Temp at 7.5 Deg with a 13 mph SSW wind.

Day 276

Night off....
If tomorrows weather forecast holds true I might actually get a nice long ride on the Merida :-)

Day 275

Turbo Trainer...

Got in...Got changed then did a 30 minute session on the Turbo

5 minutes easy spin 20 minutes high gear (Trying to maintain a high speed and more importantly high cadence) 5 minutes easy spin cool down.

Total distance covered 11 miles in 30 minutes

Day 274

Worked from home today, almost didn't go out for lunch time ride as the pavements on the early morning dog walk were treacherous!

At 11 am Lyneham had the temperature at 0.8 deg C, at 11:30 I decided that I wouldn't go, then I started to feel guilty! and 10 minutes later I was changed ready to go!

The new rear cassette turned up so I decided to fit it before setting off.

Due to the later start I opted for the old 20 mile Lyneham ride (Route Here...), without the 1:6 Wick Hill and long trawl of Stanley Lane the ride seemed like a Sunday afternoon amble in the park! Even with the relatively cold temperature and a 6mph Southerly I still did the 21.66 miles in 1 hour 20 Minutes.

The new cassette worked a dream with no chain jumping at all on the small gear. I am still undesided at exactly how worn it was....(The new one is on the right)


And just so Dave can see the broken down and assembled cassette heres some more photo's

Day 273

Night off :-)

Played computer games........

Day 272

Turbo trainer....

Got in from work, got changed straight away and did 30 minutes on the Turbo, the session was 5 minutes easy spin to warm up, 20 minutes high gear working on endurance and 5 minutes easy spin cool down.

Wifey took a picture of me 15 minutes into the session...


The cycle computer showed that I cycled 11.2 miles in 30 minutes

Day 271 (Sunday)

Got up, did normal Sunday house tidy, then took Rosie for a walk along the canal.
It was really nice :-)

Although the canal was still frozen...

We stopped at 'The Barge' at Honeystreet for Sunday lunch and I had one more cider than I promised myself! (Well they do serve Green Goblin :-)

We got back home at about 2 o'clock, I had a nice cup of tea :-) and got changed to go out for a ride. (I eventually set of at about 3:15)

I did my 'normal 25', although there was a healthy wind blowing (15mph Southerly, Gusting to 30) because the temperature was milder (7.8 deg) The ride actually felt easier, it was nice NOT to get frozen feet :-)

The cycle computer had the ride as 25.64 miles with an average speed of 14.4 mph.

I got back home at 5pm and it was dark! Then I had to clean the bike again...again...again...It must be the most cleaned and oiled bike on the planet! Somewhere on the ride the back light had departed from the bike :-( so I had to fit a spare one I had lying around (on wifeys bike :-)

Day 270 (Saturday)

Hmmmmm today was cold!

Got up at a sensible time for such a cold day, stoked up the fire had porridge for breky then took Rosie for a walk with wifey at Morgan's Hill (The frost was very thick on everything it almost looked like snow!)

On the way back from Morgans Hill we stopped at Peddlers in Calne and picked up some bearings, grease and chain wax.

After lunch I almost didn't set off on a cycle ride as Lyneham was still showing -0.8 deg C but wifey reminded me that I was cycling at lower temperatures over Christmas.

It is always the thought of going out that is worse than the actual event, once I actually get going I warm up nicely and really enjoy it! (I must be mad!)

I eventual set of on my 'normal 25' (It was to cold to go further!) on return I gave the bike a good wash and dry down.

After tea I stripped down the front wheel hub to check on the bearings

I was very impressed the grease was still in good condition and well packed and the bearings themselves where fine.

I cleaned everything up, removing the old grease and repacked it all with fresh grease.

I now know that the bearings are good, and the rear wheel is about to be replaced with the warranty job so no need to expend any effort there!

I also fitted the new frame pump to the Dawes today, its a bit more solid then anything I have touched before so hopefully I will not break it!

And whilst I am taking pictures of bike pumps, here's a picture of the very impressive travelling track pump fitted to the Merida.


The cycle computer has today's ride down as 25.62 miles in 1 hour 48 minutes with an average speed of 14.1 mph, Lyneham had the temperature at -0.8 when I started the ride and -0.4 when I finished, with a 3mp southerly wind.

Day 269

Was going to cook tea then have a Turbo session.
Ended up cooking tea, having a pint of cider and chatting with family...so No turbo session tonight

Looking forward to getting out on the bikefor a real ride tomorrow

Day 268

Turbo Trainer again!...

I was going to have a quick half hour on the turbo then cook myself something healthy for tea (I am home alone this evening), then I thought no I will have 'cheese on toast' (I love cheese on toast but have sort of given it up as to unhealthy).

To offset the evil that is cheesy toe I did an hour on the turbo instead.

5 minutes per gear low to high in the outer chain ring, then back down the gears until the hour was up, I was knackered! and ringing wet...

Computer had the session as 1 hour with distance covered of 20.8 miles, I wont tell you the average speed.......see if you can work it out :-)

btw it was worth it for the cheese on toast and the pint of cider :-)

Day 267

First work from home Wednesday of 2009, and it was cold! very cold

I stopped work at 11:30 and went out for my 'normal 25' , Lyneham had the temp at -0.2 Deg C and leaving the warm house for the cold outside was tough.

I was expecting to have to avoid the back roads due to icing but the ice was restricted to the verges and the road surface itself was safe.

The cycle computer had the journey as 25.62 miles with an average speed of 14 mph.

Part 2....
The chain was still jumping on the small rear sprocket so I brought the bike in and put it on the Turbo and disconnected the cable to the rear dérailleur (To remove any tension) then ensured the limit stop was set correctly, the chain does NOT skip under free-wheel only under load, under closer inspection the teeth appear to be heavily worn, so I have now ordered a new rear cassette.

Day 266

Night off,
Computer games ....shooting zombies in L4D with Dave, Russ and co

Day 265

Wow today was tough! I had got used to waking up at a sensible time. The 5:30 start was an eye opener!

Got back home at 6:30 ish and went on the Turbo Trainer for the first time in 3 weeks, I had it set to the maximum load and I may have had the roller a little tight to the tyre as my hill climbing session was VERY tiring!

The cycle computer showed 12 miles in 39 minutes with an average speed of 18.5 mph.

Today I had discussions with Marian, Nathan and Joy and have decided to move the JOGLE start date back to Sunday 31st of May, this will hopefully reduce the traffic we may encounter due to bank holiday traffic and also improve our chances of better weather.

The plan is now...
Sat 30th May Drive to John'o Groates
Sun 31st May Day 1 John'o Groates to Carbisdale 99 miles
Mon 1st June Day 2 Carbisdale to Fort Augustus 89.7 miles
Tue 2nd June Day 3 Fort Augustus to Bridge of Orchy 73.2 miles
Wed 3rd June Day 4 Bridge of Orchy to Paisley 89.9 miles
Thu 4th June Day 5 Paisley to Dumfries 88.3 miles
Fri 5th June Day 6 Dumfries to Kendal 78.1 miles
Sat 6th June Day 7 Kendal to Middlewich 95 miles
Sun 7th June Day 8 Middlewich to Balsall Common 93.6 miles
Mon 8th June Day 9 Balsall Common to Chippenham 84.2 miles
Tue 9th June Day 10 Chippenham to Tiverton 83.2 miles
Wed 10th June Day 11 Tiverton to St Columb Major 97.3 miles
Thu 11th June Day 12 St Columb Major to Land End 57.8 miles
Total Planed miles - 1029.3 miles

Ohhh it should be fun!???????

Day 264 (Sunday)

Got up and did normal Sunday house tidy, had a quick check on the current weather, according to Lyneham it showed -2.9 Deg C!!!! so decided to leave cycle ride until after lunch and we took dog for a walk instead :-) A side shoot of the river was frozen!

After we got back I had lunch then set of for a cycle ride (By this time the weather had warmed to -1)

I set of on my 'normal 25' unfortunately either the cable or the rear dérailleur now needs a little adjustment as the chain is not happy running in the high gear, I did stop and give it a quick tweak which made it a little better but not yet right!

Other than the high gear issue (which I avoided by being in 1 gear lower) the bike seemed really smooth and it was a fun ride :-) If not a little cold



According to the cycle computer I cycled 25.63 miles in 1hour 46 minutes.

I will stick the Dawes on the turbo trainer tonight, back off the cable adjustment and set the dérailleur up properly :-) I cant stand things not working properly!

I have had a very successful Christmas break, I promised myself 25 miles a day, which should have been 11 days @ 25 miles = 275, I actually did 288.75 miles in 10 days (I was ill on new years day), Ohhhhh I do feel good about myself :-) Now all I need is a nice dry day so I can take the Merida out on the 20 mile ride to see how much better I am!

..............Ohhhhhhh I just fixed the gears! (6:37 pm)
I put the Dawes on the turbo as promised and found that I had routed the chain over a guide on the dérailleur (Between the two Jockey wheels) where it should have gone under! All because the darn chain tool I used was crap! It did however give me the incentive to remove the two jockey wheels and clean/grease up the bearings.

The gears all work properly now! and the chain has been cleaned/oiled and has not been adversely affected by its misadventure.

I think however I will use and abuse the Dawes over the rest of the winter and give it another new chain in the spring just to be sure!

Day 263 (Saturday)

Had intentions of going straight out for a ride, but I got side tracked and didn't make it out until almost 10:30.

I hadn't realised how cold it was, I got fooled by the clear sunny sky and the reduced amount of frost on the ground, checking with Lyneham met office on my return they had the temperature at -1.9 when I set off! (silly old me)

I set off on the reverse 25, and warmed up nicely going up Bencroft Hill, I stopped at the top and took some photies of the countryside

When I got to Lyneham and turned into a tail wind I realised how cold it was!

The worst of it all was that I couldn't go straight in and warm up when I got home because I had to wash the Dawes off.

When we went out shopping yesterday I stopped at Halfords to buy some threadlock to hopefully put an end to the crank bolt working loose on the Dawes, whilst I was there I bought a Travelling track pump :-) Hopefully it will put an end to me breaking pumps!

Today I cycled 25.69 miles in 1 hour 46 minutes.

Hopefully the roads will dry out for tomorrow and I can get back out on the Merida, I am keen to try out my old 20 mile route to see if I can now do it at 20 mph :-) My 25 mile route has some very steep hills in it and drags my average speed down!

Stop press.......
Just put some threadlock on the crank bolt, when I finished that I checked the chain stretch and as I thought the chain was worn out so I replaced it with one I bought a week or two ago.
So the Dawes now has a nice shiny new chain and a crank that shouldn't work loose any more!

The chain replacement was easy enough, although my chain tool was cheap and nasty and broken! so I had to borrow my neighbours, I have now ordered a good quality chain tool on-line :-)

Day 262

Ohhh felt much better today, so when I got up I put the cycling gear straight on and had some nice cereal for breakfast.

I finally made it out on the bike at about 10:30 and set of on my reverse 25 :-) (Route here...)
It was a really good ride and a gnats warmer than it has been of late! Lyneham had the Temperature at 0.2 Deg and a mighty 1.2 when I got back home :-)

The cycle computer had today's ride as 25.69 miles in 1 hour 45 min and an average speed of 14.5 mph.

Yesterday I tried out the 9 volt battery USB charger that I made on new years eve, and it works a treat, I finally have a reliable power solution for the phone on JOGLE :-) and it only cost 99p to make :-) I didnt use a case/box at all I glued the battery socket to the USB socket :-)



I then spent the afternoon chopping up logs with the chainsaw and then went shopping with wifey.

Day 261

Not feeling to great today, I ate something yesterday that did not agree with me :-(

I have decided to take today off