Lands End to John O'Groats - Off Road!

Rich's ride on hold due to ill health, ash and snow.

Apologies but Rich has had postpone his LEJOG adventure. As those who have seen him will bear testament his lungs aren't working and he is on steroids to get them fixed. His peak flow is only 350 and should be 700 thanks to a seasonal form of asthma - Iceland is of course to blame!! Full article>

Having visited the strangest Doctor the diagnosis is that the man flu is actually asthma - Rich now has the right medication and hopes to be back on the bike tomorrow

Despite being dosed up on all the medication he can find Richard is still suffering and is unable to get out on his bike!

Lets hope the Doctor can fix him later today!

Rich's training is on hold as he is suffering from a bought of man flu. So annoying to be house bound when the weather is so good. Only good news is that he has time to find the final few things he needs for the big trip

Having dropped the Bike 4 Cancer van off in Northants for an upgrade Rich decided to ride the 65 miles from St Pancras back to Kingsclere

Great route along the Grand Union Canal through London to Slough, then on the road to Reading and back on the Thames and Kennet & Avon Canal home. Arrived as the light was fading - bike and rider in great shape

The editor at Bike Magic, David Arthur, has published the story but agrees the trip is quite a challenge

To see the story on Bike Magic click here

With the bike now built Richard heads off to explore the Kent countryside and make sure his spanner work is up to scratch...

Bike gallery>

Thanks to Mark Moreve and Mark Hammond the media 'rushes' are now available

Full article>

Rich's challenge is the lead story on Newbury Sound's news today. To read the story click here

Editor's note: whilst it is great to get the coverage I must make a quick correction - lots of people have ridden solo on the road but I don't know of anyone who has done it solo OFF ROAD...

It's Easter so I feel obliged to eat chocolate but come Monday diet has to kick in. As well as all the other preparation for the trip and training I need to find a way of losing about 10kg! Suggestions welcome...

With only 6 weeks to go time to hit the gym and get fit – training will involve weights to strengthen lower back as well as spending time on the bike

Donations now over £100 thanks to the Stanton Clan and 2e2 colleagues Matt & Chris.

Thanks to Andy C all the parts needed to build my custom bike were sourced from eBay, OnOne, Pedal On and various other bike stores. We now have everything ready and worryingly I have to build it! I am know for not being technically capable and the bike has been designed to limit the chances of a break down however I still had to build it....

The key components are:

• OnOne Scandal 29er steel frame in British Racing Green
  
• Rohloff Speedhub gear
  
• Chris King headset
  
• Halo front wheel
  
• Cane Creek Thudbuster seat post

After the half marathon struggled to climb the stairs at Newbury Sound Radio station – had good chat with Emily and story will be on their website www.newburysound.co.uk and on the air soon

Despite a lack of training I finished in a respectable time of 1hr 54mins with more people behind me than in front. Weather was hot but crowds and atmosphere amazing. Sadly Bentley wasn't able to come and be my pace setter this time

Popped into Cotswolds in Reading to buy a tent. Came out with a few other items having spoken to Barry – a fellow cyclist who too thinks I am mad...

Very generously Mark Moreve and Mark Hammond gave up their afternoon to interview me and take photos as I rode around Ockham woods – photos and video will be used on line and for the media to generate publicity for the charity

Trip into London to meet up with Ronan at Progress Cycle. Having set up my Planet X bike for the Tour de France trip last year I was keen to get Ronan to make sure I won’t injure myself. Riding on the special jig Ronan produced a set of design for the perfect bike and made me special insoles for my shoes

Also met up with Henrietta from Fleishman Hillard who is helping me with the PR / media. Full article>

With the weather looking good I set off for a 30 mile training ride taking in the canal from Newbury to Hungerford before doing a bit on the road to Marlborough and then an off road cycle trail towards Swindon. Beautiful day, amazing scenery – just a shame the legs weren’t as willing as I had hoped.

Watched the Sport Relief cyclist ride a similar route – amazing that they managed and great that lots of people now understand how far it is – they did it the easy way, on the road and with a full support crew. Funnily enough people can comprehend this trip as they have seen it on the TV but few (including me) grasp how hard it is going to be cycling 1201 miles off road, camping along the way

Having been made redundant from 2e2 seems now is the time to prepare for the trip – had thought of September but better to use garden leave time and start new job when the cycle is over. Andy & Pete helped me make the final decision by offering to ride the last few days with me in Scotland

Had lunch with Gavin Rogers who rode LEJOG a couple of years ago. He looked very fit to me and I am now worried – they started riding at 8am and normally finished at 6pm! They also had a motorhome as support – quite clearly I must be insane for doing this solo

Met with Dr Peter Jones and his team at Moulton College in Northampton to carry out VO2 max test. Overall verdict is that I am ‘fit but fat’

Our study showed that you have a very good cardiovascular system. Your maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) was 4.6 litres per minute. Your resting heart rate was 57 beats per minute which shows a good healthy heart. However, we were a little bit concerned about your resting blood pressure which was approximately 145/90 mmHg. Full article>

As part of my training I have been running – mostly with our dog, Bentley the Beagle – he is a great training partner – he is strong and keeps on going but needs to have a few stops to stiff and do his stuff. In the snow we ran around Pitsford Water – a 8.25 mile run in just over 1hr 15 mins.

For further information:

Email: click here
Web: www.sail4cancer.org
Tel: +44 (0)845 408 1849