LEJOG
What is LEJOG I hear you ask? Well as we are all financial people, let me explain using numbers:
1,000 miles
100 hours
10 days
1 goal
To get from Lands End To John O Groats; Cycling. For those of you who don’t know this is southernmost part of the UK to the northern most part of the UK. Given that it covers the peak district and the Highlands sadly this is not a relatively flat journey around the British coastline but as close as possible to a straight line.
The first thing I had to do once I had agreed to this adventure was to buy a bike. And now you appreciate the size of the challenge this really is for me.
Why???
As I got on my bike on a windy, dull Saturday morning with rain pouring down to begin the trip from Ludlow to Wrexham this question sprang to my mind too. So much so, that I thought about it for most of the sixty mile trip through the Shropshire countryside. Fortunately, the thought of 1000 miles in ten days (for those not used to miles this is equal to the moon and back) focuses your mind so I could give the question serious consideration.
Whilst the obvious answer is "for charity" (see below :-)), ultimately I came to the conclusion that this is some sort of a mid life crisis. Whilst the traditional route is to consider a younger partner and a faster car like[please insert your own choice of name here for legal reasons], a number of my friends have suddenly turned to unusual sporting events to try and hold on to the belief that we are still young and athletic.
I have a friend who is running a marathon despite having never run for a bus, a friend who is suddenly taking up triathlons as she reaches her mid 30s and one friend from school who never showed a great deal of interest in sports doing both marathons and triathlons. He is that kind of person.
To explain my logic I would need to go back ten years to a time when I was a recently married, newly promoted manager who was about to find out the piece of news that changes just about everything. Indeed it was around this time ten years ago we discovered that we were expecting our son. No matter how many people tell you that having a child changes everything you never quite believe them until it happens to you. It's a bit like a tax audit.
Since then, I have gone from being an avid football fan with a passing interest in “egg chasing” to a qualified rugby coach and referee. I went from feeling fit as a fiddle to having developed mild Asthma (i still blame the Helsinki office room that we were based in for eight months and was cleaned twice:-)). I went from performing single arm extensions with one hand weighted with pint glasses to attending up to five exercise classes a week assuming I am not in another country. I went from thinking of bikes as something you never forgot how to ride to someone who has fallen off twice simply for forgetting to take my feet off the pedals. The taxi driver I rolled in front of was quite surprised and, once he realised he was far enough away to stop easily,highly amused.
And all of these things is so I can keep up with my son when he wants to play at the weekend without keeling over coughing and wheezing. Admittedly the parents playing "bulldogs" at rugby and a competitive streak a mile wide was also an influence as after three lengths of the small pitch I felt the need to hand myself over and go in the middle. The ultimate treachery my body could commit.
Indeed, it is the other Rugby coach from my sons team who suggested the bike ride and after initially thinking he was crazy I started to think why not? All it can do is help my general fitness and for some reason a challenge like this appeared to be a good idea. New aspects of life then presented themselves:
- calorie counting (there's an app for that),
- abstinence from alcohol,
- regular exercise classes,
- going to the hotel gym every night as opposed to room service cheeseburger and playing PSP; and To top it all,
- Saturdays spent outside wearing trousers that look like they came from Borat's cast offs (see picture below)whilst cycling increasing distances.
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| I looked scared for a reason. (It was the blackboard!) |
The good cause
Sparks is a leading children’s medical research charity dedicated to funding and championing pioneering research into range of conditions affecting babies, children and mums-to-be.
Since 1991, it has committed over £22million into pioneering research projects across a wide spectrum of medical conditions including childhood cancers, cerebral palsy, premature birth and spina bifida. In total, the charity has funded 233 research projects in more than 80 hospitals and universities across the UK.
Through the research it aims to improve the quality of life for children and families affected by serious illness or disability today, whilst seeking ways to better diagnose, treat and prevent these conditions in the future.
As a dad, this is obviously a topic close to my heart. Coincidentally, it is chaired by somebody else with a key interest in Rugby; former professional rugby player Justin Leonard. It’s a little known fact that between us Justin and I share 114 rugby caps for England.
There is a sponsorship page set up at the following address http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/sparkslejog and if youare able to help with sponsorship for this I would greatly appreciate it.
So, on the 20th June we will start at Lands End and will update this blog regularly so you can track where we are from one day to another.
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