DD7

[juliet]

Mile 116: Made it! arr 0840, so just outside 12hrs (would have been within were it not for wrong turn leading to 3mi detour), & within my self-imposed 9am deadline. Currently queuing for breakfast.

The sun came out as I turned down the Dunwich road - cycling across the heath in sunshine, lovely. Before that it was largely vile - just after last update it started raining again, & then pissed it down for maybe an hour. And stayed cold & nasty after that until 20min ago.

Also, which sod told me Suffolk was flat? Trust me, it is not. It has Hills. Mind you, by the last 15mi, anything on more of an incline than absolute flatness felt like a vast & hideous hill. Not assisted by the absence of not only all my lower gears, but the lowest of the middle set. And the second lowest I had to hold in place.

Knees still intact but achey; legs are going to *hurt* tomorrow; back needs stretching out.

So: would I do it again? Yes. It wasn't as hard as I'd feared (though the last 30mi was toughish & the last 15 really very tough - though was still quite happy when on the flat). and I'm feeling v pleased with myself right now. I'd like to do it in decent weather - it was pretty foul. I'd like to do it with fully functioning gears! It wd be interesting to do it with someone else - though I actually really enjoyed being on my own (& you do get to chat to people along the way, & repeatedly encounter the same folk as you leapfrog each other).

And I didn't get a puncture, hurrah!

Av: tbc, left odometer on bike.

Comments

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

wow, congratulations!

[juliet]

thanks!

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Huzzah!

[juliet]

Huzzah indeed! So, are you tempted for next year...?

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, definitely, it seems from what you and my friend Emma have said to be a Good Thing To Do. Though I do have a text from her at 3.00 saying that she was losing depth perception. Incidentally I've passed on your LJ URL to her because she was interested in reading about it having done it, I assume that's alright?

[juliet]

of course, is fine.

losing depth perception

What, due to tiredness? I didn't actually feel that tired (well, not until I got there at which point I suddenly became aware of being Very Very Tired Indeed) - I think when I *would* have started feeling tired, the sun came up & that revitalised me somewhat.

[huskyteer.livejournal.com]

Whoo! Well done you! Riding all night is weirdly cool, innit? (Though I cheated and had an engine.)

[juliet]

The bit where dawn happened was ace. (the bit where rain happened less so...)

I am bloody knackered now, mind...

[uon.livejournal.com]

Cor, well done!

[juliet]

thank you for early morning text, btw! Was most cheering to know someone else was awake, if only briefly & for cat-related reasons :-)

[steer.livejournal.com]

Astounding. You must feel really amazing about yourself -- even if you will ache.

[juliet]

I feel slightly surprised, actually :-) But yes, pretty pleased! Acheyness: oh yes. Ouch.

[steer.livejournal.com]

*Grin* Well, I'm in awe -- I think I'm reasonably fit but no way could I cycle for so long. (Then again, I think I can run further than I can cycle).

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

Blimey. Well done.

Experience says I hit the wall at about 80. Nowhere in England is flat though, not even Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

[beingjdc.livejournal.com]

Oh, wrong icon maybe.

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

A cat is never inappropriate.

[damerell.livejournal.com]

Ride around Cornwall first, then it all seems flat. Ahem. Congratulations, Juliet - I had no idea you were doing this...

I don't think I have ever been 120mi in one day. The final pace seems lower than it is - trust me, we weren't making more than that in shorter days on the E2E.

[juliet]

Prior to this the furthest I'd been in one day was 40mi (done a couple of weeks ago as a test run of sorts); and I did 20-odd miles a few months ago with a very heavy pannier as I'd been away for the weekend. Prior to *that* I'd not done anything more than my regular commute (6mi each way) for about 3 yrs. It might be suggested that this was rather poor preparation :-)

Final final average was 12.7mph; it dropped massively with the last 10-15mi (hills, gear problems, headwind, exhaustion!). Still, I was pretty pleased.

E2E?

[damerell.livejournal.com]

End to End; Land's End to John O'Groats. We were not quite so unprepared either, although the real shock there is of course the discovery that if you're big heroes on day n this has consequences on day n+1...

I'm impressed.

[juliet]

I was still feeling pretty OK at 80, partly because that was roughly when dawn happened & that was v cheering. 90-odd was when it started getting tough. I suspect this might have been put off a bit further (though the last 10 miles were always going to be vile...) had it not been for the "pissing with rain" element to miles 80-90 or thereabouts.

Yeah; Suffolk is probably no less flat than the bits of Essex that felt very flat indeed; it's just that I was going through Essex rather earlier on!

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

Woot.

[juliet]

thank you! And now it is time for Pizza, Beer, & Sleep.

[hazyjayne.livejournal.com]

Well done!

[juliet]

Thank you!

[mzdt.livejournal.com]

everyone's achieving Big Things in one way or another at the moment - it's great. ;-)

have finally sent you some money - really sorry!

[juliet]

Achieving things++

np! thanks!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

hello, you are a MENTAL, well done :)

[juliet]

Thank you! I would try to claim that it's not that mental, but would probably be on a tough case :-)

[realtan-dannan.livejournal.com]

congrats on this! You didn't happen to meet Darkpoint while you were doing it did you? (I haven't heard from him yet!)

[juliet]

Thanks! Um... not sure I know Darkpoint, sorry! And freely admit I was not in any much state to recognise anyone by the time I reached the end...

[realtan-dannan.livejournal.com]

lol, I am sure!

I am sure we have passed at at least one event, but no you wouldn't know us directly ;-) just thought you might have struck up conversation in a syncronisity stylie though.

He eventually turned up at 3:30, so he's alive - he got to the finish at 6:45, so a bit before you.

If it helps, failing_angel passed on your details to me so that's the common link.

[(Anonymous)]

remember getting up to 143 miles one day, but any hill after the first 50 or so miles is hellish and any riding into the wind is the same way. so this is your biggest achievement since.....?

[juliet]

The last 10 or so miles there was a pretty stiff headwind, which was Not Helpful.

If I could manage 143mi I would have been able to get the train back rather than waiting for the coach... which would have been great, except that there was *no way* I could have done another 30mi at that point. (cycling back from where the coach dropped us in Smithfields, to home, which is a run I would normally do without even thinking about it, was very very slow...)

Furthest I've ever cycled, by 300% (I did 40mi a couple of weeks ago as a test run). Prior to that I'd only done 20-30mi, & not even that for ages. I do 6mi each way to work daily, though.

[jhg.livejournal.com]

I am both impressed and approve - but why did you do it at night?


J

[juliet]

Because that's when it is! See http://www.southwarkcyclists.org.uk/dunwichfaqs.htm

It was really neat being among so many cyclists, as well, & continually encountering people on the way. Although sadly I've just found out that someone died in a road accident during it :-( (encounter with a van)

[jhg.livejournal.com]

Oh god. Glad that you're all right.


J

[mr-tom.livejournal.com]

I was booked out this weekend, although I'd love to have gone. You can show me the route next year!

[thedarkpoint.livejournal.com]

Well done for finishing. It is a very long way... Much further than I have attempted in a single ride before too.

Glad to see that you enjoyed it.

[juliet]

Well done you as well! Have just read your account - I was kind of intending to pick up a group somewhere, but in the end going alone seemed less hassle (I was kind of reluctant to push my legs at any pace much other than the one they wanted to go at; this tended to mean that I would overtaken people on the flat & then get overtaken uphill - see above re lack of lower gears problem!). But it might have helped speed me up a bit, I guess. I am impressed by yr 14mph av! Though the advantage of getting in a bit later was that I did the last 20 or so miles in the dry, & it was sunny when I got there :-)

The stretches I did entirely on my own (i.e. when I couldn't see anyone else around at all) were pretty neat, though.

I did also find that not being able to see watch/odometer/road steepness/road direction/etc etc in the dark was odd; especially when there were no little red lights visible ahead to give you a clue of where the road was going.

I must make a note of the other coach forum thingy - I'd have far rather headed back at 10am than at the 1.15pm that the main coaches left.

Did you cycle in this morning? I did (stopping at OYB to get my gears fixed) & found it was actually less painful than I'd expected; although also a bit slower than normal!

[silkyraven.livejournal.com]

Wow! Well done!! I've never plucked up the courage to attempt it, next year maybe... ;o)

[darkpigeon.livejournal.com]

congratulations! most impressive

[hatmandu.livejournal.com]

Fantastic - well done!

[kitty-goth.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, beautiful xxx

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Blimes. My knees would have given way after about 15 miles I think! Well done! :-)

[juliet]

Knee-related mechanical failure was my main concern on setting off... in fact they gave me very little gyp throughout (I did take ibuprofen, & every time I stopped, they gave me a few seconds of twinging on starting off again, but it faded very fast). And they feel OK today - the right is a bit achey but only on stairs, not on the bike! (cycled into work)

Conclusion: cycling = v good for knee recovery! (as in: the cycling I've been doing the last yr; am not suggesting 120mi overnight rides as knee treatment...)

[lnr]

Wow. I really enjoyed reading about this after the fact, and I'm well impressed.

I'm doing the London to Cambridge in a fortnight and I expect that to kill me and it's only 50 miles. I say only, of course the only time I've done 50 in a day before was *last* time I did London to Cambridge in 2001 when I was actually quite fit.

Where did you hear of it and what made you decide to go? It's an incredible achievement!

[juliet]

Heard of it on a cycling mailing list I'm on; I actually wanted to do it last year but my knees really weren't up to it at that point. I dunno, it just sounded like fun :-) & they make a point in the FAQ etc of saying that it's not a race & that most people are bike-to-work types who don't normally do long rides (i.e. it's not all superfit racer types!).

I also rather liked the idea of riding into the dawn... this is why I need to go again next year, so that I actually see some sunshine!

[juliet]

ps good luck for the London-Cambridge!

[ludy]

congratulations!