Hello everyone - well it has been some time since I finished the ride and posted my last blog. It is now time to continue with the blog as I now start my training again for the next adventure.  I am hoping that I am successful for the ride london 2013 where 20000 are entered into the lottery for a place on the actual ride.  My entry has been in for some time so I keep my fingers crossed that I will be one of the chosen few to do the 100 miles around the Olympic road race circuit through Surry and box hill before finishing on the Mall.  This is a fantastic opportunity to raise some money for my chosen charity. I am also keen to enter onto the London - Paris and London - Southend trips in 2013 with another opportunity to complete the John O Groats to Lands End ride for the third time in 2014.  What this blog and keep up to date with the next few adventures.

Alan

Three Weeks On

Hi everyone - well it has been three weeks from the end and I have finally felt that I should be back on my bike.  Today I had a quick whizz round Canvey Island and then down onto Southend seafront to Torpe Bay and then back to Chalkwell, A127 to Rayleigh Weir and then onto Rayleigh and home.  I really enjoyed it being back in the saddle.  You sometimes look at the ride from John O'Groats to Lands End and realise that as the money is now coming in the whole ride has been worth it. Especially when it looks as though the total to be donated to the three charities is in excess of £3000.  I will soon list all of the groups that have made this total possible when I have finally tallied it all and will then send out certificates to those groups and organisations.  In the meantime you all deserve a pat on your backs for reaching such a total. Thanks - Thanks - Thanks and a thousand Thanks as well as thanks to my riding partner - even if it was only the 356 miles in Scotland - Mike Cocks and once again Alan Buxton for the sterling job he did as my support driver.

I am going to keep the blog running as I am hoping in the future to do another ride - maybe London to Paris - we'll see.  If you want to know more about the ride I can be contacted at end2end12@gmail.com

Nearly a week

Hi everyone - For those who are following the blog it is interesting to note that my right hand is still suffering from being numb.  This is affecting the little finger and next as well as half of the palm.  The feeling of cold and hot is fine along with the fact that you can still feel a bit of sensation.  The reason for this numbness is something I suffered last time I did the ride.  If you lean too much on the handlebars you can trap the nerve in the wrist which causes the problem.  So if you are going to do the ride dont forget move your hands about so not causing the problem in the first place.  I am still collecting the money which I hope I should have by the end of the month then I can arrange to present it to the three charities.

If anyone would like to know more about the ride, the route or anything else please leave a comment or in fact you can email me on end2end12@gmail.com or if you still want to donate to the charities you can do so by going to www.charitygiving.co.uk and searching for Alan Clark, Mike Cocks or Alan Buxton.  Thanks Everyone.

A final thankyou to Celia, Stella Buxton and Nicky Cocks for their understanding and releasing their Husbands for the challenge.

Recovering

Now that the recovery is well underway I will be posting shortly some of the photographs that were taken by myself, Alan B and Mike C.  We are also available to do presentations about the trip to various groups if they are required.  In order to raise further funds we will hopefully be doing a presention called End2End12 an insight in words and pictures - in the not to distant future when we have put it together.  Thanks everyone for their help and support and if you have sponsored me then unfortunately now is the time to pass the pfunds to me for counting.  Thanks again - Alan C, Alan B and Mike C.

Final Comments

There are a number of people I have to thank and the most important must be Celia my wife who puts up with my hairbrain ideas of raising money for charity by cycling for the second time from John O'Groats to Lands End.  I must thank my son's, grandson's and daughter in law for supporting us all and especially my wife when I was not there. My own parents and family who think I am mad but still support me.  I must then thank my team especially Alan B who was a stalwart support driver and friend who put up with my moods and shouting at him through frustration but he did a first class job.  I must thank Mike C who managed to keep up with me in Scotland and did a first class job until his bike tyre exploded in the mountains - he did finish to the scottish border on a spare bike so well done mike even though he was suffering with achilles problems.  I must then thank the London Borough of Havering PTS for the loan of the minibus which we couldnt have done the ride without and all of those people who have sponsored us in doing the ride and raising the much needed funds for the charities we are supporting.

The whole ride took 8.5 days which is less than my previous 13 days in 2000 and was only 867.5 miles instead of the 907.8 miles last time.  People throughout the country that we have met during the ride have taken and interest in what we have been doing - we have had rain, snow, sleet, hailstones, sun and overcast periods of frost but whatever the weather and whatever the conditions this time I have never felt like packing in.  For those who have not managed to sponsor or donate to the charities you can still donation at www.charitygiving.co.uk and search for Alan Clark.

Thanks I will let you know what the outcome of the final amount raised.

Day Nine

Jamaica Inn to Lands End - Well after staying in a Travelodge at Saltash that was more like a ghost town than a service area we woke early and decided that we would give it a big push to finish today at Lands End.  The drive through to Jamaica Inn wasn't too bad although we had locked the bikes into the back without remembering where the key was so we had to stop.  Found and only sat at the traffic lights through two sequences - it would have looked good if we couldnt get the bike out.  Eventually got to start point for the day and guess what after a lovely sunny day yesterday only to find that the rain had started.  I decided that I would change my route fronm that planned and head straight down the A30 even though the rain and traffic made it quite hair-raising.  Alan as support really excelled today with cleaning the glasses every layby or at least thats what it felt like along with hot soup, egg sandwich, mars bars (snack size), kendal mint cake, coffee and mileage information which I hadn't previously wanted because it can be quite depressing knowing how far you have to go.  I pushed on and with the breaks and refreshments then the miles just went by quickly.  I decided to move off briefly from the A30 and the traffic so went off through past Redruth School and through Cambourne before rejoining the A30 at Haley roundabout.  With another stop I then moved on to Penzance with only 10 miles to go to reach Lands End.  The legs got stronger and the determination was greater even though the rain and breeze had not relented trying its hardest to prevent the celebration of arrival at Lands End.  The number of hills between Penzance and the end seemed to increase in severity and length until I reached a sign that said 6 miles. I cycled about a mile and the next sign said 6 miles.  Alan as driver said he would meet me at the end which I agreed to then oh no my chain came off and jammed in the cog - typical no support back up bike to finish.  Fortunately I was able to unblock the chain and set off again.  The last 5 miles flew by and I got through to Lands End by 1pm.  I signed in at the hotel reception and made my comment in the End to End book receiving from Danielle the receptionist the final stamp on the transit verification form.  I HAD DONE IT.
The obligatory photo at the signpost was done and paid for and we went to return to Rayleigh.

Day Eight

Bridgewater - Launceston.  Today we set off from Bridgewater fully rested and raring to head for Cornwall.  The sun was out with blue sky and a full sun - fortunately last night we went shopping in morrisons and bought a variety of things including some Baby & Toddler 50+ sun lotion for my legs and the nose, some cold sore cream for under the nose, some antiseptic cream for a long way under the nose and for Alan B some imodium, because he had thrown away the wine bottle cork, and cough linctus. I also bought some shampoo because we were running out of Alan B's. The ride through to Taunton (what a superb Town Hall for Somerset County Council), was very easy as was the trip through Wellington to Tiverton hitting the penultimate County of Devon. On to Crediton via Bickleigh which saw a number of hills to negotiate with a little village called Cadbury up on the top.  I eventually stopped in a layby overlooking Crediton so that Alan in the van couldd catch up. Headed down from the hills and towards Okehampton where the ten tors competition was taking place. Looking on the hills overlooking the valley it appeared just like a scene from Zulu with the warriors looking down on us. Okehampton onto the A30 and off to Lewdown saw me stop at Jethro's Club the Cornish Comedian which is just on the entrance to the village.  Through to Launceston on the A30 passing the welcom to Cornwall (Kernow) sign which meant I am on the final leg.  Continued towards Bodmin but at Jamaica Inn the legs were ready to rest. The extra miles today have reduced the number of milesfor tomorrow to 56 so heres hoping I can complete the ride tomorrow.  The hotel reception said there was an army guy stayed last night on his way to John O'Groats - we wish him well.  Staying in the Travelodge at Saltash - It is just a shame that the service area it is in has a Burger King and everything else is closed down.  Very derelict.  It was cheap. Today we received at Comment from Chris the guy I met who guided me through Severn Beach.  He has included his blog so I will make reference to it in a later blog.