UK: Lands End to John o'Groats 7 day record attempt, Sept 2009

[redwelly]

Myself and Roger are about to set off on our attempt to set a new record for the UK 'end to end':

Lands End to John o'Groats: 850 miles in seven days

Starting Saturday 12 Sept 2009 we will be planning to ride an average of 200km (120 miles) each day for a week. We will be supported by Paul Royle in a vehicle and be staying in motels along the way (and my parents' house in Inverness). The current record is 12 days, 1hr 59m set by Rob Ambrose in 2001.

Our daily plan looks like this:
Day 1 - 12 Sept 2009. Land’s End to Oakhampton. 97 miles.
Day 2 - 13 Sept 2009. Oakhampton to Bristol. 111 miles.
Day 3 - 14 Sept 2009. Bristol to Warrington. 145 miles.
Day 4 - 15 Sept 2009. Warrington to Carlisle. 120 miles.
Day 5 - 16 Sept 2009. Carlisle to Kinross. 127 miles.
Day 6 - 17 Sept 2009. Kinross to Inverness. 128 miles.
Day 7 - 18 Sept 2009. Inverness to John o’Groats. 120 miles.

We'll be riding 36" unicycles with Schlumpf geared hubs. Mine is a KH36 frame, Roger's is Nimbus.

The weather has come out nice, and should be sunny and fair all week. Other than that, it'll surely be the hardest thing we've attempted, and won't leave any room for wishing we'd been more ambitious.

If the sound of this makes you want to donate, I am collecting money for a small, independent charity called Wake Up! Ministries in Uganda. It was started by a friend called Martin Nangoli, whom I lived with during my gap year in 2004. It is a Christian-based organisation with a passion for improving people's lives in the rural Ugandan village of Kikobero in which Martin grew up. They provide school sponsorship, adult education, sport and health programs and emergency aid for food to help survive the recent failed crops.

Info on the ride and a PayPal button to take donations are at our website: tr.im/endtoend

Many thanks

Sam

[joemarshall]

Nice one. You'll have to start a new thread once you're done, to go with the 'who has ridden 100 miles in a day', to say 'who has ridden 100 miles every day for a week'.

I imagine if you make the 8 days, that this record may stand for quite a time. I wonder if anyone will ever ride it in the style of the bike record (riding through the nights as well)?

Joe

[semach.the.monkey]

Originally Posted by redwelly

Myself and Roger are about to set off on our attempt to set a new record for the UK 'end to end':

All the best to both of you. If anyone can do it, I know you can.

It seems like quite and elaborate excuse just to miss Joes Muni Weekend though

STM

[Denali]

Originally Posted by joemarshall

Nice one. You'll have to start a new thread once you're done, to go with the 'who has ridden 100 miles in a day', to say 'who has ridden 100 miles every day for a week'.

Incredible! Good luck.

[Pseudonym]

Wow! Ambitious to say the least. Good luck to both of you.

If I see you in or around Bristol, I’ll be sure to give at least a whoop as I doubt I’d be able to keep up.

[siafirede]

Wow...

Sam, have you done a century on your geared 36 yet? I find endurance riding to be quite different on the geared set up...but I guess you always have the option of riding in low gear too.

Maybe I am just a wuss, but even 60 miles with the geared 36er kills my muscles. I guess part of that is the heavy 36er tube I use and my heavy moments, but I think it is mostly my lack of riding as of late.

[MuniAddict]

That makes Ride the lobster seem like a walk..er..ride in the park! What average speed do you estimate for each day?

[GILD]

'ave a go lads!

Best of luck, can't wait for the ride report.

[TonyMelton]

Wow! 200km per day for seven days! Good luck Sam & Roger.

[cathwood]

Good luck!!!!!

[1-wheeled-grape]

wow... that is a huge amount of riding to fit into a week
good luck and have fun!

[joemarshall]

Originally Posted by MuniAddict

That makes Ride the lobster seem like a walk..er..ride in the park!

I seem to remember Sam was seriously considering doing Ride the Lobster solo at one point, I thought it was a bad idea because there was a serious chance he'd beat quite a few teams and that would be embarassing for them!

Joe

[GizmoDuck]

Originally Posted by joemarshall

I seem to remember Sam was seriously considering doing Ride the Lobster solo at one point, I thought it was a bad idea because there was a serious chance he'd beat quite a few teams and that would be embarassing for them!

Joe

I tried to talk him into it...it would have been fun! Looks like now he's doing something even more extreme. They'll be pretty fit come Unicon.

Good luck Sam and Roger!

[unicus]

Good luck Sam & Roger - I wish I could have been part of it I like a challenge - I'm talking about Paul's part of course not you two lunitics part

[rob.northcott]

Cool. Good luck for that - hope it doesn't get too windy. That'll be faster than I did it on a bike... but I was carrying my own kit and went a longer route (that's my excuse anyway and I'm sticking to it ).

I reckon you can do it. Don't fall off!

Rob