Skip to main content

The Crossing (of Doom)

"That's right James, it's 3 whole days.

The first day is pretty much all uphill, and deemed to be expert skill level. And we might be on the bike for over 10 hours."

If that face doesn't inspire a donation, what will?

Just like that the next big challenge is here.

Mountain biking across the UK, so you're sat down. Easy right? Well, not according to my route planner!

Three days, coast to coast, from Whitehaven to Scarborough.

200 miles, the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales, the North Yorkshire Moors, and a bollock load of hills.

We've made it out on a couple of training rides for this, and when I say a couple, I mean just that. Two.

Though James might have done a third one when my back was turned, and Simpson might have been spinning twice a day, 6 days a week for several months, I have been focusing firmly on everything apart from riding a bike.

So when we made it up the Malvern Hills this week in glorious sunshine, trekking for a sweaty hour before all declaring ourselves "knackered", our post ride debrief over a pint consisted of getting extremely nervous about what we're letting ourselves in for taking this one on.

The results from last year suggest an average finishing time of somewhere between 25 and 30 hours across a mind-blowingly arse numbing 3 days.

It's going to be astonishingly uncomfortable.

James, Simpson (alas, not in the pictures!) and I will be heading up North with our (hopefully) trusty steeds, and a back up in the van, cycling for hours, camping overnight and getting up early the next day to do it all again. We're very grateful to have the support from our van driver Helen who is kindly chaperoning us across the country and meeting us at the campsites at the end of each day.

I accidentally let it slip that the steepest upwards gradient we face on day 1 is 27%. Just after we'd carried our bikes up one part of the Hills we were out on this week. Judging by Emma's face in this, she's extremely please that she isn't joining us!

This week it's final checks, van to be loaded, bags to be packed, helmets and bikes safely secured.

Next week it'll be undercarriages doused in chamois cream, nether-regions sufficiently padded, water bladders full, and off we go to try and stay friends on the Crossing of Doom!

Instagram: philvsnature
Twitter: @PhilJ0606

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1st Re-Birthday

For those new to reading this and anyone else who isn't aware, Kate is the superstar and the inspiration behind this series of testing events I've completed in aid of Anthony Nolan. Back in December, Kate wrote a really poignant blog post introducing us into her world since diagnosis, how she coped with her diagnosis, and the treatment she'd had - if you'd like to catch up then you can find it here . Since then she's been busy; you may have seen her on TV, the radio, in national newspapers, on magazine front covers, and guest speaking at conferences. There was also a top 10 most viewed spot on the BBC news homepage, and through all the attention she's been going about telling a really difficult story all with dignity and good humour that everyone who knows her would expect, and that everyone who doesn't would be amazed at. The Spot Leukaemia campaign from Leukaemia Care has pushed her experience into the public eye, and t here's been quite a lot f...

The Full Stalker

"This is probably the hardest off-road-Tweed-clad-pipe-lit-plus-four-and-headtorch-wearing run that exists. We send you across rivers, through forests and over a mountain or 2 in the pitch dark of a chilly March night. The Mighty Deerstalker is now in its twelfth year and this classic outing shows no sign of slowing down or getting any easier. And who wants that anyway?" In just under 2 weeks I start my efforts properly, and run the first event. It's billed as the biggest night race and the toughest off-road run in the UK, an extreme event in the Scottish Borders. I took about a month to persuade myself it was a good idea to sign up - bearing in mind my well documented aversion to running. Since then I've been cursing my foolhardiness, avoiding the cold outdoors, and sacking off my training when it's raining. All of this, of course, isn't the most sound preparation for getting muddy, wet and running in the cold (see last the photos from last year ...

Coast to Coast Boulder Dash

Long event, longer blog. Grab a cup of tea or sit on the toilet, and settle in... This past weekend, Rat Race re-wrote the rules of the world.  Newton's famous "what goes up, must come down" was well and truly flipped on its head,  Jim Mee (the company founder) was seen at the finish line manning the pressure washers and cleaning up rubbish, and even if you haven't stopped pedalling you definitely can fall off your bicycle. The Crossing is an off-road mountain bike event that takes place across three National Parks, three days, and runs from the West coast to the East coast. It was an event I hadn't entered, not owning a mountain bike, until this man below decided he would like to take part in this challenge but didn't want to run. After he'd paid up I felt guilty enough to join him, and 3 months later I finally purchased my own place. So, James, categorically, this was all your fault. Oh he might look happy here, but thi...