I keep switching between thinking that this Edinburgh to London challenge is going to be easy and that its going to be tough. I can’t decide because I’m in the unknown here. There seem to be so many factors that I consider, which switch it between possible and daunting.
So calling all long distance cyclists out there. Anyone who has done a long distance multi-day ride. Any top tips would be more than welcome. In fact I NEED them!
Today I did my first training ride. 22 miles from southside Glasgow, up over Eaglesham Moor and past Whitelee wind farm before turning right and heading down down down via Newton Mearns. This is a popular route with good cycle paths or lanes and I have been meaning to ride it for a while, even before the Edinburgh to London idea. It took me less than 2 hrs so I was pretty pleased.
I really enjoyed it apart from certain muscles complaining after I had got to the top. If you too are an irregular cyclist who doesn’t know how to pace yourself you will know the leg muscles I mean! So I might be a bit sore tomorrow.
Who’s up for a wee cycle ride on the Thur 11th June? Save the date if you would like to join me and others for a mass roll out from Edinburgh at the start of stage 1 to Berwick. Or come all the way if you fancy it. Perhaps we can persuade Nicola Sturgeon to wave us off from Holyrood.
It would be great to have some company for however long you can manage on the morning of Day 1. Let me know if you are interested and I will provide more details of timings nearer the date.
Here we go again.
Green Travel to Green Places has been very quiet for a couple of years but is about to get noisy again. I’m off setting of for London on 11th June for a Climate Rally! The ‘Speak Up, For The Love Of…’ event will take place on the 17th of June so I’d better not be late!
I thought it would be fun to get to the rally – a mass lobby of MPs – by the greenest way I know – i.e. by bike. But after thinking about it an the route since January I now realise there are less than 3 months till I set off and I’ve not done any training!
Through this challenge I aim to raise awareness of the need for climate action and hopefully raise some money for RSPB and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/ . In my job I have been working on the ‘For The Love Of..’ campaign http://fortheloveof.org.uk/ which is seeking commitment from world leaders for a strong climate deal at the UN conference in Paris in December. ‘Unless politicians know this is something we all care about, they won’t have the mandate to act. So this is the time for everyone to show our politicians that we do care, that this issue is really important to us. Because it affects the things we love most.’
My plan is to stop at RSPB reserves along my route through the east of England. More details of the route to come soon. Any one who wants to join the cycle for all or part of the route, let me know.
Green travel to green places 