About me:
On September 8th 2007 we are cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats. As the crow flies, that’s 874 miles. On bikes, it’s going to be between 950 and 1000 miles. We think that’s a challenge worth a lot of money for Little Havens Children's Hospice in Essex, particularly as we intend to achieve this in 7-10 days! Our average daily mileage will be somewhere between 100-140 miles a day. To put that in perspective :-
London to the Isle Of Wight is 90 miles
Southend to Norwich is 100 miles
London to Nottingham is 125 miles
Southend to Southampton is 135 miles
Birmingham to Blackpool is 125 miles
Southend to Oxford is 110 miles
These are the kind of distances we will be covering daily. Here’s a little about who we are and how we all got involved.
Guy Robinson
Guy is 44. He has done Land’s End to John O’Groats before (we’re going to call it LEJOG from this point…try to keep up :-)) Back in 1999, Guy was inspired by Phil Liggett, who provided commentary for the Tour de France. He’d done LEJOG and Guy thought (like you do)….”I could do that!” Guy persuaded his brother-in-law, John Drury, to also take on this mad whim and so they started training early in 1999, actually doing the ride in 2001 and raising a hefty sum for Little Havens at the same time. Guy’s most abiding memory of the whole trip is throwing his bike in to a burn in when it all just got too much! Tantrum over and, having conceded he couldn’t actually stay by a remote roadside forever, looking pathetic in lycra, he then faced the humiliation of having to crawl through bramble, heather and the brook itself to retrieve his bike. He eventually made it to John O’Groats to find the world wasn’t feeling particularly celebratory – it was September 11th 2001. He didn’t get back on the bike again for 5 years. This time round, Guy says he’s most looking forward to getting money from all his associates!
John Drury
Back in 1999, when John first started training for LEJOG, he needed to lose a few pounds. Once the weight started to go, John noticed a strange lump near his collar bone. Investigation revealed this to be a tumour; Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. 9 months of chemotherapy later John was back in training but then another tumour was discovered and more treatment was needed in May 2000. Again, John underwent treatment for it and was training again within 2 months. Along with Guy he completed LEJOG in September 2001 but, by the following year, the cancer was back. Since then, John has undergone extremely invasive treatments and surgery for Non-Hodgkins; he has even had to have a hip replaced (having worn the old one out in his sporty youth and being determined to recapture the Glory Years!) Now 44, John is about to embark on his 2nd LEJOG and says he is most looking forward to the “sheer achievement” (although Guinness got a few mentions as well!).
Will Drury
Will is John’s son. He’s 17 and, in theory, is the one to ace this! Will has just done a BTEC National in Sport and Exercise Science. He is about to begin a Coaching Science course (at Anglia Ruskin University/SEEVIC). Biggest disaster in training so far was getting cramp and launching himself off the bike straight into a nettle patch – so much for knowing the science of exercise! Will’s been training since February. He’s doing this because he likes a challenge and is hoping for a few laughs along the way. Will is dreading failure the most - he prides himself on never failing at anything and would hate to have to climb into the van, even for a couple of miles.
Nick Fennell
Nick is 46, he’s a Chartered Surveyor and he lives in Leigh. Previously, he has completed the Norwich 100 and has doneLondon to Southend many times. Nick has proved the most disaster-prone so far. One night after training, his bike came off the roof rack on the A12. Caused chaos and it was a miracle it didn’t turn into a major pile up. 3 vehicles were damaged….Nick’s bike didn’t survive. All we found were 2 mangled wheels and the sprocket set…no sign at all of the frame. But Nick now has the newest and best bike so the competition is stirring …… Nick says he’s doing this because “Guy made me…”, but he’s as thrilled to be riding for Little Havens as the rest of us. And his secret weapon is…….Pilates classes!
Roger Shove
“Apparently I’m easy.” Not sure what he meant when he said that, but it was definitely worth quoting. Roger is 51. He is a director of Cap Gemini. He really wanted to do this ride with the rest of us but, due to annual leave restrictions, is only able to be there for three days. Let’s make those 3 very profitable days, hey? We are hoping to get at least as far as Ludlow with Roger, so that he has cycled 350 miles. Pretty amazing in 3 days! Worth a few quid, considering he is giving up his last days of leave for it?? Roger is a bit of a liability – he rear-ended Will during training. That’s the least of our worries – we all call him Captain Chaos so we will need to keep a close eye on him for those first 3 days. He says he’s in it for fitness and fun, but making lots of money will make the saddle sores easier to bear!
Gary Weatherley
Gary is 48 and an AM-DRAM King – literally. But more of that later… Roger, Gary, John and Guy are all brothers-in-law. Gary is also BIG Brother….working as CCTV manager for Thurrock Council (Yeah, we’ve asked….there are no “cool” tapes for us to borrow.) John asked Gary to be the driver and support for this trip. It’s a very important job within the team. We need someone to drive on ahead and arrange places for us to stay; to come back and be available on the road for us, with food and drink, spares and repairs etc and to encourage and motivate us. Don’t underestimate how vital Gary will be to us. He has to give up his time, the same as us; plus he is the one who will be shouted at, cried on etc when we sink in to the hell-pits of despair (which we will.) Gary is a keen AM-DRAM man and has played the Yul Bryner role in “The King And I” three times. He says that on this trip he will do anything for us….except rub in the Savlon!
To my husband , son, brother, two brother in laws and Nick, well done! You definately surpassed yourselves. Next time you can take the wives. We could drive the support vehicle and give much needed tlc. Sorry Gary but its a given that girls do it sooo much better!! X
8 days is amazing! Well done all of you, enjoy a few beers tonight and I hope to catch up with you soon. Little Havens is doing so well out of this and I hope people will continue to donate in light of your fantastic achievement (click on "Sponsor Me Now" ....scroll up!)
Missing you like mad. Can't wait to see you both. I'm even missing all the mess you make!I'm so proud of you.Give my love to all. The Champagne is on ice!!
Day one...and Will has a female admirer! I'm not at liberty to say who... I feel for you today....I remember Day 1 was a b**ch. Those hills are pretty scary and I'm never going to Cornwall again without a car!!
