Wanderings in the World Wide Web

I have, of course, been doing plenty of research on the web in preparation for this trip. (In no way is this an excuse for actually getting out there on my bike for some preparation proper! Desk research is Very Important.) This admittedly sedentary research mainly involves reading innumerable blogs written by cyclists who have completed the End to End or Lejog cycle ride (and, sadly, one or two who didn't manage to finish for various reasons), plus dipping into some cycling forums. In fact I am beginning to wonder why bother writing this blog - there are hundreds of them out there, just floating around in the ether.....

Reading blogs more or less at random, I am alternately reassured and terrified by what I read. I found The Ultimate Links List of Lands End to John O'Groats Cycle Trips useful as a starting point as there are loads and loads of Lejog accounts on this site. Some of the older links have now disappeared though. Also Google's Blog Search has thrown up some useful sites.

I was inspired by Esther & Michael Abrahams. They completed the ride to celebrate Esther's 60th birthday and to fulfill a long held dream. Despite the fact that on several days they spent less than five hours in the saddle, and their bikes weighing in at over three stone each when loaded, they still completed the trip in 23 days. I sat back and relaxed. What on earth have I been worrying about? We will do this no problem, probably won't even break into a sweat.

Then I come across other blogs from cyclists who are quite clearly in a different league. Jason is one of them. He completed the trip in four days. FOUR DAYS! Oh my giddy aunt. Don't suppose he carried his laptop either.....

The CTC Forum has been a useful source of information as well. There is a specific board for Lejog queries and discussions, and everyone seems very ready to help by sharing their experience and local knowledge etc.

Despite all this reading though I still haven't managed to resolve the dilemma of What To Do With Cornwall (see previous entry Which Route? 02 March 09).