Will Watson returns from his 120 mile a day fundraising cycle ride

Long time ChiswickW4.com member and regular contributor to the forum Will Watson has just returned from a seven day (120 miles per day!) cycle ride from John O'Groats to Lands End.

Setting off with friend Dave Featherstone on September 12th from John O'Groats, Will told ChiswickW4.com, "Each day we cycled approximately 120 miles terminating in Inverness, Crianlarich, Lockerbie, Chorley, Hereford, Crediton and finally Lands End.

"We used GPS routing technology to avoid the need for maps. This worked very well on the whole but did leave us stranded in Tesco’s car park when we should have been joining the cycle path onto the Severn Bridge.

"Although the roads were full of hazards the nearest miss was caused by a leaping deer on the A30 near Okehampton. Fortunately my training in Richmond park had included a technique to handle such an eventuality. I do my impression of a barking Labrador which never fails to head off the crazy animals.

"We managed to average between 15 and 16 mph in each leg of our route. The only time we failed to get anywhere near this was driving home from Penzance in the car. A traffic jam on the A30 took us an hour to cover 10 miles.

"I am thinking about ways to shave off another day to get it down to a 6 day end to end ride. Any W4ites who would be interested in such a challenge should get in touch.

"Latest grand total of our sponsorship: £3,521 – thanks to all who have contributed – for those yet to please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/jogle2olderbutwiser/ to add your donation"

September 23, 2009