It's all over (TT column 17.06.13)

I can not believe it's over, I have cycled 982 miles from John O'Groates to Lands End. It's already difficult to remember the finish let alone the nine days earlier when we apprehensively arrived at our first base camp in the north of Scotland. It has turned out to be a trip of a lifetime, I never expected to enjoy any of it and all I could hope for was reaching Lands End in one piece, after day one I soon realised it was all going to end far too soon.

I've spent months at a time travelling in developing countries and endless trips abroad for competitions but even then I still seem to have a pretty clear idea of what is happening in the world and with my friends and family; so it is difficult to explain but I don't think I have ever been so far detached from the "real" world as I was on this event. The lack of phone reception along our remote routes did add to this but it was basically due to the bubble that was created. We had a fairly strict routine which involved a 5am wake up call with a motivational song; I am not sure I shared the sense of humour when "I want to ride my bicycle" was blasted out over the speakers. It was then head down to eat enough breakfast to fuel for the ride ahead, pack up the tent, dress into the appropriate layers of lycra, fill my pockets with any provisions needed and collect my bike before meeting my team on the start line. Each pit stop plus the evening involved a routine and although we would usually arrive by late afternoon the time flew, admittedly a lot of this was spent either eating or reminiscing on our ride so far. I need to now dramatically reduce my food consumption but think I'll continue to reminisce for a while longer.

Panic time (TT column 09.06.13)

I have always been guilty being a last minute type of girl, whether it was revising for exams, writing to meet deadlines or leaving my house to reach somewhere. In the past this system has worked for me, unfortunately I am not so sure it carries over to cycle training. After having four days out of the country I missed valuable preparation time for my big cycle ride. My whole cycling affair has been last minute but this time not out of choice as I only signed up to cycle from John O'Groates to Landsend at the end of April. I had promised myself to do at least one ride taking me into the triple digits and possibly even a ride from Bath to home, worryingly neither happened. On returning from Russia I crammed in two decent rides which probably only succeeded in making me feel slightly reassured mentally but with no effect physically at this late stage. Luckily however it did show up a mechanical problem that resulted in my back wheel being rebuilt before sending my bike on its journey to the north of Scotland where I joined it on Friday.

All preparation or lack of it has now been forgotten, the challenge has begun. I am currently working my way down through Scotland where we have been spoilt with the most magnificent weather and stunning views. The combination of a breathtaking route combined with such varied yet entertaining company has so far distracted me from the incredible discomfort that comes from sitting on a small hard pointed road bike saddle for a hundred odd miles every day. I will be passing through Devon on Saturday and would appreciate any other distractions so please feel free to check out the route and give me a wave whilst I grind my way up our wonderful hills.

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Russia (TT column 03.06.13)

I always love an adventure, or so I thought. When given the last minute opportunity to "pop" over to Russia for some commentary work I jumped at the chance, that was before I thought about logistics. I was only invited on Tuesday with the broadcast company hoping to have me at the event by Friday.
For most European countries this should be straight forward, however Russia certainly doesn't come under that label. It just happened that I had a trip to London anyway so with a letter from the Russian hotel I headed to the visa office. After the warnings I'd received I was prepared to be waiting all day so was pleasantly surprised when my application was submitted promptly.
The next problem was the collection of my acquired visa as it would not be ready until the end of the following day. I decided to risk things, I headed home for a day before travelling up to London the night before planning to pick it up first thing on the way to Heathrow. I hadn't bargained on several other people having the same idea, my stomach sank when reaching the visa office twenty minutes before it opened to find a queue down the street. Thankfully for Russian efficiency I was back on the road running across the city to make my flight.
It seemed things were on my side, my flight was delayed. This moment of relief didn't last long as I soon discovered that i had no ticket for my connecting flight which even if I did there was no way of making on time. Not sure how logical a decision it was but I boarded my flight to Moscow, on arrival after many phone calls a second ticket was issued however apparently there were no more flights to my destination of Nizhny Novgorod for two days. It turned out that if I made the train, metro, then train journey across Moscow with my luggage I might catch the final flight that night from a different airport. The adventure didn't end there but thankfully my journey did