Sprayfly

Its now pretty much definite! Next week, me and my Dad are going to attempt to complete the famous Sea to Sea cycle route from Whitehaven to Newcastle (from the Irish Sea to the North sea) in one day.

All in one day!

Whilst it is recommended to complete 140 mile route in three days (for most people), or two days (not for the faint hearted), very few people do it in one day alone - the few that do are normally very fit road bikers. We are going to be making the attempt on a tandem - which of course makes things slightly easier - but nonetheless, there are still 140 miles ahead of us and two people on one bike does certainly not equate to half the amount of work!

Race against the clock

Time being a major issue in this race against the clock, we will be setting off exceptionally early, that is to say as soon as there is light! We will race across stretches of disused railway, potholed lanes and windy forest trails fed on a strict diet of flapjack and sugary drinks. We are expecting the journey to take us a gruelling 10 hours but of course, the unexpected could arrive at any time.

Photography (on the fly)

The wonderful thing about tandems is that the rear rider has his (or her) hands completely free. This leaves open the possibility to do some photography en route which could be fun (weather permitting). If all goes well, I intend not only to get some super snaps with the camera but also to attempt some photo blogging with my mobile phone. I will test this out when we are all set up the night before the ride, please keep an eye on the blog if you want a real-time progress report!

Thank you

I am eternally in debt to my Mum who will both drop us off at Whitehaven and pick us up at Newcastle. If all goes well then we intend to do it all again - only this time, there and back in 48 hours - it probably hasn’t been done yet.

Hopefully I’ll be able to make a nice feature of this on the Blog that might help future contenders.