ive made around 10 miles, which is an improvement over the last rides, however its still not pain free.  So its still a case of waiting around and resting.

A few weeks back i was organised to set off again, however this couldnt happen due to the injury, now i plan on organising the same, so will set a plan to get going during September.  Im going through with the planning knowing full well that i may not be able to leave again, however it gives me another target to reach and allows me to get going should the injury be repaired enough.

Currently i am looking at Fri 19th being my set off date, however this could change as the planning kicks in again and depending on work commitments.

This really is the last chance to make it this year as i dont want to be cycling through Scotland during October.  In fact i could well be pushing it leaving in September, who knows, its down to the weather!

as ever….watch this space!

Although it took longer than expected, my knees seem to be getting better, my left knee seems fine now, my right knee is the one that is holding up the ride now.  It has taken longer to get sorted than i hoped and im not 100% sure that it is fully better.

I will be heading out on a training ride over this weekend as a tester to see how my legs are.

Im aiming for 25miles as a nice gentle start.

If all goes well, im planning on heading off again toward the middle of the week.  It should take me 10-12 days to get up to John O Groats if all goes well (touch wood!)

This weekend will the deciding time for me.  I really hope everything goes well as im itching to get on and get the ride finished.  Im not overly confident though as i tried some martial arts training this week and had to stop half way through as it was getting uncomfortable.

Lets see what this weekend brings, then i will report back with an update.

I will put up all the draw results here later today.

If you have a winning card, you can either contact me directly via email - andy@pedaluk.co.uk

or contact the person who sold you the card.

Watch this space for news!…

Most of the pain during general movement has gone, in fact i feel almost back to normal, the only time i get pain is when i bend my knees more than 90 degrees,  although this is promising, i still have concerns that the problems will come back quickly once i return to the bike.  Only time and riding will tell though.

I hope to go out for a quick ride tomorrow to test my legs, i will probably keep it to just a couple of miles and see how it goes.

If all goes well i may go out for a longer ride on Friday to recover the lost mileage from last Saturday.

Other news:  I will be on Radio Northampton again on Saturday Morning, talking to Kevin Saddington about the progress (or not) of the ride.

The morning after, it was a real struggle to get out of bed, obviously my knee’s had seized over night.  I also had physio to look forward to and i knew i was going to have to do the exact things that cause the most pain in order to plan a recovery.

The last time i went to physio, it was quite difficult for them as the problem i had with the IT band healed very quickly so at the time of my visit, i had no pain at all and all the physio could really do was guess at it based on my information.  This time though, i was really going to get my monies worth!  I had the IT band problem as bad as ever, plus i had pain under both knee caps whenever my legs bend.

It was decided to concentrate on the knee cap issues as i had already been given excercises to do for the IT band problem.  after 30-40 minutes of what basically ammounts to ABH! i was sent away with little other than i need to rest, take pills and take it easy when i start riding again.  Atleast this was confirmation of what i already suspected.  It was nice to hear from the physio though that she didnt think any permanent damage was done and with some rest i should be back to normal.

So where does that leave the ride?

Well, its not over yet.  im just not really able to confirm when it will continue.  I have a plan to rest it as much as possible this week, if the pains goes i will try a couple of local short rides just to test my legs, then maybe do a longer ride to recover the mileage that is missing from me getting picked up on Saturday,  if all goes well i hope to be heading north again within a week.  It does rather throw my schedule into dissarray, mainly work commitments and also home commitments.  so i will be busy weighing up the options and making re-arrangements this week.

This is a set back i hadnt really prepared myself for, it feels like a failure,  doing the ride with a rest gap in the middle feels like its now two trips and just isnt the same as doing Lands End to John O Groats in one.
The problem is, i simply cant set off while my legs are this way, i wouldnt even last a day so i have to be practical about it.  Hopefully with a few days rest and some short training rides, i could be ready to set off again soon.  Lets just hope i can keep on top of the injuries this time as the remaining distance is much greater than that completed so far.

The day started in Towcester, I met with Louise Wilson, Tim Redding, James Kent and John Kent at the Towcester services.

We set off towards Silverstone at 09:30.  I had to lower the pace of the group, so i could ‘test the water’ with my legs.  It turned out to be probably the quickest part of the ride as my knee pains came back within a couple of miles.

We made our way to Stoke Bruerne.  At this point we decided to change the route slightly in order to make it to the start of the Brampton Valley way in time.  We took a shorter route that took us through Blisworth, Milton Malsor and then into the town.  We picked up the Brampton valley way at the very start and followed it through the town, through to Kingsthorpe and finished the first leg in the car park opposite the Windhover Pub.  Here we met with everyone else before setting off on the Brampton Valley way.

I had made it further than i thought i was going to, but was unsure whether to continue or not.  After a short break, i decided to go on and see how far i could get.

We set off in two main groups along the Brampton Valley way with our sights set on Market Harborough.

The weather was agan very kind,  but thankfully a little cooler than earlier in the week.

It was again a fairly sedate pace, but that was all i could manage (appologies to those who were frustrated by this!)

 A few riders decided to turn around part way through the ride as they had to cycle back too, in fact they probably covered more distance than most because of this.

After a few hours riding, we made it to the end of the track at Market Harborough.

That wasnt enough for some though, a few decided they were going to cycle all the way back too! (well done those people)

It was a great day, i hope all the others riders had a good day too.

I would like to thank the following people for giving up their time on Sunday to join me on the ride…

Mick
Louise
Keith
Jaqui
Stuart
Dawn
Julie
Darren
Rory
John
James
Tim
Nigel
Steve
John
The entire Roberts family
Lorraine
Thomas
Dorothy
Claire

and Darren for being ambulance and getting me home again.

I hope i havnt forgotten anyone!

Day 6 mileage: 9.89
Overall mileage: 281

After i packed all my gear and got the bike ready, i headed out onto the road, climbed aboard the bike, went to pedal away and was struck by a blinding pain in my right knee, i had a feeling it was going to hurt still as it felt painful while packing my things, but i was unprepared for that first pedal turn.  I had to quickly jump of the bike before i fell off!

ok….both knees shot,  one day to get to Towcester, 53 miles to go.  Now what do i do?

Well i did the only thing i could think of at the time, i started pushing the bike along.  It was just after 5am so i had plenty of time ahead, perhaps a warm up of the legs will ease things.

Unfortunately, things didnt get any better, it just got more and more painful to carry on, so after some 2 or so hours of pushing the bike, i reluctantly made a phone call home to ask to be picked up.  This isnt a quit as i have a plan.  It was really important to me to make the Sunday ride through the county, so i thought if i get a lift home, rest for the rest of the day and the night, maybe things will have improved enough to ride on Sunday, then i can either return to the place i was collected, or simply add the missing mileage to the remainder of the route.

So my plan is now set, I will attempt to ride from Towcester tomorrow, through to Market Harborough,  whether i make it or how far i get is anyones guess, but i’ll give my best shot.  Then on Monday, i have a Physio appointment booked, hopefully to sort out the now three problems with my knees (a kneecap pain on both legs, maybe tendon related, plus the rubbing IT band on my left leg that ive had all week)

Monday off will also give me chance to try and get the bike repaired, ive spent several hours on it tonight, i have made an improvement on it, but its still far from right, so may need parts to repair it.

If all goes well, i will set off again on Tuesday and head North.  I will probably set off from home, i need to gain approx 40 miles to make up for my collection today, some of this will be covered by starting from home instead of Market Harborough, the rest i will just add to the route one day.

I look forward to seeing a few people in Towcester tomorrow and maybe a few more at the Brampton Valley way when we arrive there.

fingers crossed for a miracal cure!

Andy.