Hello there,
Welcome to the latest edition of The Arctic Rider blog.
It's only 99 days until I set off from Lands End ready to attempt to get to John O'Groats within 24 hours.
Some of my regular social media followers will have noticed that I have changed my logo. I was messing around on my laptop one night and ended up coming up with the below design which I kind of liked. It got the wife's stamp of approval so I thought I'd go for it!
At the same time I also designed this logo for my Iron Butt ride, incorporating the Iron Butt UK logo. Again this got the OK, this time from the UK Iron Butt association, so it's official.
As you can imagine I've been thinking a lot about my ride and chatting to other bikers I know and some of my buddies on Twitter. It's a very different challenge to the one I faced in 2014 riding to the Arctic. Back then it was more of a long term view, with that trip being 3 weeks, and all about long but steady days, making sure I was well rested for the next days riding. I was also able to plan contingency into the ride and I knew up front hat if I had a slow days riding I could make up for it in the following days.
Fast forward to 2016 and this time I've got very little wiggle room and any sort of mechanical failure would pretty much end my chances of completing it in 24 hours. This ride is ultra endurance over a short period of time. I've done some basic planning and all going well I'll complete the ride in around 20 hours. This includes planned stops of between 15 to 30 minutes for fuel and food, plus riding slower around Bristol & Glasgow when I expect it to be rush hour. I've not factored in any sleep time!
The details of the ride certainly aren't an accident, they've been well thought out over the past months. For example I'm riding South to North specifically so that I:
a) have more sunlight later into the night. Being ~900 miles further North, I'll get almost an hours extra sunlight at John O'Groats in Scotland than I would have down at Lands End. This will help when I'm tired and on the country roads.
b) finish in Scotland so I am closer to home after the ride, meaning I have fewer miles to ride when I'll no doubt be knackered.
I've decided to do my ride the first week of July so I get almost maximum sunlight due to the summer solstice for reason 'a)' above but the school holidays won't have started. Also I've chosen a Tuesday as its typically the quietest day on the roads (thanks to Andy my cameraman, who used to be a tour manager for bands).
For me I'm genuinely unsure if I'll make it in the 24 hours or not. I'm really going to have to push myself. I've also got a 500 mile 9 hour ride down to Lands End the day before I set off. This could be the make if break for my ride if 'day -1' doesn't go to plan. I need to get an early start to get down to Cornwall in time to get well fed and rested before the big day. My plan is for a 4am start on the day of my ride. Luckily my little girl Islay has been training me to get up at that time, so I'm already well prepared.
I'd love to hear any questions or advice that any of my readers have about my Iron Butt! If you do please post them on my facebook or Twitter and I'll include them in my next blog.
That's all for the blog. The clocks have changed and the riding season is upon us so expect more updates about my preparation!
If you want to support my ride and The Tiny Lives Trust, please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/thearcticrider no donation is too small or not appreciated.
Ride safe,
Gordon
Welcome to the latest edition of The Arctic Rider blog.
It's only 99 days until I set off from Lands End ready to attempt to get to John O'Groats within 24 hours.
Some of my regular social media followers will have noticed that I have changed my logo. I was messing around on my laptop one night and ended up coming up with the below design which I kind of liked. It got the wife's stamp of approval so I thought I'd go for it!
At the same time I also designed this logo for my Iron Butt ride, incorporating the Iron Butt UK logo. Again this got the OK, this time from the UK Iron Butt association, so it's official.
As you can imagine I've been thinking a lot about my ride and chatting to other bikers I know and some of my buddies on Twitter. It's a very different challenge to the one I faced in 2014 riding to the Arctic. Back then it was more of a long term view, with that trip being 3 weeks, and all about long but steady days, making sure I was well rested for the next days riding. I was also able to plan contingency into the ride and I knew up front hat if I had a slow days riding I could make up for it in the following days.
Fast forward to 2016 and this time I've got very little wiggle room and any sort of mechanical failure would pretty much end my chances of completing it in 24 hours. This ride is ultra endurance over a short period of time. I've done some basic planning and all going well I'll complete the ride in around 20 hours. This includes planned stops of between 15 to 30 minutes for fuel and food, plus riding slower around Bristol & Glasgow when I expect it to be rush hour. I've not factored in any sleep time!
 |
| Summer sunset at John O'Groats, Scotland. |
a) have more sunlight later into the night. Being ~900 miles further North, I'll get almost an hours extra sunlight at John O'Groats in Scotland than I would have down at Lands End. This will help when I'm tired and on the country roads.
b) finish in Scotland so I am closer to home after the ride, meaning I have fewer miles to ride when I'll no doubt be knackered.
I've decided to do my ride the first week of July so I get almost maximum sunlight due to the summer solstice for reason 'a)' above but the school holidays won't have started. Also I've chosen a Tuesday as its typically the quietest day on the roads (thanks to Andy my cameraman, who used to be a tour manager for bands).
For me I'm genuinely unsure if I'll make it in the 24 hours or not. I'm really going to have to push myself. I've also got a 500 mile 9 hour ride down to Lands End the day before I set off. This could be the make if break for my ride if 'day -1' doesn't go to plan. I need to get an early start to get down to Cornwall in time to get well fed and rested before the big day. My plan is for a 4am start on the day of my ride. Luckily my little girl Islay has been training me to get up at that time, so I'm already well prepared.
I'd love to hear any questions or advice that any of my readers have about my Iron Butt! If you do please post them on my facebook or Twitter and I'll include them in my next blog.
That's all for the blog. The clocks have changed and the riding season is upon us so expect more updates about my preparation!
If you want to support my ride and The Tiny Lives Trust, please visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/thearcticrider no donation is too small or not appreciated.
Ride safe,
Gordon