Alex Menarry's blog, "thoughts from a 89 year old athlete"

Another superb cycling day in warm sunshine. A short day – only 46 miles or 65 km ish. Left Redruth at 0915 and arrived at 1515.  I rode with the same four guys as yesterday, Phillip, John and Peter. I knew Peter from another tour – Manche (Ouistreham) to Med (Montpellier); he’s from York and . a great guy to cycle with. We are all about the same speed and get on well. Hope we stay together some more. One can never tell about these things; it happens as it happens. My room-mate is John and he is a very pleasant guy.  (see photo with yesterday’s Blog).

Some very bad news today. One member of our party of 8 crashed and broke his arm. It is so sad because he was ill and wanted to do this ride while he was able. He is in Truro hospital and we are waiting for more news. We thought it was odd we had not seen Chris all day, ushering us along as he usually does, meeting us at cafes and so on. Now we know why.

I’ve been having more thoughts about the drafting business, trying to formulate the anti-drafting rule a bit better and mayby suggest it to,  GWR. something like this. No Drafting Rule: Drafting is defined as gaining an advantage and being assisted by following closely behind a vehicle or another cyclist, which reduces wind resistance by at least 30%.  This is not allowed; 5 clear bike lengths must be observed. However, there are circumstances when riding nearer to a vehicle or another cyclist is unavoidable These are 1) Climbing a hill more than, say, 3% or 4%, when each cyclist must adopt his/her own gear ratios and rhythm; the rule can then be dropped. 2) At road junctions and traffic lights, when everyone closes up and has to cross/move off when circumstances permit. 3) In urban situations with heavy and intermittently stopping traffic. In these three cases the rule can be dropped. At all other times – normal group riding or on downhll sections the “5 clear bike lengths”rule is sacrosanct. I would appreciate some comments on this formulation by experienced group cyclists. 

Photo evidence. After yesterday’s experience, I am trying to keep the Garmin and the iPhone connected to a battery to keep them charged up. Easy in dry conditions, not so easy in hoying rain all day. Also, I took far too much GoPro video yesterday and the sd card was filling up too rapidly. I am now going to take just very short GoPro videos, probably mostly hand-held, of interesting signs and places. Experience will refine the techniques, I guess.

He’s off! Bike packed, leaving Darlington for the trip South to the starting point! 

The LEJOG trip will start on Saturday, with a cycle from the first hotel in Redruth to Land’s End and back to Redruth. Tomorrow however, Alex is going to cycle from Lizard Point (the furthest South point on mainland UK) to Lands End, and he will also be taking in Dunnet head (the furthest north point of mainland UK) when he is on the North coast. 

Alex will be blogging as and when he can over the next few weeks, but the focus will be on getting the job done, so you’ll see blogs from family and friends about how he’s getting on as well. 

All the the best to Alex/Dad/Gramps/Great Gramps!  

CTC Cycle Clips have just reported the successful completion of LEJoG by an 87 year old. He did it unsupported on an 18 year old folding Brompton over 5 weeks. Competition among 80 +++ year olds is intense!

Laurie Brophy’s Facebook page has announced that he has had to abondon his attempt to cycle from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. It was a brave plan and you have my admiration for the spirit and enthusiam to have a go. To have reached Preston is a noble effort at 86. You had the good judgement to reach the finest county in England.

Training still going well and feeling up for it. There’s an autumnal feel now, so arm warmers and leg warmers have been dug out of summer storage. Winter bike, with full mudguards also very necessary. Only 12 days to the start from Redruth. My daughter Jenny is planning to join me from Newtonmore to John o Groats, which is very special to me. My other daughter Beth is now in Spain cycle touring from Barcelona along the Med coast, then across Spain to Santander. We’re all on the move together!

I suspect there may be many hundreds, if not thousands, of bicycle riders in the UK who are in their 70s, 80s and 90s. People who have cycled for years and years, out several days a week in all weathers, quietly and anonymously, doing thousands of miles a year. People who are quite capable of riding LEJoG – and may have done it.  The current holder of the Guiness World Record for the Oldest Person to Cycle from Lands End to John o Groats is Tony Rathbone of Keswick, who was 81 in 2014, when he was awarded the record.

So why am I doing LEJoG and trying for the record? Having done plenty of touring in the last 15 or 20 years, I know how satisfying and enjoyable it is. The cyclist is in close touch with his environment, can stop and look around, admiring the wonderful sights, sounds and smells. Motor transport isolates the tourer from the surroundings, having to concentrate on roads and other vehicles – even on a motor-bike. It all whizzes by so quickly.

That’s one good reason for doing LEJoG again, but why the record attempt? A valid question with a lot of personal answers. One is it’s about the challenge and searching for boundaries. Inevitably, exploring boundaries invites the possibility of failure. What then? Try again? The Guiness World Record documents include the words “furthest south to furthest north of the UK”. LEJoG doesn’t necessarily include Lizard Point or Dunnet Head, the actual furthest south and north in mainland UK but this time I intend to include them.

Another of my reasons is to explore what we oldies are capable of and maybe persuade (provoke?) them to come into the light and be counted. To confront the stereotype and see how many others there are like Tony Rathbone, John Lee (who has some world record achievements cycling for an hour in a velodrome), Laurence Brophy, Robert Marchant the amazing French centagenarian (or is it centenarian?) and others. I’ve learned quite a lot while looking for supra-seventy and eighty achievements on the bike. But the numbers are difficult to find.

Athletics and mountain running are well served with Masters events. Have a look and marvel at the abilities of older runners, for example. I’m not aware of similar opportunities for cyclists, apart from Audax. Is it time to try to change this?   

And then there is the hoary old excuse – because it’s there! Go for it!

BBC News has just reported that Laurence Brophy, who is 86, will start a circular ride on Sunday, August 26th, from his home in Bridgend to Land’s End, John o Groats and back home. He is doing this unsupported and with minimal accommodation planned. This is a massive undertaking and he’s a harder man than I am. He hopes to complete the ride in three weeks and is at the mercy of the weather. Good luck, Laurence, we will be following your progress and cheering you on.   

I will be keeping a log, hand-written in a little notebook, for formal submission to Guiness World Records. This blog is intended to make quick jottings each evening, in a more informal way and widely available, to let friends and relatives who look at this website know how things are going. This is all new and exciting for an old codger – never done a blog before! Maybe it will become compulsive – writing and viewing!