Mr. Carl Philpot Cycling Challenge – an Update
Our members will know that Mr. Philpott is going to be cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats in September to raise money for Fifth Sense. He provided us with an update on his training and progress, which you can read below:
Firstly, I would like to thank all those who made donations thus far – we have raised £2,400 to date. Please do pass on the link to your friends and families and encourage them to do the same.
So, I’ve been trying to keep a steady training schedule in the run up to the big event, and a typical week involves 2 sessions on the turbo trainer – about 15-20 miles. I use an iPhone app to help me pretend I am cycling the actual route from Land’s End to John O’Groats – so far I have made it to Preston!
The turbo trainer had greater appeal when the nights were shorter and the weather colder but static cycling gets very hot, especially in this blazing June.
Friday is a cycle to my office at the medical school – a 13-mile round trip, perhaps longer with a detour on the way home! The weekends are then the time to cycle for longer – typical runs are 25-40 miles in the Norfolk countryside.
Once or twice a month I will enter a sportive – last one was Norwich 100 (I actually did 113 for good measure!). The one before was the Brewin Dolphin Peak District event – this ended in “disaster” as my rear derailleur hanger snapped on the steepest hill only 20 miles into the ride! Forthcoming events include some more East Anglian events and a trip to the Malverns and Cheddar Gorge. And I recently upgraded my wheels to a Felt VR2 bike but haven’t found any upgrades for my East Anglian non-hill acclimatised legs!
Again, thank you for all the support thus far. If you want to see more about the ride please go to: http://www.rideacrossbritain.com – I’m doing the 9 day version (not the 5 day one for superhuman people!)