Only one month to go …

I am officially scared now, after I had a look at the route for my next big trip, Land’s End to John o’Groats, this time again on a singlespeed. The bike is not even ready yet, after weeks and weeks of trying to get my Torpedo hub fixed (as in repaired), I am now only waiting for the 130mm kit to be shipped over to finally have a proper bike again. Hope that doesn’t take another week or so, as with those distances in mind, I better get used to one gear again. But I am sure it will be fine, I did 165km in snow in winter with panniers and rack, so this time only the wind can make the trip hard. I am, however, hopeful that i will get one of those lovely south/southwest winds, which would make things a whole lot easier. I am just chucking some ideas in terms of kit around, as I need some fast, but durable tyres, as there are a lot of towns to negotiate, and I all I don’t need is a puncture or four of them, as on the last trip in Hamburg. If you have recommendations, fire them through. So for that moment, that’s the plan for the ride:

23/07: Land’s End – Street, Glastonbury 296km
24/07: Street, Glastonbury – Church Stretton 200k
25/07: Church Stretton – Kendal 225k
26/07: Kendal – Kinross 275k
27/07: Kinross – Balintraid 254km
28/07: Balintraid – John o’Groats 153km

If you know people along the way that have a spare bed/couch, please get in touch, I would love to meet locals rather than staying in B&Bs or hostel, so far I have tailored the route around hostels. Any recommendations on the route are welcome, remember I am riding a singlespeed, so only normal hills are fine, but I am training fell running as well, in case I need to run up them.

The bike set-up shall be the following (hopefully): Swobo Crosby, Specialized Toupe Saddle, SRAM Torpedo Hub (might ride the last bit fixed then), Continental Gatorskin 700x23c tyres (other recommendations welcome).