Ultracycling

Ian To
3 hrs ·
Beaten by the weather ☁️ Having celebrated the successes of our LEJOG attempt, especially the great amount we raised for the National Autistic Society, here is the short version!

The current record is so tight (and was taken with a raging tailwind) 🌪️that the winds are critical to success. All of the other obstacles encountered were overcome, although a lot of time was lost stopping: stomach bug (with 8x Loperamide tablets!), crash (Ibuprofen), heatstroke 🌡️☀️(iced water and ice lollies), hayfever (Cetirizine), gravel rash and left hand fracture from being run-off the road 3 weeks pre-event.

During the day, it was much hotter than expected. During the night, it was much colder ❄️ The tailwind, forecast past Bristol (after 200mi), never materialised, and I chased further north in still air. The promised 17mph tailwind at 0400hrs was but a gnat's fart. In Kendal, chimney smoke was rising straight up and not a tree's leaf moved - demoralising. I climbed Shap⛰️ to see if the wind was to be found on the other side, but it wasn't there. To stay ahead of the record, I had exhausted myself. Tailwinds were forecast further north, but it was too little, too late. In order to break the record, I would have to maintain over 21mph average for 380mi.

Many small lessons have been learned, and more will be discussed as a team, but we were beaten by the weather. Too little, too late.

However, Project 44 lives on... watch this space 😉