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@rhowe
Hmm, I was quite tired and definitely wouldn't have been up for doing even 20 miles the next day. It took me around 17 hours including breaks. The bike was a hybrid with alfine 8-speed hub gears, toestraps and panniers with not too much in them.
My #1 tip is to take food. There's nothing worse than running out of energy. Also you'll probably want some basic tools (allen keys, tyre levers, patches, couple of spare tubes, etc) in case. I've never had a problem on a long distance solo ride, but it will happen one day. You hear some horror stories of "I was just going along and my pedal fell off." Have some kind of backup plan in case you need rescuing 10 miles from a train station. It's good that you have relatives spaced out along the country - make sure you have all their phone numbers!
Whenever you stop, top up your water bottle(s). You get through a lot of water and if it's a hot day then you'll probably need to take the water situation quite seriously.
Packing a warm jumper and thin waterproof is probably also a good idea - things can get surprisingly cold and if you're wet and cold it's just not nice (and can get a bit dangerous).
Having fixed dates leaves you at the mercy of the weather lottery - keep a close eye on wind direction and strength. If you have a tailwind then that is awesome. 20mph headwind all the way to Coventry is not a fun experience, I can tell you.
Plan the route to go reasonably near various train stations which can get you to your destination, in case your timescales prove optimistic.
Mini cheddars are full of energy. Green and black's chocolate is very welcome in the middle of nowhere.