It's so close now, I can smell it (19 May 2012)

At least that's what I think it is....

Would you Adam and indeed would you Eve it? Barely have we said "Riding from John O'Groats to Lands End might be fun" we now find ourselves just a handful of days from finding out one way or the other whether it will be 'fun' or not. 

And finding ourselves midway through the pre-challenge weekend I now have a to-do list longer than the A9 and a shopping list of nutrition that is equally extensive. The COOP, being 'good with food' had better be well stocked on products containing a decent amount of carbs (especially those in easy to carry packaging) because I'll be clearing the shelves.

My list contains some 18 Snickers bars, 9 tins of rice pudding, a container load of bananas, and nine bottles of milkshake - amongst (many) other things.

Whilst on the subject of nutrition this whole carb things is really quite complicated. In short we need carbs because carbs provide energy to power our legs which in turn will make the wheels on the bike go round and round, round and round, round and round, the wheels on the bike go round and round all day long. The wipers on the....., oh no, hang on, I'm getting carried away.

Some very rough mathematics (and for those of you that read our 'whistle while you work' post you'll know our mathematics can be very rough) suggests that pre-ride some 200 grams of carbs need to be consumed. That's based on a 6' 2" 84kg athlete. Now then, if you have studied carbs (and it will be very surprising if you have) you'll know there are slow release types, with a high GI and fast release with a low GI. So not only do we have to consume bucket loads of the things pre-ride, we also have to carefully select the right types. And to give you a clue on scale - 200g of carbs is about 6 bowls of porridge or ten rounds of wholemeal toast. We'll need to be up 4am carb loading.

And while we're on the subject of said loading of carbs I've read that porridge before bed is a good idea, sounds odd but anything is worth a go! 

During the ride we'll no doubt become patrons of a variety of tea rooms, cafe's, service stations and anywhere else that provides tea, cake and a few minutes out of the saddle and in the warm/dry/shade/cool* delete as appropriate. Such establishments will be a welcome break on the highways and byways of Scotland and England.

Right then, lets get eating......