numbers

day	mileage	running total
1	126	126
2	104	230
3	130	360
4	95	455
5	119	574
6	111	685
7	120	805
8	134	939
9	96	1035
10	127	1162
11	95	1257
12	122	1379
13	117	1496
14	124	1620
15	102	1722
16	104	1826
17	84	1910
18	112	2022
19	96	2118
20	65	2183
21	119	2302
22	99	2401
23	0	2401
24	69	2470
25	109	2579
26	105	2684
27	147	2831
28	115	2946
29	165	3111

He's done it!!!!!!

Well folks, Dougall has done it!! He finished his 3,000 miles and then some! Yesterday he cycled quite a way to get to Davis, the finishing spot. He cycled about 3,100 miles in 29 days!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, well done to Dougall!!!!!!!!!!!Another post will follow with the details of how many miles were done per day and other details along those lines.

He's at my parents' house now in Davis and so here are some photos of him arriving at the end point: (That's my mom shaking his hand!) And also my parents just got some cute kittens, so a photo of Dougall with the kitten.

wow!!!!!!!!!!

147 miles!!!!! That crazy Dougall cycled 147 miles yesterday!!! He made it to Corcoran, which is along highway 43. When he got there, he was knackered, thus desperate for a hotel. He noticed that the centre of the town was cordoned off and there was a big hot rod show. He slowly cycled along the pavement to get around all the cars and went to the hotel, thinking there was no chance of a room because it was so busy. Luckily, the budget hotel still had a room so he was mightily relieved. The only room left was a suite, so he got a suite, but it's a budget suite, so only $70.
In other news, he only just noticed that he's got a very weird tan because of the straps of his helmet. He has funny white stripes down the side of his face - only noticable from the side, so he didn't notice before. That's going to go really well with the cycle shorts and shirt tan! ha!

lots of miles

Dougall called and he was in bakersfield. Now, I forget what he told me about the mileage and Google tells me it's 174 miles. I think it's pretty unlikely that even a cycling whiz like Dougall could do that much before it's even remotely bedtime. So I'm not sure what route he took! He certainly told me he'd done 60 miles before lunchtime, so we'll see what he tells me tomorrow. There's been a strong wind which he's been trying to avoid by getting up super early, but this wind is still there and he's been struggling in to it. When he phoned around lunchtime, he was having some chips. Other than that, he's pretty much enjoying it all, except he did admit that yesterday during a particularly gruesome 8-mile uphill struggle, he was wondering what the hell he was doing. He still did it, though. He mentioned another puncture and another spoke breaking, but it was merely in passing, so he obviously fixed them without much problem. I think that's all the news for now.....

yay!

After another unpleasant chat with AT&T during which they were their usual helpful selves (an extremely aggravating company to deal with!), Dougall managed despite it all to get some more credit on his mobile and called me yesterday! Hurrah! He's fine and better and back to his cycling self. Yesterday he cycled 109 miles, bringing the total up to 2,598 miles. He stopped at Independence, which is at the southern edge of Yosemite National Park. It was a super hot day and he was cycling into a strong wind. Haven't heard anything yet today, so that's all I can relay, but here's another photo from a previous spot along the way:

This is where Dougall camped right before Lassen National Park. That's his tent on the right and that huge brown thing is a bear box. That's not a box for bears, it's a box to store your stuff in that bears can't get in to. It has a special handle that bears can't use their paws to open.

relief

I just heard from my parents that Dougall is fine. He had no mobile reception again and he tried to call my parents this morning but the reception was so bad whatever he was saying was unintelligable (some might say - Nick - that Dougs is always unintelligable!!!!!). He called later and reception was much better, so here's the deal: He cycled 69 miles from Lee Vining to Mamouth Lake and he's going to cycle along the southern edge of Yosemite. He's worked out that the route along the southern edge is the right number of miles to get to 3,000 miles by the 4th of July.

In the meantime, here's a photo from earlier, when Dougall was cycling past Crater Lake. It was still really cold there, as you can see from the tons of snow!!!

no more burritos

Dougall did ZERO miles yesterday. He ate a dodgy burrito and now doesn't even want to hear the word burrito for a long time. He was sick all day long. I'll spare you the details, suffice to say he was to totally tired and dehydrated so he stayed in the same hotel for a second night to recover. He's drinking lots of liquids, but when I spoke to him, he hadn't managed to get any food down. He slept lots and he was going back to sleep right after he phoned last night. Poor Dougall!!!! Hopefully he'll recover soon but he did promise he wouldn't overdo it today if he was still feeling shakey. He's near the Topaz Lake in Nevada, just over the border with California. Hopefully he's all better as I type this, but I haven't heard from him yet today.

short update

There was no mobile coverage again yesterday, but Dougall called briefly from the hotel phone. He did 90-odd miles and made it over Ebbett Pass and another pass (can't remember exactly, but I think that was Monitor Pass). His gear cables made it through the day. That's about it for now, but hopefully I'll be able to speak to him today to get a more in-depth update.

Passes and more passes

The total mileage is at a staggering 2,321 miles as of Sunday evening. Dougall has gone over Luther Pass and Carson Pass, both of which have stunning scenery and both of which are in the Lake Tahoe area. He also went up and down the Echo Summit (7,382 feet). The temperatures have been cool, which is good for cycling. The pollen from the huge pine trees is so omnipresent that if you look at the cracks in the concrete and tarmac along the roads, they are all yellow from it! Today he's aiming for Ebbett's Pass and maybe tomorrow Tioga Pass. Yesterday's mileage was 119 despite a major technical problem. His rear gear cable sort of disintegrated. The cable was completely frayed and ruined. Luckily Dougall put that on his bike himself, otherwise he would have had no idea how to repair it. He had an extra cable with him, so spent some time repairing it, which was no easy task. He managed it in the end and is hoping the other gear cable will hang in there for the rest of the trip!!
He stayed at a Quality Inn at South Lake Tahoe on Saturday evening and there were no more rooms on the ground floor, so he had a room up one level. The bike usually goes into the room with him, so here's a photo of Dougall carrying his bike back down the next morning: 

Yay for Ace Hardware

So Dougall went into Ace hardware and bought some little bit of wire, which has worked to fix his aero bars at least temporarily. Last night he stayed a Dude Ranch, which he said was funny just for the name. He's on his way to Truckee (North of Lake Tahoe) today, taking the long route over the 6,702 feet Yuba pass to get there. Miles done so far today is 80. Yesterday he did 112 miles. Now he's thinking of going to the top of Donner Pass (elevation about 7,000 feet) and then back down again the same way, just to add some mileage. Food intake aroun 6pm -- from a local shop called Port of Subs -- bit of sourdough bread with six types of meat in it and tomatoes and BBQ sauce. No punctures today.

passed the 2,000 mile mark!!

Dougal went through the snow-lined road in Lassen Park yesterday. There was snow, but it wasn't cold. He said it was very pretty and had amazing views. Today he passed the 2,000 mile mark!! Not sure by how much. He may be able to tell me later, but the mobile reception is rubbish, so news is only getting through slowly. He had his sixth tire puncture. Then he was whizzing along and heard a little "pop" and wondered what it was. Glancing behind him, he spotted something on the road and went back to have a look. A part of his aero bars was laying there! So, his aero bar had broken. The aero bars are the things attached to the front top of the handlebars that allows him to put him arms down and flat, for a more aerodynamic stance and to switch arm position for comfort. Anyway, broken. So that stinks. He's going to go to some hardware store and see if he can fix it with a bit of wire. Tomorrow he will get to Truckee or further near the Lake Tahoe area.

McCloud

Dougall called yesterday evening saying he was in McCloud (south of Shasta) and said he wasn't done for the day. Luckily my sister is well acquainted with the area, so I could warn him that if he continued, chances that he could actually find accommodation was slim!!! So he stayed in a B&B in McCloud that my sister knew and had a lovely room. I forgot to ask him the mileage, but it was over 100 miles, so total is rising at a respectable rate. Today there is no mobile coverage, I haven't heard anything all day. Mobile coverage thus far has been disappointing, with nearly every other day being out of reach. Dougall did say he had had another puncture, but it fixable, so no real problem there. Here's another of the photos he sent the other day,this one on the top of Bennet Pass.

Klamath something

Dougall is somewhere along the Klamath River this evening. It's too cold to use the pool at the motel. It was so chilly at Crater Lake that he didn't stop to look at the views much (although still able to see them from his bike, of course) because of the 6 foot walls of snow either side of bits of the road. He did another couple hundred miles between today and yesterday. So he's up above 1700 miles total. Still going strong!
Here are some more of the photos he sent: 

Three Sisters Volcano

White Pass

photos!!

Dougall was in the Reading Post newspaper - read it here: http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2115318_3000_mile_cycle_challenge_for_practical_action

 And he finally managed to get to a place that had some internet access, so here are some photos:
This is a photo of Mount Hood.

Here's Dougall's bike by a big pile of snow along the road.

This is along the coast.

And here's Dougall's bike next to one of the smaller Redwood trees in the Avenue of the Giants in California.

Nearly end of week two

So, here's a list of the facts thus far:
day1 126 miles
day2 104 miles
day3  130 miles
day4 95 miles
day5  119 miles
day6 111 miles
day7  120 miles
day8 134 miles
day9  95 miles
day10 127 miles
day11  95 miles
day12  122 miles

So, the total mileage by end of day 12 is 1397. That doesn't count today (Saturday) because he hasn't told me the miles yet! Day 9 was a bit hard, with a long slog up along the Columbia River. That part of the river is famous as a fantastic windsurf spot and Dougs did indeed see a lot of windsurfers, but that meant one hell of a headwind, so it was tough going. He did make it though. Another night, Thursday night I think it was, he ended up getting really tired after a very long and hard uphill section near Bennet's Pass on Mount Hood. He camped there just out of sight of the road, not being able to get any further that night. He's had another puncture, but fixed it without too much hassle. Oh yes and http://southcoastbicycles.com/ were very helpful when he needed some help, so a shout out to them! Hello!
Tonight (Saturday night) Dougall is staying in Bend, Oregon; which is apparently a very nice place and it has its own website if you want to see any details -- http://www.ci.bend.or.us/
Also, somewhere along the route, the weather improved and Dougall said "oh my arms caught some sun" which I know is British for "oh my arms are severely sunburned" so he now has a severe dorky cycle tan/burn.

blogger issues

I had some issues with internet/blogger so I did post but then Blogger deleted it for some reason. So, a bit of an update is due. Dougall cycled another 130 miles on Monday. He thought he'd take it easy, but then he got into the rhythm and whizzed along, covering all those miles anyway! He crossed some bridge up in Washington state that was super long - 4 miles long or so - sufficiently long that he couldn't see the other side. The weather hasn't been great, bit chilly and rainy with drizzle. But today should be better, since he'll have crossed the mountains. Yesterday he didn't have any mobile reception, so no news on how many miles and so forth. But he came across a very nice Deli which supplied him with a lovely sandwich AND took his photo. So you can go 'like' this Deli on Facebook and see a bunch of cyclists that have visited...http://www.facebook.com/#!/MarysCornerDeli
And here is the photo of Dougall eating a little snack:

I like to be by the seaside

So Dougall called tonight and I said "where are you" and he said "I'm by the seaside". I said, stop being funny, I know you're on the coast, but where are you?? And he just kept saying he's by the seaside. Ha, turns out there's a town at the northern bit of coast in Oregon that's called Seaside. So, he's in another Motel 6 there. Ride went well today, still chilly, not much headwind though. Total of 120 miles today, which puts him over 800 miles, which is what he was aiming for today. He had dinner at a place right next to the hotel and had a 32 ounce burger with a mountain of garlic mash. I'm pretty sure a 32 ounce burger is bigger than normal. As a veggie, I'm not sure, but I think it's four times as big as usual? Anyway, he's not starving. His butt is hurting, but not so much that it's any kind of problem. No boils have yet arisen. The pain-o-meter is at not much pain, which for mere mortals means quite some discomfort. Anyways, he's fine at now over 800 miles, so all is well in insane-cycle-challenge-land.

two days in one

Friday, Dougall crossed over from California to Oregon. He cycled 119 miles and stayed in a Motel 6 in Cores Bay. In California, Dougall had a puncture and he sorted it out with his repair kit as usual. Then later, he had another puncture in Oregon and at least 12 people stopped to ask if he was ok!! So that makes the total 574 miles by Dougall's count at the end of Friday. He needs to do at least 600 a week to get to the 3000 total in 5 weeks. So far it's looking like he's ahead of schedule, but he's also banking up miles because he hasn't gotten into the big mountains yet and that could be a bit slower going. Only a bit slower, of course, as we are talking about Dougall and the mountains are his favourite. (or favorite since he's in the US!). Oh yes and he cycled through the Avenue of the Giants, which is a scenic route through a portion of the enormous redwood tree forest. The redwood are enormous, rather than the forest -- there is only 2% of the old growth forest left!! But the trees are very impressive, massive trunks and so high that they look like New York City skyscrapers.

So, then on Saturday he whizzed along the coast of Oregon and it's getting chilly, so he had to resort to his gortex jacket. I'm afraid I'm struggling to remember now all the details of yesterday, but he cycled about 111 miles and stopped somewhere for fast food. The fast food was pretty slow and it was an American-size chilli and burger. The burger was big - enormous by British standards - and was hidden by a thick layer of chilli over it. Then the fries (chips, as I'm sure you're aware, is what I mean) were piled so high that even Dougall could not finish them. And this is amazing considering he needs to eat a LOT of calories right now. Oh yes that reminds me that he went into some shoppe somewhere and was looking around for something calorific to eat and he spotted a bag of jelly beans - 1000 calories!!! and scoffed the lot!!

onwards!

Yesterday another 95 miles was cycled...a bit less than planned for the day, but it was a late start because Dougall was chatting with Bea, Eli and Ari! Apparently there are photos, but I haven't received them yet and Dougall's phone doesn't seem to be sending photos properly. In any case, he ended up yesterday evening at Smith River at an interesting looking motel called Ship Ashore, which is, apparently, exactly that, a ship ashore. Have a look at the website, it's not something you see every day.
Dougall said his bum was not too sore, so nothing gruesome to report on that, but he had to go get some anti-allergy medication as the pollen is flying and he was wheezing a bit. The medicine helped, so he's fine now.
Um, so here are some "artistic" impressions of the cycling yesterday....

Arcata

So on Tuesday, Dougall eventually managed 104 miles, despite the strong headwind. He camped somewhere in his cheap-o tent which was about 10 quid and was chosen purely because it hardly weighs anything. Good thing it didn't rain that night, because the waterproof levels of that tent are pretty much nil.
Yesterday another 120-ish miles were covered, with Dougall ending up in Arcata, which is where my sister lives. So he slept in the newborn baby's room, ensuring a good night's rest........hahha well ok the baby slept with the parents, so Dougall wasn't actually in charge of looking after him all night!!!
Due to the lack of photos getting through, here's an artist's impression of Dougall's night in a tent:

limited mobile coverage

Well, we've been thwarted again by mobile phone reception. We're thinking it's a conspiracy by AT&T but that might not actually be the case. Anyway, I did manage to speak to Dougall yesterday early evening. He hadn't finished cycling for the day, but had done 84 miles already and was going to do 15 or 20 miles more. No idea if he did though, because that was it for the day's communication. There was a lot of background noise on the call, too, so here's what I *think* he said: Monday was tough, since it was the first day and his legs filled up with lactic acid. Luckily the motel he stayed in (which turned out not to be the posh one I put a link up to!!) had a bath, so he drank loads of water and had a super hot bath, which meant he started out fine on Tuesday. There was a very strong headwind that was slowing him down and some crazy hill at some point that he struggled to get up in 1st gear. The views were spectacular!
Dougall also met some fellow insane cyclists - a guy who was cycling 9000 miles - oh yes, 9000. BUT he was doing that over many months and with many breaks (slacker!!!! ha!). There were also two ladies cycling 4000 miles, but over 3 months and with someone else carrying their luggage (again, slackers!!!). So Dougall's still the most bad-ass, haha!
More updates when there's more mobile reception......

map of day one progress

Timber Cove!

Update!! I got a message from Dougall on the answering machine -- there's ZERO mobile coverage on a whole stretch of highway he's taking along the coast. So, he managed 126 miles yesterday and got to Timber Cove on the coast. I had a look at the website of the Timber Cove Inn and it looks pretty snazzy and expensive!!! He told me he was going to stay in cheap motels! Well, I guess that didn't happen last night, ha!
(Of course all the sponsorship goes straight to charity, just in case anyone missed that, so he's paying for all the cycle trip stuff!) I had a look at the weather too, it's quite cool still, a bit cloudy and about 63F so should be pretty comfortable cycling. According to Dougall's message, he's going to try to find a landline to phone me from tonight, so more updates tomorrow. Sorry no news on boils/blisters/pain levels thus far.... 

Start of epic journey

Well, the plan was to write yesterday about how far Dougall got, but the last communication was around lunchtime! I think he's out of mobile reception area. Possibly camping in the woods with a bear or two for company. Or not. So, thus far, here's what I know:

Flight over to California went well and bike was fine and assembled fine as well. Dougall cycled off to start his mega journey at 8:40 Monday morning. Jet lag helped the early start, as he was already awake at 5am anyway!! Here's a photo at point of departure:

A bit after lunchtime, around 1pm, Dougall reached Calistoga, which is about a 70 mile cycle.

I'm afraid that's all I know so far because of lack of mobile reception. I'll update later when I hear something.

Nerdy bike specs

There have been some requests (hello Eton!) for more information about the bike that is to be used in this mad adventure. Thanks to everyone who has sponsored so far! Remember, all the money goes to charity and you can sponsor either at Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving. So, here is a bike nerdy list of details:

The bike is a 15 year old Aluminium 23cm softride, bought second hand, nearly new.

It has a suspension headset that has been replaced as the first was worn out.

It has a carbon fiber suspension seat bar that has been replaced once as the first broke due to old age

It has a 2 year old Campagnolo Centaur group set with a comp triple 50, 40, 30 front chainset and 13 to 29 10 speed cassette

The wheels are Campagnolo G3 Sirocco (Rear and trailer) front is an old record hub with 36 aero spokes and a mavic ceramic rim

The rack is a Blackburn SX

The trailer is a "Extrawheel" bike trailer

The panniers will be Ortlieb back roller city

The saddle is an old Madison gel saddle.

The peddles are shimano spds (something like M540

The shoes are shimano mountain bike shoes something like MO77

Front tyre is Michelin pro race 3. Rear maybe Bontrager RXL hardcase or pro race 3

The mission

I'm trying to cycle over 3,000 miles (about 5000 kilometres) in 33 days. I'm cycling by myself. I'm carrying my own luggage and I do not intend to use other transport to skip sections of the journey. I know you think this is a ridiculous idea, so please sponsor me to do this with either Just Giving or Virgin Money Giving. I'm paying for the sponsored cycle. All your money goes to charity.

Starting on the 4th of June and finishing on 6 July, I'm cycling around the west of the USA, starting at Davis, going along some of the coast between San Francisco and Portland and I will also zig zag back and forth across the Cascades Mountain range and Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The small picture in the right hand panel is me cycling up the Col du Galibier (el. 2,645 metres (8,678 ft)) as part of a 2000 mile cycle in three weeks. I normally cycle over 100 miles a day, apart from when cycling over some high mountain passes. The background photo is me at the top of Col D'Vars in France.

About 70% of the poorest people in the world are subsistence farmers and Practical action creates simple ideas that can be created and used by these people to make their lives much better. Please click here to sponsor me or click one of the links on the top right. Every penny you give to Practical action make a significant difference the life of a poor family. Solutions like helping a family to feed themselves with a donkey plough or increasing their lives and helping the environment with an efficient stove that burns less fuel.

I've done a few long cycles before (but none this many miles!) and people could not imagine I would do the cycle if it was not generating money for a good goal, so this time I am. Please sponsor me and significantly improve the life of a poor family.

I intend to call my wife each day, mobile reception permitting, to tell her my progress and she will update this blog so you can follow me.