Many of you will know that I love to cycle, and I love to ride a long way. I just looked back to my 2nd fundraiser in 2011, when I started to ride around the British coast (Marcia’s Grand Tour of Britain). I travelled extremely heavy, but got all the way round...eventually.

This year I had my sights set on my longest challenge to date, The Race Around the Netherlands. 1800km, around the edge of a pretty flat country, with the hope of getting round in about 7 ish days.

With the Covid-19 issues, I’ve decided to postpone it until next year, but after all the training I needed a new goal, to keep me motivated and not lose my hard earned fitness. So, over a glass of wine, I set myself a plan B, which has now become my plan A. It’s in this country, and only needs lockdown to be relaxed a little, and hotels to be open. So it’s safe to say this WILL go ahead.

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to do Lands End to JOG. But is it best to go North or South? Well I intend to find out later this year and try both ways. 

My attempt will be largely unsupported, but I’m planning  big daily mileage. It will be exhausting, and I’m not expecting to get lots of sleep. The intention is to try to complete the both ways distance in around the same amount of time as a ‘tourist’ would ride one way. Currently I’m planning on around 10 days.

What have I set myself up for?

This means my training has changed. Instead of focusing on how fast I can ride on flat & windy cycle paths, I’ve had to switch it up a few gears and somehow keep my speed, but with the addition of around 90,000 ft climbing. Anyone following me will have noticed that I now spend a lot of time going up and down the same hills lots of times.

Since this is such an epic ride, in a very peculiar year, I decided that for a change I would also fundraise for mental health charities. 

Charity donations have taken a beating this year as most of their fundraising events have been cancelled and donations to NHS charities increased. And yet, the need for mental health services will be increasing more than ever, as a knock on to the lockdown and virus fears. I know that for many of us exercise in 2020 is what has kept us functioning, but for others, when they have been locked in, or found themselves jobless or in mourning, it’s harder.

100% of net donations will go to the charity, and not a penny will be funding my trip.

If you value our nation’s mental health, and also want to encourage me to keep on training so that I can smash this challenge, please consider donating via this page, so that we can hit mental health on the head.

You can follow my progress on Strava (updated also below) and on 

My blog https://mawonavelo.com

I also have a Facebook group that you can join if you want to keep up to date on progress and general event chatter. Search 

Marcia’s LEJOGLE - WR attempt

To raise even more money for Mind, and to give you a chance to be directly involved in this challenge, I have also set up a Virtual Challenge. For 4 months you can walk, run or cycle, either individually or in teams, along the distance of my route in the knowledge that at least £10 your entry will go to supporting Solent Mind

To find out more visit the following link

http://zentoevent.com/lejogle-2020/

Finally, if you're a dotwatcher, and want to follow my progress on the ride, here's the link to the live map

https://racemap.com/player/lejogle-wr-attempt_2020-08-03/

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.