2015 Ride4OCD John o Groats to Lands End

[Ashley]

Something I posted on Facebook this week.

Well friends, after weeks of struggling to even get out of bed, I have taken control of my mental well-being and I am now making positive plans to challenge my OCD, raise OCD awareness and trying and bring support to others with OCD from Inverness to Truro.

In August myself and Paul Salkovskis (with a little help from Lisa) will be cycling from John o Groats to Lands End, 1250 miles over 19 days - on top of that I will run OCD support groups some evenings and Paul will deliver some presentations/Q+A sessions on other evenings. In order to push my OCD well and truly out of my life forever, I will be toilet dipping each of the 19 days every day from JOG to LE!

If you think our efforts deserve a few pence, please do consider sponsoring us - https://www.justgiving.com/ocd

This map is a rough snapshot of our 1250 mile route, from North to South, East to West and back to East and then West again - http://ridewithgps.com/routes/6923147 (takes a few moments to load). Below is our draft route and daily mileage.

If you life in or around any of the locations and may be able to help us by driving the support van please do get in touch. Equally, anyone wishing to cycle with us for part of a day or more then you are most welcome.

VOLUNTEER

We are seeking a website designer to create a blog and fundraising website for the tour. We also seek people along the route with OCD who would be willing to talk about their OCD to local media.

[Ashley]

P.S. I forgot to add that I started my training yesterday and managed to cycle 18 miles in the cold (brrrr). It was so hard, and I am feeling it today but it felt strangely good to be out doing it, like I was taking control back from the black dog. I came home and slept for hours, I can't do that in August if working in the evenings delivering groups!

Fitness wise I have a lot to do before August!

[whitebeam]

I didn't realise that you have been poorly recently - depression is so awful.

I am so pleased to hear that you are picking up. Good for you. I'm sure this will help you.

You did it before - you can certainly get fit enough to do it again.

I think you are an amazing person!!

[Ashley]

Thanks Penny, it would be great to see you in Truro (you and Tony are welcome to join us on any evening we don't have an event for a meal). Fitness wise this time it is harder, I did lose all my fitness and I am a lot heavier now due to all the junk food, so I am starting from scratch, but last time we cycled and then just chilled in the evenings, mainly eating. This time I need my fitness to be that I can recover within a hour of finishing the days cycling, so I can shower and go out to deliver an event in the evenings.

[Tez]

Hi Ashley

I am glad that you are feeling a bit better for getting on the bicycle. You will enjoy Bristol as we are a cycling city and Green Capital this year. I would be happy to work with OCD-UK to get some coverage, using my contacts at local community radio. If you are happy to work with the Second Step organisation, then may be we can do some publicity together: we have a list of media contacts, including BBC Points West (the TV local news programme) and Made in Bristol, a local TV station which covers the city from the Mendip transmitters and which is new to the air since the last time you were passing through on the Ride.

Cheers

Tez :original:

[daisy]

Hi Ashley,

I am sorry to hear that you havn't been well,but glad that you are on the mend now.

Well done for the 18 miles you did,i agree with all that whitebeam has said

All the best

Daisy x

[taurean]

Well done leader. you got up off the bed and "cycled".

Wish I had space for a bike, I have to just rely on lots of walking and exercise at the gym including their styatic bikes. We have outhouses but they are full of gardening fishing and in summer astronomy gear plus the car in the gagrage so my wife has placed restrictions on any more hobbies.

I am sure the illustrious Penny and hubbie and Tez and others will see you right in the West country.

Edited February 10, 2015 by taurean

[Ashley]

Thank you all for all your comments, we have our launched our website and we will keep it updated with event news, and blogs in the coming weeks. Take a look to see if we will be cycling close to you here:

http://www.ride4ocd.org/route/

[Ashley]

Our first support event is confirmed for the evening of Thursday 13th August in Inverness. It will be a 90 minute event featuring Professor Salkovskis with a short presentation and then taking questions. Full details later in the month, but it will be a donation to attend rather than set ticket price.

[Ashley]

Hello all, myself and Paul had our first team training ride on Sunday, we managed 54 miles, which was just about both our limit, but sets us up nicely. By August we need to be doing 70 miles a day for lots of days, so being able to do 54 miles in April is a great place to be. We rode from south of Bristol to Western-Super-Mare then across to Cheddar then up the Gorge (very very steep).

I am working away this week so no bike time, but will try and do 50 miles again this weekend, then next week I am home based and will try and ride Mon, Wed and Fri and do 30 midweek miles each day and another 50+ ride the Sunday.

We are planning to host OCD events during the ride too, so far Inverness, Liverpool and Truro look confirmed, I will send more details of those later.

[taurean]

Well done Ashley and Paul, keep at it. Great stuff

Roy

Edited April 29, 2015 by taurean

[Enjay]

Wow, that's great Ashley.

You have more stamina than I do, keep up the good work :original:

[Ashley]

Thanks both, a couple of little training videos.

Real time, me overtaking Paul on the first part of the Cheddar Gorge climb - http://youtu.be/dVy1vBeUt18

A time lapsed 20 minutes full Cheddar Gorge climbing fast forwarded into 3 minutes (bit juddery) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDCam1wMYFo&feature=youtu.b

[daisy]

Hi Ashley well done to both yourself and Paul,thanks for putting the link on here x

[Ashley]

On Monday I am off on my final full week's training camp (on my own) to work on my fitness and hill climbing for August, plus another little break for me will do me good I think. I want to try and hit 50-60 miles each day for the five days I will have, and if I can manage that I will be confident in my ability to be ready for August challenge of 70+ miles daily for 19 day.

[taurean]

Good luck Ashley, all the very best. Keep flying the flag

Roy

:England: :clapping:

[Ashley]

I was away training last week on my own in Majorca, it was pretty hard work, but I managed 273 miles in five days. The weather was a bit warmer than the UK, at about 71 degrees, so about right really. I would not want to cycle in anything much hotter.

But so far so good, as the weeks are slipping by now I need to get out and do 20-30 mile ride three times a week, and a 50-70 mile on a weekend.

[daisy]

That's really good Ashley, well done you are doing great :original:

Edited May 29, 2015 by daisy

[taurean]

Good stuff Ashley, I wonder how Paul is getting on trying to fit in his training?

[Ashley]

I think Paul is doing ok, he tends to cycle to work which means about 35 miles daily, so that works well for him training wise.

One thing that I am struggling with is I bonk out so quickly and easily, so although I did the miles in Majorca it was slow and much older and much larger cyclists all overtook me throughout the day. I thought it was just a case of putting the miles in but perhaps timely and fortunately I opened a magazine which pointed out 'you can't outrun or outtrain a bad diet'. As most of you know my diet is the stuff of legends... sugary fatty junk legends! I don't really understand carbs and proteins either so I have started going through my magazines last night and created some bullet points which I need to focus on and get right.

Cycling Nutrition.docx

I need to change pretty much every aspect of my diet, from breakfast to snacks to drinks to lunch. But knowing where to start is where I am at now, and also replacing foods I like for foods I find bland or tasteless (because of lack of sugar) is another issue.

[taurean]

Hi Ashley,

I understand re the sugars - but the sugars do need to be controlled.

I was a sugar junkie before I got married, and my wife-to-be - having reviewed my fiancial way of life and my diet - realised that I would benefit from making changes - on finances (my wife worked in cost and management account budgeting) and sugar I have never looked back since then!

I may have mentioned this before; she sponsored me to go 20 cups of coffee or tea without adding (two spoonsful) of sugar.The money went to my amateur operatic society funds. I completed the task, and at the end of it had acclimatised to the taste of not having sugar, and can't stand sugar now - once or twice at work a friend would serve me coffee with sugar and I couldn't drink it.

So maybe that will give you some encouragement.

And if I am required to drink a full sugar coke now, I don't like it - I choose diet or zero options for my one or two cans a week.

If I can encourage you by some sponsorship agrreement re the sugar - through the normal sponsor giving method to the charity itself - I am willing to do so. Let me know if that proposition is of interest? :original:

Roy

[whitebeam]

On the other hand.......

...when I started working in a new office when asked how I took my coffee I told them no sugar......I hated every single cup......I tried for weeks and weeks.......I have gone back to sugar now.

I have actually tried several times with both tea and coffee and I still really don't like them without.

Sorry, Ashley - it's worth a try - lots of other people have doe the same as Roy and then hated sugar afterwards.

Edited June 2, 2015 by whitebeam

[taurean]

Yes It's difficult because the body gets used to the sugar and may resent being weaned off it. I used to heap it onto cereal too.

But there are salutary tales which may help encourage people to make changes .

My sister and brother-in-law got very overweight, and we knew that was because they ate a lot of sweet things, withy sugar rather than more beneficial sweeteners. My wife and I were regularly visiting them at the time and warned them that was very dangerous to their health - I was having full 2-hour healthscreens every 2 years paid for by my firm and, from what i learned there, and from the juvenile diabetes foundation, a charity I also suppported,I knew this could be the precursor to diabetes, as well as piling on the pounds.

They didn't listen; my brother-in-law now has the worst type of diabetes - type 1, and my sister type 2. Type 1 needs self-injection regularly to control, and the subject can pass out - go hypo - so basically essentially needs people around them regularly in case this happens.

Type 2 depending on severity can be controlled by change of diet.

So it is sensible for health reasons to make an effort to tackle any excess sugar in the diet.

Edited June 2, 2015 by taurean

[Caramoole]

I can't bear coffee without sugar but only need about 1/2 tsp to make it palatable. There are lots of natural substitutes available now. Can't stand sugar in tea. My other half used to take 3 heaped spoons in tea and stopped and he now can't stand sugar in tea either, it happened pretty quickly.

Write us a list of what type of foods you like....breakfast, lunch, dinner....see if we can find some acceptable substitutes

[taurean]

Here are some good substitutes for marmalade and jam and buscuits.

A pale blue-topped marmalade and jam in some supermarkets denotes reduced sugar. We use Tesco or Sainsbury's or weightwatchers versions.

I like digestive biscuits, but they have lots of sugar and fat so we buy the "light" versions.

Weightwatchers and go-ahead biscuits are best for weight reduction.

Semi-skimmed milk still tastes nice to me but has less fat.

Walls do a light soft scoop vanilla ice-cream which we like.

We buy reduced sugar and salt tomato sauce which still tastes fine, similarly with baked beans.

There are Tesco and Sainsbury's and no doubt other suppliers' lower fat freezable microwave convernience meals which suit us fine.

Hope this helps

Roy

Edited June 4, 2015 by taurean