The race left The Mall in central London at 9am this morning, heading out to Surrey and the major climb, which would be tackled twice – Box Hill. Rapha-Condor-Sharp’s Kristian House picked up the points as the first man over the climb to secure his place as the winner of the “King of the Mountains” prize for the day’s racing. House formed part of the 4 man breakaway along with Tom Murray of Sigma Sport-Specialized, Liam Holohan of Team Raleigh and the Cleberson Weber riding for Brazil.

The break was reeled in with 9km to the finish for the much-anticipated bunch sprint at the finish. Tyler Farrar was unfortunate enough to be involved in a crash in the last few kilometres and did not contest the sprint.

As the riders turned onto The Mall near Buckingham Palace, it was Cavendish who showed the fans why he is known as “The Manx Missile” as he powered to yet another victory, this time with a home crowd.

Now, how was it from a spectator’s point of view?

On arrival at the finish this morning, the whole finishing straight was a restricted area with no public access from about 300m to the finish. We were lucky enough to have wristbands courtesy of British Cycling (thank you to the lady we met!) so could enter the area nearer the finish, but it was difficult for those who didn’t have a wristband.

The finish area along The Mall itself was fantastic though – a perfect sprinter’s finish. Hopefully Cav will be in great form after next year’s Tour de France to take the win, and the Gold for GB next summer.

However, some of the best viewing may have been in Richmond Park as the riders came through thanks to plenty of space and no restrictions for spectators, so that may be worth bearing in mind for the real thing next summer.

Watch the video (apologies for the shaky camera action!) with the finish and Cavendish being interviewed below:

Credit to "The Sun"

However it cannot go without mentioning the somewhat controversial swim tactics displayed by Harry Wiltshire in the swim section, he clearly blocked Javier Gomez throughout the swim section which has led to him being reprimanded by the triathlon comity, Javier however says it had no effect on his form during the race.

So here is 48 Hours of Training with Tim Don filmed by his new sponsors for 2011 Specialized:

Excitement is mounting for this year’s tour, starting on the Passage du Gois this Saturday, 2nd July. Here’s the very basics of this year’s tour:

The Route

Larger: Download

With 21 stages covering 3430km, and the famous Galibier at 2,645 being climbed twice on this year’s route to celebrate its first appearance in the tour in 1911, the race looks set to be a great one for spectators.

With two rest days, 4 summit finishes and 10 flat stages (come on Cav!) the tour will arrive in Paris on Sunday the 24th July

More information is available on the Official Website

Staying up to date in the UK

TV

ITV4 continue their coverage of the tour this year, with highlights of each stage at 7pm and stages 1 and 19 shown live

Eurosport will be following every stage live. For those with Sky or similar you’re all set – if you haven’t got access to Eurosport, read below in the online section

Online

Twitter is a great place to keep up with the tour new – follow @itvcycling or @letour. While you’re there don’t forget to follow @SprocketTwitt !

Evans Cycles and Eurosport are also running a promotion for Eurosport Player where you can watch all the tour stages online for just £7.98 for a 3 month subscription – see this link

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That’s it for now – we’ll be commenting on the tour a bit more in the coming weeks, and maybe even get to a stage!

Part 5 – Equipment

Last week in part 4 of my End to End guide we looked at which route you should take. We’ve also taken a look at bikes in part 3. But what else do you need?

This week I’ll go through my list of essential equipment and what I’d recommend. I’ve split it into 3 main areas – Clothing, Luggage, Navigation and Accessories

1) Clothing

Jerseys

A decent short-sleeved jersey is a must have for a summer E2E – look for a wicking material (to stop it getting damp with sweat) and decent pockets on the back to store small items such as food and a camera. Either have a look online or visit your local bike shop to see what’s best for you.

Shorts

Seeing as you’ll be spending quite literally days in them, a good pair of shorts is a real bonus. Bib shorts are the most comfortable for long days in the saddle – if you’re unsure look at Wiggle’s DHB range for some good value pairs:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb/shorts/?o=1

“Baggy” style shorts can also be found for those who want to avoid the lycra…

Waterproofs

Let’s face it – it’s Britain so you’re going to get wet. A decent waterproof will save you from the worst of the rain, and more importantly help to keep you warm as well. I’d recommend the Altura Pocket Rocket as it packs down really small and stays out of the way in your jersey pocket until the wet stuff arrives!

Sunglasses

Sunglasses not only protect your eyes from the sun’s UV, but also from a multitude of airborne missiles such as flies, wasps and if you’re unlucky the odd pebble. You’ll be glad to have some either way. Oakley’s are great – I’d recommend the Flak Jacket XLJs, but don’t feel that cheaper glasses won’t do the job admirably. There are plenty that will. I’ve previously had a good experience with the DHB Triple Lens Sunglasses so maybe have a look at those

2) Luggage

Handlebar Bags

A handlebar is a convenient way to store the things you need to get at regularly during your ride. Most have enough room for maps, food, a camera and a few other useful items that you don’t want buried in your panniers

Rack Bags

Rack and bag combinations such as the range from Topeak give a useful amount of storage space with the added bonus that most of the racks used can be fitted to road bikes without eyelets

Pannier Bags

Obviously the best option if you can fit a full rack – Pannier Bags come in all shapes and sizes for how much you need to carry so it’s best to work out how big you need them to be first. They also vary in price from the great value but still excellent Deuter Rack Pack Unis (review coming soon) to the biggest name in panniers, the Ortlieb Back Rollers

3) Navigation and Accessories

Maps

A road atlas will be fine for most of the trip (see part 4) but make sure you get one with the smallest scale you can (more detail). OS Landranger Maps are brilliant, but you’d need too many for the whole trip – maybe buy a couple for the tricky areas.

Alternatively, you can now download the whole OS 250k road map (a great map for touring) from their website for free at http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/products/os-opendata.html. I used the old paper version of this map for my JOGLE and it was spot-on.

iPhone/Smartphones

Nowadays many of us have a great navigational device in our pockets. Many phones have built in GPS units, and with a maps application this can provide you with a great navigational aid.

For the iPhone I’d recommend downloading the free OS GB 250K Map from iTunes – it’s the same map as I mentioned above but in an extremely convenient format

You can even attach your iPhone to your bike’s handlebars with something like the Dahon Biologic iPhone mount – they’re quite hard to find so worth a quick google search – we’ll have a review up soon

Dedicated GPS

A dedicated GPS unit such as the excellent Garmin Edge 800 will not only display maps, speed, altitude and a whole host of other information, but can have routes loaded onto it for turn-by-turn directions. We’ll be posting a review in the next few days. There are a few good alternatives so have a look around on the internet – older Garmin models can also be found quite cheaply on eBay

Puncture Repair

Unfortunately you’ll probably have a few punctures, so you need to ensure you have the basic repair tools: a pump, puncture repair kit and spare inner tubes.

I’d recommend:

Lezyne Road Drive Pump (make sure you check your valve type:)

Topeak Rescue Box (see review)

Continental Inner Tubes

Hydration

Nothing much to say here, but make sure you carry two full water bottles with you – if it’s hot you’ll need them, and don’t count on being able to refill one, especially in the more rural parts of Scotland

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There’s obviously more, but these are the things worth most consideration – hope it helps with your kit decisions. Don’t forget to shop around for the best price.

Part 4 – Which route?

In part 3 of my guide to cycling End to End I discussed which bike is best for the trip, and how your existing bike can be adapted. This week I’ll be taking a look at one of the most important decisions to make before the trip – the choice of route. This article assumes that you are planning your route in advance as I did – if you are confident and want to take the extra challenge, then you can take a map and work it out as your go along, your choice. If you’re planning a route though, keep reading.

1) Useful resources

Planning a LEJOG/JOGLE route may seem like a daunting task, but don’t worry. There are plenty of resources available and with a little time you’ll have a pretty good idea of where you’re going. Here are some good resources you may want to look at:

CTC End to End Pack

Pewseys JOGLE

List Of LEJOG Trips

2) Planning a route

How to plan your route? This is what I would recommend:

1. Look at the example routes below and decide whether you want to do more miles and take quieter roads or follow the main roads for the most direct route

2.Buy a road atlas – you can get them quite cheaply. Try to get one with the highest level of detail possible, and ring bound if you can as you can take pages with you on the trip. While not brilliant for navigating while cycling, they will do the job and are great for planning. Here are some good ones:

3. Plan roughly how many days you want the trip to take, and how many miles a day this will be based on the example route of your choice

4. Using an online planning website and your road atlas for reference, start looking at where you want to go each day, taking into account how many miles it will be

5. Look for accommodation at your overnight stays – you may have to move your route around to accommodate (I know, bad pun) where your stops are

6. Try to settle on a rough route for each day, or at least where you want to get to

3) Example routes

Please note these routes are for either direction – LEJOG or JOGLE – but may not be made that way around

1) The direct route – 850 miles

Alternative: http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=263919

2) The slightly longer route – 950 miles

Alternative: http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=263929

3) The scenic route (ours) – 1050 miles

Alternative: http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=263937

More information on our route and JOGLE trip can be found at www.bike4charity.co.uk

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That’s it for this week. In the next article, I will look at the best of ways of staying on track, as well as some other essential equipment for your trip. As ever, don’t hesitate to contact me via the blog or twitter (@SprocketTwitt) if you have any questions

The video has already attracted over 1 million views on Youtube in just 2 days and this looks set to continue. He hopes that it will give authorities a push towards punishing motorists and companies who block the many miles of cycle lanes throughout New York.

Here’s the video: