A couple of years ago, when I realised I wasn't getting any younger, I wondered what I would do to commemorate reaching my half-century. After a bit of thought I decided on riding from one end of the country to the other. Conventional wisdom has it that you should ride from Lands Ends to John O'Groats (LEJOG) to take advantage of the prevailing winds. However, I like to think that I'm not like everyone else and because I reckon travelling from the top to the bottom of anything is always downhill, it must apply to maps, so I decided to ride from John O'Groats to Lands End (JOGLE).

Having made my mind up I realised that I would need to get my fitness up to scratch and also start telling people what I was going to do (that way I wouldn't be able to chicken out of it). So, I joined the Cyclists Touring Club (CTC) and started going on weekly rides with the Horsham and Crawley group. Straight away they gave me support and information - some members have already done the ride (CTC call it the 'End to End') and others have done much more epic rides. But the biggest thing they gave me was the confidence to go ahead and take it on.

In my head I could see me doing longer and longer rides each weekend and two or three sessions in the gym each week, however, although I've been riding on about three out of every four Sundays, I hate the gym and have only managed about one hour a month there! My excuse is that I don't want to wear my legs out on those gym machines. Anyhow, getting out in all weathers with the CTC and doing anything from 30 to 60 miles has made me very comfortable on my bike and I haven't been saddle sore for months.

I'm not riding a touring bike, but a ten year old Kona Kilauea. This is a steel framed cross-country hardtail mountain bike with front suspension. I did think about perhaps getting a tourer but that thought lasted only 2 seconds: I love my Kona and it's looked after me no matter what I've thrown at it (or it into). I'm keeping things as light as possible and am not carrying anything on the bike except for a speedo, map holder, pump, puncture repair kit, spare inner tube, cycle lock, 2 water bottles, rear light and some fat lump on the saddle - oh, that's me! I've also changed my 2 inch knobbly tyres for some 1 inch slicks. I'm not going to fit mudguards (though I'll probably regret this if I have to face several days of continuous rain).

Obviously I'll need more gear than that and this is where my wife, Jan, comes in. Effectively this ride will be my summer holiday, so Jan decided she wanted to spend her summer holiday with me. She declined my offer of the back seat of a tandem and instead will provide my support facilities from the luxury of our family car. Each day she'll meet up with me a couple of times for lunch/tea breaks and then sort out our bed & breakfast accommodation somewhere near wherever I reckon I'll finish that evening. Depending on how I get on, I'll have a day off from riding every now and again so that we can spend the day being tourists and getting in some sightseeing. Jan's also looking forward to having some quiet time to listen to the radio and catch up on some reading whilst she's waiting for me.

Deciding what to take has been occupying my mind. Originally I was thinking about taking a spare set of wheels, but I'm moving away from that idea and will probably take just a spare pair of tyres instead. I don't anticipate needing them, but I'll take a spare chain, brake/gear cables and brake pads. I'll also take a fairly comprehensive set of tools in case the bike needs working on. Clothing wise I'll take my normal combination of layers including a full set of waterproofs, which should allow me to cope with the usual British spring/summer weather.

I've worked my route out firstly using some OS 1:250,000 scale travel maps and then using online mapping such as Multimap. The route is a mishmash of my own route ideas, those from the CTC End-to-End routes and from a library book called "Bike Britain - Cycling Land's End to John O'Groats". I'm aiming for a fairly direct route without using too many main roads and I'm trying to avoid the big conurbations. Mind you, some bits look a bit hilly, but hey, that's why I've got all those gears on my bike!