A plan emerges

We're beginning to have something resembling a sensible plan.

The whole 'sleeping in the van' thing was never going to be a success, to be honest. There's something about spending three solid days either cycling, or in close proximity to a bunch of blokes who have just been cycling, that failed to grab anyone's imagination.

Funny, that.

So we'll split into smaller teams. At any given time

• Team A will be cycling (one rider at a time, swapping with his mates along the way);
• Team B will be moving itself into position ready to take over from team A; and
  
• Team C will be resting/sleeping, ready to take over from team B.

This involves a whole bunch more organisation, but has the distinct advantage of being marginally achievable.

Now we just need to perfect it. And find some people to help us do it. Some bikes might be nice, too.

A meeting

It's one thing for a couple of blokes to come up with an idea at their desks. But to put some flesh on the bones, we really needed to get some more people involved. And this meant a Friday lunchtime pub visit.

There was a number of us gathered around a table. "Do you do food?" we'd asked the somewhat under-utilised barman, to be answered in the negative. This possibly explained how we were the only people there. It being lunchtime, and all that. When we'd walked in, he'd broken into a sweat at the thought of pulling a few pints. Asking for a couple of packets of crisps caused hyperventilation.

We'd gone into the pub with Richard's Plan:

• Some blokes
  
• One bike, shared by the above-mentioned
  
• A van, always moving
  
• Cyclists sleeping in the van between stints
  

OK. So not really a "Plan". In fact, it was pointed out that this wasn't a Very Good Idea.

By the time we'd emerged into the daylight an hour later, Plan Mark II was emerging. And we were a little hungry.

End to end

Land's End to John o'Groats. 900 miles, near enough; the longest distance between two points on the British mainland. It's often referred to as LEJOG or simply 'end-to-end'.

There's a whole bunch of records for completing the trip:

• Running - 9 days and 2 hours
• Motorbike - 15 hours
• Unicycle - 14 days and 12 hours
• Cycle - 41 hours and 4 minutes

Apparently the RAF did it in about 45 minutes once, too.

Not having access to jet fighters we'll have to stick to pedals. As has already been pointed out, this normally takes a good fortnight or so. None of us could spare that amount of time, so the relay idea took shape. One person in the saddle constantly, 24/7, swapping every 90 minutes or so with the next team member. Three teams of three riders, with planned sleep and rest periods. And drivers to ferry everyone around (which is where I come in - fatboyfat is not an ironic nickname).

Now we just need to find some people.

In the beginning

It all started with a conversation. Richard was wondering aloud, "What Big Thing can we do this year?" The capitals B and T were practically audible.

We wanted to do something to raise a huge wad of cash for a good cause. The cause in question being Macmillan Cancer Support, our Charity of the Year. (More capital letters; it's clearly catching). For last year's charity, someone had cycled across the country visiting each of our nearly 50 branches in a week. They raised a lot of cash, but this time Richard was itching to get involved.

"How about Land's End to John o'Groats?" someone asked.
"Nah. Takes too long," replied another. "It's 900-odd miles - you'd need to be superhuman and even if you did eight hours per day it would still take too long."

Richard was thinking. He's my boss. I can tell these things.

"How about a relay?"