Why LEJOG is not French and doesn't involve running...

Hello there, and welcome! Grab a cuppa and make yourself at home.

My name is Elloa - it's African; I'm not - and together with my best friend, Nige, I'm going to cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats next May, 2010. We're doing a scenic route, soon to be planned, so that's over 1,000 miles of fine British road.

Now, you may not be interested in cycling - fear not! Neither was I until about 6 weeks ago. All that is needed here is a desire to juice life's orange and an open-mindedness to explore new lands... allow me to introduce you to my story.

A few things to note as we begin:

1) I love tea. I love it so much that earlier this year I asked for a job in my favourite tearoom, Orange Pekoe in Barnes (www.orangepekoeteas.com). I never go a day without tea.

2) Like most women I know, I have "issues" with my body, and used to have quite a severe problem with eating and food in general, a problem that was classed as being an eating disorder in fact. I've been in therapy. I've been in a treatment centre. I've spent hours and hours and days and weeks and months hating my body, obsessing over it, wishing I could cut bits off of it.

Hence, exercise used to be a painful & punishing means to an unachievable end: the pursuit of the perfect figure, and of that oh so elusive self-confidence that heat magazine insists just wafts out of the very pores of the stylish, the skinny and the ever sought-after celebs.

3) I like cake. A lot. And chocolate. Sugar in general. Vegetables too. Oh, don't get me wrong: veg is great. I get my 5 a day. But there's nothing quite like a nice piece of cake, or two. Numbers 2 and 3 have historically clashed quite considerably for me, leading to quite drastic fluctuations in my weight and size over the last 10 years (I've been everything from size 8 to size 16)

4) Rather miraculously, given my history, I have committed - along with Nige, my best friend and mighty companion - to cycle Lands End to John O'Groats - or LEJOG, as it's commonly known (see: I told you it isn't French and doesn't involve any jogging whatsoever) - next May, in something like 15 days. Now, many people have done this in the past, and as I write this even now, there will be some crazy folk out there doing it in this very moment (although perhaps they'll be settling down in a B&B somewhere, what with it being 9.30 at night and all). However, this does not for one minute detract from the enormity of the challenge for us. Here's why...

Nige is a remarkable man and a walking miracle. He lived the first 39 years of his life completely unaware that the panic attacks he was experiencing were due to a condition called Wolff Parkinson-White syndrome (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4785), which I think basically involves a person being born with an extra pathway in their heart, down which blood is pumped at a ridiculously fast and dangerous rate, putting them at risk of sudden death. That's probably a completely inaccurate description of the syndrome, but I do know I'm not exaggerating about the risk of sudden death.

Nige was operated on in 2008 and, upon being told that the operation was a success and he was effectively cured (no rollercoasters allowed though, we've since established with some dismay), was told to go and live his life and, in my opinion, does so with astonishing grace, spiritedness and enthusiasm. He is one of my greatest teachers in this lifetime.

Elloa (that is, me): I am, as mentioned earlier, a recovering anorexic and binge eater, although I hate labels like that nowadays, who used to self-harm, and has somehow turned my whole life around. My greatest hate - myself, my body - is becoming my greatest ally in this wonderful adventure that is my life. I have discovered the beauty and sacredness of dancing and now of cycling, and I intend to use these next few months to build not only my physical strength in preparation for our intensive bike ride, but also my appreciation of the wonder of the human body and the female form.

So, if you like the sound of what Nige and I are attempting, and if you'd like to follow our progress as we train through the cold (icy, rainy, dark) winter months, and if you'd even like to sponsor our efforts with a few of your finest English pounds, why not follow us and see where this journey takes you, too? Because one thing's for certain: life is for living, and here you have stumbled upon two people who are wholeheartedly committed to living it with as much gusto as possible, making as much of a positive difference as possible in the process...

Bring on the aches, cakes and hydraulic disc brakes...