July 2010
60 posts
Final words...
It’s been quite an adventure. Beginning with an idea just before Easter, six cyclists and four support team members made the journey from Land’s End to John o’Groats this month. A week on, we’re all still in recovery. Scott’s Facebook status reads, ‘Since the Cycle Challenge: every night I have had dreams about cycling and maps; my body is finally telling me...
Final Puncture Tally
Desai: 6
Ross: 3
Barnsey: 3
Lail: 1
Scott: 0
Dan: 0
Day 17 - Wednesday 21st June, Dunbeath to John...
We made it!!!!!!! Months of prep and planning, training and team-forming, and it was all accomplished today! The team cycled into John o’Groats after a testing morning on the road. It was raining and windy, and although a comparatively short ride, it was a hard stretch.
Simon managed to get a puncture on the last day, bringing his total up to 3. The team had stopped at Wick, and, whilst...
Day 16 - Tuesday 20th July, Dingwall to Dunbeath
Another fall and another puncture. This time the culprits were Simon and Ross. Simon nodded off on his bike and woke with a start, pulling on his front breaks and throwing on to the road. Ross got his second puncture close to Brora where we were stopping for lunch.
Today’s ride took us along the east coast. Rain had been forecast but we had bright sunshine. Brora was amazing - beautiful...
Day 15 - Monday 19th July, Aviemore to Dingwall
We were expecting to camp again today, in the garden of former LST students, Mike and Carole Rattenbury near Dingwall. When we arriving in the rain, though, Carole took pity on us and offered us spare beds and space on the floor. To say we were grateful was and understatement.
It was a short day - 40 miles - which meant we could take the afternoon off. We headed off to Inverness and enjoyed a...
1 tag
Day 14 - Sunday 18th July, Bankfoot to Aviemore,...
Today was Lail’s day. She started the day with a bad knee, not good for one of the longest cycles of the week - 72 miles. The wind was against them, but Lail, clearly in pain, cycled consistently. It was only right that she led the team into lunch, so for the first time, we saw Lail at the front of the crew, sprinting the last 200 yards into Layby 77.
Layby 77 is in the Scottish...
1 tag
Day 14 - Sunday 18th July, Bankfoot to Aviemore
Today we’re heading up to Aviemore for our first night of camping. It’s a 70-miler too. Team spirits are still fairly high, but we’re all looking forward to the end now. Loving Scotland - so beautiful and everyone we’ve met has been brilliant. This might be our last access to the internet for a while, but we really don’t know. Hopefully catch you soon…
...
Day 13 - Saturday 17th July, Edinburgh to...
Gutting news came in this morning. We were busy stretching when Kathryn read out the text from Laura: she wouldn’t be coming. We’d all been looking forward to picking up Laura from the station in Perth that evening. Laura is a second year student at LST, and has worked tirelessly on the promo and media side of things for the challenge. If you’ve held a Cycle Challenge Flyer,...
1 tag
As theology students, we love to wrestle with...
Day 12 - Friday 16th July, Hawick to Edinburgh
We set off from Hawick in good weather, but the rain arrived quickly. The morning’s cycle went well though, with a lunch stop in Peebles. A lovely man who owned a bike shop let the team store their bikes while we served them lunch from a local car park and perused the visiting French market.
Paul Desai got his 6th puncture. His Scottish accent was also out in full force.
We were...
Day 11 - Thursday 15th July, Hexham to Hawick!
Thursday was another day of epic proportions. It was the day we would be crossing the border, and the day Jacqueline and I were having the glass to the window repaired (see below) and driving up to Scotland alone. Driving alone was bad enough, but we were gutted not to see the guys cross the border.
The team were delayed by a puncture (this time Simon’s. Puncture tally so far: Desai 6,...
Day 10 - Wednesday 14th July, Redmire to Hexham
If Tuesday was light relief, Wednesday was heavyweight. ”Radio Ross” (or Trunk FM, as he likes to call it) entertained the team as they cycled that morning, with some particularly interesting features including a discussion on ‘North vs. South’ with guests Simon Barnes and Dan Joy, and a request for ‘It’s Raining Men’ from Paul Desai.
The reality of a...
3 tags
Cuppa
Simon Barnes waited 45 minutes for a fruit tea that arrived like this. Oh how we love Ross Maynard. (Seriously though mate, we do).
This was the same serving in which Paul Desai asked for a cup of a tea and got Peppermint tea with milk in.
Day 9 - Tuesday 13th July, Howarth to Redmire.
Today was a better day. The ride was easier, the rain held off, and the views were amazing. We stopped for lunch in Kettlewell, where Calendar Girls was filmed.
The rain held off until after we’d arrived at the Jonas Centre, a Christian Retreat set in the North Yorkshire Dales. Unfortunately its tight corners were a little too much for the minibus, who lost the glass from a window in...
Day 8 - Monday 12th July, Hope to Howarth
This was an epic day. It was the first day the team cycled in the rain, and not only were they cycling through the Peak District (named so for a reason), they had to stop for a puncture and a set of failing brakes. Twice.
We got the first phone call in New Mill: someone had a puncture. They were 17 miles north of Hope where we’d spent the night, so Paul Hammond drove back with Kathryn to...
Day 7 - Sunday 11th July, Birmingham to Hope
The team set off from Birmingham for their second 80-miler. If yesterday felt like a jump up the Midlands, today was a leap ‘Up North’ (in your best Yorkshire accents please).
This was the first day we didn’t pass the cyclists on the road. Fortunately everything was fine, and they eventually showed up for lunch and hour and a half after we’d arrive at the meeting point....
3 tags
Day 6 - Saturday 10th July, Bourton-on-the-Water...
There couldn’t have been a more stark contrast en route than from Bourton to Birmingham. City driving was testing, and security issues were er… different. This was also the day the team cycled around Birmingham for an extra hour, because Dan “knew the way”.
Jean at St Germain’s in Edgbaston was taking care of us and had arranged for people to take us home for showers. ...
4 tags
WatchThe Director of Sport gives us the low-down on the day’s guest cyclists.
1 tag
3 tags
Day 5 - Friday 9th July, Chipping Sodbury to...
Today was eventful. We had our first guest cyclists, and our first falls. The day began with the arrival of Tony, Adrian and Graham, who’d come from Northwood to join us for the day. Adrian, (lecturer in applied theology) is a keen cyclist, and in the past has cycled coast-to-coast, and the perimeter of the Isle of Wight. Tony (lectures in Historical Theology) is a keen sportsman, and...
VIP GUEST CYCLISTS
You’d better believe it. News to follow.
3 tags
“Last night I dreamt about cycling and packing up the van. They are the only...”
– Lail Peeradina
1 tag
2 tags
Day 4 - Thursday 8th July, Street to Chipping...
Second showers of the trip!! Mandy from Chipping Sodbury Baptist Church had arranged for members of the congregation to collect us and take us back to their houses for showers. Scott and Ross had a great time with Hilda; Dan and Paul Desai had a power shower ‘like bullets’ at Roger’s house, Simon and Lail enjoyed the house of Howard and Pat, and Paul Hammond, Jacqueline,...
1 tag
1 tag
1 tag
WatchArrival of the hi-vis jackets. Massive thanks go to Jane Gwent, who collected them from the Post Office for us.
2 tags
Day 3 - Wednesday 7th July, Upton Hellion to...
Jane put on the most wonderful breakfast for us, which we tucked into around a long wooden dining table. We had been so blessed by Jane, Tim and Peter; it was great to pray them before we left.
Driving carefully along the narrow, winding roads, we set off for Taunton, our next meeting point with the team, at THE CASTLE!!!! This was our first lunch break venue that wasn’t at a roadside....
1 tag
3 tags
Day 2 is also... Paul Hammond's Birthday!
… but we decided to pretend we didn’t know. It was all going pretty well (secret balloon and banner-buying etc) until Paul mentioned it, so I had to pretend to be surprised and make apologies until we pulled the poppers and started singing Happy Birthday. He pretended to hate it but he loved it really.
THANKS PAUL, YOU TOTAL SUPERSTAR. WE WERE HAPPY TO CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTH WITH...