15th July 2009 - Coast to Coast ride completed!

Three of us have just completed our Coast to Coast ride - please take a look at www.justgiving.com/iconc2c for details.

5th May - Job Done!

It's all over! Amazingly (although it was NOT a race, err...!) my team was the second fastest. Everything worked out just right. The weather was ideal, sunny intervals with following breeze. The organisation was spot on. We left at 8:40am and arrived at about 3:35pm. The total ride time for the 100+ miles (we got a bit lost a couple of times!) was 6 hours 11 mins which is an amazing (to me at least) 17 miles an hour. Thanks again to everyone who sponsored me :-)

30th April

I did my final training ride last night. All I can do now to prepare is to eat and drink a lot of water! Local radio has got wind of the challenge and interviewed me yesterday. There should be a couple of features broadcast on Harborough FM over the next couple of days.

24th April

A couple of miles after the start of the actual ride, there's a steep hill that goes from Stockerston to Uppingham. I'd not been looking forward to this.

We rode it the other night and I was amazed how 'easy' it was. All that training is certainly paying off!

22nd April

At last, on Sunday, I managed to get out with my team on the first big training ride. I was quite apprehensive as I had no idea how fast I’d need to ride to keep up with the others. The speed logs I’ve been keeping have been showing that I’ve not been going fast enough to complete the ride in the required time. As it turned out the whole ride went at what seemed an easy pace and we completed nearly 70 miles in just over 4½ hours; the average speed being just over 15mph. This has reassured me considerably. I’m sure that the times I’d been recording on my previous training rides were slow as it’s so hilly where I live!

I’ve a 28 mile ride planned tonight, another big ride on Saturday and probably one more one evening next week before the event itself.

14th April

The ride's getting quite close now and thankfully at last I'm into some proper training. I'm teamed up with the Quorn Pedlars and this weekend we're off on a 67 mile ride that's really going to test the bike and ME!

If you'd like to see the route I'm riding for the Challenge, it's here.

Sponsors

I am very grateful to all those who have sponsored me so far. I am pleased to have been sponsored by individuals from:

4C Strategies
ASDA
Boots The Chemist
Henry Riley
Isherwood McCann
Lovelock Mitchell Architects
Pedigree Filbert Limited
Pick Everard
Retail Trust
Roundpeg
Rutland Partners
Somerfield
Spencer Commercial Property
Stephen George & Partners
Taskmaster

Main Message

With a start line at Nevill Holt in East Leicestershire and a finish at Burnham Deepdale in Norfolk, Chris Lovelock (one of ICON's Managing Directors) will be riding with over a hundred cyclists, all of whom are attempting to ride over a hundred miles in the Century Cycle Challenge.

The plan is to start the ride at 8am and arrive by 4pm which means that Chris has to average about 14mph; that's a tough challenge!

Chris has chosen to sponsor the Retail Trust as it is a most worthy cause and because a number of ICON's clients are organisations that already support the charity.

The date of the ride, the 2nd May, is fast approaching. Please Sponsor Chris NOW! Note that Nigel Rothband, the Chief Executive of the Retail trust, has generously been the first person to make a donation.

Sponsoring is quick, secure and easily done with a credit card. If you’re a UK taxpayer, you can also freely add an extra 25% to your donation simply by clicking the 'Gift Aid' option.

Thanks for visiting!