I just wanted to say thank you very much for sponsoring me to do the ride to Edinburgh.  I managed to raise around £1500 and as a group we have raised over £30000 so far (if you have not donated yet - don't worry it is not too late!).
 
I know this is a lot of detail, but as you were so kind to sponsor me, I thought I'd offer some kind of insight in to how the ride went.  Grab a coffee (and maybe a biscuit) before you start!
 
468 miles in 5 days.

Day 1 - Aylesbury to Peterborough (86 miles)
Day 1 was mostly about finding your pace, meeting the other riders and learning to ride in a pack (for some) and as a pack (considering other road users with 23 riders strung out over a few hundred metres). It was a stop start day, because there was no system in place for junctions and roundabouts. The second hardest hill of the 5 days was within 20 miles of the start. Bison Hill near Luton was a 25% (in parts) grinder, especially as the front group had to wait 20 minutes for the back group to catch up before beginning the three quarter mile climb.  I promised myself before starting the ride - that I’d take the first few days easy – was blown apart due to the slow stop start nature of the first half day. After 50 miles, we were allowed to stretch our legs for 10 miles and split in to teams of three for a pacey team time trial (about 24mph to 26mph – fast for me!). I felt that for the last 30 miles and part of the next day!

Day 2 – Peterborough to Scunthorpe (91 miles)
The day promised to be a flat one, but a stiff headwind and rain for the second half made it more difficult than it needed to be. I have never cycled on a flatter course anywhere than Lincolnshire. The total ascent for the day was 80m! Most of that was in Lincoln. The trouble with that day was 6 miles in and I was talking to someone about tyre pressures and I heard this loud PSSS. I laughed and said, who’s was that. It was mine! Never had a puncture before. Got one on day two – and it was the back one! Checked the tyre wall, changed the inner tube. Set off. 6 miles and 100m in to the ride and I heard this loud PSSS. Same problem, same place, new tube. Popular rider!!! Checked the tyre wall, changed the tube put it all back on. Checked the tyre closely and spotted that the inner tube was poking through the tyre wall on the side. The tyre had split, but when it was deflated you couldn’t see it. So changed the tyre and set off. I have never ridden 15 miles trying not to sit on the saddle before. Felt like it was going to go pop at anytime. Luckily it lasted the rest of the trip.

Day 3 – Scunthorpe to Guisborough (112 miles)
Some evening bar chat allowed us to come up with a brilliant system to allow the faster riders to stretch out and the slower riders to stay within contact. We had one guy with a Garmin 705 and at every junction or turning we left a faster rider until the last man passed. This worked great and once a few faster riders collected at the back, we team time trialled it to the front (sometimes having to make up 10-15 minutes over 15 miles). This day was flat for 65 miles with a strong headwind, then we went over the Howardian Hills (1 in 7’s) and then the North Yorkshire Moors. This was great fun, because you could really enjoy the mile or more down hills with no headwind in the afternoon. We missed the proper hills in the Moors. The hardest part of these charity rides (aside from day 4!!!) and something that is not obvious to prepare for is saddle time. Really you are as quick as your slowest rider no matter how quickly you get to the checkpoints. So apart from showing some consideration and team support to the person or people at the back, there really is no reason to bomb off miles up the road. We were in the saddle from 7:30am to 7:30pm that day (with a few tea breaks and lunch thrown in). Normally I’d cover that distance in about 7 hours or so, so I’d never been in the saddle for longer than that in my 100+ mile training rides. It was a lesson for my bottom, shoulders, hands, neck and arms!

Day 4 – Guisborough to Otterburn (103 miles)
Not for the faint hearted this one. Hills from the start to the end. Hills that have you fighting to keep your front wheel on the ground. I had a problem with breakfast, in that they lost my order, so I got mine 10 minutes before setting off. Not a good first 20 miles of rolling hills. I had no strength. Probably a combination of digesting food still, day 3 and the fun we had bombing up and down the Moors and the lack of sleep you get sharing a twin room with someone. It took until a short sharp incline for my legs to kick in. The hills continued to roll for 30 miles until Sedgefield, then the real ones started. They were just long and steep and relentlessly one after the other after the other. I don’t think the Northumbrian road builders (the Romans) have heard about the use of switchbacks on bits of road that go up! Using the sign post system, I stopped to show all the riders through. But in a case of bad timing, that followed a short break, where the slow and medium riders had set off 10 minutes before the faster riders. So by the time the faster riders came through, I had been waiting for over 5 minutes. Not being the best hill climber in the world, I really struggled to get on the back of the fast group. They were at the top of the hill I had been waiting at the bottom off when I restarted. As there was one huge hill after another, I dropped off the back further and further with no time for recovery. Then the rain came. I tried harder and harder to catch them up, but couldn’t. Eventually I lost site of them and was cycling for a good half hour on my tod. After about 15 miles I caught another rider of similar ability and we cycled 10 miles to lunch in the rain together, feeling a little put out. After lunch, a few people struggled, so I started giving out my energy gels and jelly babies for the day. About 15 miles from Otterburn, I what I think you call, bonked. I found myself not able to cycle more than 6 mph on the flat. I felt light headed and my hands were shaking. The last 15 miles were absolute hell. No gels, no energy and a 30 mph headwind in towards the Scottish Borders. I think it took an hour and three quarters for that last bit, but I’m not entirely sure. Stunning scenery, I think!

Day 5 – Otterburn to Edinburgh (76 miles)
A small recommendation if cycling near lakes, reservoirs and forest – insect repellent. We were eaten alive at 7:30am! It was like being zapped every few seconds. The day started off with a 1 mile descent down the hotel driveway (the charity did arrange some fantastic resting places), followed by a 7 mile climb on the A68 up and over the Borders, followed by 10 miles of down hill, 15 miles of flat and 5 miles of another climb. The hills were more like what I think Europe might be like in parts. Long but snaking up and down the sides of hills and valleys. This really felt like a day 5. You went through the motions, ground up the hills and flew down the other side. Seeing Edinburgh was a great view. About 5 miles put, we diverted and joined a Sustrans Route (number 1) for an 11 mile entrance that popped us out half way up the Royal Mile towards the Edinburgh Castle. I didn’t even notice the cobbles for the last third mile. It was pretty good fun bombing up that last bit towards the castle gates. We had a small welcoming committee (wives, girlfriends and families). They were shouting and cheering, but with it being a bit of a tourist destination, all the tourists saw 23 riders strung out going for the castle, wearing the same shirt, with people cheering, so they joined in and were taking photos. I think they might be disappointed when they get home, develop their films and realise that we were just a bunch of fat blokes on a charity ride!

Overall
Long days in the saddle, late meals, early starts, less sleep.
A fantastic experience, great fun and great people. Would do again (except through Northumberland).
Did an average of 14.1 mph.

 

Pre Ride Information

I went to visit The Pace Centre a few weeks ago and met children like eleven year old Jason, who has attended PACE since he was a baby. Jason, in clinical terms has Quadreplegic Athetiod cerebral palsy. In every day life that means his physical disability affects all his body; uncontrollable muscle spasms and unpredictable movements of all four limbs. He has very low muscle tone making his body very floppy and unable to work against gravity but on effort his muscles tighten and he can be ‘as stiff as a board’. Additionally Jason has no speech. As a baby he was unhappy and miserable most of the time. When he first attended PACE he was unable to communicate, have any functional use of his hands/limbs, sit or walk. The only thing he could do was lie on his back.

Jason is now a happy, motivated young man with a lovely smile and a brilliant sense of humour everyone who comes into contact with him can’t help but love him. Nearly ten years of hard work has enabled him to do facilitated walking, sit unaided for a short while, roll from his front to his back, help dress himself, use a rocker switch with his hand to access a computer, and use his hand to operate his electric wheelchair.

Children at PACE have to put in a lot more effort to do everyday things I take for granted and doing this ride might enable me to get an idea, well for 5 days anyway, how much effort children like Jason put in every single day.