Esther Hyman
Lucy and Colin's End2End
Fundraising for Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust
Story
TAKE II
After having to pull-out half-way on our 1st attempt to ride End2End in March, due to heavy snow and flu, our End2End ride - Take II - commences Friday 16th August when we set off from John O'Groats to ride the 900ish miles to Lands End, fully self-supported, camping all the way!
THE 1st ATTEMPT in MARCH 2013
Lucy Goldsmith and Colin Hodder did a sponsored cycle ride for the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust www.miriam-hyman.com
When Mavis sponsored Lucy, her message didn't appear so she has asked me to send Lucy and Colin ALL our thanks and good wishes.
This is actually Esther Hyman writing; I set up this page because Lucy and Colin were already on the road!
Lucy got in touch to say that she made a last-minute decision to do a sponsored cycle from Land's End to John O' Groats for the MHMT. She started on Saturday 09 March together with Colin Hodder, who she contacted through the Cycling Tourist Club website.
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FINAL UPDATE DAY 8
As per the previous update (below), Lucy was coming down with a bad chest, which was getting worse as the days went on. Today (Sunday 17 March) Lucy and Colin made the difficult decision to abandon their attempt, despite having made it 440 miles to Lancashire.
This morning, Lucy updated her Facebook event page: "Things aren't looking great, I seem to have the flu. No cycling today and probably going to have to call it a day :( we're both feeling pretty gutted :("
This afternoon she phoned to say that she's feeling better after Colin kindly sourced some medication! She said that they have both decided that it's best to abandon the attempt and nobody would want Lucy to do herself a mischief so we are very glad that she has made the right decision, instead of pushing on as she has been doing for a few days now.
Lucy writes: "We rode 440 miles...We pushed our fully laden bikes through soft sand for 2 miles, battled against a strong head windover the steep Cornish hills and had 3 days of snow, some hail, only a little rain, and such severe giggles for the first few days I'm amazed we managed to balance on our bikes at all and get anywhere! We couldn't even stop laughing to have our photo taken under the signpost at lands end. We still want that picture under the john o'groats signpost though. We are not yet done with this mission and will hopefully be able to complete it in the summer!"
Lucy and Colin made it more than half way so it would be so appreciated if you would STILL CONSIDER SPONSORING THEM, and a MASSIVE THANK YOU to everyone who did!
THANK YOU LUCY AND COLIN for this monumental effort in difficult conditions. GET WELL SOON LUCY!
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UPDATE DAY 6
This update from Lucy's Facebook page on Day 6 (Friday 15 March) - PLEASE SPONSOR LUCY and COLIN - Lucy is now contending with a bad chest as well as more bad weather!
"You know you're in the proper North when the signs tell you it's south to Birmingham! Today we made it as far as somewhere proper northern which is where we are now... Which is somewhere a few miles north east of Warrington... I believe this is somewhere between Liverpool and Manchester, so definitely North of a lot of places but still south of Scotland and the lake district which we hope to reach tomorrow. Today, after a delayed start, waiting for our laundry to dry (after a week of wear it had been in dyer need of a wash)... We made speedy progress along the A49, which was surprisingly scenic and not too depressing for a big A road. We averaged 13mph and rode 76 miles. Colin kindly took the lead the whole way as I have managed to develop a nasty cough and sat behind feeling a bit ill. We got a great deal for a hotel so have a nice comfy bed. So much for camping all the way, we've been carrying our tents and all our camping gear all the way but so far apparently only for extra resistance training and to prepare weird camping style meals in hostels and travellodge rooms :) Colin has been introduced to all kinds of vegan specialities... And less special experiments. My personal favourite high calorie lunch being the peanut butter pasta and sweetcotm sandwich. He wasn't too keen on that one..."
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I spoke to Lucy today (Tuesday 12 March) who reported that she and Colin decided to go ahead with their plans despite the unseasonably wintery weather, although they have thankfully been staying in b&b's instead of camping..!
Day 1: Lucy and Colin covered nearly 70 miles and were lulled into a false sense of security...
Day 2: They covered 25 miles, having been given a "helpful" tip by a local to take a ferry (in low tide, they ended up lugging their kit through sandy estuary and up flights of steps!)
Day 3: They covered more ground and made it as far as Oakhampton.
Today is Day 4 and Lucy and Colin are hoping to make it to Taunton or Bristol if things go well.
Please sponsor Lucy and Colin generously, and make their grand effort in these wintery conditions worthwhile!
Your ££ will go towards the current MHMT fundraising goal of £50,000 to provide advanced training abroad for a member of the Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre team.
This July will be the fifth anniversary of the opening of the MHCECC. Will YOU do a FUNdraiser for the MHMT this anniversary year? See www.miriam-hyman.com/donate for ideas - THANK YOU!