Thanks everyone - here's up rundown :) 

Sorry for the delay, the last few days have been as busy as you can imagine, we had to take the bike back to start with and that was just pants

           The ride basically went really well, there were no mechanicals, which only goes to show that anything is possible if you have good karma! We didn't even get lost, thanks Garmin. The only major issue apart from fatigue was the temperature which was lower than expected and compounded by nearly constant rain for the first few hours and then again after lunch. My feet and hands were blocks of ice almost the whole time....and I left one of my long finger gloves at home.

                 Another big shout to   Rich Baldwin at  www.baldwintitanium.co.uk the company  that made and supplied the amazing Ti sportive bike I used for the last week and the ride, it made it damn near a pleasure. If he can only make them pedal themselves I'd do that trip every week.

                 But it was great fun and we managed to raise £555.00 raised of the £500.00 target in 21 donations - thank you everyone!

                 bike 

                  http://i57.tinypic.com/2hzjn0l.jpg   

                 We set off at 5:30am - the roads were clear 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/30c6gdt.jpg   

                   http://i60.tinypic.com/34q8ro0.jpg   

                 rain all day 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/28v6lpg.jpg   

                 nice roads 

                  http://i57.tinypic.com/wjxws5.jpg   

                   http://i57.tinypic.com/oaxb1k.jpg   

                 stop for lunch 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/2u9r94z.jpg   

                 up the hill 

                  http://i57.tinypic.com/izw38m.jpg   

                 top the top 

                  http://i61.tinypic.com/ofvnfl.jpg   

                 but i quite enjoyed it 

                  http://i60.tinypic.com/55ym8.jpg   

                 especially coming down 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/jpjxqe.jpg   

                 then it was a long slog... spinning wheels on wet roads 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/mt6ruc.jpg   

                 past nice views 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/ofwufo.jpg   

                   http://i57.tinypic.com/5ywa6w.jpg   

                 keep going... 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/282nqt3.jpg   

                 past stuff 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/dftx5i.jpg   

                 and going 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/2qd53sm.jpg   

                 past more stuff, mostly along Roman roads I think 

                  http://i60.tinypic.com/2nap75t.jpg   

                 still going 

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/autok0.jpg   

                 nearly there

                  http://oi62.tinypic.com/av8sw.jpg   

                 the results  

                  http://i58.tinypic.com/33ud2s8.jpg   

                   http://i57.tinypic.com/23k7o02.jpg 

                 Thanks again : ) I hope you enjoyed the pics!

                 Sam

UPDATE!!!! 5 days to go!  Help us reach our target!

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Proposition: The average household is only TWO MONTHS away from debt.

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ABOUT THE RIDE: 

As you probably know, both John and a Sam are keen cyclists.

Well, mostly keen, but, you know, everyone likes a day off.  However, with this trip and their busy schedules there's not a lot of time left for training - and this is where the effort comes in!

130 Miles,  6700ft of climbing, numerous dodgy passes from cars and probably too much sweat to think about.  Oh, and it's probably going to rain.  Or hail.  Or both.

If we were able to spend whole days training regularly, this would be easy, but that's not how it is!  It's going to be a bit of killer, with a 5am start and no rest till it's done. We think we can do the ride in around 13 hours, though at this point it's really hard to know what the weather is actually going to do, and the wind speed will make a big difference.

Much training has been undertaken, but around the 50-60 mile mark because we haven't been able to take a whole day off.

The project has had it's fair share of setbacks in the last few months, with Michael having to switch from riding to fundraising due to a change of location and deciding to go back to Uni [good move mate ;) ], various training plans messed-up or canceled due to other commitments, illness affecting training and even the late switch to another bike for Sam [Roadie/DarkSide].  The poor guy has to cope without his beloved Specialized.....but rumor has it something much nicer is coming ;)

Further, just our luck, lots of other people doing charity things at the same time [27 miles of running, pah ;) ]

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ABOUT CAP/WHY DONATE?

CAP  is a charity that helps people with all issues related to being in debt.  All the services are TOTALLY free of charge.  Despite the name, they help people of ALL faiths and circumstances.

*Debt Management Plan: Clients are given a personally prepared sustainable plan for their individual circumstances to allow them to regain control of their individual financial situation.

*Financial Education: through the CAP Money course clients can learn to budget and allocate their incomes to build a regular, dependable monetary approach to prevent further debts and fees.

*"Release" [support] groups:  Clients are assisted to overcome personal addictions or habits that may be harming their financial situation, or preventing planned spending or budgets from being carried out.

*Job Clubs: support to build the right skills to find a job when unemployed. The services are delivered locally through debt centres, releasing clients from time traveling long distances to obtain the service that they could otherwise use to help find the work they want/need.

As an organisation, CAP is seeing 10-12 clients per day going debt free! 

I'll say that again:

As an organisation, CAP is seeing 10-12 clients per day going debt free:  

This charity is changing lives at an astonishing rate - please help us to help them.

The charity is supported through charitable donations and an agreement with financial organisations where 10% of repayments made by clients [repayments usually only possible due CAP's planning services!] are donated back to CAP.  This is in recognition of the work CAP has done for the organisation, as well as the client and is voluntary. 

Other points of note:  There are not as many local branches as are required. Some of the funds will go to opening more, reducing the travel time wasted, and allowing more time to find a job!

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So - in summary [TL;DR]:

It's going to really, really hurt, and we've not ridden this far in years!  the only way through it is to keep turning those pedals and let the pain justify your donations. 

You could just send the money through CAP, but you're sending it through us, so we will earn it well.

But it's OK with us because CAP is doing great things!

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Thanks for taking the time to visit this page, please donate whatever you can afford-to :)

S/J/M