As you may know our good friend Anna is very poorly with Cervical Cancer which is being treated with a combination of unicorn wishes and tiara sparkle. We want to show her that we care, and we want to raise some money for a charity who have helped her. The charity Anna has chosen is the Jo’s Trust LINK. The Jo’s trust provide information support and counselling to those affected by cervical cancer and they have held Anna’s hand over the last year. Because Anna is so awesome Simon and Andy will be cycling from Liverpool to Lowestoft over five days. They will be joined by some friends and colleagues along the way including Tim, Steve, David and Carl. If you are reading this and fancy joining us you are more than welcome, we need the support!

Our route is long and pretty tough involving a 5AM start on the 18th September when we'll travel up to Liverpool by train. The cycling kicks off with Simon, Andy, and Tim tackling a 70 mile trek down from Liverpool to Newcastle Under Lyme. Andy and Tim have agreed to let Simon to take the Ferry across the Mersey at the beginning of the journey as he wants to sing the song. From Liverpool we are intending to head down to Chester and over to Winsford before heading down to Newcastle to find a pub to replenish our energy with a strict diet of energy gels and protein bars (Guinness and pies).

The second day involves Andy and Simon cycling across to Leicester. We included Leicester in the route as a nod to Simon’s Granddad. His name was Frank and he cycled from Leicester to Liverpool when he was 85, unlike us unfit reprobates he did it in a day. Simon remembers his Granddad cycling from Leicester to St Albans every year for Christmas, back then it was just normal, looking back on it now he was clearly extraordinary. The plan is to head down past Stone and Litchfield and then across to Leicester, this way we avoid anywhere too hilly, coming from Norfolk we think that this is a good plan.

Day three is likely to be the hardest day with Andy and Simon cycling from Leicester past Oakham and Peterbourough to Mildenhall. The route is around 93 miles and that assumes we don’t get lost. We’ll be taking it very slowly with lots of stops but this is the part of the journey that is likely to hit us hardest. We’ll be praying for good weather with a light tail wind and we ask you to do the same.

From Mildenhall Andy and Simon will cycle to Thetford station where they will be joined by Steve, David, and Carl they will all fuel up for the day at a local greasy spoon. Together they will follow the old A11 route back to Norwich (probably back to Simon’s house as he is lazy and is in charge of drawing up the routes). This is one of Simon’s favourite rides and will take us through some of the most beautiful countryside in Norfolk and the UK. We will certainly be stopping for a pint in Wymondham, and probably for a few more on route.

The final day is a bit of a warm down ride with a lazy plod to the coast, probably ending with us catching a train back to Norwich from Yarmouth. By this point our legs will be tired, and we will be well and truly fed up with cycling. The plan is to tackle the ride in the evening after work and to end up in the Royal Falcon (I think this is Britain’s most easterly pub).

As you can know we are a bunch of Hench stallions well equipped to deal with the above. The individual who is pushing the envelope, taking life’s challenges by the balls, reaching for the stars, running with the bulls, eating the frog, etc. etc. is Anna. We are really doing this to show her how brave and unicorn like she is, and we hope that you will sponsor all of us to raise money for this fabulous charity who have been there for her throughout.