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Two years ago Mervyn (my husband), James (my son) and I rode on our mountain bikes across the north of England on the Coast to Coast bike ride.  For that ride we raised money for Cancer Research UK and the British Heart Foundation.

 

We were supported over the two weekends by my cousin Di and on the second weekend my sister Ruth came to cheer us along.

 

Ruth had just been diagnosed with cancer.  Since her diagnosis she has remained the same person, happy, lots of fun and has never complained about her illness.  She's a great inspiration to me and my family.

 

Sadly, in the last few months her illness has become much worse and she is now at St Michael's Hospice in Harrogate.  The care she is receiving is second to none and I have decided to raise money for this fantastic charity.

 

Last year my family, Pauline, Peter, Gordon, Di, Alison and Dona (supported by Mervyn and Graham) cycled the Coast to Coast again, and we had such a good time (whilst Ruth was sunning herself in Crete!) that we decided to do another long distance ride.  On 1-3 July this year we are riding the Way of the Roses, from Morecambe to Bridlington, a total of 170 miles.  In one of Ruth's "mad" moments earlier this year she decided to order a petrol driven bike from the internet, hoping to join us on our epic trip. Sadly she cancelled the order realising it wouldn't be possible.

 

So, I'm going to do the ride for Ruth, on a road bike this time (cos it's much easier, isn't it Mervyn!) and raising money for St Michael's. 

 

As Mervyn is supporting this ride as a driver, he has decided to do the ride before we do!  He's already done 70 miles from Morecambe and on 28 May he's going to do the second part, 100 miles in one day.  I'm sure afterwards he won't be able to walk, but he likes a challenge!  And always has to go that extra mile .......

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1st June 2011 - Since creating my Just Giving page, Ruth has sadly passed away and is no doubt in Paradise now - a place she always felt she would be going to at the end of her life.  The world is a much emptier place without her and we all miss her.

 

Mervyn undertook his second part of the bike ride on Saturday 28 May, the day after Ruth left us.  It seemed right to do the ride as planned.  So he left at 9.00 to do the last 100 miles.  The weather was dry and he had a tail wind!  Support this time was undertaken by Sarah, James, Di and myself.  We met him in Pocklington for lunch and then at Flamborough Head, not Bridlington, so he could get a few extra miles in (108).  Mervyn had brought a pebble all the way from Morecambe, he wrote Ruth's name on it and threw it into the sea at Flamborough.  We all had a good cry, a lot of hugs and remembered Ruth.

 

But it seems Mervyn's extra 8 miles wasn't enough.  When we got home he found out that my brother Gordon's highest mileage in a day was 116, so not to be outdone, he got back on his bike at 10.30 and did another 12 miles, in the rain!  No doubt Gordon is planning to do a longer ride to regain the yellow jersey.......

The story continues ...........

So, on a sunny June afternoon, Gordon and Tony (Ruth's husband) bump into each other in Pateley Bridge.  Someone, probably Gordon, suggests that Tony joins our ride, claiming the ride is "downhill all the way".  Tony, who has a mountain bike in Crete and Norway agrees.  Two weeks before the ride, he goes back to work in Norway and starts to train for the big ride.  The day before the ride he gets his "new" bike serviced and rides it for the first time.  The rest of the team have allegedly been training for ages, some have been a bit reluctant to commence training and thought of all sorts of excuses not to get on their bike.

 

On Friday morning we got into our M reg taxi, all a little concerned about its ability to get to Morecambe.  It only had 3 gears and one of those was reverse.  The tension mounted as we wondered if we'd have to cycle part of the way there.  Tony was more concerned about it being available to take him and his bike straight back to Harrogate.  We set off from Morecambe, Tony's rucksack full of bakewell tart and Ruth's ashes. Well, she did write "I would love to go on the cycle ride from Morecambe to Bridlington - one way or another, preferably on a pushbike". Another of Ruth's quotes was to "to have more fun doing crazy things with the rest of the family". I don't think she ever imagined she would do the ride in a drinks bottle. 

 

Day 1 -  Morecambe to Bell Busk.  The hardest in terms of hills, but a mere 46 miles.  The hill out of Settle was the worst, only Peter and Gordon managed to cycle up that one, with Ruth on board Peter's bike.  The scenery was absolutely fantastic and we stopped numerous times to take it all in, and of course have a rest.  We finally arrived at the B&B in Bell Busk and were greeted by Mervyn and Graham. The bar was perfect, it was "help yourself and write it down in the honesty book".  Pauline's son Steven called in on his way back from college in Preston.  We were all ready for a good night's sleep after a big meal and too much of the honest alcohol.  Being situated about 10' away from the Settle to Carlisle railway this wasn't to be.  The longest, heaviest, freight trains ever passed through at 12.30 and 3.30!  But Graham didn't mind, he always has a cup of tea and reads his newspaper at 3.30, so it was an ideal alarm clock for him.

 

Day 2 - Bell Busk to Skelton, 66 miles.  Another hot day.  Tony had ditched the rucksack, the bakewell tart, and Ruth.  Today he was travelling light and eating!  Gordon carried Ruth.  We met Mum, Dad, Jack, Tom and James at Stump Cross Caverns, and it seems Mervyn and Graham had found a hitchiker.  He looked a bit suspect but they gave him a lift and provided him with a Wacky Races tshirt and some underpants!  He even got to drive the car and ride a bike.  I'm not sure what he did to Gordon's bike, but afterwards he was banished from the inside of the car.

 

Di and I took a while to come down Greenhow Hill and there was a little misunderstanding about our whereabouts.  Rumours were relayed about ambulance sirens (fire engines really) and the backup team came in search of us.  We knew nothing of this, and were happily ambling through Bewerley to avoid the High Street and long hill out of Pateley Bridge. The next big hill at Smelthouses was looming, Tony was starting to doubt Gordon's quote of "its all downhill", but we did try and reassure him it really was the last big hill to climb.  We stopped for lunch at Fountains Abbey and again met Mum, Dad, Jack, Tom and James.  It was lovely that we were so close to home and they could join us.

 

We lost Tony and Gordon near Beningborough Hall.  We waited patiently for them to catch up, whilst they took a "short cut" to the next B&B.  65 miles were covered on Day 2 and our average mph was creeping up.  All that training was beginning to pay off!  Tony and Gordon checked out some pubs in Skelton, which they deemed "undesirable" so we went for a curry at Rawcliffe.  Ann-Marie, Pauline's daughter popped in to see us.  We called at Tesco on the way home, picked up a couple of homeless blokes who had a box of Stella and some wine, and carried on drinking in the garden.  Tony and Di's mating calls to a lonely owl went unanswered.  The Tesco bags made ideal midge repellents.  We started making plans for our arrival in Bridlington.  Requests for Brass Bands, fireworks and a fun fair were all duly noted by Graham and Mervyn.

 

Day 3 - Skelton to Morecambe, 68 miles.  The last day, and supposedly the easiest.  Again another hot day, we had a lovely ride into York, then got slightly lost.  We were soon back on "track" riding across a field, not ideal on road bikes, but fortunately it was dry so not really a problem.  We met Graham and Mervyn in Pocklington for lunch.  Di and I discovered the advantages of "slipstreaming" behind Gordon, who kept a very perfect 15mph for about 10 miles. Our support team said they'd see us in Bridlington, and left us to it.  Just after leaving Hutton Cranswick we had our one mechanical hitch.  Di's seat broke, the support team were called back and we took turns in riding Di's saddleless bike!  She was so well organised she'd brought a spare saddle, so it took a couple of minutes to swap it over.  We were on our way again, slipstreaming behind Gordon.

 

We arrived in Bridlington and were cheered along the seafront and then greeted by Graham, Mervyn, Sarah, Sam, Christine, Andrew, James and Nicola.  We had balloons, party poppers, champagne, sticks of rock and Tony was awarded the "Best rider" trophy.  We dipped our wheels in the sea and threw the pebbles we'd carried all the way from Morecambe. Not a brass band, firework or fun fair to be seen. 

 

We had a great time, lots of laughter, tinged with sadness.  I know it was an emotional ride for us all, but one we'll never forget, and Ruth was with us all the way.

 

Finally, I'd like to say a huge thank you to all the very kind people who have donated so generously to St Michael's Hospice.  Our family have been very touched by the support of so many people during the last few weeks.  It has helped us enormously, thank you.

 

We're already talking about our next ride......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So please dig deep and donate now.

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