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A few weeks have passed since our big bike ride and the physical and mental wounds have almost cleared so it's timely to reflect on the fun we had and forget the pain!

Our big bike ride on 21/22nd June was a great success - we all completed the challenge without major incident or injury, spurred along by the knowledge that our efforts were raising funds for a very worthy local cause – The Carer's Centre which supports the work of unpaid carers in Bristol & South Gloucestershire.

Thank you very much for your support. As you can see, our current total sponsorship (pre gift aid and matched funding) has crossed the £2,000 mark against a target of £2,500 and a fantastic result. We are hopeful there is still more to come. The gift aid applied to this is a further £570 and we should be able to obtain HBOS matched funding for a further £500, so in total we are over £3,000 going to the charity.

In terms of the two days, we were blessed with good cycling weather following the excellent logistical planning to get everyone to the Tiverton and start points on day 1. Thanks William and Pippa!

Over the total 134 miles route we completed the Tarka Trail, and the Plym Valley Trail and for both groups, the first day was the most difficult…….

Group 1 (David, Steve and William) cycling the 93 miles from Tiverton to Okehampton on day 1 had significant early challenges with what can only be described as extreme hills to climb in the initial run towards Barnstaple, testing the resolve on many occasions to get to the top. The views on the periphery of did however help to make up for some of the discomfort caused. On reaching Barnstaple just ahead of the halfway point, we were lucky to find comfort in the shape of the Golden Hoops of McDonalds which helped to refuel for the onward trip to Okehampton (following an earlier mini Roast Dinner at a pub up in the hills and continual sandwich feast courtesy of William who had been busy in the kitchen!).

Group 2 (Pippa, Trevor, Alan, Chris and Richard) cycling the 40 miles from Barnstaple had a few unplanned stoppages on route to Okehampton which significantly improved Richard's puncture repairing skills with the help of his team of course who all had their own ideas of the best approach!

And this meant that the following group now full with McDonald's finest produce were closing the gap!

Total elapsed time for group 1 was 12 hours, and 9 hours for group 2 – allowing for rests, still plenty of time to be in the saddle for a single day!

Following a hearty pub meal and suitable refreshments, we were all thankful for the Okehampton Youth Hostel which provided a good level of comfortable accommodation and a relaxed atmosphere.

With a leisurely breakfast, we all headed off as a single group on day 2 for the more gentle terrain of Okehampton to which took in the beautiful scenery that had to offer, with a lunch stop in Tavistock to refuel at the midway point.

As we were heading down towards the coast, the going was generally easier than the previous day much to the delight of the whole team. However there were still a number of hills to climb which kept the challenge levels high.

Total elapsed time for day 2 was 7 hours for the 41 miles and following the finale and fish and chips in we all made our way home by train and car back to and surrounding areas.

Looking back, it is amazing how the pain is forgotten and the fun bits are remembered.

Hopefully the experience will spur us onto further challenges – and I suspect that there might also be the purchase of some new bikes in the offing as well to make those hills a little easier next time! 

 

David Beattie, Steve Forrow, Pippa Hynes, William Lee, Trevor Leonard, Alan Morris, Chris Poulsom, Richard Tomlinson.