Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  Photo opposite courtesy of Kent Messenger Ltd

WE MADE IT!!!  A few punctures, saddle sores, bruises and aches and pains later we finally made the final entry into Paris en masse (40 cyclists)  What a fantastic feeling doing the victory circuits around the Arc Du Triomphe with all the traffic allowing us through, absolutely brilliant. 

A huge thank you to all our supporters and those dedicated few who met us in Paris and welcomed us in with a well deserved glass of champagne.

We are still raising money and will update you all with our final event to raffle the bike.

Getting closer now one last spin session on Monday then we are ready for our challenge.  It's exciting and daunting all in one!  Early start Friday need to get round the M25 to Twickenham for a 7.30 start. 

We did it..!!  234 miles in five and a half hours in two teams of three.  Thank you to all who donated for the HOKH, two heavy buckets will be delivered to the hospice for counting!  £333 raised - a big thank you to all who donated.

We are now ready for our three day cycle in just under two weeks please watch this site as we hope to be able to update this page during our trip with all the gory details of saddle sores and blisters (hopefully not too many).

We, well six of us as one is on best man duties, will be cycling on static bikes in Fremlins walk on Saturday 11th June.  We will be cycling in relays to complete the whole 234 miles from London to Paris.  Please come and give us some support and encouragement - all funds raised are for the HOKH.

NEWSFLASH - CYCLES UK have very generously donated a road racing bike to the Wheely Super Seven to raise funds for the Hospice.  We will be raffling this on our return from Paris.  If you wish to see the bike it is on show at the David Lloyd Gym in Maidstone. 

The golf event was enjoyed by all and raised over £600.

The Karaoke evening was a great event and thoroughly enjoyed by all.  We raised £100 for the hospice. 

Mark Davis, Jo Hare, Chris Protheroe, Ben Ashworth, and Rebecca Hyland are all very bravely taking on the challenge of abseiling down Miller House in Maidstone on Sat 11th June 2011.   They will be the first team on in the morning starting at 9am, please give them some well deserved support.

 

“Wheely Super Seven”

 

Help free the team from the spin studio

 

ALL PROCEEDS TO GO TO THE HEART OF KENT HOSPICE

 

A Group of cyclists from the David Lloyd Gym in Maidstone are looking to break out of the spin class on to the open road.

 

Help them with their journey from London to Paris, show your encouragement by making a donation to the hospice.

 

There will also be other events in the run up to June when the London to Paris Bike Ride takes place so please watch this space.

 

Team is:    Simon Biggs

                 Wendy Emery     

                 Yvonne Hooker

                 Phil Coupland

                 Matt Bowling

                 Clare Stevens

                 Adam Kew          

 

WEEK 1 

The first weekend out for training together and an easy (wouldn’t get any easier) 25 miler to Wateringbury (right past where Clare lives – what a tease!) through to Leeds Castle and then back through Bearsted.

However, this first team outing was not short of incidents. When not stacking it off the bike down country lanes, or gunning past intended turn-offs, Adam was having tyre-trouble. The first inner tube went about halfway through the bike ride, which was made more apparent when cycling along a very rough patch of road! But not to worry, as Phil was there to the rescue, sorting the tyre, whilst giving advice on how to stay upright on the bike.

However, it was not meant to be for very long; the replacement only lasting a few more miles. But this was just enough to catch up with Wendy, Yvonne and Clare, who were waiting at the next pub. Unfortunately, too early for a quick pint. 

So the last 10 or so miles were finally upon us and by then some of us were feeling the effects of not being professional (but at least keen!) cyclists. However, the sun was out and this was at least some compensation for a hard morning’s work.

Finally after 2 and a bit hours, the 5 of us rolled back into Lockmeadow, with some thirst! A round of hot drinks and the biggest muffin for Phil were a well-deserved reward for the team!

Other lessons to be learnt from the day included finding extra padding for future rides and to look into attaching stabilizers to Adam’s bike.

WEEK 2

This was a repeat of the Week 1’s route and now with Matt joining Phil to lead at the front. However, what most of the team didn’t know though was that there was now more than one Borat wannabe on the road, courtesy of Phil lending Adam his spare padded cycling shorts/mankini-looking outfit.

This week’s ride seemed to go a lot smoother with the only hold-ups being caught at the train track just past Wateringbury, and then less so the wait for drinks back at the bar afterwards. 3 muffins this time!

WEEK 3

A slightly different one this weekend with one ride on Saturday and one on Sunday.

The Saturday route involved Matt, Clare and Adam cycling out to Brands Hatch, discovering why Death’s Hill has been given its name. But before getting that far, we all had to negotiate the Wrotham hill climb first. Credit should go to Simon for his mammoth spin class hill-sessions in preparing us for such ascents, but no-one had warned us about the wind blowing straight into you whilst attempting the reach the top of a very long (what had seemed like) mountain!

The return journey seemed a lot kinder but Clare endured the worst of it, constantly getting stuck at red traffic lights, and experiencing the taste of windscreen wash from passing cars.

The Sunday ride involved a similar route to the first 2 weeks for Wendy and Yvonne, and a swim for Phil.

 Week 4

What was supposed to be a 40 mile ride turned into a 50 miler with all preparations continuing ahead of schedule.  It was all going so well considering it was Clare's first time out on a road bike - until we reached Addington bus stop for a quick pit stop.

At this point it is probably worth mentioning that not only did Clare make the step up onto Matt's spare boke, she also went all out for the professional look including shoes that clip into the pedals, better known as cleets.  With no pressure to get back onto the road, the inevitable quickly happened, with a gentle squeal before her gracious fall, Clare stylishly flapped and made her way to the ground like a dizzy ballerina much to the entertainment of Matt, Phil, Wendy and the previously road-hugging Adam.  Clare's poor face was now a similar colour to her usual pink attire but quickly shrugging off any embarrassment we got back to grips with the road again and made our way up towards Brands Hatch via our favourate hill by Wrotham.

Matt and Wendy who were only riding as far as Brand's Hatch, wisely turned around and headed back before reaching the other side of Death's Hill.  The remaining three this time continued along the country road to Sevenoaks via Otford and tood a trip along parts of Knowle Park.  The climb up through the hilly parts of Sevenoaks seemed like a long, slow process but with the usual reward of a hot drink for all and a muffin for the guys, the rest of the ride through West Malling and Tonbridge back to Maidstone kept us all in focus, apart from Clare who kept doing her best to cycle into Adam, almost eating bush on a few occasions.

This was a long day, but al least Adam was no longer the sole victim of road bike troubles, with Clare joining "concrete club" (1st rule of concrete club: hug the road, 2nd rule of concrete clun: hug the road some more)!

 

 

 

 

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