Sunday 10 August 2014. The day began at 5 am for me.  A good breakfast and off I set with my bike in my car I drove to a car park in North London and then rode a short three miles to the start area, Queen Elizabeth Park.  There were simply thousands of people, all shapes and sizes.  I was supposed to start at 8.05 but due to the sheer volume of people and some last minute changes by the organisers, my group never set off until after 9am.  It was already raining lightly.  Due to the bad weather the route had been altered and two climbs and descents had been taken out for safety reasons.  When this was announced at the start I was a little annoyed and very disappointed.  I was looking forward to those climbs and now the ride would be relatively flat.  But it was a sound decision by the organisers.  The weather went from bad to worse and the roads were treacherous.  Even the slight downhills had riders reaching for their brakes causing congestion.  I had planned on pushing hard all the way to get a good time, but on a ride with so many riders it was not the event to try for personal bests.  There were several hold ups as the ride was stopped so the odd rider could be loaded into an ambulance.  I wasn't able to whizz down the hills at a pace I would have preferred without causing alarm to others but on the flats I was able to weave in and out of the riders.

The rain was bouncing down and at times visibility was low but thankfully it was not cold.

Riding through London and Surrey on closed roads was a real treat.  The roads were wet and right from the start I saw lots of riders changing inner tubes and fixing punctures.  Unfortunately there were a few mishaps too and the ambulance service was kept very busy.

In the end 20,709 of us completed the sportive, conquering the truly atrocious conditions which, according to cycling legend (and participant) Chris Boardman, “went from torrential to biblical and then to just horrendous”. Judging from all the smiles on  faces though, the rain failed to dampen spirits.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Well here we go again!  Mid training for the Ironman Wales Triathlon last year my thoughts began to stray and I was thinking about what I would do next.

I love cycling and I love mountains.  In another life I like to think I would have been a mountaineer.  So put the two loves together and here you have it-

 

in May 2014  I'm cycling in Tibet up the Himalayan mountains and will be cycling up to the North facing Everest Base Camp.

I will be riding 1150km ( 720 miles) and will be going as high as 5220 metres.  Britain's highest mountain, Ben Nevis is 1344 metres high.  This will take 16 days of riding and 11 of the nights will be camping. The other nights will be in hotels or lodges.

 

I won't be alone, I am using a tour company KE Adventure and will be riding with others from around the world who want to challenge themselves too.

 

Over the next days and weeks I will up date this blog to give you details of the route and what we can expect.

 

The reason I do these things is to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.  I have taken part in events organised by Macmillan and others that I have arranged myself.  This one is totally self funded by myself and all funds raised will go directly to the charity.

 

I do it in memory of my amazing and beautiful Mother, Patsy.  She died at the tender age of 47.  That was 23 years ago but it still feels like just the other day.  Cancer has touched just about everyone in some way or another.  I have seen the good that Macmillan Cancer Support do and will always support them.

Please visit my blog.  Feel free to leave comments as they keep me motivated.

I will use the blog to keep you informed of my plans and progress.

http://cycleeverestadventure.blogspot.co.uk/