Samantha Simms
Samantha Simms's Fundraising Page
Fundraising for Cancer Research UK
Story
We'd like to say some big thank you's to -
-The man who works in Halfords, Bristol, for giving us a free bottle cage when we had no money and Eds broke.
-Dave Mellors bike shop in Shrewsbury for fixing Spuds bottom bracket and Sams spoke at very short notice and without charging for labour.
-All the campsites that gave us free or reduced rates, especially Braidhaugh in Crieff who went out their way to raise extra money for us and made us feel really welcome.
-Bridgetown Cycles in Cannock, our hometown bike shop who provided us with advice, support, spares and sponsorship.
-Lynn Taylor, for all her advice, support and encouragement.
-Pete Wilkins, for being a brilliant PR man.
-Mom (Jane Marston), for doing a brilliant, although very stressfull job, of driving the motorhome.
Wednesday 19th August - MISSION COMPLETE!!!!! We left Embo with our spirits lifted and the encouragement that we were nearly finished. We knew that the last big climb of Helmsdeep (Helmsdale) was within sight, and once that was over, it was plain sailing. However, it wasn't quite as easy as that. With 40miles to go we had a major mechanical breakdown. The rear mech hanger (thing that the chain goes through to hold it on the rear gears), on Eds bike snapped! This could of been the end of the road if we hadn't made a last minute decision to take a spare one for Sams bike as Sams had been weakened. Miraculously, the spare one fit Eds bike!! It wasn't a perfect fit so some of the gears slipped and he couldn't use the easiest gear, but at least he could finish the last 40 miles. We arrived at John O'Groats at 5.17pm exhilarated and singing our hearts out down the hill :-) After the photos, two guys who we'd seen earlier in the day arrived as well, so we sat on the car park and enjoyed sharing our experiances over a glass of champagne, mars bars, and custard creams. Todays mileage was 80miles, bringing our grand total mileage for Lands End to John O'Groats to 886 miles and 99 hours on the road :-)
Tuesday 18th August - :Left Boat of Garten campsite and headed along the cycle path to Inverness, and 30 miles later after passing Culloden battlefield, we crossed over the bridge to the Black Isle, with fine views across the estuary to Inverness. Continuing on over the next bridge across Cromarty Firth, we stopped for lunch and watched the seals playing in the estuary. Weather was cloudy but dry and after a further couple of hours or so we eventually arrived at Grannies Helan Hame campsite at Embo near Dornoch, very close to the sea, having covered a further 79 miles.with only a few moderate hills to negotiate. Looking forward to completing the challenge tommorow in John O' Groats.
Monday 17th August - 3 KILLER climbs today plus a few littler ones! The first 55 miles of our 95miles today was pretty much all uphill with the exception of a couple of very fast downhills. Thankfully the last 40 miles were nice downhills although the last 15miles really seemed to drag. Ed had mechanical problems today. At about 45mile and again at about 70mile we heard a loud pop/bang. After inspecting the bike we decided that it was just a stone popping out from under the tyre. Then, 2mile from the end of the ride, he got a massive bubble type lump in his tyre! His tyre had blown :-( We managed to limp it to the campsite where Ed and Spud put a new tyre on. The scenery today between Crieff and Boat of Garten was great, especially this afternoon going through the forests. Sunday 16th August - Another long day from Beattock to Crieff, 97 miles. The route was quite easy today but unfortunatly the strong winds from yesterday had turned against us :-( We battled with the wind for the first 60 miles, then thankfully, after lunch the wind was a bit more in our favour. Today we were stopped by an unhappy policeman! We had to join the A80 for 1 junction before it turned into the M80. There had been a bump on the slip road onto the A80 so the police were there. The policeman directed us to stop with a bit of an unhappy face and asked us where we were going as we couldn't go any further. When we explained he cheered up and said we'd need to get off at the next junction (which we were going to do anyway) as the road turned into a motorway, and wished us good luck on our way. When we arrived at our campsite in Crieff (Braidhaugh holiday park) we had a fantastic welcome! They'd had a collection for us and everyone was really welcoming :-)
Saturday 15th - Cycled 98 miles from Kendal to Beattock via Shap, one of the climbs we'd been dreading!! If it hadn't of been for the horrendous weather, it might of been quite pleasent. It was blowing an absolute gail all day, and fortunatly, it was in our favour most of the time. Other than Shap the route was fairly flat and it was just the distance that creamed us.
Friday 14th August - Had a busy day going through lots of towns and cities, negotiating traffic and having to stop at lots of islands and traffic lights. Cycled 83 miles from near Chester to near Kendal tonight. Was a good day with nice flat roads and perfect cycling weather until the last 10 miles when the heavens opened! No shower at the campsite tonight so although we're going to smell, at least we'll be able to get to bed nice and early :-)
Thursday 13th August Long day today 98 miles!! Starting from Hereford A49 all the way to Chester. Had bike problems before Shrewsbury, Sam broke a spoke in her back wheel, good job we had a spare. Spud's main bottom bracket had to be replaced. Just about made it to Dave Mellor Cycles in Shrewsbury who repaired both bikes. They were real SUPER STARS fitting us in while we had lunch. Finally made it to Tarporley after 11 hours in the saddle, tired and VERY sore. It was good to be joined by Dave for part of the ride today, Chris and Kath also met us at the camp site ready with a BBQ. Another long day tomorrow so getting an early night, hope the weather is as good as it has been today.
Wednesday 12th August Sorry for the delay but we couldn't get a signal last night. Another hard day. Left Axbridge 8:30 heading towards Bristol. First breakdown (Ed's bottle holder broke). Thanks to Halfords in Bristol who were really friendly and helpful and they donated a new holder as the team had no money with them (I think Sam did do the girly bit which might have helped!!) Cycled over 2nd Severn Crossing bridge GREAT views. Followed the river Wye to Monmouth Motor home took slight detour (GOT LOST) then we all had problems finding the camp sight. 78 miles later we all finally arrived. Bikers got there first!! Motor home LOSTagain!!
Tuesday 11th August - VERY hard 2nd day! Our route profile didn't look to bad, until we started riding it. We rode 84 miles from Okehampton to Cheddar in 9 and a half hours, and fully experianced Devons, not so much rolling hills, but mountains! The 1st 44 miles were the hardest with all the ups and downs, and the last 30 miles really dragged. The weather however was FANTASTIC!! Not a cloud in the sky, so we're working on our cyclists tans :-) Suprisingly, spud even had enough energy to play with Chloe on the park when we got to the campsite, and we've just finished a great BBQ :-)
Monday 10th August - Completed 1st day successfully with not probs, we didnt even get lost :-) Started out at 8.30 from Lands End in the cold drizzly rain, which carried on in various degrees of wettness throughout the day. It took us 7 and half hours to do the 94 miles. stopped on Bodmin Moor for lunch to enjoy the scenic mist :-) Muscles not to bad, making full use of our (ladies) compression tights. Saddle sores aren't to bad at all but I don't think that'll be lasting long :-( Early night tonight, up at 6am tomorrow for the next installment of our exciting adventure.
Sunday 9th August - Spud wants to go to bed so gotta b qwik!! Checked out Lands End on a reccie and met some cyclists from slovenia who were really nice. Spent the afternoon on the beach at Sennan Cove chillin, body boading, playin and eating ice creams. Got back and got everything sorted for a silly o'clock start in the morning!! Night night.
-The man who works in Halfords, Bristol, for giving us a free bottle cage when we had no money and Eds broke.
-Dave Mellors bike shop in Shrewsbury for fixing Spuds bottom bracket and Sams spoke at very short notice and without charging for labour.
-All the campsites that gave us free or reduced rates, especially Braidhaugh in Crieff who went out their way to raise extra money for us and made us feel really welcome.
-Bridgetown Cycles in Cannock, our hometown bike shop who provided us with advice, support, spares and sponsorship.
-Lynn Taylor, for all her advice, support and encouragement.
-Pete Wilkins, for being a brilliant PR man.
-Mom (Jane Marston), for doing a brilliant, although very stressfull job, of driving the motorhome.
Wednesday 19th August - MISSION COMPLETE!!!!! We left Embo with our spirits lifted and the encouragement that we were nearly finished. We knew that the last big climb of Helmsdeep (Helmsdale) was within sight, and once that was over, it was plain sailing. However, it wasn't quite as easy as that. With 40miles to go we had a major mechanical breakdown. The rear mech hanger (thing that the chain goes through to hold it on the rear gears), on Eds bike snapped! This could of been the end of the road if we hadn't made a last minute decision to take a spare one for Sams bike as Sams had been weakened. Miraculously, the spare one fit Eds bike!! It wasn't a perfect fit so some of the gears slipped and he couldn't use the easiest gear, but at least he could finish the last 40 miles. We arrived at John O'Groats at 5.17pm exhilarated and singing our hearts out down the hill :-) After the photos, two guys who we'd seen earlier in the day arrived as well, so we sat on the car park and enjoyed sharing our experiances over a glass of champagne, mars bars, and custard creams. Todays mileage was 80miles, bringing our grand total mileage for Lands End to John O'Groats to 886 miles and 99 hours on the road :-)
Tuesday 18th August - :Left Boat of Garten campsite and headed along the cycle path to Inverness, and 30 miles later after passing Culloden battlefield, we crossed over the bridge to the Black Isle, with fine views across the estuary to Inverness. Continuing on over the next bridge across Cromarty Firth, we stopped for lunch and watched the seals playing in the estuary. Weather was cloudy but dry and after a further couple of hours or so we eventually arrived at Grannies Helan Hame campsite at Embo near Dornoch, very close to the sea, having covered a further 79 miles.with only a few moderate hills to negotiate. Looking forward to completing the challenge tommorow in John O' Groats.
Monday 17th August - 3 KILLER climbs today plus a few littler ones! The first 55 miles of our 95miles today was pretty much all uphill with the exception of a couple of very fast downhills. Thankfully the last 40 miles were nice downhills although the last 15miles really seemed to drag. Ed had mechanical problems today. At about 45mile and again at about 70mile we heard a loud pop/bang. After inspecting the bike we decided that it was just a stone popping out from under the tyre. Then, 2mile from the end of the ride, he got a massive bubble type lump in his tyre! His tyre had blown :-( We managed to limp it to the campsite where Ed and Spud put a new tyre on. The scenery today between Crieff and Boat of Garten was great, especially this afternoon going through the forests. Sunday 16th August - Another long day from Beattock to Crieff, 97 miles. The route was quite easy today but unfortunatly the strong winds from yesterday had turned against us :-( We battled with the wind for the first 60 miles, then thankfully, after lunch the wind was a bit more in our favour. Today we were stopped by an unhappy policeman! We had to join the A80 for 1 junction before it turned into the M80. There had been a bump on the slip road onto the A80 so the police were there. The policeman directed us to stop with a bit of an unhappy face and asked us where we were going as we couldn't go any further. When we explained he cheered up and said we'd need to get off at the next junction (which we were going to do anyway) as the road turned into a motorway, and wished us good luck on our way. When we arrived at our campsite in Crieff (Braidhaugh holiday park) we had a fantastic welcome! They'd had a collection for us and everyone was really welcoming :-)
Saturday 15th - Cycled 98 miles from Kendal to Beattock via Shap, one of the climbs we'd been dreading!! If it hadn't of been for the horrendous weather, it might of been quite pleasent. It was blowing an absolute gail all day, and fortunatly, it was in our favour most of the time. Other than Shap the route was fairly flat and it was just the distance that creamed us.
Friday 14th August - Had a busy day going through lots of towns and cities, negotiating traffic and having to stop at lots of islands and traffic lights. Cycled 83 miles from near Chester to near Kendal tonight. Was a good day with nice flat roads and perfect cycling weather until the last 10 miles when the heavens opened! No shower at the campsite tonight so although we're going to smell, at least we'll be able to get to bed nice and early :-)
Thursday 13th August Long day today 98 miles!! Starting from Hereford A49 all the way to Chester. Had bike problems before Shrewsbury, Sam broke a spoke in her back wheel, good job we had a spare. Spud's main bottom bracket had to be replaced. Just about made it to Dave Mellor Cycles in Shrewsbury who repaired both bikes. They were real SUPER STARS fitting us in while we had lunch. Finally made it to Tarporley after 11 hours in the saddle, tired and VERY sore. It was good to be joined by Dave for part of the ride today, Chris and Kath also met us at the camp site ready with a BBQ. Another long day tomorrow so getting an early night, hope the weather is as good as it has been today.
Wednesday 12th August Sorry for the delay but we couldn't get a signal last night. Another hard day. Left Axbridge 8:30 heading towards Bristol. First breakdown (Ed's bottle holder broke). Thanks to Halfords in Bristol who were really friendly and helpful and they donated a new holder as the team had no money with them (I think Sam did do the girly bit which might have helped!!) Cycled over 2nd Severn Crossing bridge GREAT views. Followed the river Wye to Monmouth Motor home took slight detour (GOT LOST) then we all had problems finding the camp sight. 78 miles later we all finally arrived. Bikers got there first!! Motor home LOSTagain!!
Tuesday 11th August - VERY hard 2nd day! Our route profile didn't look to bad, until we started riding it. We rode 84 miles from Okehampton to Cheddar in 9 and a half hours, and fully experianced Devons, not so much rolling hills, but mountains! The 1st 44 miles were the hardest with all the ups and downs, and the last 30 miles really dragged. The weather however was FANTASTIC!! Not a cloud in the sky, so we're working on our cyclists tans :-) Suprisingly, spud even had enough energy to play with Chloe on the park when we got to the campsite, and we've just finished a great BBQ :-)
Monday 10th August - Completed 1st day successfully with not probs, we didnt even get lost :-) Started out at 8.30 from Lands End in the cold drizzly rain, which carried on in various degrees of wettness throughout the day. It took us 7 and half hours to do the 94 miles. stopped on Bodmin Moor for lunch to enjoy the scenic mist :-) Muscles not to bad, making full use of our (ladies) compression tights. Saddle sores aren't to bad at all but I don't think that'll be lasting long :-( Early night tonight, up at 6am tomorrow for the next installment of our exciting adventure.
Sunday 9th August - Spud wants to go to bed so gotta b qwik!! Checked out Lands End on a reccie and met some cyclists from slovenia who were really nice. Spent the afternoon on the beach at Sennan Cove chillin, body boading, playin and eating ice creams. Got back and got everything sorted for a silly o'clock start in the morning!! Night night.
Saturday 8th August - We're here!! The journey down to Lands End took rather long due to traffic, but I dare say still much quicker than it's going to take to get back up! The weathers great, really couldn't ask for better. Looking forward to a day on the beach tomorrow at Sennan Cove. Had a bit of a surprise when we pulled up to our pitch on the campsite, to find the family in the caravan next to ours, was my old headteacher from Cooper & Jordan, Mr Swirls!!! It's a small world.
Friday 7th August - The eve before our epic adventure! Well, all our training is done, preparation is done, packing...erm, well, we've still got 11 hours before we leave, plenty of time! We're all really excited and a bit nervous but we know we're gonna have an awesome time. Bring it on!!!
Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Cancer Research UK gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.
Hiya, Ed, Spud and Sam are taking on the huge challenge of cycling 863miles all the way from Lands End at the Southern most tip of Cornwall, right up to John O'Groats at the Northern most tip of Scotland!!! Chloe, our 7 year old daughter is also getting in on the action and will be joining us for 100miles of the journey, (10miles each day). Our average cycling distance each day will be 90miles for 10 days. We will be traveling down to Cornwall on Saturday 8th August and the adventure begins on Monday 10th August. 10 days and some very sore muscles (and bums!) later, we will be arriving at John O'Groats. We are going to be supported by my mom, Jane, who will be driving the motorhome with all our gear in. This is going to be a MASSIVE challenge for us and is all in aid of Cancer Research UK, so please sponsor us now!
THANK YOU
Ed, Spud and Sam xxx