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Head to Head Cycle Ride

I am embarking on a cycling challenge.

I have often thought when friends or colleagues ask me to sponsor them for some of the amazing and crazy things they do for charity; why don't I do something?

Well here it is!!!

My brother Michael and his friends from "up North" have invited me to join them on a three day charity cycling trip raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

It will start at St Bee's Head in Cumbria and finish at Flamborough Head in East Yorkshire. A distance of over 200 miles.

Copy the link and type in St Bees Head into the search box and it should bring up Head to Head to show you our rough route:

http://www.gpsies.com/download.do

So I will be joining him and his mates on my trusty Dawes bicycle on Friday 24th June and pedalling across the North of England.

My sister-in-law Chloe lost her mother to cancer and now she works as a volunteer for Macmillan. I think they do a wonderful job supporting people emotionally, financially and with nursing care. I certainly know of friends and colleagues and families  who have benefited from their help.

So dig deep and sponsor me through the website, it is secure and easy to do.

Thank you very much.

David

 

Update 6/6/2011

Thank you to all of you who have sponsored me!

I am getting in to the training for the ride, I have completed several of 40+ rides at home and some 27 mile rides last week in the North Pennines whilst I was away, just to get used to the hills!

My average speed on my "sit up and beg" trekking bike is 13.5 mph which does not sound much but I am not a 9st racing snake on a carbon speed machine by any stretch of the imagination!

I hope to post some more pics on the site soon.

Thanks once again.

David

 

Training complete!

80 miles completed last Saturday and a couple of short trips to work and back.

I am now on my way across to start the ride in St Bees, Cumbria with my brother Mike and his friend from work, Martin. There are now just the three of us doing it as the rest have dropped out. My sister-in-law Chloe is driving the support car. We hope to start after lunch today, Friday 23rd June and will cover about 57 miles this afternoon taking us to Penrith for our first overnight stop. Saturday 24th we have about 87 miles to do to get to Thirsk for our last night and then a 75 mile ride across to Flamborough Head near Bridlington. We are being met by a reception commitee which will include some of Chloe's Brownie pack, friends of Mike and Chloe and other worthies from the local council. We are hoping to post pic and vids as we go.

David

26/06/2011 Head to Head Cycle Ride

Well we did it!

My brother Mike, his friend from work, Martin Clarke and I set out on Friday afternoon at about 3.30pm from the car park at St Bees Head.

My sister-in-Law Chloe was our support and was leapfrogging ahead in the car to ensure we were met at points along the way to replenish water and essential food. Top job she did too, particularly on the last day when Mike set off early on his own because of the heat and Martin and I went off together  about an hour and a half later. She was backwards and forwards along the route to ensure we had enough of everything.

Martin is quite a serious cyclist and I know he could eat this ride even with flat tyres! However he stayed with Mike and I all the way, encouraging and supporting us both.

Mike was pretty good up all the hills particularly on the first and second day, I was better on the flatter sections and could hold a good speed. Martin was of course awesome whatever the terrain, but whether I was on my bootstraps up a big hill or Mike was flagging on a long stretch he was on our shoulder - Thanks Martin!

First afternoon, 60 miles across the Lake District to Penrith. Stunning scenery all the way. Mostly cycle paths and quiet country roads with one section of old railway path that was a bit of a boneshaker when we came out of Keswick!

The second day started in light drizzle but we made steady progress and the weather did improve for most of the morning, until we had to cross the Pennines; the last two hours to Garsdale Head were in driving rain and headwind. We were glad to get to the Wellbeck Inn for lunch and a change of gear. Even in the rain the scenery was spectacular.

As we dropped into Swaledale the sun cam out and we had a fantastic ride through their to the Vale of York. Yorkshire has some really pretty villages and it was so quiet on the roads.

Our second night was in Dalton near Thirsk at a real farmhouse B&B run by a salt of the earth Yorkshire farmer and his wife. They were very accomodating and the rooms were excellent.

The final day....as mentioned Mike set off early as he does not cope with heat and it was set to be a scorcher.

Martin and I set off later and set a good pace to see if we could catch Mike up.

We continued across the Vale of York to Kirkham Priory where we had lunch, what a stunning place that was. After lunch we had the climb over the Yorkshire Wolds before dropping down into East Riding and a fast run back for the last two hours.

We arrived in Bempton only 15 minutes behind Mike so we nearly did it!

I learnt how to "draft" to save energy - awesome.

It was really hot - I went through at least 6 litres of water on the last day - Thanks to Chloe for keeping us topped up!

We then met up at Bempton and al three of us rode to Flamborough Head where we were met by Brownies from the local pack, friends of Mike and Chloe and local councillor Richard Burton who presented us with medals.

All in all a fantastic experience and an achievement with great guys (and gal).

Thanks to everyone.

David

PS - Those of you that have not sponsored me via this site but have made a pledge - It's time to pay up! I will be calling for your dosh in due course. Thanks DD