Mayors Charity Bike Ride 2010

With the final day seeing us ride from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth via Gorleston, the final few miles will complete the journey from Lands End to Great Yarmouth in 7 days.

We met the Mayor of Lowestoft in front of the South Pier at 11am, taking the time to discuss the ups and downs of the journey.  We were also met by a number of other cyclists who would join us for the journey.

Setting off shortly after 11:15am, we were briefly delayed in traffic as a boat passed through the bridge, but this gave the new riders some time to chat with us about our experiences.  Once the traffic cleared enough, we were on our way out of Lowestoft, and again we passed by Ness Point (the most easterly part of mainland Britain).  Taking a steady pace, we enjoyed the sunshine the day brought us, eventually we made it to Gorleston at 12:30pm.

At Gorleston we met the other riders who would join us for the last few miles of the journey to the Great Yarmouth Town Hall.  With time for a photo or two, a quick interview with Chris Speed for InfoGY, we then set off for the final time.  Riding down Gorleston High Street through the busy lunchtime traffic we were coving ground fast and we quickly arrived at the Haven Bridge.  Crossing the bridge whilst making plenty of noise we rode across the finish line at the Town Hall to be met by a number of local supporters including the Mayor & Mayoress of Great Yarmouth.

After a brief few moments to compose ourselves, we celebrated completing the ride with a glass of Champagne and some tasty sandwiches and delicious homemade cake provided by Sara’s Tearooms.  After some very kind words by the Mayor and a few photographs to capture the moments, we packed our equipment up and made for home and a well deserved rest!

For Matt, James and Lucy the ride didn’t end there…check back in the next few days for an update on what happened next (and also some of the previously unseen photo’s and video taken on the journey).

A big day to complete today…around 90 miles to finally hit the most easterly point of Britain, which will complete the West to East part of the journey.

Four becomes Five again…After the groups best nights sleep of the trip, Friday brings good news on James’ knee…he is still hurting, be he feels well enough to rejoin us for the ride.

As we were in a Youth Hostel, Kevin and Vicky kindly prepared hot food for us for breakfast…mmm, bacon, beans and toast.  Perfect fuel for a long day in the saddle.  After packing our stuff up into the support vehicles, and meeting and chatting with the Mayor of Saffron Walden, we made a few adjustments to the bikes and set off.

With a head wind and a surprising number of short hills to conquer, we were counting down the miles to our lunch spot in Diss and the days destination of Ness Point in Lowestoft.  Taking the direct route along the A143, the road was relatively busy and being fast without getting knocked off was key.  After losing time in Bury St Edmunds, where the road signage was rubbish, we finally made it to lunch at around 2:45pm.

After refueling with a fine lunch prepared by Vicky, there was time to drop the bent frame off at a bike shop in Diss, whilst Matt did a quick interview for Radio Norfolk.  Listen to the interview with Matthew Gudgin on the BBC iPlayer.  The inteview was played at around 5:40pm.

We set off again, eager to get to Ness Point on our 7th Day of cycling, so the pace picked up as the rolling hills became flatter.  The A143 got busier with the Friday afternoon traffic and the drivers were more interested in getting home early than they were in giving us some space…please give cyclists room when driving…it really is quite frightening when you get that close at high speeds…a few seconds to wait for a gap to give us room wont really affect your drive time!!  We decided that as soon as we could utilise the less busy minor roads, we would get off.  Its was also nice to take the time too look around and take in the gorgeous scenery when your not so worried about getting hit by fast moving traffic.

As we approach Lowestoft, the sights from the training ride we did start to appear and the feelings of tiredness dissapeared as the excitement and anticipation built on hitting the most Easterly point of our journey.  Our support team, Vicky and Kevin were waiting to greet us at Ness Point…as we arrived together as a five.  It was a great feeling to arrive and finally see the sea again.  Not hanging around there too long, we had a few pictures, then set off out of the wind and to our Hotel.

With an exciting day in order on Saturday, we headed out for some food and a few drinks in Lowestoft.  Dont forget that you can still make a donation online or by support us by joining in with all or part of our final days cycling.  Visit the Join In page for full details of where to meet us in Lowestoft or Gorleston.  If your not up for cycling, you can join us at the Town Hall in Great Yarmouth as we cross the finish line at around 1pm.  We will have collection buckets with us between Gorleston and Great Yarmouth to take any donations you may wish to give…please give genrously…all the money collected will go to the Charities as selected by the Mayor.

A further collection will be taken at the Mayors Civic Ball taking place on Saturday night at the Ocean Rooms in Gorleston.

If you are up early on Saturday, dont miss another catch up interview live on BBC Radio Norfolk.  This is due to take place after 7am…be sure to tune to 95.1fm.

Please check back again soon for an update on the last days ride and the post ride updates including unseen photo’s and videos taken along the way.

Dont forget that we will be completing the last part of the ride today.  Join us at Lowestoft at 11am, Gorleston at 12:30pm or watch us cross the finish line at the Town Hall in Great Yarmouth at approx 1pm.  For full details of where and when to join us, click on the Join In button.

We will be collecting donations at all locations, so please bring anything you wish to give.

We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you.

Today we needed to cycle from Thame to Saffron Walden.  The route planner said it would be around 65 – 70 miles.  James was still feeling the pain from his knee, so would not be riding with us today.

Once again Vicks did an amazing job of putting on a fantastic spread of Breakfast for everyone…our tummies were full of energy food and we were ready for the days cycling.

Being met at 9am by the Mayor of Thame, the team had a chance to talk about the ride and why we were doing it.  After more chat plus a few jokes and laughs, we had our usual photos taken before we set off on the road.

The head wind was still hindering the fast pace we all wanted to push for on the flat, but we still managed to clock up a few miles before getting onto some minor roads with less traffic…they are so much more comfortable to ride on.  With a lunch stop set for Baldock (a Tesco’s car park today), we had set a big target to hit before food…45 miles.

Cycling through some rolling hills that seemed to go on forever, we still managed to take in some of the beautiful scenery of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.  We also managed to encounter some of the most inconsiderate and rude drivers in Bedfordshire…they top the league on that one now!

Making it to lunch at around 2:20pm, Vicks had once again provided us with all the right foods, and some nice treats as well.  Both Vicks and Kevin have given up their valuable time and a weeks holiday from work to help us out…and putting up with 4 or 5 moody and tired people who snap and bite all the time, must be hard…we are all very lucky to have them supporting us on this amazing trip!

After us all eating a massive chocolate bar (yes…it was massive), we set off for Saffron Walden, only to be temporarily held up by another broken spoke on Matt’s bike…it was time for him to bring out the spare, a highly rated Mavic Aksium wheel!  A quick cassette swap and we were off.  Hitting the rolling hills and amazing countryside for the final miles of the day.

After crossing three Motorways over the course of the day, we pushed ourselves with tired legs through the final few roads into Saffron Walden…only to get lost looking for the worst signposted YHA ever.  But determination to have a rest and a home cooked curry kindly made for us by Kevin, helped us sniff the place out.

With a fun evening and nice breakfast planned, thoughts are now turning to the final 100+ miles to be cycled over the next few days…oh, and who will be sprinting for the finish line at the Great Yarmouth Town Hall.

Until the next update, thank you for reading, and please give generously to the fund…every little helps!

Today has been a particularly bad one for the Hill-Slayer.  James knew that he would be missing his mum’s birthday today, and also the funeral of a close family friend was scheduled for today which James was upset about not to be able to attend.  Surrogate grandmother Irene McCubbine passed away at the grand old age of 104.

The day on the road wasn’t much better for James as a knee injury he had been nursing for two days finally took it’s toll, and forced him to swap bike for van after 15 miles.  A visit to hospital, and couple of beers later we are hoping that he may be able to re-join the rest of the team at some point later this week.

The day began with a few essential bike repairs, then being met by the Deputy Mayor of Chippenham, before setting off on the road to complete a 65-70 mile ride.

Cycling to Wootton Bassett, Matt nearly got run over by a very stupid and inconsiderate bus driver…you might say that he swerved to try and knock him off.  Better luck next time Mr Bus Driver!!!

Unfortunately, (as already mentioned) James ‘Hill Slayer’ Anderson has to retire from the days ride with a very painful (he rated it a 10 on the pain scale).  He later visited A&E to get it checked out…maybe he will rejoin the ride in the next few days.

We carried on, now only 4 strong, to Swindon.  The magic roundabout and a lack of signage and we got lost, probably adding 2 or 3 miles onto the journey.  Continuing on up A420 to Farringdon where we stopped for lunch…and arriving a lot earlier than any other days (1pm), we were keen to eat and get back on the road.

After lunch we head off on to less busy roads and into the head wind, makes a change from hills.  Aside from the wind, we were coving ground fast.  Eager to arrive at the hotel early, we pushed on with a 2 stop strategy.  Stopping for a handful of chips Kevin had just bought, then a hunger for an ice cream at the second stop, Kevin once again delivered.

Cycling 69 miles in 5 hours 15 minutes, we arrived at our Thame hotel at 5pm, the earliest time yet.  Time for ashower and off out for a bite and a pint!  A big day tomorrow, as we’re cycling to Saffron Walden…a good rest is in order for that!

Until the next update, thanks for reading and dont forget to donate to the charity

The day began with a disappointment…the Mayor of Tiverton stood us up…never mind, we had our photograph taken anyway.

Setting off North along the A38, we encountered a nice big hill, but it wasn’t long before the troubles began…one mile in, Neil had a total bike failure, bending his frame and breaking his rear derailleur clean off.  Needless to say he was a little annoyed, but the track spare came into action after an hour of tinkering time (and delays) in Taunton.  Still gave us some time to catch up on eating some more snacks to keep us topped up with energy.  Whilst waiting…we heard a random loud bang…a car backfiring?…a bank job?…nope, it was James’ inner tube exploding…when nobody was near or on the bike!  Easily fixed…just more time taken from a really long (over 80 miles) day.

Setting off again, we fought our way through the busy centre of Taunton, heading for Glastonbury and beyond, to our lunch spot in Wells.  Pushing on, we counted down the miles, and the welcome terrain of roads without too many hills.  Feasting in Tesco’s car park at the late time of 2:30pm, we hurried to get pedalling yet again.

Being a day of two halves, the flat terrain disappeared and the long steep hills returned to hamper our progress.  We ploughed on, riding towards the known hills of Bath and a memorable and rapid descent into the busy centre…scary!!!  Leaving the centre of Bath was difficult as it was 5:30pm and rush hour…still, gave an opportunity to take a bit of the historical city in.

Freestyling our final part of the route, we needed to use some unclassified roads to get from Bath to our hotel on the M4 near Chippenham.  Making a wrong turn somewhere, we had a surprisingly pleasant meander through some rolling hills on some very rough roads, with a final ascent to meet up with the road we had originally planned to take.  As enjoyable as this part of the ride was…yes a steep hill was very enjoyable (can we go back to Penzance…not)…it ate up precious daylight hours and we were under pressure to get back before dark.

Finding the main road always helps, and it being flat helped us clock off a few miles again.  Oh no…Lucy got a puncture a typical occurance when so close to our hotel.  With a slow change completed, time was getting on for 7:30pm and the sun was setting.  Still we pushed on through the recurring hills and all but a broken spoke for Matt (no time to stop, that can be repaired in the morning), we rode on getting to our evenings location at 8:05pm…just as it got dark.

An evening of Service station food and sleep to come, before Day 4 begins, and a ride to Thame.

Appologies for not adding anything after Day 1, but there was no mobile network available in Boscastle.

After a good nights kip in Hayle, we headed off to meet the Mayor. Being greeted by a very warm welcome and refreshments, we took the opportunity to gather a bit of local knowledge on the gradients (good and bad) we would experience on our route. We were even met by one of the local residents (Ann Foreman) who has connections with Norfolk…along with the Mayor, she also made a very kind donation…Thank you to both the Mayor, Mayoress and Ann for the donations!

“When the lord made Cornwall he had a few hills left over…he gave them to Devon” Mayor of Hayle

Traveling North, we quickly encountered more of the same sleep hills. Taking a brief moment to check out a recommended view of Hells Mouth…wow! Memories of California came flooding back.

Undulating hills and amazing scenery continued until our journey was interupted by the first puncture of the journey (reliable old Paul). Quickly followed by the second puncture of the journey…well done Paul! Stopping for lunch in St Columb Major in a rather unfriendly pub car park, we ate to refresh our energy whilst taking a few minutes to relax.

After lunch, we moved on further North, with hills and an unbelievable climb to 865 feet, where our official cycling route ended after a 61.5 mile journey covered over 4 hours and 46 minutes.

Just for fun, we decided to risk death by cycling the road down to Boscastle…descending the 865 feet (we had just climbed) to sea level (and the point hit with maximum force in the floods a few years ago) in just 1.5 miles…scary and knackering to our brake pads…mmmm burning rubber.

Checking in to our evenings accomodation at the YHA Boscastle, we cooked some food, took an opportunity to take a few snaps of Boscastle, a game of Top Trumps and Pass the Pigs, before retiring to bed.

After a rather broken nights sleep, we took advantage of the Hostels facilities, with Kevin making us a cooked breakfast of bacon and eggs…yummy!!! After packing our stuff into the support vehicles, we were met by the Chairman of Boscastle, Ferett, who told us many stories of how the floods affected the area. Following the usual photo shoot, we proceeded up the hill to pick up the route from where we left off the day before.

With around 75-80 mile to complete, we headed South East towards our lunch spot in Okehampton…after a rapid 25 miles, we left Cornwall…horah!…only to be met by the hills of Devon (how far is Norfolk?). After over 40 miles of cycling, we made it to Okehampton for a more relaxing lunch stop in a Waitrose car park. A feast of pasta, bread rolls, meat and other sugary snacks (eating this many calories in a day will never be this forgiving ever again) later, we left to crack off some more miles from the journey.

Heading North East towards Tiverton, we started with a slightly flatter terrain…but that didn’t last too long and ‘Anderson the Hill Slayer’ was eating the hills for Afternoon Tea. The rest of us just held him up. Blasting through Tiverton, hungry for the post ride food, we had just 7 miles left to cover…these are always the longest miles of the day. Still, we made it to our hotel after running the gauntlet on a busy dual carriageway and over the M5. Day 2 saw us cover 76 miles in 6 hours, 2 minutes. Most impressively reaching a top speed (on a rather hair-raising downhill section) of 38.3 mph.

We have most of the evening to relax, then time for a well deserved sleep before we encounter Day 3 (our 4th straight day of cycling) to Chippenham. Our longest day of cycling yet, at around 85-90 miles in total.

Well after an unexpected late start to the day (that was entirely Matts fault) we were on the road (from our meet point at Thickthorn services) to Lands End at around 6am.

The journey was pretty smooth and no major delays, apart from the copious toilet stops for Matt.

We arrived at Lands End at around 2:30pm, making our journey time 8.5 hours including stops!

With an hour to eat some pasta and other random energy foods, get changed, check the bikes over and have a brief look around Lands End.

Meeting the Mayor of Penzance at around 3:45pm, we briefly talked about our journey and the charities then they set us off on our short 18 mile journey to Hayle.

Lets put it this way…Norfolk is very flat…the hills on the route we picked were killers!  Climbing hills slowly and descending very, very fast, the legs were tired, and we will shortly need some new break pads!  The highlight a hill climb from 40 feet above sea level to 550 feet above sea level in a couple of miles…ouch!

Never mind, with a few detours we completed the journey of 21miles in 1 hour 33 minutes.  Tired from the day, we’re now off for something to eat then an early night before embarking on tomorrows cycling to Boscastle (lets hope there arent any floods).

Dont forget to wake up nice and early tomorrow morning to listen to the catch up on BBC Radio Norfolk.  Our expected on air time is around 6:45am.

With only a few hours to go until we set off for Lands End and the start of the ride, everything is packed and ready and its just a few hours sleep and a 10 hour drive to contend with.

Please keep checking back to the site as we will be making updates on our progress as and when the powers of modern technology allow us to.

Donate now

Listen to the interview online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00762km/David_and_Becky_09_04_2010/

You will need to forward through the show to around 10:10am to hear what Graham and Becky talked to me about.