It's been a week since we finished... I still don't think that it has sunk in yet.
I looked at a map of the UK online this morning... It looks big, but it didn't feel that big. Does that sound strange? 981 miles, when broken down into days, and then broken down into 20 or 30 mile sections, didn’t feel unachievable. It is amazing how far you can travel by bike in a day, in a week or indeed in 13 days!
I always knew that I had good mates, but “mates” doesn’t do it justice. I’ve said it before, but it inspired me that they trusted me and followed me and just hoped for the best. I hope “the best” is what they got. When planning this, I wanted them to have good memories of our journey, not just the sore knees and chaffed backsides but the people, the scenery, the bridges and of course even Cheddar Gorge.
Sometimes, it was hard work... Sometimes everything hurt… Sometimes the roads were busy… Sometimes it was too hot... Sometimes it was too wet.
But sometimes it was Amazing, Wonderful and, dare I say it, Fun… It’s those times I want to remember.
The only thing I’d do differently is pre-book Travelodge’s or B&B’s for every day. It’s not worth the worry of having a bad day, then spend ages trying to find a room, only to add 5 miles to your journey to get to it.
I’d like to say a collective thank you to everyone who followed our blog. Your comments were read aloud straight away (I received an email when you posted) and they gave us all a lift when much needed. I’m also glad that the tracker worked, cycling one-handed, trying to beam out our location was difficult on occasion but I always knew if I didn’t do it you’d think we had stopped in one place too long and start to worry about accidents and such like.
A thank you should also go to our families; your support has been great. Anne, I’m sorry that this has dominated the last year and a bit, 14 months planning for 13 days ride seems excessive. Perhaps it was. But it worked. I missed you and the kids more than you’ll know, I’m sure the other guys felt the same… Not about you Anne, about their families.
Another thank you should go out to our sponsors.
James Dunn Roofing
Wayside Group
Colourfast Europe
Lewis Property Renovations
Empire Homes
PS Ponting
The Highlander, San Antonio, Ibiza
CMS Financial
Pro-e-Con
Hendy Curzon
Cherwell Laboratories
C37
Bartholomew's Specialist Distribution Ltd
Buildbase
Bridle
One and all, you were tremendous.
58.65% of all corporate sponsorship will go straight to CRUK and when everything comes in we will have raised over £14,000!
A big thank you also to those that joined us in Hereford, too numerous to mention by name and to those that joined us for the day, from Hereford to Highbridge... Well, Burnham-on-Sea, in the end... Tree, Peta and Lar.
A bigger thank you must go to Ju who helped with our training and cycled with us for the day mentioned above... He knows, more than anyone, that I never really mentioned just how demanding this ride was on occasion.
I'd like to say a separate thanks to my dad for supporting us. I hope nobody underestimates how tough his job was.
The biggest “thank you” is left for Jeremy Laight, Wayne Lewis and Alan Carreras. "Together we are invincible”
I looked at a map of the UK online this morning... It looks big, but it didn't feel that big. Does that sound strange? 981 miles, when broken down into days, and then broken down into 20 or 30 mile sections, didn’t feel unachievable. It is amazing how far you can travel by bike in a day, in a week or indeed in 13 days!
I always knew that I had good mates, but “mates” doesn’t do it justice. I’ve said it before, but it inspired me that they trusted me and followed me and just hoped for the best. I hope “the best” is what they got. When planning this, I wanted them to have good memories of our journey, not just the sore knees and chaffed backsides but the people, the scenery, the bridges and of course even Cheddar Gorge.
Sometimes, it was hard work... Sometimes everything hurt… Sometimes the roads were busy… Sometimes it was too hot... Sometimes it was too wet.
But sometimes it was Amazing, Wonderful and, dare I say it, Fun… It’s those times I want to remember.
The only thing I’d do differently is pre-book Travelodge’s or B&B’s for every day. It’s not worth the worry of having a bad day, then spend ages trying to find a room, only to add 5 miles to your journey to get to it.
I’d like to say a collective thank you to everyone who followed our blog. Your comments were read aloud straight away (I received an email when you posted) and they gave us all a lift when much needed. I’m also glad that the tracker worked, cycling one-handed, trying to beam out our location was difficult on occasion but I always knew if I didn’t do it you’d think we had stopped in one place too long and start to worry about accidents and such like.
A thank you should also go to our families; your support has been great. Anne, I’m sorry that this has dominated the last year and a bit, 14 months planning for 13 days ride seems excessive. Perhaps it was. But it worked. I missed you and the kids more than you’ll know, I’m sure the other guys felt the same… Not about you Anne, about their families.
Another thank you should go out to our sponsors.
James Dunn Roofing
Wayside Group
Colourfast Europe
Lewis Property Renovations
Empire Homes
PS Ponting
The Highlander, San Antonio, Ibiza
CMS Financial
Pro-e-Con
Hendy Curzon
Cherwell Laboratories
C37
Bartholomew's Specialist Distribution Ltd
Buildbase
Bridle
One and all, you were tremendous.
58.65% of all corporate sponsorship will go straight to CRUK and when everything comes in we will have raised over £14,000!
A big thank you also to those that joined us in Hereford, too numerous to mention by name and to those that joined us for the day, from Hereford to Highbridge... Well, Burnham-on-Sea, in the end... Tree, Peta and Lar.
A bigger thank you must go to Ju who helped with our training and cycled with us for the day mentioned above... He knows, more than anyone, that I never really mentioned just how demanding this ride was on occasion.
I'd like to say a separate thanks to my dad for supporting us. I hope nobody underestimates how tough his job was.
The biggest “thank you” is left for Jeremy Laight, Wayne Lewis and Alan Carreras. "Together we are invincible”
Sadly, “5 Blokes – End 2 End” is finished but the memories will stay forever.
I’ll leave you with this quote by Arthur Ashe that I came across when I first started to plan this. I hope that I managed to captured its essence on our little trip:
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome”
Next? Now... Where did I put my swimming trunks and that goose fat
I’ll leave you with this quote by Arthur Ashe that I came across when I first started to plan this. I hope that I managed to captured its essence on our little trip:
“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome”
Next? Now... Where did I put my swimming trunks and that goose fat