It's been 1 week since we got back from the cycle ride, a week that has given me a chance to take in just how big an achievement it was. I had the best week of my life, and we raised a whole load of money for a charity very close to my heart. It looks like we will raise £1500 once all the sponsorship is in, and I cannot thank everyone enough for their kind donations. Times are tough at the moment, with the economic climate the way it is, and so to have made anywhere near the amount we have is an incredible feat. Thankyou all so very much.
This cycle ride was my idea, but I have so many people to thank in helping that idea become a reality.
The first person I need to mention is my incredible fiance Esther. I've driven her mad over the last year talking constantly about cycling when I should have been helping with the organisation of our Wedding. She has been so patient with me and never had a problem with the constant training, route planning and blogging. I can't imagine how annoying I must have been to live with, and how much the cycle ride has taken over everything in the last few months as everything became closer to happening. Esther has been so understanding and I am so lucky to have her. It's 2 weeks until the wedding and I have a massive list of jobs to do, but I know it'll all come together and we will have such a special day. I love you with all my heart, and thankyou for letting me do this. You are amazing.
I wrote an entire blog post dedicated to Norman Pitcher early on which tells you everything you need to know about him. Over the past few months he has given me so much advice and support. Without this knowledge we probably wouldn't have made it. Norman has so much experience and his annual 100 mile Reading to Poole cycle ride was a huge inspiration in the thinking up of this ride. I'm looking forward to doing Norm's ride next year with him.
At the start of the year I was riding a slow, heavy mountain bike to train on and was constantly being told that I needed a road bike, something that I didn't think I would be able to get past Esther! I have to say a huge thanks to Tim for suggesting I look at finding a Boardman. I was lucky to find one that had never been ridden, on ebay. The spec of my bike is brilliant for what I paid for it, and after pimping it out with a brilliant saddle, some clipless pedals and a new set of tyres it is the best thing I have ever bought. It was the only bike to make the journey to Cornwall without any problems and I love it. The colours of it even match my Livestrong clothing . . . . . . which is of course what it's all about!
My cousin Scott designed us some T-shirts to wear with a brilliant logo on for us. We attracted some attention each evening and they also helped in getting us some extra sponsorship along the way. I love them and am so grateful to him for doing them for us. Our support team had them on each day and it made us feel like a proper cycling team with an identity. Professionalism is something that was important in the way we were doing things and the T-shirts really helped with that. Scott's website is www.hairyhand.co.uk please check it out and give him a shout if you ever need anything designed. He also has some other T-shirts on there. He is superb and I'm so happy that he was a part of this.
My future sister-in-law Sally helped get us through the tough times everyday after sorting us out a big discount on some energy gels from the Snow and Rock/Cycle Surgery store that she manages. Instant energy was needed by all of us at some stage and the fact that we had these gels was vital. I wouldn't recommend them as a taste sensation, but they do the job! Thanks Sally X
Esther's brother Chris was supposed to be on the ride but had to pull out due to conflicting diary problems. We missed you, but I am so grateful for the advice and help you gave me. I know you and Lynda will be fantastic parents and am so lucky to be getting you as a brother-in-law.
Janet and Allan Bushnell are Richard's parents. The route for Day 1 was a tricky task and was one that they were very much involved with. Janet, Allan and Richard came up with a route that was excellent. It took alot of pressure off of me and seeing as Richard spent the majority of the ride as the lead cyclist, it made sense that he might have a clue where he was going! (It didn't always help him, but did a little!)
David Anderson is a legend. Not only was he the best training partner I could ever have asked for, he also discovered the genius feature on mapmyride.com that gave me a 3D flyover of the route for each day, as well as the all important elevation graphs. I was out training with David a couple of times a week and even though he wasn't able to do the ride to Cornwall due to work commitments, he was still a huge part of the team. I loved training with Dave, and can't wait to get back out there with him again in the next week or so getting him ready to join us for the ride in 2012.
Both of my Nan's had to deal with the madness of our ride descending on their houses. It was obviously alot to deal with, but both of them were so happy for us to have been there. They were both so important in the whole journey, and with the charity The British Heart Foundation too. My Grandpa, Mum and sister Leigh along with Esther helped make the start a very special occasion. Knowing you have the support of the people you love the most is something that helps you in a way that I can't quite describe. I was feeling that support all the way along the route, and without it I would have found it so much tougher.
That support also came from everyone who had read this blog and sponsored us. We made alot of money during the ride itself, and it was an enormous boost everytime we would see the total on the justgiving page increase. Thankyou so much to each and everyone of you who helped push us on, knowing you were thinking of us. All the goodwill messages we got were incredible and added to our motivation. This was by no means an easy thing we were doing and we can't ever thank you all enough for keeping us going.
Our support team of my Dad and Esther's Dad were different class. I just don't think I will be able to write down how grateful I am to both of them for what they did and the way they did it.
Barry flew over from his house in the south of France to drive a clunky old van for us. Barry is brilliant and it was amazing how excited we would all get every time he drove past us. Thanks for everything Barry, you are a superstar, and after riding the spare bike across the car park on day 3, I think we might have to put you in the riding team for 2012!
I couldn't even begin to tell you all how much my Dad loved being part of the team. He was in his element. He did so much beforehand, route planning, printing out all the maps, finding our place to stay on night 1, organising for us to have the van from his work as our support vehicle and coming to Brighton on our last training ride. On the ride itself he was everywhere, leading us through difficult places to navigate, pointing us in the right direction and also being our official photographer providing all the brilliant images that were put on the blog each night.
We couldn't have made it to Cornwall without either of them, I loved having you both as part of our team and am eternally grateful for everything you did along the way.
Lastly, I have to thank the lads, Ade, Richard and Carlos. Wow!, What you all did was incredible, giving up a week of your lives to come on my crazy bike ride. Let alone the training. We all worked so well as a team, helped each other through and had so much fun along the way. I love you all so much and am so happy that you were all able to be there with me at the end. This was my labour of love, but you all took it on, got involved and made it into something so much more than that. This will be something that we will all talk about forever and something that will always unite us. Our little world was a special place for that week and we found out so much about each other. What a ride, what a team and what an achievement.
Bad Boys for life.
Bring on 2012 - it's going to be epic!
www.justgiving.com/justgottarideit
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