London To Brighton :
2010 |
2011
in support of the British Heart Foundation
London to Brighton Bike Ride 2010
09:45 - Crossed the Start line
18:00 - Crossed the Finish line Total time: 8hrs 15mins
W e m a d e i t !
We didn't manage to complete the ride in our target 6-7 hours, but there's always NEXT YEAR ! see our progress below by clicking on L2B2010
Sponsorship for ~ British Heart Foundation
http://www.bhf.org.uk/ Thanks to everyone who has very generously donated to BHF, we've smashed our £400 target within 24hrs - Fantastic !
Our supporters are far and wide.
The Big Ride ! Up before dawn, and just enough time to cram down a few more carb's. The day started cool, but was bright and sunny. Everyone seemed in high spirits and Clapham Common was buzzing.
We got away nicely from Clapham Common and found a tremendous support from the public and the marshalls every step of the way.
Ready at the start line and a few grannies had turned out to give their support, were cruising around on their shopping trollies (Segways) - they were really rocking!
Apparently there was US & 26,998 others participating...
heading towards Ditchling Beacon <big gulp> !
The view from the top of Ditchling Beacon, well worth all the effort.
lots of happy cyclists queue to cross the finish line.
We crossed the line after 8 hours and 15 minutes - Phew !
and medals to prove it, now where's those ice creams...?
Thanks to everyone for their generous donations, wa raised a staggering £666.99 and smashed our target within 24 hours !
Inspiration & Motivation
It all started at the beginning of this year 2010, after speaking with a good friend and previous work colleague Des, he indicated he'd just signed up for the bike ride. I took a few days to ponder the idea, but the seed was sown & I was off!
I need the exercise & maybe need to shed a few pounds too. I also know of another good friend, whose daughter benefited personally by the good work of the British Heart Foundation, so I felt it would be a great opportunity to make my small contribution, along with the other 27,000+ people who'll also be cycling on the day. I can also compete with my son, who has agreed to enter the bike ride and together we can encourage each other along.
Preparations & Training
We have dusted down our old bicycles, and even re-sprayed one into the newly fashioned "Stanridge Racing Green", we've had lots of help from our local cycle shops who have been really helpful in getting the bikes up to safe & useable standards.
The rusty old bike emerges from the shed & turns into a beautiful racing machine
We started down our local gym at a weekly spin class to get our bodies into shape and once the bikes were ready, we've hit the local streets in our hi-vis & trendy lycra. We started covering short distances on the flat and have now progressed to the peak of our physical fitness (feel free to laugh at this point!) having recently covered 40 miles & 34 miles over the last two weekends.
Hmmm, shall I use the red or the green ?
Sometimes the photographer made mistakes...oops !
At the end of a long day...
06/06/2010 - 41 miles - Downs link - Shoreham - Slinfold nr Horsham - Shoreham West Sussex.
Duration: 7 hrs 10mins (incl lunch), Max speed: 20.7 mph, Avg. speed: 9.21 mph
So we now believe we're ready for 'The Big One !'
Special thanks to the following;
Des Collier for planting the initial seed, lots of encouragement and organising 40 mile 'Downs link' training run
Rod LambertMrCycles.co.uk, Seaford for all the help servicing & preparing our two bikes
Jennie & KerryWaveLeisure, Peacehaven, for all the gym training and encouragement
Evans cycles for some cool & figure hugging Lycra !
Karen Loughridge for some great photos midway and at the finish line
All our family & friends for encouragement & support over the months of preparation
