|
Enter your email address and sign up to our regular newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time.

3 days ago via Facebook

4 days ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® • 1 retweet


5 days ago via Facebook • 1 retweet

5 days ago via Facebook
| JOGLE |
| Saturday, 22 May 2010 00:00 |
|
Throughout February, March and April, Mike and Andrew put in a huge amount of training by cycling all around Somerset. They would need it, because for JOGLE they would have to cycle an mind-boggling and leg-numbing 1,170 miles (1,890 km) in just 20 days. Mike and Andrew, put the bicycles on a plane at Bristol Airport and flew to Inverness. From there they got a minibus to John O'Groats where they started the marathon ride on Bank Holiday Monday 3rd May. Mike and Andrew kept an online diary of their trip - Mike and Andrew's Bloodbikes Appeal Blog - which is a great insight into the highs and lows they faced en route, and shows some photos of the things and places they encountered. At different times during the journey Andrew and Mike were accompanied by their wives, family, or friends - there to cheer them on and provide some company - but it was just the two of them that completed the whole route. Sometimes the cyclists would stay in bed and breakfast accommodation, but they also got to spend the night in real luxury at some of the Hotel du Vin hotels that were on the route down, thanks to the hotel group's kind sponsorship. On Tuesday 18th May, the cyclists reached Bristol. Freewheelers volunteers clapped and cheered them as they rode along through the Avon Gorge, and the blood bikes gave them a VIP escort through the busy rush hour traffic to the Bristol Hotel du Vin for a well-earned afternoon tea. Even then they weren't finished for the day as both Mike and Andrew had to cycle to their own homes, across the Mendip Hills, for a brief and happy reunion with their children. On Wednesday the pair rode to All Hallows where they were joined by a large group of parents who cycled with them on a 20 mile ride across the beautiful Somerset countryside to Clarks Village at Street. During the trip Mike and Andrew faced all kinds of weather including rain and strong winds that threatened to blow them off the bike. The last leg however, through Devon and Cornwall, was marked with scorching hot sunshine. Their triumphant arrival at Land's End (pictured on the right) was on Saturday 22nd May. Luckily someone was able to pick them up and they weren't made to cycle all the way home again! Sponsorship raised during the JOGLE trip, which went towards the new bike, was £7,730. |