I guess that as you are reading this on the website you have knowledge of what all this is about and why I am doing the ride, but it will come up from time to time as it did during the ride.  And whilst hopefully I predominately write in a light style, there is a reason for doing this.

 

Wearing a cycling top for CRY with LEJOG details and sponsors does tend to get the odd question asked, so then we explain. 

 

This ride happened because Annie died.  Annie had an undiagnosed heart problem.

 

We are aiming to raise money to support heart screenings at Varndean College in Brighton and Sussex Downs College in Lewes in Annie’s name.  Annie went to Varndean and my children Sussex Downs. It will mean a lot to be able to hold these screenings that may help detect an undiagnosed heart problem that can be treated and a life saved. 

 

It is not for me to tell Annie’s story, I couldn’t begin to do it justice, but having been close and witnessed the impact on friends and family, I fully appreciate the importance of these screenings.

 

As I say, I will keep coming back to the fund raising as we go through the ride, but we have an initial target of £12,000 which represents £5,000 for CRY’s central research fund, then £3,500 for each screening day.  With all the different events that have been held so far, we are up over £10,000 already, so simple maths says £2,000 to go, roughly.  At the time of writing, the fund raising page is still open for more donations, so please share to your friends.

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I have 14 days ahead of me once started from Land's End, 13 of them riding with the one rest day I was allowing myself, 1,015 miles, and about twice the height of Everest to climb.  I remember those facts without having to check anything, they had been burned into my mind.

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For a young keen, fit cyclist, not that huge a problem.  For a middle-aged man, well, is 57 middle aged now, slightly overweight, with little real cycling knowledge but a cussed determination to see out what I start, would this be a walk in the park or something more challenging?

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Also, I said we, as while this was a solo ride, I had conscripted a few friends to drop in with me for some of the legs. Sadly there were no celebrities available, not that any of them responded to the invites.  Does make you wonder what is the point of a charity having lots of famous sponsors if they can’t even be bothered to reply to tweets or emails asking for help for the charity that they are meant to be supporting!

 

I know that probably these accounts are managed by their PAs and other flunkies who keep them shielded, but there are a couple of famous people I know who get quite annoyed when they don’t get asked anything as they want to help.  Difficult balance to maintain I guess and I may change my mind when I am famous off the back of this and various other rides or things.

 

So, no celebrities, but Stewart, Ross, Glenn and Jonny would be brilliant substitutes, in fact I am sure I enjoyed their company much more than I would have enjoyed riding with some star. 

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This meant that of the 13 days riding, I would have company for round about 3 to 4 of them, depending upon how things panned out.  The first day and some of the second day was set to be some of that shared time with Stewart.

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As this would take us through Cornwall and well into or even out of Devon, I was very glad to have the company. Not just because it was the start, and I didn't really know what to expect, but also because, to be frank, Cornwall and Devon were giving me the willies.  As far as I could see while looking at the route, there was no flat land in ether county!

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So, the journey to Penzance.

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I start by registering a complaint, Penzance, Land's End, in fact Cornwall and the West country in general are miles away from Lewes in East Sussex.  This meant that with the ride set to start Sunday June 19th, the whole of Saturday would be spent travelling down there.

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And before we get near travelling down to Penzance, the journey really began on the Thursday, loading the bikes onto the top of Helen and Steve's car where they now had a new bike rack. 

 

Who are Helen and Steve?  Annie’s mum and dad, and I felt so grateful, honoured and just a bit scared that they had offered to be the support team for the first three and a half days. To do a ride like this, there is a degree of single mindedness needed, but I also had to be very aware of people’s feelings on this ride, all the way through. Some days I was better at that than others.