- Home
- » Blogs
- » David Shaw
One bollard, one dog and an ice patch
Richard & David’s Ride Across Britain
In June, my friend Richard and I plan to cycle from John O’Groats to Land’s End. In fact it is part of a supported charity ride with a mobile ‘tent village’ to greet us each night. In order to be successful we must complete the 1000+ miles in nine days, that’s an average of 114 miles per day.
I should point out that we are both old guys of around sixty years of age, and both new to serious road cycling. I personally am far from certain that I will complete it in time (there is a daily curfew), but have a lot of grit and determination to draw on from my marathon running days – so all I can say is that I will do my best. We both invested heavily in quality bikes and other equipment, and have now been training for a year. Cycling around the Chilterns on a summer afternoon is one thing, but braving the wind, rain and ice throughout the winter was something else. So far we have had three spills: one bollard, one dog and an ice patch. Richard is winning 2:1 and I plan to keep it that way.
Why are we doing this? I suppose part of it is this youthful delusion that we still harbour (okay, midlife crisis if you prefer), but we have found a good charity that we wish to support. We are raising money for Wheel Power's Wheel Appeal and aim to raise £6,000. Sport can make a difference to the physical health of the disabled, but it can also have an inestimable effect on their social and psychological functioning.
If you think this charity is worthwhile, we would very much value your financial support. Even the smallest pledges add up. Since there is so much that can go wrong we are asking for support, irrespective of our success. If I end up having a mishap, it would be a shame for the charity to miss out. But we are not aiming to fail and both have a long history of taking on challenges and hanging on when the going gets tough. If you are willing to support us, please click here and sponsor us.
Please note that our entry fees and all expenses are being paid for by ourselves, so that every penny donated will go to Wheel Power.
Many thanks for reading this,
David Shaw
