Our Charity

Our Charity

Thursday 23 June 2011

Photo

Adrian
Dave
Thank goodness we finished! Keith and Tris.
Oh, there you are!
Tris, Keith and Dave
Adrian in the foreground, us behind
The last we saw of Paul
Losing Paul
The first check point is reached!













Tuesday 21 June 2011

Sponsors

Just a quick line to say thank you to Tesco as out local store in Dudley donated several items of food to keep us going on the ride. Cheers!

Also a great big thank you to Wilkinsons who have made a large donation to the cause, thanks very much to everyone.

Again, if you wish to donate to a good cause please click on the Justgiving donation-meter on the side of the blog. This will take you to the Justgiving page where you donate and please remember to Giftaid as this add exit to the total.

Ta, Tris

ABERDOVEY (the real version)


ABERDOVEY (the real version)
After constantly watching the weather reports for the last week, I was not looking forward to the Wolvo to Aberdovey bike ride. We were going to get soaked.
So, bag packed the night before, (two towels, a full change of clothes, waterproof coats and gloves, neck warmer and waterproof socks) I slept in the knowledge that I was prepared for anything this English weather could throw at me.
I awoke, pleasantly surprised it was not yet p*****g it down, but anticipating that it eventually would, because the BBC weather forecast said it would, and put mine and Adrian’s bikes on the roof of the car, after I’d had breakfast of course (most important meal of the day, according to mom)
Myself, Adrian, Keith and  Paul Greaves, had agreed to leave from my house and meet up with the mini bus at Dudley. So yes, I would have all four bikes on the roof of the Volvo, and yes, they easily out valued (by a lot of £££’s) the value of the car. (thanks Tris)
Surprise, surprise, guess who turned up first, and, who had cycled the 2 miles to mine, KEITH, (no, you don’t win a prize, that was too easy to guess) he was quickly followed by the others and we set off to Dudley, where we met up with the mini bus, transferred everything over to it and set off to the shrine (sorry, The Molineux, probably the best starting point they have ever had)
After signing on, John loading up the mini bus, (he was looking after the first check point, bless him) Daddy Davies sweet talking some photographer to take our photo , and the words “IF WE GET SPLIT UP, WE’LL ALL MEET AT THE FIRST CHECKPOINT” shouted out, we were given the OK to ride to Aberdovey. Little did we know Daddy Davies was deaf, and that, would be the last we would see of him, and:-
IT WAS STILL NOT RAINING
First checkpoint reached, refreshed, and passed (no Davies, no Paul Greaves, who had gone on) and John & Phil doing a wonderful job giving out bananas and water, we made towards C/P 2. We being me, Keith, Tris and Adrian.
Now, after taking in a lot of fluid (don’t want to get de-hydrated) your body lets you know when it’s full and you have to answer its call, and having found myself on the front of our group AGAIN, I can distinctly remember saying to persons behind “ I going to stop for a ****”, obviously this message was not passed back (daddy Davies was not the only one suffering from a hearing impediment) and as I pulled up all hell broke loose behind.
All I know is, I entered this field to, well, you know, and found this guy behind me, who I did not know asking me if I was OK, to which I replied, “I’ve only stopped for a ****, why?” I was later informed, in no uncertain terms that I had nearly caused a major pile up and that the guy who followed me into the field did so because he had nowhere else to go to avoid coming off his bike. I felt doubly guilty after, when I was told that the same guy had been knocked off his bike the previous week and was still very nervous. To all involved, if you ever read this I am truly SORRY., but:-
IT WAS STILL NOT RAINING
I feel that I was later punished by some higher power, however, because over the course of the route one of the screws that holds a bottle cage in place, sheared off and allen keys fell out of the saddle bag, causing us to stop again. I was not having a good day, but:-
IT WAS STILL NOT RAINING
I can honestly say that the remainder of the ride was quite uneventful but enjoyable, though the pace was quite high and trying to keep up with Tris and Keith was nigh on impossible. (please slow down on the E2E, lads, but:-
IT STILL HADN’T RAINED
I arrived in Aberdovey after six and half hours of riding, feeling OK, and the Achilles feeling not too bad.
I do remember thinking though, that we would have to spend these sorts of hours in the saddle for 12 consecutive days on the E2E. (OMG)
A shower, a change of clothes and a cup of tea later I was feeling much better, and we were soon on our way back to Dudley, (I hoped, seeing as I fell asleep on the way back) thanks to John and Phil. (not for boring me to sleep but for driving)
After loading the bikes back on the car, guess what:- IT STILL HADN’T RAI~~, No, No, your wrong:-
IT STARTED RAINING
The only time the bikes got wet was when we were back in Dudley on our way home, who would’ve forecast that, obviously NOT the BBC.

Posted by Dave...

Monday 20 June 2011

Aberdovey (The rider's perspective)

Well what can I say about the Aberdovey bike ride that we all just took part in? It was the furthest I have ever ridden before by some 20 odd miles and for the majority I didn't think I was going to get anywhere near to finishing it.

For me I was woken at 5am with a feeling of dread and nerves in the pit of my stomach as I was and am still recovering from a leg injury which involves my IT band. Don't ask me 'cause I don't really know what it is either. All I know is it hurts to pedal my bike and I now feel like I will never cycle again without some measure of pain. I am currently having needles jammed into my leg by a Physio which is making it better though as usual, not as fast as I would like. What a whinger! The day before Aberdovey I had, had one such session where a small movement of the needle made me want to jump onto the ceiling with pain and caused a sheen of perspiration to form on my brow as I thanked the needle pusher on my way out. Cheers, I think.

I also had taken my bike for a pre-LEJOG service. It worked perfectly before it went in and even debated taking it in at all. I wish I hadn't bothered, nothing works as it should and I know I will be spending some time tinkering with it until it's right. Oh well, you live and learn.

I arrived at Dudley Police Station to join with the others and whilst sitting eating a pre-ride bacon butty from from the Golden Arches I could see a Volvo arrive at the crest of the hill struggling with the amount of bikes it had on it's roof. From looking at them I could easily tell that the cost of the four bikes on it's roof easily outstripped the value of their means of transportation. I could also tell from the looks I was getting that others wished they too had the foresight to visit that most famous fast food emporium.

The start was in Wolverhampton at the Molineux at was a bit of a tight squeeze at the start due to there being over three hundred riders. As the ride started I saw Daddy Davies ride off into the distance and I could hear "If we split up, wait at the first check point". That would be the last we would see of him until the end. But that's a different story.

The ride started off well. We stuck together (apart from Paul) and I felt my confidence rise as I only felt the pull in my knee a couple of miles from the first check point. Once there I gave it a good stretch which seemed to do the trick and away we went on the scout for our missing team member who had left just before us.

I won't bore you too much more about the ride it's self. Apart from the weather, although overcast stayed in the main good and that Dave managed to nearly kill someone when he decided to stop suddenly without telling the men behind. All I saw as I glanced behind was a poor fellow entering a field via a conveniently open gate saving him from quite a nasty spill.

My knee got progressively worse, though it was bearable. What stressed me out the most was Keith's fitness. Now he has retired and has nothing else to do other than ride his brand new bike around all day every day and his stamina was amazing. Towards the end Keith and I made a breakaway and I struggled.

The last 9 miles were the worst as I put my head down and tried to keep Keith's back tyre in my view. There is nothing more demoralizing (Police cuts included) than seeing the chap ahead pull effortlessly away and not being able to keep up. If you were to see me on the last stretch you would probably have heard a strange chanting to the tune of "The little engine that could.". "I am done...I am done...I am done...Keith wait for me!"

Let's not be under any illusions, as I passed under the finish flag I was shot. Both knees were ready for the knacker's yard and all energy was drained. As I was passed the Aberdovey finisher's mug I had to use everything to not take a tumble off my bike and smile for the camera. (The poor chap behind me couldn't muster the energy and did fall off!) Daddy Davies and I were reunited but I wasn't for speaking to him for several minutes and it was off for a shower and then home. I was told that I was catching flies on the bus; Keith had in fact talked  me to sleep!

The day was a success, I really enjoyed it. My knees however did not. Three days later they both feel better and my injury has gone back to the same level as it was pre-Aberdovey. There is still hope.
I think I should be able to manage the End2End with the help pain killers but the gift of being able to walk after may be something else.

Tris

Sunday 19 June 2011

Aberdovey Bike Ride 17th June 2011

When I was rudely awoken at 5am this morning by my alarm, I looked out the window at the ever greying clouds and thought how blooming glad I was that I wasn't cycling to Aberdovey today!

The castle wheelers were doing the Wolverhampton to Aberdovey bike ride, not just to help raise more money for charity but also as a practise ride for the main End2End event. Just for today, Paul, Tris, Keith and Dave had been joined by two others-another Paul and Adrian. Meanwhile, I have been keeping warm in our support bus!

The race was 102 miles from start to finish with six checkpoints along the way. In return for the organisers making a donation to our fund, we agreed to man the first checkpoint and provide a support vehicle.

I left the lads at the Monlineux just before 7am, and headed off to Telford to help man the check point. The race began at half 7, with a police motorcycle escort out of town. There were around 300 riders in total and it didn't take long for the first few to reach me -14 miles up the road. I had the job of dishing out water and bananas! Of the wheelers, Paul came in first. He had convinced himself that he was behind the others and had been 'breaking his neck' to catch up. He set off more or less straight away, planning on taking it easy so the others could catch up. Tris, Keith and Dave arrived about five minutes after Paul had continued. They set off in pursuit, laughing to each other how Paul had stated that come the big day, he didn’t want to be left behind!! Once all 300 or so participants had cleared the first check point, I could concentrate solely on the wheelers.

The next stop was on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. Taking the short route along the motorway, I arrived a few minutes before Paul. Somewhat gobsmacked that he hadn’t been caught by the others, he set off without them once again. I believe that in his mind, he thought he would be caught up at some point, and would be holding the others back, hence him wanting to get as far ahead as possible. Eight minutes later the others rolled in. Tris and Dave were taking time to stretch out some of their recent injuries. It has been a few weeks since either of them has done a good run. Tris had a knee strain and Dave has a niggle at his Achilles. Keith had still got his coat on! He’d completed 30 or so miles and hadn’t even broken a sweat! Adrian was riding with Tris, Dave and Keith, while Paul ‘Two’ was up ahead with ‘Our’ Paul. With everyone feeling good, the four left towards checkpoint three-somewhere just over the Welsh border. This was the last point at which I saw ‘The Pauls’ until the finish line.  Even with a mini bus, I couldn’t catch them now! I kept with the remaining four; leap frogging them and keeping an eye on them, particularly Tris and Dave, bearing in mind their recent injuries.

Newtown was soon upon us, 64 miles in. 300 sausage rolls were being dished out! This was the furthest that the Castle Wheelers had even ridden as a team (Minus Paul of course, all we could see of him was the scorch marks he’d left in his wake, similar to those from Back To The Future!) They were in good spirits as they left.

The lads didn’t look tired, but at 80 miles they were definitely looking forward to the finish line! The last five miles into Aberdovey saw one hell of an evil hill, even the mini bus struggled! I arrived at the finish, 15 minutes after ‘The Pauls’. Ten minutes later, the final four crossed the line. You could see the exhaustion on their faces. They quickly got showered and changed at Aberdovey yacht club, while I packed the bikes into the bus. It took them around six and a half hours to complete the course averaging between 15-17mph-much faster than what is required for the End2End challenge. Hopefully, they will be able to manage to reduce that pace over the 12 twelve days, otherwise they will burn out very quickly!

We set back just before half four, stopping off at Welshpool for some rather splendid fish and chips!

Only three weeks now to the big event, it is very scary now how quickly it is coming round!!

This was written by John