Christies London 2 Liverpool Charity Bike Ride

Roll of Honour

2008-09-29T11:33:00.021+01:00

In no particular order:

Mike "two bikes" Redhead

Adrian "ceiling lowerer" Robinson

John "pro cyclist" Howson

John "pre cyclist" Hewson

Nadine "white van" Matheson

Anita "map"

Rishi "to the gents" Shah

Jay "just one moment" Manek

Steve "table sleeper" Holdroyd

Ronnie "my name is" Manek

Keith "the organiser" Gains

and of course me and Bernard! But there are enough pics of me & Bern on here already.

You can view all the pics from the blog on a Google map here, the GPS co-ordinates taken from the magic phone, it shows our general route. I like the fact that the one taken from the ferry even shows us in the Mersey.

Cheers,
Neil

P.s. May be somebody can suggest a middle name for me?

The crew

2008-09-27T17:36:00.001+01:00

Certificates all round

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Howard from Christies hands out the certificates.

Thanks!

2008-09-27T16:45:00.001+01:00

Thanks Gary for the £20... Much appreciated.

Team Novera

2008-09-27T16:29:00.001+01:00

We made it!

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Well done everybody.

Liverpool!!

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The ferry approaches...

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Ready for the ferry

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T-shirts at the ready

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Last min repairs

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Birkenhead here we come

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Chester - almost there !!

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We hit a snag

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...they tell us it will be a nice road next year!!!

Mid morning break...

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...at Nantwitch

Our wonderful support...

2008-09-27T10:09:00.000+01:00

Anita and Nadine take a break...

British Secret Service at it's best

2008-09-27T09:58:00.000+01:00

Day 3 start

2008-09-27T08:53:00.000+01:00

Breakfast on day 3

2008-09-27T07:53:00.000+01:00

And it's only the milk that is not feeling great...

Day 2 report

2008-09-27T05:58:00.003+01:00

Setting off at 08:45 we made our way from Daventry through the fog to the Fosse Way with no visible scars from day 1!

Ron and Rishi decided that the main route was not really for them whilst John How and Keith managed to find the worlds biggest ford, rumours of the Yangtze being in England have not been confirmed!!

Lunch at Coombe Abbey in the sunshine was glorious, we then set off towards Ansty with just the one White van man incident under our belts.

To carry on the religous theme we all congregated at the spectacular Lichfield Catheral, Ron & Rishi decided that their route should now meet with ours. After a quick tour we set off along the A51 for our
final 20+ miles of the day.

Everybody finished by 18:30, beer in hand as the sun went down over Swynnerton. Ahhhh that's nice.

Who knows it could even be sunny tomorrow as well? Sorry Rory. :)

Keith orders the Whale and chips!

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Swynnerton with Beer

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Day 2 complete!

Road to stone

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Hope GM wasn't in there

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Steve enjoys the sun!!

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Keith finds the tour trophey cabinet

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Culture for the riders

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Keith takes a walk in the Cathedral

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Supplies arrive

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The team reach Lichfield

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Beautiful day!!!

Commercial Manager needs pay rise

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Impromtu repairs in Nuneton

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Coombe Abbey

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...for a bite to eat and some glorious sunshine. :)

Fosse Way

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Welcomes us with a hill... Well done guys!

Day 2 start - here we go!

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Breakfast Day 2

2008-09-26T07:51:00.000+01:00

People are eager to enter the fog on Daventry!

Day 1 Report

2008-09-26T06:13:00.001+01:00

With an absolutely enormous effort from everybody day 1 is complete, we are in Long Furlong Farm B&B, a very very welcome retreat after our 90+ miles. Double helpings of homemade cottage pie and lasagne, with apple pie for afters all washed down with a well deserved pint, lovely.

I think its always surprising how a combination of fatigue, tiredness and disorientation can effect people and there decision making, and day one was no exception. For example Keith opened a can of Fosters and decided to have just one sip, probably a first I'm reliably informed!! And then there was the decision of Rishi and Ron to collide with each other during the euphoria of finding the B&B in the pitch dark. Well maybe that was in voluntary... By the way, no lasting physical injuries!!

So, day 2 awaits whilst we all head off for a well earned sleep. Well done everybody.

P.s. A big big thank you to Bill Brookes from the Whip & Collar in Maple Cross for his donation, it is very much appreciated.

Silverstone

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Bernard & Nadine enjoy the evening sunshine !

Nags head, Winslow

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Nice

Great Misinden

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We meet the pelican

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What a wonderful world

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Impromptu singalong after 4 punctures - time for a beer!

Mid-life crisis Team photo

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Like a tiger (snake)... meeowwww

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Team Novera rapid response support crew

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Mike feels a little deflated after some dodgy canal...

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A quick Brew with Liz and Phil

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She wishes one well.

We are off!

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Almost ready....

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Lycra is being adorned

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Bikes are primed!

Train to Londinium

2008-09-24T18:53:00.000+01:00

Ok so everything seems to be running smoothly, even the train is on
time. But travelling with a bike on FGW is a little hairy especially
knowing that you really do need that bike tomorrow! For saftey reasons
you not permitted to lock it, consequently at every station I'm
watchin for my bike to dissappear across the station... We've passed
Reading so I think were safe no phew. ;)

Our route

2008-09-24T08:12:00.004+01:00

Right then, 1 day to go and here is our approximate route, we start in Covent Garden and head out north(ish) past Watford going towards our first stop in Daventry. Day 2 takes us past Coventry, Birmingham and Tamworth and our second stop in Stoke-on-Trent. Day 3 sees us wind our way to Liverpool, and it looks like the sun will be shinning! Click here for a Google Map

Passssssenger

2008-09-23T14:19:00.004+01:00

Those of you who read/followed the Paris blog will be familiar with Norman, he ended up riding either on my bike or when he wanted to really see the world, attached to the top of my helmet (ahem). Well, Norman's owner was in the office the other day and when he overheard that I was once again taking to the road he suggested I take Bernard.

Now don't get me wrong, I like animals and indeed Norman had some sort of appeal, I would get many smiles, waves and toots from passing car drivers at the site of a fully grown black and white cat perched on my head as I struggled up a hill. But a snake?

Well, here is Bernard the Snake and I'm not so sure. Either about my sanity or his staying power, and he doesn't say a word, he just hisses all the time. Psst, psst.

May be I should put it to the vote? should Bernard come with us to Liverpool?

Weather for the Journey

2008-09-22T16:00:00.006+01:00

I was wondering whether (no pun intended) we'll be needing shorts and T-Shirts or full wet weather gear and in doing so stumbled across these little weather widgets, I'll update this page with all the locations along our route.

Ah, that's nice.

The Big Smoke:

Forecast | Maps | Radar

Daventry, the end of day 1:

Forecast | Maps | Radar

Stoke-on-Trent, day 2:

Forecast | Maps | Radar

And here is Liverpool:

Forecast | Maps | Radar

Dare I say it, it looks more and more like the tan will be topped up for winter...

A Postcard from the North

2008-09-22T15:32:00.006+01:00

Before I disclose the news about a new rider, or passenger in the group (hot off the press) and of course remind everybody in the world wide webby thing that they can donate at the Just Giving page here is a little postcard from Mike telling us about his preparations.

"Good Afternoon Neil (and fellow riders!),

Enjoyed your picture so much, thought I would send you one of mine, as you can see the expected rush for deckchairs never materialized, this was Sunday morning Southport promenade, looking out across the Irish sea towards Blackpool, some say that on certain days of the year you can walk across the sands from Southport to Blackpool, on others, the tides in and you have to swim, which is just like going through the motions, however I’m told they have recently spent millions on new effluent treatment.

Anyway, just read the blog, and thought I would give you a brief resume on my training which finished around 2 hours after this photo was taken, managed back to back 60 miles on what must have been two of the most perfect cycling days to date.

Prior to this had built up steady mileage 35-40 miles a day then six weeks ago fell off a BSA Bantam and broke my shoulder(note to one’s self, ensure vehicle has come to a complete stop before dismounting).

Three weeks ago, start again, concur with your comment regarding fitness levels, takes an age to get there and but a moment to lose it, cycle to work every day and made best use of the weekends available. Now I am as ready as can be expected and I think I am looking forward to the jolly boys outing, and when I say outing I mean a trip, not some news of the world serialisation of a pasta party .

Regards,
Jess,

The Northern Monkey."

Thanks Mike, sounds like you had a great weekend, and is that a Cannondale I see? Very nice. May be we can swap notes as I hire a Cannondale in Italy.

I must say that I'm a little impressed with the whole cycling with a broken shoulder lark, I think I'd have probably opted to be in the support van.

3 Days To Go

2008-09-22T10:08:00.007+01:00

My weekend was very busy, I had a wedding in Bristol Zoo and loads of chores to do. With only 3 days to go I know they'll disappear quicker than Lance Armstrong on a downhill, so it's time to make lists and dare I say it, pack. We are all planning to meet up the night before in London and eat/drink our carbs ready for the start, and I'll be travelling up courtesy of First Great Western with bike and bag, should be fun.

So, during the weekend did I put in those final last minute miles on the bike so that I'm in tip-top condition and ready for all? Not quite.

Although I did manage to clean it (see sad pic of bike cleaning duty below), and once again after cleaning it it no longer squeaks and creaks like a tea trolley in an old folks home.
I'm now convinced that this is a new "feature" that Giant are building into their bikes, as soon as it gets a little bit dirty it starts to moan. Fnarr, fnarr. Anyways I think I'm set and despite the weather being absolutely glorious over the weekend I only managed to do 30 miles on Friday.

I'm not sure what the weather will be like during the trip so I think I might get some longer gloves, other than that I'll be taking the following spares: 1 x Chain, 3 x Inner Tubes, 1 x Tire, SPDs, Torq energy drink, Torq chewy bars (Mmmmm) and not forgetting the puncture repair. Any other spares will just have to gleamed from the nearest shop.

I wonder how the rest of the team are getting on with their preparations?

Introduction to the Blog

2008-09-15T13:29:00.005+01:00

I guess a short introduction is required. This is now my second charity cycle stint of the year and as with the Bristol 2 Paris trip I will update this blog with up to the minute details and progress of pre-ride prep and of course the main event.

So, why cycle from London to Liverpool I here you say? Haven't you had enough fun for the year?

Well it went a little like this. Whilst returning from Paris jaunt my good lady wife mentioned that a group of gents from her work (Novera Energy) were embarking on a charity ride of their own and were looking for volunteers/victims. Maybe it was the high from completion of 358 miles or maybe just the smell of summer but before I could even think about the hills and rain and wind I was signed up. Liz was of course asked but let's just say that even with the mention of pedals she starts to shiver and break out in a cold sweat before running for the door.

Ok, so on to the most important part of the introduction, the charity which is Christies Hospital Manchester and The John Pearson Tribute Fund. And rather than telling you in my own words why this is such a wonderful cause please take a look at this JustGiving page and of course please feel free to contribute, large or small.

Now, with just one week to go I must say that I'm a little worried out my legs. I've been a on a few training rides and I guess I thought that after Paris I would be still fine and that wonderful thing called fitness would just hang around till, say, Christmas. Oh how I was wrong, and it all started on our week away in Italy.

As on previous trips I hired a bike and went out for a few early morning jaunts before it got too warm (Liz calls me a wierdo, but hey, I see it as attention), the pic at the top is from the end of my ride from Spedalicchio to Monte Santa Maria Tiberina. Good eh? And here is the route.

...and then this is the view of me, not so good.

So as soon as I was back home I started to do some training rides, you know nothing too taxing, 20-25 miles and it hurt, a lot, especially Weston Hill in Bath.

I must say though that with all this whinging I am still looking forward to it and of course meeting everybody involved. I'm sure during the course of the journey they will all feature here in some shape or form, but for the record they are (in no particular order): Ronnie Manek, Keith Gains, Jay Manek, Rishi Shah, John Howson, John Hewson, Stephen Holdroyd, Adrian Robinson, Gregory Gibbs, Mike Redhead & Michael Neofytou.