Nottingham Life Cycle 5: The Vice Chancellor’s Blog

Way of the Roses: Bridlington to Morecambe This will be a different kind of Life Cycle blog, because this is a different kind of Life Cycle. Despite the plan for only one Nottingham Life Cycle, we have now completed four, and for four different causes. Together they have raised £1.5 million. All of us associated …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 14 – Eastbourne to Dover

It’s interesting how distance becomes relative. At breakfast today when our maps were handed out, there was real delight that we ‘only’ had about 65 miles to do. Four months ago we were not even doing that in training runs. And, apart from two big climbs, one out of Hastings and one into Dover, it …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 5 – Cairndow to Kilmarnock

Another brute of a day: 88 miles, mostly in headwinds, with an exacting start and even more exacting finish. We stayed at The Stagecoach Inn in Cairndow, only a few miles from the original Loch Fyne Oyster Bar. The other riders and Support Team had dinner there. I stayed at the hotel to write yesterday’s …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 4 – Spean Bridge to Cairndow

The weather forecast for today promised it would be grim. It was grim, and we had 93 miles to do. But, first things first: In yesterday’s blog I forgot to mention it was Simon’s birthday. Because our ‘hosts’ at Spean Bridge Hotel refused to serve us dinner because we were 10 minutes late, we were …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 3 – Inchbae to Spean Bridge

One of the most sensational results in Scottish football is Berwick 1, Rangers 0: the Scottish Cup in 1967. Today Rangers were again at Berwick. This time because the Glasgow giants are in the Third Division, having been demoted from the Scottish Premier League to the bottom tier of Scottish football for financial irregularities. This …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 2 – Inchnadamph to Inchbae

For the second day running we woke to a glorious morning: bright, sunny and still. The only fly in the ointment is that’s ideal conditions for midges, and swarms of them were out for an early breakfast. The jungle spray I bought at Birmingham airport did not do what it said on the tin and …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 1 – Cape Wrath to Inchnadamph

As I predicted, it was two out of three. There was no Sky coverage in Inchnadamph. Still, Forest secured a 2-2 draw away to Bolton which continues a good start to the season. Judged by its name, Cape Wrath sounds forbidding, a place where one dares to go rather than chooses to go. Actually it …

The VC’s Life Cycle 2 Blog: Day 0 – Nottingham to Durness

Starting an ‘end to end’ from Cape Wrath is a lot less straightforward than starting at John O’Groats. You can’t just drive there. So task number one, get to Durness to stay overnight, before crossing the Kyle of Durness to The Parph and on to Cape Wrath. Over the last week everyone has been involved …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 14: Bodmin to Land’s End

1625, September 8th 2011, mission accomplished. It was an early start for me. We arrived at Bodmin late yesterday, ate late and had energy for little else but bed. So I set the alarm for 0500, to get the Day 13 blog written and posted before our departure. Conditions were miserable as we prepared to …

The VC’s blog: JoGLE Day 13: Exeter to Bodmin

What a day, the toughest of the trip. Departure from Exeter was a bit un-coordinated. Alan was out first, having opted to go straight along the A30. He was followed on the same route by Steve and Neville (someone told Neville there were no traffic lights on the A30). The boldest choice was made by …