The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 14 – Nevill Holt to Nottingham

What a wonderful day. We knew finishing in Nottingham would be something special, but none of us anticipated just how special. It was a cold start, overcast with northerly winds. Those of us staying in various places in Medbourne had a one and a half mile climb to Nevill Holt, our start point for the …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 13 – Hatfield to Nevill Holt

It was another long day, longer than it should have been. Because breakfast at Hertfordshire University was not available until 0730, everyone set off later than usual. Andy, Steve and Neville got off to a flyer, hoping to make time to see Manchester City on the way. Chris and Penelope followed. Karen, Kate, Marion, Stefano …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 12 – Wantage to Hatfield

It was so much simpler getting out of Wantage than Cardiff, a straightforward one way arrangement which did not take much working out, and we were away. I have no idea of the order of departure. I had a blog to finalise, and was last out with Stefano and Nick. With Stefano leading we made …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 11 – Cardiff to Wantage

Another 100 mile day (well, 101 to be precise) though Chris exceeded even that with 110. Getting out of Cardiff is even harder than getting out of York. Chris went solo today and was away quickly, his navigation challenges came later than ours. The rest of us, 11 riders, plus Roger, plus our new leg …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 10 – Swansea to Cardiff

Today was another day. What a contrast to yesterday. We ate very late last night, joined by Susan and Jenny. Despite that, all riders were at breakfast before 0700 and ready to go shortly after 0800. Roger, who knows this part of Wales like the back of his hand, suggested some adjustments to the route, …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 9 – Aberystwyth to Swansea

Hmm, I’m not sure where to begin today. So maybe I should just start from the beginning. We had a kind of home-made / dig in breakfast in one of the Halls of Aberystwyth University, lots of bags and cartons of stuff that got us there. There was way too much chatter about routes and …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 8 – Bangor to Aberystwyth

We began the day by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Simon in the car park of Bangor University Halls of Residence, where we had stayed overnight. We presented him with a new watch and a card and called for a speech. He said ‘thank you’ and we left. Andy was off like a shot, saying he …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 7 – Balbriggan to Bangor

Today was a bit messy. Just 55 miles to be covered, but broken up, with quite a bit of sitting around. We set out from Balbriggan after a comfortable night at the Bracken Court Hotel, excellent accommodation and good food. Susan Anderson, our leg rider who joined us yesterday, rode with us to Dun Laoghaire, …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 6 – Belfast to Balbriggan

Our leg rider today was Susan Anderson. Susan is a Lecturer in Pathology in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. She was born and bred in Balbriggan and was a student at Queen’s University Belfast, where we stayed overnight. In fact, she lived in the Hall next to the one we where we stayed. …

The VC’s Life Cycle 3 Blog: Day 5 – Cumnock to Belfast

Our accommodation at the Dumfries Arms Hotel in Cumnock was very comfortable and the dinner last night outstanding. Top marks. I actually set off with the entire team this morning. We quickly broke into a 9-2 formation (Man City in Europe?) with Chris and Stefano out front. Chris set out with a spare tyre wrapped …