June 26, 2015, by sustainablenottingham

Pedalling for Life Cycle 5 – you to can give it a try in August

I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with a number of the Life Cycle rides over the past few years, in this blog I want to tell you a little bit about my latest ride and hopefully inspire and encourage you to get on your bike and support Life Cycle 5 at the Community day on 23^rd August or support me in my fundraising through my just giving site.

It’s quite well known that I like riding my bike, if truth be known it’s really because I like coffee and cake and cycling gives me a great excuse to consume both. So imagine my delight at the prospect of being able to consume lots of cake and coffee on a 205 mile ride from East coast to West coast on the longest day.

The start of this ride was Sheerness on Sea on the Isle of Sheppy and  finish in Burnham on Sea some 205 miles later.  As I was travelling down after work and not due to arrive until about 11pm and needing to be up at 3:30am I decided I would relive my Boy Scout days. Having never been to this area before I assumed that there would be ample rural areas to lay my head, as it turned out the quietest place to get a few hours sleep was on the beach

There is something magical being lulled to sleep by the sound of water running through pebbles. Although it was worryingly alarming how close the sea was when the alarm went off the following morning.
Chase the sun is a simple event really, you start at sun rise which was 4:45 am and you aim to finish by sun down which was 21:31 in between you pedal. The route left Sheerness and headed through south London to Richmond Park then out west through the North Wessex downs on to the Mendip hills before a quick descent through Cheddar Gorge (avoiding the sheep) and finishing on the sea front at Burnham on Sea.

About 300 of us started out from Sheerness and before we knew it we were battling with traffic lights in London (I’m sure that we were stopped by 70% of them),  before the winding lanes of Berkshire and a few too many hills in Wiltshire.   Riding a bike gives you a great sense of freedom, it enables you to see the world around you at a different pace and from a different angle.  On organised events like this one there is a huge community spirit and as the miles pass you by you speak to lot of fellow riders, keen to share tales and experiences.  This coupled with the cheers and shouts from people you pass helps to push you along.

So did I successfully chase the sun and did I find lots of coffee and cake?  Yes I beat the sun, I had no mechanicals and I rode across in 13 hours 42 mins, did I find lots of cake and coffee unfortunately I didn’t manage either coffee or cake.

You too can get on your bike and at the same time raise funds for vital research into dementia. On 23^rd August the University has organised four sponsored bike rides, with distances from 10 to 75 miles there is something for all levels of cyclists. I cannot guarantee you coffee and cake although there are feed stations on route. Whatever distance you choose you will have a great time, meet lots of great people, get a hero’s welcome when you cross that finish line and raise funds for life changing research into dementia.

I would encourage you to sign up and take part; I promise you will have a great time. You can register for a sponsored ride here with early bird discounts available until July 13.

And why not invite family and friends to come along and enjoy a day’s entertainment, with a BBQ, live music and more?

Happy Pedalling
Gavin Scott

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