Gill’s London to Brighton Bike Ride

 

“The idea started to form last October when my friend suggested that we should train and take part in the London to Brighton Cycle Ride.  At that time, the idea of cycling 54 miles sounded a big challenge.  However, I do like a challenge so we agreed that we would do it. It also seemed a great opportunity to raise some money for the MND Association.

 

I have always been a keen runner and I was concerned that I wouldn’t enjoy training on the bike, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I have absolutely loved being out on my bike in the fresh air and I will continue to cycle now that the London to Brighton is over.

 

We started our training in February this year with rides of about 6 miles and steadily increased this as the weeks went by.  We were doing two to three rides a week – we would start in Biggin Hill and find different routes from there.  We are very lucky to have such beautiful countryside around us as it made it much more enjoyable to cycle down the country lanes rather than being on very busy main roads!  We also did a lot of hill training which really paid off on the day of the cycle ride as there is one particularly big hill at the end.

 

We applied for our place when the online applications opened on 1st March and were delighted that we both got a place and were both to start at 7.30am.  They stagger all the start times from 6am through to 10.30am.  There are 27,000 people that take part so you can imagine the numbers of cyclists that were on the road on the day!

 

The race was to take place on Sunday 21^st June which was Father’s Day.  I had decided that I would raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association as I am very passionate about raising much needed funds for the Association having lost Dad to MND last year.  I knew it would be an emotional day because it was Father’s Day but was delighted to be doing something very worthwhile in Memory of Dad.

 

We continued with our training once our places were confirmed in March.  The longest ride we did was about 30 miles.  I was training on a mountain bike but decided to upgrade my bike and I bought a proper road/racing bike.  This made a big difference and the speed gained versus the effort I put in was amazing.

 

The day of the ride arrived and we left home at 6.15am to be dropped off at Clapham Common for our 7.30am start.  We were a little nervous but knew we would be fine once we got going.  The weather was perfect for cycling as it was overcast and cool.  We had our spare inner tubes, cereal bars and drinks on board and were ready to go.  The numbers of riders at the start was amazing and we got over the start line at 7.45am”.

 

The first 15 miles getting out of London was a bit slow and we did have to stop for traffic at certain points.  A couple of times we came to a complete standstill as the sheer numbers of cyclists prevented us from moving into certain smaller roads effectively.  This was a bit frustrating because we wanted to be riding our bikes! 

 

At the half way point just before Turners Hill, we were greeted by Mum, my husband and my two little girls.  They were enthusiastically waving at us and encouraging us on.  We stopped here for a break and had something to eat.  It was lovely to see them and really got us motivated for the second half of the race.

 

After 15 minutes we were off again, and the roads were running much better, which was great.  We could really put our training into practice and were really motoring along and enjoying ourselves, without worrying about cars (they close a lot of the roads to car traffic).  Having said that, you had to be very aware of the other cyclists as a lot of people are novices and not very road aware.

 

We got past the 40 mile mark and still felt great!  We knew that we still had to cycle up Ditchling Beacon which is a very big and steep hill at about 45 miles which most cyclists walk up!  We were determined to cycle the whole way and I am absolutely delighted to say that we both got to the top without stopping.  There were so many people walking with their bikes that it did prove difficult at times to get by them all.  Once we got to the top we could look down and see the coastline of Brighton a few miles away. This was a great feeling and we flew down into Brighton on a real high. 

 

We were met by my husband, Mum and the girls at the finish line and got our medals.  It was such a great ride and we both felt really good.  We finished off our day with fish and chips on the pier. 

 

I am sure that Dad was with us in spirit and I know he would be very proud of us. I have had great support from friends and family and have managed to raise over £1,000 for the MND which makes this personal challenge so worthwhile. I do hope that these funds can help to make a difference, in some small way.

 

 

PRESENTATION PROJECT