Analox recently sponsored me for a coast-to-coast bike ride spanning 147 miles. The money raised will provide Woodham Community Technology College in Newton Aycliffe with equipment for its pupils to participate in cycling.
Seventeen of us set out from Whitehaven, Cumbria on Thursday morning at 9am, travelling for four days across the north of England to Roker Beach, Sunderland. Eleven students – ranging from 12 to 16 – were accompanied by four Woodham teachers and two assistants who supplied us with the equipment to complete the challenge and provided their expert help as one of them had done the journey twice before.
Everyone emerged relatively unscathed, although there were a couple of accidents and crashes. One of the group lost control while riding down a steep hill approaching a tight left-hand bend. He crashed into the grass bank at the side of the track and flew straight over his handlebars into a thorn bush. A few scratches aside, he was injury-free and managed to join in the laughter with the rest of us.
The only other major crash involved a mis-communication between two of the riders, which resulted in the rear of the two taking evasive action to avoid a collision, but lost his back wheel in the slippery conditions and fell into a patch of nettles. Again, only a couple of stings were suffered, and he managed to carry on straight away.
As for myself, the worst thing I encountered was my chain snapping on the second day. With the teachers helping me fix it, we were only held up for five minutes and were soon back on our way.
After the first day of riding – 32 miles from Whitehaven to Keswick – we stayed at a campsite in a large tent. While it had only rained on and off during the day, the heavens opened on the night and large gales started to blow so we all got little sleep and were delayed getting started the next morning.
Luckily the other two nights were spent indoors – a caravan and a youth hostel were provided for us. These were much more comfortable and we were able to rest ourselves properly for the following day’s excursions.
A fantastic time was had by all, but we were all relieved to finally finish around 4pm on Sunday. We were met by family and friends who cheered us on for the final few yards as we dipped our front tyres in the North Sea to complete the journey.
I think shattered is the right word to describe how I felt on Sunday night but I was very glad at getting the chance to take part in such an event. I enjoyed pushing my body to new limits and exploring more of the country, and having two days off school wasn’t bad either.
Anybody wanting to find out more from the expedition can do so by visiting http://www.woodham.durham.sch.uk/Coast-to-Coast.php
Many thanks to Analox for sponsoring me.
Craig Robertson