Our cyclists will be coasting in to Bertrams this morning, following 5 days of long hard graft on their bikes. They still have everyone in the group, which is an amazing achievement, well done to all the cyclists!
And as for Thursday - Day 4? This section went quite well by all accounts, as Ian Tallamy tells us:
"Thursday was the 83 mile cycle ride, but we appreciated the flatter terrain to cover the miles.
Did you know that the average rider burns up between 4000 and 5000 extra calories each day riding on the bike? As a result we need to eat and drink enough to sustain us for the journey. During the bike ride we’ll consume a combination of energy bars, bananas, pepsi, coffee, sandwiches, cakes, biscuits and yet more biscuits. Then for our evening meal, we need another massive calorie intake, as ably demonstrated by Gordon Scott, one of the support cyclists and Matthew Roberts of Bristol .
[caption id="attachment_1033" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Gordon and Matt get some energy...."]
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The weather had been really good this week, and we had been keeping ahead of the rain clouds, up until Thursday afternoon. Just as we were approaching the Norfolk border the heavens opened, starting with hail stones and followed by rain. Fortunately our support driver managed to find a friendly farmer en route, at 'Russell Farm', and we took shelter in a barn with a cart load of potatoes until the rains eased!!
Eventually we all made it to Thetford safely and in one piece. Incredibly, during the journey there have been no drop outs and no serious injuries, just the sheer determination by all of the cyclists to push as hard as they can to get make it through to Norwich. Friday will be the last day’s cycling and we’re all looking forwards to cycling into Bertrams together as a group, achieving a very memorable and worthwhile cycle ride.
[caption id="attachment_1035" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="It's a serious business, cycling"]
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Despite having cycled over 80 miles on Thursday, a number of the group decided to race the last 4 or 5 miles to the finish line in Thetford - or the Premier Inn car park to be more accurate. Many congratulations to Adrian Howitt from Nottingham for coming first."
And apparently some 'awards' have already been given out to certain members of the group, no doubt more will follow. They include:
'Puncture Champion' - Ian Tallamy. With 4 punctures in 4 days, 2 of them within ten minutes of each other!
'Health & Safety Champion' - John Murphy. John has cycled the entire bike ride in his Smiths News steel-capped safety boots!
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