Broken bikes are no obstacle for the FRSB's cycle challenge fundraising chief executive. Alistair McLean blogs about days three and four of his journey from Land's End to John O'Groats.
Day 3
Broken bike means no miles, so I had to organise emergency repairs: Our support team consisted of two retired gentlemen – the father of one of the riders and his mate. Ted and Dave they have been terrific. Although they are manning our support van, essentially, they are doing it so they could play golf the length of England and Scotland. However, since taking on the responsibility of driving the van, they have rallied to the cause and golf is very much secondary.
So it was Dave and Ted who rushed off to a bike shop to get the bike repaired. In the meantime, I set off on the spare bike which was quite a challenge. I had to ride 80 miles on a second bike owned by one of the group. That owner happens to be only 5’5” while I am 6’ 2”. Anyway, it worked out just fine and it was on the spare bike that I rode across the Severn Bridge, which was truly spectacular.
There are milestones on my journey and this was one.
The misfortune of a fall and broken hanger (very important if you are a cyclist) was outweighed by finishing day three having crossed the Severn into Wales and knowing that day four would see you back on your own bike.
Day 4
Yuck! What a day!! We woke in Chepstow to the sound of heavy rain, but were fooled into a false sense of security when the rain eased. Mother Nature is never predictable, so we were all duped into changing our clothes to lighter clothing believing the bad weather had passed. What fools we were! It rained constantly from Chepstow to Abergevenny, Driving torrential rain over a long slow climbing road of 30 miles to our first break.
Next group phone failure, four of the eight riders had waterlogged phones which were dead. Guess who owned one of them – moi! So suddenly, life in the 21st Century became a lot more difficult to manage. A quick call home to warn them there would be no more contact for the rest of the day and then to try and resolve some problems, notably my blog. What more is in store?
As so often happens, the weather lifted after leaving Abergavenny as we headed North through Gospel Pass into Hey on Wye and on to Shropshire. The climb to Hey on Wye was a rolling upward climb, perfect for cycling and eventually tightening for the last 2 miles – not so perfect for cycling!
But, we were rewarded with the most spectacular view over the Wye valley.
Down we rolled for 4.5 miles on a carpet of newly laid tarmac through the most stunning landscape and on to a well earned rest at lunch, before heading on to Shropshire.
By the end of the day, we had ridden 60 miles to Bishops Castle, Shropshire, arriving in bright evening sunshine. After a good meal, the earlier problems of the day faded quickly. Despite the dead phone, all was nearly perfect!
