On Yer Bike

Journey Summary

2009-07-13T11:02:00.001+01:00

We cycled the 416 miles from Edinburgh to London in 31 hours 6 mins total riding time (over 6 days) averaging 13.4 mph and with a maximun speed of 42.1 mph.

Thanks for all the messages of support - if you'd like to sponsor me in support of ChildLine you still can at http://www.justgiving.com/bt-on-yer-bike

Day 6

2009-07-09T19:53:00.010+01:00

We started at about 10am this morning and decided to ride through London via Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Parliament and then along the Thames to the City of London.

We arrived at our final destination, BT's Head Office, at midday!

Today's stats are:
Total Distance 13.8 miles
Total Riding Time 1 hours 9 minutes
Maximum Speed 27.1 mph
Average Speed 12..0 mph

Day 5

2009-07-09T07:21:00.008+01:00

We left Coventry at about 9.30am and we were all making good progress up to Milton Keynes where both Matt and Chris had punctures. Matt then had further punctures in Dunstable and St. Albans. We crossed the M25 at 8pm and reached our final destination (Colindale) just after 9pm.

Today's stats are:
Total Distance 86.9 miles
Total Riding Time 5 hours 47 minutes
Maximum Speed 42.1 mph
Average Speed 15.0 mph

Day 4

2009-07-08T06:21:00.003+01:00

This morning in Stoke we changed 2 tyres (both on the support vehicle) whilst we waited for the heavy rain to pass. We then managed to avoid the rain again at lunchtime but got soaked in a downpour about 20 miles from our final destination, Coventry.

Today's stats are:
Total Distance 60.3 miles
Total Riding Time 4 hours 09 minutes
Maximum Speed 37.8 mph
Average Speed 14.5 mph

Day 3

2009-07-06T22:14:00.002+01:00

We left Preston at 9:30 this morning and reached Warrington for lunch at 12:15. Whilst in BT's Warrington Contact Centre the heavens opened. Luckily by the time we were ready to get going the rain had stopped - we have been so lucky with the weather so far and have not had to cycle through anything more than a light shower. Having said that, we all got wet feet riding through a flooded road in Holmes Chapel today.

We arrived at our final destination, Stoke-On-Trent, at 6:00pm.

Today's stats are:
Total Distance 66.7 miles
Total Riding Time 4 hours 58 minutes
Maximum Speed 34.1 mph
Average Speed 13.4 mph

Day 2

2009-07-05T22:44:00.008+01:00

We left the BT building in Carlisle at 9:30 but got waylaid by a visit to Halfords to each buy some cycling gloves (to stop the blisters on our hands getting any bigger).

Outside Halfords we met a guy who was cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats in 4 days! That's over 210 miles per day!

There were a lot of hills today as we went through the Lake District. At one stage we climbed to 1400ft at Shap Pass. On the way down we did manage to get to over 41 mph!

Chris has the first puncture of the ride between Lancaster and Preston and we finally arrived in Preston at 9pm!

Today's stats are:

Total Distance 91.8 miles

Total Riding Time 7 hours 21 minutes

Maximum Speed 41.3 mph

Average Speed 12.4 mph

Day 1

2009-07-04T23:44:00.004+01:00

We started later than planned after Matt and Chris' flight to Edinburgh was delayed and they didn't arrive at the hotel until 1:30 this morning. We met for breakfast at 8:00 (note to self: don't have a Full English Breakfast before riding a long distance on your bike - it's porridge for me tomorrow). We finally reached the start point at BT's Alexander Graham Bell House at 10:00 and left soon afterwards.

Within a few hundred yards of the start we lost the support vehicle (by going through a bike only barrier) and wasted about half an hour trying to meet up with it again. Leaving Edinburgh (in fact leaving Scotland) was hard going with some up hill sections lasting nearly 10 miles!

We finally crossed the border at 8pm and arrived in Carlisle at about 10pm.

I can honestly say that it was the hardest day's cycling I've ever done - I'm really not looking forward to tomorrow!

Today's stats are:
Total Distance 96.59 miles
Total Riding Time 7 hours 42 minutes
Maximum Speed 37.7 mph
Average Speed 12.5 mph

Last minute update

2009-07-02T15:39:00.002+01:00

During the planning for this ride the make up of the team has changed several times. The final team is made up of three riders; myself, Chris Hiscock and Matt Reid and two support members; James Longhurst and Kevin Bradley.

I have had some great support during the planning process and would particularly like to thank James Longhurst and Richard Shoulders for their help. We have also had some very generous sponsorship from friends and colleagues as well as corporate sponsors - thanks to all of them! The main corporate sponsors' logos are listed (along with links to their websites) at the side of this page but I would also like to thank Premier Inns who have kindly provided hotel accomodation for the team along the route.

The team are all meeting in Edinburgh tomorrow night (Friday 3rd July) ready for an early start on Saturday morning. I will aim to provide regular updates on this site during the ride and will provide a full review at the end.

If you haven't sposored us yet please do so at www.justgiving.com/bt-on-yer-bike.

Thanks for all your support!

Follow our progress on Twitter

2009-07-02T14:46:00.003+01:00

It will be easier to provide updates during our ride from Twitter rather than having to log into this blog. As a result I have added an area to the right of this page that will provde the last 5 updates from my Twitter account. -->

Alternatively you could subscribe to my Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/david_m_thomas

Sponsor Us Now!

2009-06-04T19:20:00.001+01:00

You can now sponsor me (and the other 5 riders) through our Justgiving web page at http://justgiving.com/bt-on-yer-bike.

Please dig deep and sponsor us now!

Thanks!

Training Setback

2009-05-18T17:53:00.004+01:00

Last week, during training for the Cure Leukemia 10km I injured my leg and was unable to take part in the event which was held yesterday. Although my leg had improved slightly by yesterday morning I thought that it may jeopardise my training for the bike ride so didn't want to risk it.

I'll carry on doing a few gentle bike rides this week.

Revised Route Plan

2009-05-14T10:45:00.003+01:00

I realised yesterday that the original route plan was split over 7 days and not 6 as we had originally agreed. As a result I have reworked the route, this time to start and end each day at a BT building and also regroup and have lunch at a further BT building each day. This way we will get more people involved and maximise our money raising potential.

This is an interactive map of our planned route.

View Larger Map

Training Update - 5km Run

2009-05-03T12:00:00.000+01:00

Today I completed The Birmingham Mail 5km Fun Run in a time of 27 minutes 30 seconds (click for photo). I had set myself a target time of 33 minutes (as I have been running approximately 10 minute miles during training) so I was pleased to beat that.

I now need to up my training to complete the 10km run in two weeks time.

The Long Distance Cyclists' Handbook

2009-04-15T21:39:00.002+01:00

Today I bought The Long Distance Cyclists' Handbook to help with my preparation.

Training

2009-04-08T11:46:00.001+01:00

I have been out on my new bike a few times and done 2 or 3 ten mile rides. However, in order to get my general fitness and stamina up I have decided to combine this with some running. As a result I have entered myself in a couple of organised runs in order to set some goals in my training.

The first event is a 5km run aroung Birmingham's Perry Park on Sunday 3rd May http://www.wetaketothestreets.org.uk/.

The second event is a 10km run in Sutton Park on Sunday 17th May http://www.cureleukaemia.co.uk/funrun.php.

I am not going to raise any additional funds for these charities (other than my entrance fees) as I want to concentrate my begging and pleading to raising money on this bike ride.

Initial Planning

2009-04-07T11:50:00.005+01:00

I did some initial planning work for the ride today. Richard (who is organising the "Ray of Sunshine Event" at BT's Head Office in London) wants us to finish the bike ride there by about 11am on Thursday 9th July. As a result I am proposing to start on Saturday 4th July in order arrive in London on Wednesday with then a short ride to BT Centre on Thursday morning.

After discussing with James (one of the Rockbourne riders) I have planned the route around the idea of visiting BT buildings during the day in order to catch people at work and raise more money by shaking a bucket! We could therefore obviously use the BT buildings as our lunch venues and take an opportunity for all riders to regroup. I have also tried (where possible) to finish at a Premier Inn. This was for several reasons:

They are the biggest hotel chain in UK so there was more chance of finding one on or near the route.
By staying at the same chain on most nights there may be a better chance of getting them involved (and giving the accommodation for free or discounted)
James has a contact within Premier Inns that he could tap up!

The first day is slightly different as there is neither a significant BT building nor a Premier Inn between Edinburgh and Newcastle, however apart from that the plan falls together nicely averaging 77 miles/day for the first 4 days and 40 miles on the Wednesday and just a couple of miles to BT Centre on the Thursday. I have mapped the route on Google Maps here http://tinyurl.com/d7sxyo.

First Sponsorship

2009-04-03T12:00:00.003+01:00

The main contractor on the project I am currently managing for BT is a company called Rockbourne Environmental. They were interested in the bike ride and have committed to sponsoring me £1000, providing a support vehicle, paying for accomodation on the journey and submitting 3 or 4 of their staff to do the ride with me.

I will now try to encourage some other BT staff to do the ride in order to create as much interest and raise as much money as possible.

A New Bike

2009-04-01T10:40:00.000+01:00

My current bike is a Trek 4300 hard tail, great for mounting biking or short road rides but not built for distance (the suspension forks and fat knobbly tyres just soak up too much energy). My wife wanted a new bike to take out our youngest son (Charlie, 2) with the help of a child seat and encourage our eldest son (Oliver, 3) to ride his bike without stabilisers. So that, together with my comittment to this ride lead us to each buying new bikes yesterday!

My new bike is a hybrid (road and mountain bike cross) called a Decathlon Triban Road 7.

I had now better start thinking about (if not actually doing) some training!

The Cold Light of Day

2009-03-21T11:02:00.001Z

The day after devising the idea of the bike ride (and there was a slight beer induced haze) I didn't regret my commitment, in fact my resolve was stronger and I began looking forward to the ride.

However, everyone I spoke to pointed out that my ride to Paris was 13 years ago when I was in my 20's and weighed several pounds less! My conclusion to this "advice" was that maybe I should take a little longer and buy myself an extra day.

And so the challenge was set: Edinburgh to London by bike in 6 days!

An Idea Is Born

2009-03-20T23:24:00.005Z

The idea for this bike ride was born last week during a business trip to Edinburgh. One of my colleagues, Richard, is organising a fundraising event within BT (where we both work) and he was encouraging me to get involved to raise some money for ChildLine. Not wanting to embarass myself in the main "Ray of Sunshine" event I voluteered (and yes there had been a few pints consumed by this stage of the evening) to ride my bike from the main BT office in Edinburgh to BT's Head Office in London. A quick search of the Internet on my phone showed that this journey is around 420 miles.

Now, I'm no super-fit athlete (in fact I'm overweight and fast approaching middle age) but I am motivated and I have a desire to get fitter in order to keep up with my young sons. I'm not a regular cyclist but I have always owned a bike and I occasionally go for bike rides or mountain biking. In 1996 I took part in sponsored bike ride from London to Paris on behalf of the Royal British Legion; this ride was 285 miles over 3 days (i.e. 95 miles a day). Taking this into account I suggested that I could cover the 420 miles from Edinburgh to London in 5 days!