Thursday 16th June 2011
The Pedal for Parkinson's Double End-to-End cycle Challenge
Day 2
67 miles from Launceston to Taunton
Another wet, hilly but CRACKING ride.
Posted by the Secret Secretary
No news from Ulysses. The intrepid cyclist didn't phone home yesterday. No panic. We'll go with the adage: no news is good news. I can only summise that one of two things has happened: either deep in the West Country hills there is no signal for the mobile or Les is too stuffed to call after another day cycling in the wet, up and down and again up the Devon hills (or maybe he did but fell asleep with the handset in his hand - see yesterday's post regarding Les' little idiosyncrasy of nodding off at the most unlikely of moments). The weather forecast was for more unsettled, wet weather (the Devon hills are green for a reason!). Still the Team has its credentials for coping with the wet and cold: in 1997 Team leader David Greaves took part in a round-the-world yacht race and in 2001, with fellow rider Nigel MacVean participated in an expedition to Everest base camp whilst Mark Vallance has on his CV work as a mountaineering consultant at the Antarctica research base. These chaps are clearly made of sturdy stuff. Ah yes, but this is English weather and Devon hills (that word keeps cropping up) we are talking about! Helas ! the forecast for today is no better, in fact the predictions are for more heavy showers in the West and very unseasonably cool temperatures (11 or maybe a tropical 12 degrees). (Don't tell them that there were even reports this morning of a ground frost in Scotland!) Still, the ride today from Taunton through Somerset up to Stroud in Gloucester should be a little less hilly (there's that word again) even if it is not much drier.
Actually, having said "no news" Les has just managed to "phone in" via Skype, which includes the very dubious bonus of a video link. He tells me that despite the vagaries of the English weather in June, and the Devon acclivities (it's still a hill), he had, in his words, "a cracking ride". As he was hoping, he's finding a bit of form on the roads. In fact, Les reports that all the team are riding well (as I say, they are made of sturdy stuff). Moreover if the Devon lanes do tend to go up, the road surfaces are apparently very good (a treat after so much training over the potholes in the South East) and whilst the ride was punctuated by some vigorous showers, the riders reached Taunton in a little bit of (STOP PRESS) sunshine!
The Pedal for Parkinson's Double End-to-End cycle Challenge
Day 2
67 miles from Launceston to Taunton
Another wet, hilly but CRACKING ride.
Posted by the Secret Secretary
No news from Ulysses. The intrepid cyclist didn't phone home yesterday. No panic. We'll go with the adage: no news is good news. I can only summise that one of two things has happened: either deep in the West Country hills there is no signal for the mobile or Les is too stuffed to call after another day cycling in the wet, up and down and again up the Devon hills (or maybe he did but fell asleep with the handset in his hand - see yesterday's post regarding Les' little idiosyncrasy of nodding off at the most unlikely of moments). The weather forecast was for more unsettled, wet weather (the Devon hills are green for a reason!). Still the Team has its credentials for coping with the wet and cold: in 1997 Team leader David Greaves took part in a round-the-world yacht race and in 2001, with fellow rider Nigel MacVean participated in an expedition to Everest base camp whilst Mark Vallance has on his CV work as a mountaineering consultant at the Antarctica research base. These chaps are clearly made of sturdy stuff. Ah yes, but this is English weather and Devon hills (that word keeps cropping up) we are talking about! Helas ! the forecast for today is no better, in fact the predictions are for more heavy showers in the West and very unseasonably cool temperatures (11 or maybe a tropical 12 degrees). (Don't tell them that there were even reports this morning of a ground frost in Scotland!) Still, the ride today from Taunton through Somerset up to Stroud in Gloucester should be a little less hilly (there's that word again) even if it is not much drier.
Actually, having said "no news" Les has just managed to "phone in" via Skype, which includes the very dubious bonus of a video link. He tells me that despite the vagaries of the English weather in June, and the Devon acclivities (it's still a hill), he had, in his words, "a cracking ride". As he was hoping, he's finding a bit of form on the roads. In fact, Les reports that all the team are riding well (as I say, they are made of sturdy stuff). Moreover if the Devon lanes do tend to go up, the road surfaces are apparently very good (a treat after so much training over the potholes in the South East) and whilst the ride was punctuated by some vigorous showers, the riders reached Taunton in a little bit of (STOP PRESS) sunshine!
The Pedal for Parkinson's double End-to-End cycle Challenge 2011
Day 2: Launceston to Taunton
Lush, rolling Devon hills go up, down and up again
and are green for a reason:
it rains a lot in the West Country !
Of course, even if Les doesn't have either a signal or the energy to phone in to report on his progress (up the hills in the rain), supporters can follow the Team as they complete their ride via the Pedal for Parkinson's Challenge website at:
http://pedalforparkinsons.co.uk
(a double click on the Team Photograph at the top of this page will take you straight there). Thanks to sponsorship from Ram, the website has a live tracking page. There is also a daily log of the ride by team leader David Greaves (the force behind the website).
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