There were times when we thought it might not happen, back in June when we had to postpone it and during the ride when we woke up on Saturday morning, or when we got to a collapsed bridge giving us the option of a big detour or finding a way over the ditch (we didn’t take the detour).
The 45 miles on Friday (3h39min) was a bit of a shock and waking up on Saturday morning realising that we had to do more than double that distance was tough to take.
Luckily we had the wind in our favour so we got a little bit of a push towards Norwich, knowing that we would be fighting against it the next day.
The only issues of the day came from the navigation lady on JD’s phone. First taking us up a private farm road (heads down, hope no one spots us)
Then leading us to a collapsed bridge which needed a bit of thinking outside the box to negotiate (no wet feet though)
And we had our bike handling skills tested on a very sandy path through Thetford Forrest with slick tyres.
Sticking to our planned schedule all day (100 miles in 9h30) we were looking forward to a dip in the hotel swimming pool.
Only to be told that it was fully booked all night and our only option was 7am on Sunday.
A swim and Jacuzzi at 7am was probably a good way to start the day, which was boosted even more by Tom (the new technician) joining us for a bit and guiding us out of Norwich to give the navigation lady a break.
Once Tom left it all started to go downhill (and not in the good way!).
The slog to Framlingham was hard work with a headwind and more hills than we had been used to over the previous two days.
The only breaks were to oil squeaky chains, get something out of my shoe and stop at a co-op for water and doughnuts!
Getting to Framlingham and realising that we had only done just over 1/3 of the days riding was a worrying prospect.
I’m sure Ipswich kept moving further away as we tried to cycle towards it, but we made it to the waterfront and had a bit of a break for lunch.
That left just 3 sites to go in about 30 miles with a quick stop at my house for water, cake and to drop off our big kit bags.
It was a bit more of a direct route but the roads were busier and small slopes felt like mountains with a couple more off road sections thrown in for good measure.
The final leg from Elmswell to Lark Grange flew past as we rode on the excitement of recognising the roads and knowing the end was near.
Celebrating completing the ride with no mechanical issues and surprisingly no punctures!
90 miles for the day in 9h 17 meant we had kept a pretty steady pace over the 3 days to give us a total of 235 miles in 21h 25.
So the first one has been done, we’ve learned some lessons and have a few ideas for a more inclusive version next year!
Don’t worry, you don’t have to do 250 miles or share a Jacuzzi with JD and I in Speedos!
We are planning to make it possible for a few more people to set their own challenges for next year.
We’ve got 9 months to train!
We would like to give a final big thank you to all of our sponsors who have contributed to a total of £1900 (very close to our ambitious target).
Matt’s AVR Cycle September
