‘Warm Up’ – Day 1

Setting off from home this morning felt somewhat surreal. I’ve cycled from home, through our town and out into the surrounding countryside hundreds of times. Never before have I set off on such a long journey – an 1,837km journey to be precise. There was a sense of excitement as well as a slight nervousness amongst the team.

The team for today’s ride consisted of myself, Geoff (who had flown from Melbourne to cycle to Barcelona with us), Sheena (who has been a great training partner and who is cycling to Brighton with us), Paul (who will cycle ‘Brighton to Barcelona’ with us, who joined us for the ‘first few’ miles today and rather wonderfully, stayed with us and navigated our team the whole 85km to Ramsbury) and last but by no means least, Julie, (who is simply the best support crew a team could ask for),

And what a day it was – the sun shone from early morning until late evening, the air was still and the countryside beautiful. We had mentally prepared for the hills as we left Cheltenham but were somewhat less prepared for some significant climbs during the afternoon when the temperature peaked at 29 degrees. These were hard as the heat sapped our energy and melted the tarmac.

Wearing our ‘Brighton to Barcelona’ team jerseys, ensured we received lots of enquiries about our adventure, along with some generous donations from people we met along the way. A shout out to Anastasia, who we met at The Bell in Sapperton and Heather, who we met at The Royal, Wootton Bassett Whilst it may be sounding like a pub crawl, we did have to stop frequently to rehydrate, medicate, top up our water bottles, apply more suncream and consume generous helpings of Auntie Jill’s homemade shortcake and Julie’s homemade flapjack. All essential components to get us to our destination.

As we arrive at our destination for the day, The Bell at Ramsbury, a few reflection from our first day.

1. It always takes longer than we think it will
2. The intense dislike of cycling uphill that I developed whilst training for last year’s Raid Alpine, still exists
3. Adequate rehydration is absolutely vital in this heat
4. Planning our refreshment stops in advance saves time, as it hasn’t always proved easy to find somewhere suitable
5. The people we meet along the way are very much part of the journey
6. This is a tough challenge, with many tough days ahead
7. We are blessed by the support of family, friends and at times, strangers
8. Early starts are essential
9. Organisation is key
10. Jelly babies remain a firm favourite when a quick sugar fix is needed
11. 85km is a long way

Only 1,752km to go………..

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