Sheffield to London 2010 - no sweat!
At 3:00 pm on Friday 3 September an intrepid (misguided) group of 12 Nabarro cyclists set off from 1 South Quay, Sheffield, destination Lacon House. The riders were raising funds for three charities – Macmillan, Great Ormond Street Hospital and The George Oliver Foundation – and were ably supported by white van women Dinah Horton and Carole Bailey.
Friday afternoon started inauspiciously with one rider (Shaf) falling off his bike between the train station and the Sheffield office (i.e. before we'd even started!) and a very long uphill drag out of Sheffield into the countryside. Things improved considerably from then on, with the sun shining down on our efforts as we passed the impressive Bolsover Castle (stomping ground of veteran MP and "Beast of Bolsover" Dennis Skinner), through Derbyshire and into Nottingham.
Saturday was a largely rural affair. With our legs reminding us of Friday's 40 mile warm-up, we enjoyed a picturesque 85 mile ride (and a bit more falling off) through Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and into Buckinghamshire. Dinah and Carole kept us all going with copious amounts of food and drink and in some cases (Shaf again!) point-blank refusal to let us quit and get in the van. We stopped in Milton Keynes, home of concrete cows and – bizarrely – multiple hen nights all wearing pink cowboy hats, for some serious eating and sleeping.
Sunday saw us complete the ride with an anything but picturesque 55 mile run into Holborn and a nasty sting in the tail in the shape of Bushey Hill. Everyone finished with a very big smile.
Our official sweepstake distance was 180 miles exactly. Sweepstake winners were Brook Land (180 miles), Linda Cowling (179.5 miles) and Ali Marsh (180.5 miles).
Thanks to everyone who supported the team and donated to one or other of our charities. We raised over £5,000 in total, and bold talk has already begun of London to Brussels 2011…..
Riders: James Archibald, Ben Doran, Felix Evans, Mike Friend, John Lewis, Deborah Lloyd, Andrew McLean, Claire Mulcrone, Shaf Mohamed, Iain Newman, Liz Russell and Jonathan Scrine
Road crew: Carole Bailey and Dinah Horton
