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Update – Church International London to Brighton Bike Ride for The British Heart Foundation

27th June 2016 Church News.

Team CIL introductions left to right starting with Brian Fitzgerald, Simon Long, David Hosking.

I’ve split the ride into sections based on how it was logged by my Garmin GPS bike computer. We started the day by meeting at Church International’s HQ at 5.30am. The team really rallied around begged and borrowed a car and a bike rack. A big well done to the team and especially Karl Henneker who had to have a knee operation which ruled him out of the ride but in true team sprit became the logistics manager. A special thank you to David Hosking who stepped in to take Karl’s place. The teams Run up to the L2B 2016 took some unexpected turns so in addition to Karl’s knee operation our youngest member of team CIL (Anthony Bridge) ironically had to pull out. This was due to an issue with his heart!!! Unfortunately he is still undergoing investigations. It was a bitter blow to the team as the old guard was relying on a bit of youth to spur us on. But with a resting heart beat of over 100 beats per min the doctor had no choice to sign Anthony off from riding with the team.

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Team CIL all bright eyed and bushy tailed in the meeting point at the start. The weather was fantastic and we were all eager to get going!!

Clapham Common

Team CIL arrived at our drop off point and took a very gentle ride to Clapham Common to find the official start area. Before the ride started I had some time to find the toilets, eat a breakfast bar, and soak up the atmosphere. We were all amazed how many people there are here!!!

Clapham Common1

We were given a start time of 7.30am – the great thing about this event is that it’s really well organised and we started bang on time but the crowds were very large with a reported 21,000 cyclists on the day.

L2B – Clapham Common to Carshalton

We moved quite slowly as the mass of riders worked their way through the pancake-flat streets of South London. The roads were open as usual to other traffic so our pace was dictated by the traffic. The main thing was to make sure we didn’t have any accidents. This part of the ride is very slow and sometimes dangerous because of the combination of numbers of cyclists and traffic. Thankfully we didn’t see any issues other than a marshal getting unwanted help from a guy who was coming back from a night out with the best intentions of helping.

L2B – Carshalton to Burstow

Once we left Carshalton the riders had started to space out quite a bit so we were able to pick up the pace slightly. The flatness of South London slowly started to give way to some undulating terrain. The first real hill that we encountered was How Lane, the congestion here was unexpected and the team had to take different routes weaving in and out of the slower riders. I found myself getting pushed into the shrubs now and again but made it to the top without too much hassle.

Dave in turn saw a crash which was quite comical due to a cyclist who had his feet clipped into his pedals just run out of steam and fall over sideways taking out another five rider’s dominos style!

After How lane Hill we continued on at a better pace. Every now and then marshals were managing the junctions, it generally worked ok. As a team we mostly stayed together, but every time we hit a hill we would spread out slightly as we each rode at our own comfortable paces. So a little stop was in order every now and then to regroup. Just after passing the village of Smallfield, we decided it was time for a quick pit stop. We ended this section at the ‘First Burstow Scouts’ headquarters.

LTB Burstow Scouts pit stop1

L2B – Burstow to Ditchling Common

We departed Burstow Scouts’ headquarters after a quick fill up of our water bottles and I introduced Simon to energy gels. This next section was a gradual uphill drag until hitting Burgess Hill, where it got steeper. Up and up we went until we arrived in the village of Turners Hill – It’s a significant psychological point as it is means you have reached the half-way mark. We stopped here, but only to regroup. The road goes downhill out of the village but soon enough you are back into the lower gears as you hit the next incline.

Downhill is the general theme of the rest of this section. We were only about 4 kilometres away from the part of the ride that most people worry about The Beacon!

L2B – Ditchling Common – Brighton

The first time you see the South Downs looming in front you of is shortly after Ditchling Common and is an amazing sight. It doesn’t take long to reach the point where you are shifting down into thelower gears. The road zigzags its way up and the gradient switches between steep and very steep every now and then. My GPS data shows the steepest section as being a 30.6% gradient. I’d say that at least 85% of the people I saw on the incline had resorted to walking. Although it was hard work I just kept pushing on, and as I got closer to the top I was rewarded with the most amazing views. Then before I knew it the gradient reduced and I had conquered the Beacon for a second time! Simon then came in as I knew he wasn’t too far behind me so I thought I would buy him a well deserved ice cream which he was eating in record time!

When you’re at the top almost everybody seems stops for a rest and you have a lot of congestion to deal with. We had agreed to regroup at the top so I pulled onto a bank at the side and kept an eye out for our last team member. Finally we all found each other and Simon bought Dave celebratory Ice cream as Dave had cramp just before the climb but wanted to beat the Beacon which he did but found out the cost when both of his legs were cramping up badly.

Beating the Beacon!!!

LTB Beating the Beacon BF LTB Beating the Beacon SL

View from the beacon its only 914 feet!

LTB view from the Beacon1

After our legs had time to recover we had 12 kilometres of mostly downhill cycling into Brighton. The ride is all very fast reaching speeds of over 43 mph in places it’s the most enjoyable section of the ride as you know the finish line is in your reach.

The Finish Line

We were greeted by Karl (our logistics manager) and a couple of Simon’s friends who lived close by, we then headed for the exit after receiving water and medals. The atmosphere was much better than last year and we didn’t have to visit to the St John’s ambulance tent either!

LTB the finish line1

In Brighton

It did take an age to get out of the filter lane but I didn’t mind because people were giving out fruit and drinks along the way, but the pub was calling the team.

After walking for what felt like an age we had a celebratory beer and ordered some food. The beer went straight to our heads and the sun was fantastic. One member of the team had a bout of cramp at the pub! I won’t mention who (Dave) I did try to capture it on film but I failed miserably. Seeing a fifty year old man shouting out in pain dressed in cycle gear looks quite weird and I did apologise to some of the on lookers.

LTB the pub1

Final Thoughts

On the day, I had seen a number of people raising money for personal friends and loved ones past and present. It just started out as a bike ride for charity but what brought it home, was at the finish line I looked across the crowds and saw man about my age with a tee shirt with a picture of his daughter on the back. He was raising money for his daughter who had a rare heart condition and unfortunately passed away last year, the girl was the same age as my youngest daughter which made it more thought provoking. Just seeing that picture summed it all up for me…. (we are helping real people) like all charities it’s a really great cause. I have seen people riding in gorilla suits and building specialist bikes that have two people riding back to front! There is nothing more embarrassing than seeing a bike with a gorilla riding go past you playing music (in the jungle the mighty jungle). I am really proud to say that a few old boys at Church International have raised just over 800 pounds I hope every penny helps (real people).

The team really enjoyed the day and we want to thank everyone who donated MONEY to this worthy cause. Should this blog inspire you to donate you still can by clicking this link below.

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/CILbikeride

Many thanks everyone!!! I will be planning the CIL London to Paris ride in the next 12 months for another worthy local charity close to our hearts called The Heart of Kent Hospice.

They have helped a number of friends and families who are known to Church international. Everyone who has had their support have really found their involvement invaluable.

Stay tuned for the next blog ………next stop Paris for team CIL.

LTB bike on pebbles1