Recent Posts

http://www.justgiving.com/gb155/

Yesterday I took part in the Manchester to Blackpool cycle ride to raise money for The Christie Cancer hospital Manchester. This is my ride report.

IT was around 4am on Sunday morning and I for one reason or another just couldn't sleep, between 4am and my alarm clock going off at 6.30am I had around 20 mins of sleep.

I got to the start line for around 7.45am. I had never seen as many bikes in one area in my life I was number 518. However I saw riders with 89XX indicating that there were around 9000 riders taking part.

I was SOOOO nervous. My thoughts turned from PLEASE FINISH to PLEASE don't come 9000th and be LAST, we were lined up outside Old Trafford on Sir Matt Busby way at and allowed to go in stages, we were probs only on there for around 20 mins, the atmosphere was electric. We got another rider to take a picture of all 3 of us (To follow at a later date) Then we were off. We rounded the first corner and headed into Trafford park, we had been going for around 30 seconds and already there were people at the side of the road suffering from punctures, ouch we agreed that it would be a gutter to be in that situation. Conditions were pretty ideal, it was a little chilly, very slight wind and lots of cloud cover.

At around 10 miles I had a gent pull along side of me and gave me a looking over a few times. I wasn't quite sure what he was doing but I noticed him in a bright yellow jacket. He looked again and said “Are you Gaz" ?  He then introduced himself as “Jim" and the coat and name jogged my memory as to who he was, He was on the Bike Radar forum (my second home) Thanks Jim.

At around 12 miles Deano said he had just witnessed a pretty nasty accident and we all agreed to take care. We were then going through a pretty fast downhill section at around 20 mph (I think it was faster to be honest) I got caught behind a slower rider and moved out to the middle of the road and started to overtake a quite a few people. Looking up I saw a car approaching and 2 cars double parked. I slowed a little and tucked in a little.I was sure I was ok but had to slow down a little more. Just then I felt quite a force hit my back wheel, followed by a horrific scream. It was Paul (my other team mate) and he was laid out in the middle of the road. I span round quick and Deano had stopped with him too. He was cut up and winded pretty bad. A Marshall turned up and checked him over, in total we were stopped for around 20 mins when Paul agreed he should be ok to get to the first aid stop in a further 8 miles. A huge thanks to the lady that stopped and also to another Bike Radar forum member who turned round to make sure I was ok, Im really sorry but with all the craziness that went on your name has slipped my mind.

We carried on although at a slower pace, We climbing a pretty long long hill into (I think) Bolton and just we were turning left towards Haige Hall there had been a VERY nasty accident involving another rider and a car, I hope that rider is ok but from looking at the scene I really don't know.

We got to Haige Hall and had done 21 Miles, We headed for the first aid stop, the paramedic indicated Paul should stop and get an xray, we waited for around 40 mins to see him off, all the time being passed by AMAZING bikes (and some not so amazing) When the ambulance arrived me and Deano were ready to get off when 5 mins later Paul comes out of the ambulance and said that they told him if he wanted to carry on he could.

The downhill section that followed was great fun but then there was another uphill at the end of that too. After stopping for so long we had all cooled down and found picking the pace up hard until we had warmed back up, We had fallen off our pace a fair bit (down from around 18mph average to 14) due to stopping for the amount of time we did and not wanting to push our injured rider.

I had been suffering with a stitch in my abdomen since mile 13. We got to Preston and agreed to stop, I was  laid out on the floor in agony (and I believe there is a picture of this too)

Here we are in Preston

We headed round the corner to Morrisons to pick up some refreshments, After we cam out I noticed my cycle computer was missing, We retraced our steps and found it in a bush at the second time of looking (and almost giving up)

Pushing on through Preston we had manage to catch up to a few groups (and pass them) and for the next 18 or so miles I was just a case of getting though the pain that my stitch was causing me, Pauls shoulder was giving him issues too.

The last 12 miles were filled with biblical wind and a HEAD wind at that, It was time to REALLY dig in.

With 3.5 miles to go and Deano no where in sight I said to Paul I had to stop, I wanted to throw up I was in that much pain, all caused by the stitch, for the first time during the day my legs were now hurting too, We stopped for 10 mins for so, grabbed some water and a couple of gels, With around 1 mile to go I could see the top of “the big one"

It then hit me, I had done it, all the hard work, all the planning, coming from 39 stone, close to death, unable to do anything and now here I was after cycling 60+ Miles in Blackpool, It was a pretty emotional time for me, tears rolled down the side of my face, It had been a hard slog though the last 10 miles but we were almost there, rounding onto the front I could see the finish line, I said sorry to Paul but I said I HAD to sprint the last part, he kept with me to 22 mph but like a machine I keep going, I was sprinting at 30 mph after 63 miles, The finish line announcer told me to slow down, I grabbed my finish line bag (at about 20 mph) and piled on the brakes to stop, My supports were there, I hugged then and the emotions of the day all came out again.

I had done it, In just 12 months of cycling I had gone from 35 stone to 22 stone and was in Blackpool with a 30 mph sprint finish, AMAZING.

Deano and Paul I thank you 2 guys,You were amazing.

Me and Paul had a finish time of 5 Hrs and 11 Mins.

All the hard work was worth it, I was feeling euphoric, I couldn't believe I had finished and finished so strong, We had seen people walking for the last 5 miles. all credit to EVERYONE who finished though, The last 12 miles of wind did hurt.

Will I do it again next year????? Your bet your life I will

We have raised so far £535.01 with around £200 in pledges, Now the hard work starts to convert those pledges into actual money.

THANK YOU EVERYONE.

On the finish line after the sprint.

The finish

I DID it !!!!!!!

There will be more pictures to follow in the coming days, Some video too.

http://www.justgiving.com/gb155/