Bikes to Billund: 4 weeks to go
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It's now just four weeks until myself and three other riders set off from London on our bike ride to Billund in Denmark, a total of just under 1000Km, which we plan to complete in 6-and-a-bit days. You can read more about it here.
We've just heard that someone very special plans to meet us on the last day as we reach The LEGO House, but it means altering our plans slightly as we'll need to be there at 9:30! Luckily we have just 40Km to cover that day so a 7am start should do it.
We've all been training hard over the last few weeks and you can read about a couple of our latest individual rides after the break.
Thanks to everyone who has sponsored us so far. If you haven't done so already please visit our fundraising page and pledge what you can and help get LEGO into the hands of kids in hospitals across the world.
Ed, Creative Director at Bright Bricks was so keen not to miss training while on a business trip to Washington DC that he packed his bike and took it with him! He writes:
"Setting off on a morning traing ride at a little after 6:30am is not too unusual for me these days. Coming out of a hotel in Washington DC to do so is, however. That is where I found myself on Sunday morning on a business trip, but I was keen not to loose four whole days of training opportunity, so I packed up my bike and took it with me.
"The ride was from Dupont Circle in DC where we are staying down to Mount Vernon in Virginia, which was George Washington's house. The ride started out in the streets of DC, which fortunately at that time on a Sunday morning are deserted. The route led down to the Potomace river passing by the infamous Watergate hotel before crossing over to the Virginia Side of the river.
"From there the whole route is a dedicated tarmac cycle route, bliss for a rider - no traffic, no dirt, just steady pedalling. It took a little over an hour to reach Mount Vernon passing through beautiful woodland and with great views over the river. Reaching Mount Vernon at 7:45 on a Sunday morning does mean that you don't actually get to see the house as the visitor centre does not open until 9am.
"So, heading back, the morning was wearing on and the route started to become busy with joggers and some fellow bikers thus turning the whole thing into a game of human dodgems. Nearing the bridge back into DC there is a great opportunity to stop and get a picture across the river of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington monument, albeit it from a bit of a distance.
"ll-in-all a good bit of training and a nice change of scenery."
Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to do my usual 55Km training ride to Old Winchester Hill in the rain this morning. I don't normally deliberately go out when it's wet but I thought it would be useful training given that we are unlikely to have dry weather for the whole 7 days at the end of September in northern Europe. It also gave me an opportunity to see if my waterproof jacket was in fact waterproof.
Old Winchester Hill is a nature reserve that offers spectacular views over the surrounding countryside of Hampshire.
This picture was taken on a dry day:
Did I remain dry? Well, the jacket certainly kept the worst off but it certainly wasn't 100% waterproof.
James has been putting in some serious miles in Devon at speeds that put me to shame. We haven't ridden as a group of four before and I suspect I'll be left trailing at the back most of the time. I can do the distances involved but not at the speed that the younger members of the team can go. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
Ralph has also been out and about in central England and on one ride met a guy who's just come back from two years cycling around China. You can meet some interesting people when out on your bike!
We set off from London on 20th September and if you are in the UK, Netherlands, northern Germany or southern Jutland and would like to join us for a day's riding then do get in touch: we'd love your company! And don't forget to pledge your support!
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7 comments on this article
Not sure whether to envy you all or be grateful I'm not sitting on a chafe machine for several days..! Best I ever managed was the IoW randonee on a recumbent trike.
May your skies be forever clear, the wind always at your back, and your hills always downwards.
neat. you might come through here. :D
Thanks for the follow-up article, reminded me I still had to donate!
Good luck with your training over the next 4 weeks!
Great what you're doing for the children in hospitals.
I'll try to donate what I can.
What you should do though is at every stop, you have to speed build a small set or polybag or minifig and leave it there to mark your route for following riders.
I'm reluctant to sponsor this. The Fairy Bricks website doesn't provide any information about their operations. In my country to be a charity organization and offer tax reduction, you have to publish yearly financial statements. There is no information about that on the Fairy Bricks website. How much money was raised last year? How much of that amount went to office costs?
I also question the effectiveness of the projects/donations that Fairy Bricks claims. My ex-wife is working in a large hospital and the regulations about hygiene are prohibiting stuff where kids could obtain contagious diseases, for instance by handing bricks (sneezing, slime, mucus).
Yes: trying to raise money for charity is nice. But before I donate I want to know where my money is going to. To the last penny!
Hope you get many many more sponsors before you set off.
I've been looking into flying with a bike, but every airline I check wants it disassembled so much that it would be difficult to reassemble upon arrival. ...and being over 6 feet tall and owning a large bike, it's impossible for me to fit the frame on some airlines who hate tall people. :(