After 100 gruelling miles yesterday on day One of the TNT Great British Bike Ride, we took off from Tavistock at 7am looking to reach Yeovil in Somerset 88 miles away.
All the riders bar one made it to Ivil Barbarians rugby club and are now half-way into their challenge to reach Twickenham on Saturday.
two of these riders are Chris Stanley and his partially sighted colleague at TNT Wayne Thompson are riding in tandem making it a team effort.
“Chris did the ride last year, my son and I where at Twickenham at the finish and he said it was amazing and that we’d do it on a tandem next year,” said Wayne
“I’ve never done anything like it before so it’s a great challenge. I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own so I thought it was a great opportunity to do something amazing.”
Chris added: “When we got on the bike the first time it was very woblly but after a days practice we went on the road and started training and after a couple or rides we started to work well as a team.
“We’ve spent 22 hours on the bike already and we’re looking forward to finish it. I wont be easy but we’ll carry the bike to HQ if it means reaching the finish line.”
Another rider symbolising how far people are ready to push their body for the Wooden Spoon charity is David Wilson, who also work for TNT, who entered the event with a longest ride record of 23.6 miles.
“Yesterday was exhausting, I got cramp with my pedal cleats on so I fell off trying to jump off the bike,” he said.
“I got up this morning stiff as a board and I couldn’t move. My knees hurt at every single pedal stroke and the heat didn’t help. I really enjoyed crossing the Datmoor National Park this morning though.
“It’s fair to say I underestimated the challenge ahead. I did a half-marathon last year without any training so I though I could do the same but it did work out so far.
“I’m quite excited about the next two days as it’s supposed to get a bit flatter. It was a great opportunity to raise money for Wooden Spoon”
Tomorrow’s stage will take the riders to Winchester 78 miles away.
You can help David raise money here and Chris and Wayne here.
Great British Bike Ride diary – Day 2
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Just to add to this, the tandem that Wayne and Chris borrowed was lent to Wayne by Charlotte’s Tandems. Charlotte’s Tandems is a Registered Charity that lends tandems at no cost to people with Special Needs or disabilities, so that they can enjoy the wonders of cycling. CharlottesTandems.co.uk
P.s. if anyone has a photo of Wayne and Chris on the tandem then please let me know.
Hi there! Just seen this and many thanks indeed for lending the bike – the ride was such an inspiration and obviously the availability of the kit made all the difference! Please do contact the Wooden Spoon Head Office (all details on the charity website http://www.wooenspoon.com) and the media & comms team there have me lovely photos of Wayne and Chris at the finish!
Thanks. I got lots of great photos from them, after I posted this. I put them on our website and Facebook page.