Kidderminster to Barcelona Bike Ride,

16th April 2011

Kidderminster to Barcelona… Done!

I completed my challenge and made it to Barcelona in 13 days (on schedule) covering a distance of 928 miles, with over 68 hours being spent in the saddle. It was a gruelling, but extremely enjoyable experience, and one that I will remember for a long time to come.

The longest days ride was Day 3, (the first day in France), during which I covered a distance of 107 miles, all thanks to Mike and Annie’s ceaseless encouragement! It was great to have them follow me in their car for the first few days in France, and I was sad to see them go.

I was very lucky during the trip, no punctures, didn’t get knocked off and only had to cope with one day of rain. I did however, develop the rule of the 3 H’s (Heat, Headwind and Hills), with any combination of these three making for a hard days cycling!

It probably took a good week or so for my legs to recover fully, with my knees and ankles causing me the most grief. At one point I could barely see the definition of my kneecaps and could feel my Achilles tendons grating with every rotation of the pedals. Luckily my French improved during the journey, and I soon got into a routine of visiting the nearest Intermarche following a days riding, and would ask the staff working on the fish counter: “Puis-je avoir de la glace pour mes genoux s'il vous plait,” which I believe translated into: “Can I have some ice for my knees please.” It seemed to work as I always ended up with a bag of ice!

I kept both a written blog (offexploring) and video blog (YouTube), so if you decide you need some lunchtime reading or a laugh at the amount of ‘umms’ I say when talking to a camera then please take a look.

I reached my original target of £2,500 in sponsorship, and taking into account the Gift Aid Plus supplement gained through justgiving and cash raised on the day I set off, the final sum looks to be nearer £4,000. So a huge thank you to those who donated, it really was a massive incentive for struggling up those mountain roads!

 

 

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