RHide for Stuart: Haywards Heath - Bournemouth

Day 1 (Friday Eve.): HH - Arundel

Despite some late wavering, the HH office cycling team took up the challenge to cycle the 135 miles to Bournemouth for the RHide for Stuart Niven. Why Bournemouth? The original idea being to link up with the Exeter office to cover around half the distance each.  Although those taking part had never cycled this distance before, those planning to do the full amount felt that it just about fell into the category of ‘do-able challenge’.  We also had the fortune of finding a handy pre-prepared route map online which sealed the deal – we felt much more confident knowing the route had been covered before… In the preceding weeks, a few of us had attempted some cycle training, including part of the route in reverse, but we knew that this was a token gesture in comparison to the challenge ahead.  Therefore, it was felt that a couple of days would be required to cover the distance and so a full weekend of cycling, camping, snacking and logistical planning got underway.

Eight people left from the office as a group after work on the Friday for the first 35 miles of the ride, cheered off by most of the office and RH paparazzi. The team consisted of Alex Cargo, Sam Godding, Nick Taylor, Madhu Chandanapali (visiting from the Delhi Office), Sean Rawlings, Ayyappa Gudimetla, Chris Smith & Colin Toovey.  The chosen route headed west from Haywards Heath, sticking to the north of the South Downs before cutting down the Arun Valley to Arundel and our first campsite.  Immediately after leaving the office, we were confronted by a hill (noted: mid-Sussex surprisingly hilly!), leaving the pack already strung out over several hundred metres.  However, everyone stuck together, generally going at the pace of the slowest cyclist, knowing deep down that a slow pace was the key to keeping enough energy in the tank for the whole challenge.  We maintained our pre-planned 10miles/hr pace amazingly well, guided successfully by Sam’s highly-engineered ‘handle-bar-mounted laminated map-flip-holder thingamabob’ through the generally leafy lanes of rural Sussex.  First retirement was Chris (12 miles) due to a double puncture attempting to take his road bike down a gravel track as well as a needy recent first child… Fortunately we had a support van for the whole weekend so he could be ferried back to the nearest station.  However, this extra responsibility only seemed to add to the general confusion for our trusty CAD-technician-turned-van-driver, Ben Nicholls, further jeopardizing his lackluster time-keeping and map reading (younger generation over-reliant on technology…).   

Our progress was pretty steady, although being overtaken uphill by a pensioner on an electric bike shouting ‘Slackers!’ didn’t help the cause!  Due to a late change in the proposed campsite for the Friday night (so we could enjoy the ‘luxury’ of hot-running water and proper sanitation(!)), the final section of the Day 1 route consisted of some off-road cycling along the banks of the River Arun.  At this point, the sun was beginning to set and the cycling pace was slowing dramatically -this wasn’t helped by a giant thorn-induced puncture for Sam and Ayyappa’s electric bike which required at least 3 people to lift over every stile!  (for legal reasons we are in no way admitting to getting lost and cycling on designated footpaths....). We arrived safely at the campsite with just enough daylight to pitch the tents before heading off for a steak and a pint nearby.  Ayyappa, Alex & Nick departed at this point for a weekend non-cycling activities – big respect to Ayyappa and Alex in particular for completing the 35 miles on very little training.

Day 2 (Saturday): Arundel - Romsey

In hindsight, picking a campsite that was practically on a dual carriageway was possibly not the best idea for keeping up morale.  Furthermore picking the pitches closest to said dual carriage way may have been considered as a failure. So with no more than 2 or 3 hours sleep between them, Sam, Colin, Madhu and Sean set out to complete the next 65 miles of the journey.  The morning started well with some exciting unexpected shortcuts along a few bridle ways to avoid the worst of the main roads. Progress went well along the flatter parts of Sussex as we took in the sights and sounds of Goodwood motor circuit.  We arrived at the first stop to find Ben and our support van waiting for us...a first for the trip so far.

The second part of the morning was not quite as comfortable, as our route appeared to cross the downs several times resulting in monstrous repeated hill climbs. Bravely we soldiered on safe in the knowledge we had a long pub lunch stop booked in ahead of us! Having successfully completed the first 40 miles bang on schedule we were looking forward to our lunch only to find Ben, the support van and more importantly our wallets were no where to be found.  Despite having driven past us (twice!) about half an hour previously, Ben managed to get to the pub last! 

Richard Bowman joined us for the afternoon leg of the journey.  Being fresh-legged, he showed his support for the team by disappearing off miles ahead, usually appearing at the top of the next hill far off in the distance.  The only thing that kept the rest of us going was the knowledge that Richard managed to go the wrong way occasionally and was adding a few unnecessary hills to his route!  After crossing into Hampshire skirting south of Winchester we finally arrived at an idyllic campsite north of Romsey - not a dual carriageway for miles and powershowers! Luxury!  Ben made up for all previous misdemeanors by having managed to pick up the ingredients for a(nother) steak dinner and a few well deserved beers in a local pub!

Day 3 (Sunday): Romsey - Bournemouth

The legs were weary, but after a better night’s sleep and the biggest breakfast in camping history, we set off to complete the mere 35 miles required to complete the challenge.  This leg actually turned out to be one of the most enjoyable parts of the journey – partly as we knew we were counting down to the real end of the trip at this point – but mainly as a large part of the route was through the New Forest  (and mostly downhill) .  For long periods, it felt as if the smooth, almost car-free, tarmac roads had been laid especially for us.  We achieved some of our top speeds through this section, no doubt egged on by the sight of a ‘pro’-road-cycling (lots of lycra on show) event sharing part of the route.  Other highlights included stopping off at some quaint villages (such as Burley), seeing the roaming wild horses and taking in the general scenery.  In fact, it was a mixed feeling when we arrived in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Christchurch for a pre-planned stopping point, although we knew we were now on the home straight with less than 5 miles to go.  This final stretch led us through picturesque Christchurch and then along the Bournemouth sea-front cliff-top.  At this point, the heavens opened and we were all thoroughly drenched by the time we arrived at Bournemouth Pier – our designated finishing point - to be welcomed by our hardy supporters.  The bad weather wasn’t in the original plan for the end of the trip (which generally included ice-creams, swimming in the sea and outdoor beers) – but almost everything else had gone so well, this could be forgiven.  Following a few (tourist) photos to document our achievement and a quick change in our support van – we re-fuelled and warmed up with some classic fish & chips overlooking the beach.  We were all impressed with ourselves for completing the full distance – but especially with Madhu for coping with days of endless British rolling hills and outshining us fitness-wise for most of the way having done very little training at all!

Many thanks to everyone who gave up their time to take part in the event, either cycling or contributing in other ways.  Thanks to Ben (and Richard) for driving the life-saving support van and preparing much needed snacks, drinks and dinners.  Thanks to Caroline & Glenda for collecting all the sponsorship money in the office.  Thanks also to Steve Truluck and his team for organizing the overall event.  Thanks to everyone who sponsored us (which helped with motivation).

Sam Godding and Colin Toovey, Haywards Heath Office

Rochdale to Leeds Saturday 11th June

 Rhide participants: Granville Davies, Steve Graham, Dave Goodman, Matt Simpson and Jason Hudson from the Leeds office joined by John Drabble and Pete Websdell from Rochdale.

All in good spirits

As the sun rose up over the Pennines, Team Rochdale began to gather at the office for the start of the Rochdale to Leeds leg of the RHide for Stuart.

Unfortunately the third member of the Rochdale office in the team was unable to make it, due to an incident whilst training the previous weekend (getting lost in the Peak District and being rescued by Mountain Rescue at 04.00!).

A hearty breakfast was enjoyed by all, provided by the Rochdale office; before the Manchester office crew set off (they had joined us at the start but were now heading off in the opposite direction, on their route to Manchester and Liverpool).



Manchester, Leeds and Rochdale “bikers” enjoying a hearty breakfast at Globe House.

    



Bye bye to the Manchester crew (as John Clark in the background takes down the flag)




And we are off too….

The beginning of our journey was reasonably flat taking us through Rochdale and Littleborough to the first climb and worst of the day, up Black Stone Edge, some 377m high, this is when the weather decided to help us along our way, by pouring down and eventually hail stoning into the bargain. Our support vehicle (manned by Rosemary McKay) was waiting for us at the top, oxygen mask at the ready!

…Phew ! Made it….  Just wait for the others.


Our rest at the top of the hill was short lived when an apparition was spotted on the opposite side of the road, we thought it was time to get moving, you hear such stories…..




Umm….. 

 A closer look and a bit of detective work by Rosemary, we believe they are a church group!



A Welcome break

Our journey continued up and down dale, with some hair-raising parts through the busy town of Brighouse, especially for those of us now not sure of the route, a case of follow the leader.

Approaching Leeds we were doing great, although the team had got separated.  The support car was waiting in a lay by on the dual carriage way, Rosemary was counting us in on the final stretch to Gelderd Road, five of us went past,  two to go, two to go, two to go,

Ah, here’s Granville… but where is John Drabble?  He had unfortunately lost sight of the pack and taken a wrong turning, so managed to do an extra 3.5 miles, his worried wife and daughter who were waiting at the finish were relieved to see him come cycling up the road.

Made it !

All in all a thoroughly enjoyable ride, especially with the thought of the sponsorship money we were raising to help Stuart, spurring us on.  We thought a well earned pub lunch was in order.



Leeds office and finish - lets head for the pub.

Rosemary McKay, On behalf of the Rochdale and Leeds Offices

Elgin to Edinburgh, Day 2, 12th June

RHiders Jamie Green, Peterborough Office & Steve Truluck, Chertsey Office

The alarm sounded at 5am, heralding the start of another day of the RHide for Stuart. The kettle went on and I opened the curtains to be welcomed by a glorious sight (clearly not Montrose) of a multicoloured sky. Just maybe we might be on for a rain free day!

We had heard the good news that Team Rochdale had completed their ride and that Team Newcastle were at Leeds safe and sound. We were in good spirits as most of our kit had dried overnight and we were keen to succeed on our leg.

With bags packed and squelchy shoes put on, we tip toed downstairs to set off and leave Montrose at 6am. What a glorious morning! We kept to the quiet main roads keen to make solid early progress but only 1 hour in  and my right leg was not moving well. A brief stop for some breakfast and to readjust my seat (again!) soon sorted out the niggle.

Springroll for breakfast!

Jamie had lifted my spirits the previous day by telling me that Arbroath was worse than Montrose. He admits now that that he did Arbroath a great injustice! We did see it at it's best in the early morning sun though!

Sunny Arbroath

We then belted it along the main road to Dundee where we had to cross the first of our main bridges of the day -  the Tay bridge. Jamie had done his homework and checked out the route on Google Earth beforehand to make sure we knew where the cycle routes were on both bridges. The cycle route on the Tay bridge runs through the centre of the bridge.

Before going up onto the bridge we paused for a gel stop.

Tasty energy gels!

As we approached the bridge, there were roadworks forcing us into one lane. We looked around us for the route to the centre of the bridge and eventually realised that the cycle route was inaccessible from the road. It was behind full height railings with the access being from a lift somewhere below. With no route back (we were now on a dual carriageway with no footway), we pedalled on and suddenly found ourselves engulfed by a group of boy racers, 'cruising' and posing in their lowered street cars. This was far from ideal! With no way out, we continued hemmed in at the side of the bridge with waves of cars racing past us. As the Fife massive raced each other across the bridge, deliberately revving up to show us how big their (insert a word of choice - engines?) were,  we couldn't help but admire their tasteful bodykits and paintjobs just inches away from us. We cringed at the sound of each big bore exhaust as it approached, waiting for the dump valves to go off right next to us as the wee young lads tried to scare us - bless them they succeeded! We eventually made it to the farside in one piece cursing the lack of signage and our very wee friends.

Tay Bridge, Dundee

Undaunted, we continued on in the sunshine, stopping at Cupa for a well earned pie and hot chocolate. From Cupa the route became decidedly hillier and on one of the hills my back locked up, a result of stupidly having my seat at the wrong height for the previous day! Every now and then I had to dismount and stretch and I ended up resorting to taking painkillers to see me through to the end.

Jamie was particularly patient whilst I tried to sort myself out until the pain killers kicked in. On one of the subsequent big downhills I had a scary moment when I changed into top gear and at about 30mph my chain came off and tangled around my pedal. I shouted to Jamie ahead but he didn't hear me and pressed on downwards. It was a few minutes until we were reunited, who knows what he was thinking had happened!!

Soon though, it was Jamie's turn to flag as we went through an old mining town. Another foodstop was necessary. The terrain then got steadily steeper and hillier and his heavier bike was having more of an effect on him whilst I was riding my Ibuprofen wave.

What's that coming over the hill?

Behold the Firth of Forth!

The approach towards Edinburgh was stunning. The Firth of Forth was in view and you could see the Forth Railway bridge away in the distance.
We continued along the coast road and unwittingly caused chaos at some roadworks which were on a steep hill. Some tree work was being done and the traffic lights had fixed timings. We had let through most of the traffic by cycling in the cones but as we approached the men at work we went back on the road and ended up slowing traffic behind us as we climbed the steep hill. Suffice to say that by the time we had got to the far end there were cars heading in both directions in one lane despite me waving frantically at the car heading towards me to stop and go back! They were unable to reverse as one of the cars behind them was towing a caravan! OOPS!

We progressed through some small towns towards the Forth Road Bridge hoping to avoid another chaotic bridge crossing. This was to be the highlight of the whole event for me. We looked for the way onto the bridge which I found but when I called out to Jamie he didn't hear me and continued along in the bus lane - oh sh*t! I paused and waited to see where he had gone and as he disappeared out of view I followed the route we should be taking, hoping he would realise and be able to join me. Fortunately he did and catastrophe was averted!! Phew!

We went up onto the bridge and the expanse of the Forth appeared around us. It was amazing! An emotional high. After the soaking the day before we knew we had earnt this. We were smiling away knowing that the end was nigh and sucking in the euphoria of riding across such a stunning landscape. Gusts of wind pelted us sideways as we thought about what we had nearly achieved.

Crossing the Forth - the high point of the ride

The Old Lady of the Forth (the bridge not Jamie!)

Plain sailing from there on of course? Nah! That's never the case! I think the high of the bridge lulled us in. We still had 10 miles to go to the office in Leith.

Jamie proceeded to bonk and was rather worryingly wondering if he was going to continue with his plans of a cycle holiday around Scotland as soon as we had finished. His holiday had been planned for ages and I knew how much he had been looking forward to it. The fact that he had sacrificed 3 days of his holiday to do this ride showed what a true gent he is. He was a great companion on the ride and luckily we were never failing at the same time so were able to keep each other going.
True to form he recovered but then my painkillers wore off and when I lay on the floor to stretch my back some kind drivers pulled over to see why I was contorting myself on the ground whilst my friend stood there and watched!!
Shortly before 5pm we arrived at the office where we waited for Jennifer Trendall, our back up for the day, who had kindly offered to come and meet us and take our picture. Jamie grabbed a quick nap!

Time for a celebratory nap!

Jennifer then turned up and surpassed all our expectations by presenting us with chocolate cake and a bottle of Talisker (Whisky at last!!). Another Haskoning employee and yet another lovely person. How do we do it?!

Time for a celebratory nip!

It was a fitting end to our RHide for Stuart. It had started with two colleagues in Whisky country. It ended with two friends with Whisky.

Steve Truluck

Birmingham to Liverpool 11th – 12th June

James Rees, Steve Bibb, Jonathan Rees, Alistair Reid, Dean Stromeyer

Day 1

We set off from Newater House at 0930 on a glorious Saturday morning, all in high spirits and confident about the ride ahead.  Although none of us proclaimed to be cyclists (Steve getting back on a bike after a 15 year 'break') we were itching to get started on the 95 mile ride to Liverpool.

Heading out of the city centre and straight onto the canal network we covered the 15 miles to Wolverhampton in good time, taking in the sights of the Black Country.  We then joined the Shropshire Union Canal, which according to our route plan would take us all the way to Ellesmere Port, on the banks of the Mersey. 

Making hay while the sun shone

Wolverhampton Locks

A couple of miles north of Wolverhampton we reached rural Staffordshire and the (relatively) smooth ride of the paved towpath gave way to grass and dirt tracks.  Steve prophesied that he would be the first to get a puncture, and it wasn’t long before he fell victim to a rogue thorn, puncturing his back tyre.  But with a Formula 1-esk tyre change we were soon back on track, albeit with the addition of a rapidly greying sky.

As the weather started to turn so did the mood as we were confronted with 30 grumpy fisherman dismayed at our use of the canal towpath for cycling.  With the fishermen, poles, rods, nets, umbrellas, tackle, bait and chairs negotiated the rain really started to make its presence felt. Intermittent showers stuck with us for the rest of the day and made the grass towpath very hard going, wet, muddy and slippery in places.  

Managing to stay out of the canal, we bravely soldiered on to the 45 mile marker, just south of Market Drayton, where we decided we could take no more of the towpath and would navigate the country roads instead.

Where's the path gone?

Our average speed jumped immediately after leaving the canal and were soon at Market Drayton which provided our stopping point for a spot of afternoon tea.  We left the tea shop behind, but not but not before James was publicly admonished by a police officer for cycling on the footpath through the town. 

A low-level flypast from a Lancaster bomber brought with it a change in the weather when the sun came out for our arrival at Nantwich (our overnight stopping point).  We had clocked up 58 miles of mostly difficult canal towpath, saddle sore and stiff and the thought of a second days cycling was unappealing and daunting.  However we managed to distracted ourselves from the aches and pains with a well deserved curry and 'experiencing' the Nantwich nightlife. 

#Dambusters tune

A well kept secret

Day 2

The next morning, following a ‘high energy’ (high cholesterol) breakfast we hit the road in heavy rain.  It was soon apparent that the wet weather was with us for the day, but it didn't dampen our spirits (well, maybe a little).  We quickly covered the 20 miles to Chester where we had arranged to meet Dean and Alistair from the Liverpool office.

Using their local knowledge, Alistair and Dean led us north, once again alongside the Shropshire Union canal, but this time along a well surface track through the very scenic Cheshire countryside.  The ride was plain sailing, up until the 'Towpath Closed' sign, immediately followed by another puncture, this time Alistair’s front tyre.  

We were soon back on the road again finding our way through the back streets of Ellesmere Port, until the River Mersey was eventually in sight.  We stopped briefly for shelter from the unrelenting rain and some soup near to Queen Elizabeth Dock.  A little warmer and more contented we were ready to take on some of the more exotic parts of the Wirral, passing through Port Sunlight, Rockferry and Birkenhead.

mmmmmm 'soup and batch'!

After 45 soggy miles we were very pleased to arrive, at Woodside Ferry Terminal.  We made the very wet and windy, but enjoyable ferry crossing across the Mersey, followed by a short ride to the finishing line at the Liverpool office.

# Ferry 'cross the Mersey!

With our unplanned diversions we covered a total distance of 103 miles and were able to raise around £300 for Stuart as a result of our challenge, in addition to a very enjoyable and memorable weekend.

Drowned Rats

Peterborough - Leeds - Newcastle: Day 2, the homeward leg

Despite having a very late meal the night before we were all down at breakfast at 7am getting the other side of a good cooked breakfast.  The chef had come in early just for us.  We were all pleased that the stag and hen parties that we had met in the bar the night before did not disturb our nights sleep.

We had been joined on this leg by Mark Donoghue, Ali Minhas, Nick and Tanja Cooper and Ainis Vincevicius but Ayyappa was not continuing further.  Yvonne's day started at 7am too, not with breakfast, but by making more sandwiches for us!

Ready for the off

We had taken local advice and adjusted our route to head to Weatherby rather than Harrogate as this was a slightly less hillier route.  It was a beautiful sunny morning as we set off, guided by local boy Mark D, through the deserted streets of Leeds.  Soon we were climbing out of the city and followed a lovely wide and rolling road to Weatherby.  The squeaking noise on Ainis's bike was rather annoying and when we stopped he realised that his chain was not threaded through his deralleur properly!



Coffee and cake by the old A1

 We regrouped and rode in group through Weatherby high street and out onto the old A1 that had been converted to a minor road and adjacent cycleway.  After a few miles heading north with a gentle southerly breeze pushing us along, the support crew caught us up and we stopped for coffee and cake.


It was then a matter of following the A168 north past Boroughbridge and on to Dishforth.  This was a lovely quiet road and we all got in a big long line and regularly hit 22mph towing eachother along.  Nick Cooper led this stretch for a long way. The boys on the mountain bikes did get a bit left behind but they soon caught up.  We did get some strange looks from the time trial cyclists with their tight lycra suits and aero helmets as we sped past in the opposite direction.



A quick refuelling stop on the A168

At Dishforth we left our quiet main road and cut through the picturesque village of Topcliffe and joined the A167.  Next stop and lunch was Northallerton and a welcome from Jamie Ellis' parents and Paul Hart's wife and young children.  We lunched by the vans in Tesco's car park!  We did not notice until the way out of town the rather nice park we could have stopped in!


Lunch at Northallerton



With the skys noticeably darkening, but the southerly wind still blowing we set off again toward Darlington.  It seemed like we were nearly home but we still had nearly 50 miles to go.



Next stop Darlington

Matt Smith began to have problems with his chain jumping so stopped to try to fix it.  Meanwhile the rest of us headed north.  Matt Greaves was suffering from back pain so had decided to take a spell in the minibus.  This meant that Mark Donoghue could ditch his heavy mountain bike and try out one of the "loan" road bikes that had been kindly given to us for the trip by M Steels Cycles of Gosforth.  This was good for him apart he really felt his lack of padded cycling shorts on the hard minimalist race saddle.  There was some confusion at Darlington when Ali Minhas and Richard Potter took a short cut through the main pedestrian precinct (as shown on the route map) and missed Dave Watson and the minibus who had pulled over on the ring road.  We finaly got together as a group and as the rain began to fall we set off toward Durham.  This was a rolling section of road and the faster boys pulled out quite a lead on the hills but we regrouped by the side of a rather wet and busy road for our last refuelling stop before Newcastle.  From there we stayed as a group and climbed up from Chester-le-Street to Birtley and the Angel of the North.


A very wet but happy crew at the Angel

From the Angel the end was in sight and it was pretty much down hill through Gateshead.  We had to stay as a group here to avoid being split up by traffic lights.  It was then a final downhill swoop to the Tyne bridge.  We bunched up and took over the inside lane ready for the photo opportunity but this was spoilt by a ambulance screaming past forcing us back into single file.





Home!

Made it!

All the lights seemed to be against us as we wound our way past Central Station and on to the office.  Of the 12 cyclists who had set off from Leeds that morning 11 made the full 100 miles.



A bunch of happy cyclists outside the office

 A huge thanks must go to the support crew; Jane, Yvonne and Dave  I know that we could not have carried the amount of food we consumed over the two days and your constant support kept us all going.  As the organiser of the ride I am really proud of what we have achieved, especially some of the non cyclists amongst you.  To cycle 100 miles in one day is a real achievement and to do it raising money for Stuart makes it even better. 

What shall we do next year?!

Richard Potter