Peterborough - Leeds - Newcastle; day 1

Riders: Travers Blair, Jamie Ellis, Matt Greaves, Ayyappa Guidemetla, Paul Hart, Gregor McNiven, Richard Potter, Matt Smith & Philip Smith (part way). Support crew: Jane Clarkson, Dave Watson and Yvonne Watson.

Our ride started on the Friday evening when we all jumped in the minibus and a van carrying the bikes and headed south to Peterborough.  Yvonne Watsons sandwiches kept us going on the way down.  We stayed at various places in Peterborough and were fed well by our hosts.  Philip Smith cooks a mean chilli!

Ready for the off

We all gathered as planned at 07:30 at the Peterborough office and were welcomed by Gerry Cairns, John Whelan and Alastair McMillan which was a nice touch.

Within 2.7 miles Gregor had a puncture but this was quickley repaired and we were on our way heading up Kings Street and north.  Meanwhile Yvonne was back in Peterborough making the sandwiches.  Bourne came and went and we regrouped and met up with Jane and the van and our first prpoer refuelling stop.

Richard wins the brightest shirt award

Philip left us at Grantham and we continued on toward Lincoln along Ermine Street.  All going well, but by this stage Ayyappa had had enough and was with Dave in the van.

Matt "nice bum" Smith behind Paul Hart

The road into Lincoln and just under half way

We all met at Lincoln for some lunch which was delayed slightly by Jane taking a tour of the city in the van with the lunch in!  We set off again in torrential rain which didn't last too long but got us all pretty wet.  Ayyappa decided to restart and did another few miles before needing more rest. Jamie also rejoined the peloton.

The next big town was Gainsborough which I can't remember much about apart from that was when we really started to head west and into the wind.  This combined with a few hills slowed us down but we battled on with Matt and Richard sharing the pacemaker role at the head of the group.  Legs were beginning to tire as we crossed the M18 and wheeled into the car park of the Hare and Tortoise and a great welcome from Matt Greaves' parents.



Rest was needed by all.



Ready for the off once again

 From Doncaster the road led us over more ups and downs and into more wind all the way to Wakefield. We managed to navigate our way through and out toward Morley where Ayyappa joined us once again for the descent into Leeds.


Caught short on the road to Wakefield

 We all cruised into the Leeds office car park, after a long day and about 123 miles to be met by Granville Davies and Steve Graham and boxes of pizza and a case of beer.  What more could we want, apart from a bath, a massage and a good sleep!

Pizza!



Leeds Office and the end of day 1

 We all enjoyed a soak in a bath followed by a late meal in the nearby Premier Inn who were great and allowed us to keep the bikes in one of their store rooms overnight.