Day 3 – 18 June 2010

Sorry for the delay on updating the blog. We had our third straight day of headwinds on our way from Monmouth to Wigan. The start of the route was hilly to say the least. Due to the additional 10 miles that we tacked on to Days 1 and 2, we were not able to start at Hereford as originally planned. Macca and John made it the entire 140 miles; however, several others have started to feel the strains beginning on the 330th mile of our trip.

Today we reached £380 in charity donations by setting up our stand at ASDA in Shrewsbury. The public were really supportive of us and the cause. Luster set off with Macca and John but decided to join Alan Moyle and Rob Croft on the van after 30 miles into it to prevent further injury putting his total mileage for the day at 110 miles for the day.

The decision was taken for some of the team members to begin conducting relays in pairs in order to get the whole team through the John O’Groats without suffering permanent injuries.

Day 4 – 19 June 2010

Today John set off early with Macca while the rest of the team packed the equipment and hit the road. Once we caught up with Macca and resupplied him, the rest of the team set off while our support staff rescued John from a mechanical failure with a broken bottom bracket. All the team made it to Kendall by 1230 hours. Macca put his bike in the shop to repair his cables whilst Luster replaced his pedals, which no longer turned freely due to excessive use. Crofty purchased a new set of gloves to help pad his crippled hands that no longer have the dexterity to type or grip his eating utensils.

The support team collected £135 in front of Nevis Sport in Kendall, where the manager was very generous and supportive in allowing us to set up in front of his shop. Due to differing levels of injury, the team set off at differing times to negotiate the hill called Shap Fell, 1400 feet of ascent over approximately 4 miles...which was emotional.

At Clifton, we stopped to see the memorial marking the last battle fought on English soil between two armies in the year 1745. The team then pressed on to Carlisle to the Territorial Army centre located in Carlisle Castle. Crofty’s missus Ona met us with a tin of cookies, which were much appreciated by the team. The team then went out for our first real dinner since we began, which set us up well for the long day into Scotland.

Day 5 – 20 June 2010

Today, we left Carlisle and headed for Perth. Macca started out early again with John and Crofty, whilst the rest of the team packed the van. At Lower Langholme, Crofty and John handed the relay over to Luster and Alan Moyle. Macca persevered on his fifth day. The relay teams began making record time through Edinburgh and on into Perth. The wind finally stopped blowing from the north and started showing signs that it will blow from the south.

We stayed at the Territorial Army centre in Dundee, approximately 20 miles from Perth. George, the Quartermaster, had a fantastic spaghetti Bolognaise prepared for the team and waited until everyone arrived to make sure we were all sorted.

Day 2

Day 2 began bright and sunny in Lympstone surrounded by strage people in head overs. The team, now complete with the arrival of its secret weapon Al Moyle began the long journey to Monmouth. The ride started well however, the GPS was damaged and we were, on occasion sent the wrong way, damn technology....... The miles were stacking up, the sun was blistering but the team pushed on. Crofty had now got the measure of his tri bike (In the bike world this is like having a bow and arrow instead of a rifle on the range. We hit Bristol during rush hour which was simillar to riding through hell. It was during this stage that the teams secret weapon came a cropper and fell of his trusty stead, in full view of drivers stuck in a jam, obviously he was pushed. At around the 1800hrs mark the team made the pilgramage into Wales and pushed onto Monmouth. Special mention has to be made to our support staff who have have been busy collecting donations on our behalf and have had excellent results.

Day 1

This morning we packed the coach at 0550 hours and set off for Land's End at 0600 hours. Weather today appears favourable with clear skies, moderate temperatures, but with a slight headwind.

Since we left before 0700 hours, we have had to eat whatever food we brought with us. For Captain Hobbs it ws the "All Day Breakfast", a meal ready to eat consisting of baked beans and sausage, leftover from hiking in Wales several months ago.

We've identified our roundezvous point, a services with a Starbucks, along the A30 near Redruth.

The driver and medic received a £10.00 gift voucher from Tesco and 12 bottles of water from Morrison's.

We reached the first break spot, the Starbuck's vicinity of Redruth and A30, just before 1000 hours. We ate bananas and drank Lucozade before hitting the road again for Bodmin.

We were welcomed by the Bodmin town council with coffee and tea. The people of Bodmin were quite generous with most contributing something to the cause and very interested in supporting the military.

This afternoon's ride was relatively uneventful with Luster receiving two flat tires within a mile near the 100 mile mark. The temperature today was approximately 26 degrees Celcius without a cloud in the sky which left most of us with a sunburn.

We planned to conduct a 119 mile ride today, but finished with 130 miles.

Waiting for us at the end of our day was Warrant Officer Second Class Alan Moyle. We checked into the Royal Marine barracks at Lympstone near Exeter, then we went to get some pizza in a nearby town called Exmouth.

D-1 Admin =Badmin

15 June 2010
Beginning of the 16 Brigade charity bike ride for Combat Stress from Lands End to John O'Groats. Today Flight Lt Rob Croft 'Croftie', Captain James Macca Macrae, Staff Sergeant John Keiller and Capt (US) Luster Hobbs along with a medic and driver from the Brigade set off in the minibus from Colchester to Lands End. We are due to link up with WO2 'Big' Al Moyle tomorrow night. He wont ride the first day as he claims he has an exam for his degree, but we know it pension day

It wasnt long into the journey when Croftie was going through his mental check list. Spare inner tubes....

.......in his kitchen at home

GPS watch

.......on the side in the kitchen at home

Team Kit

......in the back of his car

A flying star from the RAF

We were fortunate to bluff a free lunch worth £25.00 from Burger King at Fleet services, so a big thanks to them.

We arrived at RAF St Mawgan, Newquay at 1900hrs on the Tuesday and set about prepping the bikes for the following morning.

The kits are here!!!

D-2.

The kits have arrived from one of supporters Champ-Sys sports clothing.

All the guys have been given their funky lycra suits for the ride!

We should have the first pictures on here tomorrow with some of us wearing the kits.

Preparation seems to be going well at the moment (figers crossed).

We will publish details of the route tomorrow complete with all timings for the lunch stops/start and finnish times for the 7 days.

Please follow us daily!

The Bike Ride

On the 16th of June 2010, a team of five officers and soldiers will cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats in just 7 days (nearly 1000 miles!) in aid of Combat Stress.

We hope to smash our provisional goal of £3000.00.

If you wis to donate please go to:

www.justgiving.com/16aa-stresscycle

Follow us everyday on this site for comedy updates and tails of woe!!