1000 Miles for Namuwongo

600m up – Morning above the clouds

william — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:25:50 +0000

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This video is of the team before they cycle through the heat and hills from Saint Cirq-Lapopie to Albi.

The film doesn’t quite do it justice but it was very cold and the camp site was literally in the clouds.

130km to Albi – finished

william — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:04:54 +0000

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This is a shot snippet of the team arriving into Albi, S. France, after a long day in the saddle

Tom and Berta waiting for the rain to stop being wet

william — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:17:04 +0000

Its the worse weather we have seen in 7 days… please… no more

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Tom and Will showing the road who is boss

william — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:07:52 +0000

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Tom and Will attacking 45 km of flat, northern France.

Berta is Master Of The Hills

william — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:20:53 +0000

Berta attacking a Hill

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Stage One – it has begun

william — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 08:39:58 +0000

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we have started and are well on our way through the hilly interior of France.

Stage 5

rlichten — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 14:44:23 +0000

Day 15 – Carcassone – Canet-en-Rossullion

Miles – 62
Start Elevation – 2ft
Max Elevation – 1106

Day 16 – Canet-en-Rossullion – Torroella de Montgri

Miles – 80
Start Elevation – 0ft
Max Elevation – 633ft

Day 17 – Torroella de Montgri – Barcelona

The final 2 days of our trip takes us over the border and into Spain.

It will have been 13 days of cycling and a welcome site. The sea will be our constant companion from here on in as we take the coastal roads towards Barcelona. Along the route we will finally be rewarded with some flat runs. We won’t be cycling on the beach, but as close as we can, which means its good old sea level for the majority of the time. This will be a welcome break to our tiered, aching legs, and allow us to complete these last two days in a respectful time.

Our first point of call and final night of the trip will be in Torrolla de Montgre, a small town on the north of the Ter river. My final fact is a good one, I think. Torrolla de Montgre was once the Royal Port for the Kings of Aragon before the river started silting up and a new port was founded at Palamos. Ah intresting stuff J

No intruduction needed for our final point of call. Barcelona, the Catalan capital, base to the greatest football team the world has ever seen and the home of our very own Berta Navarro Pero! It’s now nothing but comfortable beds, good food, wine and company from here on in. After a couple of days we will take our leave and head back to London, which 2 weeks previously was where we set off on this amazing journey. We will, before you even ask, be flying home, happy to be swapping a set of wheel for a set of wings this time I imagine.

Stage 4

rlichten — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 14:41:19 +0000

Day 10 – Saint-Leonard de Noblet – Saint Hilaire Peyroux / Le Chazal

Miles: 50
Start elevation: 342ft
Max Elevation: 1624

Day 11 – Saint Hilaire Peyroux – Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

Miles – 73
Start Elevation – 346ft
Max Elevation – 1591ft

Day 12 Resting Day at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

Day 13 – Saint-Cirq-Lapopie – Albi

Miles – 89
Start Elevation – 185ft
Max Elevation – 2411ft

Day 14 – Albi – Carcassone

Miles – 88
Start Elevation – 633ft
Max Elevation – 3294ft

Stage 4 is going to take us to the very edge of France.

By this point we will be shells of our former selves, but within touching distance of our goal! Yes Spain will be just over the horizon, so it will be at this point that we will be saying our good byes to France. Before the old girl takes her final bow from the adventure of this ride, she will give us some farewell joy in the form of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Now I would at this point like to thank the World Wide Web for all the help in picking out facts about the places we will be visiting, and this next one is great. Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is actually part of group of villages in France that belong to ‘The Most Beautiful Villages in France’ Association. I kid you not, its true. But this places does come with a draw back as it’s situated on top of a steep cliff. Something to do with the village defences. They certainly were not taking us into consideration when they planned that one.

Moving on from here we start to take a more southeast direction as we head towards the coast. It’s on the approach to Canet-en-Roussillion that we will first sea the blue of the Mediterranean Sea, which I expect to be quite an emotional moment for us. Its at this point where I have no issues telling you that I will be celebrating this by having a large, ice cold beer, most probably on the beach. All that’s left for us to do is approach the border and prepare ourselves for the final stage of our epic journey. Watch this space!

Our salute to the Queen!

rlichten — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 14:26:38 +0000

So, in honour of the Queen, and to take advantage of bank holiday weekend, myself Berta and Will all met up at my humble home in Surrey to head out on a solid 40 mile training session. Living out of London does have its benefits, and in this case, its rolling countryside that we can point our bikes at. Happy Days!

The morning started out with a decent breakfast (many thanks Mr Mower for some superb scrambled eggs) before we started to tinker with the bikes, well my bike. After a good scrub down, a burst inner tube and an angry Will having to sort it all out for me, we were ready to get out on to the open road! The route we took started out on a northwest direction that takes us onto the Olympic road-racing route, which is incredibly cool and leads up over the M25 and towards the formidable Box Hill! At the top of Box Hill is a quality little café/shop/not quite sure… which is a welcome sight after the climb. This is packed with fellow cyclists all taking an opportunity to get out which created a great atmosphere. Its hear that we demolish a Bacon and Cheese muffin, massive flapjack and a coffee. After 22miles this was exactly what we needed, and set us up nicely for the second half of the loop that would take us back to my flat.

This was one of the few rides we have had the opportunity to complete together and put us in a great mood. We all nailed 40 miles without thinking about it, which is exactly where we need to be at this point in our training. Apart from Berta taking a tumble at a junction after failing to clip out in time (sorry Berta ☺) the whole day went off without a hitch! So preparations are coming along nicely I think.

1,000 miles starts with Dinner

rlichten — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:11:24 +0000

Tom, Berta and I attended the Namuwongo fundraising dinner at the Brewery on Tuesday night to support the charity by eating and drinking. A much easier way of supporting a charity then cycling for two weeks!

It was a fantastic night with great performances and an auction run by Jeremy Clarkson! It has struck me how great it is that the industry has really got behind Namuwongo and it never surprises me how much business gets done over a glass of Champaign, even at a charity do.

With only 5 weeks to go, we are really knuckling down to the training and are all feeling fighting fit!!