The Official Poster: Version 1

I almost forgot, here is the official poster, version 1 which is aimed at generating text donations; if you would like to support us by putting one up in your workplace or business please contact us through adamcorkett@googlemail.com  and we can provide an A3 or A4 full colour print.

Potential Issues with the Transpennine Trail

At last, we finally remembered to take the camera with us; this will be the official photo for press releases until we can get a better one done.

So the new tyres worked a treat, certainly could feel a difference when climbing hills as I didn't seem to struggle as much; I could perhaps have put my old ones back on the wrong way around, but never did check in the end, just hoping these ones allow me some respite from the puncture wars.

Still windy, but what's new? We again took the decision to ride out into the wind, for an easier (supposedly) ride back in. Taking a slightly different route, we had decided to aim for hitting a section of the Transpennine Trail near to us and get a look of the land, so we set off for North Ferriby and the Humber Bridge, via Walkington, Little Weighton, Skidby and Swanland. Whilst we weren't hitting any dizzying heights, this route certainly still felt testing with more frequent climbs and descents, virtually around every corner.

Upon hitting the section of the Transpennine Trail between North Ferriby and the Humber Bridge we were faced by a sign telling us the TPT was closed; just assuming this might be a seasonal thing we carried on, until it became very clear that the trail really was closed. It was passable on a mountain bike, a little bumpy in places, but there is a distinct lack of surface for around a few hundred metres and when we reached the sign at the Bridge end it became worryingly clear that the track is not intended to be fixed until mid-August, which is certainly no good to us!

So, we headed back with a new problem to solve, given that the main premise of the challenge is to complete the trail itself, it might prove a little difficult to stay completely true to the original plan without a small detour for that section.

Maybe a letter to the TPT board might get us special dispensation to cycle the section when the diggers are on there, or maybe they will just finish it nice and early before the start of the summer!

Adam

Two Chef's Reward

It has been a while now since the last update, and I fully intended to check in after last weekend's training ride, but just never found the time. I had mentioned that it was supposed to rain, and that was not the case in fact the sun shone nearly the whole time; but the wind did blow - making the first half of our trek (retracing steps from the previous week) very difficult indeed.

The first climb which starts in Beverley doesn't really stop until just outside of South Newbald, high-point is around 150m and so it is a steady climb, but quite difficult in the wind, which was almost directly in our faces for the first 10 miles. Taking the official photograph proved problematic, as I had forgotten my camera and only taken the phone, which apparently isn't to hot when on self-timer left on the floor on a gusty day... so we will need to revisit this at some point.

After which we seemed to conquer our nemesis of the week prior, the climb from just outside of North Newbald to the A1079 nr Kipplingcotes; all went well as we paced ourselves nicely, until at the top and then the tell tale hissing noise.
After fixing the puncture on my front tyre in record time, we set off on the return without a hitch and even added a few miles to stop in at the Pipe and Glass in South Dalton for a nice pint, very refreshing called Two Chefs.

I have since the last week purchased some new tyres, which will hopefully be on by tomorrow, if I find the time - Nobby Nics, which I am assured by the guy at my local cycle shop are the business! So we shall see, what I would really like to see is some kind of speed gain, my wheels seem to go backwards going downhill and this isn't funny when you are trying to reserve energy. Maybe fixing my buckles will add something, but they were never that fast before anyhow.

Last night the planning committee held a late night meeting, and we are currently trying to establish where to stay along the way - camping is the only option for us really and we were shocked to discover the cost of joining the caravan and camping club, in excess of forty English pounds; this just seems over the top when considering how much benefit this will buy us in a year of pitching a piece of canvas. Most years I think we only camp maybe two or three times, so there is no return for the investment so where is the incentive?

We did establish that Mark has produced a solid pint of Yorkshire Bitter, which has taken months to finally taste acceptable, but now we reap the rewards; so in that vain the next stage of planning is to establish which local breweries we might sample along the way in the summer!

Just under 12 weeks to go now! Excited or Scared?

Morning Cycle Regime

Out and about with my PT on our morning exercises. Still a bit on the windy side though and getting stronger!

Second Training Session

This Saturday we headed out into the hills of the wolds again to get some hill practice in; taking in Walkington, North Newbald before heading North towards Kiplingcotes and Etton on the return to Beverley.

There seemed to be several groups of more serious riders out there, no doubt we looked quite silly attempting to lug our heavy mountain bikes up over the wolds; they come in useful though when you get on some of the rough stuff and we will be needing the more hardy tyres in July as the Transpennine covers a variety of surfaces.

Can't help but be envious though of the road tyres and virtually weightless frames as we chunder around the countryside, occasionally turning to thunder on the downhills when we got a chance to reserve energy.

Climbing from Newbald back up towards the A1079 was interesting especially on the section of country track, this almost got the better of us but we just kept on chpiping away at that particularly difficult section of the 164 cycle route.

The weather was challenging with a quite a stiff gusty wind building over the afternoon, especially on the last few climbs as we headed back into it.

Cherry Burton proved a nice rest point to restore some energy, a pint of Jester Jacks was the tipple of choice at the Bay Horse; it didn't seem to clear but tasted good all the same.

I hope that the wind is less of a hindrance next weekend as we attempt to up the mileage a bit.

Adam

An Adventure in the Making

Last summer we cycled from Beverley to the Cropton brewery in North Yorkshire, it damn near killed us but we made it. A moderate 50 or so miles might be easy for more proficient cyclists. Essentially our challenges are real enough to us as we are two unfit idiots on bikes who are daft enough to push ourselves as far as we can go in the name of challenge and adventure.

This year a representative of Macmillan Cancer Support visited one of my classes to give a talk on their charity's activities and attempted to use this opportunity to persuade me to run in a 10k event. Shuddering at the thought of running further than the end of the street, I proclaimed that I don't do running but will cycle any length of distance... with a little bit of egging on from students, that was the beginning.

Mark is always more than willing to be involved in madcap and usually spontaneously agreed schemes; cycling the Transpennine route has been in the back of our minds for a while and doing this for charity gives us the concrete boundaries to ensure this comes to fruition.

So in July 2013 we are cycling the Transpennine Trail in hopefully 3 days to raise as much money as possible for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Adam