Page 54 - Mercian Eagle 2013

52
Charity Bike Ride
by Capt GEC Vosper RSO 2 MERCIAN
May Bank Holiday 2013 a team of newly enthused cyclists undertook not only a challenge, but a lifetime experience. A Charity cycle from London to Paris, 300 miles in 3 days – challenge set.
The initial idea came about from some downtime on Op HERRICK 15, when an E-Bluey from a good friend in the Army suggested we do something worthwhile on return from tour. This idea snowballed into a number of military and civilian friends looking into all sorts of different events
that we would potentially enjoy and more importantly a charity could benefit from.
Time drifted by and with it a large amount of the group’s enthusiasm for taking part in an endurance event. So from an initial group of 15, we were down to 5; however, this would be the hardworking and enduring
5. In January, the test of London to
Paris, more specifically Trafalgar Square
to the Eiffel Tower had been agreed.
The next step was the organisation; transport, accommodation, routes
and feeding. Clearly G4 heavy,
this was going to be difficult for
2 DE Officers and 3 civilians.
The beginning of March came,
transport and accommodation
were booked, a steady route
had being identified, which
meant working
hard during the
days, but still
being able to stop
and appreciate
Group Eiffel Tower
Capt Vosper Arrival Amiens
Capt Vosper Day 2
the countryside we were cycling through.
The next step was training for this monumental task and with 5 guys and 4 bikes something
was most definitely missing. With the start date of May,
we thought there was plenty of time to get a few training
rides in and build up the levels of endurance that
we would need for such a colossal
ride. Aside from a few trainer runs
THE MERCIAN EAGLE