July 2017. Northampton, England to Ypres, Belgium. Two Novacrofters, two brand new road bikes, 230 miles and determination as pedal power.
Novacroft’s very own Duncan Smith, 2nd/3rd Line IT Analyst, and Daryl Hurst, Head of Research and Development, are taking on an epic cycling challenge this summer, to complete personal goals and to raise money and awareness for the Northampton Hope Centre, Novacroft’s Charity of the Year 2017.
From 6th – 9th July, Duncan and Daryl will be focused purely on their 70 – 80 mile per day adventure, Ride for Hope, which will take them a total of 230 miles, through countryside, coastal path and cross-channel to the finish line. Here’s a breakdown:
- Day 1 – Northampton to Enfield – 72 miles
- Day 2 – Enfield to Canterbury – 80 miles
- Day 3 – Canterbury to Ypres – 73 miles
The Novacroft pair are taking on the Ride for Hope as part of a group of fifty cyclists of all abilities, aiming to improve on the amazing £25,000 total raised by twenty-eight cyclists who took on the challenge in 2016.
Duncan has been with Novacroft since 2011. He regularly cycles to work, has completed many medium distance rides and has wanted to take on a long-distance cycle challenge for some time.
Daryl, who’s been with us for 15 years, begun cycling in earnest last year, when he ran out of places to run. Daryl regularly rides to the office, as well as cycling many miles outside of work – a fifty mile afternoon jaunt is not unusual!
For both Daryl and Duncan, a road bike is a new challenge, but it’s a well supported one. While Daryl is busy organising his new road bike through our Bike to Work scheme, Duncan met up with the Ride for Hope team early in April for the first Ride for Hope training ride, where he found a real camaraderie (photo above).
We’ll be following Daryl and Duncan’s journey, from training to the event itself, and the trials and tribulations in between – which so far have involved getting to grips with bike clips and a lot of talk of uncomfortable saddles – so watch this space and our social channels for updates!
Duncan and Daryl need to raise £500 each as part of their commitment to the Hope Centre. If you’d like to add your support and help them reach their target, you can access Daryl’s JustGiving page here and Duncan’s JustGiving page here.
