Intro: Fifty cyclists, including Novacroft’s Duncan Smith (2nd/3rd Line IT Analyst) and Daryl Hurst (Head of Research and Development), will be taking on the 230 mile ‘Ride for Hope’ cycle challenge from Northampton, England to Ypres, Belgium, from July 6th – 9th 2017, in aid of the Northampton Hope centre. The route takes them from Northampton to Enfield (72 miles, day 1), Enfield to Canterbury (80 miles, day 2) and Canterbury to Ypres (73 miles, day 3) followed by coach travel back to Northampton. Novacroft will be following Daryl and Duncan’s journey, from training to the event itself, and the trials and tribulations in between.
I needed to get a longer ride in. Last year I was knocking out regular 60 milers, and that was on a hybrid. Belgium is 80 miles/day for 3 days so I have to prove I’m okay on a longer distance – actually I need to prove I’m more than okay!
So I went through my checklists. Weather – check (warm, not too windy). Food – check (4 gels, malt loaf, banana, sports drinks). Bike – check (better not forget this!).
Usually a well planned ride has at least one incident but this time it went perfectly, knocked out a comfortable 72 miles… I think I’m getting there.
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.