On Saturday 11th June 2011 a team of 10 including Neil Hughes - Purchasing Manager and Simon Mettrick - Operations Director attempted to cycle the 127 mile length of the Leeds Liverpool canal. We started cycing from Liverpool at 4.30am having set off from Shipley at 2.30am, thanks to Ian O'Sullivan - Transport Manager for driving the minibus, and made steady progress thoughout the day. The weather was kind, with some sunshine and a breeze on our back for most of the way and there were no major mechanical problems, we only had one puncture between 10 riders the whole day which was amazing! Unfortuantely one member of the team developed an injury fairly early into the ride but the made a valient effort to reach Gargrave, a distance of approximately 90 miles. The rest of the team pretty much stuck together throughout the day meeting the support van at preset locations to stock up on flapjack, cakes and water. Support from family and friends at Gargrave and Bingley helped bolster our morale for the final push into Leeds. At 7.10pm the first group finished in a time of 14.5 hours with the last group meeting us in the pub 30 minuets later for a well deserved pint! Online donations at
www.justgiving.com/canal-challenge alone have raised £1500 with other offline money coming in we expect to reach well over £2000 for
Manorlands Hospice, which made the effort well worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who supported us in making the ride possible and all those who sponsored us.
Some stats from the ride:
Finished Cycle: 11 Jun 2011 19:11:52
Route: Liverpool 2 Leeds
Google Maps URL: http://maps.google.com/?q=http://share.abvio.com/33fa/de22/4c88/e130/Cyclemeter-Cycle-20110611-0437.kml
Ride Time: 14:34:46
Distance: 128.14 miles
Average: 8.79 miles/h
Calories: 6985
