Hi Folks!
You should have had this as an email a week or so ago. If not, can you check your junk email folders as it may have found it's way into there...
We leave in exactly 6 weeks time!!!
DON’T PANIC!!!!!
Ok, panic a little if you must, but just remember, we’re probably as unprepared as you at this moment in time!
As things stand at the moment, the ride is fully booked with 26 people taking part in this event. If you’ve ever been on a long-distance bike ride before, you’ll understand that this is a fairly big group!
Transportation and Accommodation
As you’re aware, our transportation and accommodation for this trip is all handled by fabulous rock tour buses which sleep 12/14 people (each), have lounge areas, kitchens, toilets, dvd players, stereos and ps2’s, etc. At the moment we have two of these booked.
They will pick us, our bags and our bikes up from Xscape in Castleford (Junction 32 off the M62) on Thursday evening (9th October) at approximately 8pm and drive us to the start point in Whitehaven. They’ll also drop us off there on our return at approximately 10pm on Sunday 12th October.
Ride Partners
The ride is being run in association with Xscape Castleford and ViewRanger. We’re hoping to get the Dekkamann buses to arrive earlier in the day on Thursday 9th so that we can park them outside Xscape (and Evans Cycles), erect a gazebo and then chat to anyone who’s interested about our rides, tell them about the ViewRanger software we use for navigation, let them look around the buses, etc. I’ve asked Evans if they’d like to set up some demo bikes next to the stand for people to try out, or possibly offer discount vouchers to anyone going to the shop after talking to us.
As such, feel free to arrive at Xscape anytime after mid-afternoon. We will be happy to take it in turns going for copious amounts of beers with you inside the complex!
JustGiving Site & Sponsorship
We’ve set up a JustGiving site for this event (www.justgiving.com/sea2sea08). We have a small problem here though; namely we don’t have many of your pictures! As such, could you send a pic to us as soon as possible, either by email, post (to CharityAdventure.org.uk, PO Box 135, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 4WL) or MMS (to 07800 554765). We’ll then add those to the left of the justgiving page so that people know you’re taking part!
If you’re not already aware, you can collect sponsorship either on your sponsorship forms (attached) or by directing your friends / family / colleagues to the JustGiving website above, where they can donate securely online. We’ve used this site loads over the past few years and trust it highly.
As for sponsorship itself, you’ll know by now that we don’t expect any minimum amount to be raised by each person. We just ask that you try your best by asking friends, family, work colleagues, local shops, and so-on to sponsor you. Also ask your work if they’ll either make a contribution or match your fundraising amount. You’ll be surprised how many companies budget for such occasions!!
If you have any fund-raising questions just ask us and we’ll be only too pleased to answer.
We’ve set the target for the group to £4,000. That’s going to easily be reached if you all manage around £200. Of course we’d love to be able to get more!
Accommodation Fees
We’ll be confirming the final price for the accommodation sometime over the next week or so and will come back to you with that information as soon as we get it. We have no reason to believe that it will be any more than last year’s amount (£125) but we’re still waiting for a price from the team at Dekkamann who are currently in Europe with a band.
The accommodation fees will need to be paid before the 19th September. Cheques, as usual, can be sent (made payable to ‘Charity Adventure’) to Charity Adventure, PO Box 135, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 4WL.
Training and Preparation – IMPORTANT!!!
To repeat something you may have heard over and over again, the ride itself is a team event which will be done at the pace of the slowest rider. That’s likely to be somewhere in the region of 6–12mph average speed! Please don’t be jumping on your bike on a Saturday morning to race around your local roads at breakneck speeds trying to beat last week’s record! We doubt very much if there will be any call on this trip for sprint racing What you really need to be doing is getting your body (bum in particular!) used to sitting on a bike seat for hours at a time. So long as you ride for as many hours as you can spare / bear on a weekend or evening we care not if you manage 5 miles or 95 miles. Over the next few weeks the pain you’re feeling will gradually subside and your body will become accustomed to the rigours of long-distance cycling! Believe us when we say, that you’ll be glad of this one piece of advice over any others come October 10th!!!
Having said that, we are always open to requests from the more able riders to break into two groups (fast and slow for want of a better description). If this is something that - during the ride - you wish to discuss, please come and talk to us about it. We have 4 experienced ride guides on this trip. Gary and I will always stay with the ‘slower’ of the two groups for obvious reasons (we hope!). The other two ‘ride guides’ – Matt and Andy – will be more than happy to take the faster group either on an off-road section or on the same route at a higher speed. One will lead the group and do all of the navigation and the other will remain at the back of the group in case of mechanical failures, etc. We will provide these ride guides with Walkie Talkies so that they can keep in touch with each other (to get the team to slow down / stop if necessary).
Bike Servicing – RECOMMENDED!!!
We made a deal some time ago with one of our sponsors (CycleSense of Tadcaster – www.cyclesense.co.uk) for bike servicing. We highly recommend that you have your bike serviced by a professional before you embark on the ride, although we do carry a number of spares with us (provided mainly by another sponsor, Ultimate Pursuits).
The main problem with this deal is that the bike shop in question is in Tadcaster, and many of you probably don’t even know where that is, or you’re simply not able to get your bike there to be serviced! If this is the case, please ask around at your local bike shops for pricing for an equivalent service to the one below (unless you’re very confident in the state of your bike!).
CharityAdventure.org.uk Silver Service: £30
• Includes "free brake & gear cable replacement" when you mention CharityAdventure.org.uk when booking.
• Gears set for optimum performance, including a check on derailleur hanger alignment and resetting as necessary.
• Cables lubed and checked. Replaced as necessary.
• Brakes set for optimum efficiency.
• All bolts checked and adjusted to correct torque setting as applicable.
• Tyres/tubes inspected and inflated to correct pressure.
• All worn components will be removed from the frame for service/replacement.
• All bearings checked and adjusted.
• Wheels trued as necessary and rim wear checked.
• Cycle tested and signed off by mechanic as being roadworthy
Please be aware that any bike parts that need replacing / repairing over and above the standard service will be charged at normal shop prices. You should mention to Cycle Sense when you take you bike in that you’d like them to contact you before doing any other work.
Any Other Problems?
If you have any other questions / concerns, please email or phone us as soon as possible. We’ll try to answer any questions you throw at us (although Gaz is rubbish at fractions and I’m a bit useless at history) and we’re quite sure that we can solve most issues. Don’t leave any gripes until the day before we leave though if at all possible!
That’s it! See you all soon we hope! Get FUNDRAISING!!!
