It may be one year later than intended but Rob Davies is relishing the challenge of cycling from Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Originally planned partly as a celebration of his 70th birthday, Rob was forced to cancel the attempt after catching Covid, which resulted in long Covid, requiring 12 weeks of rehab and months of training to help him back towards full fitness.
Now, he is setting off from Land’s End on September 2 and plans to complete the 1189-mile challenge on October 3, a week before he turns 71.
Rob’s efforts are in aid of a very special charity, Ryedale Special Families, for whom he has worked as funding coordinator for the past 12 years. The charity is looking to raise £1m in order to build new premises in Pickering.
He has deliberately chosen the longer Sustrans National Cycle Network route which uses traffic-free paths and quiet roads, averaging 40 miles a day and with six rest days built in.
Ryedale Special Families is Big Bear Bikes’ chosen charity and we are supporting Rob by providing his ride, a Trek Checkpoint, and also supplying and fitting the appropriate accessories. We’ve also given advice on clothing, equipment, training, nutrition, hydration and what parts to take as spares, as well as transporting Rob to Land’s End.
It’s day seven of Rob Davies’ epic ride from Land’s End to John O’Groats and his second rest day after the past three days and a further 144 miles in the saddle. The six legs since day one on September 2 have taken him from Land’s End to Truro, Truro to Bodmin, Bodmin to Bude, Bude to Barnstaple, Barnstaple to Dulverton and finally from Dulverton to Glastonbury.
Rob told us: “The first few days of the ride have been punctuated with some very heavy rain, which have left me needing to take shelter on a few occasions. On the stretch from Bude in Cornwall to Barnstaple in Devon I bumped into and rode with a couple of guys I’d met at Land’s End last Friday before setting off. “Day six was another eventful day, the longest day cycling to-date but not so hilly. The weather was mega mixed again, with long spells of heavy rain, but the main downside was that I had three punctures! They’ve been trimming the hedgerow and thorns everywhere. The last one was a few miles from Glastonbury but having used both my spares I didn’t fancy mending one in the rain so I managed to blag a lift to the guest house from a very kind young man.”
We’ll catch up again with Rob on September 14, which time he’ll have reached Bridgnorth in Shropshire.
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