Every year hundreds of people across the UK support the work of the Red Cross over one week, Red Cross Week. This week celebrates this incredible organisation by raising money in a thousand different ways from dying your hair red to wear your onesie to work day!
What did we decide to do? Cycle 100 km across Norfolk and into Suffolk in support of the British Red Cross but - here comes the twist- on our old rusty bikes! (see our teaser)
What did we decide to do? Cycle 100 km across Norfolk and into Suffolk in support of the British Red Cross but - here comes the twist- on our old rusty bikes! (see our teaser)
As we set off yesterday morning the problems started: Chris' bike chain was jammed between the gears. An hour later with our hands covered
in black oil we managed to pull it out and we were off with a bit of delay!
We set off through Norwich city centre towards Whitlingham Country
Park while the sun was intermittently accompanying us. We even ran into Amber, a
friend from Uni, at the Water's Edge pub. Unfortunately we didn’t have the time to stop
but it seemed to be an amazing spot and only a short bike ride from Norwich (about 6miles)! Then we cycled along small roads towards Claxton, where we stopped for a quick picnic. Off
we were again towards Loddon, where we turned towards Haddiscoe and Alderby. It
was a beautiful ride. We suddenly had to come to a halt, when a when a herd of cattle was slowly
crossing the road. Unfortunately the cows were so curious they decided to stop
and look at us – which did not accelerate the process! Cow-whisperer Chris
helped the farmer get the cattle towards the stables and we were off to
Beccles. It was all going well until the heavy rain started!
We waited under a tree for it to stop and looked for a short cut. As we
followed a small country lane that my phone assured me actually was a road to Beccles- we reached a closed gate
to a path that lead to a grand, old estate. We had no choice but go around. As we wandered into the field we were full of hope that it would be
easy to do. However, the third field was covered in clay. Soon our bike wheels
were completely stuck and the clay was also sticking to our boots… We headed
towards a road we could hear and descended a small hill in the mud before
arriving on a busy street. Our trousers and shoes were covered in mud and clay,
so were our bikes! We were just outside Gillingham and from there it was only a
short ride to Beccles, where we stayed overnight! The miles tracker app said
50.8 km as we checked into the lovely B&B.
On day 2, we were off early and under a timid sun as we
complained about sore muscles! Through the Suffolk then Norfolk countryside, it
was a lovely ride across yellow rapeseed fields with very few cars!
We lunched next to old church ruins in
Kirby Bedon before setting off again. As my tracker showed just
above 90km as we reached King Street in Norwich
we decided to cycle home via Eaton and Cringleford. Unfortunately my
tracker app decided to crash at the most inopportune moment – so we don’t know
how many km we exactly cycled but we sure did more than 100km!!!! We were exhausted and definitely in pain - but we were on such a high as we realised that we had done it - even more importantly, that our bikes had made it as well!
We want to thank everybody who has sponsored us! It has been an amazing experience -full of laughter, lovely people on the way and most importantly lots of exercise! On top of that we are thrilled to contribute to the great work of the British Red Cross! And I mean... WE DID IT!
If you haven’t
sponsored us yet – and want to – you have two
months to do it! The link is http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/redbikeride
!
