Their story, in their words…
We started by taking a train to Broxbourne Station to begin what would be our longest day of the cycle. This made it the most intimidating but we knew if we could do it, it would be downhill from there. We set off at 9am energetic and ready to cycle, but had a few problems with the maps and later on with bike repairs. Eventually at 7pm we were 15km away from where 3 of us would be staying, and, to the annoyance of 2 of us, the Warmshowers host they would be staying with was still 30km away. Somehow everyone made it: 2 of us cycling faster than we had at any other point that day, and 3 of us having to memorise directions as they went, we all arrived past 9pm as darkness was setting in, having cycled over 120 kilometres. This felt like an amazing achievement in itself and was extremely rewarding. However unfortunately for 1 of us, his tyre had become irreparable and it was gutting to have to say goodbye as he took a train back to London.
We set off the next day well rested, and well stocked with snacks as we went. We felt spurred on to keep going and, without many mishaps, excitedly reached Norwich. With a day off to recover, we took the opportunity to explore the sights of Norwich such as the Norman castle and huge cathedral – the choir’s singing felt like a celebration of our journey so far.
Returning a different way through Ipswich took 3 days allowing us to rest more on the way home. Through fields of barley, wheat and corn we pushed on and on, carefully avoiding busier roads. Unfortunately on a gravel path a mile away from Broxbourne Station, we got 2 punctures. Fighting off tiredness but now practiced at repairs, eventually we were back at the station, closing the loop we had started 5 days earlier.
This trip showed the amazing progress in cycling we have made over the past year: At the start of our training only 2 of us had cycled frequently in the past and by the time of the cycle we could all cycle well and for days at a time – 400km is a distance many of us thought wouldn’t even be possible. The cycle also built up our resilience as there were many problems which we had to overcome quickly, and our teamwork skills to keep everyone going until we’d crossed the finish line.
Although we’ll take a quick break from cycling we are not opposed to the idea of another challenge for a chance to continue using the cycling skills we’ve developed. It was a fun and exciting week and we are all very proud of ourselves and extremely glad we did it.
