Wow and bloody hell! That was one amazing journey and experience! Hard to believe it's over, but it's great to be back home and I'm looking forward to getting back to normality.
The trip had a very special end when I got on the plane at Inverness and the captain announced that we had a special passenger on board - then read out my name!! The passengers then cheered and applauded. Next I was invited to address the other passengers from the front on the intercom, so I minced up in best air steward style and got more applause & cheers! (for the ride, not the mincing!) I also collected another £60 for Parkinsons and had a chat with the captain who thought I'd broken some kind of record (sadly not). What a way to end the trip of a lifetime - thanks Nigel in air traffic control for pulling that one off.
Well, now it's over there are so many people to thank and thoughts to reflect on. The list of thankyou's is very long and I've really been taken aback by the level of interest and support people have shown, from friends, work colleagues and total strangers.
Massive thanks go to Penny for keeping family life running smoothly whilst I've been off training and away for 2 weeks on the ride, keeping up an excellent blog and generally putting up with my obsession for quite a few months now. Big thanks also to Nigel, Howie and Ade who rode with me for various sections and really helped to 'pull me along' and keep the momentum going. Huge thanks also to Mum & Dad who were 'volunteered' for an impromtu holiday in Scotland. It was fantastic to see them at regular intervals along the route for the last few days, and to jettison the bags from the bike which really eased the workload on the final hills.
Thanks also for the very friendly accomodation, hospitality and support (washing, drying and great food) along the way - Pat & Jenny Worman (& Nick, Carolyn, Laura & Josh) [Truro], Sue, Mark & Thomas (and a 2 mile escorted ride out of town!) [Cheddar], Helen [Westhoughton], John & Julie [Cumbria] and Hugh, Allison & Fiona [Glasgow]. Also to all the B&Bs, who in the main were very friendly and couldn't do enough to help (and who also made generous donations to Parkinsons) - the best were Linda & Glyn at Nanterrow Farm, Cornwall, Jenny at The Old Rectory, Ewyas Harold (nr Hereford), Fred & Sally at the Shakespeare, Lancaster, Frances at Newark, Sanquhar, Margaret at Newton Croft (near Dingwall) and Alistair & Sheena at John O'Groats Guest House (15 year old whiskey on the house!). I would highly recommend these and I'll put their details elsewhere on the blog for anyone interested.
Whoever controls the weather also needs a special mention - nothing short of miraculous!!
Then there's so many of you who have sent messages of encouragement and support with cards, texts, emails, blog comments and sponsorship which have really bowled me over and helped to keep me peddaling on - thanks a million all of you. Thanks also to the great British public - complete strangers who came up to me for a chat and kept giving me money (I could get used to that!) - approx £200 was collected en route.
The total raised for Parkinson's is now approaching £2,700(if you haven't quite got round to making a donation, there's still time on my justgiving page!)
Anyway, that's it for now, I'm going for a lie down!
Richard xx
3 comments:
Well done Richard! .. and Ade, my brilliant bruvver! You've achieved one of those life challenges that many think about, but few don the padded shorts and just go for it! What an epic journey and supreme effort in aid of Parkinsons - we hope the money just keeps rolling in. Mark, Sue and Thomas.
Well done you - fantastic effort and truly inspirational. How do you follow that? Looking forward to hearing the tales and seeing the piccys.
Love Ros, David, Matt & Corinne
We've been on holiday, and now - several weeks after all the cycling has finished - we are back here again - reading the day by day blog, and it's been great to catch up on everything that we missed at the time as those last few days were pedalled through! (Fab pictures as well!)
Well done to all the bloggers for your very interesting comments - we're really enjoyed reading what you all had to say (we are also glad that Lynne got the "daily jokes" concept back on the road).....though whether any of you bloggers will ever read that I wrote this as a thankyou to all of you is anyones guess?
But - most especially of all - WELL DONE to you Richard for a TRULY INSPIRATIONAL effort and achievement. Words really do fail me as to how awesome your achievement has been. (yes - I said "words fail me" - now there's a first!)
...and Penny tells us in the blog that the credit card company tracked her down whilst she was at The Nirvana Health Spa
(This surely has to be the story of the trip? ......"R putting in mile after mile on a bike, going further in one go than most of us have been on a bike in our entire lives - whilst my dear friend Penny swans about in a fluffy dressing gown at a health spa!")....hmm!
Love Julie xx (and Jon)
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