Tuesday 26 April 2016

The end is in sight... 6,300km down... 1,200km to go!


 

This blog follows Nick and Rad’s epic journey to complete an unsupported circumnavigation of Britain by bicycle raising funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

The journey will be over 7,500km long visiting all 192 RNLI lifeboat stations in Britain with a view to raising £70,000.
 





Each year Rad and Nick take 10 days off work and away from our (growing) families, to cycle another leg of the journey - normally more than the distance required for a Land's End to John O'Groats cycle, such is the length of the British coastline. Start each leg from where they finished the previous year.

To date, they have raised £47,300 (inc gift aid) and completed:


  • Leg 1 (2010) – From London around the Kent coast and along the south coast to Torbay in Devon.
  • Leg 2 (2011) – From Torbay, around Cornwall and Devon and into South Wales, finishing in Newport.
  • Leg 3 (2012) – From Newport around the entire Welsh coast, finishing in Chester, England.
  • Leg 4 (2013) - From Chester to Oban, Scotland, including the Inner Hebrides.
  • Leg 5 (2014) - From Oban to Inverness, via the Outer Hebrides and Orkneys.
  • Leg 6 (2015) - From Inverness to Redcar, via the Shetland Isles.


In July 2016 they will embark on the final leg of the expedition, cycling south from Redcar, around the Humber and The Wash, and then further south, along the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, returning via Essex to central London, from where they originally departed 7 years prior.

A group of likeminded individuals will be joining them for the last 3 days of the journey in an effort to raise even more funds for the RNLI.

As you may be aware, the RNLI is a charity that relies entirely on donations- it receives no government funding at all. Despite this, we treat it just like any other emergency service. In addition to this, the crews are almost all volunteers who selflessly give up their time and personal safety, in order to help others who are in trouble at sea, on estuaries or inland during flooding. An utterly remarkable and selfless group of individuals.

Please click here for a link to our fundraising page. Both Rad and Nick are very grateful for any amount of money donated, all of which goes directly to the RNLI, helping them save lives at sea. You can be reassured that every penny donated goes to the RNLI - Rad and Nick fund the cost of their trip themselves.

We hope you enjoy their blog below, which covers each day of their expedition to date.