Leg 7, Day 1; Redcar to Flamborough

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN LEG 7 - DAY 1 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

And so, the final leg of our expedition has arrived. We cannot quite believe that it was six years ago that we first embarked on this challenge.  

When we initially set off, neither Rad or I were married or had children but rather a lot has changed since then. Now, both with a wife and two children, it's fair to say that family pressures have changed somewhat. It is therefore with enormous thanks to our amazing wives that we embark on the final stage and leave them all behind yet again. This post is dedicated to Hannah and Harriet, who have made the whole expedition possible.

Following an early train from Kings Cross to Redcar, we got underway as soon as we pulled into the station. 

 

Over the past six years of our expedition, we have had all weather conditions thrown at us - Gales, sleet, fog, torrential rain and even localised flooding. Setting off in a heat wave today was therefore something of a new challenge for us, but certainly a welcome one, with a week of driving rain on the west coast of Scotland still fresh in our minds!  

On setting off from Redcar, it was immediately apparent that we were in for some pretty good hill climbs today, with the North York Moors looming in the distance. These certainly didn't disappoint! Not only this, but many of the cycle routes which Rad had plugged into our Garmins were very rough paths, and some of the steepest sections, totally un-cyclable! 

 

The first station we got to along the coast was Staithes - a stunning fishing village in a deep gulley with steep cliffs on both sides, and overlooking the lovely bay. Following a steep decent into the village, we grabbed a sandwich on the waterfront, badgered by particularly persistent seagulls, before heading on. 

 

After many miles of very rough cycle paths and Relentless hills, Whitby was out next station. The town was absolutely heaving with tourists and holiday makers, and it was all we could do to get through the crowds and take a quick photo outside before escaping. 

Further down the coast, Rad's directions (which are generally pretty good), went somewhat awry, as the Garmins insisted that we descend a very steep hill into a hamlet perched on the edge of Robin Hoods Bay. Not only was it challenging to avoid tourists on the 45 degree decent, but we then realised that we needed to cycle back out of it. One of the steepest climbs of the trip!   

We were soon back on track however and following a very long ascent of an off road cycling track, to get us over the final moor (in sweltering heat by this stage), we descended into Scarborough- our third station of the day. As with the previous seaside towns, Scarborough was heaving with tourists, and the endless amusement arcades and tourist shops which line the waterfront were absolutely packed as was the beach. Safe to say, that it wasn't our cup of tea, and running a bit behind schedule, we took a quick photo outside the rather impressive lifeboat station,which is currently under construction, and we were off again.

 

Not far down the coast we reached the small town of Filey. The station itself looked over a lovely beach and bay. A quick photo outside, yet more water to hydrate, a few snacks, and we were off.

 

 

The final stint of cycling- about 20km, was thankfully far more gently undulating countryside, through beautiful farmland, and we made good progress to reach Flamborough by 7pm. The station itself stands alone in a stunning setting, at the end of a long lane running down from the village, overlooking it's own bay.  David and the crew were incredibly welcoming, showed us around the station and following a very basic shower, kindly gave us a lift into town for a pub supper to refuel. 

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.

Leg 6, Day 9; Cullercoats to Redcar

RNLI TOUR OF BRITAIN. LEG 6: DAY 9 from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

The last day of our 2015 tour started rather earlier than planned.... We found out last night that the pedestrian tunnel under the Tyne estuary was closed for repairs and that the pedestrian ferry didn't start until 10am on Sunday... This therefore involved a 25 km detour inland up the Tyne and into Newcastle to cross the river and head south again!

Given the deadline of a train from Darlington at 2pm, we set the alarm for 6am and were on the road by 6.30am...

Our first Station of the day, just down the road, was Tynemouth where we took a quick photo outside before cracking on.

The roads were clear at  this time of day on a Sunday which was fantastic, however progress was slowed somewhat by numerous wrong turns as we ploughed our way west through the Tynemouth and then Newcastle suburbs, directed by an American woman's voice on Rad's iPhone, giving instructions in feet!

The centre of Newcastle was fantastic, with some amazing architecture along the river. We crossed over on the Millennium bridge which we both thought was epic -  Well worth the extra effort.

From there we headed south east, back towards the coast, to our second station of the day- Sunderland. The crew were out on exercise as we arrived, but we had a brief chat with a couple of the chaps at the station and were soon on our way again.

Heading south, we ploughed along minor A roads and B roads, with wonderful sunshine and a light tail wind. Near perfect conditions to end a generally amazing week of weather.

As we slogged up a hill, about 10km south of Sunderland, disaster struck again as my chain broke for the second time. Noticing upon closer inspection that it was the same link which Rad showed me how to 'fix' only yesterday, there were question marks over whether sabotage was involved! Thankfully Rad had picked up some rubber gloves to deal with the oily chain, so there was far less mess than yesterday, and we were soon back on the road.

Having lost some time with this mishap, we got our heads down and powered our way further south (on somewhat tired legs...) Our next station was Hartlepool- set in a very industrial part of the country. The crew were extremely welcoming and filled out water bottles with juice, before sending us on our way.

 

We raced on southward, eventually finishing in Redcar ahead of schedule at 12 noon, having covered 115km... Pretty knackered but glad to have made it in time, we picked up a few presents for our children from the RNLI shop and grabbed a quick shower at the station, before catching a taxi to Darlington for our return journey home. 

 

 

A fantastic week, with great weather and meeting with yet more incredible, selfless and wonderful RNLI crew along the way.

Over and out until our final trip, in the summer of 2016.