Return Celebration

LEG 7 - DAY 7: THE FINAL DAY from Rad Hart-George on Vimeo.

 

The final part of the ride took us over Putney bridge and along the edge of the Thames, past the boat houses:

 

 

 

 

As we rode into Putney on Sunday we were greeted by family, friends and the Chiswick Lifeboat on the river, outside Thames Rowing Club. An amazing gathering which we were both very touched by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This marked the end of our seven year expedition to cycle around all the lifeboat stations in Britain, and it’s fair to say that it was a moment of mixed emotions for us both- relief that we had returned in one piece without major incident, sadness that our trip had come to an end, and elation to be greeted by nearest and dearest including our respective wives and children. Quite a moment…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inside the club house, our celebrations continued – a great opportunity to catch up with so many friends, family and RNLI crew.

 

 

 

 

 

Particular thanks to:

 

·        Our two main sponsors- Knight Frank and Rackspace Cloud Hosting

·        All those who have donated so generously to us over the years

·        Flickie P-B- Our chief fundraiser!

·        Tony Vlasto- Chairman of the City of London RNLI- a phenomenal support

·        Will Holland,  the Peloton and support team

·        Thames Rowing Club for the use of their fantastic club house

·        Chiswick RNLI

LEG 7 - DAY 7: Southend - London... the last day!

The final day of our RNLI tour of Britain.

Despite the fact that we were not due to set off from Southend until 9am, we woke early in the RNLI station. One thing RNLI station crew rooms are not designed for is a good night’s sleep- hard floors, limited window blinds and numerous radio devices and alarms which typically go off periodically through the night!  After so many nights on the floor of lifeboat stations over the past 6 years, with our roll mats, sleeping bags and eye masks (good look!) it was very weird to think that we were ever going to sleep in a lifeboat station again.

 

The Peloton met at the station at 9am along with a number of crew, and a friend of Rad’s - Simon Holland Brown who had kindly come to join us for the last day’s ride into London.

 

Following a brief demonstration of the Southend RNLI Hovercraft, we got underway along the Essex coast.

 

 

 

 

 

The route out of Southend took us on a rough cycling track across rather beautiful marshland to the west of Southend. Progress was fairly slow as the peloton trundled along the track but the weather was fantastic and it was a very pleasant start to the day.

 

 

 

Throughout the morning the roads became increasingly busy and the countryside became more sparse, as fields quickly gave way to urban sprawl as we pedalled our way through Grays, Rainham, Dagenham and Barking. With the roads becoming increasingly busy, we split into two pelotons to avoid the group getting split up further at junctions and make the ride safer.

 

 

 

 

With a  few wrong turns and running a little behind schedule anyway, we got our heads down and motored our way through east London. It was not a pleasant ride at all, and we are both hugely grateful to the Peloton for joining us for this part of the tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually, seeing the towers of Canary Wharf looming in the distance we ploughed on.

 

 

 

Once past Canary Wharf, the next landmark was the City of London skyscrapers, amongst which the traffic reduced considerably. A couple of local entertainments lifted spirits...

 

 

 

 From here we were able to get onto the Embankment Cycle Highway and churn our way down to the official end of our tour- The Tower Lifeboat Station.

 

 

 

Craig and Archie had kindly bought a picnic lunch for us all which we had outside the station,  and following a few photos we got back on the Embankment to head down to Putney for the return drinks.

 

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. 

CalMac are on board!

 

 

 

 

The major ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) has offered their generous support to The RNLI Tour of Britain by providing complementary travel for us during the 2014 leg of our circumnavigation of Britain.

 

This year's trip involves taking in excess of 16 ferry trips, 10 of which are run by CalMac so their involvement will save us a great deal of money.

 

We are extremely grateful to them, especially considering they receive huge numbers of people requesting sponsorship each year- perhaps the obvious link between the RNLI's objective to 'save lives at sea' and their business operations was too great to ignore.

 



Hitting the big time...

 

The night before...

Normally the night before one of our trips is a manic packing frenzy where we are desperately trying to find that elusive pot of chamois cream or that pack of cable ties that I could swear was in the toolbox. 

This year it's just the same but with an added emotional dimension - Nick and I will be leaving our wives and 5 and 8 month old babies behind for 10 days, the longest period we've been away since became parents. 

Thankfully Zef was a great help with the packing, ensuring our first-aid kit was fully hydrated with baby dribble. 

In all seriousness this post is dedicated to Hannah and Harriet who have been kind enough to be the single parent while simultaneously letting us escape the city and pootle around on our bikes for 9 days in an effort to fundraise for the RNLI. 

We really are both very grateful. 

R & N