W Bro Peter Gehnich, Charity Steward of Cymbeline Lodge has recently undertaken an enduring cycle ride from Morecambe Bay in Lancashire to Bridlington Bay in Yorkshire.
This ride over the weekend of 8th to 10th August 2015 was a challenge in itself, and not helped by Peter fracturing his elbow en route. However, anyone that knows Peter will not be surprised to find out that he did continue with the fundraiser and completed the route before sorting out his injury.
Peter's own account of the adventure is below, and if you do have something to spare we hope that you will enjoy supporting Peter who can be contacted at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Having left The statue of Eric Morecombe on the sea front of Morecambe Bay on Saturday morning, my companion and I rode 56 miles to a remote B & B between Hebden Bridge and Greenhow. In the process, we climbed 5,500 feet including many hills with an 18% incline (the hill out of Settle was a particular challenge).
On Sunday morning, having slept well, we scaled the infamous Greenhow Hill, which drops down into Pateley Bridge and is about three miles long and full of potholes. This hill and Hebden Bridge are both locations where cyclists have recently been killed.
In the first ten miles we climbed another 1750 feet and then added a further 500 by the time we reached Ripon Cathedral. Our day finished after we covered about 69 miles, which took us through York (including past The Minster) to another remote farmhouse just outside a place called Stamford Bridge (not the football ground, but the place where many years ago, King Alfred The Great defeated some rather hopeful Norwegians).
With Bridlington Bay being the finishing line, next and final stop, we set off after breakfast to traverse the Yorkshire Wolds to the sea. After about eight miles as we approached Pocklington, we had our first and only shower of rain. While cycling through the town, I lost traction on my rear tyre and ended up in a heap. Being only 44 miles from the end meant that the show had to go on! And it did. Despite the blood, swelling and lack of mobility and grip on my left arm, not to mention a nagging companion, who is a former nurse, we zig-zagged across dirt and rail tracks and A roads, but critically had no very steep climbs to negotiate. We covered a further 51 miles on the final day and the height we climbed, meant that we had climbed the equivalent of over a third of the height of Mount Everest. When we reached the finish line we celebrated with ice cream and a Costa Coffee, before driving home and getting into bed at 22.30 hours.
The following morning, it was straight to A & E at Stoke, where my wounds were cleaned and an X-ray revealed that I have fractured my elbow!! Even though I cannot drive for now, I still hope to make it to our Meetings, where I will be happy to collect your sponsorship contributions for the Cymbeline widows and orphans.
Thank you to all of you who have committed to sponsoring me so far and to those of you who have not, please think about what you might be able to afford.