By Rob and Tim:
Return Leg day 12 Hull to Home
– WOW that’s that done.
Want to start by saying a massive thank you to all of you who have supported us with sponsorship as we’ve nearly totalled £13,000 for the 2 fabulous charities and with some match funding to come that’s just amazing. ❤️
By Rob:
THE FINAL DAY ABROAD.
So we’ve made it to the final day round Europe as we head from our lovely hotel to the ferry port.
We were also going to call in to see Chris’s daughter Liv who is at Uni in Rotterdam and go for lunch.
By Neil and Planty:
Day 9 was a wet, cold and pretty miserable experience, but on the plus side the pathways and roads were smooth and pretty empty (unsurprising as no one else was daft enough to be out in that weather!). 65 miles from Kleve in Germany across the border into Netherlands where we arrived cold and wet through in Gorinchem.
By Clarky and Chris:
Late rise today, shorter distance (60miles!) coupled with a late night in Dusseldorf… finishing at 1:30am for some !! (Names not to be revealed !!).
Given it was a city centre hotel the Van boys did an excellent parking job literally parking the van right outside the hotel !!
By Lee and Aspy:
Fatigue starting to tell now, and the temperature dropping too after yesterday’s glorious sunshine.
An earlier roll out with 83 miles on the menu, our last day of significant length.
First stop after 25 miles was the Bridge At Remagen, a famous cross of the Rhine by the allies in WW2.
By Nokey and Andy:
What a difference day makes!!
After the 120 mile stint yesterday, the team were delighted to be tackling a flat 58 miler today. This was made even easier as we had enjoyed a very comfortable hotel. After a fantastic evening in the beautiful Town of Treber Trarbach and an unforgettable evening dinner at Restaurant Schlossbergstubchen with the marvellous hostess Jesel.
By Miles and Nic:
Slightly different perspective for today’s blog as the reigns have been handed over to the van driving support crew of Nic & Miles.
As today’s route was a 111 miler, it was an earlier start time of 7.30am for breakfast, 8am van open for bags and provisions (water, bananas, cereal bars etc) ahead of the 8.50am roll out for the cyclists.
By Rob and Tim:
The sun was out from the off so no need for jackets and arm warmers for me it was a clear blue sky as we woke up. Let’s remember this is a ride we’re looking to raise important funds for the Kirkwood Hospice so if you’re able to support then much appreciated.
By Planty and Neil:
Liege-Bastogne-Liege, a cycle race, has been competed since 1892 and is known as La Doyenne, the ‘distinguished lady’.
By Farny and Clarky:
Awoke slightly hazily from a good night at the Het Anker brewery and local bars in Mechelen. Headed down for a cracking breakfast ( good modern hotel ) but with some history (hotel Van der Val) used to be an old swimming pool (we think!) superb building, very nicely done !!
By Aspy and Lee:
This could Rotterdam…..
10:30 am we stopped at the roadside to remember our good mate Eddie who’s funeral was this morning and our thoughts were with Katie and family. We had a minutes silence at the road side. And the sun came out briefly too.
By Nokey and Andy:
It was a colder day than we had seen for the past few weeks at around 12 degrees when we all came together at 9.15 at Highburton Cross in the centre of the village – the traditional Saturday morning meeting place for the Big Cogs.
This May, a determined group of adventure cyclists known as The Big Cogs will embark on an epic journey from Highburton in West Yorkshire to Hull, then across mainland Europe through The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Germany, before returning to Yorkshire. Over the course of 12 days, the team will cover more than 850 miles and climb approximately 25,000 feet, riding through some of Europe’s most iconic cycling regions.
The Big Cogs were all shaken to our cores with the tragic and sudden loss of Eddie Hirst who was fatally injured in an accident whilst out on a solo ride on Monday 7th April. Eddie was a keen and active member of The Big Cogs (and Holmfirth Cycling Club … and anyone...
The eleven Big Cogs taking part in this year’s ride have been stepping up the group cycling recently to get ‘match fit’ for the starting line … now just over two weeks away 😮 All of us individually cycle different amounts due to other commitments, hobbies, family...
A few months have gone by since our Big Cogs ride in May, but we thought we would update you all with the final fundraising totals 💕 Many thanks to over 300 people who very kindly sponsored our wide range of charities which, as detailed on our website, were each...
Monday 23rd May – Ride Day 10: The 10th and final day of the France en Velo trip took us from Les-Salles-sur-Verdon to the finish line in Nice after over a combined 1,000 miles of cycling. Devastatingly, the day will be most remembered for Johnny’s...
Sunday 22nd May – Ride Day 9: Today’s penultimate stage of the ten day St Malo to Nice challenge saw us take on 104 miles and >7,000ft of ascent in, again, blisteringly high and unseasonable temperatures which must have hit mid 30’s for most of the last week....
Saturday 21st May – Rest day but Mont Ventoux for some.... Today was the designated rest day of the St Malo-Nice challenge so being as it fell in Bedoin ? what better way to spend it than spinning the legs up Mt Ventoux to 1,910m above sea level and a fantastic...
Friday 20th May – Ride Day 8: Day 8 of France en Velo saw us cover another monstrous distance of 116 miles though with less climb than yesterday at just over 5,000 ft. Welcome back to the furnace best describes the conditions we faced with temperatures...
Thursday 19th May – Ride Day 7: Day seven of ‘France en Velo’ was aptly named by our route tweaker, Aspey, as the ‘Queens stage’ and understandably so as it had us ascending 8,000 ft over 114 miles. The challenge was exacerbated with a number of long climbs and...
Wednesday 18th May – Ride Day 6: Day 6 of France en Velo saw us take on 94 miles between Souillac and Entraygues-Sue-Truyere, still in the Occitania region but moving east into the Aveyron department. We split in to two groups at the start, split by 45...
Tuesday 17th May – Ride Day 5: Day 5 of France en Velo … ‘welcome to the cauldron of a heatwave in central France’ !! Today saw us take on almost exactly ? miles from Perigueux to Souillac over not mountainous but hilly terrain. For the first time...
Monday 16th May – Ride Day 4: France en Velo - Day 4... We left Lessac in welcome cooler temperatures, after a great breakfast at the ‘artists retreat’, on tired legs after the last two days so the 84 miles ahead of us was, relatively, welcome relief. The...