Ride for Cancer 2004

Sunday 27^th June 2004

The Mission

100 miles on a bicycle around Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire in aid of Cancer Research. Dan Cave initially had the idea after losing his grandmother Dorothy to cancer in 2002. Whilst out on a ride thinking about her he felt the need to do something in her memory and raise some money for Cancer Research. He decided that a 100 mile ride was a fitting way to raise money via sponsorship and sought some other hardy souls with the motivation to accompany him on his epic ride.

I met Dan via our interest in cycling and was intrigued by his charity ride when I heard about it as Cancer Research is one of the charities I support. I volunteered for the ride as Cancer Research is something I feel very strongly about after watching my mother-in-law, who was a wonderful, life enriching person (contrary to all the mother-in-law jokes), disappear before my eyes. This was my first real close up contact with cancer, the nature of the disease made me determined to do as much as I can to help beat it.

The Riders

All lined up ready to go... From L-R. Liz Pascoe, Richard Castle - New Forest C.C.,  Matt Donaldson - Plomesgate C.C., Dan Cave (Event Organiser), Terry Harborne & James Ashworth - Team JD Cycles, Benfleet, Essex.

The Route

Route Profile

The Ride

We all met bright eyed and bushy tailed in Poole Park at 09:30 on a bright, warm Sunday morning. Everyone looked rested and raring to go after the pasta meal and purely medicinal Cabernet Sauvignon washed down with Nastro Azzuro the night before in Topogigio Pasta and Pizzeria in Poole.

We left Poole at a steady 15mph pace, and headed out toward Bere Regis on the fast and newly surfaced A35 over the undulating terrain which typifies the Dorset area, at Bere Regis we turned east.

With the tail wind Dan drove the group along at a steady 25mph until a near disaster when he attempted to put on his waterproof coat on the move and managed to get an arm of the jacket stuck in his rear wheel and chain! The 5 of us behind took avoiding action and decided we wanted to ride in front of Dan in future. We got to Wimborne Minster with no further mishaps and turned north on the B3082, after busy A roads this was a real luxury and we all enjoyed the country lanes, lack of traffic and gorgeous sun on our backs. The rolling nature of the country side was gradually taking its toll on our host Dan, our idea of a suitable pace was not the same as his. The pace was slowed dramatically and Dan soon found a comfortable pace, he was still very grateful when we reached Blandford Forum and made a stop at Tesco so Paul who was driving the support vehicle could provide some Vaseline for Terry to lubricate some parts that were chaffing! Needless to say we let him lubricate himself.

We all left Blandford Forum feeling refreshed and Terry looked far more comfortable, although Jim and I were still smirking at his discomfort and Lizzy was trying not to think about it.

We followed the A350 out of Blandford Forum toward Shaftsbury which was the half way point but between us and Shaftsbury were some terrific roads with some sensational hills, one in particular near Fontmell Magna was the closest I have come on a bike to the feeling of being on a rollercoaster, a breakneck descent at over 40mph down a corkscrew lane and was the highlight of the ride for me, closely followed by the climb up into Shaftsbury. The road climbs for 1.8 miles at rate that we seldom see in Suffolk (for those of you who know Bishops Hill in Ipswich it was like that but 1.4 miles long) then just when you think you are nearing the top you get a false flat that then kicks up into a 1in4 climb for the final 400m!!!! Heart rates max out and leg muscles and sinews scream for some respite until you roll over the top of the hill into the picturesque country town of Shaftsbury. The race to the top was won by the youngsters Richard closely followed by Jim and I, after a pause Lizzy appeared next followed by Terry, who reckoned he had the best view on the hill following Lizzy's rear end and indeed got to the top smiling. Then after about 20 minutes Dan appeared looking fresh after snapping his chain half way up and getting a hand from Steve the photographer who luckily drove past and managed to repair it. 50 miles done so far so good, sun was out, legs felt good, plenty to drink and a plentiful supply of bananas.

We left Shaftsbury by way of the fast A30 on our way to Salisbury via the carpet capital of the world Wilton. By now Terry, Jim, Richard, Lizzy and I were into our pace and Dan started to suffer cramps keeping our pace and half way to Salisbury nearly crashed again trying to stretch out a muscle on the bike at 30 mph when he cramped! After asking us all to slow down as the pace was 'cooking' him. We stopped for a refuel and I took the opportunity to adjust my chain which was causing me problems getting into my easiest gears.

Once back on the road we tried to keep the pace down as Dan was really struggling, the problem was Dan had trained at 12 - 13mph where as the other 5 of us were regular entrants in races and thought nothing of cruising at 18 - 20 mph. We employed the age old method to help a struggling team mate of putting him in the middle of the group with a couple of windbreaks in front and a man behind to help push. This worked well as Dan found me a useful windbreak and sat on my back wheel for mile after mile with young Jim driving the train in front of me. Terry played the role of tail gunner and kept Dan motivated and pushed him along as required.

Once we made the turn South at Salisbury I took the lead from Jim as were confronted by the cyclists nightmare, a severe headwind. Jim had done a sterling job leading the group so deserved a break. My power was appreciated as I set a fast pace into the wind and acting as a windbreak for the rest of the group on the run south on the A338. See the picture below and check out the tree tops!

Head down and ploughing through wind the run south to Ringwood was all a bit of a blur. We were all rudely woken up when we turned onto the A31 at Ringwood for the final leg west to Poole and back to Poole Park. Dan was all but dead now and the pace slowed to 10mph as we crawled along the busy A31 which was not much fun.

We hit the 100 miles rather aptly as we neared Poole crematorium, Dan was really suffering now and was picked up by the support vehicle having completed his quest, I decided to finish the ride off and rode the final 5 miles back to Poole Park on my own as I was feeling fresh, I enjoyed the freedom to wiz the through the streets of Poole at my own pace and got back just as the support vehicles arrived with the others. We said our farewells and all headed off to our own parts of the country feeling satisfied with a day spent sweating for a worthy cause. The 5 hours in the car on the way home was not as much fun!

I would like to thank everyone involved, Dan for his organisation and perseverance when he was clearly struggling, Paul Hayter for driving the support van full of energy drinks and bananas. Steve Turnbull for taking the pictures and mending Dan's chain. Jim and Terry who ride for Team JD Cycles in South Benfleet. Jim is only 16 and has a big future on the bike, he was really impressive all day long with his witty repartee with Terry. Terry is a top bloke and someone I would share a beer with any time. Richard is 18 years old and as strong as an ox, another one who could really go places especially in time trials. Lizzy was a revelation, 18 years old, petite and pushes big gears all day long and makes it look easy, she confessed to going for a ride on the previous Monday and in 13 hours had ridden from her home near Bournemouth to Brighton and back, a distance of 200 miles just for fun! The week following this ride Richard and Lizzy were off on their bikes to Devon and Cornwall for a holiday! I also would like to thank every one who sponsored me and especially Pat Brooks for his contribution and assistance. Thank you one and all, now pay up J.

Matt