Ride Across Britain Blog
“After the strenuous bus journey we arrived at John O'groats at 8am met by a cold chill and a slight drizzle. Once we got settled into our tents we set about the base camp to find out where everything was and having some rest time on stable ground, instead of the rolling about we had on the bus. That night we all got into our tents where some of us had to deal with major tent collapse and flooding, and all of endured a restless night only to be woken by "I will walk 500 miles" at 5 am, not happy campers!”
“After leaving late we reached the next camp late. This meant going straight into massaging and figuring out our plan and supplies as we went along… Some cyclists required US these were mostly Patella tendinopathies that were pre existing. Johnny maintained his mobilisations king crown and everyone worked hard, straight through until their lunch break with many getting only a 5 min break before starting again.”
With the weather being poor and an outbreak of illness morale was low…
“Aaron and the riders have been fantastic the comments and feedback we are receiving from them is one of the major things keeping us all going. Because they keep letting know how much we are being appreciated. Due to this I know myself, Marc, Jonny, Sylene, Rob and Delphine feel like we need to keep going if only for them as we keep getting reminded "Its all about the riders"… Personally the hardest part for me is the travelling on the coach between base camps as I can't sleep whilst travelling”
The students were given a night in beds upon reaching Ullswater which made a massive difference to the way they were feeling about things…
“Everyone woke up this morning feeling better and not dreading the next base camp. Hours have been changed a bit but knowing we have more guys turning up as well has really help as hopefully some off us can have a few hours off… We keep getting great feedback from the riders… Sylene was working on Rebecca Romero last night!”
“Well morning clinic is getting busier. Equipment is getting low. But last night at the new base camp was so much better and relaxed… we had so much help that we could chill and relax and sit in the sunshine!!”
“We are looking forward to the next stop we are expecting the arrival of Sophie and Angus as well as some more experienced therapists (hoping so as we were all told that yesterday)… New system kind of worked well yesterday but there were some teething problems which will hopefully have gone today. Some of use are even getting booking with regulars, most of the time it’s the riders asking for us!”
“After an early 5.30 start for Aaron and me… the riders and therapist are dropping like flies! We now only have 8 left out of the original 11, as we lost Delphine yesterday as even after a day off she couldn't hack it anymore. But we had Sophie and Angus waiting for us, everyone else did a great job yesterday of pulling together and working for a good 4 hours solid until the Hannah, Rob, Tim and Lee turned up so we can have a break and help take up the slack as we were 30 min behind. They were full of beans and energy giving out all the advice… But after we finally got everyone off the couches it was our turn. To show us their appreciation we got our "10 min" massage… But this morning everyone seems ready to start today without tears or packing it in.”
“So after 8 days of bus travel, however many hundred of miles, team of 12 therapists, numerous rolls of tape, 8 sets of sore arms and wrists a total of about 12 solid hours sleep a few tears and lots of I think we are ready for the final day… Personally myself I think its been a great opportunity and I have meet some great people who I will miss but hopefully stay in touch with after. Its been a lot of hard work but those who survived made it fun and pulled it together and yesterday at the pit stop, finishing line and the bar last night really made me proud to be part of UCB sports therapy when we were told they couldn't have done it with out us.”