Starting at 9.15 am on Sunday 30th July, Sheila and her trusty Condor (the black one, not the white one) will travel 450 miles from the outskirts of London to the outskirts of Edinburgh. And 450 miles back again.
Described as Audax UK's biggest and most prestigious event, participants are given just over four days to pedal their way over a course covering just under 900 miles that will take them through 12 counties, from the flatlands of Essex, through the slightly bumpy Lincolnshire Wolds, over the Humber Bridge, through the Yorkshire Dales to the craggy hills of Cumbria, then on to the rolling Tweed and the dark mountains of the Scottish Lowlands…
Eating – and perhaps occasionally sleeping – at some of 18 “control points” strategically placed along the way, the ride will see Our Girl whizz through some interesting places in her race against the clock without stopping to take (many) selfies or buy souvenirs.
During the course of the event, Sheila will climb a total of 36,500 feet – the equivalent of climbing Everest and, rather like George Mallory and Sandy Irvine, coming only part of the way back down again. The highest peak will be the 2,000 feet climb over “Yad Moss” in the Pennines (twice) and over the wonderfully-named “Devil’s Beef Tub” in Scotland's Southern Uplands.
For those wishing to follow Sheila’s progress, we shall try to make regular posts on this site and anyone wishing to show their love is encouraged to post messages on this page – she may not respond during the event but will be checking in occasionally at her (brief) rest stops.
For our part, in being entrusted with Sheila’s Face Book page, we have been asked to confine our attention to the cycling and not allow ourselves to get distracted by the roadside trivia that has blighted our previous blogging on events……..
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