Team CameraWorld London-Southend Bike Ride

On Sunday morning, bright and early the slightly madder members of our team in Chelmsford went off on the train to London on their bikes. Yes that's right on the train from Essex to London to bike back to Southend in Essex.  56 miles from London Victoria Park to Southend.  All week we had been watching the weather.  Would it be hot, heatwave hot - that would be hard, cold - unlikely, its been a while since we've seen the cold, raining, torrential rain.  The storms building up to the weekend on Friday night were well documented with over 300 recorded strikes in London alone.  The day could be very interesting.

So, 5.30am the alarm went off.  After a bowl of healthy granola and some bananas for energy the journey began to Liverpool St, London.  First stop, meet the rest of the team at 6.30am at the shop and bike to the station, so already another 1.5 miles to the station from home.  8am start from Victoria Park, Adding on the 3 miles from Liverpool St station to Victoria Park.

Who's the team, I hear you cry?  Well we have:-

Jason, MD and guy on a fitness mission.  Mid-life crisis - maybe. Getting old and want to keep fit, definitely. Wants the Adonis 6 pack instead of a beer barrel - his better half says yes to that one.  Head of the team, leader of the pack (obviously not on the bike, that was James).

Graham, affectionately known as "G" by the gang, fitness addict, ex gym instructor, runs for fun, stealth and slightly nuts. Whilst everyone else is worrying if their bike is good enough Graham decides he's going to do it on his 1977 original Chopper bike, original meaning - not restored in any way. 3 gears, not 9 or 27 gears as with everyone else's bike.  Not only did he decide to do it on the Chopper, but in a Batman outfit. Not one to paling into the background, he kept everyone entertained on the way round.  As I was following between two stops I wish I could have taken some video footage of Graham flying downhill on his Chopper. Youngsters of today say "LOL", meaning "laugh out loud", this genuinely made me laugh out loud. Watch out Christian Bale, move over Batmobile, enter G-Man.

James, the pro.  James is a keen biker in all the gear.  Whilst Graham was donning his Batman outfit and Jason in his gym shorts, James was head to toe in Lycra bike gear definitely looking the part. Contrary to Grahams Chopper, James was on his 1980's BMZ Campagnola racing bike.  Now I know nothing of bikes, but many people on the way round did as they commented on the beauty of it. From Graham on his Chopper to James the pro - they could not have been more opposite.  So laid back about the whole thing he’s horizontal – literally.

Jordy - hoodwinked and bullied into joining the team. Jordy was not sure he wanted to commit to this, but under threat of losing his job he reluctantly joined the team.  Begging and borrowing gear from friends and family he looked the part (with a scared look on his face).  Youngsters of today, they don't realise how much stamina they have, but it’s OK - if you work at CameraWorld we soon show them the light.

They got to Victoria Park amongst a frenzy of 6,000 cyclists who'd had the same idea, gathering together and staggering the starts.  Jason was starting to feel inadequate already as he sized up the competition with pro's on their carbon fibre machines, in the way that only a man can feel insecure. The event was well organised with a great atmosphere.  Lots of people from all walks of life, from young to old, enthusiasts to pros, families, friends and colleagues.

8am and they're off.  Temperature was hotting up already, but the guys took a steady pace.  First few miles was quite steady and easy cycling in a crowd of about 30 fellow cyclists.  It was a slow gain as the route out of central London took them out across busy roads and lots of traffic lights (we all know the joys of travelling in central London).  Once they had got through this busy area, what appeared on the map to be quite flat, was increasingly hilly.  At the second hill Jason realised that carrying a 20 kilo backpack filled with drinks and fruit for the journey, was not such a great idea after all.  Several refreshment stops along the way and we took full advantage of them.

They were heading for the 25 mile refreshment stop, when I diverted them to an unofficial refreshment stop (yep you got it - the pub!!) say unofficial but there were a lot of cyclists with the same idea at this point.  As I was eagerly watching from outside the pub, chatting to the rest of the teams, I wondered what was taking them so long.  At the last communication they were just 1.5 miles away from me.  Little did I know that they were down on their hands and knees fixing Grahams puncture.  By this time the weather sun was high, and whilst all over the country rain was lashing down and storms were being reported, they skies were blue and it was blistering hot.

Finally they arrived, 25 miles in and looking pretty relaxed.  Whilst everyone around us were drinking pints of beer and cider, the CW team abstained. James on his electrolyte tablets, Jason & Jordy needing a sugar fix of coke and our purist Graham sticking to water.

(This guy here, was in a team of 55.  Notice the water bottle has been replaced by the all important bottle of Magners.  Fantastic!)

The next planned stop was just 5.4 miles away where they thought they might stock for a bite to eat.  Challenge Abby - could I drive in the car to the next stop and beat them on their bikes?  As James rose to the challenge and sped off on his racer, I followed flying GMan on his Chopper.  The funniest moment.  Wish I had photographic evidence to show you.  Needless to say with traffic and all the bikes in the way - they beat me.  You can imagine the smiles on their faces as they called my phone to see what my delay was.

After a couple of bananas (worrying about the after lunch slump if they ate too much) they were off again.  At the just over 30 mile marker, they were still feeling pretty good.  I left them feeling pretty pumped with a target of 1.5-2 hours to get to Southend.  I drove home feeling inspired by all these people spending their Sunday on this bike ride for all manner of reasons - fun, personal achievement, raising money for charity, in tribute to lost ones.  And then the rain came, in bucket loads, as I wondered how my team were doing and hoping that they were biking away from the rain, the thunder and lightning continued and it didn't stop.

As the guys rode from Battlebridge to Southend, the rain caught them, and for the last 10 miles there was no let up.  The rain was not that warm rain that we experience abroad that flashes down and cools the air, but a typical British storm.  Endless and cold.  The guys were drenched.  A very considerate motorist covered Jordy in a puddle of water, you know the kind that you think only happens in the movies.  The wave washed over him.  Our poor boys, and of course all the other entrants, they could not have been if they had jumped in a swimming pool, but they were not deterred.  Finally after a riding time of 4 hours and 15 minutes they arrived in Southend.  The rain still lashing down, they picked up their medals and certificates.  They had made it.  What an achievement.

Congratulations to our gang.  We are very proud, and whilst on Monday there were a few tired looking faces, the personal achievement they means this could be the start of things to come. CW Lands End to John O’Groats next maybe? Watch this space.

Congratulations to all who took part.