Lessons Learned
- With vision and good friends in support, anything is possible. We had a dream and went about delivering it.
- Avoid large city centres if you can, it is time and energy consuming to get out and back on the route.
- If you have to do the city centres for sponsors, try and arrange the photocalls and engagements for the afternoon / evening of arrival so that you can keep an early start to avoid heat and traffic.
- Get through more than half of the distance before breaking for lunch, and don't take a long break for lunch. What worked well for us was to buy drinks at a local pub and eating sandwiches, fruit and salads bought from the local retailer (Tesco, Sainsbury's etc).
- Most of us took way too many clothes with and so landed up lugging unnecessary luggage.
- You need a good butt cream.
- You need a good sun cream.
- Take a spare tube with you on the bike.
- You can't have too much duck tape; it is a fix for everything.
- A good support crew will make the difference; ours was excellent and there is no doubt the 10 days would have been an impossible ask had they not been there.