shibbyonline

The night before

I am now sitting in a Travel Inn in Hayle and to be honest I’m feeling a lot better than I was yesterday.

It has been a long old drive just to get here and so far the weather has been great. We shot straight down to Lands End and had a photo taken, turns out the offical photographer does not start until 10 in the morning; by which time we want to be 3 hours down the road. So a bit of smooth talking and we got tomorrow’s date on the sign and will try and blag the rest.

Of course I’m still nervous as hell about what is going to happen in the morning but with the weather being so great it is hard to not wear a smile and look forward to the ride; despite seeing some of those rolling hills on the way here!

D Day

I’m sitting here with a few butterflies in the stomach, not sure what to expect of the next few days.
One thing is for certain; if the last 6 months of training have not helped there is no helping me now. Tomorrow morning at around 7:30 Dave will pick me up and we will join up with Harry and Rob and make our way down to Lands End ready for the off.

Whilst chatting with Dave earlier we decided to plan day one with some caution, the terrain through the West Country is very undulating which might cause a lot of wasted energy. Day 2 on the other hand should be a flatter run through the midlands, if we can keep enough in reserve and not push too hard on day one we can make up ground on the flats of day two.

Looking back at that sentence is quite scary, especially when you also look at a map of the UK.
That little sticky out part in the bottom left is going to be completed in just one day!

Made the press

Sorry this should have been posted last week, but I’ve been having a few problems with my scanner!

The local paper; Suffolk Free Press ran an article about the ride, it turns out my dear old grandma had generated interest through a family friend who works in the paper’s office. To which I was contacted and asked to organise a photo shoot at Rob’s shop.
They got a few points mixed up such as Dave does not own the cycle shop and I’m not the chap in the middle but I think the general idea is there and the main point about the charities we are supporting are there.

Rob has also been doing some publicity for the event, appearing in some Ipswich based papers.

The support is rolling in

Yesterday morning everything went a bit blurry as the realisation suddenly hit that, this time in three weeks I will be well on my way into the first day of the End 2 End challenge.

I am currently in a state of fear about the journey, there is this massive black cloud of “will I make it” looming over my head. Added to this that at present sponsorship money is rolling in only adds to the commitment of making sure it’s a success

The response has been overwhelming so far and I would like to personally thank all people that have offered money, support and best wishes.
I sent out email’s to customers and suppliers the other week and so far sponsorship forms have been sent around the country, one supplier has even made a very generous bulk donation. Customers who visit our office are also being hounded; sorry about that but many thanks, you know it makes sense. The local Rotary club have also been collared; once again many thanks.
Especially thanks to all friends and family who are not only offering sponsor money but also the mental support needed to over come these little moments of fear.

Thanks to all!