“It gives me great please to announce we have finished! We have cycled 1000 miles from the top to the bottom of our great a green land.”

 

Ladies and gentlemen

It gives me great please to announce we have finished! We have cycled 1000 miles from the top to the bottom of our great a green land.

But more importantly we have raised in excess of £15,000 to date with the website being open for another week. That is life changing money, we cycled, YOU gave and for that you have my eternal gratitude.

I would like to thank my fellow jogleists first, as without them this challenge would not have happened. You can have all the ideas in the world but if no-one is interested it just doesn’t happen. All the guys have made massive personal sacrifices during the last year of training, from financial to family it all adds up.

We have had an epic adventure, we left John O’Groats some 12 days ago now, it was cold and wet and horrible. We even left late as James needed one last poo before the off!

So many funny things have happened I could go on for pages, but there are a few phrases that will live with the team forever. By all means ask the team for an explanation!

We had “stoke on trent” “Stratford upon Avon” “lances finest” “full steel” “carrera special” and many more I couldn’t put on a family blog!

Dave never had a puncture, James’s bike is the cleanest you will ever see, Chris got a bit of a sun tan! Took him 3 days to go white rather than light blue!

I fell off a few times and uttered the immortal words “I’ve just about had a &&&&ing nuff of you lot” Drive got lost a lot, drive failed to find places that were clearly on a map, drive pulled out on many a white van and Shane’s bike never stopped gently falling apart before our eyes! Such fun that will never be able to be recreated.

As for you lot, wow, £15k! That’s paying for some research, that’s paying for someone to get better. I did this challenge so the boffins at Leukaemia can get closer to making my kids better if I ever get the call. The team did this to make a difference to someone’s life, what you guys raised will have gone a massive way to realising those ambitions.

There’s loads going on in stores and don’t we moan about it all the time?! But you guys still delivered a massive figure. For the donators reading this not associated with a store your money came from your pocket, a pocket which is getting tighter everyday and yet you still gave what you could.

I am so proud that we have inspired so many of you to either do something for charity or get on your bike!

From all the team, the tuck shop has closed, the stickers are coming off the van, the sudacreme is going me bum!I bid you good night and thanks for all you have done.

Ben Summerhill

“.. it has been a true pleasure and an honour riding alongside 4 hero’s and a time I will never forget…”

Hello all Joggleist fans…..

Well here we are it’s blog time….  Please read on to see what we have been up to today….

Myself, James and Chris (aka the kids as Dave calls us) did our classic Of looking out the window and going down once the bikes were all out of the van thanks to Dave, Ben and Drive (aka the oap’s who’s room smells like an old people’s home lol)

Bikes are all sorted and we have been issued with our rations by Drive he thinks we are in Vietnam i think lol…we daren’t touch the tuck shop though otherwise he turns into B A Baracus!!!, ready to go we set off from Glastonbury towards Okehampton for a tough 81 miles on wet roads.

Thankfully the Sun did come out but with it came a very strong headwind, it was like ridding behind a jet fighter on full thrust at times….

40 miles in and we decided to stop in a little village in the middle of no where to contact Drive to plan a refuel of drinks and drop of some kit, but according to Drive the village didn’t exist he asked the local postman, garage owner and the little old lady, we knew it would be hard work trying to explain the village did exist as we were there so we gave up and changed the meeting point to Tiverton, just before leaving we thought a group photo would be nice so we all sat on the wall like adults!! and Dave decided to lift my legs just before the click of the camera and I went backwards in a big way I have’t to say it was hilarious picture to follow….

We set off for Tiverton and I think Casper (aka Chris) was a bit dehydrated as he decided to take a left where there wasn’t a left and ended up in the bushes……

Then Ben’s chain decided to come off in mid flow up a hill so he was peddling and going no where but don’t panic he just aimed for me instead so we meet in a bit of a pickle against some bushes trying to regain our professional riding status!!! picture to follow…..

We have landed in the Okehampton Travel Lodge cream crackered, fish and chips this eve and an early night can’t wait it’s the big day tomorrow 90 miles down the A30 to Lands End….

I Just want to say it has been a true pleasure and an honour riding alongside 4 hero’s and a time I will never forget, the money we have raised together is a life changing amount and we should all be very proud.

Over and out  Shane Glass

Dave crashes VAN !!!!!!!

Dave crashes VAN !!!!!!! I have driven 1,750 miles, Dave has driven 2.1 miles. Firstly tried to pull away in 4th gear, gear box in ********* bits. Then reversed into a lamp post. Rest day not, had to drop the engine and panel beat the back of the van. I stopped on the motorway and completed many 3 point turns on A roads, not a mark. The route cards have taken me, off road, down lanes into people’s gardens.

All bikes cleaned with Ben’s XXXL pants. Day did not start till 11.30 as the kids had a lay in. When Dave walked into the kids room he fell to the floor with the smell that hit him in the face. Well two days to go. Thanks to all for your support. Let’s hit 20k Shane  target. Driver out

“…..Wind! This wasn’t down to the weather, but the curry we all had last night!”

 

Wow what a day! As we rolled out of Hereford we faced an ongoing problem that stretched across the whole  day……… Wind! This wasn’t down to the weather, but the curry we all had last night and I got to say I haven’t smelt much worse than when I was following my four fellow jogleists, I’m sure the welsh are pleased to see the back of us after that performance! The hills just didn’t seem to stop throughout Wales, we had some massive climbs but were treated to some awesome downhill sections which made it all worth it! We pulled into Tintern abbey for a little look around and treated ourselves to a bacon sandwich which we all scoffed down within seconds! Next stop was crossing the old Severn bridge………. A perfect time for a puncture I thought, so I whipped a new inner tube in and we were off again. We pulled into the Cribbs store to a warm welcome and quite a surprise to be greeted by batman & robin, mr bump, a 70’s dancer and many more ridiculous outfits & some delicious cakes! Great work team Cribbs!!! We then bombed our way through Bristol to Ashton gate to see the team. And again we were greeted with cakes and the whole team wearing the Jogle t-shirts! It’s really great seeing all the colleagues having a whale of a time and raising loads of ££££ to go into the pot! We filled our drinks with some of lances finest gear and set off to Glastonbury, again we seemed to climb some massive hills! We some how managed to get lost at one point even though two of the jogleists live within 3 miles of where we were!

Hereford to Glastonbury done. Chilling out now and looking forward to a well earned lie in tomorrow and our day off! Love all the support from the stores over the last few days. We want to quickly thank Nick Cox for some cracking photos, they look great!  !

Chris & Jogle team!

“I learnt some new words as Ben collected his fingers from the road!!”

Well, after the end of a long days cycling, writing the blog is not at the top of mind however just downed two Red Bulls so will type whilst my fingers are still tingling!!

The previous night wasn’t incident free as Mark made sure the van door was firmly shut however forgot to ask Ben to move his hand – I learnt some new words as Ben collected his fingers from the road!!

The day was 110 miles long and we spent most of it trying to work out where Mark was as he’s not great at using a phone map and always seemed to be 20 miles away… We started to get desperate when we were 2 hours late for getting some lunch and heads were dropping as our bodies were running out of energy. Finally at 2pm Mark arrived ( probably been asleep in a lay by) and we were so pleased to see him we let out a little cheer… The cheer soon stopped when Mark said there wasn’t any Tesco’s in the countryside and he could whip us up some porridge – Mark’s porridge is legendary however  Shane still has some stuck to the roof of his mouth from Thursday!!

Only one small fall today and that was from me however managed to fall onto Ben and break his I phone holder so the directions went up in smoke once again!!

Landed at 6.30pm (left Chester at 7.45am) and its great to see an Indian restaurant next to the hotel – we just need to draw straws as to who rides behind James tomorrow!!

Our last mile of the day saw us get a cheer from a plumber in the van and reminds us why we are doing this epic challenge..

Thanks

James Blog – “the other lot are doing my head right in”

Hi all, today was a real nasty day if I’m honest and was by far the most urban route of the trip so far passing through places such as Lancaster, Preston, Liverpool, runcorn and Chester. If it wernt for our I pods I am not sure we would of made it, but don’t worry avid blog followers there was still lots of gold to write about. We left the hotel and had to cross a road to get started, the father of another rider happened to comment on how professional we all looked, so as I kicked off for my first pedal stroke I looked back to see ben falling over and landing with a crunch, not so professional now are we, great start.

After around 20 miles we saw a bike shop and payed it a visit, as in true Shane style he had worn his cleats to destruction and wanted a new pair. After the shop attendant had angle grinded off his cleats we were good to go but had lost an hour in the shop. Lunch was the best part of the day and old drive came up trumps again. Not long after, ben got his first of 2 punctures and set about changing it. We were riding into a massive head wind all day and it was starting to grate on us and really slowed our progress. After a little wee stop ben fell over for the second time and managed to cut his leg, fair play to Shane who simply got his phone out and took a picture rather than help the poor chap up, ben was having an absolute nightmare and I had to hide at the back for a good 5 minutes laughing as hard as I have for some time.

As the ride was drawing to a close we found our selves trundling along the motorway, god knows how. Shane decided that this would be a good time to get a puncture and nose dive into the first lane. We rocked into the hotel at around 1930 absolutely shattered and ready for some food. Chris’s brother Rob and his Mrs have just joined us, which is nice to have someone else to talk too coz the other lot are doing my head right in. That’s all folks, thanks for all your support so far.

James.

“bottle of Lance Armstrongs finest” – Bens Blog

 

“bottle of Lance Armstrongs finest”

 

 

 

Stage 5 Dunfries to Kendal
Proper day of two half’s today! First bit lovely and flat, second bit horrible and hilly!

Left Dumfries at 7.30am under a bit of a cloud. Everyone feeling a hangover from the day off. Not alcohol induced but tiredness. After 6 days together and about 4 hours sleep a night tempers can become a little frayed!!

First 40 miles lovely and flat, called in Gretna Green for a quick whizz to the shop to buy Scottish tat from an overpriced shop, only to be told by Dave I could have saved some money and bought it all from morrisons probably in the first 3 aisles! Can only assume the vernon household doesn’t have tat!
Just after Gretna we saw the sign for England. Happy days, on me way home now love!

45 miles in twas time for lunch. Just on the edge of the lake district.
We managed to beat the van to our rendezvous point so we stood under a tree to keep dry. We told drive that’s where we were……….. There’s a lot of trees in the lake district!!!

We saw drive turn up at the roundabout we were near, happy days we said and started to walk towards him. Just as he drove off!! Back under the tree, no reception to phone him, let’s wait.
Shortly afterwards he came back,

• Pulled up next to us
• Drove away
• Reversed
• Stopped
• Drove forward
• Stopped
• Drove into someone’s yard
• Stopped
• Reversed
• Disappeared behind some trees
• Reversed some more
• Pulled up next to our tree and shouted at us!!

Choice words aplenty!!!

After lunch we knew it was going to go uphill fast, and it did!!
First mountain took us to just over 1000ft which being such professional cyclists didn’t really bother us to be honest! The down hill was amazing though.

And then……………… The highest point of our journey! The Keswick pass…….. 1500 ft straight up in 3 miles!
This is a mountain that people go on holiday to walk up, this is a mountain where people go to “find themselves” this is a mountain that took me just over an hour to get up!
However, we seem to have a future Tour de France King of the mountains in Mr Christopher Walker.
This is a man who had a “bottle of Lance Armstrongs finest”  went up the hill in one go! In one go ladies and gents. The same hill it took me so long to get up! The whole team looked knackered at the top and couldn’t wait for the downhill.  Downhill at a gradient of 20% don’t take too long! Hit the bottom and made a dash for the hotel.
Unfortunately the hotel is on the opposite side of a busy dual carriageway. Drive came over and said “you can either run across the road or go up about a mile to the roundabout and come back on yourself” by the time he said “you can either” we were already running across with our bikes on our shoulders! There was no way I was going any further!

Just popped in the petrol station to get some Kendal mint cake. Cheaper than a tat shop! See, I do listen to the boss sometimes.
Tomorrow another big day, food then bed.

Ben

“The hardest job in the world….”

 

“The hardest job in the world….”

Drivers blog . Day 5 . Rest day, not for some. 01.30, Dave and Ben, leave the room in a dash for sleep. To escape the bear, who said, he was on his none snoring side. Then breakfast, by gas stove,(in the room) . Had to take Shane’s bike to the repair shop. Clean the kit using the hotel washing machine and staff. Cleaned the bikes and van. Now we can rest.

Already driven 1,200 miles, 9 speed cameras. Worst thing about driving, is being called to say we have changed the route. You try finding someone in the Highlands!!!!! Supporting the boys, making tea and breakfast, and more tea, dinner and more tea.

Only upset a few Scottish road users so far, by making three point turns and very good breaking!!!!! . Today team worked well. All in good spirits for tomorrow. Driver out. The hardest job in the world

Mark

5 men in Lycra stretching can clear a fairy! deck in minutes believe me….

 

Hello to all Jogleist followers….

Sorry it’s a wee late Christ I have been In Scotland to long…

Well where do I start, today has been an eventful one please come on our journey you will smile once or twice I can assure you……

As you will know we stayed in a Hostel Last night Yes a Hostel with yours truly Mr Vernon who I have know learnt can’t make a bed but he is very handy with a sleeping bag!!! , well actually I didn’t stay in the hostel bed for long I decided to take myself out to the van at 2am in my pants as Drive (Aka Mark the Bear) was snoring like a good one and was sucking in various items with every breath…

I am so glad to say camping is now over as Dave insisted on tipping me of my camp bed every morning whilst my arms were still in my sleeping bag I was so helpless,  yes he is supposed to be the adult….

Well what did today have install for us well here we go… a 5.45am start and 14 hard miles to the Fairy port (Dave just hit me again it’s Ferry not fairy you ……) we stopped to take some pictures of the wildlife and Ben decided to take a little fall I did laugh as its normally me as you may have worked out for yourself!!! picture to follow.

We decided to do a few stretches on the fairy! after breakfast,  5 men in Lycra stretching can clear a fairy! deck in minutes believe me….

Well we are off the fairy now (named Tinkerbell how odd) we have a tuff 90 mile ahead at least the weather was better today, cold but no where near as wet as yesterday, we did have many a road surface today that was like riding over a crumpet… One thing a cyclist learns to appreciate is a new laud tarmac road…

We decided to stop for a well earned cup of Tea 20 miles from the end where we found Drive setting up a book stall on the side of the road while the kettle was coming to the boil, fair play he is taking it seriously!!!… Not sure if they may have been fly tipped tho!!! Picture to follow

Well here we are at the Travel lodge Now after a tuff day we Are ready for Tea and an early night as we have a well earned rest day tomorrow good night all and thank you for making our amazing journey reality we are changing lives for the better keep doing what your doing…

 

 

Shane Glass

‘mountain status!’

Hello facebookers, tweeters, bloggers and whoever else may read this. We have just completed day three.

We knew it was going to be a challenging day from the start. So their we were sat in McDonald’s having a beefy breakfast when Shane decides the coffee Dave was drinking would look better all over the table and daves shirt! The McDonald’s workers didn’t find it quite as funny as the rest of us did!

So we set off from the foot of Ben Nevis. Sailed along for the first 35 miles, road surfaces were good and a few little tester hills that we took in our stride we were operating like a well oiled cycling team! It was going well, up to 40 miles mark then it went down hill quickly (or should I say up hill very quickly!) as we climbed these massive hills we decided they were defiantly worthy of the ‘mountain status!’ but anyways we soldered on and eventually arrived at the ferry in tarbett. ( or fairy as Shane kept saying) we had now covered a very hilly 108 miles and burnt 8574 Calories which will help james shift his gut to squeeze into this wedding suit!

We were wet cold and shattered by this point so got on the blower to try and sort out a room for the night ascamping was clearly not a popular option! We ended up in a hostel, I feel sorry for the two other people who have to share with us as apparently a few of us are known to snore ! Just going to stuff our face full off food. Thanks for all the messages and support and keep those penny’s coming in!!!

Cheers then

Chris & the Jogle team! X