Our supporters do some amazing things for us - and this journey from the Falkirk Wheel to Lands End was particularly special. It included a visit from a man whose life was saved by members of the 41 Club - the same people taking on the challenge!
Challenging, Emotional, Rewarding…just some of the feelings we experienced during our 660 mile Falkirk Wheel to Lands End 5 day cycle challenge in aid of Anthony Nolan. 7 members of Falkirk Round Table had cycled from John O’Groats to the Falkirk Wheel in 2010 and it only took us 5 years to think about finishing the journey!
Deciding on a charity to support is never easy - however, we opted for Anthony Nolan as in 2014 it was the 41 club’s national charity of the year, nominated by Jim Smith, the then National President.
Anthony Nolan means a lot to many Round Table members throughout Great Britain and Ireland. Excitingly, at the Falkirk Round Table, a clinic we organised in 2006 led to one of our members being selected as a donor in 2012!
The transplant was successful and both the donor and recipient are now in touch with each other. Read on to find out how this affected our ride...
As we're all leisure cyclists, our training and diets started early in the year - this was going to be the longest cycle we had ever undertaken.
The lifesaving team
The team consisted of 5 members of the Falkirk Round Table (Scott Cunningham, Findlay Paul, Donnie McNelis, Mark Northway and Ross Wilson) and 7 members of the Larbert and Falkirk 41 Club (Phil Lauder, Chas Masterton, Kevin Gilmour, Jim Snedden, Steve Barton, Les Baird and Colin Aitken.
We received amazing support from local businesses, including a promotional photoshoot, donation of minibus and van, fuel, food and vehicle graphics as well as a bike trailer from the local secondary school.
Planning was essential and Mark Northway left no stone unturned. His attention to detail was key to the success of the whole operation and to him we are all extremely grateful.
We also recruited 2 members of the 41 club (Dave Allan and Logan Scott) as support drivers to provide much needed support and encouragement.
These guys were incredible, booking us in to overnight accommodation in advance, taking our bags to our rooms, arranging lunch and snacks, providing us with regular sugar boosts (donuts! the food of champions), organising the Radox for our bath at night, and even having breakfast delivered to our rooms in the morning. Nothing was ever a problem to them.
They may not have had the cycle aches and pains but boy did they put in a shift!
The ride
Day 1: The destination was Carlisle and we obviously made an impression early on in our journey. A lady donated an incredible £1000 plus gift aid direct to the charity after a chance meeting in Forth, a small village in Lanarkshire. Possibly shocked by so many middle aged men in lycra (aka MAMILS!)
Day 2: We tackled the Shap Summit on the way to Preston with the help of 7 bars of Kendal Mint Cake given to us by a couple we got chatting to in a coffee shop who also very kindly donated £100 to our charity page.
Day 3: Without doubt the highlight of the trip for us all! Unknown to the rest of the team we were to meet a veru special guest at the Warrington Wolves Rugby League stadium 25 miles into our cycle to Kidderminster.
The guys were overwhelmed when we were introduced to the bone marrow recipient that Falkirk Round table had played a small part in back in 2012! We recruited the man who turned out to be a lifesaving match.
This was one of the most emotional moments we have ever been involved in. Seeing him with his wife and baby daughter was without doubt an amazing feeling.
It reaffirmed to me how as members of Round Table and 41 Club we really can make a difference and how a charity like Anthony Nolan needs continued support to save lives.
Day 4: And we were heading for Taunton. After a quick stop for Lunch in Bristol with the National President of the 41 Club Terry Cooper we headed for the Clifton Suspension Bridge -although one wrong turn meant staying in Bristol slightly longer than we expected!
Day 5: …the hilliest and toughest day of all…but perhaps the most rewarding as we made our way to the finish line. Although windy, the sun was out as we arrived at Lands end about 6pm on Thursday 28th May 2015. Believe me the fish and chips and bottles of beer went down a treat!
Raising over £14,500, cycling 660 miles and meeting a successful Anthony Nolan bone marrow recipient with his wife and baby daughter certainly left us with memories that will stay with us forever.
Would you like to take on a cycling or running challenge for us? Find out more at www.anthonynolan.org/events