Departure, finally!

After months of organisation and thorough planning (possibly), I cycled away from Colwall at 2.30 on Sunday 26th May. I was headed to Oxford where my cousin's friend was kindly letting me sleep on a floor inside her flat. 

I had worked out that the journey would take me about 6 hours of riding, factoring in the large amount of weight that I have on my bike and the fact that I would be crossing the Cotswolds, which isn't the flattest of terrain. So after setting off at 2.30, already an hour and a half later than I wanted to, I then stopped at a friend's house in Upton for an hour. So my first day on the road would turn out to be a rush through the Gloucestershire countryside so not to be even later for somebody who was going out of her way to help me out at the beginning of my trip!

Things I learnt on my first day:
- Don't leave 3 1/2 hours for a 6 hour journey
- Make sure your seat position is perfect before you set off so you don't overstretch your knee on the first day
- When you're late and in a rush, don't forget to keep eating so you don't run out of energy with 10 miles to go

I finally made it to Oxford in the dying light of day and was welcomed with cake and tea into a nice warm flat. A huge thanks goes to Olivia as after a relatively difficult first day (mostly my own fault), that was exactly what was needed!

Onwards and upwards... hopefully!

Setting off in the sun

An Introduction

I’m Patrick, I’m 19, from England, and am currently on a gap year between 6th form and a Mechanical Engineering course at Loughborough Uni.  Nearly all of the people reading this will be friends and family, so I apologise for the lack of a detailed introduction.

Throughout this year, the Thirsty Knights (a group of mountain bikers based on the Malvern Hills) have been raising money for Charity. A variety of events have been attended, from 75 km day events, to a 250 mile, week long ride across the Atlas Mountains in Morocco.

I was thinking about what I could do to participate, having already shaved off of my hair, gone on sponsored walks, make cakes etc... for other charities and after reading 'Cycling Home from Siberia' (worth reading if you're a cyclist) , it gave me the idea that I could go on a bike tour during my gap year. My route was decided as I planned various events that I could go to that were predominantly based around France - downhill biking in the Alps with the rest of the Thirsty Knights, 2CV World Meeting down in Northern Spain etc...

General plan for a route

I will be completely self sufficient (apart from buying food), sleeping in my tent most of the time, cooking my own meals and maintaining the bike myself to try and keep the costs of my trip to a minimum, as I am funding the entire thing myself, meaning 100% of all donations go straight to Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

Breakthrough Breast Cancer is the charity we are supporting, which raises money to fund the science that strives to understand the causes and help prevent breast cancer. Everyone will know someone affected by this terrible cancer that is wrecking lives every day so please help us, it would mean a great deal to someone unfortunate enough to get the cancer.

Links: 

Breakthrough Breast Cancer Site: http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/

My Just Giving Page: http://www.justgiving.com/Patrick-Mason7