Training update

With Friday (15th June) marking the end of important exams for most of us, we took the opportunity to get a 30 mile ride under our belts. With hindsight, this was perhaps the wrong option - for many of us, this was our first serious ride in over a month! It nonetheless served as a great reminder of just how fit we will need to be when we undertake the challenge in exactly two months time.

Our usual route around the edges of Knole Park, through Seal and Kemsing was coupled with a gruelling hill climb through the outskirts of Otford and the North Downs, before heading due North to West Kingsdown. We rounded Brands Hatch - taking the opportunity to have a quick break and watch some of the Mini Festival action - before heading back along the A20, reaching Farningham. The last 10 miles through Eynsford, Shoreham and Otford really took their toll, but we eventually covered our distance in just under three hours - on par with our target for the trip of 10 miles an hour.

As a result of the success of this ride, we have planned more routes during the week, as well as participating in the 'Essex Countryside' bike ride next sunday. With two months to go, our serious training is underway!

First sponsor found

The main jersey to be worn by the team on their journey will be sponsored by Beaux Bagels, it was confirmed today. The Sevenoaks shop will pay for the shirts which will bear its logo across the front chest area.

Alongside the sponsorship, each shirt will also be personalised with each riders' name on the back, whilst the charity details will read across the bottom of the back of the shirt.

Four month countdown...

On the day where many in the world of sport were celebrating the fact that the Olympic Games begin in 100 days, we had a small celebration of our own - four months from now we will be in John O' Groats, ready to start our challenge on 19th August. We're also aware that there has been little recent activity - so for those of you who were starting to feel alarmed, here is an update on our progress...

Our latest practice route, approximately
15 miles

Sadly, Tom cannot commit to the cycle and therefore we will be known from now as 'The Six Sennockians'. Given that Tom was an initial proponent of the trip, it's a great shame that he won't be coming, however he still aims to complete the cycle at some point.

Angus has confirmed that he and his dad will be taking bikes and luggage up to Scotland, which has greatly solved our transport issues. Joffie will now be taking the train, whilst myself and Joe already have flights confirmed, and Alex and Ed will have theirs booked in the near future.

Our training has also been ramped up recently, with the addition of new routes, and the arrival of our cycling jerseys! We will be wearing the jerseys to the right, with surnames reading across the back and hopefully some sponsors across the front - though we have acquired none of these yet, so if any readers have any suggestions, please feel free to email us at our new address, oaks72012@hotmail.com

More training & other updates

Sundays have pretty much now been set aside for training routes, with each week getting progressively longer. This week's trip saw us circumnavigate (?) Knole Park, before heading around the back roads of West Sevenoaks and up to Sundridge. Following this, we headed back along to Chevening, through Chipstead and home again. The journey took roughly 90 minutes, and we are now confident in being able to ride to Westerham and Edenbridge next week.

Our maps should soon be on the way from CTC, after I ordered them earlier today (wednesday). We have also started looking into flights from Southampton Airport to Inverness, where prices are reasonable (though extra baggage costs would be incurred for the bikes). Finally, we also have a date in mind - which we will hope to confirm and reveal in the next few weeks.

First ride of the new year

Today was the first time that myself, Joffie and Angus had ridden together since the announcement of our cycle. We undertook a (seemingly!) gruelling twelve and a half mile ride around the outskirts of Sevenoaks - Chipstead, Chevening, Dunton Green and Otford - in around 70 minutes.

Our aim over the coming weeks is to repeat this, with the gradual aim of being able to cut our journey time down to 45 minutes - I might add that had Joffie and Angus not been so patient with my weary legs, they may well have finished in an hour!

The difficulty in the coming weeks will be finding a time where everyone can train together. Ed was working today, whilst Alex had football. Tom also has to make the journey from Ightham and so planning our training sessions will be vital to the success of our adventure - the school holidays may be very important indeed! Nonetheless, today's ride was extremely useful in looking for routes to practice on and how difficult it will be to travel 70-80 miles a day.

Developments

So far, little else to talk about. We have secured the services of Alex Edwards to accompany us on the journey, so we now have a full team once more! We are still trying to organise a date, but at the moment the trip is looking likely to take place in August of this year - so let's hope it's not too hot!

We are already 8% of the way to achieving our overall total in sponsorship, however we are hoping to at least double this overall. If you are interested in donating to the cause, then please visit: http://www.justgiving.com/sevenoaks7forwillcarus

Thanks for reading, we'll hope to update you soon.