Any 'ball park' timings for arrival(s) on Sunday at Horse Guards please?

I don't know Alec, I'll PM you his number if you don't already have it, I know he wouldn't mind. I'm sure he'll be mightly relieved to park his balls by then, that's for sure!

A slightly breathless phone call just received from the intrepid Goatman from a pitstop at RAF Church Fenton. Whether that's from cycling or discussing ARRSE pants I'll never know.

All is well so far, a tough 220 miles done with approximately 300 to go but the incredible effort from the Rifles, especially the chap on the hand-bike and the blind guy on the tandem, is doing more than enough to keep them all going and in good spirits. Apparently day one out of Edinburgh was hell on wheels with driving rain and a head wind.

They're in Cambridge tomorrow, I believe, so anyone wishing to join them for a mile or two PM me for Goats' number, similarly Sunday lunch time (ish) is when they anticipate finishing in London where they may partake in some rehydration - all are welcome to join them.

Goaty is hugely appreciative of everyone's support so far and has sent me the following from the side of the support vehicle as a simpler option of adding sponsorship, if anyone wishes to add a quid or two (it doesn't have to be the tenner suggested):

Don't worry, just seen the RV point Christ, I'm going blind in my old age!!

hey guys,

sorry for long silence - and big thanks to the .dolly bird for the updates.

First things...Missus has also asked WHEN we are due on Horse Guards....my roomie reckons 1300 for 1330....all depends on weather,probs on the road,speed of advance on a handbike (Michael) or on a tandem (Paul & Joe )....

Love to see any arrsers there but if Erin Dawes is present she may drag me away from th e pub quicktime

S-o-o-o-o, Day 1 : Hell On Wheels Edinburgh to Carlisle ....after extensive fannying around to keep the Press happy, finally shuffled down the hill over mile of cobbles into Edinburgh traffic threatening to dislodge lights,spokes and my dentures....Liberton Braes.....tough enough without the dingbats parking in the bus/bike lane.....rain,headwinds,soaked by the first rest stop......then out into the raw cold country....Eskdalemuir Forest....Samye Ling Monastery........over the Border into Cumbria and a heartfelt chorus of 'Jerusalem'...stopped a mile from the Premier Innand asked to don hi-viz...promptly got a puncture, which I rode in on,swearing ....96 miles

Day 2 The Longest Day Carlisle to Harrogate ....mad contrast ...grey and cool but dry ish....steady climb out into the |Dales...beautiful country,,,maize in the fields, swallows still overhead.....swooping down to Kirby Stephen and lovely Appleby in Westmorland for lunch ( if you visit plse say Thanks Babe to the scottish pharmacist who not only gave me a sympathetic hearing when I thought I'd lost my wallet in her Pharmacy, but also whacked a tenner in the collection,,,,through Wensleydale ....settle to Carlisle railway thundering past overhead.....Askrigg and a sudden bitchin' hill on a bend which was bloody well walked....cracking on wondering how the handbike was going to do it ( he did).....into Harrogate at last ...and another mile to the Best Western.....110 miles...

Day 3...Showdown at the OK Corral.....Harrogate to Lincoln.....it all started so well..Daybreak ITV shadowing us out of the hotel.....the Colonel and I poddling along...through relatively flat country....early stop at Church Stretton...breathless phone call with Arrse running buddy......more flat land and agri-bizness to a lunch stop at the maritime museum in Goole....soup,rolls,apples....on,on,on........stop ped at 2pm for an orange juice and lemonade at the Ingleby Arms, to walk in on the end of a wake...on,on,on....puncture in Kirton next to prominent windmill....Colonel sensibly abandons me for the excellent race mechanic to sort out (the mighty Gav MacDonald for whom no accolade is high enough)....new tube AND cover.....past Scampton and another short but brutal hill....on,on,on......finally down a much blessed long hill into Lincoln and the welcoming arms of the Holiday Inn.....standup row with Race Support.....an extra 8 miles with team phot and Michael on his handbike...both wanted to catch up on mileage not ridden....dinner and TWO pints of Becks,,,,SSAFA ride shirt (minging) in the wash....bath with scads of Radox...kip....ZZZZZZZZZZZZ....108 miles.....


More to follow y'all,including imagery

thanks for all the support to date - keep bangin the drum people !



Tired old goat

Goooaaaaattttttyyyy! Keep on keeping on, your arrse WILL forgive you and in the meantime there are guys and their families who are depending on this, but then you know that.

Less than 24 hours to go, you can all smell home now so don't tarry GET ON IT.

Sorry, didn't see your text and pic of flat tyre (it didn't look too bad, it's only flat at the bottom!) this morning as I was hoofing out of the door to my first Triathlon... which was ace. Thought of all you guys as I was slogging up the million hills there must have been on my course and it made me pedal harder. You're doing it with me next year, by the way.

Kind (and the not-so-kind) people of ARRSE please chuck a quid into the coffers of these guys.

" Made it Ma - Top of the World ! " ... well Horseguards Parade any way .....

Big thanks to Poppy, Saintstone and Alec_Lomas from Arrse for making the time and effort to come and welcome the crew back into London - guys sorry we didn't have time for a swift quart but will I would love to stand you a round next time I'm on the lash in London Town

This picture from the Evening Standard says it all

Injured soldiers complete bike ride | News

Injured soldiers complete bike ride
26 Sep 2011
Two injured soldiers have completed a 500-mile cycle which has seen them ride from Edinburgh to London to raise money for charity.

Riflemen Michael Swain and Paul Jacobs, who were both injured in Afghanistan, were part of a group of 30 cyclists riding to raise money for armed forces support charity SSAFA Forces Help's Ride of Britain.

They set off from Edinburgh Castle on September 21 and took five days to arrive at Horse Guards Parade in central London.

Rifleman Swain, 21, from 3 Rifles, completed the ride on a hand bike, having lost his legs in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan in 2009.

He said: "I put in a lot of training beforehand, but the first two days were really tough because of the weather and hilly terrain. From then on it was fantastic and also brilliant to be cycling with two lads who I serve with in 3 Rifles."

Rifleman Jacobs, 22, from 2 Rifles, was blinded in 2009 by a blast as he tried to save a comrade.

He completed the Ride of Britain on a tandem bike with his brother.

He said: "Admittedly, the first day was a hard one. Our chain broke, the weather was dreadful and the hills were huge. Despite this I had a fantastic time.

"There were some incredible cyclists here - we all got along famously and had great banter."

He added: "SSAFA Forces Help has helped me and I wanted to give something back to them and tell people about the work they do."
A spokeswoman for SSAFA Forces Help said that the charity hoped to have raised at least £40,000 through the Ride of Britain

Michael is typically understated.......think about grinding a two handed deck winch every day for hours at a stretch ....up a hill....in the rain.......unbelievable effort.....a proud Rifleman who is a credit to the Army, his unit and this country.


If you can't be Arrsed to sponsor ME or the technology has done your head in you can TEXT a donation to ' RIDE 44 £5 (eg) ' to this number 70070

For the Twitterati loads on there #ssafarideofbritain I believe ?


.Dolly - well done you - tell you what , join the SSAFA bike ride next year and I'll do this blasted Sprint Tri ( have to dust the moths of my cozzie first though ! ) ....deal ?

Job well done one and all, you're an inspriration. A good write up too and a fantastic amount raised. At least the weather was kind for the last few days and is set to get warmer - you can all warm up those weary bones. Only sorry I wasn't able to get there to welcome you home.

I don't know that my limbs or backside would appreciate a cycle ride of that magnitude... though of course that kind of thing always piques my sense of adventure (or insanity)... we'll have to see. Besides, you'll need more than a motheaten pair of speedos, the lake smarted a little at 14 deg!

....and in other news, the Chechen mafia were delighted with the news that ex-President Putin had suffered a groin strain trying out a new karate stance.... .....



DAY 4 LINCOLN to CAMBRIDGE - John Bull's Ride ....... the kit washed the night before only partially dry so new Foska cycle jersey appears ( comment - ' Christ, it's Jimmy Saville' ) -
check it out LINKY....leaving the excellent Holiday Inn Lincoln was a wrench - they were fandabidozee.......route out of Lincoln inevitably meant a hill climb ,in traffic...on,on,on......through flat wide fields of brassicas...Sto Lat to a tee... the beautiful and unique 8 armed windmill at Heckington,LINKY carefully guarded by the former MEO of HMS Antelope, Cdr (Rtd) Jim Bailey, who will mill you wheat grown a mile away from the mill itself.... well worth a visit (not least because it has a micro brewery right next door).....on,on,on,..mounds of harvested sugar beet by the side of the road and 'Don't Drink and Drive ' signs - in Estonian and Polish......fantastic lunchstop in beautiful park in Spalding .... jackets and Chilli , tablet and cake....on,on,on......the final few miles an arrow staright piece of hideous dual carriage way, like cycling down a runway being overtaken by Spanish 38 tonne artics...argggh.....on, on,on,.....wheeling into Cambridge where some scamp ( DIE MO'FACKA, DIE MO'FACKA,DIE!!!) had changed the route to send us tailenders up a one way street...so a brisk extra 2 miles around the city........and don't forget to breathe.....beer,food,beer ( with some surprisingly lightweight non-party animals in the Service contingent)...and by god the womenfolk of Cambridge have no problem with the cold nights drawing in...(need to get out more)


DAY FIVE - Cambridge to Horse Guards The Final Countdown
" out of the rooms ,bags to be at Reception by 7 o' clock AT THE LATEST..." ...bloody morale blanket....
....everyone in the skyblue SSAFA shirts for the last day....wheeling through quiet streets and out into surprisingly rolling roads ....clinging to the coat tails of the speeding Dawnay Raiders, who really know how to work a peleton as it should be........on,on,on......Hertfordshire, hurrah!....pub car park and dry weather and ITV Anglia looking for interviews.....a decision made to take the ride along the towpath of the River Lea all the way into London......gravel track narrowing to a metre wide....dogs,babies,irate fishermen with expensive carbon-fibre roach poles they don't want mangling.....SLOW....dusty....obstacles...insane.. ....past sailing lakes and waterfront properties in Sunday lunchtime sunshine....into Enfield and Ponders End...... oncoming mountain bike goes for an involuntary swim......tuna baguette and crisps and tea and ...on,on,on...and across the forecourts of not one but two riverside pubs strewn with open mouthed lunchtime drinkers.....into Limehouse basin and the City and tourists and a gang of basketballing yoof chanting 'Blue crew!' ....bunching up to navigate cobbled streets behind the sudden Tower and over the Bridge and along the South Bank ,slipping back across Westminster Bridge.....mad,hazardous Parliament square ....and up Whitehall and through the Arch and.......its all over....endex.

470 miles...3 punctures....about a kilo of jelly babies and tablet and cake...and gallons of water, tea,juice (and even the occasional medicinal Guinness)....Bravo Zulu you lot.



STOP PRESS

BFBS short coverage can be seen HERE Injured soldiers complete cycle challenge | British Forces News


Big thanks to everyone who has put their hand in their pocket - its not too late if you haven't .....see my sig block !

PS......dolly, what was the distance on the bike for that Tri ?