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Saturday 19 March 2011

Total amount raised from the ride : £10,254.47

Many Thanks for all the support

 

Welcome to the 'Absolutely Average C2C Tour 2009' Blog

The Blog was set up to record the 'antic's' of the hardy souls.... who rode the Coast to Coast cycle ride on the 11-13th September 2009.

The ride was in aid of St Teresa's Hospice, Woodland Road, Darlington, where Mr 'Absolutely Average' (Chris Barber) was cared for, by his wife Ann, family members & staff of the hospice before he sadly died, after a short illness on the 5th April 2009.

If you wish to make a donation to the ride/hospice please click on the Just Giving - Donate button to the right

P.S. Please feel free to leave any comments on the Blog or the picture's as it may help to ease the 'numb bum effect'........

(Click on the COMMENTS box below each Blog entry.)

Chain Gang

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Northern Echo & Copperplate

Northern-Echo---20-10-2009 CopperPlatewr

Well.. the ride did make the press...
article in the Northern Echo on Tuesday the 20th October shows Andy Parker, Dave Morgan & Ray John with Jane Longstaff of Sherwoods of Darlington.
The second article was in the Durham Police 'Copperplate' and shows the team 'all decked out' in their hospice T-shirts just before the start of the last day..

Saturday 26 September 2009

Day 3 - Sunday 13th September

Day 3.... A bit cloudy and cool... great for climbing hills and there's plenty of them..
After a 'photoshoot' with the St Teresa's T shirts at Nenthead Mines we were off.... climbing again... straight up Black Hill the highest point on the C2C at 609 metres, down & up then a long downhill to Allenheads, followed by another steep climb where the support team met us at the County Durham border. By now the support team were well 'drilled', deck chairs at the ready, newspapers being read and off course the kettle on...., by now they were becoming quite domesticated... cleaning the stove & mugs immediately, but new today was 'formation' parking to make a windbreak as it was quite cool.
Next was the downhill run to Rookhope.... heavenly, & then once again 'payback' with a climb out of Rookhope to Stanhope and then.... Crawleyside Bank, before eventually making the Parkhead Hotel where we once again met the owner Lorraine Turnbull(1st training ride) and had ourselves a well earned break and of course - custard !! Joined by Walter (Ann's 2nd Dad) we set of again
Downhill now - all the way (nearly) to Consett (Jon's family waving us on our way), Stanley, where we were joined by Christine Wheatley & Diane Wood who had cycled out from Sunderland... and then on to Chester le Street and Washington where we had our last refreshment stop with the team. Andy & Bron (& the kids) and Joan Hopps were there and we made the most once again of the Jaffa Cakes before heading on the final leg to Sunderland... meeting Gary & Zoe on the way....
Once the home of North East Premier league football came into sight - The Stadium of Light, we were almost home and dry, following the River Wear as it meandered out to join the North Sea.
As we cycled the last few hundred yards to the beach it was great to be greeted by all our families and friends who had also given us tremendous support before and throughout the ride.

As we touched our wheels back into the water to finish I think we all had thoughts of why we had done the ride, of the fact that 'We do like to be beside the seaside' and that 'Mr Absolutely Average' - Chris Barber, would have been very proud of what we'd achieved for the hospice.

THANKS to everyone who has cared, shared & helped with the experience...
From the cyclists - a BIG - Thank You to Andy, Ray, Phil & Dave who supported us not only with refreshments but some brilliant 'humour' which kept us smiling when we could well have been crying !! and to Andy & Bron who got all the bikes to Whitehaven & met us at Sunderland and then took them all back to Durham.
We've now got the cycling 'bug', after 141 miles and the completion of the Absolutely Average C2C Tour 2009 what lies ahead for 2010....... Watch this space for the next instalment :-)

Day 2 - Saturday 12th September

Well .... after a quiet night in Penrith .... day 2... another sunny day...
Lynn & Anne who had rushed back to Hutton Rudby the previous evening to watch a performance of Olivia, featuring two of Lynn's girls, Sophie (aka Bernard) & Katie (aka Ginger) returned to the 'start line', courtesy of Roger (Lynn's husband) getting up early and driving them back over.
We were joined at the start by Land's End / John O'Groats stalwarts John & Maureen Shorter who had kindly looked after Bob & Annie at their home nr Ullswater, whilst the rest of the team stayed at the Cumbria Police HQ at Penrith. Wil Cousins also joined the team for the rest of the journey.
0930hrs we were off and almost immediately started climbing !! up and down to Langwathby and more up and down till we met the support team at Renwick, Tea, Coffee & Jaffa Cakes and then the long... climb to Hartside Cafe.
After lunch we said farewell to John & Maureen who cycled back to their home & we continued downhill (ish) for a few miles to Garrigill and then the 'sting in the tail', a steep climb over Alston Moor where the support team once again plied us with refreshments and Ray John became an apprentice 'brolly dolly'....
Down into Nenthead... and an early finish at the Miners Arms where the sun was shining and we ended up partaking of some liquid refreshment before having a meal in the Miners Arms, with tales of the 'submarine' bunkhouse and Ray's headtorch... 37 (hilly) miles

Sunday 20 September 2009

Day 1 - Friday 11th September

Well.... we all met at Police HQ on the Thursday night ...loaded the vans and after a long drive arrived at the Premier Inn at Whitehaven about 2130hrs... unloaded the bikes from the BikeWise trailer and then Andy & Bron Huddleston had to drive all the way back home for work the next day !!
0830hrs and we all met for breakfast.. it seems such along way back home on a pedal cycle !!
By now Ray & Andy were in 'full flow'... plenty of comments 'flying' around and yet they both showed tremendous restraint when the waitress asked them how many sausages and bacon they wanted with their breakfasts :-)
Eventually it was off the the sea front and we were there... wheels in the water and raring to go.
With plenty of encouragement from Cath Hayward, Phil Hopps, Dave Cuthbertson, Ray John & Andy Parker we were off.... like 'speeding bullets', 'racing snakes' or could it have been more like tortoises........ Day 1 took us from Whitehaven, Cleator Moor, Rowrah, Lamplugh into the Lake District National Park where we hit our first big climb, up the Whinlatter Pass where we met the support team who had set up 'base camp 1'..... Jaffa cakes, banana's and plenty of tea & coffee. Mr 'Absolutely Average' must have had a word with someone about the weather because it couldn't have been better.... almost tropical. From there it was downhill to Keswick where we 'took over' the market place, drank Latte's & Hot Chocolate outside of Java and then made our way East, towards Penrith via the old railway line, under the watchfull 'eye' of Blencathra via Threlkeld, Scales & Berrier, where some of us met the support team who by now were well into the routine of sitting in their deckchairs, reading the newspapers and verbally abusing us 'poor' cyclists :-)
Onward for the last leg via Greystoke, into Penrith and eventually to Cumbria Police HQ about 54miles.

Tuesday 8 September 2009

Where do we finish ??

One or two people have been asking where we finish the ride ??
Look for the green cycle in the sea, on the map below. Sunderland Marina....
You can see the Sunderland Football club - Stadium of light in the bottom left of the map. Head East to the Sea and if you can see the lighthouse at the end of the main pier then we'll be on the beach next to it (Nr the lifeboat station)

View C2C end in a larger map

Look out for the van....

Sherwoods of Darlington have kindly supplied one of the vehicle's used by the support team of Andy Parker, Ray John, Phil Hopps & Dave Cuthbertson.
Thanks also to Durham Constabulary Sports and Social Club and the Durham Police Federation who have made a donation to help with the cost of the accommodation used by the team.
Bottled water has been supplied by Gordon & Emir Dobson of Aquaid (Washington) and Tesco's of Durham have provided a £30 voucher to assist with refreshments.

The Durham Big Ride....

Sunday 6th September 0800hrs........
Our last 'training' ride.. from Bowburn to County Hall - do 'The Big Ride', then cycle back to Bowburn - 38 miles later....
Ann (Basil), Lynn, Annie, Bob & Ivan Wood cycled off to County Hall where they met Jon Curtis and Tony Gadd (complete with new bike). After our 1st photo shoot of the day with John Attle (BikeWise Mini Bike Club & Durham Photographic Society) we were off, but only after Bob had tried to swap his pedal cycle for one of the four police motorcycles that were at the event !!
Saw some 'old' faces as we did the ride... weather was good, Burhhope & Iveston were 'challenging', more photo's from John Attle... but overall it was a 'piece of cake' (and we had some of that later....)
Basil really had a strenuous time in the basket and even slept, as we managed to eat some (calorie free) cake down in Durham on the way home.. Are we ready ?? well, are you ever ready !! Thursday evening to Whitehaven, Friday morning on the bikes and we'll know sometime on Sunday afternoon if we were ready... (although I'm certain Chris would have been very proud of the effort we've put in so far)
What we can say though is a 'BIG THANK YOU' to all the people who have donated money to the hospice via our Just Giving page... the words of encouragement and support have been fantastic and we'll be in 'Tip Top' form as we start the Absolutely Average C2C Tour. If anyone wants to find out how we are doing,see us on the route or even join in for a ride then give Andy Parker a ring on Fri/Sat/Sun on 07808 728 344.
Look out for our next entry which will be of the ride itself.....

Monday 24 August 2009

The Absolutely Average Garden Party.....

22nd August 2009
Well, what a great weekend it was for the Absolutely Average Garden Party! It was all hands to the deck on Friday, erecting marquees by the dozen (or did it just feel like that!?) The wind didn't help, but eventually all was set up. The superb organiser Ali, had everything prepared military style and with her guidance everyone did their bit. Joyce and Billy (owners of Cox House Farm) had kindly handed their precious farm over for the Party - it was a great venue.
Ali provided us with a welcome dinner at her house (what we could see of it, as it was stashed to the hilt with stuff for the Party!) Come Saturday, the last preparations were complete and the place looked great.
The cake marquee and Pimms Bar/cafe area were very popular and with the sun shining down,it looked brilliant. We had some fun at the 'Lob a loo roll into the netty' stand with lots of cheers and squealing - the kids loved it! All the stalls looked very professional - tombola, craft stands, hook a duck, plant stalls, tractor displays and police vehicles.
come the raffle we were honoured to have Elvis (aka Mick Birch from 'The Laurels' Gainford - I think he mentioned it once or twice!!!) and his assistant Mini-Elvis help out. Over a hundred excellent prizes.
It was amazing how much work went on behind the scenes leading up to the event. So many kind, hard working people dedicated to this event.
The evening saw us all celebrating Ann's upcoming 50th birthday with a few drinks and some rather dodgy photo's of Ann in her youth!
What a great day, but it couldn't have happened without the true grit of the people involved, it was a great achievement, and by the look of it you would think they had organised on this scale every year!! VERY well done to you all.
There were also some lovely old tractors on display... If only there'd been a couple of Leyland Tiger buses :-)
Doubleclick on the photo album below to view the photo's in a gallery

Sunday 23 August 2009

Hartside !!

9th August 2009
Once again, more training. Bob and I were off to the Lakes to visit good friends John & Maureen (who are 'experts' in this field having cycled Lands End to John O'Groats last year!) We thought they would give us a few good tips and a bit of a ride out. Oh yes, it was a 'bit' of a ride, up Hartside Pass!!! Weather was kind, but the hills were not! Travelled the c2c route from Penrith up to Hartside Cafe (42 mile round trip) What a slog, (for me anyhow)I would like to say thank you to John & Maureen, but I'm not going to!!! No seriously, it was an achievement and they did give us good advice and made it look easy. So, of course when we got to the cafe, it was the usual coffee,cake etc. Met a lot of friendly face on bikes (of the mechanical kind) and it was a satisfying feeling to think we had done it the hard way. Not sure if it was a good thing to have done it, because now I know what's coming!! Anyhow, if I can do it, Ann and Lynn, you can do it!
Then it was back to John & Maureens for a well deserved glass of bubbly and BBQ - many thanks to you both. John & Maureen will be joining us for the ride on that leg of the c2c.
Ann, Neil and Stu Rodddam also went for a ride that week in the Chester Le Street/Washington area. Lynn, I'm sure would have loved to have joined us, but she had a better plan which was sunning herself abroad!
Anyhow, not long to go now and we need to get some more pedaling in, so this Thursday is looking good, down Stokesley way - looking forward to it.


Sunday 2 August 2009

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside......

Sunday 2nd August we once again ventured out for a pedal (minus Bob). So there was Ann, Neil and myself, joined by my friend Christine and of course Basil. We had glorious weather as we set off from Seaburn. Basil as usual, the star of the show as we made our way to South Shields along the coastal footpath. On a steep section I had the misfortune to do a spectacular fall over my bike and onto the grass, hoping no one saw! Luckily no bumps or bruises, but slightly dented ego!! Forward and onward to the fish and chip shop at Shields where the 'fat' lad had fish with his chips - dee-licious! Off again and back towards Roker (via the beach) as Neil said we would be okay - well, Ann would probably disagree as it wasn't really okay, and Basil would back her up. He got 2 shocks as he crashed to the sand! Funny thing was, the people around came to Basils' rescue and left Ann to fend for herself - all animal lovers those Macams!!! Basil was none the worse for his 'sand baths' and Ann with a minor injury to her leg. Undeterred we carried on to the glass factory at Sunderland where we had a latte and admired the scenery. Returned to Seaburn where Ann (once again) had made chocolate brownies which we munched merrily - double dee-licious!! Thanks Ann. We burned some calories that day on our 18 mile ride, but we put on twice the amount with all the lattes, chips and cake we ate!! Hmm, something wrong somewhere I think! Anyway, we all thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the next ride. Annie B....

Monday 27 July 2009

Durham Big Ride ??? The week before..

The Durham Big Ride takes place on Sunday 6th September...

Start time 9.00am
Routes : 3mile, 10 miles and 25 miles

Last year just under 1,000 people got on their bikes to see the best of the Durham Countryside on the 25, 10 and 3 mile rides. 2009 will see even more people getting on their bikes:

“Despite the awful weather during last year the riders came out and made it a great success.” Said Colin Wilkes, one of the organisers, “With a nice dry summer we are hoping for around 1400 people on the three routes on the 6 September.”

The distance of the routes, 3 miles, 10 miles and 25miles, cater for all ages and abilities.
“The ethos behind the day is to get lots of people on cycles as a way of getting fit and healthy. We don’t mind which ride people decide to do, it is important that they get out and do it.” Said Colin.

The ride has also seen local and national charities making good use of the event by raising their profile and funds – and having a great time into the bargain!

As previous years, there will be no official timing on any of the routes but all finishers will receive t-shirts and medals.
This is the week before the C2C and will make a good training ride..

NO... you can't do the 3 or 10 mile ride's..... Only the 25mile Big Ride :-)
Entry is £15 for adults but there is a discount for groups, so please contact Bob Brown if you're wanting to do the ride and we'll see what discount we can get.
Click on the map below to enlarge, the Big Ride route is shown in red

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Training Run 2 - Hurworth area...

Training Run 2.....
Once again Ann, Annie, Lynn, Neil & Bob
A ride out from Hurworth, around some beautiful little villages...
18miles later and we were all ready for the Chilli & then Raspberry Pavlova that Ann had made. 'No kiddie's portions' were the order of the day, trouble is we now need to do another two or three sessions to work off the calories....
Thanks Ann :-) It was lovely.......
(Double click on any of the images to view bigger)


And of course, we have to have some 'action' footage...



The Route : Hurworth, Middleton Tyas,Moulton, Uckerby, Scorton, South Cowton, North Cowton, Dalton on Tees, Hurworth (18.3mls)

View Larger Map

Thursday 16 July 2009

Before the Ride - The Garden Party....

Yes.... before the ride you'll need the visit the 'Absolutely Average Garden Party', a bit like the Royal one but without the royalty !!
All sorts of things happening on the day and a prize draw that the National Lottery would be proud of.
DoubleClick on the above image to open up a larger poster which you can then print.


View Larger Map

Sunday 12 July 2009

Training Run 1...... 12th July

11am, Sunday 12th July..... Consett
Ann Barber ( & Basil...), Lynn Mallinson (Chris sister), Neil Taylor , Annie & Bob Brown (All trying to get a bit of early practice in before the 'Fast Lad's'... Yes...... Fast not Fat !! go out with us )
Well here goes..... Our first training run for the 'Absolutely Average C2C Tour 2009' - a ride along the Waskerley Way to Parkhead Station (Terry and Lorraine Turnbull,Parkhead Station House - B&B and Tea Rooms - Stanhope Moor - Stanhope - Co. Durham - DL13 2ES, Tel: 01388 526434)
After 10.5mls of steady uphill 'slog', avoiding C2C Mayhem !!! (a challenge ride coming in the opposite direction), heavy rain, we arrived at Parkhead Station and had a well earned rest and made good use of the facilities.... coffee, sandwiches and.....cake & custard.
With a smile on our faces we set off to cycle the return leg, mainly downhill with Basil & Ann leading the way.... (21mls total)
To view/download the photo's 'doubleclick on the image below.
Till the next one....Ride Safely...

And we also have some video of the ride !!!

Friday 10 July 2009

The Absolutely Average C2C Tour 2009 - Why ???

Well.... All of us would want to be doing this under different circumstances.... However, we're doing this cycle ride, the C2C (Coast to Coast) to support St Teresa's Hospice, Darlington, where Mr 'Absolutely Average' (Chris Barber) was cared for, by his wife Ann, family members & staff of the hospice before he sadly died, after a short illness on the 5th April 2009.
Chris was a special person..... one of his favourite song's - "I do like to be beside the seaside" !! starts us off on the ride when we 'dip' the wheels into the sea at Whitehaven on Friday 11th September and we'll do the same again at Sunderland on completion of the ride, 140mls later on Sunday 13th September.
The ride is going to be done by a 'team' of family and friends/colleagues of Chris whose details will be recorded on this Blog as we lead up to the ride...
Lot's of work is going on in the background and the aim of the Blog is to record all those things and more....
Feel free to keep reading the Blog, leave comments to encourage us on our way & any support on the weekend of the ride would be greatly appreciated.