I did it!

 

I have completed this year’s challenge of the BHF Kent Coast Bike Ride October 2014. 56 miles of treacherous Himalayan mountains. haha only joking, 56 miles of beautiful Kent coastline and countryside…

Well it wasn’t as torrential and windy as it was last year!

My aim was to complete it quicker than last year. The weather report suggested rain in the afternoon so my personal aim was to make it back without getting wet.

I started as I did last year in Ramsgate at 9:15am…

…and proceded through Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Margate:

 

Stopping for a brief look at Tracy Emin’s new art installation at the Turner Gallery entitled: ‘Car parked in the corner’*

(Apparently it’s a psychological piece that illustrates the history of Margate’s evolution from dump, to Victorian seaside retreat and back to dump again.*)

Around the Thanet coastline was much, much nicer than last year. Last year it was so windy the wind nearly blew you backwards.

Through Herne Bay to the 2nd stop off point: Reculver

And here is a pic that some guy took which I found on his Flickr site:

Thanks to Matt Pitts for the pic. See more pics of the event here.

And to Whitstable where I grabbed a quick coffee and a sarnie (and something chocolatey that I stuffed into my mouth on the way out). I then took the Crab & Winkle route through Clowes woods to Canterbury to the 3rd stop off point:

Where there was a huge finish line.

The route from then on, took me through marshland and quiet country roads and last year there were a few flooded fields so I was glad that they weren’t flooded this time.

It was nice to see Sandwich because I knew it was just a short slog back to Ramsgate. I was really feeling tired by this point as I had pushed a lot harder throughout the ride. I’d also forgotten to pick up water in Canterbury and was thirsty. The clouds were starting to form and I knew I had to keep pushing in order to make it back without getting rained on.

I’d completed the 56 mile course at 2:46pm. Which, if you take out around half an hour break that I had in Whitstable, meant that I did it in 5 hours!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just want to say a ginormous THANK YOU to every one who has donated to the British Heart Foundation. I have raised £75 so far and there is still time to donate if you was thinking of throwing a few hard earned pound notes into the charity tin.

Donate on my virginmoneygiving fundraising page:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DanJohnsonGives

Or you can give me the money in person. The website, as all fundraising pages, will take a small bit for the upkeep of the website, but I’ve found Virginmoneygiving takes a smaller cut than justgiving.

So Thank you, thank you, thank you, so much for your donation!

Dan 🙂

BHF

 

 

* May contain traces of mild Monty Python-esque sarcasm