Our Chairman of Trustees, Air Vice-Marshal N J E Kurth completed the Ride London – Essex 100 on 29th May 2022 raising over £1,000 in sponsorship for the Trust.
Nick has been in training since March and has been gradually building up the distances to get ready for the big event. Here’s his reaction to crossing the finishing line.
“This was a new course in 2022 and rather than hoofing over the Surrey hills, the route went out to Essex. Arguably, it was flatter, although the numbers don’t quite show this! It was certainly fast. There were unfortunately a number of accidents but, on reflection, it comes perhaps with the territory – with some 20000+ participants of varying abilities. Indeed, 90% of the participants were halted in their tracks whilst an Air Ambulance was called in.
“My preparation had done me proud and I was pushing all the way around the course. For those interested in the numbers, here goes. The distance was 101 miles and 3927’ of ascent. My average speed was 16.1 mph (the fastest I have done on a Sportive-type event) and my max was 46.6 mph. My moving time was 6 hours 16 min and my heart rate average was 120 bpm, with a max of 134 bpm. I consumed 1811 calories and I carried all my food and drink with me – to avoid the inevitable queues at 2 of the 4 welfare stops I used. I carried and largely consumed: 2 full, large bidons of water, 2 energy bars, one caffeine energy gel (to sustain me for the last 15 miles), one small, quartered pork pie (to balance out the sweet stuff) and 12 jelly babies (the last one I saved to give to my wife who kindly attended the finish with a family friend.)
“In terms of sponsorship, I passed my £1,000 target but whether I have hit my £10,000 target for completing Ride London 2018, 2019 and 2022 is still a work in progress, as donations are still coming in.
“To conclude, I found the event fairly tiring and, whilst there were no big hills, pushing hard over the undulating terrain brought its own challenges. The finish over Tower Bridge was uplifting – especially after the final 10 miles of flyovers, underpasses, tunnels and switchbacks to navigate – as there were several thousand people lining the bridge cheering one at the finish. To abuse that Steve Redgrave quote, ‘if anyone sees me looking at a future Ride London application, would they please kick me where it hurts!’ Thank you for your interest.“
Thank you to everyone who has supported Nick (and The Trust) so far. Your generosity is very much appreciated!
You can read all about Nick’s training on his blog page. Below is a collection of photos from Nick’s ride.
And if you’d like to support Nick and the Trust, visit his fundraising page.
Thank you!
