However tough a four mile commute might seem when it’s raining and winding outside and you have a hangover and you don’t really want to go to work anyway, it’s not really on the scale of the big challenges that the UK has to offer.
Perhaps the most famous of these is the end-to-end ride from Lands End to John O’Groats, which attracts many cyclists every year with the promise of doing it “because it’s there” and being able to boast about it in the pub afterwards. It’s so popular that the CTC has a book on how to do it, and you start to wonder if the B-Roads through the country are constantly jammed with end-to-enders. There’s undoubtedly something in riding as far as is possible non-stop through Britain and then paying more money than seems reasonable to have a picture taken at either end.
It’s this route that has led to one of this year’s Sport Relief challenges that was launched last Thursday. A team of celebrity cyclists made up of Fearne Cotton, Jimmy Carr Miranda Hart, Davina McCall, Patrick Kielty and Russell Howard and led by David Walliams are planning to ride in a non-stop relay along the iconic route, in order to raise a million pounds for Sport Relief. With support from Dolan Cycles, Shimano, Threshold Sports and Altura as well as headline sponsors BT they’ll be riding the 1000 or so miles over 8 days and battling against what appears to be a slight lack of fitness and bike skill. Follow their progress and sponsor them here. If you fancy it, or her, also follow Fearne Cotton's training for the event on her twitter page.
As you head to work in March, and feel like the last few roads are a little too far, maybe think of the miles that are stretching out in front of the celebrity team and be grateful that you, at least get to recover at a desk for several hours in between your quick road sprints.
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