Charity cycling challenge raises over £2000 for MND
Commercial Costs Lawyer, Thomas Spanyol completed his epic 161 mile cycling challenge last weekend, raising over £2000 for Motor Neurone Disease.
The challenge was inspired by Thomas’s friend Alex, who passed away last year following a (mercifully) short battle with MND. Alex was also a keen cyclist, and the pair would often spend time together cycling all over the country.
Thomas writes,
“I am really pleased to have completed this epic ride, a ride consisting of two parts:
Part 1) Dunwich Dynamo
A ride that happens on the Saturday night nearest to the full moon in July. Not organised, no registration and no start time – you just turn up and ride. Rumoured to have been started in the 1980s by cycle couriers in London it’s a ride through the night from London Fields to Dunwich on the Suffolk Coast.
1 mile ride to Hitchin Station for the 18.11 train, then 3 miles through London to the start at London Fields. After soaking up the atmosphere in the park I started at a little after 7pm. Once past Epping the roads really quietened down, and I found a group riding at a pace that suited and stuck with them for the first 30 miles or so. There aren’t any official stops, but a few pubs along the route stay open all night and there are also random pop-up cake stall and snack stops. Great to see people in the villages cheering the riders on! I took a few sandwich stops on grass verges in the countryside and a proper rest stop at Needham Lake for about 30 mins (at just over 80 miles distance). Then on to the coast, arriving at Dunwich Beach at approx. 4.15 am. 116 miles on the clock at this point, wind conditions and weather had been mostly favourable, but time for a rest on the beach. Although a pebble beach is not particularly comfortable, I was tired enough to fall asleep for an hour. I woke up freezing cold so put on all clothes I was carrying and ate snacks until I stopped shivering, before starting Part 2.
Part 2) North to Winterton-on-Sea
Leaving all the other riders behind I continued North aiming for Winterton-on-Sea to meet my family at my Mum’s place there. The route avoided main roads which meant meandering across Norfolk through the broads. Initially heading inland before veering eastwards back towards the coast.
This part of the ride was very different. The aches quickly disappeared once I was back on the bike but initially replaced by emotion – without other riders to distract me and chat to Alex was at the forefront of my mind as I wondered what he would have made of the ride, an adventure I’m sure he would have loved but never got to do.
Quickly I realised he would have told me to stop being soppy and get on with the damned ride, so I got back to fighting against the wind. The wind had switched from the south east to come from the north east and was now a brutal head wind. Regular stops were required and the chain Ferry across one of the Broads at Reedham was another welcome break. Up until that point with about 20 miles to go I had been feeling pretty good, but the wind was really picking up and dark clouds threatened rain. I had to dig deep mentally to keep the legs turning for the final 20 but was rewarded with bright sunshine at the end when I finally made it to Winterton. Thanks so much to everyone who has supported or donated, I’m so pleased to have been able to raise a decent amount for MNDA in memory of my dear friend Alex.”
If you would like to support Thomas and help him to raise valuable funds for the MND Association, you can donate here.
