Cycle to Bilbao for Brain Tumour Research and Princess Alice Hospice
Congratulations to Andrew Burton for finishing the 1,100 km ride to Bilbao in Northern Spain. As planned it was an 8-day cycling trip, that covered 661 miles or 1064 kilometres and was completed on his bamboo bike.
The cyclists saw stunning coastal and Pyrenean scenery in Southern France/Northern Spain around places like Pau, St. Sebastian, Bayonne, and Bordeaux that made up the second half of the trip. The first half was through the undulating hillsides of Hampshire and Brittany before hitting the flat Atlantic roads on the western French coast.
Of the 13 riders on the trek, they did have an unlucky one who had to retire with a bad back, but otherwise, they all finished very close together at the Guggenheim Museum for some well-earned Cava. Both Santiago and Bilbao really are lovely cities and well worth a visit if you haven’t been.
Trip highlights were:
– High Point: The whole of the last day’s riding along the Northern coast of Spain and then up into the Pyrenean foothills.
– Low Point: The morning starts from Redun (day 3) and Roche-sur-Yon (day 4) in torrential rain.
– Hardest Climb: On day-7 a 200m section of the fourth climb up Igerto Auzoa was so steep and narrow that everyone either fell off, or had to get off and walk, or took an alternative route up.
– Best Food: Probably the self-prepared baguettes of ham, cheese, pate and all manner of salad and mustard which we devoured at our lunch stop every day and which our support crew kindly shopped for each morning.
– Biggest Surprise: Sharing the hotel in Santiago with pro-team EF Education First- Easy Post and meeting Rigaberto Uran outside the team bus!
– Worst conditions: You can take your pick between the mornings of day-2 and day-3 on the straight Roman roads in the torrential rain with the heavy lorries thundering past.
– Greatest Gift: Two of the team voluntarily got up early to wash everyone’s bike down for the start of day-5 and the ride into Santiago.
– Best Drink: A Spanish rioja at the ‘last supper’ in Bilbao
Thank you all for your support and donations. To date, Andrew has raised £1,775, well over the £1,000 target which is wonderful. The site is still taking donations for another couple of weeks if you’d like to help both The Princess Alice Hospice and The John King Brain Tumour Foundation
For donations, please visit here
