Driving Miss Cobi

UK WIDE TRAVEL ALERT – Long delays expected everywhere due to purple 7 seater circular bike travelling south from John O’Groats to Land’s End for Cancer Research UK – Tune into www.cobiuk.com for regular updates.

That’s right; the tour de Britain is only 2 days away. We left Brixton to the sound of the steel band and arrived at our nightly stopover in the Yorkshire dales to a rousing chorus of ……. silence .

Our minibus, which I have nicknamed ‘Peter the Great’(after Ed’s dad who drove it up from Devon) has been kindly donated by Exeter Cathedral School, and it has served us really well.

We stopped by the mythical town of Hemel Hempstead to collect vital supplies from Complete Outdoors, namely gas for the camping stoves and a couple of pints of pure faith diet (we are watching our weight).

The M1 was a real highlight, Ed driving and me taking urgent press calls from Scotland and my mum. Sadly the lady being channelled through the GPS had a breakdown and took us to an abandoned abattoir instead of the HQ of Get Cycling where we were picking up the CoBi. With a few gentle taps she apologised and took us to our destination, where we found the lovely, Ian, our support driver (think Driving Miss Daisy, relocate it to Rochdale and take away Miss Daisy).

Next to Ian stood the CoBi bike, what a woman – a deep purple shell, 7 legs and a spare tyre for good measure. I looked at Ed, Ed looked at Ian, Ian looked at me, I looked at Ed, Ed looked at Ian ….. OK you get the idea …. We didn’t say it but we all thought maybe this was all a bridge to far, perhaps even a Humber bridge too far.

We hooked Miss CoBi up to the bus and then loaded about ½ ton of juice, kindly donated by our official sponsor Juice Doctor, onboard.

So our strange convoy entered the Yorkshire Dales, with shocked looks on the faces of it’s residents (mainly sheep, otters and sparrow hawks). At every hill and dip we pondered if the bike would manage the climb, most ponderings were met with the same answer – head held in hands.

Someone how Ed negotiated the twists and turns and took us to his uncle's house, literally nestled at the foot of a mountain. He greeted us with food, water and an invitation to play croquet by moonlight (an invitation we declined). After helping to feed the lambs we went to bed.

Jack, Ed, Ian, Miss Cobi.

168 hours and counting ...............

With only 168 hours left until we begin the world's most extraordinary bike ride for Cancer Research UK, the pace is well and truly hotting up.

This week we put the finishing touches to our rider's info pack, which you can see here http://www.cobiuk.com/RiderInfoPack.pdf.

We have been really inspired by the story of James Golding and Sean Newman which you can read about here http://www.cycleacrossamerica2010.com/. James was diagnosed with a very agressive tumour 2 years ago and had only a 5% chance of survival. James not only survived but has gone on to do some incredible things for Macmillan, culminating in the Cycle Across America 2010. During this endeavour James and his co-rider Sean Newman were hit by a truck, and are now both recovering in hospital. Our thoughts go out to James and Sean, and their families.

Jack and Ed

Sir Steve Redgrave carries us foreword

In less than 2 weeks we will begin The World's Greatest Bike Ride (probably) Ever (Maybe).

Many people have offered to lend a hand, or at least a spanner, in support of our fight against cancer.

This August CoBiUk we will form a chain across the UK, a chain that is linked by the very best of the human spirit. There will be challenges, but this was never meant to be easy and however hard the days are, and however much our legs ache we know we will be raising much needed money and awareness for Cancer Research UK.

With this in mind, I am really excited to let you know that Sir Steve Redgrave has written the foreword (see now the title all makes sense) to our Rider's Information Pack which we will be sending out to all our volunteer riders in due course (this does not mean we have all the volunteers we need, or indeed want, if the whole of the UK offered to ride we would accommodate it, so please look at the day-by-day route planner http://www.cobiuk.com/the_route_schedule.html to see where you can join us, it will be the experience of a life time, I promise).

“I’m delighted to lend my support to this great fund-raising event. Only we Brits would be mad enough to take a Seven Seater bike from one end of the country to another to raise important funds for Cancer Research UK, and I have no doubt that the team will be given the public’s support for each and every mile of the trip. Having just cycled across the USA with Race Across America (RAAM) I know just what preparation and determination goes into such a ride, so I extend my best wishes to each and every person who gets in the saddle to support the CoBi UK crew.”

Sir Steve Redgrave, CBE
Five-Time Olympic Gold Medallist
And Co-Founder of Juice Doctor, official sponsor for CoBiUK

We are so grateful for Steve's support, and we really hope he will be able to join us for part of the ride.

Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, if you see a Conference Bike, don't forget to............. Volunteer to ride it/offer accommodation, food, shelter, a rub-down to the riders/ DONATE TO CANCER RESEARCH UK http://www.cobiuk.com/donate.html

Keith Chegwin is on board! (sort of.....)

Hello pedal pushers!

That's right, Cheggers himself 'followed' us today ... "What, like down the street?" I hear you cry. No my little bicycle bells, on Twitter. Well we thought it was exciting ....... and if you visit his Twitter feed you will get little nuggets like this,

The mother-in-Law just swallowed a bottle of sleeping pills. I've told her to have a few drinks & get some rest

We hope to have his mother-in-law on the bike actually, but Keith said he would prefer her under it (boom boom).

With only a matter of weeks to go and as the excitement builds, I'm sure most of you are are throwing your football boots into the bin and rummaging through the cupboards looking for those useless Cycling shoes you brought on a whim from e bay, because they were only £28 + £16p+p. Well my eager saddle greasers, little did you know that one day when some crazy fools decided to ride from John O'Groats to Land's End on a 7 seater bike for Cancer Research, they would come very much in useful.

Our schedule is filling up with a really wonderful Pick & Mix of people, and the idea that we will link together as a chain across the UK to beat Cancer is truly inspiring. If you haven't already please do think about whether you would like to get involved, the more the merrier, and we mean that!

Our press release is finally out, so get ready to see us splashed over local rags, and breakfast T.V across the land ..... this is going to be big!

Ding Ding, get out of the way, the CoBi Uk 2010 is revving up the engine (and that engine is you!)

Anyone for Juice? Official drinks sponsor climbs aboard the CoBi

Everything has stepped up a gear (excuse the pun .... actually the CoBi doesn't really have gears so no pun present or intended).
There is only a month to go before we begin our epic journey and let me be the first to say a huge thank you for all the overwhelming support we have received so far. People from Dundee in deepest Scotland to Porthcurno in darkest Cornwall have offered pedal power, advice, warm words and plasters.

This is fast turning into the World's Greatest Bike Ride and we intend to carry the dashed hopes of a nation to glory by raising £50,000 for Cancer Research UK, and break a few world records in the process.

Please have a good snoop around the website to see all the wonderful ways in which you can help, http://www.cobiuk.com/

Now onto the really exciting news!

Juice Doctor have become the official sponsor of the challenge, and they will be keeping us hydrated throughout the event with their range of naturally isotonic juicy waters. Co-founded by five times Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave, the drinks help restore and maintain healthy levels of hydration.

Sir Steve has recently completed RAAM (Race across America); Steve and his team cycled from the West to the East coast of the USA in 7 days and 3 hours, which puts our 4 weeks to shame.
National consumer campaign ‘Keep It Light!’, launched earlier this year to raise hydration health awareness, are also supporting the bike ride.

Juice Doctor drinks have taken the science commonly associated with sports drinks and created a range of everyday hydration drinks that target busy people on the go. The drinks, which are naturally isotonic, have been formulated to help restore and maintain the body’s natural fluid balance. Each Juice Doctor drink is a carefully measured blend of spring water, fruit juice, beet sugar, natural flavourings and minerals. There are no artificial colourings, no flavourings, no preservatives, no sodium and no sweeteners.http://www.juicedoctordrinks.com for more information

We are so excited that Juice Doctor have come on board and hope you can join us too. To sign up have a look at the schedule and e-mail pedalpower@cobiuk.com with the dates and times you'd like to do.

Dedication's What You'll Need...

We're hoping to set the Guinness World Record for the most people taking part in an End to End (John O'Groats to Lands End or the other way around) on a single bike. We might have set the record even if we'd just had seven pedalling the whole way but we couldn't have been sure. However, with people booking their places on our fancy scheduling spreadsheet (Click on the clocks) everyday, we should set a huge target.

So if you've been watching world records and world firsts all week (Italy and France out of the World Cup, Mahut and Isner's never ending tennis match) and feel like making some sporting history yourself then join us. We obviously have a big advantage with six more seats than usual but we need to fill them all up, the whole way. If you want to book a place on the bike email us at pedalpower@cobiuk.com

Fun at the Fest, Joined by Jeff

The CoBi will be heading through Edinburgh just as the Festival season kicks off and we'll definitely be getting involved. We'll be arriving on the 6th, touring the city on the 7th and then heading off to Melrose on the 8th.

Riding with us for part of this will be stand-up comedian and TV presenter Jeff Leach. Many comics can talk the talk when it comes to supporting good causes but Jeff is putting his feet where his mouth is, so to speak, and pedalling for us to help Cancer Research UK.

Over the past few years Jeff has fronted The Surgery and Scene Stealers for BBC Switchand has hosted and appeared in shows such as T in the Park Festival, Big Brother’s Big Mouth, Virgin Music On Demand, Celebrity Scissorhands and Comic Relief Naughty Bits. He also performs as part of Men in Masks, who are working hard to increase the influence of Mexican wrestling on the British music scene.

He's now coming to Edinburgh to do a one man show called 'Leach on Society' which you can catch for the first two weeks of August.

http://www.jeffreyleach.com/