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| Our Route from Inverkeithing to St Andrews |
Yesterday, along with two very good friends Tom and Phil, we broke the cycle. We set off from St Andrews at 7.55 and cycled to Leuchars where our nearest train station is. We took the train to Inverkeithing, a small town just outside Edinburgh where we started the sponsored cycle.
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| the 3 of us setting off from Dunfermline Train station |
Our first stop was at Dunfirmline just 3 miles away from Inverkeithing where we were to meet my dad who accompanied us by car. This short distance was very uphill and took us about 1 hour. By the time we reached my dad we were exhausted already and we'd hardly even started the ride. We gave him our bags and food so that we did not have too much to carry and we agreed to do the first long leg of the journey. 12 miles from Dunfermline to Kinross.
This leg started with another major hill lasting about 5-7 miles. At this point, having cycled such a short distance, we really thought that cycling all the way to St Andrews would be an impossible feat. We were knackered and had very little energy left. However, on reaching the top of the hill, our spirits were lifted by a very exciting down hill. We managed to reach speeds of over 20 miles an hour. After the hard work of the previous 10 miles, we cherished every moment of our downhill pursuit.
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| Leaving Kinross |
We arrived in Kinross where we had our lunch outside the Kinross community campus and also the Health Centre. Tom and I both went into the health centre (we are keen medical students) and were extremely impressed with it's very spacious layout. We would both agree that it would give rise to a great patient experience.
Our next leg was 10 miles from Kinross to a quaint Scottish village called Strathmiglo. This was probably our best leg. It was nice and flat and we managed to make a lot of head way. However, we entered the village from another direction from my dad, and it took us a bit of time to find him. The true Scottish neighbourhood spirit shown through when a couple with their dog came out of their house to direct us to where my dad was. When we found him, we restocked our fuel and started off on our next and longest leg to another small town called Ceres.
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| some beautiful scenery |
This was the toughest leg. Not only was it 15 miles long but there was a
SERIES of
SERIOUS hills to the beautiful town of
CERES. It really was never ending, as soon as we thought we couldn't go up any further, we turned a corner and there was another hill. It was difficult to believe. At one point we even had to push our bikes up as gear 1 got us nowhere. The age old theory that what goes up must go down did not apply at this stage as it was a constant incline all the way to Ceres. Our main consolation was the beauty of the scenery surrounding us. Whilst cycling up these hills, I thought about the hardship that many Ugandan's face on a daily basis and it gave me the strength to keep going.
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| Scottish Museum |
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| Leaving Ceres |
Finally we reached the small town of Ceres. My dad had been calling me and sending me messages for the past half hour and had even thought that he had missed us. Whilst he was waiting for us he visited a Scottish museum where he took some beautiful pictures. We were all very happy to arrive in Ceres and meet dad, where we refuelled ourselves and prepared for the last leg of the journey. After a nice break, with our energy and enthusiasm restored we headed back to ST ANDREWS.
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| Arriving into St Andrews |
This was my favourite leg, although there were several hills, they were nothing in comparison to the
series of
serious hills to
Ceres so we conquered them all with considerable ease. My dad followed us behind and we felt as though we had our own special escort. With our spirits high we raced back to St Andrews averaging about 15 miles an hour. When we reached the St Andrews sign, we waived our hands in the air in solute of or achievements.
My competitive edge got the better of me and I sprinted down the hill to reach David Russell Apartment, our end destination before Tom and Phil.
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| The 3 of us at our end destination |
The Bike Ride was definitely a challenging experience, there were many difficult and low points, but we all enjoyed it so much. Especially because we were doing it for a great cause. We arrived back in St Andrews about 10 hours after we left in the morning, exhausted, exhilarated and also excited. We had achieved something that not many people can say they have ever done and we are all very proud of our selves.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you SO much to Tom and Phil for taking part in the bike ride and the people who have sponsored them. As well as to my dad who was there for us the whole journey. I would also like to say thank you to everybody who wished us luck and to those that sponsored us all. Once all the money is in and counted, I will add it to the total.
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| Dad and myself |
