BLOG: Tom rides 150-mile 'coast to coast' in one day!

If you see Optimum Derby MD Tom Heeley walking a bit funnily over the next few days, don’t be too harsh on him.

He has just completed a feat of gargantuan endurance completing the coast-to-coast route of 150 miles (243km) in one day from east to west.

The route started near Scafell Pike and Lake Windermere in the north-west and ended in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Tom was wonderfully supported by fellow cyclist, Sam Pyot and wife Emily in the team van along the way and he celebrated a tremendous achievement, at the end of over 10 hours in the saddle, with what everyone does in Whitby…eat fish and chips!

Tom and Sam pose on a rare stop early on while they still had some strength in their arms!

The team drove up to Cumbria on Friday night after a week at work and had a good night’s sleep after a pizza.

They set off on the C2C (‘Sea to Sea’) route at 6am on Saturday morning and finally got to Whitby before dark after a leg-busting journey that would challenge the most seasoned of cyclists.

And completely ruin the rest of us!

“There were 19 good climbs along the way,” said Tom. “The first two were among the hardest we faced as well with Hardknott Pass and Wrynose making you realise what was coming!

“We had three stops as we moved across the country with our first one at Kendal after about 60km, then two more at 150km and 205km.

Tom and Sam’s route from coast to coast.

“That’s where we were so grateful for Emily’s support from the van as she gave us: water, hydration tablets, energy drinks, pasta, carbs, Rice Krispie cakes and bananas.

“The final one of the 19 climbs we did had an incline of 31% which was absolutely brutal and about finished off my already aching legs!

“But we completed the route in 10 hours and 25 minutes and we were aiming for somewhere between 10 and 12 hours so we were delighted.”

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