Day One

Under a grey, foreboding sky, the Marshalls flag fluttered a stiff south-westerly breeze, as one by one six nervous yet excited cyclists arrived, to finally embark on their journey to Casablanca...

Firstly, we all have to say a huge thank you to everyone who turned up to see us off and wish us well. It was great to see so many family and friends, and a real boost to receive a further generous donation to the SCT from Francis Laud and Jonathan Barker of Marshalls.

It was a day where on the whole the miles didn’t come easy. The initial anticipation quickly turned to contemplation of the challenge ahead in the face of a strong headwind, the excited chatter dissolving into concentrated silence, punctuated by an ominous rusty-weather-vane creak emanating from the bowels of George’s bike.

After a quick lunch by the river it became increasingly clear that Deano had stymied his bike in about six places. This can only be put down to his riding style, akin to a very large ape on artificial stimulants, riding a little pink Barbie bike down a steep hill. Eyebrows furrowed – in itself a huge effort of will, they weigh a tonne – George bravely struggled on, until we ran into a game-changing stroke of luck in the form of Steve, a Metallica t-shirt wearing, cycle-mending legend who has become the first of many heroes we’ll need to bail us out along the way. Swiftly diagnosing and fixing the problem long-after his shop had supposedly closed, and charging us only for parts, Steve quickly realised the problem – Dean had broken his entire bike. Despite this, we were only delayed for an hour, just long enough for Eddy to make friends with a snake. No, I’m not kidding, in a scene we weren’t expecting until the souks of Morocco, a random lady pitched up with a bright red corn snake. I thought we were hallucinating, but pictures will be forthcoming, I promise.

The afternoon passed largely uneventfully, though cycling through London was an irritating and at times slightly terrifying experience. Notable moments included George – apparently on a self-destructive mission today – almost disappearing under a bus attempting to signal ‘fifty up’ (mileage) with the bat, and Nat going down like a shot walrus in a catastrophic spd-pedal cock up. Seriously, it was like someone had chopped down a wobbly redwood in the middle of Enfield, classic.

Despite this, we eventually made the 71 miles to Katie’s house in Fulham. For those of you that don’t know, Katie Matthews is the long-suffering girlfriend of Our Glorious Leader, and general First Lady of C2C. Katie and her parents Rhoda and Peter put on an amazing spread, and one last night in a proper bed left us feeling refreshed in a way we’re not likely to experience again any time soon. We also got to pop into the Hurlingham club, where Eddy got pretty excited over some well-mown tennis courts and a pretty cricket pitch. Which is nice.

All in all, a predictably eventful but generally successful first day, but only because of the great people who have supported us, from loved ones to complete strangers. So thanks again family and friends, Marshalls, Steve from Cycledealia, the snake lady and of course the amazing Matthews family, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Next stop Portsmouth and the Continent!

Over and out.