by Cara Lewis | Jun 27, 2023 | News
We just love the enthusiasm from Kenneth Anderson! He is indeed a true LEJOG legend and he took part in the Wheelie Big Ride like a champion. He had a wail of a time, pedalling like he’s never pedalled before! Let’s take a look at what he has to say:
What was your highlight?
The weather, it was a tad warm for a ginger loon so the suncream was applied regularly! It would have been a lot different if it had rained all day. Being able to see the UK countryside in all its glory was absolutely fantastic.
What was your lowlight?
Well what can I say…nobody said it would be an easy task! Of course there wasn’t enough rest and there were sore creaky bits along the way. BUT the good food, good company far outweighed all of that!
What are you taking away from the experience?
The teamwork element and us all working together to get the result we needed. As a team we were really good together, we worked well and got the result that we wanted. There are some pics circulating of me being pushed at certain points but these of course are doctored!!!
Funniest moment?
I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin’s parents and his dad said to me, “If my loon doesn’t stop bullying you, you just call me.”
by Stuart Inglis | Jun 26, 2023 | News
A week’s gone by since the DDK Wheelie Big Ride team finished their cycling challenge. Our Commercial Director Stuart Inglis reflects on the journey and also why you don’t always need to stick to a plan…My greatest take away from this experience is taking the time to slow down and enjoy the journey. I’m someone who likes to list up tasks, create a plan and blast through it. Of course I had a plan for this trip too: on the road by 6:30am, averaging 25km/h as per our training rides, set duration breaks, done by 4/5pm, rinse and repeat. So when we got going late my automatic thought was “well we’ll need to go faster to make that up” in order to complete the day in the same timeframe. My metric of performance was based on getting over the finish line in a set timeframe and when we didn’t do that I wasn’t happy.
But then came the question of “why”? Why did we need to be finished earlier in the day? What impact did a later finish have? And what benefits did it bring and at what cost? I realised the answer to that was simply personal performance and allowing me to cram more into the end of the day. But forcing this on the team was unfair and unnecessary; we were there to enjoy the experience. And did that extra stuff need done at the end of the day or could it be fitted in elsewhere?
Reframing my mindset took a couple of days: getting used to making the timings and plan up as we went along, being content with longer stops and delays, fully immersing myself in the experience. But only looking at things one break/section at a time rather than one day at a time allowed me to relax into the cycle and ultimately enjoy it much more (despite the painful backside!)
And what about performance? Well we made it up to John O’Groats with no (major) injuries, no fall outs, no-one dropping out and still had smiles on our faces and miles in our legs…I’d class that as a great success and one not guaranteed if we had stuck to “plan”.
by Cara Lewis | Jun 21, 2023 | News
When Kevin Gaffney our CEO decided to embark on the challenge of a lifetime, cycling 1000 miles in 10 days, from one end of the UK to other he thought it was the perfect opportunity to take along our X1 GNSS positioning solution in the support van with us! I mean why not – it was a great opportunity to trial feeding back our positioning solution through the Iridium network using Short Burst Data (SBD), and it worked like a dream 👏 When there is an opportunity to use our super duper X1 positioning unit he will. Check out our antennas on top of the van in remote area.
Now that Kevin has finished the Wheelie Big Ride, lets find out how it went for him…
What was your highlight?
Many highlights, the support we had from family and friends was a real treat, with all the team in Braemar for a BBQ and catch up was the icing on the cake! (Literally the cheesecake was amazing). Having my nephew join us in Ludlow was a true highlight, it is a miracle he is with us today, so to see his big smile and experience some of his cheekiness was a distraction from the Achilles pain!
What was your lowlight?
My Achilles Tendons, day three they were screaming at me with every pedal stoke, it took some adjustment, strapping up and pain killers to get through every day from this point onwards.
What are you taking away from the experience?
Cycling through the UK gave such a great perspective of the country that you don’t normally get, from the houses and how they change from county to county, to the breath-taking scenery! Then the kindness of people, strangers along the way have donated to the various charities, and this act alone made for a very special experience.
Funniest moment?
Watching everyone get on their saddles from about day 5 onwards in the mornings – was a sight to behold and the groans were hilarious 😊 Or how we all become agitated dancing eejits when the midges came out in force in Scotland.
A special mention:
Dave and Support: Deserves a special mention, without Dave and his support, the trip would not have run a smoothly as it did, from finding suitable eateries head of us, laundry, organising the van, running the DDK equipment, and keeping us all in check, he did an amazing job and was every much part of the team, and probably the most important part too, all we had to do was cycle!
by Cara Lewis | Jun 19, 2023 | News
Betty Hill – Lands End – 51 miles
After the ‘last supper’ at the hotel, we were all thinking the last 51 miles would be a breeze, and a breeze they were, nothing but a head wind was awaiting our final section of the route.
Up, packed and ready to go we all decided to get moving as quickly as possible, not for the keenness to finish, but to get ourselves away from the midges! Getting started we were greeted once again by lovely countryside and snippets of coastline as we meandered towards John o Groats.
Todays route had 5 climbs ahead of us, and we were going to feel everyone of them in the legs! The temperature was a bit cooler to start, but a welcome start non the less after the previous nine days of sweltering heat!
Continuing along the route towards the first stop of the day (breakfast) we were all thinking of what to have for our last breakfast knowing that the end was within touching distance, so a full Scottish breakfast was on order!
The final 20 mile were supposed to be a jolly jaunt to John o Groats, but it turned out to be a slog with the head wind and we were all feeling every pedal stroke! The final Stretch into John O Groats was slightly down hill, with the wind behind us, making for a pleasant last ½ mile, being greeted by our fantastic support team being the ever reliable and present Dave Inglis and the youngest member of the team (Fraser) was also present to meet Stuart on fathers day.
After a short celebration (with champagne) in plastic glasses (keeping it real), some photos we then began to decamp, grab a coffee and head home.
Though the 3 members of the team sat on their backsides and pedalled for 10 days, the journey would not have been possible or as pleasant without the support of our colleagues, families and friends, it has been a great experience and our appreciation goes out to everyone who has helped us along the way, it really does demonstrate the team we have around us.
by Cara Lewis | Jun 18, 2023 | News
After a somewhat eventful night, the team set off from Munlochy and were immediately faced by a nice climb to warm up…oh the joys of the Scottish highlands!
However the view of the Cromarty Firth and Bridge were worth the climb and it was here that we saw our first (road) sign showing John O’Groats! Not far now!
A short blast on the A9 (team time trial mode engaged) followed before kicking up and over the moors to Bonar Bridge. This section was a wee bit chillier so after the team had the customary bacon rolls for the morning stop, we thought it wise to grab our arm warmers and gilets. They didn’t last long! Pushing on to Lairg the cloud cleared and all warm gear was quickly relegated to back pockets again! There was some beautiful scenery to see along this route including an old suspension bridge, a salmon leap heading up the Falls of Shin and folk sailing on a reservoir in the gorgeous weather.
Our planned lunch stop was at Altnaharra Hotel which we made in good time…only to be informed they don’t do lunches, contrary to their sign and website. No matter we thought, we have plenty with us for a picnic we got set out in record time. Cue midges. Lots of midges! So lunch was a bit of a flop, but one good thing did come of it: it was the speediest we’ve ever seen Kenny move so might just bottle some midges for future use!
Heading onwards along Loch Naver we had flashbacks of Lands End, with a tasty headwind slowing progress. Good practice for tomorrow along the North coast! This wind did however give us a chance to have picnic attempt #2 (no midges this time) with a quick stop for a drink and a cake.
We rolle
d into the beautiful sights of Bettyhill about 4pm and saw our first North Coast 500 sign just outside our hotel. Last full day done! “Just” a mere 50 miles to John O’Groat tomorrow and our adventure is complete!
by Cara Lewis | Jun 17, 2023 | News
Braemar to Munlocky – 90 miles
Starting the day from the Braemar Caravan park was a shock, we had to put light jackets on and arm warmers were needed, something told us that we were near home 😊.
The cy
cle from Braemar to Crathie was as stunning as any point of the trip, the clear blue skies, the river Dee and the hills and forests made for a great start to the day, even if we were aware of what was looming ahead (hills and lots of them).
The first was Crathie hill, a mere 192m – but felt like 1920m after the Glenshee climb from the previous day!
Strolling onwards to the next ‘pimple; was 231m, again all before our breakfast stop. The breakfast stop was at Strathdon, for a ‘light’ bite and coffee, as the major climb of the day loomed: The Lecht (330m and 20% gradient at places).
After tackling the climb we stopped, took in the scenery before descending towards Grantown on Spey… if only it was just downhill, we found more climbs along the way!
Upon arrival at Grantown on Spey we were still experiencing the seasonally hot weather, 29⁰! After lunch, it was onwards to Inverness… a long, warm ‘slog’ which brought out the ‘beast’ in Kenny and his time trialling experience, he flew off like a train with myself and Stuart in pursuit – but we also suspected that Kenny’s lunch had kicked in :).
We all enjoyed the spectacular views on the Kessock Bridge, clear skies, calm waters made for a great experience and one to be cherished!
Arriving at the final destination the team were greeted my Malena’s uncle and aunt (Iain and Christine) and Dave’s (I) sister … again really great support and lovely company.
To summarise the day, lots of hills, still warm, stunning scenery and great support!
A short blast on the A9 (team time trial mode engaged) followed before kicking up and over the moors to Bonar Bridge. This section was a wee bit chillier so after the team had the customary bacon rolls for the morning stop, we thought it wise to grab our arm warmers and gilets. They didn’t last long! Pushing on to Lairg the cloud cleared and all warm gear was quickly relegated to back pockets again! There was some beautiful scenery to see along this route including an old suspension bridge, a salmon leap heading up the Falls of Shin and folk sailing on a reservoir in the gorgeous weather.
d into the beautiful sights of Bettyhill about 4pm and saw our first North Coast 500 sign just outside our hotel. Last full day done! “Just” a mere 50 miles to John O’Groat tomorrow and our adventure is complete!
We all enjoyed the spectacular views on the Kessock Bridge, clear skies, calm waters made for a great experience and one to be cherished!