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!