After working so hard for the last two weeks, Monkey is off on his holidays.
We are very pleased to announce that the Mark Rylance Challenge is now complete, the last group of cyclists have just safely crossed the finish line at Land’s End – fantastic!
By all accounts it was a really challenging day – not least the fact that they almost didn’t manage to get out of Redruth when a combination of hills and navigational issues almost threw a spanner in the works (sounds familiar!). But nothing it seems, can stop our cyclists on what has been the most amazing 14 days.
The reports coming in are that everyone is in good spirits and this was helped greatly by the welcoming party that greeted them – Ollie & Ben’s family turned out in force, along with champagne and an official photographer – what a great surprise.
Thank you so much to all who have taken part and supported the challenge – you have made it the success it has been. Everyone involved has approached it with such enthusiasm and a real sense of humour (which was really needed at times!), to give Mark the very best tribute possible.
Well done, you should all be very proud of yourselves – we certainly are!!!
Just as we were beginning to think the A Team weren’t quite as good as they made out, we were proved wrong with this evidence that Mo and Lizzie did in fact complete the task put to them, and the boys did get Cornish pasties for lunch yesterday….we are sorry we ever doubted you!!!
So the penultimate day is over and the group are now preparing themselves for the final push to Land’s End. It was an early finish so they were able to rest up and enjoy some South-West sun, which was well deserved after the great effort put in today by the group – Ben & Ollie were joined by Mark & John from Savills and Simon from Star Fish, and Richard was a very welcome 3rd support driver. Tonight they were joined by Nicola, Clare, John and June for the calm before the final day storm.
We are all behind you and willing you over that finish line hoping that the final day won’t be too tough and at the same time are closely watching the donations creep up to that magic number – what a fantastic achievement by all!!
Finally the blog update won’t be complete without a mention of the famous mascot who is definitely getting into the spirit of things and enjoying a well earned pint at the end of the day….
Mo and Lizzie continue to have their work cut out it seems…what with specific food requests and then being tasked to supply tape, heat gel, ice cubes, massages and finally being subjected to watching mankinis dry, it appears that the life of a support driver is not all it’s cut out to be!
There’s no fooling us though – we think they love it really!! But I can understand their concerns about the mankinis – where do they get them from??!!
….unlucky for some but lucky for the cyclists it seems! As the group set off on the penultimate day they have one request – that they can have Cornish pasties when they cross the border later today so Lizzie and Mo have set off with that task!
It also appears that they had a somewhat cultured night as they spent the evening stargazing on a hill… Mo and Lizzie have made quite an impression, whatever next…
After their marathon support stint Helen and Lynsey have now just completed a very comprehensive hand over to Mo and Lizzie who will be the support crew for the remainder of day 12 and the last two days of the Challenge. We have reports that Mo and Lizzie (hereafter called the ‘A’ team – what else?) struggled to find their way out of the car park, so more adventures are assured before we get to Lands End.
Promises, messages of encouragement from the blog and threats seem to be the new motivational tactics used by the A Team. The day 12 guys have all supported each other today and they have asked the Blog to give special thanks to Jon Brown for outstanding effort. Can’t wait to find out what particular motivational tactics Jon used…
Looking forward to day 13!
Our Team baton and mascot, the Man City Monkey has so far made it safely all the way from John O’Groats, being passed with great care from rider to rider. There are signs now that he is growing in confidence and getting a bit too big for his wee Man City boots… Here he is trying to steal the limelight and promote himself to rider!
Day 12 sees our smallest team yet on the Challenge, but what they lack in numbers, they certainly make up for in…..COMMITMENT!
Stretch Quarrie show us exactly why he only needs to pedal half as much as everyone else.
The Mark Rylance Challenge 