Sporting spotlight: Jamie Homewood
ARU Senior Learning Technologist Jamie Homewood tells us about his 200-mile bike ride from Cardiff to London to raise money for Charlie’s Wings.
Name: Jamie Homewood
Staff, student, or alumni: Staff
Job title: Senior Learning Technologist
Faculty/Service: ARU Peterborough
In your own words, tell us about your sporting achievement or upcoming challenge.
This June, having completed London to Paris and Back, and Coast-to-Coast last year, the challenge was to complete a ride for Charlie's Wings – over 200 miles in two days, from Cardiff to London via Salisbury.
To make it even more interesting (and more challenging), two of us planned to ride gravel bike from Peterborough to Coventry, then to Gloucester and on to Cardiff to start the charity ride.
How did it go?
On 8 and 9 June, a group of 17 of us rode from Cardiff Castle to Buckingham Palace in London (205 miles in two days) via Salisbury with 16 other intrepid gluttons for punishment in support of the Charlie’s Wings charity, which provides practical support for young people struggling with difficulties in today's society.
Two of us rode from Peterborough to Coventry, to Gloucester then on to Cardiff with bikepacking gear to start the charity ride proper. In total, both of us amassed around 450 miles door to door!
From Peterborough, the ride started pretty sedate until the Cotswolds where the climbing hit us. Being 'fen riders' with many hours in the saddle against the wind on the flats, the climbing that day was pretty difficult, and with the wind and distance, it was a hard 40 miles, probably one of the hardest days I've had in the saddle.
The stretch to Cardiff wasn't much easier, where the last headwind miles into Cardiff were energy-sapping, especially after all the hills. That was around the 200- to 250-mile mark, and to be honest I was breaking!
After a night's rest, then came the charity ride proper of 205 miles, and I was still hurting from the last two days. It turned out these were the easiest days on the legs, and where we turned to helping less experienced riders navigate the miles and to work through the pains, niggles, mechanicals and all else that got thrown at us all.
We ended the charity ride, riding up the Mall and stopping at Buckingham Palace with a small group of family and friends cheering us on at the end. It was an amazing feeling and sense of achievement.
What would you say to someone to inspire them to follow in your sporty footsteps?
I took up riding to keep fit and to lose some weight and now have gained more than that. The friendship, camaraderie and new skills I've learned through riding long distances is a pretty good feeling. This particular ride was one of the best adventures I've had. The things we saw, reflecting back is just crazy.
People ask me how I've ridden that far, but for me it's not the distance. When you ride with bikepacks on, everybody stops to say hi and even looks after each other on the rides.
You don't need all the gear to ride 10, 20 or 30 miles. Just go, go on a mini adventure, it's great fun.