27/05/2024
My final days cycling was always going to be a celebration, riding with our son Calum around the closed roads of Ford RideLondon 100 mile event, having done it together 10 years earlier.
A very early morning start at 5am, we put the bikes on the car bike rack to drive the short distance up the A3 to our central London Buckingham Palace start. Family would cheer us over the finishing line on Tower Bridge around 6 hrs later, then all back to the house for celebrations.
I’d been looking forward to this day ever since Calum asked me to ride with him many months ago and my whole challenge grew out of this.
A damp morning as we left, we were on the A3 within minutes travelling at 60 mph, when Calum screamed “the bikes” as both our 2 wheeled friends flew off the back of the car and crashed onto the carriageway behind.
We pulled over and ran up the road to see the damage and our initial fears were realized as Calum’s bike handlebars, gearing all looked in a bad way. My own bike didn’t look as bad, some scrapes and torn bar tape seemed to be the first thought. I couldn’t hold back the tears 😭 fortunately there had been no other cars behind us, otherwise it could have been much worse.
A quick change of plan, we’d park closer to the event, go on the underground and walk our bikes to the mechanical support area at the start to see if we could be helped.
Unfortunately they only had limited support to cover punctures and other small items, however there was an Evans cycle superstore 15 mins walk away, open despite it being 8am on a Sunday.
The mechanic checked the bikes, Calum’s bike had a full crack in the front wheel, almost unnoticeable to the naked eye but a potential catastrophe if the wheel was to suffer a full collapse at speed. The mechanic advised us that they didn’t have a replacement in store and tried other outlets with the same outcome. My own bike still looked okay to the naked eye, however I’ll need to get it fully checked when it gets back to Spain in August.
“I’m afraid it’s game over” for your Ride London event!! 🚴😭 was the mechanics diagnosis.
Not the end we would have wanted however, life and family are far more important and precious than taking unnecessary risk.
There’s always a silver lining, I got to spend more time with our beautiful granddaughter Cara and our family and Gemmas family.
Thank you once again for following my journey, especially to everyone who had made a donation to Sarcoma UK or reposted my posts to increase awareness.
The charity donation line will remain open for a few weeks, I’d love to break the target set as it is £1 more than I raised on one of my previous challenges ten years ago.
www.justgiving.com/page/david-gee-paree2london
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