St David’s Point to Ness Point Cycle

On Behalf of: Beccles Sea Cadets

Undertaken By: Simon Newell – IWS M&E

Date: 25 – 28 May 2018

Over the second Bank Holiday weekend in May, IWS M&E employee Simon Newell, along with nine other local cyclists took on a West to East coast to coast cycle ride. Over the four days the team covered 400 miles cycling approximately 100 miles a day. The challenge began at St David’s Point in Wales on May 25 and concluded at Ness Point in Lowestoft, Suffolk on Monday 28 May.

The team’s four day itinerary included the following legs:

• Friday 25: St David’s Point to Llandovery 82.5 miles 5424 feet of climbing
• Saturday 26: Llandovery to Evesham 104.3 miles 5020 feet of climbing
• This section of the ride took the team over the Brecon Beacons and the Malvern Hills to their overnight stop at Evesham.
• Sunday 27th Evesham – St Neots 97.5 miles 4242 feet of climbing
• Day three of the ride took the team through some lovely countryside with endless rolling hills and wonderful sunshine, where they rode on to St Neots.
• Monday 28th St Neots – Ness Point 106.5 miles 3463 feet of climbing. Day four was the home leg through Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and along to Lowestoft and Ness Point. The final 109.5 miles gave the team a surprising 2899 feet of climbing (who said East Anglia is flat). Simon is confident that the promise of his first alcoholic drink of the year was all the encouragement he needed to push him over the finish line!

At the start of the ride Simon imagined it would be four days of hell but it ended up being a most enjoyable bike ride. Simon credits the laughter and team comradely kept the whole team going and created a distraction from the aches and pains.

Simon undertook the challenge on behalf of the Beccles Sea Cadets who have recently purchased a new unit to house the Cadets and their related activities. The team decided to undertake this epic cycle ride to raise money to help purchase new teaching equipment to use in the new classrooms. Moving into the new unit will allow all classroom work to be done under one roof with a new larger parade area underneath. Simon is an ex-cadet, and remembers discussions taking place in the late 1980’s about purchasing some land to building a new unit on. Twenty eight years later this ambition has become a reality.

Beccles Sea Cadets History

Since the 1970s, the Sea Cadets used a small metal building along Fen Lane. Many of the ex-cadets have gone on to serve in the Royal Navy (Simon and his sister included) and Royal Marines, with the majority happy to serve on ships but others finding it better in the air (jumping out of or dangling underneath aircraft) or under the seas. Others have gone on to serve in the Army and Royal Air Force also the police and Merchant Navy some of which are still serving today, hopefully the new unit can continue preparing for the future of our armed forces.

Sponsoring Simon

So far Simon has raised £320, cycling his way to a £100 donation from SSI Services. If you would like to sponsor Simon and his team, please follow the link: Sponsor