Monday’s stage started with a visit to Vodafone HQ in Newbury. I was joined by fellow Laureus World Sports Academy members Sebastian Coe, Sean Fitzpatrick and (of course!) Hugo Porta, as well as Vodafone Foundation advisor Matthew Pinsent. Vodafone have provided their full backing to my campaign and I was more than happy to have a Q&A session at their offices.
Q&As at Vodafone HQ
However, at the back of my mind I was always thinking forward to what would be the longest stage of the journey – 75 miles from Newbury to Brent over countless gruelling hills. Just to make things a little tougher, we were joined by two ultra-keen Vodafone employees who would ensure that a strong pace was set. Even a descending toll barrier knocking one of them off their bike couldn’t dent their enthusiasm. One glimmer of hope was the sight of Matthew Pinsent in full lycra (my thoughts on his ‘look’ have since been recorded in a national newspaper). Surely a man of that size couldn’t drag himself up the hills at any great pace? How wrong I was. I hadn’t taken in to account that his lungs are proabbly about 3 times the size of an average human’s. After every hill, he would be waiting at the top with a big smile on his face. Sebastian Coe and Sean Fitzpatrick may both have retired some years ago but their competitive fires are still burning and there was no way they were going to let themselves slow the pace. It was a long, hard day in the saddle.
Climbing ANOTHER hill
After about 6 hours of cycling we arrived at London Active Communities in Brent and collapsed…
Sebastian Coe chats to Matthew Pinsent at the end of a long stage
Anyway, we all threw ourselves in to the project and soon forgot about the aches and pains (for a little while!). London Active Communities is a very well run project and a great example of how a little investment can make dramatic changes in the local area.
They seem to be listening!
It was a great day and I’d like to thank all those rode for taking time out of their busy lives to support this cause.
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Daley Thompson won more decathlon honours than anybody before him. He is the only man to win two Olympic gold medals and a World Championship. He also created four world records, won three Commonwealth gold medals and two European Championships.
