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. Read more
Departure from Mathieson Youth Centre, Milton Keynes followed by cycle to Trax project in Oxford.
What a memorable day. We had our largest peloton (18 riders) which included 2 outstanding sportsmen from past and present – Steve Waugh (Laureus Academy member) and Butch James (Friend & Ambassador). Both are top guys and I’m grateful to them for supporting us on the fifth stage of the ride.
The route from Oxford to Newbury took us through some awesome scenery and over a few mean hills. There is quite a range of standard among the riders but everyone has been supporting eachother and working as a team to get the pack over the top of the tough climbs. As someone who competed alone back in the day, it’s a good learning experience to watch team sportsmen like Steve Waugh, Butch James and Hugo Porta show their leadership skills on the ride. This really fits in nicely with the theme of the campaign and I was proud to take them to the Nacro project at the Riverside Youth and Community Centre near Newbury.
I’m getting quite tired now but every time we arrive at a project, it gives me a real boost and revs me up for the next day of riding. Tomorrow will be a long day – leaving the Vodafone HQ in Newbury for a 70 mile journey to Brent.
You can view photos from every day of the event on our flickr page:
Hi All, I’m going to take over from Daley for today’s blog post.
You may have realised that I am cycling with Daley on every leg of the route. I’m doing this for two reasons:
1) To support Daley, who is a friend and fellow Laureus World Sports Academy member
2) To see what I can take back to Argentina from the projects we visit on the way. The Fundación Laureus Argentina is very close to my heart and we deal with similar problems of youth crime and gang violence.
This morning we spent an hour at the Mathieson Youth Centre in Milton Keynes. The boys got stuck in to Daley’s cycle challenge and the girls treated us all to some cheerleading – it was a great way to start the day. I also had a chat with a rugby-loving member of the local police force. The Mayor of Milton Keynes then waved off Daley, me and 12 other cycling enthusaists and project supporters as we set off towards Oxford. Read more
